April 5: A Depth of Understanding Read Online Free PDF Page B

put the ring over the point of the awl. He pulled a small case of dental tape from his pocket and looped a double thickness through the same ring. Pushing the awl in the post to anchor it he pulled on the floss until the ring was bent oval shaped. It fit through the hole now.
    Jeff, fished the chain through the hole, forced the awl in the jump ring further to force it round again, fastened the chain closed and offered it to the tapa merchant. "Would you take this gold chain and decorative pendant in trade Papahi? If you can trade it for double the spot price or more, it's twenty-five grams, worth considerably more than you asked."
    "I believe you'd say, that's a deal," Papahi said, taking the 'jewelry' and hanging it out of sight under his shirt. "I just need to get a shipping address for Pilinsesi April, then I'll package this up securely and send it along to you."
    Walking back to the hotel April asked Lin. "What did Mr. Helu call me back there? "
    "Pilinsesi? It means Princess. I'm not sure their titles of nobility translate across well, but he said it very seriously. I'm sure he meant it as an expression of respect."
    Heather held it in as well as she could. But every once in awhile April could hear a giggle escape back there. She ignored it.

Chapter 3
    They had to get up early to pack, have breakfast and still make their shuttle. None of them were concerned about skipping eating for a shuttle ride. Most of them would take the pill for insurance and not worry. April and Heather could have skipped it, but taking it was easier than telling the boarding agents they hadn't. They never believed anybody who said they didn't get sick.
    The hotel room service was expensive and limited, so they stopped at another local restaurant. It served more natives than travelers, was reasonable and the corned beef hash was wonderful. Their waitress however was ditzy, slow and made them rush to make their flight.
    Their  shuttle was a Mitsubishi and April was surprised to see it looked old . She was accustomed to most things around her looking new, until she expected it without a second thought. Something like a landing shuttle tended to become obsolete before it wore out. It would be cut up and scrapped and the stuff like electronics sent to be hand disassembled for gold and copper, the subassemblies would be shredded to an almost confetti fine consistency for recovery.
    Their war with North America was a couple years back, but it was probably still forcing extended service from older shuttles. They had destroyed most every small shop in North America that made the critical components like special tires and Bucky foam shapes. You could throw up an assembly building pretty fast, but getting all the pieces made again wasn't near as easy. Europe, Russia and Japan had picked up what they could, but half the shuttles in service had been American. She'd helped remove a couple from service herself, rather abruptly.
    There were two staggered seats to a side, three rows deep, separated by a very narrow aisle. The head was on the left, straight in from the lock and extra space between the right hand seats and the front bulkhead was the entry from the lock. It made the front right seats the most luxurious, uncrowded with extra foot room, something Gunny appreciated.
    Gunny picked the first row aisle seat and planted himself in it, isolating April against the port, but leaving her first access to the lock, not that it meant very much with no pressure suits. Jeff and Heather sat behind, Jeff giving Heather the port seat when asked. Barak took the front port seat on the other side of the aisle. He was looking around with a dubious expression that said he felt the vessel belonged in a museum with stage coaches and steam locomotives.
    After she fastened her carry on by her seat she came back up and looked for a manufacturer's tag near the lock. It wasn't in the entry, but beside the hatch to the flight deck. Instead of a peel and stick plastic card it was