The Witch of November
by John R. Plunkett


Ever since Wally and Me all those years ago I wanted to write another story about the sea but somehow it never happened. Other ideas flitted through my mind but none of them gelled as stories. Worse yet, writing in the Chakat universe didn't seem to lend itself to that sort of story. But why not? The planet Chakona has any number of major seaport cities; ores from mines in Galilei and petroleum from offshore drilling platforms around Vaasa flow to processing centers in Amistad, Berdoovia, and Curtisport. From there manufactured goods travel to the star port in Amistad for export. Produce from agricultural zones in Bonifacia, Bosporus, and Didwana supply the urban centers with food. Low mass, high value cargos might travel in stratojets or hoverships but for high bulk, low value items- ore, crude oil, and grain, for instance- that wouldn't be cost effective. Old fashioned displacement hulls or super catamarans could move the goods much more cheaply, albeit more slowly as well.

So I had my rationalization. Having decided to start writing, however, I found myself stymied by the lack of a title. I used to be able to be able to throw a story together without one. Now the story won't come to me if I don't name it. Then a line from a Gordon Lightfoot song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, came to me. It sounded right and fit my idea nicely. So put on your slickers and grab your slop chests, matyes, we're a'going to sea.

Credits

Story and characters unless otherwise noted:  ©2001 John R. Plunkett
The planet Chakona, its environs, and the Chakat race:  ©1999 Bernard Doove

Ratings

Sex:  Not rated
Violence:  Not rated
Language:  Adult concepts


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