“You and Noah cut the stones. I will accompany Cassie and Deonna back to the camp and set the cut blocks on the foundation.”
“Agreed.” Talon answers. Noah nods.
“Cassie, Deonna.” I hand them each a levitator. By the end of the day, we have set 108 stones.
Each day we add stone blocks to the walls which takes us two weeks. No rush.
“Now that the walls are completed, we will construct a strong grid of logs across the top and weave the roof. We should allow for openings for cooking and for an entry way to the top.”
Noah and I cut the logs and we shave two sides for the roof. Talon helps Deonna and Cassie gather up tall grasses to weave a strong thatch. The thatching takes three days with Noah’s and my help.
Inside the structure, we have built four separate chambers across the back for each of us. Cassie’s and my chamber is 16 cubits wide and 10 cubits long with a door to the great hall. All the rest are 8 cubits wide.
“Talon, it’s beautiful.” Shouts Deonna.
“It’s a mansion.” Cassie adds.
“Tomorrow we can begin the floors.” Talon adds. “I have found another outcropping of rock that is easily broken into tiles, which we can smooth for walking on. We’ll cut the floor stones in 18 x 18 cubits squares.
“I’m so glad the plans call for flooring,” Cassie expresses.
“Talon and I can acquire the stones tomorrow.” I state. “Let’s go fishing for dinner.”
We catch eight fish and Cassie cooks them over the fire, once more. “Pretty soon we’ll have that fireplace for cooking.” She adds. “What kind of stone do you plan on using, Talon.” She asks.
“We’ll have to use clay and rock for that, I think.” He replies. The next morning Talon and I head up to acquire the rock for flooring.
“Over here, Korban.” Talon points out a naturally flat blue stone. “Imperfect. But we can smooth it. See? It fractures and we can break it off to a desirable thickness to shape it.”
“Nice.” I say. “We should be able to carry a good deal of these in one trip. What do you suggest?”
“I think we should shave and smooth them here, because it will lighten the load and we can carry more.” He says.
“Sounds good. Let’s get started.” We each grab our first stone and chisel it to make it flat. The rocks are similar in thickness. We work for three hours and carry the load back to our camp.
Deonna greets us. “The flooring is here! Let’s have a look.” She says.
Talon holds out a stone for her to look at. “What do you think, Deonna?”
“I love how the color varies from blue to orange. The floor will be lovely.” She muses.
“Let’s get started. We’ll lay the tiles and add clay between the cracks.” We have enough stones to lay half of the floor in the complex. “This is basically a two-day job.” Talon estimates.
The next day Talon and Noah acquire more stone tiles and I stay with Cassie and Deonna. Since the two women know how to make pottery, they are well acquainted with the clay for the flooring. We add clay to all of the borders.
“This is so beautiful.” Deonna remarks. “I can’t wait until we’re done.” “We need more clay.” Cassie states.
“Yes. I’ll make more.”
I overhear an animal snorting while in process of scooping more clay. It is another wild boar. I grab my fishing spear. The animal hasn’t seen me yet. I sneak up and closely jam the spear through the pig’s torso. It struggles, then collapses dead.
“Ladies, we’re having roast pig for dinner!” I tell them. I start the cooking fire to roast the pig while the women continue to lay the clay around the floor tiles.
Talon and Noah return with another stack of tile to finish the job. “This should be more than enough.” Noah states. “Let’s set them.”
We lay the rock end-to-end and the women continue to fill in the cracks with clay. We work for another three hours, and I call everyone to dinner after carving the pig. We celebrate the flooring with our feast.
“Tomorrow, we’ll build the large fireplace for cooking.” Talon comments.
Deonna twirls on the flagstone. “Talon, this is magnificent! We could dance on this floor. It’s so large.”
Talon smiles. He watches her spin around.
“May I have this dance?” Noah asks Deonna, beating Talon to the prize.
“Why, yes.” Deonna responds.
Noah twirls Deonna, and she laughs. “It’s been a long time since I danced.” She answers. “Too bad we don’t have music or instruments.”
Talon goes back to the table and grabs a second helping of roasted pig, while Noah and Deonna perfect their dance steps. Deonna looks back at Talon for a moment.
Cassie and I are sitting with Talon. “Looks like those two are getting along well.” Cassie says.
“Yes, they are.” Talon notes.
“Why don’t you ask her to dance, Talon?” I ask.
“I’m not much for dancing, unfortunately. I’d need some lessons.” He replies.
“Talon, I can teach you. Korban doesn’t mind.” Cassie comments.
“Of course.” I add.
“Oh, thanks Cassie. Maybe another time. It’s late. I think I’ll take my leave.” Talon gets up and goes to his quarters.
“I think he’s jealous.” Cassie tells me.
“I think he feels lonely.” I tell her.
“If Deonna pairs off with Noah, I’m certain that Talon will be uncomfortable staying.”
“Would you care for more meat?” Deonna asks Noah.
“Yes. I will.” He answers. “Let’s join the others.”
“Where’s Talon?” Deonna asks.
“He said he was tired, Deonna.” I answer. She’s a tough one to call, I think to myself. I’m certain she’s enjoying the attention of both men. We clean up the table and retire for the night. The next morning Talon arises at first light. He goes up the canyon and selects stones for the fireplace. He then levitates the stone back to the camp and begins working.
“I see you’ve started without us.” Deonna remarks. “May I be of some assistance?” She asks.
“It’s a one-man job, Deonna.” He answers. “I don’t want you to lift something too heavy.”
“Then I’ll just keep you company.” She remarks. Talon smiles and turns back to his work.
Talon lays three layers of stones with clay between them. Deonna continues to watch.
“Wait, not that stone. Try this one.” She points out. “And also this stone will make an amazing mantel.”
“Not bad. You have excellent taste in colors.” Talon comments.
“Why don’t I get some more clay?” Deonna asks. She helps Talon with the clay for four hours until Talon completes the fireplace.
“What do you think, Deonna?” He asks.
“I think it’s beautiful! I wish I could cook on it right now.”
“It needs to dry for a couple of days.” He answers. Noah and I look in on Talon’s workmanship.
“I must say, Talon. You’re a fine mason.” Noah states. “I don’t know how you do it. You’re a doctor and a scientist. What else are you hiding from us?”
“Just learned because I studied ancient civilizations back on TerraNorre. This is how they built their shelter.” Talon replies. “Our next priority is to make a wall around the exterior sides of the dwelling. We’ll need to also set the canal and bring water in.”
Deonna and Cassie sit at the table talking. “So Deonna, are you interested in Noah?” Cassie asks.
“I’m not sure. Both are wonderful and talented.”
“Well, you’ll never starve with Noah.” Cassie suggests.
“Yes, but Talon is a builder.” Deonna replies.
“Equally important.” Cassie smiles.
“We’ll need more pottery to cook with,” Deonna adds.
“We can work on that tomorrow while they work on the perimeter wall.” Cassie notes.
“Maybe we can trade our potter
y with the natives if it’s more unique,” Cassie states. “We could paint it or carve it with glyphs.”
Noah appears. “That’s brilliant ladies,” he comments. “I for one would also like to trade to get some of the livestock, and their seeds for planting.”
The next few days, Talon, Noah, and I set the foundation and commence building a wall 15 cubits high around the dwelling. The wall is four cubits in width so that a person can walk on it.
“No one could jump over this.” Noah says as they lay the stones.
“That is the general idea,” replies Talon. “However, they could construct a ladder of some type and climb over.”
Deonna and Cassie mold clay into mixing bowls, plates, and platters.
“I think we should carve some flowers on the outside of the bowl.” Deonna comments.
“Good idea. Let’s practice so we can build up a repertoire to trade with.” Cassie suggests. “I myself would like to carve a large calendrer to hang on the wall.”
“I like that. You should start that next. Maybe it would trade also.” Deonna adds.
“I want to make it round.”
Over the next few days, Talon creates a large culvert for the water to flow into just inside the house. He then starts to build a two foot covered canal leading into the dwelling. After the building is completed, Cassie commences to mold a very large circular plate and begins carving a floral design into it.
“What is that going to be?” Talon asks.
“Well, I’m the ship’s historian,” She answers. “When we were in space, we kept a calendar, and tracked time. Now, I suppose we ought to have a calendar again. It will begin with Day one here. I’ve crossed each day off since the crash. It’s been two 30 day cycles now. Time goes so fast.”
“Good idea,” I state. “So you’re starting the calendar from the time we crashed?”
“This will be a first version since we don’t know how many days and nights there are here in a year at this time. I will mark the days according to the seasons, the moon, and stars. In approximately one year’s time I will know how many days are in a year and will create a secondary model to help calculate the months. By the time the final version is created I will make a final calendar that should be usable for approximately 3,000 years.”
“Art. We should trade art as well,” Deonna comments.
“I’ve been thinking,” Noah says. “We know who lies to the south of us and you’ve been to the ocean. So far we’ve only seen one village. We should do a reconnaissance of what lies north of us as a precaution.”
I acknowledge. “That’s something you and I can do tomorrow, Noah. We’ll give Talon a rest for now.”
FINAL PREPS AND THANKSGIVING!
Ray and I have arrived at Sigmas Solutions for our last briefing prior to going down to Peru. We are welcomed with the usual continental breakfast and coffee. Mark points to a map of the central Peruvian area.
“Gentlemen, currently, all equipment and supplies are in place for transport down to Peru via C-17’s. The base camp is near the town of San Luis, just below the Huascaran National Forest; specifically, Mount Huascaran. That’s 60 miles east of your Yanama District site as the bird flies.”
“The Peruvian government doesn’t like it, but they’ve decided to cooperate. At this time, the Peruvian government only knows that we are staging military maneuvers that require both rain forest and glaciers to be present in the same general vicinity. We have informed them that we’re bringing archeologists to help preserve the historical sites.”
“We’ll first scan the whole mountain top area for radiation. That will take a few days. That phase has already begun. The Peruvians have been told we are doing a survey to set up the area for maneuvers with the objective to avoid the archaeological sites. We’ll have to use V-22’s going up and down the mountain. The closest airstrip that strip can handle a C17 is over here.” Mark points to a lower elevation site. After we’ve cleared the area for operations, we’ll fly the prefab buildings up to the base camp near Huallin. The entire mountain site will literally be secured from the rest of the world. No one but approved team members will be allowed access. Any others that try to break through, or force their way in will be captured and detained until all operations are complete.”
Mark continues, “The upper Base site will be here near the mouth of a long canyon. We picked that because it’s a close starting point to hike up Mount Huascaran.”
Mark turns the presentation over to Cliff and he continues, “Within the next two weeks, Peruvian government soldiers will start shutting down the roads into the back country area for our operations. All traffic will be re-directed. In three weeks, our SOAR Teams are scheduled to parachute into the area, and set up security operations. Members of the 21st SOAR, Companies A and B will be dropped into four sites around the mountain. Once the area is considered ‘Clean’ your team will go in and we will accompany you.”
“How long will it take to get all personnel into the area?” I ask.
“Air operations, shipping personnel and equipment into the site shouldn’t take any more than a couple of days,” Cliff replies.
“Any more questions? Alright,” Mark comments. “We will reconvene after the Thanksgiving Holiday. Everyone have a nice Thanksgiving.” Ray and I depart.
“Ready for the party tonight,” I ask Ray.
“Definitely ready. Time to celebrate.” He replies. “How’s Kim taking this?”
“She’s disappointed because she can’t come down on vacation. She likes getting away in the winter months. But she’ll probably keep busy with the hospital.” I answer.
I drop Ray off at his car. “See you tonight.”
I take Montrose to I-270 and get off at Falls Road to head to North Potomac. I reach the house and Kim is setting the table decorations.
“All set?” I ask.
“Just about ready.” She answers. “Needs one thing.”
“What’s that?” I respond.
“A nice long hug and a kiss.” She hugs me and we kiss. “Oh, Matt. I’m going to miss you. Couldn’t we meet in Lima, or something?”
“I’m not sure, honey. I’ll have to look in to it.” I answer.
“Yeah. I have a feeling about this.” She adds.
“Oh yeah?” I ask. “What makes you say that?”
“Matt this can’t be your usual type of dig. You always beg me to come down and spend time with you. I’m not hearing that this time. I don’t want to pry. I just want to know you’re all going to be safe.”
I think to myself of all the Special Forces that will surround me. “Yes, honey. I’m very confident this project is safe. I can’t talk about it.” Okay?”
“Okay. It bothers me. I guess I’ll have to live with it.”
“I’m going to change my clothes and I’ll be back to help you.” I kiss her forehead. The doorbell rings and I hear Kim answer it.
“Leesa, come in. I need your opinion.” Leesa is always early and she is always good company for Kim. The two are consulting on one of the food dishes. I change and hurry back down, now that the guests are arriving.
“Hey Matt,” Leesa chimes. “Why don’t I be your door person?” “Sounds great. Thanks Lees!” I give her a hug.
“How’s the food coming?” I ask Kim.
“Everything is ready. Kate is bringing the pies and stuffing.” She replies.
“Ummm. She makes really good pumpkin pies, ya know?” I add. “Ray always shares his pies at work on pie day.”
“You could at least call me for pie day, dear.” Kim teases.
The doorbell rings and Leesa gets it. “Ray, Kate...come on in. Just what we need...pies. Oh my, that does look good. I love Thanksgiving!”
“Hold the door!” Hans cries as he arrives at the door. “Peter’s right behind me.”
“For the lovely hostess.” Peter adds and gives Leesa some flowers for Kim.
“Nice touch Peter! I’ll find a vase. Kim?”
“Nice home, Matt.” P
eter adds.
“Peter, Hans. Glad you could make it. Where’s Ray? I saw Kate.”
“Flat tire, Matt.” Kate answers. “He’s out fixing it.”
“I’ll see if I can assist.” I answer. I head out to Ray’s car and find Ray fussing about.
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