The Passage

keep you going.

The youngest son, looking a bit despondent, puts a cattail seed pod to his

mouth, like a corn dog, and takes a munch. Finding the taste tolerable, his

face relaxes and he starts eating with gusto.

_______________________________

Colonel Cage and his wife and sons are walking in through the entry of the

dome city, wet and looking tired but obviously deeply happy. Danny, having a

morning cup of coffee with Red, splashes hot coffee on himself by jerking his

cup at seeing the family, trying to raise his hand up to point while still

holding the cup. He's choking on his coffee as he talks through coughs.

Its them! They made it! Damn if they didn't make it.

Red's craggy face is wrinkled with happiness, but he just sits and takes it

all in, not moving or saying anything.

Big Tom's voice booms out combined with Billy's chirping voice, as they greet

the new family.

You found them! Damn! Here, have a seat, have my seat.

_______________________________

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Billy is giving Colonel Cage’s two boys a tour of the dome city, while also

still exploring it himself. Both Colonel Cage’s boys have now had a bath and

are wearing fresh clothes. Billy is using the tour as an excuse to poke around

in places he has not yet explored, using his tour guide voice as an entry

pass, or so he hopes.

. . And here on the lower level, ah . .

Billy opens a door on the level that is below the living quarter. This level

does not have a patio, just doors that lead out onto the grassy center. There

is a pathway around this level, a concrete walkway close to the outer walls of

this level, but nothing that would hint at what lies behind the doors.

Billy charges in through the door, hoping his bravado and tour guide voice

buys him an excuse at whatever he finds behind the door. He comes face to face

with a nanny goat, standing on a milking station.

Baaaa

Billy stops shock still, the other two boys bumping into him, the lot

ricocheting back a step or two.

Whoa!

The woman milking the goat casts a sleepy glance at the boys, nonplussed, and

continues with her morning task. The room is filled with several goats, a

couple kids, and a billy goat tied up temporarily over at the side. The billy

goat lowers its head slightly while looking at the brash newcomers,

contemplating the threat. At the side of the room there is a feeding trough,

filled with what looks like slimy greenery. Finding his voice, Billy

continues.

. . goat’s milk. And we feed them, ahm . .

The sleepy woman, seeing what is going on, smiles to herself and turns her

head.

We feed them algae. Grows quickly in bright light and

effluent. We recycle everything here, including our

waste.

Billy is momentarily set back, his face a blank, not knowing her terms, but

then gets a hint of what she is talking about.

Yeah, we grow stuff in the toilet water.

Casting a glance at the billy goat, which is now starting to huff, Billy backs

into Colonel Cage’s two sons and turns to push past them out the door.

Common.

_______________________________

The next room is a brilliantly lit room with a hydroponic gardening setup.

Billy’s face pops into view, with Colonel Cage’s two sons just behind him,

87

peering and bobbing on either side for a view. They all push into the room.

Long trays on either side of the room are cascading down the wall, stacked

such that the upper tray is close to the wall, the next tray offset from the

wall slightly, and so on so that the vegetation in each tray can grow without

hindrance as to height. One side has something that looks like lettuce or

spinach. The other side is growing strawberries, which are filled with red

berries.

The runners, producing new plants, are hanging down from each tray. A man is

walking along the strawberry trays, inspecting the runners and snipping off

new plants along the runners that look mature enough to stand on their own.

These young plants have roots, but the roots are not in the hydroponic trays,

just hanging in the air. The man turns his head and smiles at the boys.

Hello boys.

Seeing potential helpmates, the man puts his collection basket down and walks

to the back of the room where there is what looks like a compost pile in a

bin. He picks up a pitchfork, plastic with dull prongs, and begins to toss the

compost. The compost is filled with red wriggler earthworms, which turn and

try to burrow back into the compost when they are exposed to the light. He

takes a spray nozzle from a wall clip and sprays the compost, kicking a

collection tray under the compost drain as he does so. Brown water is

collecting in the tray.