Land Fall on the Veiled Planet

19 October …

After two weeks of flying through the Ether we have finally made landfall on our new home for the next eighteen months. It was strange to see the Veiled Planet from a distance; first it was just a mysterious marble and each day she grew, at night we would take our daily ration topside and view our new home.

On one of my evenings spent trying to make out land features and checking maps, Mr. Griggs caught me topside. We chatted about the famous explorers of our Earth and wondered how Christopher Columbus felt when he reached the Americas. I commented about the Vikings making it to the Americas first. Mr. Griggs stared at me for a moment then asked me finally where I had went to school. When I told him my mother was a school teacher and we (my brothers and sisters) were required to read after dinner and how I was always interested in history, and how my mother visited Dickinson Women’s College every week and had brought me home two history books to read. This seemed to be quite surprising to the subaltern as he had the impression that all enlisted men were from farms or fishing boats on the wharves and were unable to even attend school, much less graduate.

After spending a whole day searching for a proper site to make camp, this morning we started work on our new home Fort Houston (the men refer to it as Fort Humid). The clearing of trees has been a horrible task. I cannot believe Fort Anahuac is less humid than this place! I think I have sweated more in the last two days than I have in my entire existence above ground. The Army “Black Legs” have been busy pulling security and scouting the terrain as us Marines have been working on the construction of the SET Huts. After a few huts have been finished, the construction of a moat and perimeter fence will begin. My chief concern is how we are going to build suitable roads in this environment.

Last night Private Jones produced an official Rugby Ball - God Alone knows where he stowed it as space was very limited aboard the Santa Fe. The men played for about thirty minutes and Mr. Griggs played a little as well, seems as though he was an eight man on the Academy's team.
Well, I must turn in as tomorrow will be a long day.