Renegade World: Future Past (3 page)

John's descendants purchased additional land over the years
and started farming wheat and flax. They continued to breed and sell mules
until after World War II. 

Her grandmother had done undergraduate and graduate work at
the University of Minnesota where she met her husband. After graduate school,
they both worked for a multi-national agribusiness and then eventually moved
back to the farm. He farmed, and she bred cattle and sheep. Considered an expert
on genetic engineering and cloning, she also bred donkeys.

Rebeka Lee's mother had no interest in life on the farm.
She met Rebeka Lee's dad at the University of Minnesota where they both got a Ph.D.
in Bioengineering. Her dad frequently brought her back to visit the farm, but
her mom rarely came with them.

When her grandmother passed away last year, she left the
farm to Rebeka Lee and her cousin Sandy.  Just months before that, the
Schmidt’s had sold their company. As employee number three, she had owned
nearly twelve percent of the company. Already well off, her new fortune allowed
her the freedom to work on her own projects. While she still consulted three
days a week and continued to work for free once a week at the local free clinic,
she spent most of her time on the family farm, continuing the breeding programs
and starting some projects that she had been thinking about for years.

The donkey nudged her out of her daydreaming.  She looked
up and saw Aaron and Erica practicing on her range. Several years ago, Erica
had asked her to teach her how to shoot. At the beginning of last summer, a boy
began tagging along with Erica, watching her.  They would wave to her, and she
would wave back. Not knowing his name, she thought of them as Erica and her
puppy dog.

After his fifth visit, she found out he was Ben Lieber’s
son. She did most of her consulting for Ben’s companies.
Anita and I
performed a neural splice operation on Ben. I'm sure Anita did a full neural
implant on both Erica and Aaron.

Neural splices were not a topic for open conversation since no one
outside of Ben Lieber's company except for three consultants knew that they were doing neural
splice surgery. Auditory splices had become quite
common during the last couple of decades. Anyone who was not wearing an earbud
in public probably had an auditory splice, or was very poor, or perhaps very
eccentric.

In reality, the choice between an auditory splice and earbuds
was mainly cosmetic. Although the implants used with a splice continuously recharged using a biological battery, earbuds could go 48 hours with a recharge, and the top-end earbuds had as much processing power, memory, and communications range as an implant.

Visual splices had yet to be approved in the US and most
other countries, so the standard video interface was still a pair of glasses or
contact lenses. Both the glasses and the contacts were capable of displaying
resolution as good as monitors.

She watched Erica beat Aaron.
Aaron's gotten much better, but I think I'll take Erica
down a bit.
After grabbing her archery gear from the pole barn, she walked over and challenged them to a contest.”

Aaron shrugged. “I'm game. Erica's beat me three times already today. It'll be fun to see her
lose. What kind of contest?”

“A one minute contest. Total points. Ten points for the
center ring, nine for the next ring out, eight for the next and so on down to
one for the outside ring.”

Aaron asked, “From a quiver or the ground?”

“Your choice. I am going to use the quiver, but if you want
to stick them in the ground, that's fine. Who’s going first?”

Aaron and Eric looked at each other. Finally, Aaron sighed,
“I'll go first. Will you say go, Rebeka Lee?”

“No. I'll start timing when you touch your first arrow.”

Aaron stuck his ten arrows into the turf right in front of
the shooting line. He turned to Erica, “Can I use two of your arrows just in
case I get off all ten of mine?”

Erica handed him two of her arrows, and Aaron stuck them
in the ground, forming three rows of four.  After taking a couple of deep breaths, he set up his stance,
closed his eyes, and took another breath. After opening his eyes, he nodded slowly. “Here
goes.”

At thirty seconds, he had five arrows
in the target and was launching his sixth. His first five were in the center
circle, but the sixth went one circle out. Although he kept firing at the same pace,
his shots became more erratic. Just before Rebeka
Lee called time, his eleventh arrow barely nicked the outer ring. He groaned. “I fell apart at the end.”

Rebeka Lee added up his score. “You shot an 86. That's not bad.”

Aaron walked down and retrieved his arrows as Erica set up.
When he returned, he handed her back her arrows. “How many of mine do you
want?”

“Four.” She took his four arrows and stuck them into the
turf. She set up and stared at the target. Then she grabbed the first arrow and
started firing. At thirty seconds, she had fired seven, but only four of them
were in the center circle. She continued firing, but
her accuracy dropped. Her thirteenth arrow missed the outer circle as time ran out.

As Erica walked down to retrieve her arrows, she pumped her
fist and announced, “I beat you, I scored a 93.”

After Erica returned, Rebeka Lee adjusted her quiver and
stepped to the line. She fired arrow after arrow into the center circle. Her fourteenth
arrow just touched the center circle, and time ran out just as she released her
final arrow. “That one was a split second too late.”

Aaron exclaimed, “Wow! That was awesome! I hope I can shoot
like that someday.”

Rebeka Lee put her arms around both of their shoulders.
“Practice, practice, and more practice. That's what it takes.” She sighed,
“Enough fun, I've got to get back to chores.”

 “Rebeka Lee, is it OK if we bring someone to watch us?
She's too young to shoot, but she really wants to watch.”

“Sure, Aaron. Just make sure she stays safely out of the
way.”

N
aami finished the exercises that Aaron had shown her.
Other than squat jumps, she didn't feel like the others were helping her
jump higher at all. She had been doing them every other day for two weeks. 
Abraham,
do you think it would help if I held weights while I did calf raises and step-ups?

Yes, as long as you don't injure yourself.  I recommend
that you start with small weights and then increase the size of the weights.

I'll start with the six-kilo dumbbell from my mom's
compact dumbbell set. Does that seem OK?

Try it next time, and see how you feel the next day.

I'll do that.
Climbing onto the trampoline, she
started jumping, willing herself to go higher on every bounce.

I estimate that you are going several inches higher
today than the day that Aaron showed you how to bounce.

Really?

Yes. I stored video while you were jumping that day. I
can't be precise, but I estimate you are jumping at least two inches higher
today.

I guess two inches is better than no increase, but it’s
not very much.

It may take years to go as high as you want. You need to-

Don't tell me to be patient again! I hate that word.

She threw her herself into the routine of tricks that she
had learned. The tricks included the ones that Aaron had taught her plus the backdrop,
the half twist to a backdrop, a backdrop to a front drop, a front drop to a backdrop,
and a cradle. She had viewed many video clips that showed each new trick
before trying the trick herself. Each day, she and Abraham analyzed video from
four remote cameras and compared the video of her to the video clips. She
usually made a few adjustments based on the comparisons.

She also had viewed videos on the back pullover, front somersault,
and back somersault. Though she was eager to try them, Abraham put his virtual
foot down.
Even you should have a spotter when you do those tricks! Should
you go against my advice, my protocol requires that I inform your parents.

Naami looked across into Aaron's yard hoping to see him but
was disappointed. She thought about sending a connection request but decided asking
in person would be more persuasive. She climbed down from the trampoline and
walked over to the back door of his house. As she started to knock, the door
opened.

Aaron looked surprised.  “Hi, Naami. What's up?”

“Can you teach me some new tricks on the trampoline?
Please!” She batted her eyes.

Aaron checked his schedule. “I guess I have about a half
hour before I need to leave for basketball.”

As they walked over to her yard, Naami boasted, “I bet I
can surprise you!” She climbed up onto the tramp and showed Aaron the new tricks
that she had learned on her own.

“Very good! Who taught you those?”

“I taught myself. Will you spot me on a back pullover, front
somersault, and back somersault? I know I can do them!”

“You need to get into a real gymnastics program! It’s not
safe to do these tricks without a spotter.”

“I'll only do them when you’re here.” She jumped higher,
dropped into a backdrop and then continued backward over to her feet. “How was
my technique?”

“It was fine.”

She did a front somersault and then looked over at him.

“Tighten your tuck, and try it again.”

She did another one.

“Better!”

She did another one. “I think I've got it.” She did three
in a row. On her final one, she rotated too far and hit the mat leaning
forward.

Aaron put his hands up to stop her from flying off the
tramp, but she caught her balance just as he touched her. “That’s why you need
a spotter!”

She ignored him. “I got dizzy doing that many in a row. I'm
going to do a back one now.” She bounced up with a half twist so that she was
facing away from him, took two more bounces, and did a back flip.

“That was real good. Do a couple more.”

She did two more and then sat down on the edge of the tramp
next the Aaron. “Do you think I could be a good gymnast?”

“You learn quickly, you’re strong for your age, and you are
fearless.  With good coaching and lots of practice, I think you could be very
good!”

“Will you coach me?”

“You need a real coach if you want to be good. I'll talk to
my old coach. I'm not sure if he still coaches, but if not, I'm sure he'll recommend someone.”

“Thanks!”

 “Naami, I need to leave now.”

Naami pouted. “If you really have to.”

He waved goodbye as he started for his house. “I can't be
late for practice.” He was almost out of her yard when he yelled back, “I
almost forgot. We got the OK for you to come watch us practice archery.”

Naami smirked. Last spring she had asked Rebeka Lee to let
her watch. Rebeka Lee had told her to wait until she was eight. She yelled,
“Thanks, Aaron!”

I want to see Aaron play basketball. I’ll change quickly
and see if I can sneak into the high school to watch his practice. Abraham,
pull together whatever photos and stats you can find on the team.

T
he team was already scrimmaging as Naami climbed up the
bleachers.  Her slicked down hair was now tucked under a baseball cap, and she
had on a pair of sunglasses. In her faded blue jeans and gray long-sleeve
shirt, she knew she looked like a boy. She sat down two rows behind the ten
teens, nine of them girls, who were watching the practice.

She didn’t see any coaches.
Abraham, why aren’t there
any coaches? Who is the big guy who seems to be running the practice?

The big guy is the team captain, Matt Jackson.
The
league rules do not allow the coaches to work with their teams until basketball
season, but they are allowed to have captain's practices. Matt was
all-conference last year.

Was Aaron all-conference?

No. According to the records, Aaron didn’t start any
games until late in the season.

I wonder why?

Maybe it’s because he was a freshman.

As she watched the scrimmage, it looked like Aaron and his
taller teammate, a guy called Thor, were having the most fun. 
Abraham, how
tall do you think Thor and Matt are?

The stats from last year say that Matt is six feet eight
and two hundred fifty pounds. There was no one named Thor on the team last
year. Based on Aaron at six feet two and Matt at six eight, I estimate that
Thor is six feet five or perhaps a little more, but he probably only weighs two
hundred and twenty pounds plus or minus five pounds.

She continued to watch Aaron’s team play against Matt’s
team. Other than Matt, Aaron, and Thor, the other players looked tired. Thor
was guarding Matt, and throughout the scrimmage whenever Matt put the ball on
the floor, either Thor or Aaron or both of them took a swipe at it. They were
both quicker than him and frequently were able to knock it to one of their teammates. 

Naami, from last year’s team roster, I see that Matt’s teammates
will be juniors and seniors. Two of Aaron’s teammates will be sophomores like
Aaron. Thor is either a freshman or a transfer student.

As they continued playing, she had to keep from cheering as
Thor blocked Matt's shot, and Aaron blocked two of them from behind. 
Matt
may be taller, but Thor and Aaron are much better jumpers. I guess I’ll have to
be patient and keep doing the exercises that he showed me, but I wonder what
exercises he does.

Thor blocked another of Matt's shots.
Matt’s not very
happy that they can block him and that his team is losing.

Naami, I just pulled up an article about their loss in
last year’s state tournament. It says that while Matt had gotten the better of
every other center in their league last year, his weaknesses were exposed in
tournament play, where his habit of putting the ball on the floor led to
turnovers and frustration. When he got frustrated, he fouled out, and his team
lost. He apparently didn’t correct his habit, and Aaron and Thor are
deliberately showing him that.