My
work on the Re-Decelerator between Center and the University is
interesting. I
also go to other places sometimes even more interesting.
Jaemes asked
me to take a Center project on the Cargo Train down to Greater Port. The
project is
to be shipped to The Celestial. The train will also stop at Machine
City and
load more cargo that is part of the same project for The Celestial.
While
putting together the basic structure for my project I have had to make
several
trips to Machine City before to pick up parts. I go there and bring the
parts
back on the same Cargo train that goes from Foothill to The Port.
[Machine
City is an independent autonomous political entity in The Basin. The
city is
comprised of factories, a small steel mill, a technical school, and a
brewery.
The city has prospered because its leaders refused to believe that The
Nation
could no longer manufacture industrial machinery. The market for their
machines
is the rest of The Nation that stopped manufacturing as a ‘sunset
technology’
and The Celestial where they thought all the machines had already been
built
and they could just buy them. Machine City is located between Foothill
and The
Port, but closer to the Port. Editors.]
The
first time I went to Machine City a group of
the local craftsmen surrounded me and started questioning me close
about my
knowledge of machine tools. After they were satisfied I knew some
things they took
me out to town. I didn’t want to go because I just wanted to take the
parts
back. But I didn’t get anything done that first day except drink too
much beer.
One guy took me home for the night. I did not get back to work until
late the
next day but Jaemes understood what happened and laughed. Said it also
happened
to him. I did take the parts back to the Wing with me.
In
Machine City they live in old wooden houses one
family in each that are on wide streets with a lot of large trees. They
eat
most of their meals made at home. If you ever can walk down one of
their streets
at dinner time what you can smell being cooked is a wonderful
experience. Walk
fast or you will get invitations to stay for dinner. Whole families go
for
walks after dinner. Most members carry tools with them. The babies like
to chew
on smaller wrenches. People in Machine City drive very old cars they
fix and
paint like new. They collect old machines that others have thrown away
and fix
them. They are friendly with the Grid and will often trade for old
machines or
cars. Some in Machine City get extra money from shipping fixed up
machines
overseas to The Celestial. Most have one or two of the older machines
they have
made like original condition set out on their front lawn. On special
occasions
and holidays they start up the machines and have them running.
Most
in Machine City play some kind of sport. All
kids play several sports but also have some electronic games. The
adults like
to go to sports games that their kids play and most adults are also in
sports groups.
They wear shirts or jackets that have the names of their teams on the
back. The
craftsmen in Machine City change from work clothes and dress more
formally
after work. Families usually have kids. When there is a new baby on the
street
everyone gets dressed up, start up the machines on the lawns, and goes
to visit
the new baby, bring food, and offer advice and help. Public Buildings
are decorated
with metal. Have wood paneling insides. Metal lights that they keep
polished. People
here like to read books and have a large library in the center of town.
The
Library stays open all the time. There are no large churches. Some go
to small
churches that have been in existence for 100s of years. The whole
family dresses
up to go.
Before
the train gets to Machine City we will go
through Grid. Before we get to Grid we stop at the Jonestarie storage
buildings. This is where they bring the goods that come in to the Port
before
they go out to the stores. As we get close I see the ‘cities’ of tents
around
the area where some of the temporary workers live. They load and unload
the
goods for the Jonestarie storage buildings. Today though
I
am surprised
to see that the
train stops and temporary workers load up
goods from the storage buildings. I suppose they will send these back
to The
Celestial. I supposed wrong on this one. When the train passed through
Grid
workers threw all the boxes off the train. This
is their ‘charity’. I
should have not
been surprised at this. Grid
people live from use of what the rest of
The Basic discards.
I
often see or hear loaded trucks going
on the road in front of my house slowing making their way down and
across Wash towards
Grid.
[Grid
is a location where the Two Trains cross.
Coast Train goes from Foothill down on the inland side of Wash to the
Greater
Port. This train passes through Machine City and Oil City to carry
goods to the
Port to be sent across the ocean to The Celestial. The other train,
called East
Train, goes from the Pier east and out across The Nation. This train
runs near Coast
University and through Electric City. It passes by Greater, crosses
Wash on
Main Bridge, intersects with the Cargo Train tracks at Grid and on out
through
Fruitbaugh. East Train carries the products made at Electric City and
the
agricultural products produced in the Fruitbaugh area. One of the
larger
centers of population in The Basin lives near Grid. This is a community
that no
government at any level will recognize as a legal place. The area had
long been
a location for dumping unwanted worn-out items, as large as trains,
airplanes,
and small buildings, and as small as empty boxes. Soon a population
formed who
use and live off what the rest of The Basin dumps there. Since this
community
is not ‘official,’ no one knows its true size. (The largest population
center
in the Basin is around the downtown Greater and Basin University area
on the
ocean side of Wash. Other population centers include on the coast and
around
The Pier, Coast University and Electric City, Foothill, and Movie
Town.)
Editors.]
I have learned some things about Grid just traveling through, though I haven’t got off the train there. I see a lot of the people who live there. They are always friendly and include Descendants, Sonorans, Celestials, a few Indigenous, and a lot of others like me. From all over The Basin. They all work together to build houses and public buildings entirely from discarded stuff. These are a surprise to see and well made. They are able to generate power for lights. They do this different ways. One is by burning trash that heats water that powers old-fashioned discarded generators. Another is by repairing and using the broken sun-powered batteries that had been thrown away.
[Scientists
and engineers at The Center had
developed batteries powered by the sun. The original text translated as
‘excited’ by the sun. The government of Greater, and a large number of
ordinary
citizens, had installed them on the roofs of buildings and houses. The
Cockh
Bros., Fightin’ Bubba, and others who had interests in the oil
industries made
objections. So when Brightly Dawn became mayor of Greater he ordered
all the
sun batteries removed to be destroyed and dumped in the Grid area. It
is
apparent that the workers outside the walls hired to do this were
careful to do
the sun batteries only superficial damage. Editors.]
They
have even
built a hospital from thrown away medical equipment. They fix old
bicycles and
have them in strategic racks throughout The Grid. These are owned by
all
equally and are to be used in common. And so anyone who has to get from
one
place to another takes a bicycle from one of the racks and returns to
that that
rack or another as circumstances require. They rebuilt one of the
smaller
trains that had been discarded there. They had enough track to have a
small
railroad that goes around the outer edge of the area. People get on and
off the
train as needed to get where they want to go. The rain carries
discarded and
unusable discards to a large burning pit. As the train slowed so
workers could throw
off the boxes of goods loaded from Jonestarie I saw some locals come
and
retrieve the goods and take them on carts towards the small train.
The
stop in Machine
City went well because the craftsmen who brought the parts to the train
knew
me. I was able quickly to get the cargo all loaded next to the project
from The
Center. I signed some papers, accepted a cold beer, and was off on the
way to
the Port. Fortunately this trip we would be going through Oil City. We
will not
stop in Oil City.
[Oil
City is the last stop before Greater Port.
This is where the oil from the few remaining oil fields in The Basin is
brought
and stored in large tanks to be processed. There is enough oil to be
boiled
down for fuel for the cars in the Basin region. The rest is shipped to
The
Celestial. Editors.]
I
have never
been there but some who have tell me you slip and slide on the oily
streets. You
have to be careful not to lean up against anything. The people there
wear
clothing that is usually covered with oil. They wear oil proof boots.
If you go
into a tavern and the locals there see you are from another town they
will
squirt you with oil cans to make you ‘feel welcome.’ There are stores
where you
can buy local foods. There is oil jam to spread on bread for breakfast.
And you
can try oil flavored sweets. It is said of them that ‘they are better
than they
taste.’ I can wait longer to go there. I saw enough oil in Oilbaugh.
It
all worked well at the Port. You first take your documents to the Port
Office
near where the train stops. You can tell who the port officials are.
They wear
smaller sailing ship masts up their backs. These are strapped on around
their
wastes and across their chests. There are small sails on the masts
above them.
The heights of the masts and different shapes of the sails tell what
the
officials’ duties are. They all have to be careful when they walk
around in the
wind. After they saw the documents at the port office they strapped on
my
‘visitors’ sail. The two representatives from The Celestial were
waiting there.
They were wearing traditional gold decorated costumes. They didn’t have
to wear
sails. As we walked out of the office I got my sail caught at the door.
We
watched in silence as workers took the boxes off the train. We had to
wait for
an official who had three sails on his mast to sign before we could
transfer
the boxes. One guy thought he could sign but one of his sails was only
a half
sail. They had to measure it to see.
After
the officials signed the transfer the Celestials took the lists of
parts for
the project from Center and from Machine City. They counted boxes and
checked
the lists several times. One looked at me like he didn’t trust me. The
other
like I was a long lost friend. The suspicious one asked me where I went
to
school. When I told him he giggled and shook his head. The other nodded
his
head in approval and smiled. Then they checked everything again. They
had
several conferences together, looking over at me at times. At the end
they
silently signed for the project, grinned and nodded their heads, and
walked
alongside the workers who took the boxes to the ship. I caught my sail
on the
door trying to get back in the office. After I returned the sail I am
back on
the train. A man who wears a very tall sail is walking by. He is
stumbling side
to side and has to be supported by several assistants so he doesn’t
fall down
in the wind. He must be the Mayor here.
***
(continued
on Page 3)
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