life in colony space sonja and

Life in the Colony: Space Sonja and Monorails

(Note: I, Goodspaceguy, wrote this fragment-of-fiction because of an

email sent to me by Lyle Zapato of the web site http://zapatopi.net/ )

Life in One of the Earth Orbiting Space Colonies: SPACE SONJA and

MONORAILS

By Goodspaceguy

Sonja, building her career and wearing a pink dress and matching

lipstick, floated quickly into the Central Conversation Room of the

Boeing Blue District of the Earth orbiting space colony.

Music followed her. Air propelled, computerized, robotic entertainment

equipment floated in after her. Sonja glanced at the wall size,

digital view screen depicting the large blue and white Earth rotating

below.

While her computerized equipment set itself up, Sonja smiled at

councilors Dave Duwamish and Goodspaceguy. She said, "Davie dear, I

received your communicator call while I was having my very, very

effective, rejuvenation treatment, and I'm feeling great, and I want

to know what you think?" She twirled in zero gravity for him.

Looking at Sonja's healthy, young appearance, councilor Dave said, "It

is amazing what our advancement in rejuvenation technology has

achieved. We who can afford it are regaining our youth."

Staring at joyous Sonja, Goodspaceguy said, "You are beautiful!"

Dave said, "Sonja, this romantic dork is Goodspaceguy, our newly

elected councilor. He is an economist and an investor. We are hoping

for a lot from his recommendations and his votes for improving our

colony, and I have called you here in celebration of his joining our

team."

Sonja handed a computerized card to Goodspaceguy, "Your staring at me

is very noticeable, and I want you to know that I do private songs and

dances, but no sex ... you understand that I am a state approved,

professional tease and actress, and I want to keep my license. I

specialize in singing the songs of Cher and imitating her spirit. Cher

is my inspiration. I am a great singer and imitative entertainer, and

I am willing to accept you as one of my clients."

"Thank you" Goodspaceguy said. "Are there any political issues you

have been thinking about?"

To prove that she had been reading, Sonja asked, "When our Boeing

orbiting space colony becomes really, really huge, do you think that

our descendants ... of both we, the current space colonists, and of

the new colonists still to be sent up by Boeing and Microsoft and the

other space companies of King County ... I mean, do you think they

will build space monorails or will they continue to float and glide

themselves and their equipment through the zero gravity of space, as

we do now?"

Councilor Dave Duwamish answered, "My precious, but high-priced Sonja,

I think that our descendants will continue to develop our abundant

solar power and manufacturing capability and will experiment with

monorails, but to make economic sense, monorails require a lot and lot

of people in a really small area."

Goodspaceguy added, "To be profitable, monorails require a huge number

of people who use them regularly and around the clock."

"Isn't that what we are building here in this colony?" Sonja asked, as

she floated about between councilors Dave Duwamish and Goodspaceguy.

"Sonja might be right," Dave admitted. "Sonja described what we are

building."

Goodspaceguy said, "Down on Earth, I found the expensive subway under

Montreal both exciting and depressing, but I found the expensive

monorail of Vancouver Canada uplifting."

"Unfortunately, down on Earth," Dave Duwamish said, "American cities

are usually of such low population density that there is not a high

enough concentration of people to enable the users to pay for the

public owned transit systems. Privatization and competition might be

solutions."

Goodspaceguy agreed, "Since the government has promoted urban sprawl

by way of building hight restrictions, the transit users have been

spread out over a huge area of low population. Therefore the

government transit systems turn out to be real money losers. The tax

payers end up paying for the loss. To lessen the burden on the tax

payers, I wanted the people to build beautiful, high density

communities filled with sky homes ... better than in Vancouver Canada.

I wanted to abolish building height restrictions and high permit fees.

I wanted to make it easy to build sky-high condominiums and apartment

building. I wanted to decrease housing costs by increasing the supply

of housing in the air. To get rid of rush hours, I also wanted to

build 24 hour, never-stop, go-go cities in King County."

"You're so technologically modern."

"But up here in the high sky of orbital space, our descendants should

exercise their muscles for a long time by walking a lot in the gravity

corridors to balance out the time they spend playing, floating, and

gliding around in zero gravity."

Her entertainment equipment having set itself up, Sonja then performed

her song and dance and wardrobe change imitation of Cher. Upon

completion of her songs, she gave goodby hugs and went on to her next

tease call.

Having been hugged by Space Sonja (known throughout the colony) Dave

Duwamish and Goodspaceguy went walking for exercise in the connecting

corridors among the sky homes. They walked about in the Gravity One

Level of the exercise corridors of the Earth orbiting Boeing Assembly

Colony.

"So, Goodspaceguy, what did you think of Sonja?"

"I felt like we were spending time with Cher. I like actors and

actresses who imitate great people, and Sonja might be an actress to

start the movie making industry up here in orbital space. A poem about

Sonja and space monorails just popped into my mind."

As Dave and Goodspaceguy walked the gravity one corridors for

exercise, Goodspaceguy composed this poem:

Title:

Monorails, Like Sonja, Can Be Fun!

by Goodspaceguy

Bodaciously beautiful call girls

Are expensively fun like monorails,

But Sonja finds that many would-be riders

Are without sufficient money pails!

The would-be-riders ask, "Oh, who will

Pay for our fun and frenzied riding times?"

Look to the sleeping tax payers. Their pockets

Are filled with dollars and dimes."

Some taxpayers shout, "Please, please stop.

Our dollars and dimes will not be enough!

Let us avoid frenzied transit monorails,

Paying for transit trips will be too tough."

Let us build more homes up in our sky,

And continue to walk under our Sun.

We want sky homes near our work, but we agree

That monorails, like Sonja, would be fun!

Bodaciously beautiful call girls

Are expensively fun like monorails,

But Sonja finds that many would-be riders

Are without sufficient money pails!

Dave Duwamish said, "I don't think Sonja is going to like your poem."

"But, Dave, I suspected that Sonja would like a poem about her."

"Yes, but Sonja won't like this one."

"Well," Goodspaceguy agreed, "I admit that the connotations is wrong,

so I had better change the poem, but this first version is all I have