CHAPTER 16
THE KANNUCKS
For many millennia, the climate of Urasia had become much, much colder. The Urasians were restless and getting hungry. The authorities had banned any advances in technology and that included communications. There were no transmission towers. With the pigeon fleet completely abandoned now, the Urasians were on their own. It would be up to Chorley to solve this problem. It was clear that they would need to explore to the south so, she commissioned Mericus and Christop to prepare a great long ship with massive sails for propulsion. It would take a millennium to complete. Late one night during the construction but in secret, Mericus and Christop moved a large crate into the hold of the great vessel. The passengers on this monstrous ship would be the greatest scientific minds and key government administrators. The crew would be supplied by Mericus and Christop. When the prevailing winds were right, they embarked to the south. They passed ice floes, icebergs and ice-covered continents on the starboard side of the vessel for many days. Eventually they encountered a few villages and then some larger cities.
The inhabitants called themselves Kannucks. Chorley cringed when she saw that the Kannucks were burning black rocks for heat and power. The smoke, ash and cinders were horrific. “Why are you doing this,” she cried. “Don’t you realize you are making the earth suffer.” Reta Gee chimed in, “How dare you destroy this land and make it impossible for me to live here!” The Kannucks had not invited them to stay anyway and just shrugged at the rebukes from the strangers. After all, they had already tried to eliminate the use of the black rocks by using the hot rocks from further north. But the black rocks were easier to mine, and it was more abundant than the hot rocks. And the hot rocks needed a lot of processing to turn them into fuel. They asked, “What would you have us do? We have already spent a considerable amount of funds to shame our countryswine to no avail. They prefer using the black rocks first, then the hot rocks. It is hard to argue with that approach.” Chorley frowned and Reta Gee repeated, “How dare you!” The Kannucks told them to shove off. They even gave them a little help pushing off from the dock.
Unfortunately, the prevailing winds had changed direction and they were headed back north. It was getting cold very quickly. Soon there was a rumble from deep within the vessel. The vessel lurched forward and starting to turn south. Soon the plumes of smoke started to issue off the stern. Mericus and Christop’s secret black rock-fueled engine had come to life. Chorley was appalled. Reta Gee shouted, “How dare you!” Mericus and Christop just laughed and butted their hooves. They knew things would settle down when it started to get warmer as they traveled further south. They waved at the Kannucks again as they went by for the second time. The Kannucks, noting the plumes of smoke from the vessel’s stern, just muttered “Hypocrites” under their breath and went about their normal lives.
All of Laurasland was exuberant about the news transmitted from the Land of the Kannucks. A ship with Chorley on board was headed south. The newswires were humming and preparations for the ship’s arrival were underway. Mater and Pater were impatient to see their daughter and grandkids and meet her mate, Goretal. They did not know much about him and were very curious. Sus, Babi and Porcus were just as excited along with their parents, but well remembered the personality of Chorley and the difficulty their sister would often precipitate. She was difficult in so many ways, but her stubbornness was the hardest to overcome. They wondered how her piglets would be received by their cousins. If they were anything like Chorley, there could be fireworks. Time would tell. And there would be a lot of that since Chorley was going to be delayed for a very long while.