Owsee said, "well doc, what do you think of your new house?"
Doctor, "I didn’t think they would have it built so fast, let alone be able to put it together and hook it up to the power and water; I thought another day for that at least."
Owsee, "well they know what they are doing, that's for sure. And you’re near the town’s water and power supply, so that always helps."
Dr., "well they sure are fast, and they do a good job."
Owsee, "that they do. I see you got yourself a porch, was that the extra you needed to talk to the Mayor about?"
Dr., "yes, I thought it was in good standing with the community view and a way of life here."
Owsee, "yes, but you need more chairs, and a shade tree I think. Still you are off to a good start for your first week here."
Dr., "having a house in less than a week is a very good start."
Owsee, "yes it is. Now we need to throw a house warming party, so you can meet more of the townspeople and their children. This is something that is best left for the Mayor to do."
Dr., "that sounds like a good idea, I need to get to know more of the town and as soon as I can."
Owsee, "yes, well if you need something or would like to come to supper one day, feel free to stop by."
Owsee and I then headed back to the farm as the doctor yelled out, "thanks for stopping by."
I started to think about how the doctor's house was tapped into the power from the clinic, which was tapped into the town's power supply, and wondered where it all came from.
I asked Owsee who said, "we have wind generators on the hill and most of the houses have solar power cells on their roofs. However, when the wind don’t blow on a cloudy day the power is not study. The med lab may not have the power it needs when it needs it. That is why I want to drill a Geo thermal well for more power."
I said, "can we tapped into Goo da wa’s?"
Owsee, "his is not big enough, but I have someone coming to drill a well. It's just a matter of when he can get here. He is doing one just three hours away, and as soon as he is done, he will come by to get started on our. When it comes to this kind of work you want someone that knows what they are doing."
I said, "do you know where it will be?"
Owsee, "we had a survey done when I was a young boy, they were talking about putting it next to the barn. But it never got done, too many credits I think."
I said, "Will we be able to tap into it to recharge the power cells on my ship?"
Owsee, "you read my mind. I plan to have two generators so I can tap into the power without disrupting the flow to the town. Plus it's good to have a backup in case we need to work on one of the generators."
I said, "I'll drink to that."
Owsee said, "I hoped you would," and we went inside.
He pored each of us a small mug of rum with a big pinch of fire powder in it.
I said, "woo there, I don't need that much."
Owsee, "I'm just trying to counter the effects of the rum a bit, like a good bartender."
I said, "I just think you like the way the powder makes you feel."
Owsee, "you're right I do like it, maybe too much. But we have it, it don't cost us anything and we still get things done, so I don't see the harm."
I said, "I'm just saying that one of these days you are going to run out of it and your body will not know what to do."
Owsee, "that's why I have a doctor less than half a mile away. Besides, I think I have six more 30 pound bags left. It’s going to be a long time before I run out. I may even get bored with the stuff by that time, and there is always the detox water."
I said, "okay, but if I start staying up all night and sleeping in the day you back me down a bit."
Owsee, "when was the last time we did that?"
I said, "the night before we went fishing."
Owsee, "and how many fish did we catch while we were sleeping?"
I said, "more than we could use, a boat load."
Owsee, "so you're playing with a man that can make money in his sleep. I wonder how much they would pay for a fish dinner on a space station?"
I said, "I wonder how much they would appreciate a free fish?"
Owsee, "that's a lot of fish to be just given away."
I said, "not for everybody, just the dockworkers. Most of them are starving because they spend all their credits on overpriced water. A lot of them rats don't even have a room, they live on the docks. And who you ask if you want to find someone to buy a load of crystals?"
Owsee, "dockworkers know everybody."
I said, "and who do you pay to keep their mouth shut?"
Owsee, "and what is better than putting a fish in that mouth to keep it from talking. I see where you are going with this. I forgot you spent 30 years in and out of docks, I don't need to tell you what it's like."
I said, "and I know what it's like in the mines too. I also know what it's like to be all alone in the blackness of space."
Owsee, "and now you know what it's like to live on a green planet again."
I said, "well here's to a green planet with blue water and no C.M.A’s."
Owsee, "I'll drink to that."
I said, "I thought you would."
And we drink our rum with a little beer to wash it down.
I said, "when are you planning to build that room of yours in the upper part of the barn?"
Owsee, "before your children are born, why, are you trying to get me out of the house?"
I said, "no, I'm just looking for things to put on my to-do list. I figured I would be helping you with the new place. How's your writing coming along?"
Owsee, "I’m doing very well, thank you. I can read any poem that Goo da wa puts up on the wall."
I said, "before long I will need to sit down and write some real stories, not just poems. I spent 10 years of my brothers farm, that should give me something to write about that the people around here can relate to."
Owsee, "so you lived on a farm too?"
I said, "yes, it was a dairy farm, we milked about 80 cows."
Owsee, "my translator does not have a word for cows, but we milk goats."
I said to him that my translator made that out to be goats and asked him what they looked like.
Owsee, "well, they're short, have lots of hair, and come in many different colors."
I said, "you could be talking about bartenders."
Owsee, "that's right, but he has no hair. There is a farm not too far down the road from town. We will go one day and I will show you what we call a goat, and the bird we get eggs from."
I said, "I like farms, as long as I'm not working there, ha ha."
Owsee, "yes farms are a lot of work, and I just remembered that the fish in the freezer needs to be turned over. They need more water poured on them to keep it all in good shape."
So we went down to the walk-in freezer. As soon as we went in we spotted a big bucket of berries.
I said, "when do you think she found time to pick all of them?"
Owsee, "maybe while you were asleep. Catalacks like to get up at night and do things or just walk around. That is why they take naps during the day.”
We turned all the fish over and gave them a spray of water. After leaving the freezer I said to Owsee, "that was cold work."
He said, "yes, it can get to you after a while."
I then saw a table with wood carving tools on it and asked Owsee about them.
He said, "I made pipes when I was a boy, and sold them in town. Sometimes a man from the big city would come by and take 10 or more to resell, I was good at carving faces on them."
I said, "so these tools have been sitting there for over 35 years, and no one has touched them?"
Owsee, "yes, that's one thing you can say about this town, there is not a thief among them. You cannot say that about the cities, because of the aliens that come and go."
I said, "it's the same on earth. People move out of the cities to get away from the crime, and before
you know it the small town becomes a city with problems."
Owsee, "35 years and this place has not changed a bit, it's as if time stood still here."
I said, "well time didn’t stand still when it came to aging you."
Owsee, "that's because I did not stay here. If I had I would still be that young man, at least at heart."
I said, "do you feel young enough to have another drink?"
Owsee, "I would race you to it but I don't want to embarrass myself."
As we started up the stairs kitty was just coming in and said, "so that's where you are. What have you been up to?"
I said, "we have been turning frozen fish over. How was your day at the shop?"
Kitty, "not bad, more people than yesterday. Before long, I will have to get new stock. That means a trip into the city to find suppliers."
Owsee, "you can use my transport and make a day of it."
Kitty, "did you find the paper you were looking for?"
I said, "yes, and some ink too."
Kitty, "and what will you do with it?"
I said, "we cut it into sheets then put the alphabet on one side and a poem on the other."
Owsee, "and we give a free download of the language, and how to pronounce it, to each of Goo da wa’s customers."
I said, "we are even talking about doing something with the school children."
Kitty, "I want a download too, so I can learn to read before my children do."
I said, "no problem, I'll make a sheet for you and a download tonight."
Kitty, "I have a new recipe I want to try tonight. I forget what it is called, but it sounded good to me. Is there only the three of us tonight?"
Owsee, "did you ask the doctor if he was coming?"
Kitty, "he said he was eating with the Mayor. What about Goo da wa?"
Owsee, "now that his bar is open I don't think we will see much of him unless we go there."
Kitty, "we should take him something from time to time, like I did on the station. I truly think the only thing the man knows how to make it a meat sandwich."
Owsee, "if you want some good recipes, we can download them from my ship. She can make just about anything you can think of."
Kitty, "then how come it's not cooking tonight?"
Owsee, "will you hit me if I say because we had to put its memory chips in storage"?
Kitty, "no, but you can put the notion that a machine can out cook me in storage as well."
Owsee, "I didn't mean any harm in what I said, I'm going to shut my mouth now."
Kitty, "oh, now you're not been any fun at all." And she gave him a kiss on the head. Then she walked over to me and gave me a passionate kiss on the mouth. I asked what that was for and she said, "for being the only one I can do that with anymore."
She went back to the kitchen as I said, "thank you."
Owsee just looked at me and smiled under his mug of ale. I smiled back and said, "sometimes it's good to have a mate."
Owsee, "she will never let you go hungry, that one."
I pushed my empty rum mug toward him and he made me another one of his stay awake orange rum drinks.
I said, "how would you like to hear a stupid joke?"
Owsee, "sure, do I need to be very stupid to understand it?"
I said, "no, but it sounds funnier. Anyway, it goes like this;
“A cowboy is riding along and sees an Indian with his ear to the ground. The Indians says, "one wagon, two horses, a man, a woman, a child and a dog; one hour ago." The cowboy says, "that's pretty good. You can tell all that just from putting your ear to the ground?" He says, "no, they ran over me an hour ago, oh my." Ha ha."
Owsee, "I don't know what a cowboy or an Indian is, but I understand. They ran over me. Ha ha, very funny."
Just then there was a knock and a hello at the door.
I walked over and said, "can I help you?"
The man said, "I'm looking for a Owsee wa sphere."
Owsee called out, "I'm Owsee, what do you need?"
The man said, "I need you to show me where you think the geo thermal well should go."
Owsee, "on the other side of the barn, I'll show you."
So the three of us went out to the other side of the barn and the man drove a stake in the ground. He said the crew would be here at first light, then he left and we went back to the house.
Owsee said he thought they might be able to drive the well in just one day, because of a unseen fissure in the rock that ran under the mountain and across the property. Owsee said that the man told him he had never drove a well in just one day, but once they start, they will keep working day and night until the job is done. I nodded my head as if to agree that this is the way things should be done.
Then the scent of supper cooking got my attention and I said, "something is starting to smell good."
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Kitty said, "I only hope it tastes as good as it smells, but it will take just a bit more simmering."
It then started to rain, and it was coming down good at hard. There were flashes of lighting and the crash of thunder. Owsee and I stood on the porch for bit and watched it.
I said to Owsee, "I don't see any lightning rods on the barn or house."
He said, "what is a lightning rod?"
I told him how they work and that we should make some before we start the generators up. He thought that was a good idea.
Then the power went off but Owsee knew just where to find the old oil lamps and candles.
Supper was a nice beef stew with dumplings. We were almost done before the power came back on. Owsee said that once the substation got hit by lightning and it took a week to get it fixed. I said that would be another place that could use a lightning rod, and that because the wind generators stand so high in the air they must get hit from time to time as well.
Owsee, "that's probably what caused the blackout, it throws the breakers at the substation. But after tomorrow we won’t have to worry about that anymore."
It stopped raining and the air had the fresh smell to it.
I told Kitty I felt like a walk and was going to see how Goo da wa was doing. Owsee said he was too tired, but Kitty said she was up to a walk so we both went.
It had rained so hard that a couple of the torches had gone out, so I relit them as we went. As we walked in the cave bar, we saw that we were not the only ones. There were 10 men at the bar and another six at tables. They all had sheets of paper in front of them and seemed to be working on how to read the new poem.
Goo da wa came over to our end of the bar and said, "what can I get you?"
I said I would take a short ale and Kitty asked for for juice. We sat at the table, at this end of the bar, and Goo da wa brought us our drinks.
I said, "it looks like your customers are into the reading program."
Goo da wa, "oh they love it, not only is it something to do but they get a new poem just for translating it. And I told them that next week I will be having a contest to see who can read a new poem the fastest; the winner gets a large picture of brew."
I said, "it sounds like being able to read is catching on."
Goo da wa, "it's the poem's. They would do anything to get a new story, even if it is only a page long."
I said, "I need to sit down and write a nice short story for you to give them. You then can cut it up into parts, and dish it out a few pages at a time."
Kitty, "I want a sheet of paper like your other customers and a download of how to pronounce the letters too."
I said, "yes, Kitty wants to start reading as well."
Goo da wa, "I have an extra of each."
Kitty, "oh damn, I forgot to bring the stew I put aside for you."
Goo da wa, "don't worry about it, I ate not long ago. One of my customers brought me something his wife calls smorgesh pie. It was very good, and filling, he said his wife gave you the recipe. And let's not forget the leftovers from the party. I made a walk-in freezer out of part of one of the
caves in the back, just so I could store it all. And now that I have power I turned another cave into a waste disposal room with an incinerator, I just take out the ashes each day."
I said, "it sounds like the place is coming together."
He said, "it is, there are still a few things I want to do to the place, but for now I have everything I need. Talking about needs, I'll be right back." And he went to fill a few mugs.
Kitty and I stayed and talked a bit more with Goo da wa, until we were done with our drinks, then we went home. Owsee had already gone to bed, Kitty and I did the same.
“Night talk”
But I could not get right to sleep. Things kept running through my mind, like starting a school program, writing a story for Goo da wa, making a lightning rod, mining crystals and going to a station to sell them to a pirate by myself. That's the kind of thing I could use Owsee with, but he would draw too much attention at the Star gate. I was lying there thinking about all these things when I felt Kitty quietly get up. She hardly moved the covers at all, as she slipped out of bed. I pretended to be asleep, or at least trying to. Then I told myself that maybe a smoke would help me calm my mind. So I got up and headed for the porch. On the way through the living room, I saw Kitty on the sofa, stretching.
She said, "did I wake you? I was trying not to."
I said, "no, I can't get to sleep, too much thinking about things. Why are you up?"
Kitty, "oh, I just felt like stretching and turning but didn't want to wake you."
I said, "I thought maybe a smoke would relax me."
Kitty, "try some of that bud liqueur, it put you out the other night."
I said, "that it did," and poured myself a small glass of it, then went out to the porch to sit down and have myself a smoke.
I sat down on the rocking chair and soon Kitty came out to curl up on the wooden love seat next to me, with a pillow she brought from the sofa.
We looked at the stars in the now clear sky and I said, "I can't believe I have traveled so far that I cannot even see the one my home planet is lit by."
Kitty, "I don't even know where to look for mine, but I'm glad I am not there."
I said, "why? Is it that bad there?"
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