Chapter 20

The first thing that Vincent did once he had informed his women about his intention to construct a hot air balloon was to do a few preparatory calculations. What should the size of the balloon be in order to lift the weight of the gondola and its three occupants? There was also the weight of other things to consider. They would need to carry with them an abundant supply of water, food and of course their precious possessions, even if there were not many of those.

It was thus important that he had an estimate of the approximate total weight to be lifted in order to calculate the required volume of the balloon. But first, he had to determine the weight lifting capacity of the buoyancy of hot air.

Of course its lifting capacity was going to depend on the differential temperature between the air inside the sphere and that outside of it, but only to a certain extent. For this reason he needed to have a general idea how much weight the balloon could lift per unit volume of hot air.

On that first day of his balloon project, as he liked to think of it, they cut strips of material to construct a much smaller trial balloon. The strips were cut in such a way that the middle of each section would be wider than the ends. Once these were stitched together it would result in a volume that would have the general shape of a sphere.

They also had to discover, using trial and error, what would be the best shape for each strip so that once the strips were assembled the resulting test-sphere would be able to hold about a thousand cubic feet of hot air. A thousand cubic feet of air was the unit of measure he wished to test.

Vincent had to search in his memory to recall from his school days the exact formula to calculate the volume of a sphere (4/3 X pi X cube of radius). Using an approximate radius of a little over 6 feet, he arrived at the conclusion that a test-sphere of that radius would hold just about the desired volume of air. They then encountered the problem of sewing the strips together.

None of the tarps covering the numerous pieces of machinery had any stitches in them. It therefore meant that there had to be some kind of a device that could fuse the material together. Furthermore the chances were that this gadget would be somewhere in the room where the rolls of material were stored, probably near the cutting tables. It was logical to assume that the tarps were cut and assembled there.

After long minutes of looking around, they found the fusing apparatus that would allow them to stitch or weld the many strips of material together. When he tested it on two small strips, it seemed to send a current of some sort through the two adjacent strips that were placed in-between the two plates of the machine. When the material came out at the other end, there was a single and wider strip and it was impossible to tell that once there had been two of them.

It took them two and a half days to construct the test balloon. But it was time well spent since after performing a couple of tests on the balloon using increasing weights as a load and different air temperatures, he was able to calculate how large the big balloon should be. It turn out that the diameter of the larger balloon should be not less than forty feet.

Vincent was very satisfied with the performance of the small balloon. He did his many tests on it in one of the large rooms with a high ceiling. He didn't dare test it outside in case he should lose it and thus risk having it detected by Kowa's allies or even by Valdo himself. As soon as all the tests he wanted to perform were completed, they next proceeded with the construction of the larger balloon that could carry them all.

Fifty-foot long sections of the green and beige synthetic material were cut to construct the sphere. These wide strips had to be longer than the diameter of the sphere since their length had to be as long as half of the circumference. Each strip tapered off gradually at both ends thus being smaller there than at the centre in order to create the shape of a sphere. Then the strips were fused together alternately, a green one then a beige one and so on. In all, there were twenty strips, ten of each colour.

From Vincent's computations, the circumference of the balloon was to be 126 feet since the diameter was forty feet. Dividing that number by twenty he got 6.28 feet per strip at the centre. They were then alternately welded or fused together from top to bottom and once the assembly process was over, a circular opening of three feet in diameter was cut at the bottom of the sphere to allow the hot air from the blower to enter. Next, they welded a tube-like flexible connection made of the same material to the bottom hole. This tube was later going to be connected to one of the blowers in the gondola.

Finally, to give the sphere-shape more strength, two circular patches ten feet in diameter were fused to the top and to the bottom of the sphere. Once the balloon was completed, it was neatly folded. Then they got to work on the many ropes that would fix the gondola to the inflated sphere itself. They looked everywhere in the complex but they couldn't find ropes anywhere.

Vincent solved that problem by folding many times over and then fusing together, long strips of the resistant material, thus obtaining the many long ropes he needed. He even made a few spare rolls of them.

Once this task was done, they dragged the deflated balloon into one of the larger rooms and partially inflated it using one of the portable hot air blowers. This made it much easier to install the crisscrossing of the many ropes over the structure. Each rope was then spot-fused in a dozen places so that it would stay in place when the balloon was fully inflated.

Now all that needed to be done, was the construction of the gondola and the attachment to it of the loose ends of the many ropes. It had taken them two long weeks so far but Vincent knew that the time spent was well worth it since they were going to travel much faster, more easily and more safely than walking if his air ship idea worked.

They took a day off from work to go hunting since their food supply was almost exhausted by then. But the smaller game that so far had been plentiful almost everywhere, was now very scarce. As for big game, there was none to be seen. Vincent figured that they were still too close to the radioactive zones and this must have been keeping the animal life away.

All that they managed to catch were half a dozen rabbits and other small animals that he had never seen before. They cooked half of their catch and they smoked the rest so that the meat would keep for a while.

To construct the gondola, they made use of the light rectangular sheets that had been used to pack the smaller machines that had once been assembled in the complex.

Since there was a large assortment of these sheets, - practically all sizes were available - they chose those that could fit their purpose and constructed the rectangular box-like gondola using these light and strong plastic-like sheets. Unlike the material of the tarps, it was relatively easy to drill holes in this material. By means of brackets, bolts and nuts - all made of synthetic hard plastic - he made the whole structure very strong. A series of holes were drilled all along the sides so that later they could tie the ropes of the balloon to the gondola itself.

Once this was done, Vincent added a final touch by installing a roof over half of the gondola area thus creating a small cabin-like room. It was a certainty that they would encounter rain while in the air and the sloping roof would be very useful in helping to keep them warm and dry.

By then they were almost out of food and Vincent knew that it was important that they should leave the complex soon. By now he could tell that his two women were restless and impatient to leave. Little did they know, he told himself, how scary they were going to find this first experience in being lifted high into the sky and then being carried off at the whim of the wind.

It took them a whole day to drag everything outside. Even though the skin of the balloon was quite light, they had to pull it up the stairs into the cave a little at a time, and finally out into the open.

Once that task was done, it was the turn of the gondola to go the same way. When they finally had it in the cave, it became evident that it wouldn't fit through the fissure in the rock that was the entrance to the cave. Therefore, they had to take it apart and then put it back together again once it was outside.

After that they proceeded to load into the gondola all of their belongings and two new hot air blowers and a few rolls of synthetic rope. A small plastic tank that they found in the complex was filled with water and also loaded into the gondola.

Vincent next busied himself connecting one of the blowers to the fireproof material of the flexible tube-like channel that entered the bottom of the air balloon. Then two ropes for the anchors were attached to the bottom of the gondola through holes that had been made for this purpose. These two ropes were later tied to two medium size boulders placed about fifty feet apart. Later when Vincent looked at the deflated balloon and gondola he was pleased with what they had accomplished.

"Well ladies, I am proud of you. As a matter of fact I am also proud of myself. We have done a fine job here, and let me tell you that even back home on Earth, with all the experts they have there, they wouldn't have come close to achieving what we have built here. Of course we did have the perfect material at hand to build our balloon."

Both Nika and Verla remained quiet and it was evident that they didn't seem to share his enthusiasm. Vincent figured that they were both beginning to realize that this contraption they had help him build might well be able to lift them high into the sky. Neither of them was finding this reassuring.

Since it was late in the afternoon, and they were all very tired, it seemed to him to be a good idea to wait until early the following morning to leave. This would also allow both girls to have a good night's sleep and maybe it was going to calm their fears a little.

"We will spend the night in the cave and have a good night's rest. Early tomorrow morning we will leave this place. We still can make use of the blower in the cave if it gets too cold in there."

The news that they were not leaving immediately, plus the fact that they were going to spend the night in the cave instead of down in the complex, did help to cheer the girls a little.

While Nika and Verla were preparing the inside of the cave for the night, Vincent went to look for food. Unfortunately he wasn't able to find anything they could eat. Even the small game that he hoped to catch was nowhere to be seen and he came back empty handed.

The following morning, as soon as the sun made its first appearance over the nearby hills, the three of them arose and made their final preparations to leave. Snow had fallen again during the night and the temperature of the air was now much colder than it had ever been before.

After a very light breakfast - there was now very little food left - they finished packing and loading their belongings into the gondola. Both girls were now extremely nervous and this worried Vincent.

"I think we should choose a name for our balloon," said Vincent. "Since you were both so helpful in its construction, I will let you decide on a name. So what will it be?"

Nika looked at him and it was evident that she didn't understand what he meant. Finally she said to him, "But it's not alive, so how can we give it a name?"

"Of course we can. Soon it will have a life of its own as you will discover. Besides, we can't always refer to it as the balloon, we need a real name that will give it character."

"I know," said Verla, "Let us call it the Rumar."

Vincent already knew that was the name given to very tall wild flowers that grew in abundance near her village. The balloon with its alternating beige and green stripes did resemble an immense Rumar flower indeed.

"Very well then, 'Rumar' it will be. Let us give life to it now that it has a name."

Vincent checked one last time the two ropes that were anchoring the gondola to the two well-separated stones. The two women looked at one another and finally Nika climbed aboard followed by Verla. It was then Vincent's turn to get into the gondola and as soon as he was standing near the girls, he placed his arms around each woman and kissed them one after the other.

He then went into the small cabin and switched the blower-heater on at half capacity. As soon as the hot air entered the balloon it began to swell a little. He next got out of the gondola to make sure that there would be no large folds in the material that could prevent the air from going into every corner of the folded sphere material.

After a minute, the layer of snow that had been covering the balloon began to slip off and melt. To Vincent it seemed as if a great giant were awakening as the tremendous shape of the sphere began to unfold and rise. After about ten minutes of the constant hot stream of air entering the sphere, it looked full and began to lift its own weight off the ground. Soon after that it was exerting an upward pull on the ropes of the gondola and Vincent decided that it was time for him to get back into the gondola.

As soon as he was in, Verla gave a loud shout inside the cabin as the tightening cables began to jerk and shake everything inside. The steady stream of intense hot air from the blower had now filled the sphere completely while the light wind was trying to pull it in a southeasterly direction. Soon all twelve cables joining it to the gondola were taut.

For a few minutes more the blower kept sending hot air without any visible reaction from the Rumar. Then there was a sudden upward pull and the gondola began to move horizontally a few feet above the ground. After a while all movement stopped and it looked as if the two anchor stones were finally doing what they were suppose to do.

But by now Verla was on the verge of panicking and she began to shout inside the closed cabin of the gondola. She wanted to get out and onto the ground. Nika wasn't doing much better as she sat on the floor outside the cabin with both of her knees under her chin shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Less than a minute later, the gondola began to tilt and shake again. This was too much for Verla and she came rushing out of the cabin. She was hysterical with fright as she tried to climb over the side. Vincent tried to stop her and to reason with her, but she pushed him aside and he tripped over Nika who was still in a fetal position with her back against the side of the gondola.

As he fell, Vincent was able to grab Verla by one ankle hold on to her. By now she had half of her body over the side while both of her hands held on to one of the cables that tied the gondola to the balloon.

All at once he felt her stop struggling. He looked at her from where he was still half lying on the floor of the gondola. She still had one leg over the side and her face was extremely pale while both of her hands were holding onto the cable as if her very life depended on it. However, she was no longer trying to go overboard. When he got back onto his feet he reached for Verla's waist before letting go of her ankle.