Day 200 First Inn, Liberty, Alchibah

Andrew Stuart

I had booked one of the small meeting rooms at Hanna’s Place. It was really an office sized room for intimate meetings.

Connor was smiling as he walked in. “Damn Andy I thought you would want to talk at your place or at least come over to mine.”

“This is neutral ground Connor,” I replied. “Also this is the most sound proofed room on Alchibah, I helped John on that.

“All I am going to ask is that you hear me out until I have put on the whole spiel. Then if you wish to scream and call me an SOB, no one else has to hear it.”

Connor’s cocked an eyebrow at me. He looked skeptical and more than a little curious. “I guess I can give you that much.”

“OK,” I started. “Connor, I am going to ask you not to go with the Strike Force when we launch for a lot of reasons.

“First, there are enough Benjamin’s going already. Gabe and Jai are enough to go in harms way.

“Second, you have the twins to worry about. It’s pretty obvious that they would be lost without either Daddy or Jai.

“Third, when we launch I will ask you to move your family up to the Stuart Compound. As you may surmise, by the time we launch that will be the most heavily defended piece of ground on Alchibah.

“There will be someone else there also, if you have not heard; Mariana, JoAnn and Sally are all pregnant. By the time we launch that place is going to be close to sacred ground for me.

“Connor, I am trusting others with the life of Alchibah. I am asking you to protect the life of Clan Stuart. What say you Sir?”

Connor rose and nodded his head ever so slightly, extending his hand to grasp mine as I rose as well. “I’m honored that you would ask me, and it is my honor to accept. As long as I breathe no harm will come to any of them.”

“Done.” I said, staring into the younger man’s eyes. Connor held my gaze. I knew that he had meant exactly what he had said; this was the right man for the job. “OK, bring the twins up to the Compound this weekend. Tell everyone it’s OK to let them play with the Dobe pups.

“While you are there, we will introduce you to the House Computer and I will fill you in on a whole bunch of stuff you have never heard of. Connor, be prepared to shit your pants!”

The Following Saturday

Connor came through the Compound gate with the twins and a pack of shepherd and Aussie pups in tow grinning he said, “Might as well get them to know each other early, it’ll save some damage later!”

I had to grin, “Mariana, JoAnn; you ready to referee Puppy Wars?”

Mariana actually cracked up as she yelled, “JoAnn, Sally; get over here this should be good practice for when ours get to where they can walk and talk!”

“Come on Connor,” I grinned. “This crowd is going to be tied up for a while.” I led him into the main Stuart House and to the large den. Pressing the hidden button I let him see the stairs to the basement unfold.

“Welcome to Command Center Strike Force Rear!”

His eyes bugged just a tad, “No One that I know even knows this exists.”

“Thanks,” I said. “My partners and I enjoy the compliment. SFC Nug, take station please.”

“Yes Sir,” he cracked out and assumed Parade Rest in front of the stairs.

As we exited the stairs I turned and said, “Connor, the next thing I am going to show you must be withheld from one person who is privileged to everything else. This has to be kept from your Daughter. Do You agree?”
Connor stared and said, “If it is that important, I suppose I have to.”

“Good,” I said keying my wristcomp, “Scythe, Reaper; come to Command please.”

“Roger.”

Connor looked at me with a quizzical stare, “OK, I think I recognize that voice. You’re a Bastard!”

SFC Nug called out, “Scythe arriving.”

I looked at the stairs and saw John Pierce descending, “Major Pierce, Commander Strike Force Rear Heavy; meet LTC Connor Benjamin, Commander Strike Force Rear.”

I heard two voices as one say, “You Son of a Bitch.”

Staring them right in the eyes I replied, “That I am Gentlemen, and have never denied it. I have only ever promised to do one thing, defend this planet. Everything, except maybe the ship, has been for that one purpose. I am going out there and put it right in the Goonies faces as hard as I can. Can you please tell me as soon as the last of the Strike Force Rear Command Team arrives, who I could better ask?”

Just at that point SFC Nug sang out, “Lilitu and Wraith arriving”

Sin Blackfeather flowed into the room followed by her younger brother and asked, “Who did you expect Connor?” Then turned to me, “Strike Force Rear Recon, Reporting as Ordered Sir.”

I had to stifle a laugh as I watched them. “So when you four get through calling me all of the names I so richly deserve, please do remember one thing.

“I started laying all of these plans the day we hit this planet, when the groundwork for all of this was laid; my only vested interest was a promise to a man I had never seen.

“Now, this place is going to belong to my kids and yours. If I was not going to back down before Kurt’s miracle, what the frack makes you think I will now?”

With help from the EA Log Files.

Day 191 Alchibah:
“Got another firm order with good credit Pam, we won‘t starve this winter, things are looking up.” I was exaggerating for effect because we had more work than we could manage.

“Ok dear, tell me,” my wife Pam said with a very pleased expression.

“Travis up on the Mayflower has gotten a bug up his ass what with Bart’s Bluenose on the water and Andy’s ship nearing completion. I think Monroe has been egging him on but that’s not our problem; we got another order. We’ll need more help from the bots and more lumber from the mill but hey, we can do this and ain’t it wonderful.”

Spacers Cove

Out beyond where the river ran to the sea, two miles from Liberty City, the coast tended northward. About 2 miles in that direction was a hook of land and a natural bay. Thirty foot high grasslands, you could almost call them dunes, sheltering a quarter mile long by third as wide deep water harbor opening to the sea at it‘s northern end. The land comprising the western, the ocean exposed side of the hook, was very nearly 1400 feet long and 400 wide. The eastern, inner shore, fronted on the harbor proper.

One large building at the foot of the harbor and several smaller structures, individual homes, were completed on the hook; several others in the works. This area had been completely inundated by the Tsunami four months earlier but as building hadn’t been started yet nothing was lost, except for the few tall trees that had established themselves over time in the sandy soil. Now the grasses, tall and lush, were being augmented by rapidly growing cane type growths and true trees were still years away. This land comprised all of the Spacers freehold except for one section and a building in town.

The prevailing winds were mostly from the west and had been all summer. Computer models predicted that this would be the case year round but a blow from the north could cause large waves to build and funnel up the length of the bay and this had been seen to happen more than once. There was a chain of closely connected islands less than a mile off shore north of the harbor mouth and these would blunt some of the wave action. The solution taking care of the worst case scenario was to build a breakwater across the opening. Fortunately the normal wave and drift patterns tended to build the sea bottom up at the bays opening until it averaged only 10 foot at the open end of the hook.

The Spacers while this wall was being built often had half of their bots dedicated to the project. Stones, rocks, large and small, were moved from nearby areas and dumped into the water. The large ocean going cargo ship Nash built went into the project. That ship was owned by the township and named the Liberty Express. Presently only Nash and the Neilson brothers were authorized to captain it but Bart was well on his way to a license and several other colonist who worked regularly as crew members had started learning what it would take.

In a remarkably short period the first stage of the breakwater was complete. There was a single opening on the landward side large enough to pass anything built so far or envisioned as likely in the near future. The coast once out side of the harbor tended rather sharply eastward and inland. A good thing as it would insure time to set a course without the usual west wind driving us onto the shore. Over time more rock and eventually fill would be added but for now the anchorage was secure against any but the most severe storm. It was planed that anything large ship would be taken and docked up river during winter when the storm threat would be highest.

Even before the break wall was finished, and as soon as Travis had seen what Nash was building for Bill Bartlett, he decided that the Spacers needed a ship of their own. Andy Stewart had made the same decision so now Karl Nash had two more under construction. The fact that so much of the original Bluenose was built by robot, and since once any of them knew how to do something they all did, progress was rapid.

The large building took quite a bit of engineering to complete. John Pierce handled most of the design and JJ Parker supervised the construction details. Most of the labor not supplied by bots was done by colonists in repayment for services rendered. In deference to the exposed location and action of wind and wave a deep sturdy foundation was set and secured with kiln fired cement mixed with sand and transported again by the Liberty Express.

The main building was not quite half the size of Hanna’s First Inn and only a single floor right now, thick stone walls and a metal roof covered with fronds to muffle the sound when it rained. Lumber was piling up in the back and in a few weeks the second story would be added. The only electric need was for lighting and a pump which moved water from a fresh water storage tank and a small water heating unit. Demand at this level was provided by batteries that were kept charged by tapping off the bots, but there were also plans in the works to set up one of Gabe’s ethanol generators if demand started increasing.

Day 218 Alchibah:
The day was bracing with a cooling breeze from the west that stiffened as we got into the chop caused by the meeting of the river current and the waves working in from off shore. Larry Monroe was onboard because Captain Travis couldn’t get away on such short notice when Karl released the Spacer’s ship the Second Chance.

“Damn this is great Bart,” Monroe said taking in the sights and sounds of the Schooner a virtual twin of the Bluenose as was Andy Stewarts recently completed ship the Cuchulainn.

“Prepare to tack,” I yelled, “no sissy com units on my deck! Prepare to make sail!” the bots hurried to their positions. “Helm a’ larboard!”

Steve Fallon rapidly spun the wheel in a counterclockwise direction. “Belay that order,” I shouted. Steve stopped the wheel and centered the rudder. We had plenty of sea room due to exiting the river mouth near it’s middle so I had plenty of time to explain.

“Steve you know the difference between larboard and starboard don’t‘ you? I have mentioned that several dozen times. have I not?”

“Sure Bart, larboard is left and starboard is right.”

“Mr. Fallon, Captain.,” I said archly, “is the proper form to use when addressing me in relation to orders issued on this ship.” I was beginning to enjoy myself. “Now when I say helm I am talking about the steering gear and more particularly about its position in relation to the ship as a whole. Am I making this clear Mr. Fallon?”

“Ah sure Bar-, er I mean Captain.”

“A simple Aye, aye Sir will suffice… Now where was I? Hmm yes, the helm. In this case the helm corresponds to the rear of the ship so when I order helm to larboard that means I wish the stern of the ship should go in that direction so that the stem or bow of the ship, that’s that pointy part out in front, can point the other way and in this case take us northward. Do you follow me now helmsman.”

Steve swallowed and said, “Aye, aye sir! May I say something else.”

“Please do.”

“It seems backwards to me. If we want to go right or starboard, why not just say helm to starboard?”

“A salient point Mr. Fallon, and there are two schools of thought on the matter. The one held by Commodore Nash, the Neilson brothers, myself, and the bots, and of course the other school…represented by you. I propose, in order to keep confusion to a minimum, that when aboard ship you adopt the former.” I nodded my head and smiled, finding it easy to agree with myself.

“Aye, aye sir, it won’t happen again.”

With that I reissued the order, and with the bots taking care of the sails, we were soon on a northerly course taking us slowly away from the shoreline. We began to both pitch and roll as we crossed the incoming waves at an angle.

“How about cracking on some more sail Captain?” Larry Monroe asked.

“Cracking on some more sail. Very good Lar, very salty indeed, but not on this trip. We’ve only got a couple of miles to the harbor and I’d like to get there with the minimum amount of wear and tear. I think that you spacers are going to need to work up your own learning curve when it comes to sailing. With the race plan already in place I don’t want to show too much now. You guys are going to have to work for it and take the time if you expect a chance to win.”

“Yeah I see your point, and with this chop even the robots seem to be stumbling around a bit.”

“What?” They were normally so sure footed I had never seen them off balanced except when trying to climb; something they were not very good at. Sure enough though all four of the bots on deck seemed unsteady when they moved, even the Jeep who had as much time on the water as I had and the downloads from every other bot as well.

“Jeep, come aft” I called him closer and watched his movements. He actually slipped but caught himself almost immediately. “You don’t seem very steady about now, what’s going on?”

“There is a problem with our balancing algorithm Captain Bart,” the Jeep said. “With this angle to the wind and these sea conditions the rise and fall of the ship is irregular enough that we can’t accurately predict it and our balance routine is switching back and forth between predictive and reactive mode at the wrong time. This is the first time we have seen conditions exactly like this and the first time it has affected our ability to function to design spec.”

“Glad we found out now. Get back to the foresail and move around as little as possible. We’ll be in the harbor soon and I’ll turn the problem over to Sabbu when we get back to Liberty. Don’t expect it will take to long to find a fix.”

“Thanks for catching that Larry. I might have noticed but then again maybe not.”

Monroe’s expression gave evidence of a new thought and he said, “Let’s not tell Andy about this little problem. If he doesn’t catch it himself it will be a small edge you and I hold when the race finally comes off. And if safety is ever a factor we can have Sabbu work in an automatic activation routine.”

“Sounds good to me but if anyone ever asks it was your idea!”

Gabriel Benjamin

Day 133, morning, Connor’s house

“I’m really going to do it bro. I almost can’t believe it, but I really am.” I had just rolled out of bed in the spare room at Connor’s I was staying in. It was a great little place overlooking New Walden Pond across the river from Liberty proper, old log cabin style like Dad used to tell us about growing up in. All the modern amenities though – or all the ones you could get on Alchibah. Plus, the place has got a great basement. It still struck me as kind loco that you could seriously use a word like “amenity” to describe anything on humanity’s first frontier planet, but there it is. I say “rolled out of bed” rather than “woke up” because I didn’t actually fall asleep last night. Just stared up at the ceiling all night.

“Today’s the day, huh?” Connor mock asked. I gave him a little smack on the back of the head. Like he didn’t know. I had been planning this for weeks. It was the fiftieth day since I arrived with the Dancer and met Elana again, and I couldn’t wait any longer.

“I’m going to ask her to marry me man! I haven’t been this nervous since…” I trailed off, plopping myself down at the dining room table. The chair groaned reproachfully at me.

“Since the Olympic trials?” my brother prompted. I shook my head.

“No, since the day I told Mom and Dad that I was going to try to become a SSEAL instead of going to Stanford and keeping on swimming.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Well, look at it this way. If you had gone to Stanford and done the whole Olympian thing you never would have met Elana in the first place. Hell, she might have died back in Syria without a strapping lad like yourself to rescue her. So that worked out, right?” I grunted. “Well, if that doesn’t convince you, take it from me. Kaiya and I have been engaged for…” he squinted up at the ceiling, pushing absentmindedly at his eggs with his fork, “for twenty six days now. And truthfully, I couldn’t be happier. And you know how hard that decision was for me. For you, it’s cake man! She’s your friggin soul mate, you said so yourself!

“Plus, you already put down a pretty penny getting that ring made. And it’s not like there are any other women on this planet that’d go for a big lug like you. So you got no choice, really.” I grinned, then started chuckling, then laughing. In a few seconds we were both bellowing laughter loud enough that we woke the twins. They walked out of their room in their little nightgowns, blinking sleepily at the light.

“What’s so funny,” Aya began, “that you felt the need to wake us up?” Arra finished, mock seriously, hands on hips.

“Well, today’s-“ I started, still chuckling, only to be interrupted by Arra.

“The day you’re going,” she started, then Aya finished, “to propose to Elana. Which is wonderful,” then her sister finished, “but we don’t get why it’s funny.”

“Oh, well your dad, he was saying, um, he was saying…it’s grown up stuff. You wouldn’t understand. And cut that stuff out, it’s bad enough that you finish each other’s sentences, don’t you go starting in on mine.” They both wrinkled their noses at me.

“Well, breakfast’s ready girls. Help yourself,” Connor told his daughters, “Gabe needs to get a move on before I kick his narrow butt out the door for his own good.”

“I’m goin, I’m goin,” I laughed, strapping on my last four sidearms and throwing on my jacket as I left.

Day 133, lunchtime, Stuart Compound

“So you’re popping the question? Good for you, old friend, good for you!” Andy clapped me on the back, grinning from ear to ear. “Let me see the ring.”

I pulled the little box out of my jacket and slid it across the table. Even the box itself was beautiful. Made out of one of the local woods, it was a deep blue and inlaid with platinum (now good for more than just AP rounds kids!). My old commander carefully opened the lid and whistled. The ring was two platinum bands and a white gold band braided together, and embedded in the front was a tiny, perfectly carved red rose.

“How…?” was all he asked, examining the ring quizzically.

“Kiyoshi made an alloy out of a few minerals and some of the sap from one of the trees Sinopa discovered. Says it’ll last basically forever. Carved it too, in addition to making the ring itself. Got him a stove and a genny, and fuel to go with both for five A years for that little wonder.”

“The other men looking to propose are not going to appreciate this once she starts showing the other women, let me tell you,” Andy chuckled. “You always did set the bar high.”

“I’m just glad I found the right woman,” I replied. “You know, it’s funny. I used to think it was Kat. I mean, we were even an item for a while – you know that – but it never really stuck, you know? Or with anyone else, not that I had time for many others. But Elana? It just feels right.” Andy just shook his head and laughed softly.

“Kat never stood a chance, and neither did any of the others. Sometimes we men do not get a choice in the matter. It was going to be Elana from the day you turned yourself into a human shield and left a gallon and a half of the red stuff in that palace in Damascus rescuing her, John and their family; which if I remember, I never did chew you out enough for. You just had to wait twenty years to find out is all.”

Day 184 Liberty Hospital, Alchibah

Mariana Stuart

I never heard Linda come into the Lab till she spoke, “I thought you would be getting some sleep?”

“What,” I laughed, “and miss the grand procession of getting Emily and the Twins down here. Forget you, JJ, Hanna and Jules; did you happen to notice who just happened to be around?”

Linda was a little slow in replying as if she were reliving it in her mind; “That was a whole lot of Black and Silver wasn’t it?”

“Linda that was all of Strike Force, sure everyone of them will have a perfectly valid excuse. Some wanted to see the twins, one was bringing me breakfast; others will say they were coming to check on Jai, it’s all bullshit.

“You know everybody in our crowd worries about one more UNWG sleeper like Van Vogt. What do you think it would do to morale if the first two children born on Alchibah died of mysterious causes?

“The Tame Wolves found a way to be around those kids. The same as the crowd is in the process of moving you and JJ up to the Stuart Compound for a few days. Even Hanna agrees that it will be the safest place for a few days. Of course for public consumption, it is cause your two Doc’s live there.

“Meanwhile, on the Theory that I hate surprises almost as much as I hate to lose; I have been checking all of the pregnancy files and I have one that scares me. Oh and you are worried about your Grandkids, if you were a UNWG plant; whose kids would you try to get to?”

Linda thought for a moment, “Who’s going to deliver first, you or JoAnn?”

“Does it matter, do you want to be the dumb ass to try for Andy or Ash’s kids?”

I watched her shudder as I keyed my wristcomp.

“Mayflower, Capt. Travis; Dr. Mariana Stuart on Snaketrap Please.”

After a little longer pause than before the new Security protocols, the urbane tones of Glen Travis replied. “Ah, Dr. Stuart. By the honorific I can presume that this is something Medically related?”

“That you may Glen, although it’s more a personnel problem. I have a Spacer who will not sit still long enough for the proper treatment.”

“Who,” Travis asked, “and what severity are we talking about?”

I took a deep breath first, “It’s Natasi, Glen, and if we don’t get her down here for at least five straight days of treatment with her ass in the hospital and not the Bar; well the pregnancy is going to kill her.

“It has to do with the shit the Russians did to her Bloodline in their damn Heavy world modifications. I have no idea who the Father is and have not asked but he is a normal gravity genotype.

“There is nothing here that Kurt and I cannot fix but if we don’t; it’s going to kill her! I have three choices. One, someone up there talks some sense into her head. Two, I hit her over the head with a 2 x 4 and tie her down right in Hanna’s place or Three, I have Andy and Gabe come up there and clap her in iron’s.

“Glen,” Mariana continued, “they love her as much as I do and they will do it but she will never forgive us. A little help, please!”

“She’s out with the mad doctors at the moment,” Travis said, “but I’ll have her planetside tomorrow morning for you.”

Travis (later that day)

“Natasi,” Travis said, “may I have a word with you?”

“Sure, Boss Guy,” Natasi replied, removing her flight suit and stowing it in her locker.

“I know you don’t like doctors and such,” he said.

“Da. As a kid, all dey do is prod and poke me and stick me with needles on the Space Station,” she griped.

“I know, but every possible child is precious to the colony. You need to see Dr. Mariana Stuart.”

With a look of exasperation, Natasi said, “Ah, maybe in few months when baby come.”

“Well, no, you need prenatal care now. I want you to see her tomorrow.”

“I busy dis days. Physics guys got lots to do,” she said.

Glen pursed his lips in thought and then said, “Sorry, Natasi, but that’s an order. You must report to Liberty Hospital tomorrow. You’re five months pregnant. It’s time.”

She growled, slammed the locker door shut, and stormed off.

Natasi (the next day, at Liberty Hospital)

“Okay, Doctor Lady, vhat you vant with me?”

“What I want is to see a friend of mine lying in a bed at Hanna’s with her child in her arms.

“Natasi, if you don’t let Kurt and I fix what those damn Russian quacks did to you, you will not live to be there and saving your child will be touch and go.”

That got Natasi’s attention, “Zey did zat much to me? Doctor Lady tell me true, can you really fix dis?”

Mariana stared her square in the eyes, “My friend you have one thing to learn, Kurt and I don’t lose.

“Give me five days and we will be toasting your Grandkids. This crap doesn’t happen on My Watch!”

Natasi replied, “OK, do vhat you have to do!”

Later That Night Kurt Kellerman

“Good Lord Mariana, that is the most screwed up DNA scan I have ever seen!”

“No shit,” she replied. “You want to jump in here?”

“Hell No,” I laughed. “There is a damn good reason I am the cutter and you are the gene splitter. What’s the problem here?”

“So many variables, those damn Ruski’s changed so much and I only get one shot. I asked Chris Petersen if he had any ideas; he just started cussing in some Nordic language and headed out to the range.”

Suddenly Mariana’s eyes seemed to glaze, “Variables, it’s like math.”

As I was walking out she was on the comm, “Ash get on your Lab repeater, I got a problem for you.”

Morning Six Day’s Later, Hanna’s Place

Hanna was her usual friendly self, “Your normal Natasi?”

“No, ze Blonde Doctor vould beat me in place! Meat und Eggs und Tea please. I go back to orbit today, ver I belong.”

Hanna had to laugh, “Mariana done made another convert, I can see. How goes the pregnancy?”

“Ze Doctor Lady says I get to hold my Son. Zat is good enough for me.”

Hanna moved down the counter to talk to Mariana, “Is she really OK?”

Mariana’s grin was a victory lap, “Yes she is, and I am tired of messing around. Hanna either you come down to treatment tomorrow morning with Linda or I am going to send Andy and Gabe to haul your butt down there. Look at Jules; you want to join him in seeing your Great Great Grandkids?”

“OK, Mariana; I will be there!”

About that time Ash wandered in, ”Natasi need a ride up? I am going up to talk to Hibbs, I got no problem sitting right seat on the way up.”

Night was falling when my son Aaron strode to the fore and began to speak. And a hush fell, and there was a silence beyond my expectation. And Aaron quoted from the Book.

He now sent messages to Balaam
“Look a people has come out of Egypt
Look, they cover the earth as far as the eye can see.
And now do come please: do curse this people.
For they are mightier than I am.
Perhaps I may be able to strike them
and I may drive them out of the land.”

Numbers 22.5-6

“And even as Moab warned and enlisted the aid of the other tribes of Israel, so does Yelsig seek to destroy us and all our works. And as is proven by his works, he doth need their following.

“And I say unto you. There will be a time of testing! And it is not that we honor the Lord when times are easy, that leads to salvation. You are exalted amongst all the tribes of Soessossin and the children of the Lord. Beware! The fall from grace, it is a mark of those who have failed to heed His Word.

“Look up to the hills. You can see those who watch us. You know of their displeasure, their anger and idolatry. Yelsig…as leader of all the tribes…will not permit you to worship in your own manner. This is an abomination and it will not stand!”

The tribe of Agorah had gathered in their multitude in order to hear my son Aaron speak This was to be expected for the Agorah had accepted the word and they were ready to give up their old ways.

The Yelsig, and the four other Soessossin tribes, were another story entirely. We had made only a few converts in all of those other tribes but they had not yet heard me nor the more powerful and commanding voice when my son would speak. It should have made no difference as their telepathic sense ought to have transferred the message we proclaimed as from out own voices. But that sense seemed only to convey the literal meaning of the words and not the spiritual force behind them. In time I knew that Aaron must travel to all the nations of Canaan that they might hear and come to know the Lord‘s will.

I was at first unable to understand, and indeed I resented, how easily Aaron seemed to bring in converts. I would gladly bear my own witness, talking loudly with all the skill and fervor I possessed, proclaiming the Word. And I would gather in but a handful. Aaron would pass amongst them, and speaking quietly admonish them, and telling stories and using parables, point out the error of their ways. The Soessossins would gather round him in rapt attention. And when he left there were few that did not take to his teachings and accept the truth of the Word.

The Yelsig clan was the disruptive influence. Holding on to the badge of power made them think that their link to the Guardians overrode all else. Yelsig himself did not appear in the lands of the Agorah, though in the beginning he sent watchers and emissaries. When only half returned, the others joining with the Agorah, or where converted becoming disciples to the other nations, Yelsig stopped that practice and declared us. and those following in our steps pariahs. Yelsig issued a warning to the other clans that contact with us was no longer permitted and actively set about to prevent the spread of what he considered a disease.

“You are sure it is not too early for this step my son? Once we start there will be no going back.” I pointed this out. “We risk thinking our time frame is the Lord’s.”

“Father, it is never too early to baptize and accept into communion the faithful. I see a time of trouble ahead and many shall lose their faith and many shall perish. Those who remain faithful must be able to enter the Lords Kingdom when called.”

His sense of surety was such that I came to complete agreement and Aaron and I took turns leading the Soessossins one by one into the water down stream from our camp. We blessed them and let them know they were now clear of their original sin. Brother Edwards had located, in the next valley, a herd of bison like brutes, they must be similar to the alchelo that we had heard about but not seen prior to leaving Liberty City. Edwards had spent a day and slaughtered over a hundred of them getting our earliest converts cleaning and delivering the meat to our campsite.

Two days later three thousand Soessossins were in the natural amphitheatre. Up in the hills overlooking those clustered below were several small groups from some of the other tribes.

“You want I should run them outta’ here,” Cotton Edwards asked.

“Leave them be. We will not be the first to initiate violence in this matter”

“Sure. Just askin’.”

My wife Miriam and Sister Helen had baked sheets of unleavened bread. They had spent days doing all that they could. We had no wine nor even a fruit drink for a substitute but Brother Edwards had saved the blood when he cleaned the alchelos and that would be a better test and truer to form and also show the commitment of those who would partake in this, our first communion.

Aram and Hosham, Ephraim and Joseph, my son Aaron and Jacob, went amongst them and served the host. That took almost four hours, and when they were finished we took a break from the religious ceremonies and fed them all. I saw and sensed that a strange thing was happening. A number of Soessossins went to the pots and vessels holding the remainder of the communion drink. Still others went to eat not the cooked meat but that which was not. I think they were beginning to be affected in a similar manner as the weakest amongst humans are affected by alcohol.

They finished off all such materials rapidly and those that had partaken went amongst the rest and they touched together their heads, one to another. The gathered crowd soon became much noisier and restless than any I had seen before.

Cotton Edwards lounged offside from the main gathering. He was smoking a cigar rolled from the leafy sprouts of a local plant. It had taken a while but he finally found something that gave a good buzz. Just a little hallucinogenic but the best he could manage. ‘Coulda’ been worse‘.

“Come on over here honey,” he said to his wife Sister Helen.

She hesitated for a moment then complied out of duty. Edwards gathered her up close and looking over the assemblage said. “Bet that ol’ husband you left behind in Liberty City never treated you like what I do, They ain‘t got a clue in Liberty City but mark my words their in for a mighty big comeuppance one of these days. Let‘s you and me celebrate in advance.”

Helen shut down. She was doing that more and more lately, and remembered nothing of what transpired when she awoke the next morning.

——–
“It is time that I go my father,” Aaron said to me shortly after sunrise and all but of few of the Soessossins had left. “I shall leave later today and seek out the other tribes and do the Lords work.”

“You don’t plan on going alone my son—or do you?”

“At mothers request I will take Hosham and Brother Edwards with me. I have already spoken to Brother Edwards about this and he is of a mind for a change and this experience should serve him well. As you can imagine father; he wished to take Sister Helen along, but her condition is such as to make that impossible. He grumbled some but the chance for some excitement and new scenery overcame his reluctance.”

“How long might you be gone for?”

“It think it will be a journey of several months or more, but I shall have a communicator with me in case of need. I am sure the normal communications between the various tribes will enable you to follow my progress in large part. I will say goodbye to mother and Ruth and we shall all pray together when Edwards and I are finished packing.”

With that my son Aaron went to complete his preparations and later that afternoon left our camp. Brother Edwards and a heavily laden Hosham went with him.

Day 184 OH Dark and Ugly, Stuart Compound, Liberty, Alchibah

Andrew Stuart

I groaned as the Alarm rattled me awake one more time. I had barely gotten to sleep after the latest clandestine training session with John Pierce so I was slow recognizing that this was not my Alarm.

What was killing my sleep was the Medical Alarm on Mariana’s console.

Mariana Stuart

Damn. It felt like my head just hit the pillow. I reached for the Medical Alarm, than glanced at it. Oh crap! I sat up in bed.

“Linda, tell me what’s taking place.” My gut was telling me I better start grabbing my gear.

“It’s Emily.” Linda’s voice was anything but calm. “The twins have grown like you wouldn’t believe and they have shifted positions.”

“Send me the data, now.” While the information was coming in, I began slipping on clothes as fast as possible. When Andy saw what I was doing, he quickly put on his gear.

My God. The twins were trying to come into this new world….breach. Not only that, they had grown since I monitored her nearly a day and a half ago. They weren’t due for two or three more days. For right now, Emily’s vitals were barely within normal parameters.

“Call the rest of the team. Get the equipment ready. We’re going to have to do a C-Section. If you have time, before I run down, begin to prep Emily. Out.”

I was just securing my last weapon, when I told my husband, “Don’t let anyone one other than medical personal inside!” I did a quick smile, “Bet I beat you there.” Than I dashed out the door, running like the devil was chasing me.

Andrew Stuart

I busted out the door doing my best to catch up to Mariana when the small family of Devils that had decided to roost inside the compound walls burst into the air all screaming, “VARG! VARG!”

Mariana yelled over her shoulder, “Andy, I’m busy.”

I went to speed without hesitation and went to where the adult male Devil was circling. It was a small pack of four Varg. Normally I might have just tried to scare them away, tonight they were in the way.

Four shots later I was on the radio, “Liberty Security, A. Stuart; I just dropped four Varg on the direct path from the Stuart Compound to Hanna’s Place. No further action required, sorry about the noise.”

“Liberty Security, Roger. We were just ready to call the Guard!”

I got to the Medical Annex to Hanna’s place in time to open the door for Mariana who was reading data from her wristcomp while screaming instructions.

Mariana Stuart

I knew as soon as the Devils screamed “VARG,” that a booming and cracking sound would follow; and I wasn’t disappointed, but was surprised when I heard four shots. Good, I knew there were four less predators in our area. I was glad the Devils decided to join our compound.

As I came crashing through the doors, I did my prepping then entered the sterile environment. After doing a quick survey on how much Linda was able to accomplish, I could tell Linda knew something was up before she called me. The room was ready and the mother was working on Emily. At about that moment, Kurt and Sally arrived. A few seconds later, the rest of the team came flying into the room.

I glanced at the current data on Emily, than instantly began shouting orders. We needed to move quickly to keep her from going into crisis.

From the corner of my eye, I glanced to Linda. She was worried, but doing everything to help her daughter and future grandkids. After that, our foursome began to work our butts off, trying to keep Emily from going critical. Since the kids had grown so rapidly over the last few hours, I was willing to bet this was not going to be a normal C-section.

Kurt did the cutting. I was able to anticipate the few bleeders and clamped them off.

Kurt asked, “How is it you are waiting with the clamp before I cut.”

“Kurt, cut and ask dumb questions later.”

Our support team seemed to read our minds. When we needed something, they had it ready.

Andrew Stuart

The lobby for the medical facility, which opened into the main hall at Hanna’s, started filling a little faster than I thought. The first one predictably was JJ. “No,” I said. “Mariana said it is closed to non-medical, besides Linda is in there.”

Next in was John Pierce from Hanna’s with a breakfast sandwich in hand, “What’s the commotion?”

“Emily Parker is in Labor and I think she’s having some problems. Mariana told me to seal the place to non-medical.” I just knew I was going to be repeating that many times.

When the Benjamin’s came in, I knew the Main Event was coming.

First was Connor and I repeated my song, only problem was that Jai wasn’t having any part of it.

Suddenly John Pierce stepped right in the middle of it. He grabbed Jai by the armpits and picked her up bodily, trying to talk sense into her head. The Man was suicidal, Jai could wrap him into a pretzel; not to mention her Uncle standing right behind her was a Human Damn Tank.

Jai was out of it, all of the pain and anger; the sense of inadequacy and the blaming herself was pouring out.

I started over when Gabe spoke, “Jaisa, if it means that much to you I’ll go check.”

That was when I had to move, standing in front of the Entrance Door to the Clinic I spoke.

“No, you will not Angel. Magic ordered that door closed to all non-medical, the way through it goes through me.

“Neither you nor or I know who will win this but, rest assured Hanna’s Place will not survive.”

We were both ramping into speed when, out of the corner of my narrowing vision I saw Jai Benjamin beating on John to let her down. “Uncle Gabe, it ain’t worth getting banned from Hanna’s for life. Hell, it’s not like that crowd in there hasn’t saved her life once before. I can wait.”

I saw Gabe’s face finally crinkle with a smile as he tossed me the broadest wink in the world.

As he turned to embrace Jai, I turned and pretended to watch my wristcomp. “Dammit Andy, you just got played by the best Hostage Negotiator who ever lived.” I thought to myself. “But, Jai is back, it’s fracking worth it.”

From the doorway to Hanna’s came Chris Stevensen’s voice, “And exactly what do you do when both of them come for you?”

“That’s easy Laddie,” Robbie drawled, “shoot yer own damn fool self. Tis a bit easier, you know”

Laughing, I turned to see Jai in the embrace of a Father I had just decided to trust with the fate of Clan Stuart.

Mariana Stuart

It felt like an eternity, but it was only about an hour later, when we delivered the twins. The girl seemed to want to be the first one out on the womb.

I noticed Linda watching the monitor, before smiling. Emily’s vitals began to fall back into the normal range, after the boy was delivered. Both kids were crying, so we knew their lungs worked.

Linda and I took care of the twins, while Kurt and Sally finished with Emily. We held them up, so the new mother could see her children. She was tired, but smiling from ear to ear.

“Daughter, you did good.” Linda was a proud grandmother. “We’re going to clean them up, then bring them right back to you.”

After our examination, we pronounced them healthy and very fit. On a scale on 1 to 10, these two were an 11. The girl weighed 7 lbs. and 2 oz. The boy weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz.

Once we placed the twins in the new mothers’ arms, I gave a Kurt a quick nod. You could hear the twins helping themselves to breakfast. We meet in a corner, so no one else could hear us.

I whispered, “Did you see how rapidly the twins grew in the last day and a half?”

“Oh yes. I never saw anything like it before.” He glanced over to Emily. “Do you think it had anything to do with the three treatments of Quick Heal she received?”

That was a no-brainer. “If possible, I believe we should try to limit it to only two treatments in the future. This planet is full of surprises.”

The team cleaned up, than we moved Emily into a private room. “Alright new mother, when you’re ready for the rest of the family to see the newest members, let your mother know and you’ll be receiving visitors.”

Emily smiled and told her mother, “Can you give me a few minutes, until they have been feed?”
Linda nodded.

As Emily was smiling, she told us the names of the twins. “My girl is Angela and Angie for short. My son is Alexander and Alex for short.”

I left to find Andy and the crowd, that I knew would be waiting outside. There were several anxious relatives staring at me. “Mother and twins are doing to be fine. Give them a few more minutes and the family will be allowed to visit the newest members of Alchibah.”

There was no way I was going to mention how many close calls we had with Emily. One thing was very certain…this was a learning experience. If this is what takes place with twins, we may be changing some of our procedures.

Day 170 Stuart Compound, Liberty, Alchibah

Andrew Stuart

It was defiantly going to be a working lunch so we were set up with soup, sandwiches and beer. No one would want to get buzzed on the hard stuff.

Once everyone had dragged in and found a seat, I got things rolling.

“OK all, I’ll start this off and try to set the tone. Robbie, I am behind on getting you those grenade casings. The can making process works well but, we are having some problems adapting it to the requirements for the grenade.

“Probably a good thing,” Fortson said with the hint of a smile. “We wouldn’t want all those cans exploding now would we?”

“Yeah Joe, I would sure hate to lob a can of Hanna’s soup at a compartment full of Goonies. The worst part would be later when everybody was ducking every time somebody opened a can of Soup!”

“Rocco, I am behind on that Electric Kiln for you, the thermostatic control loop is frankly kicking my tail. As the object of the exercise is to improve your quality control, I don’t want to hand it over until I am sure it works right. We will of course continue to purchase your sub-standard stuff; I don’t care what the ablative material for the compound looks like.

“On the positive side some things are looking good. We are drawing copper wire and the last parts for the motor shop are due off on the CNC’s on the overnight shift tonight. We can take that load off of Mayflower and let them concentrate on whatever it is they are building. Initially we will have one large station and one small station. The large station will be tied up for the wheels for the upriver power plant and the line transformers we will need to get that site tied into the existing grid. The small station will be available for the specialized motors you have all been wanting.

“The production list for that will be on a ‘Needs of the Colony’ basis, so send your requests to Walt Davis’s e-mail. If we can not put it in the queue from a straight Engineering standpoint, we will put it up to the Council.

“We’ve got Gabe here in charge of firearms production, with some assistance from myself and Robbie. He knows more about putting them together than just about anyone I’ve ever met, yours truly included, so we’re in good hands on that front. Gabe?”

“Thanks Andy. We‘re going to be starting production of weapons for the non-military within three weeks.” He waited for the startled stares. “That will be a rip off of the Remington M-700 with the pre-74 trigger group. It will only for a short while be available in 30-06 Springfield. Production of the Alchibah MK 1 MBR will commence in four weeks. Simultaneous with that will be production of the Alchibah MK III standard sidearm. It will take an additional three weeks for the start of production on the Alchibah MK II Close Assault Weapon, Alchibah MK IV shotgun in 12 ga two weeks after that and then the MK V sniper six weeks later. That un I really want to tweak a bit. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with some other things after that. . And I think Connor and Rajnar have a bit to say about our efforts on more of, shall we say, the receiving end of my work.”

“Right. Well, hopefully not your work,” Connor started to the confusion of most of the assembled crowd. “We’re working on bullet resistant armor. The pillowbark trees we get much of the fiber for our clothing from also have layers of a material that’s akin to Earth’s spider silk. It’s about twice as strong as Kevlar, though it does cut well so it will be less helpful in that regard.”

“The bottom line,” Rajnar chimed in, “is that we’ll can produce in small quantities armor equivalent to what the Goonies will have – good enough to stop pretty much all handgun rounds. Pretty much all,” he rolled his eyes looking at Gabe’s giant sidearms, “and some rifles at some ranges. I’m working on various solutions to the slash resistance and ways to generally improve it. Within ten to twelve weeks I expect we will be able to produce level III or even IV armor, to put it in the old NIJ terms.”

“Thanks,” I continued. “And backtracking a bit, after we have sufficient metal for the production of the weapons marks we will be able to make available metal from Red Iron up to Tungsten-Carbide tool level on a ‘Needs of the Colony’ basis.

“Once again send your begs to Walt.

“In summation, we are going to double the capability of the power grid within six months. We will be able to arm the Colony and provide for the meat hunters. Basic needs for construction will be meet and we will continue to expand.” As the general intake of breath occurred, I shifted gears. “Ash, you are up. Do try not to soil your panties!”

“Thank You, I think Cuz. First up, I have this most wonderful Atmospheric Drive that anyone can think of for the Shuttles. Unfortunately, neither Hibbs nor myself can figure out why we cannot take the sucker out of the Primary gravity field of the Planet. Hibbs is going to come down here next week so we can crawl into the guts and see what’s going on.

“On my positive side, Walt and I have figured out how to network the CNC’s to where we only need one Brain Unit per four machines. Tim claims that he can run up to eight out of one Brain Unit inside the next four weeks. Feed us enough metal and we will give you a mechanized society.

“Tim has offered to Honcho running Copper Network to all of the new households, so we will not radiate locally anything that the Goonies can detect; the Guardians, I have no idea what they can do.

“Kara, Elana and JoAnn claim they can produce Fiber Optic glass within six months. I am doubtful but, would not put it past them.

“Back to you Cuz!”

“Joe and or Bart, how goes the wood business?”

“Couldn’t be much better,” Bart began. “I would like to have some spare blades and other replacement parts made up. I’ll get Walt a list of what is critical. My current wish list includes rollers, blades, and a motor for a finishing mill. The mechanical problem I see as critical in the near future is keeping the chainsaws functioning. I’ve already had to hand make chain links and guide bars rollers will be next.

“Another thing I’d like to see is a small say 10 or 20 horse steam engine. With as much scrap wood as we put out I could power most of my equipment with steam and save the bio-fuels for more important things. Another thing that steam has going for it is, we can take it anywhere there are trees and water. I can put in an order with the blacksmith shop for a boiler. But for connecting rods and crankshafts and maybe even cylinder blocks it would be nice to have some cast Iron parts. That means most likely some kind of a sand casting setup near your furnace.

“Now when it comes to things we don’t have yet or have enough of the list is long but a few items include water well pumps and components. In Liberty City the water supply is in and secure. Out where Janie and I live, hundred feet above the river, the robots can keep my cistern filled. If we go outside the township and away from surface water, it would be good to be able to put in a well.

“If I can interject,” said Walt Davis, “Bart if you can get me specs on those chainsaw parts we can cover you in a hurry. Those are the kind of small projects that we can put on the overnight shift and the Boss over there has pretty well given me discretion on. I can probably have you enough parts for complete overhauls in about a week.

“As for the cast iron stuff, if you or any of your crew knows enough about sand casting to show us how; I promise you at least one 500 lb pour a day of metal. We have thought about it but back burnered it because we just didn’t know how.”

“Joe, you are up!”

“Bart’s pretty much covered it from the business end but I am about to start on my house and have some different wants. For a bit of difference and especially if we get a planner mill going, I intend to use a different type of lumber than the log trees for my flooring and any paneling. We have got some very nice hard woods here that unfortunately we can’t glue. Nails and wood screws would come in real handy.

“I heard Phyllis Underton talking about metal roofing. That would be something I could use and free up lumber capacity. And band Iron would make shipping some of our products a bit easier. Not my specialty but I was talking to Frank Turner and he has a lot of things on his list in the agricultural area. I’ll let him know your looking to expand.

“One last thing, totally off the subject. Ever since Mariana took care of Jack for all of us, Burt Buchanan has been a model citizen. He does his labor pool work and seems to be tending to his own business. I don’t buy that for a minute. Keep an eye on him, he’s up to something.”

I just had to answer that. “Joe, you may rest assured that one of Robbie’s community service jobs is keeping an eye on our boy Buchanan.

“Bart, as soon as anyone registers a holding far enough up to need a well or can just flat justify the need, come see the Seaworth, Andrews and Pierce Wells business agent. They are just waiting to get their Drill Bits up on the needs list. Meanwhile they are running around doing water table studies and mumbling things like bore size and flow rate. Also Joe, nail production starts in about three days I think. Screws I believe are about a week after that, this building boom caught us a little off balance.”

The Strangest thing has happened. R. Hadrian has just presented me with a strangely wrapped and worded message. A message within a message within a message. All of the outward sheets merely delivery instructions for the inner kernel. The robots know about the Guardians. Well that’s not exactly right. They know some of the time and add anything new and then manage to forget it all. I wonder if this elaborate blind is necessary. I hope not but for now I am not sure so it is best we maintain it.

The Mad Scientists assure me that the contents of our own thoughts, and the manner in which they are stored in our own brains, are so chaotic that we can at least think about the problem without risking discovery. “Speak for yourself Dr. Hibbes,” I said. Still it is somewhat comforting.

We have made a small amount of progress on the original problem of how the Guardians know what they know and how to maintain security while we try to find a way to keep them from finding out things we would just as soon keep private. They indeed can detect the state of any electronic device but Hibbes tells me he can at least tell when they are doing that.

They have scanned us twice more since their original contact. Nothing in any database or electronic files are safe though our thoughts seem secure.

“Do they have undetectable listening or viewing devices,” I asked.

“Doubtful but I can’t rule it out,” Chandler told me. “Hold any conversations away from normally congregated areas. And now that I see what the bots are doing I would say to save any notes in the bot’s caches along with whatever the bots write on their own. Quite amazing that they came up with that. There are things about the basic programming we will likely never know.”

I wonder if their programs can mutate and if so how much.

I will write down most of the above and put it in the caches myself with an additional note to the bots that they don’t need to deliver any more messages to me or other humans because either I or Kara will check every day for anything new. This part won’t go into my log files though what follows will.

I am kind of sorry now that I won the first election for Council Spokesman and part time Mayor. I keep reminding folks that we are due for the next go around along with a vote on the state of our very rudimentary legal system. The unpaid time it takes is one issue but the bigger one is not having enough people to push the problems off to instead of just being around for the deals and pats on the back.

Helen Graham’s husband has been after me on a daily basis to do something about the self proclaimed Leviticans. I know how he feels. Well that’s not strictly true but I know how I would feel in his shoes. I tell him my hands are tied but it doesn’t seem to help. He really blew up when I sent word that he had to turn Helen’s bot back into the labor pool. “First you let Dobswell kidnap my wife and now you kidnap her robot.” Next council meeting I get the new elections scheduled.

And there is still the problem with Buchanan. I can’t even speak of it. I would have been far better off had I tried to win the original election without his help. “Err in haste repent at leisure.” It sure didn’t seem like an error at the time. And I never did get my house on the bluff overlooking the river.

The ranch is doing good enough and Mike sure has made me proud. The biggest surprise is that Judith and I, after all these years of drifting apart, are both changing back into the people we once were when we first met. We have a ways to go yet but are getting a chance to see how it works when you have a few friends liking you for who you are and not what you might do for them.