Rick enters the kitchen of his rented Pasadena bungalow as his wife, Courtney, loads food packets into a picnic cooler. "This looks great. We'll have a feast tonight."
"You're home early. I thought you had the 3:00 p.m. lecture."
"They got out early. I guess you could say I sent them out screaming."
"Well, I hope they were screaming with joy," Courtney says.
"You could say they are happy to be alive."
Courtney holds up a piece of mail. "This came today. The lease is up next month, and the rent is increasing."
"They're raising the rent, again? I'm counting on getting that grant. Don't worry. We'll have extra money coming in and Dr. Heinrich won't complain about funding."
"We could use some good news for a change."
"Let's put the worries of this meager planet aside. We have a picnic tonight. Don't we have two kids? Where might they be found?"
"Hiding in their rooms. They do that a lot, nowadays," says Courtney.
Rick sallies down the hallway to the kids' rooms, opens their doors, and announces, "Come out, children. I am here to save you! We are about to explore the outdoors, eat food, view space and the worlds beyond. Escape ye from these cells you call rooms. Go forth and see the world!"
Rick checks the rooms of his twelve-year-old twins. They are both using VUE lens. Ethan, his son, is unmoved as he plays a game, while his daughter Alyssa lies on her bed video messaging with friends. She talks as she touches points in midair interacting with objects in a virtual environment where her friends are meeting. She is oblivious to her father and his antics. "Your outfit is the best, Charnel. It's so cute," Alyssa says.
Rick walks into Alyssa's room. He sneaks up behind her and removes her VUE lens. Alyssa looks up with annoyance at her father. "Hey, I'm with my friends," she says, grabbing for the lens.
"Hello, little girl, it's your father. Look, you might recognize me." Rick says.
Alyssa ignores her father. "I can't wait to see you at the fashion show," Alyssa calls out to the lens, hoping her friends can hear.
"Let's go, Alyssa. We have a family night planned, so move it." Rick walks backward holding out the VUE lens, encouraging his daughter to follow.
Alyssa grabs the lens and puts it on. "Sorry Charnel, I've got to go. Maybe my dad will drive me to the fashion show. I'd love to see you on the catwalk," she says, then removes the VUE with a sneer before walking out of the room to join her mother in the kitchen.
"One down; one to go," Rick says to himself as he walks into Ethan's room. Ethan stands in the middle of his bedroom, wearing his VUE lens and moving his hands in jabbing motions.
Rick stands at Ethan's side and swipes his hand in an upward motion in front of the lens. The wrap around glass of the VUE changes from black to transparent.
"Hey, Dad I can't see," Ethan shouts.
"Looks like you can see me just fine." The sound of a gunshot and a thump come through the VUE's audio. "Oops, you're dead! Sorry kiddo, time to go."
"Oh man, you're gonna get my whole platoon killed."
"Looks like you're good at that game," says Rick.
"I'd be better if we had a glide pad. I can't move the way I'm supposed to without one. Christopher and Allie have a glide pad. If we had one, you could use it too, Dad."
Rick pulls the VUE from Ethan's face. "Well, we can't afford that right now. Maybe, if I get my grant approved, we can enhance your game play around Christmas time. But there's more to life than VUE games. We are going to Uncle Rob's and having a picnic dinner up at Mount Wilson. There's a big meteor shower tonight. It's supposed to be brilliant, so let's get moving."
"Meteor shower! Cool. That's only kind of shower I like!" exclaims Ethan. He grabs his Orion StarBlast telescope and follows his dad out of the room.
When the AutoCar arrives, Courtney and Alyssa load it with the food cooler and blankets. Rick grabs his—well, the university's—Celestron CGE Pro HD 1600 computerized and motorized telescope. Rick had borrowed the telescope from the department a few months earlier. He figures he'll keep on borrowing it until someone else asks for it.
Rick sits in the driver's seat and touches the start button. His band syncs with the AutoCar. Rick speaks, "Uncle Rob's house." The AutoCar scans Rick's contacts, displays the mapped route, and starts driving.
Rick's parents died in a traffic accident when he was thirteen. After the funeral, Rick went to live with Uncle Rob. Life with Rob was active. He enrolled Rick in an endless list of activities, from swimming and karate to Boy Scouts and flying lessons. It was Rob who inspired and cultivated Rick's passion to study the universe. A passion they share.
Over the years, Rick and Uncle Rob grew close. Other than Courtney and the kids, Rob is Ricks only family. He lives nearby, in Altadena, in the foothills of Eaton Canyon. It isn't a long drive. When Rick sees the old house, he wonders why he hasn't been to visit.
Junk clutters the long driveway. Rick engages the AutoCar's manual steering to navigate the narrow path. A huge fiberglass tank lies on one side of the drive. Farther up the drive is a metal tank with a big hole cut on one side. Rusted pipes cemented in dried mud line the edge of the drive. Next to the house is a tall metal garage with large sliding doors, and next to that is an old cement mixer and bags of cement. Some bags are open, spilling cement powder onto the grass. Alongside the house boxes marked insulating foam mix litter the ground.
Rick stops the car at the front of the house, and the kids jump out. Courtney yells, "Be careful and don't touch anything," as she surveys the deteriorating condition of the old house.
Rick and Courtney walk to the front door. "The old place could use some paint," Rick comments.
"Just paint?" Courtney asks. Courtney then spots the kids climbing on a rusted-out machine. "Get away from that... that thing. Come inside the house."
The TV blares with the sound of a news stream: The Four Wars continue, with Russia and China announcing an agreement to strengthen their alliance, as China advances on Chad and Russia strengthens its hold on New Persia. In the United States, President Anderson announces further cuts to NASA, the FDA, and other non-essential departments, allowing additional funding to support our allies. In other news…
Rob sits at the kitchen table futzing with an electronic gadget. As Rick enters the house, he calls out, "Rob!"
The kids sprint past Rick and Courtney to greet their great-uncle with hugs. Rob hugs the kids. He looks for the TV remote, finding it under a stack of papers, and points it at the big TV.
"Let me turn this thing down. I didn't hear you come in. I don't watch it. Just like the noise; keeps my brain awake. Ha-ha!" Rob mutes the volume, then gives Courtney a big hug, followed by a hug for Rick.
Rick looks around the room. The living room and kitchen look like a workshop. "Looks like you've been keeping yourself busy. Sorry, we haven't made it over for a while," Rick says as he surveys the unorganized clutter.
"You know me. I love to tinker. I always have this project, or that, going on. It would be better if I finished one before starting the next," Rob says as he walks around the room, moving parts and boxes to make space.
Courtney grabs Rick's arm, pulling him close. "Honey. You know I love Rob. But I think he's gone off the edge with all the junk he's bought for his projects. It was bad enough when he bought that old cave a few years back. Don't you worry about him here, all alone?"
"I know. I should check on him more often. I'll talk with him," Rick says.
Ethan spots a diagram tacked to the kitchen wall. Pointing at the drawing, he asks, "Uncle Rob, is this your cave fort? It looks like a long submarine."
"It's my cave fort, if you want to call it that. I call it Munday's Hideaway, or I hope it will be someday. When, or if, the shit hits the fan we'll need a safe place to ride out the shit storm, kiddo." The kids giggle at the use of a four-letter word used twice in a single sentence.
Rob catches himself. "Oops, kids in the room, excuse my French. How old are you two, now, anyway?" Rob asks.
"We're twelve!" shouts Alyssa.
"Almost twelve and a half," adds Ethan.
"Oh, I bet you learned all those bad words already. Sixth grade camp, right?" asks Uncle Rob.
"Yup." The kids reply in unison.
"But we don't say them out loud," Alyssa whispers to her great-uncle.
"At least not when they're around," Ethan says, motioning toward his parents.
Rick checks the diagram on the wall and discovers it isn't a single drawing, but several pages of blueprints and schematics detailing an extensive build-out of the cave fort.
"Rob, this is amazing. Are you planning to do all this in the mine?" asks Rick, as he studies the drawings. "You have a galley with a pantry, sleeping quarters, a main gallery with a large living room, and what's this? A water filtration system on a lower level? There's a lower level?"
"Planning, just planning." Rob looks over his shoulder and smiles at Courtney.
"I guess we should call it Munday's Folly instead of Munday's Hideaway." Rob turns to Rick and lowers his voice so only Rick can hear. "However, it's designed to support a family completely self-sustained for several years. If we ever need it, that is."
Rick flips through pages of drawings. "Look here, I missed the garden and the farm."
Ethan laughs in astonishment. "A farm, in a cave?"
Uncle Rob replies with a smile and a wink.
"If we lived in there, can we have bacon and eggs, Uncle Rob? Can we?"
"You betcha. We'll have pigs and chickens in the farm, so you can have bacon and eggs every morning if you like, boy-o."
"I think we have a picnic planned, don't we?" asks Courtney.
"Yes, we do! Let's get moving," Rick replies.
"Ethan, would you grab my telescope there by the door on your way out," asks Rob.
As they walk across the cluttered yard to the AutoCar, Rick chats with Rob. "I'm sorry I haven't visited for a while, or I would have—"
"You would have what? Stopped me? I know you, and Courtney don't approve. That's why I didn't tell you about my work on the mine. But, wait and see. We'll put it to good use, someday."
"Wait, you mean you're really building out the mine?"
"Oh damn. I shouldn't oughta said anything, but yes, it's almost finished, Ricky Boy. Keep it between us for now, will ya?"
"But, Rob, those plans. The designs. It must cost a fortune. How can you pay for it all?"
Rob nods at the old house. "I mortgaged it to the hilt, that's how!" He slaps Rick on the back with a hearty laugh. "Either the world goes to crap and the Hideaway comes in real handy, or I die broke with an amazing house built under a mountain of solid granite."
Rick is beside himself. He loves his uncle and would hate to stifle the dream that keeps him alive. But Courtney could be right. Maybe it's time for old Rob to move into a place where he won't be alone. He decides to not tell his wife anything for now.