On Rustum:
Jan Svoboda, who had assaulted his son's teacher back on Earth, flies the school bus;
other children bully Danny Coffin because he is the first exogene pupil;
most native life is inedible and the ecology to support Terrestrial crops is not yet firmly established so most colonists are isolated farmers, needing air transport provided by people like Svoboda who have other professions;
Danny's foster mother, Teresa, also has four natural children of pre-school age and is pregnant again;
Svoboda's daughter, Jocelyn, will soon marry Colin Lochaber;
Jan and Judith Svoboda have Jocelyn and David, both born on Earth, and Anton born on Rustum and have adopted the exogene Gail and have lost one child;
there has been high infant mortality, for example during the Year of Sickness;
Teresa will bring cookies for the wedding.
Life continues on Rustum.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
At least the Rustum colonists started with the advantage of having a much deeper knowledge/technological base than did the colonists who settled Jamestown (Virginia, 1607) or Plymouth (Massachusetts). The mortality rates were very bad there during the first years. Jamestown was nearly abandoned.
Ad astra! Sean
Among other things, Jamestown was located in a spot where tidal flow pretty well cancelled the movement of the river's current. Hence sewage dumped into the river hung around for a long, long time. Bad news when you got your drinking water by dipping a bucket into the river.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ugh! I had not known that. Stuff like cholera and diarrhea comes to mind. Very bad news indeed. Plus, people did not yet understand how simply boiling water would make it much safer.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: well, they didn't have germ theory.
Note that in Shakespeare's time, London had five burials for every baptism -- and that 10% of every generation from all over England moved to London anyway. If you did that, Jamestown (or Barbados) wasn't a big risk.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Unfortunately, the germ theory had to wait till the 19th century.
London was the place to go for many, many people seeking to better their lot in life, despite the squalor and diseases. And the really desperate or ambitious would try their luck in places like Jamestown/Barbados.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Yeah. Colonies were places where you could get land cheap -- which was emphatically not the case in England. Note that during the 17th century, founding colonies improved. In the early 1600's, heavy casualties were the rule; by the time Philadelphia was founded, there was scarcely a rise in the death-rate. People learned by experience.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Land might have been cheap in the colonies, but I think that was offset by costs and difficulties of the land. That is, land had to be cleared and broken to the plow, houses, barns, utility buildings, black smith shops, labor, etc. had to be built and labor found. I think many ambitious adventurers failed.
Harsh experience was a hard teacher!
Ad astra! Sean
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