April 5: A Depth of Understanding (10 page)

"I was happy not to be in the middle of that. I've had enough people shooting at me. Wiggen is a citizen now, she's a nice lady and very smart. It looks like she has something going with Ben Patsitsas. Maybe he can write a book about it."

"He doesn't look like he's angling for a book contract to me," Amos scoffed.

They were leaning over heads close together speaking quietly and looking very happy.

"I think you're right," April said smiling. "Good for her!"

"Good for him too," Amos decided.

"Ruby is calling you over," Gunny pointed out to Amos.

"Ah, I guess this is my chance to make a fool of myself," he said getting up.

They talked a little on stage, laughing and smiling. Then Ruby spoke in the mic. "This is Amos of The Ancient Astronauts," that got a few hoots and whistles. "Their music is a little more contemporary, but we're going to do a classic Gershwin piece, Rhapsody in Blue."

Amos did a wailing intro, maybe fifteen seconds long and then Ruby came in pounding on the piano like a thunderstorm breaking. They did short solos a few places with no more than a nod for a cue. When they got through they got the best response of all. The audience was too stunned to do anything at all for a bit. Then they all stood and made a lot of noise for such a small crowd.

"I think they liked it," he said grinning when he got back to his seat.

"I saw Easy recording it. If you want a copy ask him for the file," April suggested.

"That I will. I'll send a copy down to the guys, to show them I can still play cold. Hey, can I get one of those Mimosas again?" he asked the waiter.

It was a very good night.

Chapter 8

"Take this to Amos, singer and lead guitarist for the Ancient Astronauts, at the Holiday Inn. I have no last name." April instructed the courier, early the next morning. In the box was a chocolate brown cape with a lining of gold
Moiré
silk. She figured he'd be amused by such a gift.

 April went to breakfast alone, Gunny sleeping in. All done, she needed to go home and study for her Japanese class and continue with economics for the Bank. She didn't feel like it. Instead she got another mug of coffee and looked at the Earth news.

Police in New Bern North Carolina ripped a woman's front yard landscaping out with a USDA action team because she had colorful decorative cabbages. They did so because she didn't have the required commercial agriculture license. As the police chief told reporters, "A cabbage is a cabbage."

Demonstrators in New York City blocked Wall Street and disrupted commuters protesting the importation of New Zealand wool. "How many sheep have to be slaughtered to get enough wool for a winter coat?" one sign carrier asked the TV news crew.

"Dare to be Great motivational speaker registers for tax exempt religious status," said another headline. "Jesus dared," he responded to traditional religious spokesmen.

The State of Idaho announced agricultural security zones. Designated tracts to be blocked and gated to public access and not be entered or crossed for recreational purposes. Resident farmers, employees and emergency services will be issued gate control cards. FAA restrictions for air traffic below three thousand meters are immediately effective.

The Federal Forest Service determined that native plants are not exempt from Guerrilla Gardening restrictions, if there is a pattern of illicit harvesting. A list of eradication and suppression targets for native plants not on the endangered list will be issued annually, depending on what species are seized from illegal harvesters. Morel mushrooms and watercress are the first items on the list for the states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

The city of Brimfield Ohio passed an ordinance prohibiting adults from wearing any dark blue shirt or blouse which might be reasonably mistaken as part of a police uniform.

A cache of ammunition with lead core bullets was discovered in the basement of a home in the 1700 block of Morse St. in Gary IN. The discovery was made by new owners after the home was sold as part of an estate. Environmental  suited  personnel of several agencies were seen removing the material in sealed containers after the neighborhood was evacuated. Heavy metal testing will be done on the building and soil to determine if the structure is safe for human habitation or will have to be bagged and demolished.

California prohibited the importation of eggs from Canada packaged in units of twelve eggs instead of ten as mandated by California regulations. Head consumer watchdog for the state William Reilley said sales in quantities divisible by both even and odd numbers confuses buyers making price comparisons. When told that ten was divisible by five, Reilley asked: "What does that have to do with it?"

French fashion house announces ad campaign which challenges: "Chanel your inner girl."

A British girl enrolled in fifth grade at Hillary Rodham Clinton elementary school in  Wheeling W.V. was arrested for refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance. Cops cuffed her and jailed her after she said: "God save the King." Her father says they will return to Wales.

The city of Prescott AZ ruled artificial grass does not meet their zoning ordinances. The defendant in the case removed the RealGrass ® and installed sod. City officials say they will be watching closely that he does not violate watering prohibitions which are in their fifth year.

How was anyone supposed to interpret any of this to know how to deal with them? What could one reasonably conclude about their probable reaction to anything you'd do? Maybe Gunny could help her.

Her com pinged her and the message from Amos was: "Thanks."

She replied: "You're welcome."

Jeff called her on com all excited. He didn't drop a text, wanting to actually talk with video on, which was unusual for him. She closed the news window to talk to him.

"April, I've been working with some of Heather's people at Central. They've been trying to find a way to make longer Bucky tubes. They tried making bacteria to grow them internally with no success, they tried to make them link with each other in various solutions, they tried to make nano manipulators to stick the ends together, all sorts of things to no avail."

"I take it something worked?"

"Yes! We made a membrane with dimples and orifices at the bottom of each dimple. The hole is just the right size for a Bucky tube to poke through. You put an insulating liquid full of short pieces of Bucky on one side of the film and make sure the molecules of the fluid are too big to get stuck in the holes. If you agitate the fluid and vibrate the membrane with an ultrasonic transducer, the short pieces of Bucky lodge in one of the holes and other sections line up and link. The neat part is if you keep putting them under tension the occasional defects at the weld migrate and self heal. It extrudes a perfect Bucky tube out the other side of the film indefinitely long as long as you keep adding feed stock and power it. Isn't that great? You can even grow different diameter tubes if you presort the fragments for feed stock and use different size orifices."

"So how are you going to use them?"

"We'll be able to make conductors, not just add tubes to metal for mechanical properties, but make wires and cables of pure carbon. We'll have super high strength composites and cheap! I'll be able to make that beanstalk much sooner than I hoped."

"Can you make tubes of concentric Bucky?" April asked him.

"Yes, they form that way easily. Why?"

"I don't know for sure. I figured tubes in tubes would be stiffer. The nested tubes might link side to side internally. Or you might be able to stuff a bigger tube with something besides carbon and a bigger tube you might be able to have holes in the side at intervals. I bet you might be able to put platinum in there inside a tube with a hole by it and it would be a catalyst for a long time before it got poisoned with pollutants and stopped working. I wonder if you could make Bucky hoops? With all the possible different shapes, something has to have weird properties and be useful."

"Let me think on that. I'll run it past the Central people and see if anybody has ideas."

"Thanks Jeff. Congratulations on your break through."

He disconnected, still grinning.

April considered a third cup of coffee. For some reason she just didn't want to go home. She looked up at the coffee urns and there was a couple filling their cups who caught her eye. Even with their backs turned they looked familiar. The way the woman held herself...But the hair was wrong. When they turned she was sure and amused. It was the Alphonses and they were disguised, but did they really think they could fool her? April waved them over to join her.

They had been to Home before to get Life Extension Therapy and met April briefly. She had even taken them to dinner. But there had been stories in the news to indicate they'd let the retro virus get away from them when they returned home and infected both Spanish royalty and prominent churchmen. Something Earthies viewed as biological terrorism. They were wanted, in the criminal sense.

"James, Elena, I'm happy to see you. Why didn't you tell me you were coming up? I'd have made sure to set aside some time and been ready to entertain you."

James looked funny with the moustache. It made him look silly as far as April was concerned and his hair was cut differently. Elena was stunning no matter what her hair color. They approached her table, Elena with a neutral expression and James with a curious look. Close up it was obvious to her trained eye both were enjoying LET and it showed in their skin first, with even the minor wrinkles people got in their thirties disappearing.

"I'm sorry, I'm certain we have not met. Might I ask your name?" James inquired. He still had that formal, educated air about him.

"Oh...You're incognito. I can understand that. Ok we'll play it that way. Join me if you wish. I'm April Lewis. Welcome to Home. What are your names and are you still, uh, I mean, are you Spanish? Or where are you from, lately?"

Elena lifted an eyebrow, but took the invitation to sit with her. And James followed her lead. "Indeed we once lived in Spain. It was lovely. But we're from Italy most recently. I'm Helen, from Portugal and my husband Jesse was born in Monaco. We came over from ISSII two days ago. I think I've seen you on the news services, but I doubt you've seen anything about us. We're rather unremarkable. Jess is an actuary and I've been working with various PR and fund raising teams. We live a fairly quiet life. What do you do Miss Lewis?"

"Oh, you know, the usual things, piracy, international banking, club owner, shuttle pilot and I have an interest in a little greeting card and printing company. I have some partners. I've been neglecting my interests a few weeks though as I went with some friends for a Pacific holiday."

"That sounds interesting. I've had occasion to make use of a printer now and then myself. Though I hadn't expected Home to be a hotbed of the graphic arts."

"You'd be surprised at the breadth of business we are sustaining. Do you mean to stay on Home for awhile, or you just playing the tourist for a few days?"

"If we like the atmosphere and determine there is employment for us, we might very well stay indefinitely. Some of the things in the news recommended Home to us. The low taxation, the personal freedom and the assertion it is a place of opportunity. There isn't any place on Earth I'd nominate for those qualities without reserve."

"No, when we went to the Pacific on vacation we went to an uninhabited atoll where we could enjoy the sea and the sun. A day on Tonga was plenty of rubbing elbows with humanity. I have no desire at all to visit somewhere like New York or Paris. They encompass the Earth we usually refer to as the slum ball."

"A harsh assessment, but one I wouldn't challenge," Helen agreed.

"Have you started a job search then?"

"We were allowing ourselves a day or two to acclimate, but we've stood and examined the job postings in the window of the employment agency just down the corridor. There seems to be no shortage of unfilled positions. Of course a lot of them are rather technical and we won't have the skills for those."

"You might even consider starting something of your own," April suggested. "Your moving about suggests you are multi-lingual, you might do translation, or open your own PR firm, or even open a travel agency. You would have the experience to advise spacers what the proper season and place is to fulfill their yearning for open skies and not pick a time when it will be the monsoon season instead of sunshine. Spacers can be unaware of those things."

"Thank you for the suggestions. We may work a time at something more mundane until we are settled. I'd be happy with a secretarial position. Jess has done other things. He worked as a waiter when he was going through college. I have been told there isn't as much of a social taint to lesser positions here, so we could easily look to improve ourselves later."

That made sense to keep a low profile for awhile if they were fugitives, April decided.

Jess was too busy attacking his breakfast to comment much. April remembered he'd been quieter before too. And possibly not as bright as Helena, er, Helen. But she might have to reassess that. "I have an interest in a private social club that has a very good clientele," she directed to Jess. I'd ask the manager to interview you if you decide you'd like to do that for awhile.

"I'd like that. Especially if the customers are of a quality it would be good to know."

"Those are usually the good tippers too," April quipped.

"That's what I meant," he agreed, grinning. "But the best tips might not be
cash
."

OK, she really shouldn't underestimate him. "It was nice to meet you. I'm sure I'll see you again. Home is like a small town. If there's anything I can do for you I'm in the public directory. What did you say your last name was?"

"We didn't, but we're the Duvals Miss Lewis. Thank you for your kindness."

April put her things on her tray and left the Duvals there. Gunny had been wondering about them. He'd be very interested to hear they'd shown up again on Home. Not that it was a surprise. This was where their LET doctor practiced and they are the sort of people attracted to Home.