Saturday, October 25, 2008

Venus +5

25 October ….

Today marked the fifth day we have been on the Veiled Planet. Camp Humid is coming along splendidly as four towers and a 10-foot tall wooden perimeter fence now surrounds the whole ten acres of the camp. With help of the “Black Legs” (who have helped to drag posts into their desired location for erection), we are ahead of schedule. Captain Higgins of the Army and Subaltern Griggs have been working closely together. Additionally, the RTS Santa Fe left yesterday after gathering maps of our location and some plant species and other samples of the soil.

Chief O’Malley left me with the recipe for Venusian Ale made from local foliage. We just have to convert some of the 'surplus to the needs of the Service' tin and copper tubing in to a suitable still. After all, we were guaranteed a pint a day from the Republic when we took the Blue Coin. He will be back in three months as they are to bring supplies and correspondence once a quarter.

The Army, after two days of patrolling the area, managed to find three Triceratops to use in place of oxen; they are definitely a help and are much stronger than oxen. I also find their temperament easier to deal with, and they eat grass which makes it a relief to all of us as I could not imagine anything of their size being carnivorous. Sergeants Gregory and Dixon (RA) have managed to catch a dozen or so Pachyosaurs (bipedal herbivores for riding) and we are using a modified version of the British-issued Pachy-Saddle. We brought a total of thirty saddles to use and we were happy to find the Pachysaurs as they can travel at speeds up to twenty miles an hour while carrying a rider and his gear. Captain Higgins, Subaltern Landowski (RA) and Mister Griggs are planning on a link up with the Brits over at Camp Trafalgar, which is an estimated 150 miles due north of our location.

Tomorrow will be Sunday and after Father Flannigan performs Mass, we will have a day of relaxation. The men already have a friendly rugby game planned and the cooks are going to experiment with cooking some Grillag (a four-legged reptile, roughly 120 lbs). I am so glad our British friends have already tried all of the species of plants and reptiles to eat as it can be dangerous when trying to eat in unexplored regions. Well, enough for tonight. I still have to go over the plans for the headquarters building we are to begin building on Monday.

6 comments:

Eli Arndt said...

With all the tranquil accounts of life on Venus, one cannot help but wonder if something less pleasant is laying just around the corner?

Who knows what danger skulks in the sun-striped shadows and misty hollows just outside the encampment?

J Womack, Esq. said...

The Shadow?

Eli Arndt said...

Really? Is he on Venus too?

J Womack, Esq. said...

No. Just a joke. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow does..."

The only really mysterious human on Venus might be Professor Otto Maton, the mad Swiss scientist who creates diabolical automatons for conquest.

But rumor has him all over the solar system. So...

Eli Arndt said...

Lol.

I got the joke but was poking fun back. This Otto fellow, hoever, sounds like he's trouble.

J Womack, Esq. said...

Ha! I should have known you'd get the joke.

And you're right. Maton is a troublemaker. I've got two figures to represent him, one in each scale I game (15 and 25). They are not identical, of course (how cool would that be?). But they get the point across.