by Terry Smith
“I have noticed that there doesn’t seem to be anyone who actually owns any of the farms. Everyone works there as equals and they all seem free to ask for help in areas where they are working and are always willing to help others. They all have their special jobs on the farm but when it is time to take part of the harvest to the community most of them tag along to do their shopping. I love shopping here as everything is free. I still have a couple of credit cards from Earth and may just keep them for memories.”
“To add to the excitement of the evening, I guess I have met someone also. Of course, he is a farmer and his name is Walter. He is about my age, but has never been married, or whatever they consider marriage here. We talk a lot and get along great. He asks me a lot about agriculture on Earth but sometimes I think just to make conversation. We eat lunch together, walk around his farm just to look at the crops, or at least that is our excuse. I think when we were younger we called that watching the submarine races down by the river. We are mainly just friends at this time, but our relationship seems to be growing. Having listened to Wanda, I don’t know if I would expose him to this group by inviting him over. But, he is a tough guy and I am sure he could hold his own. You will be nice, won’t you? No, I suppose that is a little too much to ask from a couple of you.”
This time everyone just clapped. The smiles were growing among the group. Dave said “It looks like the children of our group may be going their own way. I guess we can’t keep you all at home for ever.”
Dave jumped in, feeling left out that he hadn’t been able to tell his story. “I guess I haven’t met anyone but maybe I will. I have been searching for the perfect woman all my adult life, but I guess since I’m not perfect myself, I need to cut my requirements down a little. I am intrigued by the weather here. I know there is an answer somewhere to why it is so great, but not one I can figure out. I have tried to get Thad to give me a clue, but he always changes the subject. When I ask anyone else they always just tell me to ask Thad. I guess that is what is called passing the buck.”
“I have spent a great deal of my time walking around and exploring. I take my dog for company but I have to watch him as I am afraid he will wander off. What intrigues me is the mountains but I have been warned not to try to climb them. It’s like there is some magic up there. The one closest to us seems to even glow, but it is probably just my imagination. I measure everything I can on the weather, but it always stays the same. The temperature is a little cooler at night, there is a little more breeze during some days but other days there is no breeze, the barometric pressure is constant and I just feel we are stuck in a magical environmental wonderland. I just wish I knew how it works the way it does.”
“If any of you run upon a girl with even a possibility that she would like me, send her my way. But what would you do on a date here? There are no movie theaters, no fancy restaurants, no place to go dance, not even an ice cream parlor. I see a lot of people walking around holding hands and talking, but I wouldn’t even know what to talk about. I need help.”
Billie Jo said “Dave, your problem is that you have had those dashing good looks to hide behind. Us average folks have to gain communication skills and finding things in common with other people to create an interest. Give it a try. These people here are really very interesting. Who knows, there may even be one that would like you. But don’t try to talk about the weather because your conversation would be over in less than a minute. Even on Earth most of the weather is boring, but here it has to be the most boring topic of all.”
Evin noted that “I am married, and I miss my wife. She is a wonderful person, and is very dedicated to her work as an elementary teacher. She has supported me in my inability to have a steady job, but has not supported me in my smoking habit. I am sure she will be elated when I return to her and announce that I no longer smoke. But I may just smoke one cigarette when I hit Earth just to celebrate.”
“While here I have spent a great deal of my time visiting the religious groups, of which there are almost as many as we have on Earth. They all seem to have one thing in common; they love and respect each other. Their services are mainly centered on their devotion to love and to help each other and to do good for everyone. They all seem to believe that Gus, or whatever they call him or her, was the creator of their planet and universe. They love him and feel that he is a friend to everyone. They now feel it is their responsibility to care for what has been provided for them. They don’t believe in miracles and most don’t believe that Gus will provide them with anything more than what he has already done, which is a lot. I look around at this planet, and even Earth as it was originally formed, and marvel at the creation that was provided to us.”
“Each of the groups are excited that I have a Bible and we all study and discuss it. They feel that the Bible represents the creation of Earth by our God or whoever they designate as the founder for their religion, but are interested in how we acknowledge the development. Gus will be getting us a copy of the Quran and other books developed by religious groups on Earth so we can study them. He has not commented at all on his role in other religions, or even to Christianity, and has been supportive of all religious groups. I have asked him a couple of questions about religion and he has not responded, but said that the answers are mainly with the people.”
“I think I am learning more about what religion really is than I am providing to them by talking about the Bible and how religion is treated on Earth. I know it is not my calling to write a new Bible, and it would probably be pretty short anyway. These people are wonderful and I love the way they treat their religions. I also love the fact that the children are active in the churches and come willingly to the services.”
Woody was ready. “I have spent most of my time lately monitoring the communication equipment hoping for something from Earth, or from anywhere. I have caught a little noise but nothing that makes sense. Jim also monitors the system and has had the same response. We talk some about what we should do but for now we just listen.”
“I miss my wife. She and I always looked forward to the day when I would leave the Air Force and we could spend some time together. I am nearing retirement but wanted at least one more mission to the Space Station. I was really happy that I got one of the puppies. I didn’t want to name him Sylvester as that was the name of our dog back on Earth, so I settled for Able after Able3. I have taken over the log from Jim and write in it constantly. I have lost track of some of you as you leave in the morning after breakfast and don’t return until just before dinner. I will have a lot to write in the log after tonight. At least you are smart enough to continue to enjoy the wonderful meals that Jim prepares.”
“I have begun spending time visiting the schools in the communities and the rural areas. The kids really seem interested in learning – anything and everything they can. I am amazed that they have a large collection of books about all kinds of topics, of course missing some of our standards like the history of the Earth and the United States and Earth’s geography. They do include a review of all of the jobs where their parents work, including farming and ranching. These classes are all presented by someone from the various plants, stores, farms, ranches and other areas. The kids do ask a lot of questions about why the people of Earth do certain things, and to be honest I am often at a loss. They don’t give tests in their schools but they do have assignments and homework. The kids always do their assignments and are anxious to show their teachers and fellow classmates how much they know. I remember trying to look away when the teacher was calling on someone to see if they did their homework. Quite a group of kids.”
Jim was last. “I use some of my days visiting the various production and manufacturing plants. I am always welcomed when I walk in and they are anxious to show me around. Everyone seems to know exactly what they are doing. They always introduce their apprentices who they are teaching their specialty to, and the apprentices always want to tell me where they are in their l
earning curve. It is surprising how quiet some of the buildings are as everyone goes about their work. There is some fairly sophisticated equipment, but there are no robots and everything that can be done by people is done by people. I have been able to make a few recommendations and they always seem pleased to accept what I have to tell them.”
“When I was leaving Earth for this mission my wife was suffering from a terminal illness. She wanted me to go on Able3 as I would only be gone about a month to direct the installation of the new additions. She didn’t want me to stay around watching her be sick is what she told me. She is a really a tough woman. We have our kids there to be with her, and a lot of good friends. I did feel like I was just getting in the way.”
“I have also met someone. Barbara works in the wood shop and is quite talented. We are good friends and talk often. She was married but her husband died in an accident at the plant where he was working. She admits that it has been hard on her but every day seems a little better. Barbara is such an interesting person. She knows more about woodwork than anyone I have ever known, and she knows the right type of wood to use for each project. The forests that we have in the area have a wide variety of trees which a separate team cuts and brings to the wood shop as needed. They dry the wood in a special chamber and it is ready for their machines to build whatever is needed. I enjoy being around all of the operations, especially the wood shop for two reasons, which I assume you understand.”
“Dave, you were asking about what to do on a date. I might suggest a little woodwork. The machines can be a little noisy and that way the lady doesn’t have to listen to you talk.”
Everyone laughed. Dave responded with a smile “Boy will you all be upset when I do find the right girl and you don’t have anyone to pick on anymore. I need to find a tough one to defend me.”
Woody was still laughing and said “What makes you think we would quit. I bet at your wedding we will all be yelling at the bride “Don’t Do It”.”
Everyone was done with an update on how they are doing. They felt closer now than they have ever felt before. It was time for the nightly prayer, but they all just joined hands and prayed in silence.
Chapter 7
The Planet
The group had tried several times to talk to Thad about their planet. It was definitely different from Earth in that there was no sun, very little rain, rarely any clouds in the sky and the temperature was relatively constant with only a slight breeze at any time. They finally trapped Thad one evening when he decided to invite himself to dinner knowing the quality of meals that Jim prepared. Thad was always welcome to join them as he was a great conversationalist and was funny.
As the meal progressed, Evin broke the silence “So Thad, tell us about your planet. It is certainly different from what we are used to on Earth. I feel certain that you are aware of the differences as you seem to know more about Earth sometimes than we do.”
Thad started, “Well, I guess I should have known that you would trap me into this conversation someday, so here it is. As you say on Earth, there is no such thing as a free meal. First, we are both a planet and a universe, as we have discovered no other planets in our universe. We have no way of measuring exactly, but we think our planet is at least 30 times larger than Earth. Like Earth it is relatively round and rotates completely once a day, but I don’t think we measure days the way you do. To us a day is one rotation of our planet.”
“Our sun is inside of our planet, with a great deal of insulation surrounding it with the exception of a few openings that lead to the surface and beyond on some of the mountains, one of which you see in the distance. The sun heats our planet from the inside, thus our relatively constant temperature. The sun’s rays go outward to the numerous stars that encircle our planet, many more than what you have on Earth. The stars absorb the rays and during the day reflect them back and bring light to the planet. Days are when the sun’s rays are directly hitting the stars. At night, when the sun’s rays are not directly hitting our stars, the stars maintain the light which they have stored and shine as stars do on Earth.”
“Our planet has its own rotation, and the sun inside seems to float in the center which radiates its heat and light constantly hitting various stars as the planet rotates. For example, on the back of our planet the days and nights we believe are opposite of ours on this side of the planet. We are not sure how many openings there in the mountains. You may notice that the daylight goes to nighttime gradually as the reflection changes. There is no sun up and no sun down so it is hard to notice this unless you are really paying attention. You may have noticed that the ground is a little warmer than the air temperature as the heat radiates from inside of our planet.”
“The thing we really miss is that we don’t have a moon. Earth has their large moon at night that seems to add beauty to the nighttime sky. We really like the phases of the moon. I guess it is probably too late to ask Gus for a moon. Maybe you have some leverage with him as he gave you that special name to call him – Gus.”
“We do have some rain about two or three times a year, which is accompanied by some clouds, but generally we are cloudless or very few clouds. Because our weather is so mild we have a relatively fixed humidity and little moisture escapes into the atmosphere. This moisture that has escaped into the atmosphere is replaced when we have the rains. I know we have had a couple of rains since you arrived but they have been mild, with no thunder or lightning.”
We have explored very little of our planet, mainly within a radius of about 500 miles from our communities. A couple of men got the wander lust and decided to look around the planet, but they got lost. We had to send out search parties to find them. They still get offers to guide them around our small communities so they don’t get lost. The people here love a good laugh and those two offered us a good one.”
The terrain changes from farming and ranch ground, to some desert, to some forest type terrain with trees and other vegetation, and the mountains. The various terrains are created by the aquifers under our ground, and how they release water to the surface. The rivers are also fed by these aquifers which flow into the lakes on our planet. The lakes then drain into the aquifers and the process starts over. We have climbed a couple of the mountains where we think the sun’s rays shine through but quickly turned around as the heat from these rays is quite warm as you go up these mountains. The other mountains do have some valuable minerals and other substances which we use in our production and manufacturing. Wanda has been great in helping us improve the use and mixture of these resources. She has discovered other minerals in the rivers and lakes that have also been of great benefit to us.”
“We sometimes wonder if there are any oceans on our planet like we see that you have on Earth. That is one reason why we sometimes want to explore more of our planet. We could use our personal vehicles to make some trips, but even though we are interested, we are not interested enough to really explore. If we do have oceans it really wouldn’t mean that much to us. We wouldn’t want to sail across the oceans to find new lands like they did on Earth because we don’t really need any more land, and we would not be searching for riches because riches don’t really do us any good. We don’t even have currency on our planet because we don’t ever buy anything. We always have what we need and we are happy.”
“We do not know if there is other life on this planet, and don’t even know what lies on the other side. We assume that the terrain continues all around the planet, and that we are the only life form on the planet. We have not heard any communication from our planet like we have from Earth and feel that if any life form does exist it may not have any sophisticated communication. We like to think we are the only ones on the planet.”
“In general we feel our planet is very efficient, and very special. The resources that we have are plentiful in meeting our needs and should provide enough for many thousands, or even millions, of years into the future. We do not have any oil or gas
and really have no use for either one. We have learned how to capture energy from the light generating from the stars which provides service to our homes, manufacturing and business outlets.”
“We have learned a lot from the expertise from the people in your group. We thought we were pretty smart until your group came around. You have provided information clearly and helped develop several improvements to our lives. I know we have not been very forward in telling you how much we appreciate your help, and hope we are somehow showing it in our acceptance of you into our communities. I guess we are not yet ready to ask you to move your residences to our communities, but you seem to enjoy your lives here at the Neighborhood, with your livestock, your farming acreage and the many improvements you have made in your living quarters. In fact, I wish it was the other way around and I could move in with you.”
“That’s about it unless you have any questions. I don’t know if I even understand the science of how all of this works, but it does.”
Evin began with “Thad, wow, that is something. We have observed the many differences here compared to Earth but just accepted it, also because it works. I guess Gus, or whatever you call him, was behind the creation of your planet, and universe, and everything on it. He has definitely made some improvements over the make-up of Earth.”
