A lighthearted road trip to Valentine;

As they filled the Hummer's tank, Sam bought a Texas map AND a map of Valentine, and Andrea a can of Spam. Melbourne answered nature's call, and soon they were underway, bottled water all around. Although they still towed the Pickup on a tow-bar behind the Hummer, they had paradoxically decided to economize on space by all three sharing the bench seat like an Ottoman. The three ruck sacks they now carried occupied the bed of the "duelly," with a very compact bundle of tent and cooking utensils. Sam reiterated his dislike of paying for Motels, and Andrea filled Melbourne in on the disreputable reputation of the "NoTell" franchise. He reciprocated with the observation that houses of ill repute existed literally everywhere, and after a short discussion on the tourist accommodations available on Venus, talk turned back to the second world war on Earth. Sam's affirmations of his freedom to say what he liked made Andrea ask if the word "Voltaire," was a noun or a verb, and Melbourne brought up Liberty Ships because the marriage status of Voltaire himself could not be conveniently verified. "Did you guys know that without the supplies that Liberty ships resupplied the Empire with, back in the day, the Island of Britain would have been over-run?" "Nope," Sam admitted, "I always thought it was their Air Force." "I'll admit that the Battle of Britain was important," Melbourne said, "But the importance of the Navy should not be overlooked." "Yeah," interjected Andrea, "Otherwise how would the Marines get everywhere they need to go?" Sam's objections that commercial airlines ought to be just fine were shouted down, and Melbourne brought the conversation back to Liberty Ships creatively.

"Do you know the jar-head icon 'Betty Boop?'" he asked. "Talk about No-Tell houses of ill repute, she used to REALLY BOOP!" Sam replied, showing his knowledge of cartoon history. "What about her?" Melbourne mentally acknowledged to a higher power his gratitude that Sam was going to listen, and continued instructively. "She was a Public Relations Propaganda tip of the hat to Rosie the Riveter!" This so affected Andrea that her head snapped around. "Rosie the Riveter worked on LIBERTY SHIPS?" she asked incredulously. Sam hopefully asked if she hadn't been actually riveting planes, and Andrea shushed him that this was not the point of her current emphasis: "Those ships sank so much that their funding was in danger politically!" she explained. "How so?" Melbourne inquired, honestly interested in her explanation. Andrea drew a deep breath and polished her spectacles, enjoying her moment. "The Liberty Ships were WELDED," she continued, "and as you know, a WELD is part of the surrounding metal. This is so fundamental to the principle of welding that a weld literally tears the surrounding metal apart when you try to sunder it." Sam could not ignore reality, and asked the obvious question. "If welds are SOoooo strong, how come the Liberty ships sank so much?" He felt he was on pretty solid ground with this one, and contemplated bidding for a coke. Andrea had no trouble replying. "A weld has different metal fatigue properties than tempered steel," she illuminated. "The welds froze up, became brittle and BROKE in Northern waters." Melbourne sensed deep pain on the part of Andrea, not only for Rosie the Riveter, but for all ERA advocates. "I bet the Nazi's loved THAT," he replied, adding "even the effeminate ones." He couldn't put his finger on the reason, but he hoped his next question would improve matters. "How did their political funding come to be challenged?" "Well, the saying at the time was 'Loose lips sink ships,'" she explained. "but liberal sailors used to call 'Liberty Ships' 'Death Traps!'" "Just goes to show you what THEY knew," Sam commiserated. "Conservatives HATE paying someone they think will spend it in a house of ill-repute." "I prefer liberal women myself," Melbourne agreed. "They give charitably, and ask little in return." Andrea added that there were women in the Navy now, too, silencing an impertinent Sam along the way. Melbourne had taken an exit, and stopped at the relevant red light. Sam observed a tomcat had killed a blackbird by the gas station. He applauded the accomplishment while Andrea felt sorry for the bird, and they all took turns using the unisex facilities.