Received: from [198.167.143.24] (port=59340 helo=theruntosuccess.com) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtp (Exim 4.87) (envelope-from ) id 1cOozq-0003Xl-CC for lojban@lojban.org; Wed, 04 Jan 2017 09:05:10 -0800 Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:29:03 -0700 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii From: "Mark-Cuban" Mime-Version: 1 Subject: I want you to join-me on this incredible project: Let me know today 11310729 Message-ID: To: X-Spam-Score: -0.4 (/) X-Spam_score: -0.4 X-Spam_score_int: -3 X-Spam_bar: / you will feel coming

The voice of Lobsang sounded in the air. Once again, welcome aboard, Joshua. Such dreadful weather, isnt it Never mind, I will soon have us above it or, should I say, away from it. There was a jolt and the floor rocked. Weve detached from the gantry. Are we airborne already Well, you wouldnt have been brought here if we werent ready to go. Below us they will be breaking camp already, and then this site will suffer a minor version of the Tunguska event. Security, I take it. Of course. As for the workers, they are a mixed lot: Russians, Americans, Europeans, Chinese. None of them the kind of people who like to talk to the authorities. Clever folk who have worked for many masters, so very useful, and so commendably forgetful. Who supplied the plane Ah. Did you enjoy your ride in the Lear It is the property of a holding company who rent it out occasionally to a certain rock star, who tonight is fretting that the jet is unavailable because of an overhaul. But she will soon be distracted by learning that her latest album is two places higher in the charts than it was last night. The reach of Lobsang is great. Now that we are under way

The tremendous envelope, rippling under partial pressurization, was evidently coated on the outside with solarcell film for power, and there were propulsion units, big fragilelooking fans that could swivel and tilt. The gondola was as luxurious within as it had looked from the outside. There were several decks, with staterooms, a wheelhouse, an observation deck, and a saloon deck with a galley as well equipped as the kitchen of a highclass restaurant, and a spacious hall that could serve as a restaurant for fifty or, incredibly, as a cinema. And on every deck there was that blue door, closed and locked.

As he thought it over, Joshua began to see the point of stepping in an airship as long as you could get the thing to step in the first place, and how youd do that he didnt yet understand. One problem with stepping rapidly was obstacles. Hed discovered on his very first night of exploration of the Long Earth that some obstacles simply couldnt be walked around, such as the ice cap, sometimes miles high, that typically blanketed much of North America during an Ice Age. The airship was an attempt to get around that: it would ride above such inconveniences as glaciers or floods, and a much smoother journey ought to be possible.

An inner door opened smoothly, revealing a corridor of panelled wood and subtle lamps, leading to a blue door at the end. Welcome to the Mark Twain. Please make yourself at home. You will find on this corridor six staterooms, all identical; choose whichever one you like. You can shed your coldweather gear. Notice also the blue door. That leads to a laboratory, workshop and fabrication plant, among other things. You will find a similar door on each deck. I would prefer if you do not go beyond unless invited. Any questions Joshua changed in the room hed chosen at random, and then explored the Mark Twain. He asked the air, But did it have to be quite so grand, Lobsang Why not be grand We cant hide, after all. I want my exploratory vessel to be like the Chinese treasure ships which struck awe into the natives of India and Arabia in the fifteenth century. Youll strike awe, all right. And no iron in this thing, I take it Im afraid not. The impermeability of the reality barrier to iron remains a mystery even to Black Corporation scientists. I get plenty of theorizing, but few practical results. You know, when you talked about the journey, I thought Id be carrying you, somehow. Oh, no. I am wired into the airships systems. The whole ship will be my body, in a sense. Joshua, I will be carrying you. Only sentient creatures can step Yes. And I, like you, am sentient And Joshua understood. The airship was Lobsang, or at least his body; when Lobsang stepped, the airship carcass came with him, just as Joshua carried over his body, his clothes, whenever he stepped. And that was how an airship could step. Lobsang was smug and boastful. Of course this would not work were I not sentient. This is further proof of my claims of personhood, isnt it Ive already trialled the technology well, you know that, I traced your earlier expedition as I told you. All rather thrilling, isnt it Joshua reached the base of the gondola and entered the observation deck hed spotted before, a blister of reinforced glass giving spectacular views of this Low Earths Siberia. The construction site sprawled below, with ancillary workings cut into the forest, supply dumps, dormitories, an airstrip. Joshua, thinking it over, began to realize just what an achievement Lobsang had pulled off here if the airship stepped as advertised. Nobody before had found a way to make a vehicle capable of stepping between the worlds the way a human could, and that was throttling the expansion of any kind of trade across the Long Earth. In parts of the Near East, and even in Texas, they had human chains carrying over oil by the bucketload. If Lobsang really had cracked this, essentially by becoming the vessel himself well, he was like a modern rail pioneer; he was going to change the world, all the worlds. No wonder security was so tight. If it worked. This was all experimental, evidently. And Joshua would be swimming across Long Earth in the belly of a silvery whale. You seriously expect me to risk my life in this thing More than that. If “this thing fails I expect you to bring me home. Youre insane. Quite possibly. But we have a contract. A blue door slid open, and, to Joshuas blank astonishment, Lobsang showed himself in person or rather, in ambulatory unit. Welcome again I thought I would dress for the occasion of our maiden voyage. The automaton was male, slim and athletic, with movie star looks and a wig of thick black hair, and it wore a black lounge suit. It looked like a waxwork of James Bond, and when it moved, and worse when it smiled, it did nothing to dispel the artifice. Joshua stared, struggling not to laugh. Joshua Sorry Pleased to meet you in person The deck vibrated as engines bit. Joshua felt oddly thrilled at the prospect of the voyage in a small kind of way. What do you think were going to find out there, Lobsang I guess anything is possible if you go far enough. What about dragons I would suggest we might expect to find anything that could possibly exist in the conditions found on this planet, within the constraints of the laws of physics, and bearing in mind that the planet has not always been so peaceful as it is now. All creatures on Earth have been hammered on the anvil of its gravity, for example, which influences size and morphology. So I am sceptical about finding armoured reptiles who can fly and spout flames.



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Mark Cuban
Owner Of The Mavs/ SharkTank Star

lojban@lojban.org

First off let me wish you a Happy New you to you and your family. I just wanted to share a this great opportunity that will make you about 7,000 monthly.

If this is something that might interest you then I encourage you to join me and other like minded indiviuduals on this exciting project.

Let me know today or tomorrow
Mark C

Sent 25 min ago

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