by Robin Miller
Nursa, "what do you have?"
I said, "a number of things, but Kitty likes Eldoring blis. It tastes a bit like cream." Nursa, "I'll try that."
I poured her a short glass and she liked it, so I left the bottle out.
She said, "have you got that man of my working late today?"
I said, "he wanted to see that all the pilots got onboard safe, I'm sure he will be done soon."
We heard a ship landing nearby, and I said it sounded like Owsee. It was then that Kitty was coming up the road as well, with a bag from the market. Nursa met her at the transport and they talked for a moment about it, then she pulled out a bag of bread and other things from the vehicle, and they went inside. I went out back to check on the fire. When Owsee got to the house, he drew himself a beer and came out back with me. I was turning the logs in the fire pit, so it soon would be ready to cook on, as he walked up and said, "a BBQ, what we having?" I said, "seafood, I got the boxes on the porch."
We then saw Grippers ship on its way down, as Owsee said, "here he comes, Gripper always makes sure the rest of them will get their supper before he goes for his, you have a hard working commander there. And talking about hard work, I got the rest of the sites, for your hotel and clubs, mined today."
I said, "I hired 19 workers for the park today."
Owsee, "the last two ships you brought in were fixed today."
I said, "I figured out how to save the Stargate."
Owsee, "what will you do?"
I said, "jam it open until all the debris with the robots in it pass."
Owsee, "so they can't land on it without being sucked in."
I said, "that's the idea, and the living ships will smash them in hyperspace." Owsee, "it would be nice if they came out and did some smashing before the robots got here."
I said, "yes, but they are not going to do that, we take what we can get." Moments later Gripper came walking up from out of the darkness. I told him Nursa was inside with the children and commented about his new transport. He said it was worth the cost, just so he did not have to carry the triplets around anymore.
Owsee, "that's what credits are for, making things easier."
Gripper then went inside to say hello and get a drink, while Owsee and I sat down on the porch and watched the fire. The Twins even took some time out to play with their light in the dark hover tag ball, whilethe women were getting things ready in the dining room. It was good to see themget some exercise. But they soon stopped and went back to writing the program on their laptops. Kitty came out and asked where the food was, and I told her, “those three boxes over there.” She opened them up to look while I asked her if the doctor was coming. She said, "yes, he said he would come by in a little while."
As she turned to go back inside I said, "how was your day?"
She said just find dear, and went inside. I turned to Owsee and said, "she can't say I was the last to ask her today."
He lit his pipe while nodding, and I could see he had a small smile on his face. Gripper soon came back out, with a drink in his hand, and sat down. Kitty brought a large kettle of water out and set it on one side of the grill, stoking the fire beneath it. Then she took one of the boxes of seafood, and put it on the stand next to the fire pit, then took another box inside. I offered to help but she said she, “I have it all well in hand, just let me know when the water is a full boil.” I cheerfully said, "will do," and took a drink. The doctor showed up and he sat on the porch with us, and had a soda. I asked how his day was and he said, "boring without someone to treat, but I don't wish harm on anyone."
Owsee, "you need a research project to keep you busy."
Dr., "I have thought about doing something along those lines, but not a clue what to do."
I said, "how about a paper on alien DNA, and its affect on pregnancy and off spring growth factors?"
Dr., "that's a good one, I'm sure no one else is doing it."
I said, "you have a good start for a study group with Nursa and Kitty, and their children show a mix from Catalack and Tronex, both known to have easy births and fast growing childhoods. Now my children are starting to show signs their growth is slowing, there may be something you can document there." Dr., "yes, I may be able to run with that. It's a start anyway, and such papers will be needed, if our planet is to keep up with its ever changing medical needs." Owsee, "if you need anything let me know, I don't mind funding research." Gripper, "and I’m willing to be scanned again."
I said, "you have DNA from both Kitty and myself, did you take samples when the twins were born?"
Dr., "yes, I could use new ones to compare to them."
I said, "I'll see they stop by."
Dr., "I have a sampling kit in my bag here."
I said, "prowler, kitten, please come out here formoment."
They came out and I told them the doctor was goingto take a sample. He took a swamp of their mouths and said, “all done, thank you.
They went back into the house, and I went over and stoked the fire a bit, to noticed the water was boiling. So I went inside and told Kitty while getting myself another drink. I grabbed a bottle of bunk a deep bunk, I kind of bourbon liqueur, a ginger ale, then went back outside. Before sitting down I asked if anyone needed anything and they said no, so I sat down with my bottle and lit my pipe again.
Moments later I said, "now that I think of it, I should have got us a bowl of nuts." Owsee, "I'll get it, I need to stretch my legs anyway."
He came back with two bowls of nuts and a bowl of fruit, so we passed them around. Kitty came out with something in a pot and dumped it in the water, then threw some more of something from the nearby bags into the boiling water. After stirred the coals again, she went back inside with the third box, and shortly thereafter came back out with the box and was putting food on the grill. It was then not long before we were eating, and we ate it as fast as she could cook it. That is until the last of it, and we could eat no more, at least not right then. I must tell you it's hard to get full on seafood, I think it's the lack of fat, but there was plenty of food that night. And we still had the treats Nursa had brought from the bakery. Our guests did not stay long after eating, and Kitty put together a take-home bag for the doctor. As Gripper and family were leaving I told him I would see him in the morning, and was going was the fleet.
He said, "see you then."
Kitty remarked it was a good party, and I said, "yes, it's nice to have people over from time to time."
The twins were again hard at putting the new program together, saying they were almost done with the difficult mapping part. Owsee said he was going to bed early for a change and I said I was not far behind him. I then nibbled on some leftovers while checked my e-mail one last time. That's when I remembered the hats for my guards. So I told Kitty and she said she would have them for me tomorrow. I had mail from Governor Stan forit Sphier, asking how bad it may get because of the medal eating robots, and what he could do in this area? I wrote back, "protect water and power stations, as well as shipyards and anything that would become a danger if there was a new hole in it. Hand out clubs for smashing and organize watching groups."
Then I e-mailed it to him, and looked at my mail from U1&U2, it read "parts and explosives exhausted, total number of mines ready 1003."
I thought that to be a good number, considered theshort time.
I wrote a little about my day then hit the bed, hoping not to have another bad dream. So I got back up and drank a bottle of detox water, then back to bed, with my mind filled with thoughts of tomorrow. We would again face the metal eating robot spiders and I would have to hang back, keeping the gate open until all the debris with the robots had passed. I could open the gate, jam the switch and move away until they were gone, but if it does not stay open those things could cause a lot of damage before I went back. Of course my ship could cloak-phase so the robots would not bother me/us, but then the things would not hurt a living ship anyway. But the debris may if we were not phased out, and it would onl
y take a broking moment of my ship’s concentration to be phased back in and vulnerable. But I didn’t want to worry about that and make my ship nerves, or was it just me that was, it was just the thought of staying there while all that went by that bothered me. I felt like a man testing his ship by flying it into a sun. Even if it had worked before it could still make you nervous. Thoughts like what if the machines start attacking people, their programming could have changed, what a nightmare that would be. It was only a feeling, only a dream I didn't want to have. Somehow I slipped away into unconsciousness, but I think I felt Kitty coming to bed. If I did dream, it was gone when Iwoke up with her next to me, kissing me good morning.
Day 96 The sun was just peeking in the window a bit, and it was still kind of dark outside, when we got up. I grabbed a coffee and went out to the porch for a smoke and to write. Kitty came out with a coffee in hand, and stood there looking at the sun coming over the mountain, and said, "no matter how often I look at it, I still find the sunrise makes me feel good. It kind of reminds me of home."
I said, "you have never talked about your home much."
Kitty, "I was very young when I left. We were trying to get away from a war. I don't remember much about it, we moved around a lot. One day I was just on my own. Sometime later I showed up at the moon where you met Owsee and me. But the sunrise over a mountain reminds me of Cadillac."
I said, "I guess even a good memory can bring back bad ones, but if you ever want to talk about it I'm willing to listen. Do you want to talk about it?" Kitty, "I only want to enjoy the sunrise for moment. What would you like for breakfast?"
I said, "omelet’s, fried potatoes, and toast."
She took another sip of her coffee then slowly went back inside. I heard the children come downstairs, but they must've went straight to the dining room as they did not say good morning. A flash of light from the top of the mountain caught my eye, then it was gone, and I went back to my writing. In the, not so back of my mind, was a vague memory of the things I did not want to think about. I told myself right then, that I was not going to let fear or doubt get in the way of the things I needed to do. Even though I had done some writing the night before, I was finding it hard to wrap up the account of my day. It can be that way when there are people in it. Or maybe I was just trying to justify not going with the fleet. No, I'm not going to doubt myself, I did what I had to.
The smell of fried potatoes reached me, and I knew that was a sign that Owsee would soon be there. I went back to my writing, and must've been deep into it, as next thing I knew Owsee was standing there saying good morning. It made me flinch as I looked up.
I said, "morning, by the smell of things I would say you just in time." Owsee, "breakfast is the best meal of the day."
I said, "Kitty makes a damn fine supper as well."
Owsee, "last night was rather special."
He then went inside, and I polished off my recollection of yesterday. I got inside just as Kitty was putting breakfast on the table.
The children said, "good morning father," and I replied, "good morning." Prowler said, "we finish the new program last night."
I said, "that's good."
Kitten, "yes, it will be interesting to see if it works."
I said, "I would rather you say interesting to see it work."
Prowler, "well, after all, it's just a subroutine to get the ships off the planet. The main program will have to make sure they keep their distance from one another, and go where you want them to before blowing up."
Owsee, "no need to point out anything we cannot change."
I said, "Owsee is right, unless you have some idea of how to check out the main program before we use it."
Kitten, "that could take weeks to test."
Kitty, "eat your breakfast dear."
The table then went silent as we ate our food. Then Gripper stopped by, and had a cup of coffee while we ate.
I asked Owsee what he was doing today, and he saidhe was going to work on the Trident, "can't let everyone else have all the fun."
I said, "don't forget to put a food replicator in it."
Owsee, "I’ll even programmed it myself."
When I was done eating I told kitty I would see her at supper, and got a good by kiss for luck. Owsee would take the Twins with him to the port this morning, while Gripper and I went to the station on my ship. We got the fleet ready to go and headed out. I told Gripper that if we had timed it right, we should catch the M.E.R.S. just before they got to the star gate. And after all of them past the gate I would catch up with the fleet. He wished me good luck. At the speed of the fleet we would be there in no more than two hours, so I took a nap. I was not all that tired, but it was easy just to doze off on a ship like this.
Next thing I knew, we were at the gate. The debris field was not far off at the speed it was coming, and I told the fleet to go do some damage, and I would make a stand here. I watched as they flew off, and thought about how I would jam the gate open. I had brought a small ball of clay with me to put in the switch after I opened the gate. My ship could cloak phrase so it would not get sucked in as I did it. Shortly I could see the fleet as they were on their way back, as it didn't take long to unload all their ammunition. As Gripper led the fleet back he wished me good luck again, and moments later I could see the debris field coming. It was about 5,000 miles wide, but only a few deep at this time. I waited until it was closer before opening the gate again, and jam in it that way. The ball of clay held the contacts apart just right. The ship and I, stayed close and cloak-phrased as the field went through us and the gate. I could see the metal eaten robot spiders clinging to the rocks as they went by me. They were helpless as they were sucked in, though I was still a little nervous. I tried to be bored as I waited for all of them to pass, but it was difficult. After the main part went by there was a long trail of debris, spread out for miles, I had to be patient. If even one were to latch onto the gate it would all be for nothing. When it looked like they were all passed, we search the area to make sure. There were a few we pushed towards the gate so we didn't have to wait for them to get there. Id was like a fish playing with something in the water, her family would have a lot of fun smashing all the Scrappers that drifted into hyperspace today. Then one last scan and I let the gate close, as I caught up with the fleet. On my way I called the CM to tell them not to use the other gate to here. That some debris and metal eating robot spiders had made their way through, and they needed to wait until it drifts deep into hyperspace before letting ships pass that way again. The remote gate controller for the corporate mining company was grateful for the information. If they only knew the truth, made their way through the gate indeed, hah! I took another short nap on the way back to the station, and when we got there I helped look over our ships, to make sure we had no extra robots on them. Then I landed and waited for Gripper, he was one of the first. As he got off the ship I said to him, "I think that went rather well."
Gripper, "I still felt like we were wasting ammunition."
I said, "even if that was true, it's best to give people something to do rather than worry. But there is a lot less of them now, than when they hit Tronex." Gripper, "that's true, and it feels good to get some payback."
I said, "another day and a half and they will be here, a lot to do by then. I want to start putting mines out around lunar two, we will first set up a buoy to warn ships to stay out of that space."
Gripper, "there should also be a warning on all shipping channels." I said, "and all radio frequencies as well, but we won't arm the mines until the robots are close to us. That's about as safe as I can make it."
Gripper, "and we move the stations tomorrow?"
I said, "move the stations, start bringing the ships up and putting them in place. A busy day indeed."
Gripper, "so no water tomorrow."
I said, "no unauthorized ships at all."
Gripper, "are we using Tubby to take the mines up?"
I said, "yes, I sent an e-mail yesterd
ay. They should have her loaded by now." Gripper, "I want to make sure all the men docked safely before we go." I said, "you do that and send out the warnings, I'll check on the Trident and bring up Tubby and the mines."
So I went down to the shipyards at the port of Owsee. Owsee was working on the Trident as he said he would. As I walked up I said, "got that food replicator in yet?"
Owsee, "your back early."
I said, "well, they get closer every day, but I think we saved the gate." Owsee, "that's good to hear. It takes a long time to build one of them, especially as far out as we are."
I said, "how's the ship doing?"
Owsee, "it's hard to weld collapsed titanium and Newtonian, but we are getting there. The inside shielding an energy converters are a pain as well, but we are getting them all together. You know when I was a boy, you could not do this kind of work on this planet, I lot of things have changed. I think we will have her back together by morning. We know how to fix her, it just takes time." I said, "well I'm going over to Tubby and taking the mines up. Gripper and I are going to set them up around lunar two."
Owsee, "that's a big job, need any help?"
I said, "I'm sure I do, but don't they need you here?"
Owsee, "not really, the Twins have things well in hand."
I said, "fine then, let's go."
And we went to the big ship.
Along the way Owsee said, "we only put 500 on board, I was concerned about the weight."
I said, "well you know better than I how much she can take. Do you remember the takeoff from the station where I met you, and what you had to drop to get her up?"
Owsee, “about 35 years of un-dumped waste, leaving the place cover with shit and on fire if I recall. That was the rudest take-off she ever made, its good they didn’t want the station anymore.”
There was a bit of shaken on takeoff, never a good thing with a load of mines on board, but she soon smoothed out, and we went up to the station to get Gripper. The fighters were onboard by the time we got there,and Gripper had a warning buoy ready for us to take. He was glad to see Owsee, any help was welcome, as we loaded the buoy and headed for the moon. Owsee had left two cargo container decompression chambers empty, so we put the buoy in one, and when we got to the right spot we just opened the doors and out it went. Owsee flew the ship while Gripper and I keep sending out mines. I think we were only at about 200 by the time I had to take a break. Owsee stopped the ship and we change places, then after 150 we changed again. By the time we got them all out even Gripper was tired. We went down to the planet and left the ship to be loaded again while going to a late lunch. On our way, we stopped to see if the crew working on the Trident had eaten yet. They had ordered from the club and were back to work already. Kitten had gone to her music lesson, and I was glad she took the time. When Gripper, Owsee and myself got to the club we just ordered meat sandwiches, and had a few drinks. We decided we had enough of a workout for one day, and the rest of the mines could go up tomorrow. Gripper wanted to bring another taker of water, from the ice mines on lunar-one, to the stationed today and Owsee wanted to go back to his port to see to it any ships that needed repairs got fixed today or tomorrow at the latest. I had a few things I wanted to do as well. So I told Owsee I would seehim at sunset, and Gripper, I would see him in the morning. Then I flew to Kitty’s shop to get the hats I wanted for the park security, and landed out back. She had them done, and they look good, so I took them to the park. I found the two guards, and gave them the four white security hats. They said they liked them, that they should really stand out in a crowd, and would give the other two to the night men. I then stopped in on the meat sandwich and pizza stands. They were preparing food for opening day, and putting it in the freezer. They both had the same concern, that they were getting too much ahead of themselves. I told them that it will keep, and it’s better that I pay them for their work than have a crew come in nights to do the prep work. But if they wanted tomorrow off, just to tell the manager. They all wanted to work. That’s the one thing I could always count on about the natives of this planet, they never minded working, and they were good at what they did. Each one would try their best to serve in the most helpful way they could, truly a community based society. And yet their ancestors of a thousand years ago were intergalactic hippies from Earth, and one of the few seeds they brought with them was weed. You would hardly think a planet of stoners would be such hard workers, but they were. It seemed that only some of the off-worlders were not to be trusted, but then were was not true. I then decided to check out my hotel, to see how many storytellers had checked in. The daymanager told me we had five that moved in and three more that had come by to see their rooms first, they plan to be back later or tomorrow.
