Book 3 CHAPTER 17 Scott and Simon India and vertical farms
Scott and Simon are eating in the weightless restaurant in Space City and discussing their visit to the vertical farm while they eat some of the fruit they have just picked. They are over thirty five thousand kilometres above the equator at 90 degrees East and are viewing India and the Indian Ocean.
SCOTT
Make sure you seal the bag up, Simon. I don’t want to have to chase a flock of apples and peaches around the restaurant.
SIMON
Don’t panic, Scott. I know the repercussions of not sealing the bag.
SCOTT
Well, just make sure you do not take out a mango. I think we will have drops of juice all around us if you do.
SIMON
Yes, they certainly are big and juicy. Peeling them is definitely a job for where there is gravity.
SCOTT
Quick, Simon! Give me the sucker.
Simon passes the vacuum cleaner sucker for Scott to gather some small pieces of apple that flew off with his last bite.
SIMON
Well, Scott. Definitely crunchy apples.
SCOTT
Delicious. Picking fruit off the tree when it is ripe makes for tastier fruit.
SIMON
Remember one of your ancestors had a tour business and wanted the orchard to let his customers pick an apple and they were not allowed.
SCOTT
Yes, and then he discovered an orchard on the other side of Australia that promoted fruit picking and as a result made a fortune from tourists.
SIMON
Walking around Australia they would not have been needing a sucker, Scott.
SCOTT
No Simon, and over there in India they can peel their mangoes with no worries about where the juice goes.
SIMON
Speaking of India, look at the size of that cyclone, Scott.
SCOTT
Goodness. I guess the Arabian Sea is a bit upset at our forefathers having warmed the planet up so much.
SIMON
From the map that would be heading towards Goa, but a whole lot of the coast around it is going to be blown around as well.
SCOTT
And this is June. They have already had several cyclones this year. May seemed to be just one after the other.
SIMON
With this being the end of their cyclone season they will be hoping for a bit of a rest before things get really active in September.
SCOTT
I’m glad that we are up here out of it all.
SIMON
We need a video of India to remind us why we do not want to visit there in the cyclone season.
SCOTT
I’ve taken one but I don’t think you will be forgetting what we are seeing down there.
SIMON
No, Scott. I cannot imagine I will. But it is not every day you see a cyclone that big.
SCOTT
That statement may have been true many years ago but today I think big is the norm.
SIMON
Scott, look at north west India. A whole lot of it is under water like we saw in the east when we looked at Bangladesh.
SCOTT
It was the Bengal tiger that was affected in the east. I wonder if any wildlife is affected in the west.
SIMON
The humans that had been there would be wild. I assume a lot of people lost their homes.
SCOTT
And their livelihood. Farms, businesses, and whatever.
SIMON
This sea level rise is certainly a nuisance.
SCOTT
Well, come on Simon. Eat up. We still have a pile of fruit left.
SIMON
I will wait until we get back to the gravity area, I think. Eating is more comfortable.
SCOTT
We could have picked some pot. That might make you comfortable.
SIMON
That might be true. I have never tried drugs. Apart from Boags and company.
SCOTT
Me neither. Beer is best.
SIMON
It makes sense to grow it up here for those on Earth who think they have to use them.
SCOTT
Yes, it means druggies have to identify themselves to get their free stuff.
SIMON
Which is important if you know who does not get medical help.
SCOTT
The war on drugs was obviously unwinnable for any country if a huge proportion of the population was intent on getting them into their body by mouth, nose or needle.
SIMON
The solution was to just let them have them.
SCOTT
Yes, Simon, they either had the price the same as for headache powders or free.
SIMON
So that reduced crime because it eliminated the need for junkies to run around being burglars, thieves, robbers or however else they were making money to buy their drug of choice.
SCOTT
But in countries with a medical safety net, such as Australia with Medicare, junkies were no longer covered by the system. They were classed as Medical Aid Exempt.
SIMON
You can see, Scott that the non-druggie population did not want to have to pay ever increasing taxes to keep them alive.
SCOTT
So the drug taking option was accompanied by a shorter life.
SIMON
People are a contrary lot so drug use declined because it was free.
SCOTT
So because druggies were getting high for nothing a lot of crime was reduced as it was no longer necessary to pay for the habit.
SIMON
And if their drugs did cause them to do something bad they were fish fooded.
SCOTT
Which helped reduce the population. These days few people take drugs.
SIMON
Well, beer is popular but it is good for your health.
SCOTT
Yes, the research that showed a couple of stubbies a day was good for your heart was welcomed by a lot of people.
SIMON
Especially by the beer makers.
SCOTT
Well, one of my ancestors believed the research and drank two Boags a day.
SIMON
So, did it keep him alive?
SCOTT
Probably longer than he would have survived otherwise.
SIMON
So do you drink two stubbies a day.
SCOTT
For sure. It is the most enjoyable medicine I can imagine.
SIMON
What about all the other members of the Allen family.
SCOTT
Yes. We have helped all breweries for hundreds of years. Particularly Boags.
SIMON
Anyway, I just need a sleep after our walk around the farm. I will dream of a cold beer.
SCOTT
Then we need to pack our gear for the trip to the next stop, over the wilds of Africa.
SIMON
One thing about keeping the Earth population at around two billion, there are more wild animals in Africa.
SCOTT
Yes, and it was just as well they had kept the DNA of species that went extinct from humans being everywhere. They brought them all back.
SIMON
Well, all the ones that did have their DNA stored. Some missed out.
SCOTT
Anyway, we can’t do anything about missing species, but we can do something about your sleep. I will wake you when we need to pack.
SIMON
Thanks, night.
