Chapter 11
Preparation
Jenny ran all the way back to the Traveler, and collapsed in a heap on the floor of the ship's control center. Born turned and looked at her as she lay there, gasping for air.
"I didn't mean for you to overexert yourself, just to be quick," Born gently scolded.
"Obos, take us back to the lake, so we can finish collecting our cargo," Born instructed.
The Traveler's door slid shut, and the ship began to rise. Jenny went over to the window and peered out, still recovering from her morning run. Once they had cleared the treetops, the great ship pivoted until it was facing in the direction of the lake.
Jenny could see the winding path she and Polka used to reach the lake far below, and the sun shimmering off the water in the distance up ahead. They reached the lake and dropped towards it until they were hovering just above the water.
"Obos, let's see if the extractor tubes will release this time," Born instructed.
"No Born, they are stuck again," informed Obos.
"Here we go again. This is how I got into this predicament in the first place," Born grumbled.
"What do you mean?" Jenny inquired.
"If the extractor tubes had released automatically when we first got here, I would have had no reason to leave the ship. I would have finished collecting my cargo and be happily on my way home."
"Then I would've never have had the pleasure of meeting you and Obos, and an entire civilization would have become extinct, and you would have lost your main source of water. I think we are both lucky things worked out the way they did," Jenny added.
"You are presuming of course, we will be successful," Born said.
"Oh, we will be. I have faith. Maybe it was fate that brought us together in order to save Earth," Jenny theorized.
"I don't think there is any such thing as fate, just chance and circumstance. Things happen by chance, not by design," Born said with conviction.
"That's how I used to think too, but this experience has totally changed my opinion on the subject. But, whatever brought us together, I'm glad it did," Jenny said.
"Come with me." Born motioned to Jenny. "I can use your strong body to help me pull the collector tubes to the lake. Obos, land us as close to the lake as possible."
"He already has," Jenny said, pointing to the open doorway and extended stairway.
"Jenny, Obos is a machine, it can't be a he. It's an it," Born corrected.
"I know, but he, I mean it, seams so real, almost like it has a personality," Jenny said.
"Obos is a mass of memorized information and circuitry that has the ability to make rational decisions based on its stored data. Nothing more," Born calmly explained.
"You're right, he is amazing," Jenny said, flashing a smile at Born.
Born shook his head, and proceeded to put on his gravity displacement suit, complete with all of its flamboyant accessories.
Jenny laughed to herself at the sight of Born in the bizarrely decorated suit. She thought back to just two days ago, when she first saw him, and how they had scared the heck out of each other. She certainly had no fear of Born now. She was happy and relieved things were going so well. She followed Born outside and noticed Obos had extended the landing gear. She recognized the impressions they made in the soil.
"So that's how those marks got there. I saw those on Sunday when I first found the gravity suit on the beach," Jenny commented. "Why do you use the supports for the ship here, but not back at the field?"
"We don't use them very often, only when we need to access and work underneath the ship, like we do now. It is very difficult to work in a zero gravity environment, especially with all of the debris floating around. Gravity definitely has its place," Born explained.
"And, keeps things in their place," Jenny added.
"Exactly," Born agreed.
Jenny's eyes bulged when she saw the massive tubes.
Born smiled at her surprised expression. "Don't worry; they're equipped with anti-gravity technology. They will be no challenge to your mighty physique."
Jenny looked over at Born and realized he was serious. She suddenly felt super strong...well, compared to Born.
"Just place them in the shallow water, and Obos will extend them out deeper," Born directed.
Once Born and Jenny had the extractor hoses in the lake, Obos automatically continued to feed more of the large tubes out of the ship. Born and Jenny guided the hoses from the shore as Obos extended them, until they were far enough out into deep water. She heard the powerful extraction device engage inside of the Traveler, and the sound of water as it surged through the hoses.
"Thanks Jenny, it was a lot easier than last time," Born said appreciatively.
Jenny thought the difference in the strength of their bodies was interesting, and figured it was directly related to the size and density of their home planets. The bigger the planet, the stronger the gravitational pull. Earth was much larger than Born's home planet, Soilanglobe, so Earthlings, had to evolve stronger bodies than Soilans, in order to be able to function in their environment.
"It will take approximately an hour and a half for the process to complete," Born explained. "We had already begun to collect before you interrupted the procedure. Over there is where I hid when I heard you coming." Born pointed to the patch of reeds sticking out of the muddy shallows of the lake.
"No wonder Polka was so nervous. He could probably smell you."
The breeze was beginning to pick up and ripples formed on the lake, so that it shimmered and sparkled in the morning sunlight.
"You said you've visited our planet on many occasions. How many times do you figure?" Jenny asked.
"Well, let's see now, I have been a water collector for thirty-five of your Earth years," Born calculated in his head. "So, this is my eighteenth trip," he finally concluded. "Other water companies on my planet have several ships in their fleets that come here as well."
"And your people have been visiting Earth for centuries?" she asked.
"Yes. I personally have collected water from many different areas on your planet. This is the first time I have collected water from this lake. Before we discovered your planet, we mined some frozen planets. We would collect ice and melt it for transport, but the process is more involved. It is much easier to collect water in liquid form. And the ice from those worlds was very contaminated and needed to be cleaned before we could use it. Your planet has the best and purest liquid water that we have yet discovered, although its quality has diminished over the last century," Born answered.
"Hmm, and you don't have enough water to swim, or even bathe in?" Jenny asked.
"No, we use a dry chemical compound to cleanse our bodies. It works well, but it is not very refreshing. Water is too precious to us to waste on the luxuries that you indulge in with your excess of water. Young Soilans sit in wonder when they first hear stories of swimming pools, lawn sprinklers or washing with water. Your race doesn't realize how lucky it is to have such an abundance of a necessity for life."
The morning sun was beginning to get hot.
"Hey, why don't we go in for a swim? I'll treat you to one of the luxuries of my planet," Jenny offered.
"Well, it is against regulations, and it is how I got into this mess in the first place, but it may be the last chance I ever get to go for a swim for the rest of my life, so I say yes."
Jenny took off her shoes and socks and plunged headlong into the refreshing water in her shorts and t-shirt. Born powered off his gravity suit and painstakingly proceeded to remove it. Jenny recognized the trouble he was having now with Earth's gravity pulling him down with its full force, so she came to his aid and helped him into the water. She felt as though she was helping a very frail elderly person to walk. Once Born was in the water and its buoyancy helped to support his weight, he was fine.
"Ahh, this is the life," he sighed, as he closed his eyes and relaxed in the warm shallow water. Jenny on the other hand swam around, on and under the surfac
e, splashing and diving to the sandy bottom.
"I love to swim," she said. "It makes me feel free and weightless, like the anti-gravity suit does. But with the suit, it's like you can float through the air that you breath, so it's much better."
Born was so deep in a state of relaxation, he did not acknowledge Jenny's statement, so she purposely splashed him to wake him up.
"Hey! What are you doing? I heard you," Born said.
They chatted about different things to pass the time. It was mostly Jenny asking, and Born telling. They enjoyed each other's company, which was a good thing, considering they could be spending a lot of time together in cramped living arrangements.
While relaxing and looking up into the blue sky, Jenny asked, "How do you think, the universe was created?"
"Gravity rules and creates," Born said. "The force of attraction, or gravity, draws all of the matter in the universe together into a super compressed mass, until, the energy stored within, builds into a force that can no longer be confined, and it explodes outwards. The universe is still expanding from the last such explosion, but is beginning to slow its outward progress. It will eventually cease to expand, and then the matter will again be slowly drawn together by the force of attraction. And again, it will converge into one super compressed mass of matter. The universe is a constantly pulsing body. But each pulse takes billions, if not trillions of years to complete its cycle," Born explained.
"Wow, it's like mother-nature's heartbeat," Jenny said.
"Mother nature? Who is that?" Born asked.
"Oh, it's just a name we have for all of nature here on Earth. I never realized it could be expanded to include the entire universe. It kind of boggles the mind," Jenny said, blinking her eyes. The concept was overwhelming.
"Born is kind of an interesting name. How did your parents come up with that?" Jenny asked.
"Born is actually a very common name on my planet. We tend to name our children after something involved with the creation of life. Actually, Life is another very common name, along with Birth, Conception, Alive, A life, Exist, Origin, Beginning, Commence and Formation, to name a few. You see, with a planet as small as ours and our life span as long as it is, we need to be very careful about overpopulation, so only a few select and fortunate couples are allowed to bear children. Thus, life and birth are very precious to us," Born explained.
"Us too," Jenny reminded.
"Yes, of course," Born smiled warmly. "It sounds like the water collection process is done."
They had forgotten about their worries and impending journey for a couple of hours, but now it was back to the harsh reality of the situation. Jenny helped Born out of the water and they dried themselves under the heat of the sun.
"Ahh, that feels better," Born said, after powering the suit back up.
Jenny and Born went back into the ship, and Obos retracted the water collection hoses back in to the belly of the Traveler. Obos then lifted off from the lake, and drifted back to the field, close by Jenny's house.
"Don't forget my gravity displacement suit. And again, don't take too long," Born reminded Jenny as she left the Traveler.
"I won't. See you in a bit," she answered.
Jenny felt as though Born was an alien of his word, so she trusted he would keep his promise to help, once he had his gravity suit back.