Dear Jim,

When I came left my pod in the morning, Barbara was away on a field trip to the other side of the lake. She went off in the early morning to watch some birds. There had been rain during the night. The grass was wet, and everything we had stored outside was, as well. There were still clouds in the sky, but the sun was already coming through. The trees were humming in the wind – although it was warm, it was not as hot as during the last few days.

I could see from afar that Peter seemed to be very busy around his pod, so I decided to go and see what he was up to. I made some Earl Grey tea, put it into a thermos, and strolled over to him. When I got closer, I could tell that he was stressed. Several crates and boxes in front of the pod were open; Peter ran back and forth between them, up the stairs and inside the pod and back out again. He rummaged in a crate and went back inside.

I wiped off a box with my sleeve and sat down on it. I opened my thermos and took a sip of tea. Peter came back hurrying down the stairs with what appeared to be two fist-sized rocks in his hands. He put them into a crate, then seemed to think about it for a few seconds and took them out again.

'What's going on here?' I asked, which startled Peter so badly that he almost dropped one of the rocks on his foot.

'Sarah! Where did you come from?' he asked surprised.

I pointed over to my pod, laughing.

'So, what are you doing? Carrying rocks around?' I wanted to know.

Peter sighed deeply and put down the rocks in a different crate. Then he ran nervously his fingers through his hair, making it messier than it had been before.

'Well, what do you think I'm doing? I'm cleaning and tidying up my pod,' he said like that explained everything.

Then he went back up the stairs. I followed him inside. I crossed the anteroom and stopped in the main room of the pod. All the built-in shelves and cupboards had been emptied; their contents were laid out on the floor, table and kitchen counter. Most of the items I could see were rocks. Rocks in all conceivable colours and shapes – and more.

I took another sip of my tea and looked around carefully. I saw that apart from rocks there were also some old-fashioned board games, various devices which I guessed had the purpose of finding out more things about rocks, kitchen utensils and dishes – some standard issue, some with fun prints – and so on. Through the open door I could see that it was the same situation in the bedroom.

'This does not look like tidying up,' was my assessment of the situation. 'This looks more like moving out.'

'You are still here? Don't you see I am busy?' Peter said, turning around.

'Ok, yes, sure, I see it. But why, Peter? Why are you doing all this?' I asked again, moving a box labelled 'The Haunted Spaceship – 2-10 players, 10 years +' so I could sit down on the small bench at the kitchen table by the wall.

Peter sighed and desperately waved his arms. I moved 'The Haunted Spaceship' further away and told Peter to sit down. He complied reluctantly. Then I found a cup which had 'Live Long and Prosper' written on it. I poured some of my Earl Grey into it and handed it to Peter, who did not resist.

'The doctor,' he said finally. 'They need a place to stay for the doctor. Now guess who apparently has a free bed in their pod?'

'Oh,' I said and looked at Peter for a moment, while he tentatively took a sip from his cup. He didn't look happy.

'I know he needs a place to stay and I won't complain, but I'd rather not have him move in. I have to put most of my things away,' Peter said, waving at the room.

'Don't you feel lonely some time?' I asked. 'Wouldn't it be nice to have company?'

Peter gave a short laugh.

'I don't think I'd be here if I loved company that much,' he explained.

'But maybe he's fun? I mean, I do have fun with Barbara? Sure, sometimes it's a bit cramped with two people in that tiny space, but it's not so bad. He doesn't look like a terrible person, does he?' I said, trying to make Peter feel better.

He made a face.

'Have you seen him?' Peter asked and I nodded. 'Of course you have. Everyone has seen him. Everyone likes him. I can't even deny he seems to be a nice guy. Very outgoing. I'm sure he will get on my nerves.'

I chuckled.

'Give him a chance. I'm sure he be won over by your sparkling personality,' I told Peter. He raised his mug to that.

15 minutes later I was helping Peter to get his pod organized and properly store his rock collection in a way that made it possible for him to find individual stones again when needed. Although Peter did not stop to complain about the whole situation, I had the impression that he appreciated it.

For lunch we had sandwiches. It said on the labels that they were packed 9 years ago. I try to keep an open mind but sometimes I would really like to have some more contemporary options for my diet.

Unfortunately for Peter we had to stack many of his rocks outside or put the more fragile ones into empty boxes – which meant that we first had to empty these boxes and put the contents somewhere else. It was a bit like making a puzzle with constantly-changing pieces and no idea what the picture should look like in the end. I could understand why Peter was frustrated.

'I think what we really need is storage space,' I stated. 'Probably also labs. . . Loreley's water samples will freeze in winter in her outdoor lab. You and others could do with one, too, I think? I could use a workshop, to be honest.'

Peter agreed with that and we decided to talk to Laszlo.

Peter sent me away later (politely but firmly) when I tried to re-arrange his wardrobe. I went to take care of the things I had actually planned for today. I decided to try and contact the engineers of the other clusters in the hope that they could help me repair the damaged pod or find another solution to the problem.

Love,
Sarah

Tavaron

08.04.24 Front Page

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