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Lloyd, Eva, Alex and Sophia were all stunned speechless as they descended through Rama’s atmosphere into the Eos Valley.
‘Oh my God this is beautiful, Rion,’ exclaimed Eva totally blown out.
‘It’s not unlike Switzerland,’ Lloyd observed. He was measurably more composed.
‘Is it? I’ve never been to Switzerland,’ Rion replied.
‘So, let me get this straight, Rion,’ said Alex bemused, ‘we’ve been floating in this can for an hour watching the fancy TV playing back a psychodelic version of 2001 A Space Odyssey, and now you want us to believe that we are two million light years from where we started?’
‘Give or take,’ replied Rion cool as Clint from any movie you’d like to choose.
‘So,’ said Lloyd, ‘if we could see Earth through a very powerful telescope, we would see it as it was two million years ago?’
‘That’s right, Lloyd, that is how it is in the physical plane. That is where the brain exists. In the mind, however, it is right now everywhere, all the time. So, if you could see Earth as it is in the mind plane, and you could with training, you would see it as it is right now, which is how it always is.’
‘You mean, right now? ’ asked Eva, ‘not two million years ago?’
‘Precisely,’ Rion replied.
‘Right now,’ Sophia sighed, ‘I wish we had just one more bottle of that Grange.’
Alex chuckled, ‘The booze is gone lambchop, but we do have that little present we received from Jonesy that we haven’t tried yet.’
‘Oh God!’ Sophia exclaimed dramatically, ‘now we are all going to become potheads!’
Lloyd chuckled and said, ‘We’ll have to break out the beads.’
‘And tie-dyed T-shirts,’ added Alex.
‘Oh my God, look at that waterfall,’ exclaimed Eva looking ahead into the spherical holographic display.
‘Those are the Eos Falls,’ Rion announced, ‘and that house right on top is our destination.’
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2
After spending a couple of days as guests of the Sailsmiths, they continued their journey in the family cruiser and flew some fifteen-hundred miles north to Rion’s house where they stayed a couple more days enjoying the hospitality of Rion and his lovely wife, Sattva. From there they flew south again, to the coast of the Eos Valley, where Rion showed them the overall geography of the area and the beginning of the island chain known as The Pearly Islands.
‘There are thirty-three of them,’ explained Rion, ‘and Engadine is the last, and smallest, one.’
‘Are they named The Pearly Islands because they are lined up like a string of pearls?’
asked Eva.
‘Good chance,’ replied Rion, ‘although no one can be sure because they’ve been The Pearlies for longer than history.’
‘I see,’ said Eva.
‘They certainly are beautiful the way they stretch out over the horizon,’ said Lloyd.
‘Everyone ready to go and see Powter?’
‘Yes,’ everyone replied.
‘I’ll fly slowly so that you can get a bit of a look at each island.’
Everyone said, ‘Thank you, Rion.’
The Pearly Islands stretched out for nearly five-hundred miles in a due-easterly direction from the Eos Valley.
Rion chose to fly at about three hundred miles per hour intending to reach their destination in ‘a couple of hours’. He explained, ‘I have sailed out this way more times than I can count. There are some incredible anchorages along the way. I’ll circle around a few of the finer ones so that you may see them better.’ He flew around a number of secluded bays with pristine beaches and small settlements, and the occasional anchored sailing boat.
‘These are truly sublime sailing grounds, Rion,’ said Lloyd, who was in complete awe, as were his companions.
Eventually, they finally spotted the island of Engadine. All the other islands were between ten and thirty miles apart, however Engadine was separated from the thirty-second island, named Austinmer, by a fifty-mile stretch of deep water. As they approached it, they could plainly see that it was much smaller than all the other islands.
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As they got closer still, they observed that the island was actually split in half, into two smaller islands only touching each other at one point on the southern side.
‘It’s small,’ said Alex, ‘and split in two.’
‘Yes, six miles east to west and two miles north to south,’ Rion replied. ‘It is so small that only Powter and his family live on it. Years ago, nobody can be sure when actually, it is believed that the island got split in half by a meteor. It created the deep crater that is now a perfect, sheltered anchorage and harbour. Everyone who visits anchors their boat there because the harbour is so well protected from all wind and swell directions.
‘It looks perfect,’ exclaimed Lloyd. ‘It reminds me a little of Lord Howe Island back on Earth. Don’t you think so sweetheart?’
‘Yes indeed,’ Eva replied. ‘The central spine makes it look very similar.’
They were approaching slowly, still maintaining an altitude of about two and a half thousand feet.
‘My God your planet is beautiful,’ marvelled Sophia.
‘You mentioned Powter’s family, Rion,’ said Eva in an enquiring tone.
‘Yes, I did. Powter lives with his wife, Laura, and his son, Sasha. Other than the animals that live there, Powter’s family are the sole residents on the island. It is quite small and no one else would ever even consider trying to move there. All visitors are always very welcome, though, and it is a favourite destination for all sailing folk of our region.’
3
The large intergalactic cruiser came in for a landing alongside a jetty that was located in the western, most sheltered, side of the lagoon. Rion parked the ship, levitating about ten feet above the water. A hatch opened and lowered itself as a ramp onto the jetty, almost, but not quite, touching it. They all stepped outside.
It was the middle of the day. There was a warm breeze blowing from the north and a line of orographic cloud hung conspicuously above the whole length of the central spine of the island. Tied up at the end of the jetty was Powter’s huge catamaran. On the land side of the jetty was a sheltered valley that was surrounded by steeply-rising, rocky hills.
‘That is Powter’s house,’ said Rion pointing at a dwelling half-buried into the side of a hill. He then pointed at a separate building near the water, which was quite large and open on two sides, and said, ‘And that over there is his workshop where he builds his
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boats.’ He pointed to the other side of the house and explained, ‘That hole in the wall next to his house is his garage where he parks his ships and discs.’
‘This is all quite amazing,’ said Lloyd.
As they stood there on the jetty, they were startled by a loud swooshing sound.
Everyone looked up to see what it was.
‘Oh my God, Lloyd,’ Eva exclaimed, ‘it’s someone in one of those hanglidimijigs like we used to see on our drives in the Aston.’
‘That is Powter, my friends,’ explained Rion, ‘the sole hang-glider pilot on Rama.’
They watched in awe as Powter stylishly pulled up out of his downwind dive, performed a 180-degree hammer turn, barely one hundred feet above the deck, and finally flared into a no-step landing right in the middle of the grassy valley. His visitors all gave him a round of applause while calling out, ‘bravo’ and ‘magnificent’ and such things.
As they walked off the jetty towards him, they watched him turn the glider back to the wind, park it tail-down, and casually step out of his simple, knee-length, apron harness.
After all the introductions, Powter invited them all to lunch. They met his family and discussed a range of topics, the main one being boats and sailing. To Lloyd’s question about his hang gliding, Powter replied,
‘Many years ago, I visited your planet. As it happened, right at the time of my visit, your young men and women were beginning to take to birdlike flight. In stealth, as was the protocol, I came to one of the foci of this activity and stayed there for a few months.
The place was located on the east coast of Australia and was called Stanwell Park. I must say that it was a most magnificent haven for coastal soaring. While there, I befriended two brothers, known as The Brothers Daniel, who were two of the most talented pilots of the time. They built hang gliders through their company called Skytrek. They never suspected that I was from Rama. I learnt to fly and I bought two hang gliders from them, which I subsequently brought back with me when I returned to Rama. One glider is a Probe and the other a Rage. They are, arguably, the finest, coastal-soaring wings ever made. It is the way they handle that sets them apart.
‘Unfortunately, gravity flight relegated aerodynamic flight into extinction on this planet, but I have brought the artform back to life. I know that the young Rama will take to it because of the way they love surfing and sailing. I plan to manufacture copies of the Probe and Rage right here in my workshop.’
‘I admire your passion,’ said Lloyd.
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4
‘We began wondering what we would do with ourselves,’ explained Eva as they all walked down the jetty towards Powter’s catamaran. ‘We are not surfers, you see, and the Noosa settlement is mostly about that.’
‘If anything, we are sailors, er, sailing folk, like you and Rion,’ explained Lloyd choosing to not mention their academic careers.
‘Yes,’ continued Eva, ‘and we heard about you and your fast cats that you construct, and we hoped to meet you and see one of these wonderful craft for ourselves.’
‘And Rion kindly offered to bring us here,’ said Alex.
‘For which we are immeasurably grateful,’ added Sophia.
As they approached the vessel, Powter began describing it.
‘The hulls are eighty feet long. As you can see, they are a very slim, wave-cutter design with substantially kicked-up bows and sterns. They are connected by the two highly-arched crossbeams, which are spaced forty feet apart. At the highest point, the arches are fifteen feet above the water. The beam of the boat is forty feet as well.’
‘Your boat is wider than ours is long,’ commented Lloyd. He could hardly believe what he was looking at. To him, Powter’s cat looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Powter continued his description.
‘The cabin that you can see at the top of the arches is forty-feet long by twenty-feet wide. It is shaped for aerodynamic efficiency. The single mast is cantilevered off the anterior crossbeam. The sail is a symmetrical, double-surfaced, wing sail, which rises out of its enclosure on the top of the cabin. It incorporates a set of rigid, aerodynamically-shaped battens in each surface. The wing-sail can be opened up, wing-on-wing, for downwind running.’
‘That is Lloyd’s favourite kind of sailing,’ said Alex.
‘What is her name?’ asked Sophia.
‘Her name is Hokulea,’ replied Powter.
Almost speechless, Lloyd declared, ‘This is the most incredible, futuristic boat I’ve ever seen in my life, Powter, and I’ve seen my share. How do you do it?’
‘Passion, Lloyd. It is what I love to do. I’m so glad you like her. Let me show you the cabin.’
After Powter showed them the interior of the cabin and the controls, and a variety of other details, Lloyd declared,
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‘It is now officially my dream to build one of these spaceships of the water, back on Earth, and sail the South Pacific in her.’
‘A noble dream, Lloyd,’ said Powter, ‘and I am sure that I would love to assist you in your endeavour and even take the pleasure of some sails with you, with my family, when you finally have her ready to go.’
And thus, the dream was hatched. To build a trans-oceanic catamaran to sail to all the hidden places of the vast South Pacific Ocean.
5
That night they were all invited to stay for dinner. Rion zipped up the coast in the big ship and picked up Sattva and brought her back to the party.
Powter’s house was half buried within a steep, rocky hill, and half cantilevered out over the v-shaped, grassy valley. A natural stream permanently flowed through the house, via special channels and viaducts, which were all incorporated into the architectural design. A cantilevered, semi-circular, stone veranda extended from the exposed valley-side of the house. It seamlessly connected with the internal living space.
It looked straight out, eastwards, towards the jetty and the lagoon beyond it. Behind the house and across the lagoon were the steeply-rising, craggy slopes of the main spines of the divided island.
In the centre of the veranda was a large, octagonal, stone table, which was surrounded by heavy, wooden chairs and benches that were carved in intricate, Polynesian-style, patterns. In the centre of the table was a fire pit full of glowing coals. It was covered with a metal grate.
Above the veranda, floating in the air like Chinese lanterns, were dozens of small, glowing spheres that, as well as providing warm, ambient light, also played soft music that, to Lloyd and Eva, sounded not unlike Vivaldi.
‘Oh my God this is beautiful,’ Eva exclaimed.
‘All that is missing is a nice bottle of Merlot,’ quipped Alex.
‘We mustn’t complain,’ said Sophia.
Powter overheard the comment and said, ‘Well, finally, someone who may be able to educate us on all those bottles I have stored in the cellar.’
‘I beg your pardon,’ said Alex, ‘did you say bottles? … in the cellar?’
‘I believe that is what he said,’ said Lloyd trying to mask his sudden, eager attentiveness.
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‘Yes, that is what I said,’ said Powter smiling. ‘I traded them for a big bag of Cannabis when I was on Earth. Those hang glider pilots seemed very keen to make the trade, so I did it, although we have not sampled any of them yet.’
‘You haven’t?’ exclaimed Eva.
‘No.’
Sophia announced, ‘I just want to warn our lovely hosts that I am a very cheap drunk.’
‘The bottles have been lying in the cellar for over a century,’ said Powter, ‘so I don’t know how good they will be.’
‘Oh my God,’ exclaimed Eva, ‘hundred-year-old wine?’
6
As Laura and Sasha brought out two large trays full of a variety of prepared seafood and vegetables, and a large bowl of salad, Lloyd and Powter disappeared into the cellar and returned with a few bottles of various wines.
‘Seeing that it’s a seafood barbecue,’ said Lloyd, ‘we got some Riesling, Sauvignon Blank and Pinot Noir.’ He turned to Powter and said, ‘You have a very nice wine selection, sir.’
‘Thank you, Lloyd, although much of the thanks should really go to my hang-gliding friends for their connoisseurship.’
Powter was the chef for the evening. He began grilling the seafood and vegetables right in front of everyone in the middle of the table, and when they were done, he served them up on their plates one piece at a time, Japanese Teppanyaki style.
Right about the time everyone was on their second glass of Pinot Noir, the two moons rose above the eastern horizon. The guests all oohed and aahed at the magnificent sight.
‘You know,’ said Sophia, ‘I had just about forgotten that I was not on Earth, until now.’
‘Yes, I agree,’ said Eva sitting next to her, ‘those moons really bring it home that we feast under a foreign sky.’
‘That is exactly how I felt on Earth,’ said Powter.
7
As the years and decades passed, Lloyd, Eva, Alex and Sophia returned to the Hawkesbury and set up home in Bobbin Head. They received a constant stream of
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visitors, many of whom helped them with the construction of their houses. It was there that Lloyd, with the assistance of Powter, set up his boatyard where he eventually built his dream catamaran. He named it Capricorn Dancer, which was an idea given to him by his old friend, Adam, who told him the story of how he heard that name way back in his youth, in Byron Bay. Adam also mentioned that about ten years after he heard that name, an Australian singer, named Richard Clapton, released a song titled Capricorn Dancer.
Powter almost immediately retrieved it from Crystalis and played it for everyone . The song was so admired that it spread like wildfire, particularly amongst the Raman surfing subculture. As well, Richard Clapton himself became a revered artist across many galaxies, for millennia to come.
During all this time, Lloyd maintained the sloop, Mecca, in pristine condition. They loved to sail her around the Hawkesbury on day sails and Lloyd often let other people, like Alex or the kids, take her out without him. One of the favourite sails in Mecca was down to Sydney Harbour. They sailed down in a northeaster and came back in a southeaster. In time, they built a house and jetty in Watson’s Bay where they loved to sit outside in the winter afternoons and reminisce over some of the great times they had there in the old days, back at the old ‘Watto Bay Pub’.
Over the decades and centuries, Lloyd and Eva, and Alex and Sophia, had many children. Some of Lloyd and Eva’s kids married some of Alex and Sophia’s kids and a small family community began to grow in Bobbin Head and Watson’s Bay. Eventually, these kids and grandkids married full-telepaths, both Earth-born and Raman, which ensured that their offspring were full-telepaths as well.
Within a couple of years of moving south from Noosa, they received two manually-controlled, levitating discs, which were gifts from Zeke. They all also ended up owning their own levitation backpacks. With these they achieved unprecedented mobility, which allowed them, amongst many other things, to make regular flying visits to Noosa where they stayed with friends. From there they often set off on interstellar adventures, exploring and visiting uncountable exotic places.
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As it turned out, young Ben ended up falling in love with, and marrying, Clara, Jonesy’s second-oldest daughter. The Noosa community was very close and everyone got to know everyone else very well. Clara grew up from a rambunctious teenager into a stunningly-beautiful damsel who caught the eye of many a young buck. However, it was
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Ben who stole her heart, primarily with his witty humour. The wedding, which was held in the Mary Valley, was a wonderful affair to which absolutely everyone came. Over the decades and centuries, they spawned many children, all of whom were born full-telepaths thanks to Raman telepathic midwifery. They lived part-time on Earth and part-time on Rama. They travelled on uncountable adventures together, to many, many planets, where they often made lifelong friends.
…….
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