Space Stations and Elderly Japanese Salvagers

I reread a short story today that I absolutely love. The story is called "Auriga's Streetcar" by Jean Rabe. The story appears in the anthology "Space Stations" (DAW Books 2004). I have read this story around a dozen times, and I love it more each time I read it.

The story is about a independent space salvager from Japan named Hoshi. She is 84 years old and wants to make one last salvage trip before finally hanging up the space suit. She goes to an abandoned orbiting observatory that is officially called Yerkes-Two. The station was given the nickname "Auriga's Streetcar" because one could view the constellation Auriga from it and the shape of the station resembled a streetcar. The station had been abandoned nine months earlier and its orbit was decaying rapidly, so Hoshi wanted to obtain two large lens from the station that dated back to the 1890s. These lens were from from the original Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and were placed on the orbiting facility out of tradition.

During what was supposed to be a routine salvage, Hoshi runs into problems when she discoveries that her little orbital skimmer was floating away from the station after docking clamp had been disengaged. She soon discovers that a younger salvager had taken the precious lens from her ship and disengaged her ship's docking clamp. She helps the younger man in order to get a ride back to Earth where she plans to report him to the authorities for stealing her salvage. Everything is going according to the younger upstart's plan until an alien device is discovered on the station. The pair learn that someone (or something) has been using the old station to spy on Earth. Things get really bad when they discovered that the younger man's ship was disconnected from the station. Hoshi manages to work the alien device from its mounting and forced him, the mysterious device, and the two lens into the station's still functional escape pod. Afterward, we learn that Hoshi and that station are being towed away by the aliens' space ships to their home in the Auriga constellation.

I love this story because it talks about a Japanese astronaut who does not give up doing what she loves despite her age. If you get a chance, pick up the anthology at your local bookstore or library and read this story, do so. You will not regret it.

Corn Cob Missile Defence and Brick Cities

I am sorry to those who look forward to these posts. I have been very busy with finishing my masters degree and starting a new relationship. (I will have more on the latter in a later post.)

I will continue down memory lane with some ramblings about my childhood imaginings. My family owned an empty lot next to our home that we used to grow corn every year. I noticed that the cobs looked like rockets so I came up with the idea that I could pretend that they were missiles. I dug a few shallow interconnecting trenches in my backyard that I placed wooden boards over them. I put some dirt over the boards and pretended that they formed a missile base. There were a few places that served as underground launch pads for the corncob missiles stored in the tunnels. The base was not very active because my father had to mow the yard, so I had to repair the yard. The base had "launched" a retaliatory strike against an alien planet for its first strike attack on Earth.

My father and grandfather had a pile of bricks in our backyard that they used to prop up the riding mower when they were working on it. I used to stand the bricks on their ends to serve as small cities. I used small rocks out of the driveway to use as little cars. This set up worked really well except when the great lawn mower demanded the dismantling of the cities for the grass to grow.

They were fun times. Just remember that God has given us imaginations that cannot be limited by the materials around us. Just remember to ask God how to use the materials around you, and He will show you how in a mighty and sovereign way.