Radio Shack

Jasper took stock of the pantry. Pasta, canned fruit, canned veggies, and canned meat. The island was poor in plant life, with a sort of cabbage being the staple food. Fortunately his house had electricity, but did not have many of the appliances that he was used to. No washing machine or dryer, no computer, no refrigerator (but a large freezer that had to be fifty years old.) There was a shortwave radio and plenty of paper and pens.

As he was not going to live there permanently, it would not matter. There was a map of the island. There was a scientific research outpost to the west. He headed in that direction.

As he was walking to the outpost, he met a man who waved at him. The man wore a lined windbreaker, ski cap, light gloves, and boots, as rain was threatening and the wind was starting to gust, as it tended to do on Kergulen. He wore the dirty clothes of a maintenance worker for the base. The man ran up to Jasper, and said, "You are the English?"

"American, yes." Jasper replied.

"You are radioamateur? There are, ahhh, tree," the Frenchman replied, holding up three fingers, "men of Texas." He pointed south, toward a rugged peninsula.

Jasper tried to dredge up what he knew about ham radio operators. He had a mental picture of a 50 year old man in his basement with a bunch of electronic parts on a table, hunched over and tapping out Morse code, when there were perfectly good alternative availables like the Internet, or telephone. But on this island there were did not appear to be those alternatives. The American hams would speak English, and one might help him get a message out to home. Jasper remember now that the radio guys in his hometown also had a tradition of helping out. For example, they would show up to volunteer to handle communication in the annual 10k foot race in Jasper's hometown, and assist in handling logistics and medical emergencies that might happen. He thought, if they had traveled all the way here, they would likely have some sort of travel arrangements back to the States already in place.

Jasper said, "Yes. I want to see those men."

1. The worker offered to take him to the shack where the men were set up.
2. The worker told Jasper that the men would visit him, later.

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