Aloha – I’m working steadily on the science fiction sequel to “Salt of the Earth”. Along the way I’m going to continue to share short excerpts of the work in progress. Many of the characters in “Sea of Salt” will be familiar from the first novel. Marshall Salt and his now wife Naomi are still center stage, although major sub-plots involving Blake are making this a fun write. Blake is the close friend of Justin who is getting married at this point in the novel. He has sequestered himself away to work on the new element they found trying to determine what can be done with it. He destroyed one lab and is isolated in southern Utah when Marshall and Naomi come to march him off to the wedding. Meanwhile we get introduced to a couple of new characters who are spying on Blake and his work: Hank and Tom tommy Matinson.
“That’s not something you see every day,” Hank turned to his companion who was trying to find some shade in the wash where they had been coming every day for the past three weeks.
His companion, Tom tommy Matinson a stocky middle-aged man from the East Coast, lay with his back against the red clay gully wall with all but his feet in the shade. “Uh-uh. This is the only cool spot in this god forsaken place, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to move.”
“Well, you’re missing quite a show,” Hank drawled, holding up his smart phone and snapping pictures. “How do you put this thing on video again?”
Tom tommy looked at his companion suspiciously. Hank was a local hire. He was tall, lanky, and in no hurry to do much of anything. More importantly, his record showed that he had been in and out of the county jail twice in the last year and knew the area. In three weeks, Hank had also demonstrated an irritable propensity for practical jokes, including setting a ceramic rattlesnake half buried in the sand just yesterday. Finally, Tom Tommy worked his way to a standing position, and brushed himself off. “Okay, what’s the joke?” he spat out with a lower-class Boston accent.
“Not a joke,” Hank grinned. “Up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…”
“House,” Tom tommy’s mouth dropped. “Give me that phone. We need video.”
“I think I’ve got it now,” Hank pushed a button that showed himself and part of Tom tommy’s faces. “Well, how did I…?”
“Give me that,” Tom tommy grabbed for the phone.
Hank pulled it away, “How do I get it to switch back?” he kept pushing buttons. “Oh-oh.”
“What?” Tom tommy snapped.
“I think I turned it off,” Hank handed the phone over to his companion.
It was nearly a full minute before Tom tommy could get the phone powered back up and find the camera button. “Okay, where did it go?”
“Back on the ground,” Hank pointed.
“Shit!” Tom tommy threw the phone to the ground and reached for his pistol, then thought better of it. Bending down he picked up the phone. “Did you get any pictures at all?”
“I think so,” Hank shrugged.
* * *
The house had landed about fifty yards from where it had been sitting. The ground was not even, and the stress was causing the house to buckle in places.
“The door won’t open now,” Blake complained.
I think you’re going to have to bring it up again,” Marshall observed. “Any chance of controlling the direction?”
“No,” Blake frowned. “It is simply vertical lift; I don’t have anything designed to try to control direction.”
“Your ten minutes are up,” Naomi blurted out. She threw a roundhouse kick bursting the door open to the outside.
“But this is fantastic,” Blake complained. I need to make notes and replicate the experiment. I need to understand the nuances of the degree of application. Plus, why did I get the whole house rather than the plate?”
“All good questions,” Naomi nodded as she stepped out onto the uneven ground and took a short tumble to the flattened surface of the driveway. Spitting out some dirt and sage twigs she rose to her feet. “Questions,” she growled, “that you can answer after the wedding. Now let’s get going.”
Marshall and Blake looked at the equipment, then back at Naomi in unison. Without a word, Blake removed and pocketed the round ball, then grabbed his coat.