'City of Fresno'

[jemhouston]

Nicely done

[kdahm]

My beloved partner, of course, laughed until she got the hiccups. I had to sorta bear-hug her. This turned to pacing her breathing via 'mouth to mouth', which soon segued into passion. After, between giggles, we retreated to our nearer en-suite, lovingly wash-clothed each other.

I needed several days to delegate the last of my training commitments, 'temporarily' decline undertaking more. Warily quizzed, I simply muttered, 'NDA'. This sufficed.

Now this is just wrong. It's the far flung Nik Rational Future. When asked, he should simply be able to say, "Doctor's orders." and have it be accepted like that.

After all, who wants to piss the sawbones off?

[Nik_SpeakerToCats]

City of Fresno #92

What to do ? Well, first, I ran our usual half-load of washing.

Then I washed the un-used, but now stale bedding off the second cabin's remaining bunks. Even aired for that first 'quarantine' week, Harris' synthetic pheromones had lingered on the original set. To the Stewards' dismay, a standard wash/dry cycle did not suffice. Nor did two. Glumly, they replaced those intractable 'stinkers'. Still, took three (3) further wash/dry cycles before reckoning 'clean enough'. And the bulky, similarly contaminated bed-pads ? Consulting the Engineers, the Stewards had bundled those into an air-lock, vacuum de-gassed them for several days, then a full week. A second week. A third...

With two tranches of washing run, hung, I went walk-about. Our 'local' Community room would keep my 'No Smells' provision against urgent need. It was currently booked by a 'club' of traditional gamers: Go, Chess, Chequers and Dominos.

I made polite small-talk, studied the various 'Positions'. I could play a little --One player was so missing an elegant 'Mate in Three', another a potential 'hop-scotch' chain-- but, like other 'Zero Sum' games, such did not appeal. Be it 'visible' or 'hidden hand', even or random 'assets', if I won, they lost: Where was the fun ? Why even bother ??

I made my excuses, moved on.

The other end of our berthing module held a busy Yoga class. To my surprise, it was being run, um, 'pretzellated' by Jill Rollings. A lanky brunette with nut-brown eyes, skin and short curls, she was a true TBM expert. But, last I'd heard, she'd intended to stay on Chaparral.

Those near-frantic shelter excavations could not afford any, any un-scheduled down-time from damage or excessive wear. Then, after our 'Last Train' call, with only utter essentials such as adits, spinals, 'Ponics and barracks dug, residents would still need those rigs for many, many more months to progressively extend the initially basic accommodation. So, I'd laid heavy emphasis on 'sustainability': Better to run those essential TBMs a tad slower for scant down-time rather than 'just-too-hard'. Wondrous hourly 'drives' punctuated by random halts were no substitute for predictable progress: 'Murphy Mishaps' are the bane of Gantt Charts...

Based on local geology, via core samples and pilot bores, I'd established a nominal 'sweet-spot with provisos and cautions' for each Teppui's big TBM. Jill was one of the few shift-operators who routinely, consistently did better. In fact, her TBM shifts' steady progress, her 'Mean Time Between Failure' were such 'outliers', I'd made several wary visits to convince myself her logs were true. Watching her sat in what seemed a trance for hour after hour, minutely adjusting, tweaking her TBM's systems, anticipating, compensating for nigh-subliminal variations, left me awed. I had uncommon focus, plus my medical augments' aid if required. Jill, though, was in a different league. After confirming she was not on booster drugs, I'd nod politely, back away.

"Jake !" Jill called from what seemed an anatomically implausible contortion. "You've been so busy !"

"And you're looking totally topological !" I dropped my voice so we would not be heard over the session's relaxing 'muzak'. "But I thought you were staying on Chaparral ?"

"Nah... " She shook her head then, with a near-fluid elegance to rival cats or cephalopods, unwound to a basic tuck. "Not after I realised the Pastors' Neo-Puritan faction were planning to lock down deep-shelter society stricter than those historical 'Pilgrim Fathers' ! Where's the fun in that ?"

"Fair point," I admitted. Jill had been well-known, bordering on 'infamous', for her wild parties and torrid, nay, 'volcanic' affaires. Not my concern, given she *always* showed up to work sober and sufficiently rested. But, her comment had opened a 'Can of Worms'. "Hmm. When you can, tell the Gillespies--"

"Huh ? Those travelling musicians ?"

"They're a lot more than that, Jill: Convention sent them to study Chaparral society ahead of the probable decade or more's isolation."

"I'll be..."

"If Chaparral's Pastors had a strict lock-down *officially* planned, perhaps much more than appropriate caution against over-consumption, too rapid population growth and such, the Gillespies need to know." I took a shaky breath. "At the very least, excessive restrictions would be 'Un-Conventional', incur sanctions. At worst, it suggests there was a zealots' 'Palace Coup' brewing..."

"Yeah, there were whispers, rumours: We thought them clumsy jokes !"

"Ah. Given your information, the Gillespies might retrospectively spot hints, clues, precursors. Yes, we're a long, long way from home. Yes, may be decades, perhaps a century before the Convention / Alliance comes looking for us." I shook my head. "But your whistle-blow needs to be 'On the Record' against the next time."

"We have been tossed 'Wild and Wide'." Jill sniffed. "Still beats playing 'Houri' for Pastor Lennox, that big Tepui's so-smarmy 'First Councillor': The leering lout tried to 'claim' me as his 'Personal Squeeze' !"

We'd met. He'd sneered at my apparent youth, was aghast when I then insisted he address me as 'Doctor Kinson' instead of my usual 'Mister' or, simply, 'Jake'. Under duress, however, I reckoned Jill would resort to 'Infirmative Action'. I was fairly sure she'd done some Aikido. Very carefully, I asked, "How memorably did you dissuade him ?"

"A week's bed-rest and pee-pipe for his 'groin strain'. Couple of weeks' traction for his lower back. Physio for six dislocated fingers, left elbow and right shoulder. Couple of minor sprains..." Jill calmly tallied, then sighed, admitted, "But I had to grab my go-bag and run !"

"I'll let Anne-Marie know you're aboard." I grinned. "She liked your style. I'm just not limber enough for some of her moves."

"Ha ! You obviously do okay ! And, my very belated apologies: After I'd teased her for acquiring a 'Toy-Boy', A-M just shook her head, said you were a 'Really Good Guy', remarkably capable."

"I'm a fourth-generation Geologist: We cross-train."

"A-M did mention you were 'Disconcertingly Dangerous'." She gave me a calculating look. "Even for A-M, that was one hell of an under-statement: I didn't realise by how much until I saw the footage of Harris' take-down...

"You could have gone 'Fox in a Hen-House', broken her minions like so many crispy-wings !"

"Fortunately, I also had lesser options."

"Quite..." She repeated that calculating look. "But how many others aboard could honestly claim that ?"

I shrugged, allowed, "Hopefully, enough."

[Belushi TD]

Something doesn't ring true here. Please correct me where my assumptions are wrong, and the ring will probably true up quickly....

1. 6,000 people on the ship, thereabouts?
2. Passenger lists and bios have been studied intensely looking for skills that can be used, if I recall correctly, by both our hero and heroine.
3. its been a large number of months since the initial "oops".

How did our hero not realize that she was on board, since they've previously been friends?

Belushi TD

[jemhouston]

How are you feeling?

[Nik_SpeakerToCats]

Just shy of 5000...
"Officially, it was four-nine-something-something plus the skeleton crew."

Jake and A-M were initially hyper-focussed on 'Ponics skills / training, then Jake on aptitude for Evac Pod stripping / re-work for gas processing.

Jake and A-M thought Jill was staying on Chaparral.
It's possible that, given her 'Infirmative Action', Jill boarded her Evac Pod or shuttle 'Less than Overtly'. And, yes, in addition to having abandoned much on Chaparral, she may have been severely distressed by Fresno's 'Long Jump' Field Shock and consequences...
She may also have decided that A-M and Jake had enough going on, so 'Laid Low'...
--

Me ? Weird having dominant eye, short-sighted since adolescence, now suddenly long-sighted. Still 'settling', still have some astigmatism. And, L-eye's cataract has mostly progressed to 'frosted glass', only good for peripheral and night-vision.
Next Ophthalmic appt on 04 Sept. Will check possible minor retinal bleed, partially auto-resolved to 'exasperating foggy smudges'. May need yet-another 'Scary-Mary' intra-ocular enzyme injection, have to defer optician visit for Px spectacle lens by a couple more weeks. Working this computer using a budget pair of 'generic' x2 reading glasses...

I've spent last few weeks recursively tweaking Fresno 'buffer' text, unable to add more than a paragraph or so before 'Writers Block' set in. No 'Thousand Words a Day', not even close. At least I can again read my manuscript notes for next-but-one major arc. Fortunately, grim perseverance seems to have worked the worst knots from my wits. I've finally begun work on Chapter #96. Which has 'bumped' this much-augmented #92 from buffer...

[jemhouston]

Stand advice, rest, don't overdo it, and listen to the doctors.