2120-2126

by Russell Fine

  The following day all four humans went to the resort construction site. There were at least thirty people working on the site. The workers had already prepared the surface for the buildings and all the buildings were staked out. Jeffery landed the ship nearby and as he walked toward the construction site a large man at least seven feet tall walked toward them. When he was ten feet away, he said, “I am Kransk, manager of this operation. I will bet you are Admiral Whitestone. Garlut told me to be expecting you.”

  “You’re right, Kransk, I’m Jeffery Whitestone. Please call me Jeffery. This is my wife Debbie, and our friends Cathy and Shelia. How are things going?”

  “I am pleased to tell you we are ahead of schedule. The land was much easier to prepare than we thought. We will be able to complete the base for all three buildings within fifteen days. Then my crew and I will go back to Coplent and the exterior construction crew will take over and build the actual structures. They will probably arrive a day or two before we leave. I believe Nandor will be here for the initial part of the construction.”

  “That’s good news. I hope the rest of the project goes as smoothly. Is it okay if we look around?”

  “Sure, I thought you should know every member of my crew really likes this location. All of them would like to come back here for a vacation if they can afford it.” He laughed a bit with the remark.

  “I’m sure we can arrange for entire construction crew to come back here when the resort is finished at no cost. That way you can check out all the things you built and correct any problems before we open.”

  Kransk thought for a few moments and said, “I think that is a wonderful idea. Do you think we could bring our families too?”

  “I’m sure that would be okay. How many construction workers do you think will be working on the project?”

  “All the crews are about the same size. My crew has thirty-four people. Two more crews will also be working on the project. One will do the exterior construction and the other will finish the inside. I believe there will be about one hundred and twenty people.”

  “I’m certain we’ll be able to handle one hundred and twenty families. I’ll ask Nandor for a list of all the workers and when we’re ready, we’ll send out invitations. Are all the workers from Coplent?”

  “We all live on Coplent now, but many of us are from other planets. Is it okay if I tell my workers about this?”

  “Of course, but remember it will probably be at least two years before the resort will be ready for guests.”

  “That is okay. A free vacation in two years is worth waiting for. Thank you. If you need anything or if you want to look at the plans just stop by my office.”

  “Okay, I may do that since I’ve never seen the finished plans.”

  The four of them walked around the construction site for a while and then went to Kransk’s office. Kransk showed them the plans. Jeffery was truly impressed. After reviewing the plans for a while, he asked, “Debbie, did you ever think we’d own something like this?”

  “No, of course not. I’m still having trouble believing it. But the plans look wonderful. Since these are only exterior plans, I think it would be nice to see what the inside is going to look like, but I guess that will have to wait.”

  Jeffery rolled up the plans and gave them back to Kransk. “Thank you. We’ll probably stop back in ten days or so to see how things are progressing.”

  “You are welcome. Please feel free to come back anytime.”

  Jeffery and the women went to their ship and were soon back at the shelter. As they got off the ship Debbie, looked at Jeffery and said, “I don’t want to go back to Earth to have the baby. I want to stay here and watch our resort being built. Besides, we both really like it here and I’m sure Marcet will be here to help.”

  “I don’t want to go back either, but I want it to be your decision. I’m sure the baby will be fine and you’ll have all the help you need.”

  Debbie sighed deeply, feeling comforted by the show of support, “I’m glad that’s settled.”

  Ten days had passed and Debbie was positive she was pregnant. She was still certain she made the right decision about staying on Procolt 2, and Jeffery had his worries but supported her decision to stay.

  They went back to the construction site and now, instead of stakes and string markings, there was a plastic-type substrate slab at least three feet thick at the base of each building. As they looked at the slabs, Kransk walked over and asked, “What do you think about our progress, Jeffery?”

  “I don’t know much about construction. I wonder if plastic would be strong enough to support a building.”

  “This plastic is probably the strongest building material I have ever worked with. What you do not see is that each base has four supports that go about 2/10 of a unit into the ground for the tower buildings. That is more than twice the height of each of the buildings.”

  “That sounds pretty impressive. In Earth terms, each base support goes almost thirteen hundred feet into the ground.”

  “We are now five days ahead of schedule and will be finished by the end of the day tomorrow, but since we have no ship to take us back to Coplent, we will have to wait for the next work group.”

  “Isn’t the ship scheduled to arrive in a few days?”

  “Yes, we do not mind waiting. Speaking of waiting, I wanted you to know every one of my workers is excited about returning here. They do not make enough money to pay for off- world vacations and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them.”

  “I’m happy to do it. Please tell them they did an excellent job.”

  “I will pass that on to them. They will appreciate it.”

  The group left the construction site and went back to the shelter. A few days later, Jeffery was contacted by Kransk who told him the new crew had arrived and they would be returning to Coplent immediately. Jeffery wished him a good journey and said he would look forward to seeing him again when the resort was completed.

  That evening, while they were eating dinner, Jeffery said, “We have to come up with a name for the resort. I don’t want to keep calling it ‘the resort.’”

  Debbie said, “How about Procolt Paradise?”

  “Oh, I like that. Does anybody else have any suggestions?” Jeffery asked.

  “How about Squirrel Haven?” S1 said. Then he did something they had never seen before; he laughed. It was the first time any of the squirrels had made any attempt at humor.

  “I like Procolt Paradise better,” Jeffery said with a smile. “If you like, we could build Squirrel Haven next to Procolt Paradise.”

  “I think we would like that very much. We really don’t want to live in caves anymore.”

  “S1, I promise you I’ll have Nandor design Squirrel Haven for you and we’ll build it. Would you like it here or near Procolt Paradise?”

  “I haven’t seen the area where Procolt Paradise is being constructed. Can you take me there?”

  “Of course, we can go tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

  “Are you going to have to tape me to the seat again?”

  “No, we won’t be going into space so gravity isn’t an issue.”

  “Good, that was very uncomfortable.”

  The following morning, after the rain ended, Jeffery, Debbie, and S1 flew over the area where Procolt Paradise was being built. S1 liked what he saw and said he would like Squirrel Haven built nearby. Jeffery landed the ship, and just like before, the manager of the construction crew walked over. He was much shorter than Kransk and somewhat heavier. As he approached Jeffery said, “Good morning. I’m Jeffery Whitestone, the owner of this property.”

  “Good morning. Kransk said you would probably stop by and I should call you Jeffery. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, of course. What’s your name?”

  “You can call me Treb. My name is long and difficult to pronounce.”

  “Okay Treb, it’s nice to meet you. We’re living in a shelter four hundred units west of here. I�
�ll probably be coming by every several days just to see how things are going.”

  “That is okay. You are welcome to come by anytime. Right now, we are just getting started. In two days, a freighter will be here with the building materials we will need for the remainder of our portion of the construction. If you want to see any progress, you should come back in fifteen days.” Then looking at S1 he asked, “Is that your pet?”

  Before Jeffery could respond, S1 said in perfect Coplent, “No, I’m not his pet. I’m a native of Procolt 2. I don’t belong to anyone.”

  Treb said, “I am sorry. I did not mean to offend you. I always thought all intelligent species were humanoid.”

  S1 said, “No apology is necessary. Before you ask, I learned to speak your language from two females from Coplent. They’re named Brealak and Marcet.”

  “Is Brealak the daughter of Garlut?”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “I have met her several times. She is very nice. Is she here now?”

  S1 said, “No, she went back to Coplent with Marcet, but they’ll be back here soon.”

  “When she gets back, please tell her I am here and ask her to stop by.”

  “I’ll be happy to do that.”

  They left the construction site and returned to the shelter. Now they really had nothing to do for a while. Jeffery and Debbie spent the days relaxing, hiking, and swimming. The days seemed to go by quickly. They waited for the fifteen days as asked, and returned to the site. They didn’t land, but from the air they could clearly see one building was already about thirty feet tall and there was work being done on the other tower building as well. They decided to check on the construction every ten days.

  During their fifth visit, Jeffery’s com unit beeped. When he answered it, an excited Cathy said, “Marcet and Brealak are back!”

  “I’m very happy to hear that. We’ll be back within the hour.”

  When they arrived at the shelter, they could see Brealak’s ship and Jeffery landed his nearby. Marcet, Brealak, and Cathy were waiting for them. As Debbie stepped off the ramp, Marcet said, “I understand congratulations are in order.”

  “Thank you. I’m very glad you’re here. I hope you’re planning to stay for a while.”

  “Brealak and I are planning to stay here permanently, if that is okay with you and Jeffery. We really like it here and I think both of us have skills you can use.”

  “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. Brealak, a man named Treb said to tell you he’s here and he wanted you to go see him.”

  “Treb is an old friend of our family. I have not seen him for a while and it would be nice to see him again.”

  “Debbie,” Marcet began, “on the trip here, I set up a complete medical facility on Brealak’s ship. If you like, I would be happy to give you a complete examination anytime you are ready.”

  “I’m ready now. I don’t want to wait. I want to know for sure the baby is okay.”

  Marcet and Debbie walked over to Brealak’s ship and went inside. Jeffery and Brealak walked back to the shelter and went to the dining room. Jeffery got a cup of coffee and sat down across from her. After a few seconds she said, “I need to tell you why we went back to Coplent. It was obvious the squirrels were becoming more civilized on an almost daily basis. Both Marcet and I felt they needed a building of their own that would give them a comfortable place to live. It would shelter them from the weather, and give them a place to eat and sleep. Since they now bathe regularly and prefer to use toilets, the shelter would have several bathrooms too. We decided to go see Nandor and ask him to design the building for them. Garlut thought you would not have a problem paying for it, but he also said if you refused to pay for it, he would.”

  Jeffery smiled and said, “We’re going to call it Squirrel Haven. I discussed this with S1 shortly after we got back here. I told him it would be built near Procolt Paradise and I would pay for it. I assume Nandor agreed to do the designs.”

  “Yes, he did. He said he would send the plans with the next ship that comes here from Coplent. I would like to go see Treb tomorrow. Would you come with me?”

  “Sure, I’d be happy to do that.”

  “Are you excited about the baby?”

  “Yes, I’m excited, happy, and concerned all at the same time. I think raising a child in this environment won’t be easy. There are no other children around to play with, or at least no human children. I’m sure we can provide a loving home and an excellent education, but social development may be a problem until Procolt Paradise is open. I think when we start looking for staff, we’ll look for families with children.”

  “How many people do you expect to have working here?”

  “At least two hundred to start. As the business grows, we’ll add more.”

  “With one hundred families living here, I am sure there will be a lot of children for your child to play with. In fact, you will probably need to set up a small school. That is something I would really like to do.”

  “Okay, you’re now officially in charge of the school.”

  “Thanks, I think. Marcet wants to be your staff doctor.”

  “That’s okay too. But we’ll probably have two doctors. Frank Weber wants to work here as well. Since we’ll only be open for people from Coplent and Earth, having a doctor for each group would probably be a good plan.”

  “Are you going to build staff housing?”

  “Not initially. Each tower in the resort will have one thousand four hundred guest rooms and one hundred apartments. The apartments are for the staff. When we add additional staff, we’ll probably have to build some additional housing, but that probably won’t be needed for three or four years after we’re open.”

  “I did not realize it was going to be that big. I am not sure a staff of two hundred is enough.”

  “The squirrels are going to help out too. S1 asked me if they could work at the resort and I think that’s a great idea. I’m just not sure what they can do yet, but I’ll think of something.”

  A few minutes later, Debbie and Marcet walked into the dining room. Both of them were smiling. Debbie said, “We have a healthy baby girl. She’ll probably be born in a little over six months. Marcet assured me she could handle the delivery.”

  Jeffery said, “You do realize you just took the mystery out of your pregnancy.”

  “I’m sorry. You can forget what I told you and act surprised when she’s born.”

  “I don’t think that will work. Anyway, I’m very happy. While you were gone, I hired Brealak to set up a school here for the children of the staff.”

  Marcet asked, “What about me?”

  “You’ll be one of the two doctors we’ll have here. The other doctor will be Frank Weber.”

  “That sounds perfect. I really like Frank and I am sure we can work together.”

  The days passed quickly. They continued monitoring the construction of Procolt Paradise. The exterior structures were almost finished by the time Debbie was ready to deliver. When the time came, Jeffery and Brealak were there to observe the delivery as were several of the squirrels. Marcet gave Debbie some medication to reduce the pain, and after less than four hours of labor, Jeffery and Debbie’s daughter was born. They wanted an unusual name, so after some discussion they decided to name her Mystic.

  Mystic didn’t have a birth certificate; in fact, none of them even knew the Earth date. Brealak’s ship provided the galactic standard date: 5407.162. So, Mystic’s birthday was the one hundred and sixty-second day of the year. It was difficult for Jeffery and Debbie to stop thinking about weeks and months, but after Mystic’s birth they decided to only think in terms of days and years.

  One hundred thirty-seven days after Mystic’s birthday, the exterior construction of the buildings for Procolt Paradise were completed. Treb and his crew were waiting for the new crew to arrive with the ship that would take them home. The new crew arrived nine days after the exterior construction was completed. But in addition to the ship that had th
e crew and the materials needed to finish the construction, Garlut’s ship had also come to Procolt 2. Nandor was a passenger on Garlut’s ship. When the ship was in a stable orbit, Garlut and Nandor took one of the shuttles down to the shelter area.

  As the shuttle approached, the noise drew the people in the dining room outside to watch it land. Brealak knew immediately it was Garlut’s shuttle and they walked over to meet it. Moments after the landing, the shuttle hatch opened and Garlut and Nandor stepped out.

  Debbie was holding Mystic in her arms. She said, “Hello Garlut, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Mystic.”

  Garlut walked over and looked at Mystic. Then he smiled and said, “Congratulations, she is beautiful.” Then looking at Brealak he said, “Brealak, it is nice to see you again. Your mother and I miss you, but we will be spending a lot of time here on Procolt 2 in the future so we will be able to see each other more often.”

  “I miss you too, but I really like it here. After spending time here, I realized I like open space and fewer people more than the large, overpopulated cities on Coplent. I am going to stay here and manage the school that will be built for the children of the people who will be working here. Marcet is also staying here and will be one of the resort’s doctors.”

  “That is wonderful news. I am very happy for both of you. I am not sure if all of you have met Nandor. He is the person who is designing the resort.”

  Nandor looked around and stared at S1 for a few moments before he said, “You must be one of the squirrels I have heard so much about from Brealak and Marcet.”

  S1 stepped forward and said, “Yes, I am. It’s very nice to meet you. I’ve been told you’ll be designing a new home for us and I would like to discuss it with you.”

  “I will be happy to meet whenever it is convenient for you. I came here to see how the construction is going and to spend some time with Jeffery and Debbie to finalize the plans for the interior spaces.”

  Jeffery asked, “How long will you be staying?”