“Maybe I’ll find a buyer in Zero-G,” Ellen said, sitting down on a sunken granite curbstone and stretching out her legs. After a sip from her canteen, she asked, “I wonder if there’s anywhere around here to get some fresh water, just for a change?”
“Even if the pipes hadn’t frozen and burst by now, the pumps haven’t been on since my parents left, and there wouldn’t be any power to run them in any case.”
“I thought little towns on Earth had wells and you could just haul the water up in buckets.”
“In rural areas like this, it was a mix of wells and reservoirs, but the wells were deep boreholes with electric pumps at the bottom, and the reservoirs had filter systems that needed to be maintained. My father was only in his thirties when they pulled up stakes, but he told me a story about putting on climbing gear as a teenager and painting the water tower.” John leaned on his shovel and pointed at a rusty metal tank mounted on a steel framework at the top of a rise behind the skeletal remains of some houses.
“It doesn’t look like anybody’s painted it in twenty-five years.”
“Because that would have been fifty years ago. It’s kind of surprising that it’s still standing, but I guess now that those trees growing around it are getting big, either their roots will lift the concrete pad until it tips over, or one of them will fall on it.”
“How come you know so much about Earth stuff?”
“I brought my dad back to visit a couple of times after I got my ship, and you know I read history books on my tab while I’m on the exercise equipment. What do you do with the time these days?”
“I watch alien dramas or work on my freelance stuff. I can’t read while I’m exercising, and I’ve gotten to where audiobooks put me to sleep.”
“You can fall asleep while you’re working out?”
“Not sleep-sleep, but I kind of drift off, if you know what I mean,” Ellen said. “Anybody who didn’t know you would think you grew up on a trade ship. You just give out that kind of vibe.”
“I guess I work at it,” John admitted. “We’re both in a business where it’s important to get people to trust us. Speaking of work…”
“You’re the one who called this break,” Ellen reminded him, pulling her gloves back on and taking up the rake. “I’d just as soon keep going until it gets dark so we aren’t here all week.”
“It’s not lion country if that’s what you’re worried about. That’s the other side of the planet.”
“How about the other two?” she asked, as John stretched a new sack over the collapsible holder.
“Other two what?”
“Tigers and bears. Aren’t they the big three?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the woods are crawling with bears but they’re probably shy of people. If there was anything dangerous around, I think our neighbors there would tell us,” he added, motioning towards the deer. “Another trader I know makes regular visits to rural locations on Earth to barter for cheese and smoked meats, and he says that the farmers are always complaining about wolves and coyotes.”
“So this area isn’t completely abandoned.”
“It’s a patchwork. Towns like this that were never more than a couple of churches and stores serving the local mill didn’t have much reason to continue when the population dropped too far. You’ve never been to Earth?”
“Never had a reason.”
They worked on in silence, saving their breath for the job. Ellen raked together huge piles of acorns and John shoveled them into sacks and humped them back to one or the other of their holds. By the time they’d put a dent into the bumper crop on the remains of the old pavement, the sun was dropping below the horizon.
“Not a bad day’s work,” John said. “Your hold has plenty more room but I’m not sure about the weight. What are you carrying in the bins?”
“Don’t remind me,” Ellen groaned, flexing her tired shoulders. “I got talked into taking a consignment of ore to Borten Four—”
“Are you following me everywhere now?”
“You’re going too? The ore needs to end up at the mining habitat that supports the asteroid belt operations. It’s a favor for Big Kim, and I think he was doing it as a favor for somebody else. Those bins have seen the inside of more holds the last cycle than a crooked customs inspector.”
“You’re literally carrying rocks to a mining habitat?”
“Ore. I think it’s all part of an elaborate prank and I can’t help wondering if the joke is on me.”
“It just seems like a lot of wear and tear on your fuel pack to land on Earth with that kind of mass when you’re going to have to carry it back into space.”
“How about you?”
“What?”
“Something came up with the paper and I’m going to be staying on Earth until Rendezvous. Want to take my ore to Borten Four? You’ll be doing Big Kim a favor.”
“I need a little more reason than that, Ellen.”
“You can keep half of my acorns, but you have to make me dinner.”
“Are you serious? Those sacks are worth real money.”
“What I mean is you can take all of my acorns, but I’ll settle for half of the money from them if the Huktras are really buyers. At least I’m eliminating my risk if the trade is a bust.”
“If they don’t sell, I can always throw them at obnoxious people. My father said something about weevils, but hopefully by sticking
