Made my minimum last night. This weekend is going to be busy, though, its going to be tough to do it. And I start housesitting for the Olsons on Sunday. Yes, I can use their computer, but there are going to be other distractions available to me--like a television that can play more than DVDs.
I will try and persevere.
Anyway, let me tell you a bit more about the story. John Holbrook, Chief Biologist on the Magellan, has crashlanded on a planet that is definitely not Epsilon Eridani I, which was the ship's destination. He's still not quite sure where he is, English seems to be a latin-like language of the clergy here, and he keeps stepping in it as far as mores go.
Anyway, another except from my not so great American Novel is in the extended entry. It's nice in that John sums up his situation at that point in his thoughts.
That next morning proved that his window faced the east, since the streaming light of the rising sun flowed into the room, and right into the bed. John blearily opened his eyes, as did Eirene. "Ismail." she said, stroking his cheek. She then spoke a few words, John looked puzzled. He didn't think she was giving him her phone number. And he wasn't going to mention the dream last night. He hoped that he didn't look too drained from the experience. He blinked his eyes and bucked himself up.
"Thank you as well." John said. "And I am sorry for confusing you last night, Eirene." The young woman got out of the bed and went to a corner of the room where, in the day's light, he could now see she had left her clothes. Dressing in the simple tunic, she lowered her head to him, and then went to the door, opened it, and left. John in the meantime sat on the bed, still trying to figure things out.
"All right, John Holbrook." he said. "We've saved a woman, met her father, enjoyed the food of his house, nearly started an incident over local customs, and made love to a complete stranger because apparently only eunuchs sleep alone. And that was after crashing the life pod on this alien world that's hauntingly similar to Earth. And had a dream about fighting an entity of some sort."
"What am I going to do for an encore on day two?"
John sighed and went over to where he had dropped his backpack when he entered the room for the first time last night. All of his gear was still there, but then, if they considered him an Ismail, they might think anything he owned might be valuable, or dangerous, or both! He just hoped they didn't expect a lot more magic tricks. That white glow he had produced in the dream with Balrog...that was just a dream. It certainly wasn't something to be done in the real world. Not the world of spacecraft and life-pods.
Speaking of which, though, John thought, he found the transponder and turned it on. There was still no sign of any signals. If any of the pods had made it to ground, they were further away than the range of the device. A large city, John thought. News of people like him would reach large cities before others. Perhaps that should be his next move.
But in the meantime, a growl in his belly told him that he wanted food. Just what were breakfast customs? Or bathing customs for that matter, how did they work here? There wasn't a private bath in the room; of that much he was certain. Dressing in the same clothes he had on yesterday, he left his room to try and find some answers.
John's wanderings through the stone building were relatively short, as he was altered and attracted by the sudden feel of warm, humid air on his face. Following this, he soon came to what looked like the ruins of the Roman spa in Bath. Although, it was clear to John that these were in a far better state of condition than those ruins. A young man, dressed in a robe, walked out, giving a nod to John.
John sighed and went over to where he had dropped his backpack when he entered the room for the first time last night. All of his gear was still there, but then, if they considered him an Ismail, they might think anything he owned might be valuable, or dangerous, or both! He just hoped they didn't expect a lot more magic tricks. That white glow he had produced in the dream with Balrog...that was just a dream. It certainly wasn't something to be done in the real world. Not the world of spacecraft and life-pods.
Speaking of which, though, John thought, he found the transponder and turned it on. There was still no sign of any signals. If any of the pods had made it to ground, they were further away than the range of the device. A large city, John thought. News of people like him would reach large cities before others. Perhaps that should be his next move.
But in the meantime, a growl in his belly told him that he wanted food. Just what were breakfast customs? Or bathing customs for that matter, how did they work here? There wasn't a private bath in the room; of that much he was certain. Dressing in the same clothes he had on yesterday, he left his room to try and find some answers.
Posted by Jvstin at November 8, 2003 09:38 AM | TrackBack