The Beaded Tapestry

Geo- Train – Sub Continent

Dear Analis,

I am making my way across the continent, heading for my new home. It is a four day journey by train and I am enjoying the opportunity to relish the various terrains the planet has to offer. The Equine seems to follow along in the sky above as we speed across the landscape and it gives me an added sense of unfamiliar protection and purpose. As you know, I have always been intrigued by the EM process of transport, so I opted to travel by Geo train for the last leg of my trip. It allows me a good view of the surrounding area and also a chance to experience a fascinating new way of transport. Although there has been various electromagnetic forms of transport on Earth over the centuries, the process on New London has been developed to near perfection by a new element only found here. It is similar to graphene on a molecular level, as it is highly stable, but cavorite (as it has been designated) also has the property of being resistant to gravitational waves. It is named after the material mentioned in H.G. Wells’ historic science fiction novel about the first trip to the moon. A highly fantastic story, but strangely plausible if Wells had only written his story from New London. When cavorite is combined with helium, the resulting material blocks eighty-five percent of the gravitational force exerted by the planet! Cavorite is highly rare and only found on New London so the material is used almost exclusively for the transport industry here. The combination of the cavorite based shell of the train and the use of geomagnetic waves for propulsion has made this type of transport ideal for the environmentally conservative New Londoners. There is no need for tracks or fuel and from what I have noted, geo- trains are the exclusive means of human transport for long distance here. They still use more conventional forms of carriers for cargo, but I am amazed how pristine the countryside remains after two hundred years of occupation. I have traveled for hours without witnessing any evidence of human presence as I watched the scenes pass outside my window. It gives me a slight thrill knowing I will be one of the few pioneers in my portion of New London.

I have booked passage back to Delphi in six months by the same train as there is still unfinished business left to be completed. I received word last night from Addison that a portion of the meteorology equipment needed for my atmospheric testing had not arrived with the rest of the equipment from the Derringer. After several lines of inquiry I found it had been damaged in transport from the space carrier and was being held for inspection. I had to make a late night trip to the cargo quarantine area before I could obtain further information. After examination of the equipment I can happily report that it is repairable. First thing this morning I arranged for it to be picked up by a local repair company. They have assured me the equipment will be operational within four months if my reported repairs were the extent of the damages. I feel more secure in escorting the items in person and it will also allow me to meet with the Flynn representative in person once more during my return trip. My contact from the foundation will be returning to Delphi during that period and I have arranged to meet him. I believe it will ease both our security concerns if we do not share information electronically and I should already have findings to share with him by that time. Since I will not be taking atmospheric reading until the studio is fully operational it will not cause any issue or delay with my work. I only panicked briefly before I was able to make my initial examination. The units are near impossible to obtain on New London and I arranged for only a limited supply of spares to be included in the shipment. A lapse in judgment on my part in retrospect, but luckily the damaged parts are among those available. I wish now I had been more thorough in my selections but there is nothing to be done about it now. I am puzzled by the lack of communication from the transport company and wonder why we had to bring this issue to their attention. I will have to dig a little deeper into this once I have settled as the transport officer offered no explanation when I confronted him. If this had been the only event I would not feel inclined to probe further, but I had an equally strange experience earlier this week.  When I contacted the meteorology department in Delphi they informed me that all solar activity reports were confidential and I did not have adequate clearance for access to them. I explained that I wanted to verify the strange readings our equipment detected on the Phycodurus-8 during the solar flares a few weeks ago.  I was hoping they could supply independent data from New London and assist with predicting any new solar flares in the near future. The person asked me to wait then left the office.  She returned with another woman who explained that they were unable to help me as all solar activity was inaccessible to the general public and I would have to apply for additional clearance.  I filled out the forms she presented but it will take several months to process my request. I left the office very frustrated with the bureaucracy of the whole process.  I knew then that I could set up our own equipment as soon as the site is ready and there would be no need for the clearance other than for the historical data.  This is now impossible due to the damaged equipment. It is a bit too coincidental for me.

We will be making only one stop during the trip where I will be able to disembark from the train for a few hours. Newton is not as large as Delphi but well worth a look according to my fellow travelers. It is located near the halfway point of my final destination so it will be a welcome opportunity for a bit of exercise after two days on the train. One of my fellow travelers directed me to visit a café called Newton’s Orb. We were discussing the cuisine on the train (or the lack thereof) and the subject turned to the availability of coffee here on New London. The café is rumored to have the finest coffee and tea selection this side of the planet and I am looking forward to testing that testimony. There is also a small shop attached to the café that offers their products for purchase and I hope to pick up some coffee to add to my dwindling supply from the Derringer. It was much depleted by my stay on the Phycodurus and I do not want to arrive empty handed at the studio site. I also was told they have a beautiful offering of coffee services created by artists from the local area. Reluctantly I could not bring my antique service grandmother gave me, so I will need something to replace it. It was too delicate for the journey and I left it with mother for safekeeping. I only hope the shop is open during my short time in Newton as I will be sorely disappointed if I have to leave empty handed.

I will write tomorrow with a full description of Newton and hopefully a sparkling review of the café.

Love always,

Victoria

Delphi, New London

Dear Analis,

I find my desire to immerse myself in the serenity of my art overwhelming at this time.  I have spent the last few days in the disagreeable task of arranging our business affairs with the many agencies located here in Delphi. Thru history there has always been a bureaucratic entity present in all major population centers and New London is no exception. I realize that what I have been doing here over the last few weeks is paramount to the success of our project but I find I am losing patience quickly with the amount of paperwork needed to establish myself and our dream here.  I have finally reached the end of this clerical nightmare and the final documents were signed today at the land registration office.  We are now the proud custodians of forty acres of desert mountain property and the permits to build.  I will have to thank the contractor as he completed quite a bit of the preliminary work before I arrived.  It was still a large undertaking and I am glad to be heading to the build site first thing tomorrow.  I have missed father’s keen clerical sense more than ever over the past few days and I yearned more than once to be able to channel his abilities across time and space.  

The scientific community has won out over the artisan in the designation of the Anomaly.  The official name has been announced by the committee as Glauert’s Eques Mass Spectrum Array.   There are still hints of compromise with the artisan community in their choice as Glauert was the historic anthropologist from Australia who was responsible for categorizing many of the sea denizens there back in the 19th century.  There is a certain romanticism in the choice of names and I have heard the Equine being used as a popular alternative to the scientific designation.  I am ecstatic that some reference to the small sea creature it resembles remains and as I tire of calling it the Anomaly I will also adopt this more than appropriate epithet.

My trip up the coast was a magnificent experience and I have filled my artistic mind with the unobscured vision the countryside had to offer of the Equine. Nicolas was equally enchanted and he seemed to gain added momentum for his endeavors if that could at all be possible. He has now been gone over two weeks to his new home and I find myself missing him already. I know this is mainly caused by my work being on hold until I am established and I hope once I am immersed in my studies that the infrequent visit with him will be adequate to sustain our rapport.  A relationship at this point is not ideal for either of us but I would not rule it out in the future.

From what I have observed the turmoil in Delphi has slackened while I have been here.  Although there is a feeling of tension on the streets that is almost palpable between certain groups, there has been no signs of actual violence.  The Cultavist leader was able to curb most of the activities caused by his lost flock members, but there is still conflict between the security forces and the various activist group present in Delphi.  Near the admin complex a small demonstration was evident when I was there to meet the planet registrar. The small group of people were a mix of Cultavist and eco-scholars protesting the use of the Equine for profit. The flash boards carried by the Eco-scholars displayed pictures of construction sites all over New London and the supposed destruction of the natural resources in the name of progress.  The boards carried by the Cultavist displayed logos representing  the many artificial research facilities located near the Equine including the pictogram for the Phycodurus-8. The message was the same under all the photos.  Stop the abuse!! It is strange how these types of images never change over the centuries. Even for a planet that has been focused on the natural preservation from the beginning of its colonization,  it is still not enough to satisfy all the people. At least this demonstration was peaceful and I only heard a few demonstrators  screaming obscenities at the outside of the building. I was not able to determine who this was directed  against  but there was definitely hostile words toward the security force blocking the building entrance.  I will be happy when I am well away from the center of civilization and busy with the ecological destruction of my own special piece of New London.    

I have found time in the last few days to contact the Flynn foundation headquarters here.  I had a stroke of luck in that respect as one of their top researchers is in Delphi for business. He has agreed to share certain  information with us on an informal basis as long as we agree to use this knowledge in confidence. This will relieve any threat of breaking our security agreements with our respective employers and maybe we can assist each other in our goals.  I realize this is a bit of a gentlemen’s agreement, but as we both have the same risks of disclosure I am trusting our arrangement. Dr. Falton was very interested in our observations about the growth of the Equine and also about your theory of its intelligents.  As these two items have not been included in our research for the Louvre as yet I felt comfortable giving up this knowledge as a sign of trust. He shared an overview with me about the construction parameters they used for their complex and also what type of conditions they are focused on treating.   A very noble cause if I am any judge and it seems logical that the Equine would be interested in giving them preferential treatment. I have agreed to stay in contact with him on our combined progress as long as neither of us breaks our confidential agreements.  I hope you are agreeable to this as it is impossible to ask your opinion at this time.  

I have begun to count the days till you arrive and we can discuss these types of things before I act.  I am not confident in making all these types of decisions on my own but as we discussed the impact of the Equine on the Flynn foundation before we left Earth I have set the ball in motion.

I remain your trusted partner.

Love Victoria

Delphi, New London

Dear Analis,

It is with great joy that I announce my arrival on New London and that I have taken up temporary residence in the city of Delphi. It is everything I imagined and much more.  The mixture of old world character and new world technology combines to produce a fascinating atmosphere. The spaceport is well outside the populated areas and we were shuttled into the center  by hydro taxi. Delphi is fashioned after a supposed 18th century model of Amsterdam  and the use of waterways for transport is almost exclusive.  With the ready supply of water from the Salsburg Ocean Delphi is built on, it seems the logical solution to traffic congestion and environmental conformity.  The small streets are filled with mainly pedestrians but there is also many animal  drawn vehicles. From what I see they use  some type of modified equestrian stock similar to Earth horses but more suited to the higher gravity. They are stockier and possess thicker limbs than their terrene cousins. I have created a few sketches of the roanian’s as they are called and I will include them with this letter.  As the taxi made its way to my new apartments,  I found myself staring equally  at the Cyber-mechs and Cultavists mixed in among the other pedestrians. The mechanical alterations I have observed so far  are similar to those seen on Earth with one exception.  The Cyber-mechs all include a symbol on their embellishments that represent the Anomaly. Similar to a mix between  the ancient druid symbol for the letter E and Z  but with added floridity.  I saw this symbol everywhere as we entered the city and it seems to be also a representative for the artisan community that use cybernetics to enhance themselves and the effects of the Anomaly.  The Cyber-mechs here call themselves the Equestrian wayfarers. They are so similar in appearance to the so called  Mech youths of London that I can imagine myself back once again on the street of London.  The long black coats lined with silver mesh would not  seem out of place in our old home and there are hundreds walking around in this uniform in the streets of Delphi. Most of the cybernetics I saw on this populous were facial enhancement for vision but there were also many artificial limbs that hint at specialty crafts and abilities. I wonder how Nicolas feels about these additions as he has them by no choice of his own.  

My temporary accommodations are small but adequate for my short stay here and ideally located within walking distance to  the vast social service establishments I must visit during the next few weeks.  The bulk of my belongings and most of my work has already been sent ahead to the studio site by special courier so the lack of space is not a burden. I am happy my rooms are above street level as the buzz of civilization is reduced.  Compared to the near silence of my quarters on the Derringer and Phycodurus, the sounds of the city are deafening.

Unfortunately we arrived at the spaceport during the daylight hours and I was not able to view the Anomaly in its full glory before we entered the city. The use of modified gas lamps within the city allow for adequate viewing of the Anomaly during the night  but the true splendor of the Anomaly is best seen in the darkest hours from well outside the city.  Even during the daylight hours the power of the anomaly is evident.  The moment I disembarked from the shuttle and  stood in the unobstructed atmosphere on the planet surface I was inundated by my first experience of the  full sensory array emanating  from the Anomaly.  Analis, the feeling is so indescribable I was left speechless. If we are able to follow through with our ideas for the Louvre to capture this experience, it is beyond imagination the lives we will change on Earth.  I find it hard to believe there could be any type of ill will or violence in the presence of such overpowering feelings of positivity and focus I experience here.  I am beginning to solidify my suspicions that the Anomaly does not affect everyone the same.  I realize this plays into your intelligence theory, but I believe you are closer to the truth than the scientist who believe it is only an astronomical body.  As we discussed before, the growth towards the Flynn satellite was very profound in our time view from Earth and now the added observation of how different groups respond to the Anomaly point toward a guiding force involved here.  If this is true I hope the Anomaly finds us worthy in our endeavors.  We must remain confident of the good our work will bring to mankind and hope the Anomaly shares our ambitions.  There is no evidence at this point in time of added growth toward the Flynn satellite, but I will focus a portion of my research to follow that particular phenomenon during the next year as I did with your equipment.  This will allow us to closely monitor the changes first hand as was not possible on Earth.

I must sign off now.  I have an appointment with the Louvre representative in an hour and I have a few things to prepare. I have made plans tomorrow for a short trip along the sea coast with NIcolas before he continues on to his new establishment.   I will write upon my return and give you a description of the Anomaly from outside the city.  We are hiring one of the  roanian carriages to make the journey.  The fuel based vehicles here are used almost exclusively for cargo transport  between the population centers so there are many creature drawn vehicles used locally for short trips.

I remain your dedicated sister.

Victoria