Chapter 6

Drozul sent, “Are you bringing her?”

I said, “On my way.” I picked the Lenape woman up and headed to the portal, which 99’ automatically opened.

I sent, “Thank’s 99’.”

He sent an image of a smiley face.

I plunked the young native woman on the hospital bed, shook Drozul’s hand, and returned to my ship.

I sat drinking coffee and watching the village.

The Lenape peoples were divided into three tribes. Tall Woman cones from the Unalachtigo. ( Colloquially known as the ‘People Who Live by the Ocean’ ) The natives’ homes are semi-permanent. A brief search told me they were called wikiups. They have an inside frame made from green saplings. In most cases, a frame made from saplings gets tied together to form a round or oblong framework about twelve to fifteen feet across. To keep the weather out, large mats of reed, sheets of tree bark or sometimes deer hide go over that. They preferred the reed or bark to the deer hide.

Thicker saplings were tied over the outer covering to keep it in place. A deer hide was used over the doorway to provide privacy. Outside the wikiup, a spear or two was leaning close to hand. Some wikiups had a paddle leaning outside for one of their dugout canoes.

The natives were up early. The first thing the women did after going into the woods to pee was to start a fire. They shared several different spots for their fires.

I sent, “Drozul, did the zat’iK - paleontologists visit here?”

He said, “Let me double-check, I think they didn’t, but I want to be sure I am recalling correctly.”

A few minutes later, he came back, “No, Tom. Their main interest was with the two main groups in Africa and Europe. Their main study became the Denisovans. You’re thinking about your red hair, aren’t you?”

I sent, “Yes. Our present pink skin and red hair are likely too visually alien to them. They may not accept us because we are too different. How about turning Jade back to the way she was and changing me back, too? Our strange looks would get in the way of us interfacing with the natives. They could very well reject us outright due to our oddness. We would be inexplicable to them.”

He sent, I agree, reluctantly. The pink skin and flaming red hair are popular to our viewers. It will take a day for your Exo’s to change you back.”

Drozul sent, “On another subject, we have investigated traditional garb for senior native peoples. We will provide you, Jade, and the native woman called Tall Woman, with new, better-looking garments. They will be simulated deerskin with threads, so fine, they will look like the absolute best white deerskin there is. They will be cool and comfortable.”

I sent “Great, Drozul, I think I need some adventure, so I’m going to goof off and fishing.”

I sent, “99’, please lower the skiff.”

Drozul sent, “We should travel up the river at least a mile or so before you put in.”

I sent, “Sounds good, do that, 99’. Are the women waking up yet?”

99’ sent, “They are pretending to sleep in; they are drowsing hoping you return to bed.”

A few minutes later 99’ said, Sensors tell me we are near a good area. It has overhanging bushes on the west side of the Delaware River. I see swirling near the surface and the many jumping fish.”

I thought, “Excellent, 99’. They are probably mullet. I know how to fish for them. Don’t bother with the skiff; put us about ten feet up in invisible mode. I will fish from the bottom of the port stairway.”

I went and got a light spinning rod and reel with 7-pound test line. I put a tiny #10 hook on it and one pinch-on weight about a foot up from the hook.

Mullet have big eyes so they see very well. But their mouths are small.

I got a can of frozen dough balls out, pried some out of the can, and nuked them for just enough time to thaw.

I took my things down one of the aft stairs and looked over at the overhanging bushes and the obvious telltale signs of a school of mullet. All I needed to see, was for one fish jump, and I knew I would be in heaven. Like clockwork, a mullet jumped.

I went back upstairs and got a box of cornflakes. I went back down and had 99’ hover right above the fish. They could not see me or the ship, but I was looking straight down at them. I chummed the water with a small handful of cornflakes and waited. At first, a few fish nosed the cornflakes.

I went back up and got another cup of black coffee while I waited. Mullets are very cunning and will not just bite at anything going by, like a bass or other game fish. I went down and added more cornflakes. The big ones near the surface were nibbling away at my chum. You could see some bits floating down and the other fish swirling around it below.

I looked at my watch, and at the 10-minute mark, I was ready. I took a pinch of a dough ball from my little coffee cup of dough balls. I inserted a tiny hook into the new piece and pinched it until it had a flattened shape similar to the cornflakes. I gently tossed it nearer the shoreline and watched my small pinch-on sinker pull it down. Mullets are very cagey fish and the ultimate hard-to-catch species.

I reeled steadily in so the dough ball would float up near the surface. I paused the bait in one spot. What the hell, the ship and I are invisible anyway.

I watched until I saw the line where it entered the water sent out tiny circles of vibration.

This showed it was being disturbed. I waited. I could just see the mullets head. After a few minutes of this, I gently tugged the line with my hand and felt like I had the fish. My pole went wild. I put my tip low almost to the water and gently reeled the fish in. I just had it just about out when the fish spit the hook loose and fell back in the stinker.

That’s mullet fishing for you. I would catch one and miss several. They are just that cautious and a challenge because they are so tricky to catch. It was the great number of hungry fish that allowed me to catch them.

Anytime I caught a fish, Jade would appear to collect it. At one point, she handed me a fresh cup of coffee and a sandwich with egg, cheese, and bacon on toast. I had a blast fishing and even showed Jade my tricks.

I was glad to get some use out of the cornflakes. Nobody aboard was really eating the cornflakes. I liked them with strawberries, bananas, and cream, but otherwise, they were not my favorite. The girls mostly appeared to ignore the cornflakes and ate granola.

The most popular chum for mullet is dry oatmeal.

Another way to catch mullet is illegal in most places. You make a leader with several sizable treble hooks tied to it. Then, you add some big pinch-ons at the top of the leader. Use your snap swivel from your line to attach it to the leader. Toss the mess past the middle of the school of mullet. Then, you jerk the pole and reel, jerk the pole and reel,. Jerking the pole and reeling pulls it through the dense school of mullet. You likely will snag at least one fish for every cast.

The treble hooks usually grab fish by their back, tail, or face. The fish tastes precisely the same, but it’s a hell of a lot less sporting.

This is very illegal in my home state of Florida. Personally, I was shown the method when I was ten, but I never did it myself except the one time when I was shown how. I feel this is a more cruel method. How would you feel being pulled in by a big hook through your foot, your face, or your back?

Another method for catching them is using worms as bait. They will bite on a small worm or even a worm segment. In that case, you use a tiny long-shank hook and wiggle the worm so it completely covers the hook.

You use a miniature fish bobber and pinch on weight to hold the bait about 6 inches down. When you see the bobber slowly go down, you give a slight tug.

Mullet have small mouths and little bone in their lips. If you jerk a line too hard, you will be left with a pair of fish lips. When I was a kid and we boys fished this way, we called it fishing for fish lips. It takes a very delicate touch to catch a mullet.

I stopped at three fish. I had been at it an hour. I was rusty.

I told Jade the smallest was to be cut up for bait. Jade made ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch with corn chips, of all things. She was saving the fish for later.

Amber wanted to try some fishing. She was interested in deep-sea. We went high and flew out to sea, looking for some likely spots. 99’ found a ball of baitfish by drone. We parked near the water and set Amber up with a bigger pole. As luck would have it, there were lots of predator fish underneath the ball of baitfish. All you had to do was get below the fish ball, and you had gamefish. The ball had them in a feeding frenzy.

I drank my iced tea as she caught a fish and Jade helped her. She’s hooking mainly mahi mahi. Aalea was watching raptly. The space girl had never seen anything like this. Their food is all processed and artificial.

Amber was using a purple jig with plastic tendrils hanging off. I showed her how to stick a long piece of mullet on it and lower it. 99’ would move the stern around through the ball of fish. Amber stopped after she caught two. One was fifteen pounds, the next one was over twenty two pounds and that tired her out.

We had mahi mahi for supper because they are very tasty. My mullet got frozen because they are almost tasteless fish.

Jade battered the mahi mahi with a rosemary-based mixture. She then made a cream sauce to pour over the fried fish. She would not tell us what was in it, but it was great.

She had also made Chinese-style fried rice. I am not sure why it was called ‘fried’ as nothing in it appeared as if it had actually been fried, as the rice was fluffy. The rice had lots of small bits of vegetables and some diced meat, I think pork. We had a fresh fruit salad for dessert. Jade used chopsticks, which she flashed around, grabbing pieces while eating. The rest of us used forks.

She served the meal Chinese style, with large bowls in the middle of the table—competitive eating at its best. Interestingly, Aalea proved a quick learner when she tried the chopsticks. Still, a fork is faster, and Aalea was back to a fork quickly.

Drozul sent, “We are finishing up with Anna Collins, your prospective bodyguard. What color did you want her hair to be?”

I sent, “Can she be her natural color?”

He sent, “Yes, but for the sake of variety, we think she should be a golden blond with a creamy coloring. Jade will be back to being black-haired with her regular skin tone by morning, and you will be too.”

I sent, “How about making Aalea the blond and let Anna stay as she was, with short black hair and brown eyes. She will have enough to cope with, as it is.”

He sent, “Well, in that case, you can pick her up anytime. Anna’s ready now. There is also a package for Aalea to install in your bedroom.”

I sent, “What package would that be?”

He sent, Another Space Reformulation Tech Extension for your ship. This one is to add on another king-size bed and more walk-around room to your stateroom.”

I sent, “That’s an excellent idea. I was beginning to worry about having an extra woman or so with only one bed. We have the double king in the house. That was a fantastic bed, though it’s a bitch to change sheets.”

He sent, “Yes, I’m glad you liked it. We swapped out your innerspring for a proper Heillizdt sleep surface. It adapts to the body much better now. You can test it the next time you visit Jenny and Connie.”

I sent, “Hmm, ya. Now that you mention it, this bed I have onboard here is not that comfortable, either. Thanks, buddy, for the new beds and mattress’s.”