If it's Friday, We Must be Fishing

“Blake’s Raiders”

Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Wednesday, 10 July - Friday 12 July, 2030

Wednesday - An uneventful, if humid, night dawned with thick clouds and a light drizzle that did little to reduce the temperature or the humidity.  A GMSM work crew showed up about mid-morning to begin preparing a site near the Norfolk landing boat ramp for a small outpost.  Their LT said that the plan was to extend the GMSM land-line, hand-cranked telephone system to the boat landing, to allow faster response if (when) marauders show up at the landing.  One part of the outpost will be a small solar-powered water treatment system, because getting good quality clean water is a problem for them.  Obviously, this kind of valuable equipment will have to be well protected, and a lookout tower, guard shack and guard’s quarters will be built first.

They’re also planning to put in a latrine to produce what is delicately known as “night soil”, a term from pre-industrial times that has returned to common usage.  We’ve even been provided buckets for collecting the horse manure.  SPEC McCarthy will be thrilled to hear this when he gets back from checking the trot lines and doing the morning fishing.

[Four trotlines, plus one person fishing yields 19Kg of fish, a great day’s catch]

We cleaned and cooked the fish, feeding both ourselves and the GMSM work crew, who were happy to have fresh, hot food to supplement the cold sandwiches they had been provided for lunch.  Otherwise, we spent the day doing routine maintenance, mounted local patrolling along the river bank and the roads to the south, distilling fuel to replace what we had burned, and planning future patrol and travel routes.  I relaxed in the evening by returning to the riverbank and doing some more fishing.  It occurred to me that we, or the GMSM outpost might catch more fish than could be eaten at once, so I started planning out some fish pens to keep them in.  In fact, I got so involved in planning and sketching out the pens that I missed several hits on my rod.  Still, it was a worthwhile evening.

[The HumVee has been driven approximately 24Km, burning 12 liters of ethanol.  Today’s efforts distill 4 liters]

[Encounter roll was a 3 on the clear column, resulting in no encounter]

Thursday 

[Encounter roll was a 5 on the clear column - refugees.]

After breakfast, SPEC McCarthy and I set out building the fish pens that I had planned out the evening before.  It didn’t take long to work up a sweat.  The shade from the trees provided very little break from the sun, and the humidity quickly rose from just bad to downright oppressive.  We took a break and I showed the GMSM LT what we were doing.  She immediately saw the value of it, and said that they would take over the project and finish it once the other outpost construction was completed.

Just before lunch, SGT Whitehead radioed in that she and SGT Rodriguez had encountered a small group of refugees, coming up the levee road from the south.  Per our standard procedures, they had questioned them about where they came from and their background.  Like so many others, this small group had been farming and scavenging until a group of marauders attacked.  They didn’t report any specialized skills, so the GMSM LT had me relay that they needed to turn back and go east at the first intersection they came to.  The SGTs provided them with our standard handout of how to get to the refugee camp on the east side of Memphis and sent them on their way.

SPEC McCarthy and I pull in the catch from the trotlines, a total of 16Kg of fish!  After cooking them for lunch (and again sharing with the GMSM workers and guards), we spend the afternoon and early evening tending to the still, producing another 4 liters.  

As they prepared to head back to their main encampment at the end of the day, the GMSM LT told me that she expects their group to be able to finish the basic construction of their outpost by the end of tomorrow, so I and SSGT Ruiz will take a turn on mounted patrol, while the SGTs and SPEC McCarthy prep the HumVee and trailer to move out first thing Saturday morning.

Friday

[Encounter roll of 9 - derelict vehicle, so judged as no encounter]

After an uneventful day of mounted patrolling, I return to find that, true to their word, the GMSM team has finished the basic construction of their lookout tower, barracks and other supporting buildings, as well as extending their hand-powered telephone network to their new outpost.  I spend some time walking around the outpost with the GMSM LT, who clearly wants to brag to an experienced civil engineer about the work her people have accomplished in such a short amount of time.  I make appropriately appreciative remarks, knowing that, in the long term, the 197th needs to be on good terms with this group.

We have distilled enough ethanol to replace what we have burned so far, and everything but essential equipment has been re-loaded and tied down, so that we can continue with our assigned mission first thing in the morning.