New Homeport Island (40 page)

distant locations for untold riches. The riches in this case was
 life in America again. Rush hour traffic, taxes, not having
 reservations and being turned away, expensive clothing,
 and…television, movies, book stores, public parks with
 children, shopping malls, and grocery stores.”
Athena interjected, “And bars!!!” and laughed. I continued,
“And bars. She awaited her crew chosen by those available
 deciding who was most ready and fit. Her stores were full of a
 three month supply of rations as a journey by sail was a
 horrendous under taking.” and then Mitch did a slow drum roll.
I continued, “As the crew walked down the pier, those that
 would stay behind sung songs of home like where the streets
 have no name by U2. The crew proud of the task and the
 responsibility they lay before them strut with pride down a wet
 pier, in uniforms made here on the island. As the sheets were
 raise to catch the wind, the beaches cheered for them, our hero’s.
Her Captain at the bow and her crew at the stern she charged
 over the horizon to our home. Upon the seas she afforded her
 crew a fair fate but favored none. Should any of her crew lose
 respect for her or for the sea they would surely be lost to the
 briny abyss.
As night fell the captain and the navigator independently
 took celestial navigation measurements with the sextant made
 here upon her birth place, charting a course nearly two thousand
 miles northeast.
The rations were carefully monitored by the Cookson, who
 cooked not much more than water making it fresh but was
 prepared to cook fish in the mini-still’s fire box should the
 ship’s fishnets be called for because of low rations. The water
 barrels maintained a sufficient supply but in the event of a storm
 their course could run long.” Athena leaned forward and glanced

at Michelle. Michelle looked back the scratched her nose as she
 looked at Tim. Tim and Michael sitting near each other looked
 stunned. There was more to the Woodenpeg then they had
 envisioned. Tammy used the ocarina to start a low soft melody
 as if to bring the story into a lullaby.  
After I finished my story everyone was exhausted from all
 the implied work, it was like a good scenario covering
 everything except how to avoid a treaty violation.
As we nuzzled in for the night Megan took Michelle’s spot
 sleeping next to me and whispered in my ear, “Rob, I need you
 to shave my legs tomorrow.” I replied, “Okay.” and kissed her
 on the cheek. Athena threw her leg around my hip from behind
 me, and draped her arm around my chest before she hugged me
 as we went to sleep. The curtains we had woven for the cabana
 were swaying more than usual and I expected a change in the
 weather.
The next morning the winds were low with heavy cloud
 cover and there was a cool humidity about the air. Tim and
Mitch were making planks and Michael and I were placing
 them. At the rate we were working the hull would be complete
 in two days.
I couldn’t understand where the time had gone, the sundial
 had a trace on several stars and the small circles indicating north
 were nearly complete, as were the large circles indicating south.
There was also a heart shape forming that I was unsure of. It had
 been nearly a year. The line we fastened to our sundial pole’s tip
 had been lined up with the stars and we had noted in the circles
 that the chart is of course upside down. The note read, “North is
 at the bottom and the whole world is upside down”

Chapter Twelve
Mercury sets to sea
It had been a year the ship was complete and the
 celebration and launch of the ship was in a few days. Building
 up the rations took time and the fish were preserved as a dried
 fish meal, the sorghum floor and yeast would be prepared
 onboard in a small galley. Seasonings would be on top of the
 fishmeal cooked atop a hand sized ration of bread. The leeches
 were both dried and fresh kept in fresh water. Rations of fresh
 water were stored in barrels but the ship had a still and a
 mountain of charcoal.
My computer design still lay in odd components, sprockets,
 ladder-chain ropes, scales, levers, pulley wheels with intentional
 slippage and self-adjusting tensioners. But in my frustration I
 did take leave of the project and worked out a small model of a
 hot air balloon.
After the launch of the ship we would build the elevated
 platform, to watch for their return with help. We had planned for
 them to attempt to sail all the way back, but should they come in
 contact with any merchant traffic they could call for help. I had
 left this out of the scenarios but I reminded those we selected for
 the crew. I had to stay, I was still the governor and seemed adept
 at coming up with solutions to our problems here.  
As I tested my small hot air balloon I tested how much
 weight it could carry and saw it as a crane, a nice sky hook. As
 for my computer idea, I struggled. What would it do? I was the
 governor and had certain responsibilities, and from those we had
 come up with appropriate laws through the senate. But I
 discovered people like to change the laws as they see fit and had
 to argue that’s what precedence setting incidents are. It
 happened this was our communities’ solution and we had to

stand by that answer forever, by using that response every time
 the defense can prove it is a similar situation…no special cases.
So, back to the idea of it being a tarot card deck with an
 animation. It will predict outcomes and guide us back to law,
 and it will present as a manifestation of one of the original
 twelve gods of ancient Rome. We had no crime on our side of
 the island but the actions of the senate and the decision as to
 labor force application and consumption of island resources had
 to be a matter of law; Or the decree of a god.
After I finished working out the model of a hot air balloon by
 stacking stones with it, I sat and narrated my thought looking at
 the ‘computer’ parts I had made. I spoke with a melody as
 though I were about to break into song, “Zeus was theology and
 we may need him, but not yet. Vulcan was an engineer, Hades
 was a surgeon and mortician, Mars was agriculture and military
 science, Demeter was hunting and botany related to animals,
Apollo was philosophy and arts; Hera was marriage and civil
 law. Civil law? Oh god, an island run by Hera…those nightmare
 stories are over a thousand years old and are still told. Let’s stick
 to Apollo.”
Between mechanical representations of logic gates, push
 rods and levers, a cam for clock pulses, scales that catch water
 and compare the weight, slipping pulley wheels with a lever
 system that adjusts their tension, I was absolutely not above
 using a papier-mâché puppet as an interface.
Tammy and Michelle were putting finishing touches on the
 ship, they were making a smooth deck cover with the knotweed
 by shaving it into veneer like strips. The deck was being coated
 with the tree sap and with the ship up on the wooden ‘x’s just
 above the water she got wet every time she took slats out to
Michael up on the deck.

Artimus was out on the militants fishing boat and had
 finally hardened his circle. Artimus said, “Looks like I’m a
Captain again.” Smity glanced over to the boat and asked,
“What do you mean?” Dave Artimus smiled a crooked smile and
 said, “I’ve tolerated all this craziness by my own choice. I have
 been in control and in command all along. And now they did
 just what I wanted them to do, I have a ship again and they made
 sure it was suitable to get them back.” Milson was the third man
 on the boat and he asked, “Will you be taking Koleson with
 you?” Artimus laughed, “No…I’m taking you guys and a couple
 more. And don’t piss me off, because that’s the only reason I
 was beating up that guys guts with my dick. And I guarantee
 that smart ass cabin boy knows his place now.” Smity inquired,
“On his knees with your dick in his mouth?” Artimus replied,
“Your god damn right.” with all the infliction and self-
 satisfaction of a new lottery winner.
Athena had always loved playing the ‘bad girl’ she had
 tugged my heart strings so hard it felt as though my heart had
 been ripped from my chest. Now with the ship near complete
 she wanted to cross the tracks to the militant camp and celebrate
 with a little exhibitionism of power. In the late evening she
 slipped out of the gate and back to the militant camp. She was a
 little leery so she took our ‘holy relic’ knife with her. She found
 her friend Amber and said she had missed her, but with a wipe
 of her forehead and an exhaustive exhale she said dramatically,
“I’ve just been so busy. We finished our rescue ship, the
Woodenpeg. I’ve just been dying to see you and catch up on old
 times, how have you been.” Amber accustomed to that level of
 drama which assured her in the past she was in fact speaking to
 a woman rather than a dyke replied, “I’m the football queen
 cheerleader, they fell in love with my pompoms. Dave suggested

a prom. You should come!” Athena thought to herself, ‘All the
 damn parties I’ve managed over there and no one even thought
 of a prom?’ Amber noticing her silence and dismay said, “Can
 you show me how to make one of those dresses?” Athena
 gleamed an overwhelming smile and replied, “Totally!”
 As they collected plant fibers to make the cloth from the
 whispers began. Amber asked, “You sure the boat won’t sink?”
Athena replied, “We absolutely worked it out. And we’ll test it,
 but the provisions are already to go, and the navigational circle
 says now is the time or we will have to wait out the winter.”
Amber chuckled, “I didn’t even notice last winter. You get a
 husband over there?” Athena tucked her head down as she
 collected the fibers and said, “Not that much has changed, it was
 only about a month ago that we saw each other.” Amber replied,
“I know. But while you guys were building the ship we didn’t
 see any of you for a year and we sent someone over to make
 sure you were still alive and they found the fence and the wall
 but found a way to look over it and saw how well the ship was
 coming; so Dave asked us to give them some time.”
Athena still speaking in a hush asked, “I thought you guys
 removed him from command.” Amber replied, “We did. But,
 what else are we going to do?” As Amber and Athena started to
 laugh and giggle in girl talk the guys noticed Athena was
 dressed very much like a native. They set a perimeter around
 them and signaled Amber they were on alert. Amber nodded
 with an intense look to her eyes and a false smile and Athena
 noticed and got a little jittery. Amber in turn noticed the nervous
 tension and changed it into sexual tension by teasing her about
 boys. And the laughter continued, Amber knew that if she
 continued teasing her about sex and guys that once Athena was
 hot enough to smell her musk she would be fine.  

The militant’s clothes we’re tattered and they had all lost weight
 and muscle mass. Some looked like Irish coalminers and others
 like Aborigines, but they knew her. She helped form a loom
 with Amber shirt was tattered, her bra intact, her pants shredded
 below the knee and a torn just under her left buttock.                                                                
While Athena wore a skirt and tank top that seemed to be a
 knit of green burlap with trace poke dots of red and when her
 body position and the wind were opposed in just the right way it
 became evident that she had no underwear. She had used the tie
 strap streamers like us all, but in her work her body position did
 leave a chance for the wind gust to expose her and we’d all just
 learned to accept our circumstance.    
Atrisia had lost so much weight it was hard to recognize
 her, she caught a glimpse of Athena’s ass and walked up after
 figuring out what they were doing. Atrisia asked, “Hey can you
 make me one too?” Athena replied cheerfully, “Sure, I think
 ambers going to start a work group.” Amber interjected, “A
 work shop.” Atrisia looked to amber and nodded. The nod
 signified she hadn’t taken offense that she should make her own
 but in truth Athena’s cheerful demeanor was genuine and taking
 as such which meant on the otherside of the island that kind of
 insinuation did not amount to a ‘fuck off’. Atrisia asked, “How’
Tommi doing?” Athena said reassuringly, “She’s fine. We’re all
 just working really hard. But you know…work hard play hard.”
Randy Brosuer called over a chipper as he could manage,
“Ya, us too. that’s how decide who leads every month. With a
 football game.” Athena glanced over with a smile but knew
Chief Brosuer and recognized the look on his face as a cry for
 help. She said, “Our boat and crew heads out soon and we
 should be outta here in a few months. We don’t want to get
 anyone’s hopes up because once they’ve left if there is no rescue

in six months then they had to have died at sea. And, that’s
 pressure they don’t need and how the hell we would cope with
 that and move on is pressure we don’t need. The boat takes eight
 and they will get our rescue here.”
Smity walked up and asked, “How’s this ‘workshop’ going
 to work ahh…Amber?” Amber said with her head hung low and
 in an apologetic tone, “We need a bunch of plant fibers.” Smity
 replied, “Okay.” Then turned to the various groups on the beach
 and said, “Okay, this is this month’s leadership, form work
 details for collection of plant fibers; anyone on half rations just
 sit back we’ll get clothes made for you.”  
Hudlow peeked out from a bush and said in an odd
 comedic feminine tone, “I’m on half-half rations” Smity replied,
“Ya, I know you psychopath. Just…” and with an inquisitive
 look Smity continued, “…stay in the bush.” Athena knew not
 look back and to quicken her time. It had become like visiting a
 neighbor that turned out to have redneck racist incestuous
 cousins living with them in an overcrowded house.
As Athena flaunted our accomplishments with our gate
 open, we were repositioning the crane for the final swing of the
 ship into the water. Tim was sitting up on the cranes support
 structure with his legs spread looking down at everyone looking
 up at him in confusion. He said, “What!?” Tammy replied, “We
 can all see up your dress!” Tim looked away ashamed and said,
“It’s a kilt and crossing my legs would look gay. So take it all in
 baby.” Tammy laughed and said, “I have.” and laughed
 hysterically. Tim climbed down and walked away in
 embarrassment. He said to himself as he walked, “That chief at
 medical told me, the navy fantasy was a copping mechanism but
 it becomes a culture and you actually brainwash each other. And
 that if we didn’t keep the balance it would fail and the ship