Tag: shanty

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The Solex Guy: A Day Before

Gane struggled to prepare his equipment. Fasting made a long day of paperwork and prayer exhausting.

His appointments in the Shanty guided his inventory, but there were always unexpected needs. Some items, like traidl root powder, were easy to carry in sufficient quantities for any occasion. He arranged an extra roll of duct tape into the crate and coiled a dozen more leads into the center of that. The screen on his laptop indicated that the ghosting of the auxiliary laptop was complete. Instead of booting it up to see for himself, he inserted a static hres into the uniport and watched as the indicator LEDs flickered to a solid green.

He placed the aux into it’s cushion in the crate and sealed it up. His primary went into his satchel along with the expensive saffron petals. The tart aroma of the flower whetted his appetite. Lightheaded, he opens a a few cupboards before he realizes that he can’t eat. Closes them gently.

Word count: 161
Day 159

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Flicking Seeds

Tritti flicked the line up of tellat seeds off the rail of Johnka’s sledge. A solo version of a game she played with her brother. She was supposed to care how far they flew, but each seed dropped over the edge and out of sight like the previous one. Maybe the really good ones were hitting the drag kab on the tail. She doubted it though.

Johnka slept with both feet on the dashboard. Snoring with no intent to hide that he no longer piloted his ship.

A light breeze from the south kept the cockpit fresh and comfortable. It even moved the canopies enough that Tritti didn’t feel like [she was in a painting]. Instead she felt alone. Not lonely [expand that].

It might be three more nights out before they reached Shanty. Johnka avoided specifics about his past, his present, his future, and his schedule. Otherwise he was effulgent[what word am I thinking here?].

Word count: 150
Day 151

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Day 124: A Prayer for Circuitry

This entry relates to previous material tagged as solex.

Gane placed three fresh saffron leaves in a small clay mortar and added a pinch of pure silica sand. He muddled the mixture. Before the aroma and scant juice could soak into the clay he sprinkled the mixture onto the circuit board. Gane injected a brief thanks-prayer that the herbs spread evenly over the surface. Even a veteran monk could botch an install with clumps. He attached the leads and dialed up a test current.

He placed that board aside and repeated the maneuvers for five more boards. The utility room warmed with the gentle aroma of saffron honey and circuitry.

Next, Gane collected the seven hexagonal solex panels from the balcony–two were hot from exposure to the sun, the other five cool. He put one of the hot ones on the floor at his feet and attached the mahogany spacers at each of the six corners. Kneeling with a cool one in his lap, he mounted it to the first, quickly added a joiner to the one in his lap, and mounted a third to the first two. He rotated the group one panel clockwise and added a fourth. In this manner he joined six panels to the first to form something of a strange bowl.

The spacers acted as jumpers between the panels so he could now pass a current through all seven. He did this.

Gane checked his watch. Ten or so more minutes to steep the boards in saffron.

Rather than taking a moment to eat, Gane strengthened this minor hres with prayer.

I should probably define hres somewhere–since I haven’t.

Word count: 280