by Alex Isaacs
On Sunday morning, we were ready to go to the airport. I had one last look around; things are changing in the valley; our old farm would not be ours anymore. I now wondered what this term would have in store for us. Mandy and Marie looked sad as we boarded the plane; they knew what was ahead of them.
Chapter 4: Back to School
As we flew back for the start of school and the funeral, I thought of the new houses; they should be ready by the time my mother returned to the valley. As we got off the plane, Simon and the General said they would see us tomorrow. There was a new car there to help get the eight of us to Ann’s home. I let my mom have my room while she was here, Ann helped to get ready for Mandy staying with her. Jenny said she would go to her place to get more things for the return trip; she was going to stay on to help with Marie for a while until the General said otherwise.
After things settled down with getting back, Ann, Mandy, and I went to pick up our books for our classes. I took the second class for psychology, it was on Wednesday afternoon, giving me Thursday and Friday afternoons off. The three of us were in the same courses for the rest of the week, except for their electives. Ann, in the second term of her elective, Mandy, in her second term of communications. I started reading my textbooks after getting back to the house.
My mom and Rose came to get my help in packing things up for Marie and Mandy. My mother seeing Marie’s clothes said she would have to buy new clothes for the weather up in the valley. Another officer was there at the house; he told Rose that the contents of the house would go into storage for now until they knew where they were going. My mom did not like the sound of that; it might mean that the girls were going somewhere else. We got back to the house, Mandy unpacking some of her things, leaving the rest until she knew what is going on with her and Marie. We ate our dinner; then I went back to reading my books.
The next morning, my mom was up first, trying to get breakfast going. There was not much food in the house. I got a list from her, hoping the grocery store was open early. Rose stopped me, getting the car keys. Rose drove me to an all-night grocery store to fill the list of groceries for my mother. We got back to the house, my mom happy to get breakfast going for everyone in the house. I found out the time of the funeral; it was at eleven this morning. I would talk with the professor, letting them know about the funeral.
As the three of us got into class, the professor was not there yet, just his assistants handing out the papers for what we were going to do this semester. I asked if we could leave early for a funeral at eleven this morning. The assistant said we would be out of class around ten; the professor is going over what we will be doing this morning for the semester. I thanked the assistant, going to tell Mandy we would be out of class soon. Mandy hugged me; I think it is excellent not to have things to do in the class today. The professor came in, went over the list, then told us to be ready for the next class. We were out just after ten, as the assistant said. We headed back to the house, getting ready for the funeral
The funeral did not last that long, which was good. Mandy and Marie were in tears through the ceremony. After it was over, the General said we were to be in his office at three o’clock, giving his condolences to the girls. We got back to the house, had some lunch. The three of us had another class at one. It was the same as the morning class, in and out quickly. We got back to the house, joining the others. Jenny was there; she was coming to see the General. My mother asked Jenny if she knew what is happening with the two girls. Jenny said she did not know; it is privileged information.
We got to the General’s office, where he directed us to a board room. A few people were waiting in the room as we entered the room with the General. We met everyone; then, the paperwork started for Marie and Mandy. They said that Mandy was not a minor, she could remain in the army if she wanted to, if not the proper papers would be ready for her release from her obligations. Mandy said she would like to stay in the army to support her sister. The documents set aside, then they told us about Marie, she is a minor. Marie needs to be taken care of properly. Marie will go into the system and a foster home if Mandy does not have other family members to take care of her. I saw my mom’s face drop. The General spoke up, handing some papers to the others. The General said their investigation concluded late this morning on Mandy’s relatives.
The people read the papers, my mom looking up and over to the General. I saw the General shake his head yes at my mom. The people asked if Jean Isaacs is present in the room. My mom, shaking, said yes, she is Jean Isaacs. I saw the General nod at Mandy. They asked my mom if she is the second cousin of Mandy and Marie, and would she be willing to take the responsibility of the two girls. My mother said yes, breaking out in tears. They instructed my mom to sign the paperwork on the girls, taking responsibility for the girls. The meeting is over for this case. I helped hold my mom up as she signed the papers. Marie was also holding onto my mom. As the people left the room, my mother walked over to the General, hugging him. I think this shocked the General, I know I was shocked a little, I had never seen this much emotion from my mother. Mandy came over to hug my mother, Rose telling Mandy she is welcome to stay in their house until the end of her schooling.
The General said that Mandy will still be in the army, she will be in the program with Ann, but from the military side. Mandy turned, saluting the General, thanking him. The General then said there is nothing more to be said of what happened in this room today, except the family part. Marie would not let go of my mom as we left the army base to go back to Urbina’s house. Jenny said that she still had to be with Marie for a while, seeing how she copes with everything that has gone on these past weeks. My mom said to Jenny; she is welcome to stay as long as she needs to at the farm. Jenny said she needs to get more things prepared for her stay; she also needs to help Mandy with where her belongings will go. My mother turned to Mandy, saying she can have a house in the valley for the two of them. Mandy said she would like to have their things in the valley for now.
Simon came to the house, saying the plane could take my mom, Marie, and Jenny back to the valley in the morning. Mandy let Simon know she would like their belongings to go to the valley. Simon said he would coordinate that with Jenny about the belongings. I settled in after dinner to reading again. The others were helping with Marie and her things.
In the morning, after breakfast, I said goodbye to my mom, Marie, and Jenny. Mandy hugged her sister, then my mom before saying goodbye. We went to our class, the others on their way to the valley. The rest of the week went quickly, Zoey was in my psychology class, telling me her marks did not go down. I concentrated on my reading, getting ready for the next week of classes. Mandy was up every morning early, running to keep in shape. She began to prepare for her classes like Ann and me. On the weekend, we went into the lab with Joe. They were working on making the computers better on the space vehicle. We came up with the idea to have different hard-drives for all the different areas of information. We made one hard-drive capable of accessing the separate hard-drives, making it easier to process the information faster. Even with the improvements to the hard-drives, if the hard-drive was full, it slowed it down. Our idea of multiple hard-drives helped.
The next week flew by quickly; we started into our assignments, which seemed more natural to do; we had the use of the lab and better computers. We did not let the others know what we were doing. The second weekend back, Simon had a surprise for us, he took the three of us to see one of the space vehicles. It is PSV-14. It was large, like some of the previous space vehicles that I saw on television. We went inside; it could carry a large payload into space. Computers ran these, but humans could use them if needed. Simon’s group was secretly testing them for months, this being the best model. Our voice module was working nicely on the ship. Simon then told us that this next trip, two of the General’s people were going to take it into space for a trial run. We met the pilots, Kelly Jones, and Jason Peabody. After talking with the two pilots for a few minutes, I got the impr
ession that Jason was wild, I now wondered how he got the job.
We ended our tour, going back to the house. I could see how my work was helping the cause. I felt terrific about what I am doing. I wanted to know more but knew I should not ask these questions. Sunday, I got back into my studies, not even thinking about contacting my parents.
During this third week back, Joe told us on Wednesday; the two were up in space now. Everything is running smoothly, better than what they expected. Joe said they are planning on building two more of the space vehicles now. The group is planning down the road to building another space station; it will be larger and away from the one that is in orbit now. On the weekend, Simon approached the three of us, asking if we would like to go into space later on in one of the vehicles. He said that he wants some of his people to experience first hand what it is like in space. He would give us more information in a few weeks. We went back to the lab, Joe showing us what they were beginning to work on now. The would need programs to run certain operations for the testing they were doing with the food and the animals. Also, they need another program to monitor the special cargo they will transport in the space vehicles. I asked what the load is; Joe said sperm and eggs for the animals, the ones we will produce in the valley. The seeds need nothing special, but being the best seeds would help the program.
That night, I thought of what is going on; this space program seems to be preparing for space travel to populate other planets possibly. No wonder everything is a secret about the program. The materials needed for the program will be outrageous. Sunday morning, after breakfast, I called home to see how things are going. My dad said they finished the three houses and the complex. They are in the new house; Peter is working out of his new home, taking care of the chickens. The new barn is up with new milking machines. The cattle are settling into their new surroundings. Simon has been up; he wants a butcher shop put in where the old one in the village is now. He wants the cattle to help feed everyone here in the valley. They are thinking of putting up greenhouses to grow all year round. A couple will go on the cement here by the house to cover up the pad.
Two barracks are going up in the upper levels to help with security. The south entrance will have a business going in to keep the safety of the valley. Trains have been coming in with different materials. The General is getting the valley secure with all the things going on. You will see this on your next trip home. They are going to pipe the water into the valley in the northeast ridge area. More solar panels and wind turbines are also going up on top of the ridge. Soon, we will not need any power at all from outside sources.
I asked how Marie is doing; my dad said he would put my mother on the phone. I call out for Mandy to come to the phone. My mom tells the two of us Marie has starting to settle in nicely. David is helping with that; Jenny can hardly keep up to the two of them sometimes. My mom then asked when we are coming to the valley again. I look at Mandy; we do not know with all that we are doing. We decide to tell her we would let them know. After hanging up, Mandy hugged me again, thanking me for getting her here to find out how her sister is doing. Rose came over after Mandy left the room, thanking me for doing this for Mandy.
I saw Mandy getting ready for her run; she asked if I wanted to join her. Mandy is telling me I should get in the best shape I can for what we will be doing. I decided to give it a try; then I see that Mandy had Ann going with us also. The three of us now began to run together. I felt sore after the first couple of runs, but I thought I was doing alright. As the week unfolded, Mandy started to make our routes longer, the two of us keeping up with her as best we could. On the weekend, we were at the lab again, but nothing unusual was in store for us, we just worked on the programs.
The General approached Mandy on Sunday, asking her to do more military training during the week. Mandy started into this after school each day. She was coming home after dinner. Rose knew all about the practice and had things set aside for Mandy. I asked Mandy during the week about her training; she said it is just military stuff. I wanted to know what she was doing. We still ran in the mornings before breakfast; Mandy was busy all day long, keeping up with everything. Once she got into a routine, everything became easier again for her.
It was now the end of August, I thought of home, my brothers and Marie would be back in school soon. My dad would be getting ready to take in the crops from our farm for the last time, next year we will be in the valley altogether. I got back into my studies; we have more assignments to do. This term was a little easier; the classes are over more weeks, not like the first term. As I thought about it, our first year will be complete at Christmas. Simon had us in the accelerated course. We could have our second year done by next summer. I do not mind going to school all year long. I still have time for the things I like to do.
Simon came to us in the first week of September; he is setting up a time for the three of us to go into space together for two days. Simon said he is planning for us to go up on a Friday afternoon, coming back on Sunday, that way we would not miss any of our classes, plus no one would miss us being away. At first, the three of us were excited; then we started to worry, maybe something might go wrong. We had to put it out of our minds; it was disrupting our school work. Rose noticed this; I guess she told Simon. On Friday, Simon took us to see Kelly and Jason.
Kelly and Jason took us through what would happen when we go up in space, showing us all the safety features in the vehicle. They then showed us the list of other people that they have taken up so far. They then gave us some things to do to prepare for the trip. I calmed down after seeing all of this. I hoped the two girls were calm. Once back at the house, the two girls came to talk with me about it all. They were a little nervous still. I told them I thought it is going to be like the first time I went up in an airplane. They have all the safety features in the space vehicle. There would not be anything else to bump into once we are up there. I then told them I have a lot of questions I want to get answers for, plus I want to see what the world looks like from space.
After our talk, Mandy stood up, coming over to hug me, then Ann stood up doing the same thing, shocking me again. I went out for a walk as it got dark. I began to look up at the stars; I thought I do want to see more. I came back to the house, going out in the back yard, turning off all the lights. I was away from the other lights, making it better to see the stars. Rose came out, asking what I was doing. After I told her, she disappeared, coming back out with Ann and Mandy. The four of us looked up to the stars, Rose telling us we have an opportunity that others would die to have the chance to do these days. Sooner or later, we are going to have to go out in space, that is why Simon is working on this secret project of his. Simon has a vision; you three are a few that are lucky to be a part of it.
After Rose saying that to the three of us, I could see the two girls were a lot more relaxed. As we headed back into the house, I grabbed a notebook. I came back out to the kitchen, beginning to write down some things that I had questions for on our upcoming trip. The girls saw what I was doing, asking to look at my notes. Ann said she would like to know about how outer space would affect the seeds her mom was getting to take. I turned to another section in the notebook, putting Ann’s name down, then her question. Mandy said she would like to know how outer space would affect weapons. I turned to another section, doing the same with Mandy’s question. We sat there for an hour, coming up with more questions. I looked at the time, I was getting tired, so I said goodnight. I would see them in the morning.
I fell asleep a lot easier now, and in the morning, the three of us went on our jog, part of our new routine each day. Rose could see that we were relaxed a lot more; she was happy to see this. We went into the lab again with Joe, taking our school work to work on still. I think Joe knew what we were doing; he did not mind; in the long run, it is helping out the program. We also worked on some other ideas that were coming up for applications for the vehicles. We also had to make up backup programs in case something happened while in spa
ce. Joe told us there is a secure box on each ship that would hold these backup programs. With the technology that is improving, we can make up smaller units for the programs, thus taking up less area.
After our work in the lab, we went back to the house. I asked the girls if they would like to go for a swim. Mandy said yes right away; then Ann said yes as well. The three of us had a nice swim before supper, being able to lay in the sun away from everything. After our supper, I began going over my school work once more before bed.
Sunday, I told Mandy I was calling home again, I would get my mom to make sure Marie was there for her. I got on the phone, my dad saying everything was coming along great in the valley. The buildings were up for the soldiers; more equipment arrived as well. We have power for the whole valley; we are separate from the outside. Three or four greenhouses would be going up on the cement over the complex; it would depend on the positions. My mother will have fun with the food she can grow in the greenhouses.
A new butcher shop is going in, with a complex under it as well. We will have a new building in the center of the village. My dad said Simon and the General had been up for a day here and there coordinating things. The building at the south entrance is a farm rental building and repair shop. My dad said there is a lot more to tell me, but I can see it all when I come home on my next visit. My dad finally stopped talking, letting Marie get on the phone with Mandy. They talked longer than I did with my dad. After Mandy hung up the phone, she raced in to tell Rose everything that was going on with Marie; she was in class with David, Mandy going on and on about her sister. I was glad she is having fun, especially with David helping out. I chuckled to myself; the pair would be a handful for my mom and Jenny.
