JC: Ed Biggers
Part 3: Accretion
Chapter 19
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Wearing an outfit that looked a lot like a space suite, Ed walked 
around trying to get used to the feel of the strange outfit. 
Removing the control from a pocket, he turned down the 
temperature a couple of degrees. Replacing the control to the 
pocket, he stood there and for a minute waiting for the suit to cool 
down. He looked over at the man standing next to him and said, 
"This is pretty nice."

The man answered, "It uses a fusion well to generate heat for the 
suit. With the built in radio and camera, you never need to be alone 
out here."

"Very smart. I almost didn't come down here because I didn't want 
to be cold," replied Ed. 

"There are other features to the suit that you need to know about 
before we let you loose in the mountains," said the man with a 
knowing smile. 

"Explain away," replied Ed bouncing on his toes amazed at the 
light weight of the suit.

"The suit has a number of built in pockets. The one on your right 
knee contains an emergency tent while the one on your left knee 
contains a space blanket."

Feeling the pocket on his right knee, Ed said, "There's nothing in 
this pocket."

"Yes, there is. Open the pocket and remove the tent."

Following the instructions, Ed opened the pocket and pulled out a 
small folded piece of vinyl. Examining it, he couldn't see how this 
would be a tent. The man said, "Set the folded tent on the ground 
and then unfold it twice."

Ed did as he was instructed. He noticed that there were six slots in 
the nylon with cotton strings sticking out. Looking up, he asked, 
"What are the slots for?"

The man said, "You'll fill those with water and let the water freeze. 
You'll have instant tent pegs."

"Where will I get water out here?"

"Fill the pocket on your chest with snow. It will melt in about three 
minutes and use the tube to pour the water into the slots."

Ed did as instructed. Sure enough, it was only three minutes later 
that he had about three gallons of water in the belly pouch. 
Waddling from side to side like a pregnant woman, he knelt down 
and filled the slots with water. In the cold Antarctic temperatures, 
the water froze very quickly. He looked at the pockets realizing 
that they had formed extremely fat ice tent stakes with a cotton 
thread through the center. Shaking his head, he said, "That's 
amazing."

The man said, "Someone really worked on that design. Even 
though it is ice, it is much stronger than you would think. The 
cotton thread gives it strength. Now, take out two of the tent pegs 
and push them into the snow just outside the width of the tent."

Ed did as he was told. The pegs went into the snow with ease. 
There was no way they would hold the tent in place. He voiced his 
doubts, "That'll never hold."

"Don't worry about that, tie the tent to the stakes with the cotton."

Ed did as he was told. Even though there was a considerable wind, 
the tent was still flat. Unrolling the tent, he put in the stakes at the 
other end. Looking at the result, he didn't see how it would stay up 
in a hard wind. "Okay, now I'm done with that."

"Melt some more water and fill the ribs. They'll act as support for 
the tent."

As Ed worked, he asked, "Who came up with the idea for this tent 
anyway?"

The man watched Ed work on the tent making sure that he did 
everything properly. He answered, "A woman in Colorado by the 
name of Catherine Sullivan invented it. She owns some kind of 
store in a little town."

Shaking his head, Ed realized that he was talking about the 
Catherine that owned the Sporting Goods Store. Another Druid 
invention to help the world. As the water in the ribs froze, the man 
said, "Put some more snow in your pouch. You're going to melt it 
and then pour the water over the tent stakes. It will form a nice 
solid plug that won't pull out in the wind."

Ed did as he was told. So far, he had spent about ten minutes 
setting up the tent. It seemed a bit long to him, but he wasn't going 
to comment. After just a few minutes, the man said, "Put the stakes 
in front and back of the tent and pull it tight."

Doing as he was told, he ended up with a very simple tent that was 
just big enough for him to lie down. Looking at the tent, Ed asked, 
"What keeps the ribs from breaking?"

"Oh, they can break, but the entire rib area is honeycombed with 
cotton fibers. They'll hold it up even if you smash it with a 
hammer."

Ed said, "I'll have to tell Catherine that she did a nice job on the 
design next time I see her."

"Oh, you know Catherine?"

"Yes, I do. I've visited her shop many times in the past. I would 
have bought all this stuff there if I had known about it," replied Ed. 
This tent was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen. 

The man nodded and said, "Well, remember that tent is to be used 
only in an emergency. If you are in an area without snow, you can 
dig a hole, pull the cotton from the slots, and then pour the water 
into the hole. You're suit will keep you safe in just about any 
condition you encounter out there."

"Sure, I understand that," replied Ed. He looked around at the 
horizon, realizing this was a desert of a different kind. 

"You've been checked out on the helicopter?"

"Yes."

The man reached into his pocket and handed Ed another tent as he 
said, "Here's a replacement for your tent. Your pack contains 
enough MREs for fifteen days. I'll see you in ten."

After putting the tent in his pocket, Ed looked up in time to see the 
man take down the tent. He asked, "Anything else I need to 
know?"

The man shook his head and answered, "The only thing you really 
need to remember is that if you get into trouble, press the red 
button on the control. Someone will be there to rescue you. Now 
get going, you've got ten days to hunt rocks out there."

Smiling, Ed went over to the helicopter and started it up. Fusion 
technology had changed the entire face of exploration. With 
portable power, it was possible to go into the most remote regions 
in relative comfort. Even Antarctica was not nearly as dangerous 
as before. Getting in the helicopter, he checked the GPS and then 
headed towards the mountains. 

Flying south from McMurdo camp, Ed looked over at the 
mountains. They weren't that far from the camp. The most 
surprising thing that Ed discovered was that he was flying over 
bare ground. He had not realized that parts of the interior of 
Antarctica were not covered with snow. Turning to fly towards the 
mountain that he wanted to explore, Ed watched the land crawl 
underneath him. He had a four-hour flight to the base of the 
mountain and took a simple pleasure in piloting the helicopter. 

Landing at the base of the mountain, Ed looked around at his 
surroundings. It was strange to think that he could be the very first 
person to walk this part of the planet. The lack of recent water 
erosion made the landscape looked odd to the eye. He picked the 
first few places to look and headed over to them.

After working for several hours, Ed realized that he was suddenly 
tired. Looking up at the sky, he realized the sun was not going to 
set. For a moment, he was disoriented by the lack of visual 
reference as to the passage of time. He checked his watch and 
realized that he had been working for six hours straight without a 
break and that it was well after midnight.

Sitting down, he pulled an MRE from his backpack and heated the 
meal. Opening the helmet was a shock to his system, as he hadn't 
realized just how cold it was outside. Alone, with no one within 
two hundred miles, he enjoyed the view as he ate. After eating, he 
closed the helmet and got out his camera. Kelly had begged him to 
take lots of pictures and he knew that if he returned without some 
great pictures, that she would be upset. 

After taking a couple pictures of the view he had enjoyed while 
eating, he set the camera on the ground and stepped back a dozen 
paces down the slope of the mountain. Lifting an arm like he was 
waving to someone, he waited until the timer made the beep that 
let him know the picture had been taken. Returning to the camera, 
he cleaned up the site. 

He lay down on the ground and went to sleep under the light of the 
sun. Inside his suit, it was as if he were sleeping on the couch back 
at the house. The cold air did not penetrate his suit. 

When he woke, he went to work on a likely looking region of the 
mountain. After several hours of poking around, he found a nice 
outcropping of Titanite. He was only able to get three nice looking 
specimens from where he was digging. Carefully, he packed the 
samples in his sample boxes. Using a pencil, he wrote the GPS co-
ordinates on the sample boxes. 

After looking around to see if he could find larger specimens, he 
decided it was time to move on to another part of the mountain. 
Before leaving, he did take a couple of pictures of his dig site, just 
to record where he had worked. Walking slowly and examining the 
rock face, he spotted a place that looked promising. 

Kneeling down, he started to break away a little of the surface 
layer of rock. Inside, there was a rock with lots of very small 
quartz crystals embedded within it. He removed three little samples 
and packed them away. Looking over the area, he decided that he 
was going to have to move a good distance from there to find 
samples of significant difference. Again, he took pictures of the 
location he had worked.

For the next six days, he would work in an area for a while and 
then moved on to another area after collecting a few samples. On 
the sixth day, he hit a site with a very interesting collection of 
minerals in near proximity, including Olivine, Teanite, and 
Ilmenite. Looking over the minerals collected to date, Ed was 
disappointed not to have identified anything new.

He looked around the area and found a site with some minerals that 
he couldn't identify. Taking three samples, he carefully packed 
them in sample cases. Geologically, this part of the mountain had 
several major strata of rocks. He took photographs of the entire 
area recognizing that there was a lot to learn. 

As he worked, he was surprised to hear a voice in his head. 
Looking around, he didn’t see anyone. It took him a minute to 
answer, "Hello?"

The woman's voice returned, "Is this Ed Biggers?"

"Yes, it is."

"Did you know that you are expected back today?"

Surprised, Ed looked around trying to figure out if ten days had 
passed. He was sure that he had only been out for six days. He 
answered, "No, I didn't. I'm supposed to be out here for ten days."

The voice laughed and said, "You've been out for ten days."

Confused, Ed asked, "How did that happen?"

"A lot of people have that problem when the sun is up all of the 
time. It distorts the sense of time," replied the woman.

Shrugging, Ed answered, "Okay, I'll pack up and head back. I'll be 
there in about five hours."

"We'll be waiting for you."

Ed packed up his equipment and headed back towards the 
helicopter. As he shuffled along, he wondered how he had let the 
time pass like it had. He spotted an interesting rock formation and 
headed over to it. There was an interesting blue crystal visible 
within the rock. He extracted it with some of the matrix and put it 
an in sample case, wishing he had time to collect a couple of more 
samples, but there weren't any immediately available. 

The flight back to camp was just as exhilarating as the flight out 
had been. He found it hard to believe that Ed, the cowboy, had 
actually made it to Antarctica. He was going to look up Nevada 
and tell him about it. While making a couple of tight banking turns 
in the helicopter, he shouted out, "Yee Haw!"

The voice returned, "Ah, Dr. Biggers, you can turn off your 
microphone."

"Oh, sorry about that." Embarrassed at having been overheard; Ed 
straightened up and flew back to the camp without any additional 
aerobatics. 

Landing at the camp, Ed got out and went into the building they 
called Hotel California. It was a dorm for visitors and wasn't really 
a hotel. According to the literature, the place was typically deserted 
for the summer even though the traffic into the station was at the 
highest. With the invention of the suit, most people went to the 
area they were doing their work and stayed there for days at a time. 
The rest of the base was full of people working in different 
buildings. After closing the door behind him, the man that had 
briefed him met him at the door. Removing his helmet, Ed said, 
"Hello."

Grinning at Ed, the man said, "So that's what you look like."

Ed asked, "By the way, what is your name?"

"Oh, I'm Evan Hever. I'm the handyman around here. Since the 
invention of the suit you're wearing, my wife and I are the only 
ones that spend the whole summer here," replied the man.

"I guess I owe your wife an apology. I didn’t mean to scream in 
her ear," said Ed.

Laughing, Evan said, "Oh, we both heard you. Tierra had you on 
the speaker."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ed said, "I guess I'm still a cowboy at 
heart."

"The first thing you need to do is get out of that suit and take a 
shower. You've been living in that for ten days and it is probably 
pretty ripe by now."

Following the other man to a room, Ed went in and stripped out of 
the suit. Getting into the shower, he took a long hot shower taking 
the opportunity to shave while in the shower. Now that he was 
indoors, he felt very tired. He dried off and dressed in his normal 
clothes. Stepping out, he found that Evan was still waiting for him. 
He followed the man to a dining hall where a hot meal was 
waiting. 

An attractive woman was seated at the table and looked up when 
he entered. He assumed this was the woman with whom he had 
talked on the radio. With an amused smile on her face, she said, 
"You scared the hell out of us with that yee haw, Dr. Biggers."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize my radio was on. And please call me 
Ed." 

"That's okay," she replied before shoveling a spoonful of stew into 
her mouth. There were several stacks of papers on the table in front 
of her. She looked at one of the papers and said, "Your plane will 
be here in about six hours. Do you need to take a nap before it gets 
here?"

He nodded and said, "I guess I should get a little nap. My sense of 
time is all fouled up."

"Have something to eat first," said Evan as he pointed to a place 
setting with stew. Evan sat down across from his wife and started 
to eat his stew. 

Sitting down at the place where Evan had pointed, Ed tasted the 
stew. Although it wasn't anywhere as good as the stew Marguerite 
made, it still filled an empty stomach while being easy on the taste 
buds. He said, "Good stew."

No one talked while eating, but as soon as they were done, Evan 
asked, "So how is it that you know Catherine Sullivan?"

Surprised at the question, Ed answered, "I've been to her shop a 
number of times."

Evan commented, "Her shop is in a town that's so small it only just 
shows up on a map."

"It is an important town for many people and her shop does have a 
wide reputation," countered Ed. He asked, "How is it that you 
know her?"

Tierra answered, "She's been here twice. Once to perfect the suit 
and once the tent."

Looking very surprised, Ed said, "I saw her midsummer's day and 
she didn't mention anything about that."

Looking over at Ed with puzzlement for a moment, Tierra said, 
"Excuse me for a minute, I need to check something."

Ed and Evan chatted about what it was like to live at the south end 
of the world. Evan had been down there for three seasons. He and 
his wife had earned the Antarctic Service Medal with a silver 
clasp. Although Ed had not heard about the Antarctic Service 
Medal before, he understood the nature of the accomplishment. 

Ed expressed his disappointment in not getting a picture with 
penguins. Evan explained that the nearest rookery was on Cape 
Royds and that it wouldn't take long to get there by helicopter, but 
that they would really be cutting it close on returning in time for 
his plane.  He did say that Penguins occasionally wandered over to 
the station, but that was a very infrequent event. In his time here, 
he had only seen about a dozen penguins.

Tierra returned from her errand and sat down next to her husband. 
Looking over at Ed, she said, "I just did an internet search on you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I got almost four thousand hits on your name. At first I 
thought that I was getting hits on different people named Ed 
Biggers, but it turned out that they were all about you."

"Is that a lot?" asked Ed. 

Raising an eyebrow, Evan answered, "Yes, that is a lot. I think it is 
a record here. You have to be a government leader to get more hits 
than that."

Shrugging, Ed replied, "People make a big deal out of some of the 
things John and I have done."

Tierra looked at Ed for a moment and realized that was all that he 
would say on the matter. The couple had made some observations 
about the many people that came through their building. Some of 
them were nice and many of them arrogant. The nice ones knew 
exactly who and what they were. They didn't need to advertise 
themselves. The arrogant ones were typically quite convinced that 
they were important members of the scientific community and 
never let an opportunity pass in which they didn't let everyone 
know about it.  Finally, she said, "Some things are worth making a 
big deal out of. You've done a number of exceptional things from 
what I was able to see."

"I don't think I've done anything exceptional. I just contribute 
when and where I can," replied Ed. 

Evan said, "If you are going to get some rest, I suggest that you 
head to your room. I'll be by about an hour before the plane arrives 
to wake you. That should give you enough time to get ready to 
leave."

"Good idea. It's been a pleasure talking to you. I think you guys 
lead a very interesting life."

Evan and Tierra looked at each other. Evan could tell that she 
wanted to tell him a little of what she had learned about Ed. Evan 
said, "I'll be by to wake you."

Ed left the dining room and went to his room. It was a short walk, 
but felt too far to him. On reaching his room, he got into bed and 
feel asleep within seconds. It seemed to him like only a few 
minutes passed before Evan was knocking on his door. Struggling, 
he woke up and opened the door. He said, "Come in."

Evan came in the room and looked around noticing that Ed was 
already packed, not aware that Ed had never unpacked. The 
samples remained in his pack along with his clothes. Ed asked, 
"Do you need the MREs that I didn't eat back?"

Evan shook his head in amusement and answered, "No, keep them 
as a souvenir of your visit here."

"Okay," replied Ed. He looked around and fished out his camera to 
take a picture of his room. 

"Here, I'll take a picture of you in the room," offered Evan.

It didn't take long to take a picture of Ed standing in the middle of 
the room. After that, he followed Evan to the radio room where 
Tierra was seated. He took a picture of the three of them together. 
Unfortunately, it was soon time for him to leave. 

Putting on his arctic gear that he had brought with him, the two 
men headed over to the runway to meet the plane. As they drove 
there, Ed noticed a number of penguins standing not far from 
where they were driving. He tapped Evan on the shoulder and said, 
"Penguins!"

Surprised to see so many penguins at the base, Evan stopped the 
car and looked at the birds. Ed handed him the camera and got out 
of the car. Evan knew what Ed wanted and waited for Ed to get in 
a position where the penguins were behind him. It was well known 
that penguins were not afraid of people, but it still amazed Evan to 
see the penguins flock around Ed. He took the time to snap picture 
after picture of the man surrounded by the formally attired birds.

Getting back into the jeep, Ed commented, "Those are amazing 
birds. Are they normally that friendly?"

"Well, usually they keep their distance from people. I've never 
seen them seek out a person like that before," answered Evan with 
more than a little awe in his voice. He had visited some of the web 
sites about Ed while he had been taking his nap. Evan understood 
that Ed was some sort of high figure in that Druid Cult that had 
been making the news lately. It had surprised him to see Catherine 
Sullivan's name on that same list. 

Ed replied, "Thank the Gods and Goddesses that I got a chance to 
see them."

Evan looked over at Ed in wonder. It was easy to speculate that the 
Gods and Goddesses had brought the penguins here just for Ed. 
There had been almost two dozen of them, an unheard of number 
of penguins for this close to the base camp. It tripled the number of 
penguins that he had seen around the base since coming to work 
here. He remarked, "It is very rare for so many of them to be here."

Laughing with childlike enthusiasm, Ed replied, "They really are 
great looking birds. I can't believe that I actually got to see them 
that close."

Evan handed the camera back shaking his head. They had kids here 
that didn't show that much pleasure out of such a simple thing. 
Despite some of the things he had read about Ed, it was clear to 
him that Ed retained an innocence that was rare. Evan said, "Well, 
you got some great pictures of you with the penguins."

"Kelly is going to be so happy. She really wanted me to bring back 
some pictures of them," replied Ed very happy that he was able to 
do this little thing for Kelly. He really had been disappointed to 
learn that it was highly unlikely that he would see some penguins.

They reached the runway after a few minutes of driving. It was 
almost too much for Ed as he began to feel the cold. The plane 
arrived shortly afterwards and Ed boarded after the two passengers 
disembarked. Turning back, he looked over the landscape and 
sighed. His adventure to the southern continent had come to an 
end.

A tired Ed woke when the commercial plane landed in Miami. 
Even though he could afford a first-class seat, the foundation had 
only paid for a regular fare. The flight had been miserable. His 
knees had been pressed against the seat in front of him the entire 
trip. The seat didn't recline enough to sleep comfortably. There 
wasn't enough room in the seat for him to move his arms. He had 
been sandwiched between two overweight people, one of whom 
snored. The seat had been little more than a thin pad over a hard 
surface and his ass hurt from sitting on it for so long. He still had 
the flight to Arizona, but that would be on a private plane after a 
two-day layover here. 

Stepping through the doors leading out of customs, Ed was 
surprised to see the smiling face of Bill, the first secretary that had 
worked for them. Walking over to the man, he hugged him and 
said, "Bill, it is great to see you. You look like Florida agrees with 
you."

Bill had learned from Cathy that Ed had flown second class on the 
flight here. He teased, "What are you doing flying second class?"

Shaking his head in disgust, Ed answered, "I didn't know better."

Bill said, "You have to stay at my house while you are here."

"I'd love to stay at your place." The idea appealed to Ed. It would 
be nice to catch up and find out what was going on with Bill since 
he had left the house to care for his mother and father. His mother 
had suffered from cancer and died shortly after Bill returned home. 
His father suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was living in a 
facility that Bill had started. 

Bill led the way through the airport to the parking area. It was a 
huge airport and Ed walked through it amazed at the number of 
people moving through it. He watched a woman running through 
the airport struggling with her luggage and two young kids 
struggling to keep up with her. Before he even had a chance to 
offer his help, she stopped at a counter and plunked down her 
passports. 

He commented to Bill, "It's strange that the airlines are now the 
largest consumers of petroleum. I wonder what can be done to 
rectify that situation."

Smiling, Bill suggested, "Talk to John and see what he has to say."

Walking along beside Bill, Ed considered the airline industry. 
Even though the price of jet fuel had dropped significantly due to 
the changes in the petroleum industry, the cost of airline tickets 
had not dropped. The quality of service hadn't seemed to improve 
either. The planes were still crowded and the seats were still too 
small. Ed said, "I think it is time that someone starts consulting in 
the airline industry. It needs a major revamping."

Knowing Ed and John, Bill was convinced that the airline industry 
was about to get turned upside down and inside out. As they 
reached his car, Bill said, "I think the airline industry is about to 
undergo some major changes. When you guys turn your attention 
to something, things change."

Smiling at the comment, Ed said, "We just make recommendations 
that some people improve upon."

It was a nice middleclass neighborhood where Bill had established 
his home, a simple three-bedroom ranch with a swimming pool in 
the backyard. The money that he had saved while working at the 
Carter household had allowed him to purchase the house with cash. 
When they entered the house, an attractive woman met them and 
handed them tall glasses of iced tea. Bill said, "Ed, I'd like you to 
meet my fiancée, Liz. Liz, this is Ed Biggers."

"I'm pleased to met you, Liz," said Ed not having heard that Bill 
had gotten engaged.

"I've heard so much about you and your family. I'm so happy to 
finally be able to meet one of you," replied Liz looking over the 
cowboy with interest. She had heard so much about the Carter Clan 
that she felt like she knew all of them.

Bill said, "I imagine that you are suffering from claustrophobia 
after flying. Would you like to sit out by the pool?"

Smiling at the idea of actually being able to stretch out in a lawn 
chair and drink his iced tea, Ed answered, "I'd love it."

Bill showed Ed the bedroom he would be using for the night. Ed 
dropped his backpack on the floor next to the bed and followed 
Bill to the backyard. Stepping out of the house, Ed paused to take 
in the garden. It was very nice and green providing lots of shade 
over the area where the chairs were located, but sunny over the 
pool. A small brown lizard scurried through the bushes by his feet. 
He said, "This is great. I bet you spend a lot of time out here."

After sitting in one of the chairs next to his girlfriend, Bill smiled 
and answered, "Yes, we really enjoy it."

Sitting in a chair, Ed stretched his long legs out and took a sip of 
the tea. With a satisfied sigh, he said, "This is heavenly. Iced tea, 
warmth, and shade."

"I thought you would enjoy this a lot more than a hotel," replied 
Bill.

After taking another sip of his iced tea, Ed answered, "One of the 
hardest things about staying in a hotel is the food."

Laughing, Bill remembered that Ed and John had made it a rule 
that broccoli was only to be served once a month and thick french-
fries were never to be served in the house. He joked, "That's okay. 
We're having broccoli and thick cut french-fries with our steaks 
tonight."

Unable to control himself, Ed groaned and then realized Bill was 
joking. He said, "I hope you will let me take you out to dinner 
tonight."

Liz looked to Bill who nodded. She replied, "That would be 
lovely."

Bill asked, "Would you like to take a swim?"

Not owning a swimsuit, Ed answered, "Sure, but I didn't bring a 
swimsuit with me."

Bill laughed as he and Liz undressed. He said, "You don't need one 
here."

After stripping, Ed jumped into the pool and enjoyed the cool 
water. Bill and Liz joined him with Liz being surprised at the blasé 
attitude Ed took about her nudity. Everyone else that had joined 
them naked in the pool tended to stare at her large breasts and 
shaved pubic area. As if he was reading her thoughts, Bill said, 
"It's nice to see that you still have the same sedate reaction to 
naked women."