On the day they had planned for departure, everyone arrived and drifted into the house over the course of about an hour. There was excitement about getting on with it but there was also a wistfulness over leaving the university in which some of them had been studying for years.
Harrison was serving up scrambled eggs to each new arrival. They were making their own toast, serving themselves with orange juice, and then joining the others around the table. CNN was showing on the television in the dining room but no-one except Harrison was paying much attention to it.
"Is anyone tracking the bond crisis," asked Harrison.
"Boss, there's never been a time in my adult life or any time in my life, for that matter, when there wasn't a financial crisis," replied Goldberg. "It looks kind of dismal but it's tough to tell when the prima donnas on CNN aren't so much giving news as trying to get an Oscar."
"Washington will take care of itself. That's what it does best. I'm going to look in on the dogs one more time before we load up and move out." Gill didn't wait for a response and went to make sure the dogs were fed and ready to go.
"I love Gill," said Goldberg. "No-one has a better ability to stay focused."
"One day he's going to scare us all and laugh," said Margolis.
"Since he's not here, I'll say it for him. One day one of you will say something that's actually funny," replied Goldberg.
"Like you don't fancy you're a comedian," said Margolis, all ready to play a little ping pong with him.
"Has everyone had enough to eat," interrupted Harrison.
Everyone smiled and thanked the chef for the breakfast. There wasn't much left to do except clean up and then get the dogs into the cars to go. They slowly got to their feet and then filed past the sinks to wash and dry their plates and then put them away. As they finished, they moved to join Gill with the dogs.
Campbell joined up with Gill first and heard him say, "We go."
Campbell was about to reply when he realised Gill wasn't talking to him but rather to the dogs. What happened next surprised him even more.
"Yes, yes, yes," said one dog after the other.
Campbell was flabbergasted and said, "Man, I've heard them talking to each other but I've never heard one say anything to any of us before. Congratulations."
Gill almost cracked a smile and said, "It's very encouraging. I'm of course making notes of every behavioural change or anomaly but this shows me may be on the verge of what we had hoped."
"I agree," replied Campbell. "The opportunity to observe them on the drive may well yield some fascinating insights. I gather Harrison has got walkie-talkies so we can keep each other posted along the way without using mobile phones."
"He might have watched too many spy movies but I'll go with anything that keeps the science moving forward," said Gill.
"I heard that," said Harrison and laughed. "Don't worry about any more James Bond stuff as we won't be thinking about it when we get to Kentucky. I'm sure you will be pleased with what my parents have done with that cave. They even have large-scale hydroponics units down there for growing food."
"Holy cow, Boss," said Goldberg. "What on Earth is this place?"
"I told you it was first built as a fallout shelter in case of nuclear war. They didn't screw around and outfitted it to hold and sustain the whole family for, I think, about a year," replied Harrison. "Who knows what they have done with it since I last saw it. I thought they were crazy but they're looking quite sensible now."
"There's plenty of room for the dogs," asked Gill.
"Oh sure. The cave system under Kentucky stretches all over the state and may even go beyond its borders," replied Harrison.
"It sounds like a Nuclear Holiday Inn," said Margolis.
"It's much better than a Holiday Inn. I told you, they're loaded," said Harrison.
Gill said, "I don't believe anyone has opted to use cages so we should be ready to get started."
One by one the dogs started saying, "No cages, no cages, no cages."
Stunned, Margolis whispered, "they understand."
"My word," said Harrison.
The dogs picked it up right away and some of them repeated him, "my word, my word"
Twenty-one dogs clustered around them and they didn't know what was happening but they were obviously eager to find out. Each of them went to his or her respective trainer and sat but they still managed to wag their tails.
"OK then," said Harrison. "Let's get ready for the road."
Harrison walked over to Gill, clapped him on the shoulder, and said, "All set?"
"Yes. The luggage is loaded and all that's left is to get the dogs into the camper and go," replied Gill.
Harrison had an old Ford camper van and he liked the independence it had given him over the years. There was a small stove that ran from propane and a refrigerator that was powered by a generator when the camper was stopped. It had quite a bit of headroom which was a blessing for a man who stood 6'2". He and his wife had put thousands of miles on the camper as they roamed all about the country and there was no chance he would ever sell it. There was plenty of room in it for he and Gill to be comfortable and they set off toward it with their dogs.
"Thanks for chumming me on this ride, Harold," said Harrison.
"You have become a friend, Daniel, but you're still my professor and I look forward to this opportunity to talk more about your work. I'm fascinated to learn more of your techniques in genetic recombination," replied Gill.
Harrison smiled and thought silently, "Man, we have just got to get him hooked-up with a woman."
Meanwhile, Goldberg and Margolis went off toward Goldberg's old Sprinter van. It had large paintings on each side of it that proclaimed Silas Scarborough Galactic Peace Tour. He had no idea who Silas Scarborough was but the paintings of the Andromeda Galaxy were pretty and the stars sparkled while the truck moved. It was easily large enough for all the dogs and would house them in comfort for the drive.
Campbell and Sweeney were doing the same thing. In the early days Campbell had laughed at the huge size of Goldberg's Sprinters but he was impressed by the frequent comments on its reliability and he ended up buying one as well. Campbell's parents had protested at the cost of it but they had been very supportive of his education and were finally convinced the Sprinter was necessary. Fortunately, as with Harrison's parents, they were fairly well-off and could afford to get him a newer one that was outfitted for camping, something he considered very important as he had known from an early age that he would spend his life researching animals and their behaviour.
In fairly short order, each of the walkie-talkies buzzed to acknowledge readiness to depart and then Goldberg announced, "onward to Shangri La!"
The vehicles then followed each other to form a caravan as they drove toward the Interstate highway.
Harrison was serving up scrambled eggs to each new arrival. They were making their own toast, serving themselves with orange juice, and then joining the others around the table. CNN was showing on the television in the dining room but no-one except Harrison was paying much attention to it.
"Is anyone tracking the bond crisis," asked Harrison.
"Boss, there's never been a time in my adult life or any time in my life, for that matter, when there wasn't a financial crisis," replied Goldberg. "It looks kind of dismal but it's tough to tell when the prima donnas on CNN aren't so much giving news as trying to get an Oscar."
"Washington will take care of itself. That's what it does best. I'm going to look in on the dogs one more time before we load up and move out." Gill didn't wait for a response and went to make sure the dogs were fed and ready to go.
"I love Gill," said Goldberg. "No-one has a better ability to stay focused."
"One day he's going to scare us all and laugh," said Margolis.
"Since he's not here, I'll say it for him. One day one of you will say something that's actually funny," replied Goldberg.
"Like you don't fancy you're a comedian," said Margolis, all ready to play a little ping pong with him.
"Has everyone had enough to eat," interrupted Harrison.
Everyone smiled and thanked the chef for the breakfast. There wasn't much left to do except clean up and then get the dogs into the cars to go. They slowly got to their feet and then filed past the sinks to wash and dry their plates and then put them away. As they finished, they moved to join Gill with the dogs.
Campbell joined up with Gill first and heard him say, "We go."
Campbell was about to reply when he realised Gill wasn't talking to him but rather to the dogs. What happened next surprised him even more.
"Yes, yes, yes," said one dog after the other.
Campbell was flabbergasted and said, "Man, I've heard them talking to each other but I've never heard one say anything to any of us before. Congratulations."
Gill almost cracked a smile and said, "It's very encouraging. I'm of course making notes of every behavioural change or anomaly but this shows me may be on the verge of what we had hoped."
"I agree," replied Campbell. "The opportunity to observe them on the drive may well yield some fascinating insights. I gather Harrison has got walkie-talkies so we can keep each other posted along the way without using mobile phones."
"He might have watched too many spy movies but I'll go with anything that keeps the science moving forward," said Gill.
"I heard that," said Harrison and laughed. "Don't worry about any more James Bond stuff as we won't be thinking about it when we get to Kentucky. I'm sure you will be pleased with what my parents have done with that cave. They even have large-scale hydroponics units down there for growing food."
"Holy cow, Boss," said Goldberg. "What on Earth is this place?"
"I told you it was first built as a fallout shelter in case of nuclear war. They didn't screw around and outfitted it to hold and sustain the whole family for, I think, about a year," replied Harrison. "Who knows what they have done with it since I last saw it. I thought they were crazy but they're looking quite sensible now."
"There's plenty of room for the dogs," asked Gill.
"Oh sure. The cave system under Kentucky stretches all over the state and may even go beyond its borders," replied Harrison.
"It sounds like a Nuclear Holiday Inn," said Margolis.
"It's much better than a Holiday Inn. I told you, they're loaded," said Harrison.
Gill said, "I don't believe anyone has opted to use cages so we should be ready to get started."
One by one the dogs started saying, "No cages, no cages, no cages."
Stunned, Margolis whispered, "they understand."
"My word," said Harrison.
The dogs picked it up right away and some of them repeated him, "my word, my word"
Twenty-one dogs clustered around them and they didn't know what was happening but they were obviously eager to find out. Each of them went to his or her respective trainer and sat but they still managed to wag their tails.
"OK then," said Harrison. "Let's get ready for the road."
Harrison walked over to Gill, clapped him on the shoulder, and said, "All set?"
"Yes. The luggage is loaded and all that's left is to get the dogs into the camper and go," replied Gill.
Harrison had an old Ford camper van and he liked the independence it had given him over the years. There was a small stove that ran from propane and a refrigerator that was powered by a generator when the camper was stopped. It had quite a bit of headroom which was a blessing for a man who stood 6'2". He and his wife had put thousands of miles on the camper as they roamed all about the country and there was no chance he would ever sell it. There was plenty of room in it for he and Gill to be comfortable and they set off toward it with their dogs.
"Thanks for chumming me on this ride, Harold," said Harrison.
"You have become a friend, Daniel, but you're still my professor and I look forward to this opportunity to talk more about your work. I'm fascinated to learn more of your techniques in genetic recombination," replied Gill.
Harrison smiled and thought silently, "Man, we have just got to get him hooked-up with a woman."
Meanwhile, Goldberg and Margolis went off toward Goldberg's old Sprinter van. It had large paintings on each side of it that proclaimed Silas Scarborough Galactic Peace Tour. He had no idea who Silas Scarborough was but the paintings of the Andromeda Galaxy were pretty and the stars sparkled while the truck moved. It was easily large enough for all the dogs and would house them in comfort for the drive.
Campbell and Sweeney were doing the same thing. In the early days Campbell had laughed at the huge size of Goldberg's Sprinters but he was impressed by the frequent comments on its reliability and he ended up buying one as well. Campbell's parents had protested at the cost of it but they had been very supportive of his education and were finally convinced the Sprinter was necessary. Fortunately, as with Harrison's parents, they were fairly well-off and could afford to get him a newer one that was outfitted for camping, something he considered very important as he had known from an early age that he would spend his life researching animals and their behaviour.
In fairly short order, each of the walkie-talkies buzzed to acknowledge readiness to depart and then Goldberg announced, "onward to Shangri La!"
The vehicles then followed each other to form a caravan as they drove toward the Interstate highway.
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