TEOTWAWKI
#73: Last move
The Banana Slug prepared to move one last time. However short, this was to be it’s last voyage. It was only a few miles over smooth river-bottom to the Grain Elevator and that was a good thing. It might not be able to go much further. The Banana Slug really was on it’s last legs.
The Mages designed some apparatus. Then they equipped several of the BottomFeeders to accept it. Upon arrival at it’s final destination at the Grain Elevator the BottomFeeders deployed small hollow rotary diamond tip drills and bored holes into a grain bin. The first test. Surveillance insects were immediately inserted through the hole to examine what was inside of the bin. IF it was full of wet, moldy grain, that was just perfect. The small drill was replaced by a larger one. The hole was enlarged drastically and a wet grain removal system was installed. Spoiled grain by the ton was soon being removed from the bin and converted to SSmoke.
If the grain bin was full of dry grain that was even better than perfect. The grain was transferred to a barge to ensure it stayed dry. They now had a backup source of food, and all of their eggs weren’t in one basket.
The first test was a success. They proceeded to full scale implementation.
Some of the Barges that had arrived with the Banana Slug moved with it to the Grain Elevator. Other’s moved to the ‘islands in the flood. As new run-away barges floated downriver they were captured. The surveillance bugs looked for any barges within a reasonable distance. When one was found the newly designed ‘river whale’ barge retrievers were sent to fetch them to the desired location. The farther upriver they intercepted the wayward barges the better. It was much easier to merely steer downstream rather than to catch one that had passed and bring it back.
They did both. The barges had been deemed valuable to their survival. No barge would be left behind.
A workable number of barges were moored in circles around each ‘island’. They made good barge corrals and protected the islander also. As the river continued to rise the scooper-poopers continued to scoop and poop which increased the height of the levies. The circle of barges rose with it. If any rouge barge got that far it would hit the defensive barge ‘fence’ before it hit the island. The captured barges acted as a bumper.
“GOLDMINE!“Jeremy, one of the RowdyBunch, sang out. He was on BugWatch Barge “Oil Barges detected. There appears to be a tugboat attached.”
“You and the other Islander’s might want to tag along” Shelby told Weldon
“Roger” Weldon said “It looks like just what I’ve been looking for. I’ll tell them.”
“This is new” Shelby said.
“It is that” Weldon agreed” I can’t say I rightly understand it. I’ll have to think on this a minute.”
“Yup.” Lucy said.” or you could ask Cody.”
“Good point.” Weldon agreed. “Cody, do you copy?”
“Yessir Mr.Weldon Sir. How can I help you?” it only took a minute for Cody to answer.
“Can you explain to me, using simple terms, why this thing is floating?” he asked.
“I think so.” Cody said. “Water weighs 63 lbs/sq ft. Fuel weighs 59. ....rough numbers.... Every thousand cubic foot tank that’s full of fuel contributes four thousand pounds of buoyancy. If the tank is empty and sealed tight with no water in it, the buoyancy of THAT tank would be much greater.”
“I see, about 60 thousand pounds greater.” Weldon was rubbing his chin. He just might grow a beard. He rather admired the one that Shelby had. “My experience with tanks leads me to believe that not a one of those tanks is that small.”
“No sir.” Cody agreed. “I’d have to measure to find out but they’re way bigger than that.”
“So the buoyancy of the tanks, loaded or empty, is keeping the whole barge raft afloat AND floating the tug boat, so to speak” Weldon said
“YesSir” Cody said “I got to go now. Someone else is calling me”
“Thank you.” Weldon said
“Smart lad” Weldon thought, rubbing his chin and looking at Lucy. She could do worse.
Lucy looked at her Pa who was looking at her with a very odd expression
“What?” she said.
“On nothing” Weldon grinned “but I approve.”
What?” Lucy replied, totally mystified.
“What we got here” Wilbur said “is a tugboat that’s hooked solid to it’s tow. It’s tow just happens to be fuel barges. It looks like the tugboat is being held up by it’s load. Notice it’s full of water? I suspect that the whole thing was moored. When the water kept rising it was pulled under water by it’s mooring. Something caused the mooring to either slip free or break loose. The excess buoyancy caused it to surface and float.”
The Tugboat wasn’t floating, it was clinging. The only thing keeping it from sinking out of sight was it’s connection the the fuel barge raft. The first barge wasn’t doing to good of a job either. It was bow high, the rear was awash. The raft was keeping IT from capsizing.
Shelby said “How bout we dispatch some drones to pump as much water out as possible to help float better before a binding comes loose and it tips over? Do you think you can start the engines or should we drag it in first?”
“Roger that” Everyone agreed.
Several ‘barge retrievers ’complete ‘hose-drones’ were dispatched immediately. The ‘hose-drones’ were basically long tubes. The drone scampered it’s front part down into the ship as far as it could go leaving it’s tail dragging in the river. When it was settled into position and holding on really tight it began to swallow, real fast and time after time. Peristaltic action quietly and quickly transferred the water back into the river.
Meanwhile the barge retriever kept the barge raft on course down the river. That job got easier and easier the more water was pumped out.
Shelby was always tickled when these kinda plans came together. It wasn’t like the old days for sure. Back when it’d take a long time to design something then have it made then go into service. Nowadays with SSmoke he designed it and tested it in a simulator in one stroke, then it was built. Many times the whole process only took hours.
The Next Episode Is
#74: CyberCoin: Groats…
The Previous Episode was
#72: Grain Elevator…
The First Episode was
# 1 : Prologue…
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Book One: SoulStone
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When watching the LameStream FakeNews Media
it's hard to tell what’s true or when they are lying isn’t it? It seems that they are more interested in influencing public opinion than they are reporting the facts.
SteemPunk Snail Image from Pixabay
Who needs one of those word a day calendars when we have you and words like "Peristaltic Wave", the way food is forced down and through you. basically, I had to look that up. Do you get a secret senders check from google every time someone clicks from your page to google? ;-}
And it looks like Weldon is thinking Cody and Lucy as a nice couple, I mean they are kind of young, but limited population, limited gene pool, and well kids did use to grow up faster in the past. I know a lot of 30-50 year olds that are not grown yet, me included.
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The first time I see these stories, it's very interesting, it's like a group of intellectuals traveling on a barge on the river, the good thing is that they used their minds and put the drones to work to pump the water ...
not....exactly.
I'm glad you find them interesting.
You might find them MORE interesting if you read the preceding episodes.
Yes, to understand a story you have to start reading from the beginning ..
Yes, decisions are made on the fly and in real time; There is already a team that works very fast and efficiently ... This "last move" with The Banana Slug really on it's last legs, is the explanation of the intense concerns that Shelby has been reflecting ... Let's hope that those oil barges (GOLDMINE!), allow to produce enough SSmoke.