Chapter 7B: Making New Friends

Saturday:

I woke up to Sally and Waush Shaua playing chase me chase you. They were doing it over our bed. I looked at the clock. It was 0705 early in the morning! Sushi was awake and smiled at me. I went and made a pot of coffee. I looked at Sushi as she was brushing her fur. She is so beautiful! I went and gave her a five-alarm kiss and she kissed me back.

"Today is the day we test the new bios. Are you ready?" I handed Sushi a cup of coffee. We went out on the deck and watched the ocean while we drank our coffee.

I got an on net call from James. He and his set were heading for breakfast. Sushi, Sally, Waush Shaua, and I left for the dining room. Sally and Waush Shaua had their leashes on. Sushi and I had the "Ole's Favorite" breakfasts. Sally and Waush Shaua had a side of bacon and a dish of cream. While we were eating, Salina and Anne arrived.

After breakfast, we walked to the Van Damme Beach State Park Visitors' Center. I went over what we would try at the Pigmy Forest. James would go ahead with a special laptop and wait for the rest of us and try to take over control of our bodies. We gave him a half hour head start.

I looked at the rest of us. "This is a simulation. The beam on Bangalore is ten times as powerful. It is going to be critical to the success of our mission that this works. The backup brains are in place. Sally and Waush Shaua know to lick our ears if we dumb down. Since they are not part of the WE they are our secret weapon. Anu and your set do not have backup. You may loose memories. Are we ready?"

We headed for the Pigmy Forest. We were on the steps going up to the level of the forest when my WE went into protected mode. I touched Sushi's hand. She was also in protected mode. The bios seemed to be working. I looked around and every one was giving me a thumb's up. We continued up the trail. It was funny not being connected.

I stepped on what I thought was a branch. I could not move. None of us could move. Then I really felt dumb. I had trouble speaking English. I could growl cat phrases but English was beyond me. I fell to the ground and started to crawl. I finally got away from the control. I was as dumb as a stump. Sally walked over and licked my ear. Then she licked Sushi's ear. What a rush. Everything became clear. I had stepped on a conductor connected to James' control computer. The backup worked. Then I saw James. He was smiling! Anu and his set were still under control. They were on the wired area. I had James shut off the computer. I kissed Margaret, Nancy, Mabel, Toni, Joe, and Wendy on their ears. Their backup worked fine. I issued a command to the WE to restore Anu and his set as best as they could. There was some minor memory loss.

We all went to Tom's and Cynthia's clearing. The WE net was buzzing for the next half hour. We used our memories to help restore the missing memories in Anu and his set. The important thing was that the bios and backup worked. It worked very well. It worked well enough that Anu could fly over the hospital without losing control. He just could not land. The other thing was we now knew that simple metal detectors would have warned us of the control mesh on the ground. It was a very successful day. Oh yes, Sally and Waush Shaua were very valuable. They would have salmon and shrimp for dinner tonight.

I suggested that each of us find a bench and spend fifteen minutes in silence. We should all meditate on what happened here today. We all did that.

Fifteen minutes later Sushi, Sally and Waush Shaua came to my bench. Sushi and I snuggled with the two cats on our laps. The sun was warm, we were at peace. I was still concerned about the grounding connection. Then I remembered rubbers and rubber gloves. When we approached Bangalore we needed to put these insulators on our feet and hands. I felt much better. The team still worked well. We had a good and talented group of people.

Sushi called every one to our bench. We went back to a normal WE net configuration. Salina invited us all to a picnic lunch at the visitor's center. We accepted.

At lunch James and his set let us know that they had wet suits and were going abalone diving. We all went to the beach to watch. All four of them limited out in one hour. Well, we were having abalone for dinner tonight. Mabel made arrangements for the Abalone Hall and dinner at 1900. The rest of us beach combed for the next three hours. The air temperature was 78° F. The water was 40° F. We did not go swimming in the ocean.

I took Sushi back to our room and our Jacuzzi. We relaxed there for one hour. After our soak, James, Joe, and Anu came over. We planned the return trip. We had two more days at Little River. Sunday we planned a golf tournament at the Little River Golf Course.

I asked Anu, "Where did you want to live until we take off for Bangalore? We could find temporary accommodations in Graton if you wish."

He and his set thought that would be good for team development.

I asked James if we could use the great room for a dormitory until we left for Bangalore.

James said that would work. He would contact Maria and Zeth and have them set the room up.

We decided to go north to Fort Bragg and take the Skunk train to Willits. Mabel had reservations at the KOA in Willits. She made reservations at the US Army Corp Of Engineers campground at Lake Mendocino and at the Cloverdale KOA. It would be a push but we could make it. We planned a day of rest at each campground.

We went to our Abalone dinner in the Abalone Hall. James used the hall for hearts games after dinner.

At 2130, Sushi and I headed for our room and bed. We were ready. Again we were asleep when our heads hit the pillows. I was looking forward to tomorrow. We had four foursomes. Sushi and I drafted Neil Olafson and Paul Wilson to fill our foursome. We had free green fees because we were staying at the inn. Tee time was 0900. Tomorrow should be fun!

Sunday:

I woke at 0545. I called Sally and asked that we have our meals in the Abalone Hall. She was able to accommodate us. Paul Wilson called. He had been out fishing with his cousin, Art and he had three premium salmon for dinner. Sally said Ole would be pleased to prepare them for us.

I went to the Abalone Hall and found James. We talked about the experiment yesterday. I wanted to re-run the experiment in a wet suit, galoshes and gloves. I wanted to run it on Anu also. We agreed that we would try that this afternoon. Sally and Ole brought out the buffet breakfast at 0700. We were all finished by 0815.

The golf course is just behind the Little River Inn. It is a nine hole course. We had to rent clubs. The first foursome started at 0845. Mine was the last foursome. We finished at 1255. At lunch, we talked about my proposed experiment with the wet suit, galoshes and gloves. Joe thought it might really work. The only way to find out was to try. Anu wanted to be one of the guinea pigs. If it worked, backup memory would not be an issue.

After lunch, Anu and I went back to the Pigmy Forest with James. The rubber boots and gloves worked. We definitely had to go to the local bios. There were no control issues. James even poured water on the booties. There was no change. We had two solutions. That would have to do.

Dinner that night was a festive occasion. Paul and Anne joined us. James and I talked to Paul about Michael Wilson in Annapolis. He said he would call his attorney to set up a meeting for Michael. He was glad that Michael's alcohol problems were solved. He liked Michael and Donna. The bottling plant might make their ranch go. It would definitely give Michael's set something profitable to do. We all laughed.

I asked what Paul and Anne were doing the next few days. He said, "We have no plans."

I invited them to join us on the trip to Willits. We were going to stay at the Atrium Bed and Breakfast in Fort Bragg. It was one block from the Skunk Depot. We would take the Skunk to the Willits KOA.

They accepted our invitation.

After dinner we had an awards ceremony for the best foursome. Anu and his set had the lowest scores for the nine holes. Sally had a special plaque made for our tournament. James got out the cards and we had another evening of hearts.

I took Sushi to our room. We discussed the experiments. Sushi was still concerned that we might be fooled by whatever was on Bangalore. She could not see anything we had missed. She would work with Sally Cat and Waush Shaua on ear licking if we acted dumb.

We went to bed but not to sleep. We connected and made quiet peaceful love together.

Oh how I love Sushi. I hoped I had not made a mistake about this Bangalore trip. If anything bad should happen to her I would not survive.

Sushi felt my concern. She let me know she felt the same way about me.

Monday:

We all slept in. The fog was back. It looked like it intended to stay all day. We all knew that was typical of the Mendocino Coast in the summer. On with the sweats. We made a quick trip through the town of Mendocino. Anne and Paul showed us the Art Center. At least most of the exhibits were inside. We rode the final 11 miles to Fort Bragg. We checked into the Atrium. It was still foggy. Now the fog was down on the deck. You could not see more than a twenty feet.

We stopped at the California Western Railroad offices and bought tickets for tomorrow's train. Paul got us an engine house tour. At least the engine house was warm. It was a museum of nineteenth century technology. Paul had us return to the Cliff House over looking Noyo Harbor for a fine dinner.

After dinner we returned to the Atrium. We Sat in the dining room and played cards. We talked about the trip so far. It was agreed by all that we had a successful shake down cruise. There was an air of confidence in our team. We were a team. Bangalore may be tough but we will prevail.

I suggested that we all get to bed early. We needed to be at the station 1/2 hour early. We had to load the bikes on the train. Mabel had made arrangements for an extra open air car for us and our bikes. The car would be switched to the Willits train at Northspur. Since it was Tuesday, there was a barbecue at Northspur for lunch.

Sushi and I headed for our room. Sally and Waush Shaua were playing that cat game chase me chase you. Sushi and I snuggled and gave each other a tongue bath. We ate each other to orgasm and sleep.

Tuesday:

I woke to a fog horn. It was 0530. Rather than wake Sushi I decided to take a walk and get a cup of coffee. I walked to the depot. Across the street was The Restaurant. That was its name "The Restaurant." They had just opened. I went in and got a fresh cup of coffee and a morning copy of the "Fort Bragg Advocate News."

I was just beginning to sip my coffee when I got an on net call from Sushi. She was awake and was wondering where I was. I explained I was in "The Restaurant" across Main Street from the depot. I would buy her a mocha if she came down. It was 0605. The Atrium would not be serving breakfast until 0700.

A few minutes later Sushi walked in. I had her mocha ready. I gave her a ten-alarm kiss good morning. I read her the paper. Small town papers are really great. Mrs. Wilson on Whipple was having a garage sale.

At 0730 we went back to our room and packed. We went down to breakfast. The rest of the team was there. Sushi and I had the Eggs Benedict. Sally and Waush Shaua had some cream and bacon.

We were at the depot at 0815. The train did not leave until 0900. Our conductor took us to our car. It was right behind the engine. We loaded our bikes and bike trailers on the car. The conductor suggested we might want to be inside until we got out of the fog and overcast. I got Marsha, Nancy and Paul to follow me to The Restaurant. We got mocha's for everyone. The train left for Northspur five minutes after we got on board.

The trip brightened when the overcast burned off. The Redwoods were coming back. We followed the Noyo River to Northspur where we were to meet the Willits train. There was a one hour layover while they switched the engines and our car to the Willits bound train. Today was Tuesday which is barbecue day at Northspur. I had wondered why the train was so full.

We found out that the motor coach version of the Skunk train had been reinstituted. They had local stops along the route again. Travelers could stop anywhere along the route and be picked up later. We would have to try that when we returned from Bangalore.

There were a number of campgrounds along the railroad. We noticed that there were two special cars on the train to Willits. Our conductor said a troop of scouts were going to the scout camp. In the summer they had at least two trains a week that made special stops.

We had a fine lunch. The sun was out and it was pleasantly warm.

The trip over the summit was pleasant. We all rode in the open-air car with our bikes. We would arrive in Willits at 1500.

Paul and Anne cornered me in our special car. They wanted to know what was happening. They wanted to be a part of it too. They were going back to Graton with us to see Paul's lawyer. I told them I would have to discuss their joining our group with the others. We would meet and let them know. They went and waited out by our bikes.

I called the group together. Everyone liked Paul and Anne. Anu asked about the rest of Paul's set. I said we would know about them in Willits. James and Marsha knew Paul's other two wives and said they would be useful to the group. They were both in the local home and food corps. They were both expert carpenters.

I called Paul and Anne back and gave them the news. I asked Paul to have the rest of his set meet us at Lake Mendocino.

Paul then asked what we were doing.

I gave him the short story about the Hospital of Bangalore.

He and Anne's mouths dropped. Now he said, "Tag we have to go. Our ranch will be fine. I'll explain that we're going on a second honeymoon. There will be no problem on our being away for three months. I trust my manager. Fred Olafsons is Anne's brother. He went to UC Davis School of Ranch Management. He's a natural at running the ranch.