Month 9 Day 2
(Shore Leave Day 3)
1711 Hours
Smitty
The shuttle landed with a slight bump, and Caroline stirred
in the seat next to him, but left her head on his shoulder. “Are we there
already?”
He gave a slight squeeze to her hand. “It was a 2 hour
flight.”
“Yes, okay, I’ll wake up,” she agreed, and stretched. “I didn’t
think a spaceman would want to visit a dude ranch. Isn’t traveling through
space enough adventure for you?”
“These days, travel in a spaceship is hardly any different
than using this shuttle.” Yes, it’s
somewhat more dangerous. But we don’t think about that. Much.
She pushed herself upright and looked around. The shuttle had
been less than half full, and the other passengers were beginning to move
around, despite the lack of an ‘all clear’ from the pilot. Several were pulling
luggage from the bins. Teal eyes looked at him, and Caroline smiled. “I hope
you don’t expect me to have any experience with horses.”
That startled him. “They have horses?”
“Well, that depends on your definition of a horse. Earth
horses didn’t take very well here, but they might have a few, to make it look
like a ‘real’ ranch. The early colonists took to using a native animal, a
qwella, as a replacement. I’ve never been on either kind, so the only
comparison I can make is that a qwella has 6 legs.”
A man in a flight suit emerged from the cockpit and raised
his voice to be heard over the general hubbub of the excited arrivals. “Welcome
to Undilla Dude Ranch, folks. I’ll open the door in a moment, once the dust
settles, and point you to the lodge. This is a busy time for the ranch, but
once you’ve touched in and found your room, you can enjoy a hearty meal in the
dining room, and then look over what we have to offer, make your plans for tomorrow.
Mountain climbing, desert trekking, canoeing and soaking in a natural hot
spring; we’ve got all that and more. When you’re ready to leave, this shuttle
leaves for Ulseess City every day at 6 AM and noon.”
Smitty guessed that was what served as an ‘all clear’. He got
up and retrieved their small bags.
The landing pad was hot and dry, dusty despite being paved.
It was large for a shuttle pad, surrounded on all sides by native trees and
bushes, except for a paved path that led them to a large building. When they
stepped inside, the interior was a good ten degrees lower than outside. Smitty
wasn’t sure if the difference was from the thick walls or included some air
conditioning. Who cares? It feels good.
A large map was displayed on one wall, and another wall held
posters of various activities available to visitors. He left Caroline to browse
through the offerings while he checked in. The desk clerk told him the dining
room would open ‘shortly’ for the evening meal. Smitty collected their room
keys and sent their bags off with a porter, then found Caroline. “Find anything
interesting to do tomorrow?”
“Oh, I haven’t gotten to tomorrow yet,” she stated. “Verla
was telling me about the evening campfire tales.”
“What’s that about?” he asked the ranch employee.
“If you go out the back door of the lobby, there’s a path -
lighted once it gets dark - that goes into the trees. About 15 feet in, you
come to a clearing where benches surround the campfire we light every evening. Various
speakers tell their versions of an adventure of the original colonists as they
spread over this planet. Between stories, refreshments are served. It’s quite
entertaining. The sun goes down at 8:12 this evening, so the stories will begin
around 8:40.”
That seems harmless.
Possibly boring. “How long do the stories last?”
“Each individual story is up to 20 minutes long. The entertainment
will end around midnight. But of course, you aren’t required to stay any longer
than you want.”
He gave a short nod. “That sounds good. Now, what should we
do tomorrow?”
The choices seemed endless. Smitty finally stated he was not
interested in doing anything with horses, qwellas or other large animals, in
order to pare the list down to sort through. Then he dismissed the ideas of
mountain climbing and an all-day hike. “I’m a spaceman,” he explained. “I walk
on deck plates, not uneven terrain. I can’t risk a twisted knee or ankle
because I step on a rock wrong.”
“We have some personal vehicles you could use on any of our
trails. We’d be happy to provide a guide through any type of terrain you’d like
to see. Or perhaps take ‘The Grand Tour’, a roughly circular set of paths
through mountains, forest, grassland and desert, so you see pretty much
everything we have to offer. It’s our longest hike, frequently taking 3 days,
but by vehicle, you could finish it in one.”
Any one of those is
something I don’t see often. “That’s tempting. I don’t
get to see much scenery. How long a day are we talking about?”
“Let’s move to the map, and I can show you what paths you’d
travel,” the woman told him, and led them in that direction. “We had a group of
hikers leave on that trail this morning, so if you left tomorrow morning, you’d
probably pass them about half-way around the circle,” she added.
“Not at the pace they’re moving,” another employee stated.
The woman turned to him. “Are they having a tough trip?”
“Look at the map,” the man suggested.
The woman stepped close to it and studied the upper half.
“What are the lights?” Caroline asked.
“Each of our guides carries a locator, so he can signal for
help if something happens. Hmm, they don’t seem to be stuck in the mountains. That’s
the most challenging section. I don’t remember if they were doing the forest or
the desert next.”
“What are these other lights? Here and here?” Caroline asked,
pointing to a light on an inner circle around the ranch headquarters, and
another located closer to the ranchhouse, at a place where many paths seem to
end. Or begin.
“Other guides,” the woman answered, and pointed to the light
on the circular path. “That’s probably Stef, taking a group on a botany hike.
That group will eventually wind up at the Hot Spot.” She moved her finger to
the other light. “The Hot Spot is a natural spring, the water temperature tolerable
but quite warm. It’s actually located at the base of a short cliff, and the hot
water from that spring travels about 20 feet before it joins the water from a nearby
waterfall. So there’s 3 pools in close proximity that visitors can enjoy; the
Hot Spot, a tepid pool where the waters mix, and a chilly pool at the bottom of
the waterfall. There are a number of safety guards there, and at least one
guide. Most of the tours stop there for a time before coming back to the
ranchhouse.” Her attention returned to the outer pathway. “Oh! I found them! I
think. There’s a tour here, on the boundary between the desert and the grasslands.
They must have taken the desert after the mountains. They’ve made good time, to
be half done already, but no doubt they’ll stop soon for supper and settle into
bedrolls for the night.”
“You mean, they’ll sleep outside?” Caroline asked.
“Yes. Some people look forward to it.”
“Not me,” Smitty stated, after seeing a touch of panic in
Caroline’s eyes. “I much prefer a comfortable bed and walls around me. If I
want to see stars, I’ll look out a viewport.”
“Yes, of course,” the female employee agreed at once. “How
boring would the universe be if everybody felt the same way about everything?”
“Tell me more about these 3 pools you mentioned,” Caroline
suggested. “Are we allowed to swim in them?”
While Caroline listened, Smitty found himself staring at the
light that indicated the group on the long hike that took 3 days. Time and time
again, he pulled his eyes away, only to find himself staring at it once again. If I read that map right, a trip around that
outer trail and back to base is about 100 miles. They’ve made it out to that
trail and halfway around it, so... 50 miles? Hard to imagine. They must be
exhausted. They must have stopped by now. He looked again and realized they
not only had not stopped, that light
had now definitely moved away from the desert/grassland border... into the desert!
Metal clanged against metal in a rolling drum of noise.
Someone called out, “Come and get it!”
“Get what?” Caroline asked.
“That means the dining room is open,” Verla told her, and
handed her 2 or 3 slips of paper. “You needn’t make a decision immediately. You
can study the possibilities this evening and make the arrangements in the
morning.”
“Maybe we will try that Grand Tour,” Smitty heard himself
say, and tried not to stare at that light on the map. “By personal vehicle.”
“In that case, I suggest an early start. 9 am at the latest.
Otherwise, you might not have time to enjoy the scenery.”
“I understand,” he responded, and wondered if the light was
still moving, deeper into the desert. Something about that light... left him
unsettled. With a forced smile at the woman employee, he took Caroline’s arm
and led her toward the dining hall.
