The Sea of Grass: Chapter 7

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The Sea of Grass

Book cover with dried grasses.

Chapter 7


Dear Jim,


Today I was assigned the task of assembling the Organic Matter Refiner (OMR for short). I was not looking forward to this. We did practice this when we trained for this mission, but we did it as the whole team of engineers who wanted to go on this mission. Now I was alone. With a construction manual. I went through the whole process in my head while lying in bed yesterday evening. I didn't feel very confident.


As it couldn't be helped I made my way to the other side of the river right after breakfast. Someone has erected a large tent at the meeting place between the cargo pod and the pod of Maia and Arthur. It would have been fit for a large party. When I arrived most of the relevant boxes and crates marked with the letters O.M.R. were already laid out inside the tent. I found the box numbered '1' and opened the instructions on my wrist pad. For convenience I decided to project them onto the inside of the tent. I therefore positioned my pad on one of the larger crates in the right angle and was just about to open box one, when the flap of the tent moved and someone came in.


I turned around and saw a woman with ash blonde hair, which was just as short as that of all other people. She was of average height and a bit older than me, maybe in her 30s. Behind her came a tall man. He had dark skin and short curly hair with a grey spot at the right temple.


'Hi, I'm Maia, I'm not sure if you remember me from the meeting,' the woman said, extending a hand and giving me a friendly smile. 'This is my husband Arthur, we're living in the pod nearby.'


I shook both their hands and went back to looking into box number 1 while trying to appear like I knew exactly what I was doing.


'I don't know how you do it, knowing how all this goes together,' she vaguely waved at the boxes and their contents.


'Uh-huh,' I answered, trying to find a way to get out of this. 'You are a botanist, right? Found anything interesting yet?'


Maia was happy to show me pictures of various flowers on her wrist pad. She talked about petals and stamen and where exactly she found them. I decided to seize the chance and ask her about the trees. Her face lit up, she was obviously very happy that someone was interested in her work.


'Oh, that's a very good question. Come with me,' Maia said and went out of the tent, then walked over to the tree next to her and Arthur's pod. There was a long ladder leaning on it, indicating that she had indeed had a closer look at it. She patted the tree's rough trunk with her hand.


'These 'trees' as you call them – and I really haven't found a better way to describe them myself yet – are incredibly hard. I tried to take a sample by drilling into the trunk but the drill didn't get in. I am sure, though, that they must be plants. Did you notice they don't have any leaves at all? I think it might be the trunk and branches themselves being responsible for the photosynthesis. Or maybe they do in fact get energy some other way? To be honest, I don't have the slightest idea yet. But let me show you something else,' she explained and started to climb the ladder, up to the knobbly branches of the tree until she almost reached the end of one of the lower branches.


'And now listen!' she said loudly so I could hear her from below. Maia suddenly hit the branch with a torch she had carried in her pocket. This surprisingly resulted in a sound, which was something like 'gongongongongong' – if you know what I mean.


'They are hollow inside,' Maia explained, while climbing down the tree. 'Ever wondered about that sound you hear when there is wind? Well, that's the sound. Now don't ask me why it is that way. I just haven't had time to find out yet.'


You know, I already had suspicions about the trees and this sound and what Maia told me seems to confirm this. These trees seem to be colossal pipes!


After this lesson in biology I returned to the tent. I saw that Arthur had continued to unload the OMR boxes from the cargo pod. He got help from a tall middle-aged man who looked like he was used to all kinds of manual labour. He was wearing a black hat with a wide brim and had a light brown mustache and one earring. I soon remembered seeing him at the meeting. When the two men put down the crate they were carrying into the grass, Arthur was visibly sweating.


'Laszlo was nice enough to help me with this one,' he panted. 'He wanted to see how things are going with the machine.'


Laszlo nodded in greeting.


'Gerald says he needs a chicken coop. Tom needs a shed, he says,' Laszlo tried to explain why the OMR was an urgent matter.


I therefore went back into the tent, conjured up the assembly instructions on my pad again and got to work. It did not help that I felt watched impatiently by Laszlo the whole time, but he was always there immediately when there was a part to lift or to hold in place. Step by step I worked my way through the instructions. One box after the other was emptied and I am happy to report that I used all the parts, so I was optimistic.


Around noon, Arthur returned with bowls of stew for me and Laszlo. I was expecting another insta-meal, but it turned out to be fresh. Arthur explained that he had found various dried provisions as well as canned goods in the cargo pod. He had also brought his own supply of spices.


I sat down on an empty box, food in one hand, spoon in the other and a bottle of water next to me. I complimented Arthur on his cooking and Lazlo nodded and made a sound of agreement. Arthur meanwhile looked curiously at our progress. I had by then assembled the raw material masher and the matter scrambler.


'By the way, what's your occupation?' I asked him casually.


Arthur laughed, 'I am a linguist! Can you believe it? They said I should come along with Maia because who knew what kind of inhabitants we would find on this planet. But I suspect they mainly let me join because they knew Maia wouldn't come without me. And now I am here. Maybe I'll try to talk to the birds in the sky? Or the little burrowing critters in the ground?'


He laughed again. 'I'll make myself useful one way or another. I just don't think it will have anything to do with languages.'


After lunch I started to build the particle analyzer but I missed one part halfway through and had to partially disassemble it again. Laszlo chuckled quietly. It was pretty embarrassing. After this was done I decided to call it a day. Laszlo patted my back encouragingly and left when I did. It had started to rain outside and I hurried to get over the river and back to my pod.


I am now lying in bed, listening to the rain drumming on the roof. I can almost imagine that I am back home again. Tomorrow I will build the calibration unit and maybe start with the re-fabricator . At the current rate it will take me three more days to finish this work.


Love, Sarah

Landscape.
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