Bootstrap Colony

by Hechtl, Chris

  They were just running the wiring to the boxes; he had no intention of hooking up the boxes until he had more power. Well, maybe the led lights he mused as he fumbled the glue brush in the spotlight. Having spotlights was getting to be a bit of a pain. They were his main source of light further in though.

  They were working in the direction of the room he had designated as his quarters; he had decided to try to get that area completed today. When the last wire was laid he stretched with a groan, then looked over the work with satisfaction. He knew there were going to be bugs and problems, and flesh and blood bugs, but once the things were ironed out he could cement the floors and things would be protected. Also out of the way he wryly thought as he tripped over a pipe and stumbled tiredly. “Damn what time is it?” he asked rubbing the small of his back.

  A nearby Mini-Me turned its head to him and piped up, “The time is twenty seven twenty two,” its mechanical voice echoed a little in the cavern.

  “Damn.” He stretched again and then felt his belly rumble. “Time to eat and crash.”

  The robot paused, and cocked its head. “Query, order not understood.”

  He gave it a look. “Disregard and return to work.” The robot beeped and complied.

  The Mini-me’s were shrimp versions of the Andy robots, but lacked their more complex brains and hands. The Andy robots had almost human hands, three fingers and a thumb. The Mini-me robots had a thumb, index finger and the rest was a mitten. They were great for light jobs, as well as fetching and carrying he thought but not very good conversationalists. He groaned as he rolled his sore shoulders and headed to the trailer.

  The next morning he wolfed down breakfast, and then charged through the wet to do his chores. The robots had worked on into the night, following the plans; they had laid out the kitchen, infirmary, and first bathroom. He was looking forward to the bathroom, finally being able to take a shower in a full size shower.

  He took the time to check things over before he dived in. There were a few minor things to correct, and of course he had to fudge a few areas to get things to work. The aluminum ducts for the air ventilation was easy, as was the PVC for the water and sewer pipes. The bathroom was his first stop, it was a bit more complex than he had first thought, but once he had things set up he turned and ordered an Andy to have a GP get the first bathroom pallet and bring it in.

  While he waited he quickly completed the connections in the hall to the garage. The door was framed out; he would need to add it later. He checked the progress of the robots; they were now in the south wing moving quickly. The storerooms would be easy; it did not requiring plumbing, heat or sewer lines. The laundry area would though. It was tempting to run the laundry lines right out the small opening and into the pond, but he didn’t want to foul it with waste water.

  A dripping wet and mud splattered GP arrived with the pallet in the garage. He had it stop there, then after seeing an Andy struggle to maneuver parts around the piping on the floor, he decided he would have to carry it himself.

  The top crate had the sink, light and electrical fixtures and minor bits like shelves and racks. On one side there was the toilet, a one gallon flush model. The tub was a stack of four fiberglass panels with a plastic door. All the fixtures were wrapped in plastic with directions as well. At the very bottom was a tank less water heater.

  He would have to wait on the toilet; it would have to rest on the floor once it was poured and cured. The tub was something different however; it could go in on the rails laid out for its base. The rails around it would allow him to attach the fiberglass to them. He would need to caulk the inside seams carefully.

  It took him a while to get it sorted out; he had banged his fingers and scraped his hip before he was finished. It was a bit crude, but he felt a surge of pleasure, knowing he was getting there... if slowly.

  He hurried through lunch, taking bite from his MRE while flipping through the manual for the sink hook up. The tankless water heater was rather neat; he had over thirty of them. Each was the size of a small suitcase, but could provide unlimited hot water on demand. Pipes arrayed like a radiator were inside the plastic box, along with electrical heating devices and a lot of insulation.

  Each of these boxes would allow him to have hot water without having to run a lot of extra lines and insulation all through the walls and floors. This one would service this bathroom as well as the sinks in the planned nearby infirmary.

  He checked the weather with a look outside, it was just sprinkling, but the distant skies were still clouded over. “Beware the ides of March,” he muttered, slapping his hat into his thigh and then returning to work.

  He came up for air sometime around dinner time, or at least when his stomach refused to quit rumbling. The bathroom hook up had gone in with only limited fuss. With that experience he had knocked out the kitchen area, then the storerooms.

  He took the time to splash through the puddles to the mobile home. There was a small break in the storm, allowing him to get there without getting totally drenched. He brushed the water off in the entryway, letting the animals sniff him down in their usual greetings. Hera and the kittens were pretty insistent; he petted her as he nuked a meal in the microwave. “You’re going to love all the nooks and crannies to explore once I am done huh?” he asked her as she purred. “Doing this for your benefit huh?” he teased, tweaking her ears affectionately. She batted at his hand, then at the nose of Max who insisted he had to have attention too. Giving Max’s jowls a good rub; he picked up the hot meal and dug in.

  After diner he watched the rain for a bit, sitting in the back by the window. Hera was happy, occupying his lap while Max gave the occasional suffering sigh of neglect on the floor at his feet. The kittens were having a ball, playing with each other and Max’s twitching tail.

  Perhaps it was a good thing this storm had hit; he was getting a bit more done on the home front. Concern for the animals, crops, and cement was momentarily forgotten. It was good to get into this, if he kept it up he might be able to move in once the storm cleared and the floors dried.

  Power and heat were going to be a pain; he had the equipment, but had so much to do it was impossible to get to them right now. He knew it was important, but he had too many balls to juggle. If the storm held into the next week he might be able to survey the first hydroelectric sites.

  The next morning the morning progress report had him concerned. One of the GP’s was down, it had broken down outside late in the evening. He looked outside as he took the last sip from his coffee. It was still gloomy with clouds, but no rain. Taking a chance, he left his weather gear behind to splash to the robot.

  One look made him swear. Rocks and concrete dripped from its wheels. On the side of its head were the numerals zero nine, the robot that had delivered the bathroom package. Obviously in his haste he had not considered the weight of the robot over the still curing concrete driveway. He gave a long suffering sigh, and then ordered another robot to tow the stuck one to the courtyard area.

  It took a lot of work with a crowbar, hammer, and chisel to get the wheels and tracked unstuck. He finished just as the first dropped of rain began to fall once more. Glaring at the sky, he gave a rumble of frustration.

  He pushed the robot into the hall area, and then dug through the boxes, spooking an armadillo into a hasty retreat. He found a spare drive motor, and swore under his breath as he pulled the burned out one out and bolted the new one in.

  When the rain began to pour a short time later he sighed and stretched. The robot repair was complete, it ran a diagnostic, reported all was okay, then shut down until he could get it out to the charging station.

  The Andy robots had completed the layout of the first floor; he was amazed at the progress. It only took a few hours to go behind them, making connections to wire the bedrooms. Once the easy rooms were done he went back and finished the laundry area. He would have to wait to get a pallet for each of the other bathrooms.

  He checked the animals, and then took a l
unch break, flipping through an electrical manual while he watched the rain. A spider rat startled him; the thing had no fear approaching him. One of the Mini-Me robots chased it off. He was going to have to do something more about pest control. He watched an armadillo come in and began to root around in the corner.

  The rain began to slow; he hoped he would catch a break... At least long enough for him to check things outside. A wet crunch in the corner made him turn. The armadillo was tossing its head back and forth, crunching away at a thrashing scorpion. “Well, you're okay,” Mitch said. The armadillo finished its meal and wandered off. He turned to look outside. The sun began to peek out of the skies, lightning his mood a little.

  After an hour of periodic stops to check the weather he gave up and went outside. The rain had stopped, but the weather had not cleared totally. Off in the south west above the line of mountains he could still see darkness. He decided to chance it, ordered the GP’s to fetch the bathroom pallets for the five remaining ground floor bathrooms, then the kitchen gear. He made sure to route the damn thing around the courtyard this time.

  He took the command Hummer out to the fields, dodging around the occasional pothole. Mud and muck splattered the truck, but he was only interested in getting out to see how things had held up.

  He checked the combine, finding it sunk into the soil a bit, but okay. The fields were still a bit wet, but he could see the sprouts of plants still poking up. He hoped he didn’t lose a lot of fertilizer or seeds in that mess.

  It would be a while before he could set up the synthesizer for ammonia with the liquid hydrogen, nitrogen, and argon he was getting from the water and air compressors. Fortunately the fields he had planted were thick with nitrates and nitrogen. Hopefully it would be enough; the Terran plants were fertilizer hogs.

  The fence had a few holes; a few poles had come down or were leaning down. They had been driven into the ground over a meter, but a few had crossed dry shallow gulley’s... Which were not dry or shallow any more. Water gushed through them, heading to the river nearby. Concrete footings would be needed, as well as drainage ditches. He made a note in the log. The perimeter was secure; one of the Ed’s was splattered with mud. He checked the log, apparently it had fallen. The diagnostics on the machine were green though. He knew he would have to clean it up and do a manual check as soon as possible. He logged that too.

  He got back to base just as the first drops of rain began to fall once more. Ducking between pallets, he managed to outrun the rain. Scowling a bit, he dug in and got to work.

  That evening the rain was slow. More of a fine mist then a full rain. The bathrooms and kitchen were all set up; all he needed was to pour floors now. It was almost tempting to move into his bedroom suite, it was a pair of long chambers up a slopping corridor. He had decided not to pour a floor there, the piping ran along the outer walls, or hung from straps in the ceiling.

  Walls were made out of aluminum strutted which would be covered in water resistant drywall later. Much later. He had to get everything sorted out first.

  After a bit of wrestling he decided to wait it out. It was silly to move in, and then get stuck out once he poured the floors. Better to wait and do the move all at once.

  The next morning he took Max, who was hyper and leaping with joy to the caves during a break in the storm. He had to check the dairy; it was reporting it was full. The cows were mud splattered, but okay. The dairy not so much.

  One corner had sunk down, tipping it. He had a GP to bring him some rocks to prop it up. He tried to shift it, couldn’t, so he ordered a donk over to lift the machinery. The GP slipped the rocks under the corner, and then the donk set it down. He judged it wasn’t perfect, but it would work for now.

  The tanks were full, but the instruments reported the milk was off. He checked by taking a look and whiff. “Woo wee! Yeah. I’d say so.” He had the GP run a waste line and dumped the batch. He still had a lot of milk, enough to last until the calves were born hopefully.

  In fact, since he was stuck waiting for the next storm, he decided to run through as many of the outdoor chores as he could get away with, then do make some dairy products when the rains started.

  He couldn’t do much more inside, he needed to use the crane to lift gear to the second floor, and with the muck in the courtyard he wasn’t going to chance it now.

  He managed to get a lot done, repairing a leaky greenhouse, repairing some of the bent over fencing, even turned down the hydrogen maker to conserve power. With the wet weather he had only the diesel generators, four hydro-electric generators, and seven wind turbines to rely on for power. The solar farm was only giving him a trickle of power.

  He even managed to finally get the awning up for the mobile home. That would shelter the door side of the vehicle, allowing him to access the laundry machine on the outside without getting wet. He tossed a load of laundry in, setting the washer and dryer then let it rip while he stepped into the camper for lunch.

  After lunch he glanced at the sky, and then got down to the barn to check on things. The animals were pretty morose, being kept up in pens while it poured out sucked. Max bounded around, even peed on one of the stable panels, making him wince. “MAX! Take that outside!” He groaned, knowing it was futile. Max was not a purebred; he had a quarter wolf in his gene pool. At least he was doing it outside; the camper would stink to high heaven if he had done it inside.

  The first dropped of rain made him glance outside. Sure enough, the next storm was starting up again. He sighed and walked to the dairy area to get it going.

  Three hours later the renate was off and running, the butter churner was chugging away, and he had a vat of milk being homogenized and pasteurized. He had even gotten the ice cream maker going, deciding he needed a treat. Getting the vanilla extract and sugar had been an interesting rain soaked trip to the mobile home, but he had gotten it done. Eggs were easy; he just picked a couple out of the hen house.

  Most of his eggs were going to feed some of the animals, he just didn’t eat that much eggs. Breakfast was more of a cereal thing for him; he just didn’t like a big meal early in the morning. The cats and dogs loved it. He even boiled a few and fed them to the cheetah, they had batted them around like a ball before chomping them down.

  A marmoset would have been fun, but one heck of a handful. He loved the cheetah, lithe grace and shiny coats, but wasn’t sure how well they would adapt here. He would have to wait and see.

  The rain broke that evening, it was almost a shock, and the sudden stop woke him from his sleep. He checked outside, it took a while for him to sort out that it was the lack of rain that had woken him, not something wrong.

  The next morning dawned bright and sunny. He checked the horizon, and was pleased to see only scattering clouds. Hopefully he could finally get back on track. He let Max out for his morning run; pooper scooped the cat’s litter box, then dug his laundry out of the machine and tossed it on the bed.

  He took his time with the outdoor chores, reveling in the light. He even let the animals out to their pastures. The dogs frolicked, bouncing around and chasing one another before he called them to order. The cheetahs were put into their outdoor enclosure, and then he dug into work.

  He sighed as he took a long look at the garage driveway. It had a track from where the GP had trudged through it. It wasn’t too bad, still better than soft dirt, but that area would have to be smoothed over and cleaned up once the water dried. The garage floor was okay; it only had a few ruts in it.

  He called Max to him and checked inside. The robots had completed the layout of the second and third floor. He was reluctant to go beyond the marked out areas though. He decided to wait on doing something; it would make for another great rainy day project.

  Max found an armadillo; with a soft woof he nudged it, and then tried to play. He pawed at it, whining and cocking his head back and forth. The creature chattered in annoyance and instinctively rolled into a ball. He watched in amusement as Max cocked his head back and forth, a
nd then pawed at it... Then rolled it around with his snout. When he became disinterested and turned to leave the armadillo slowly peeked, and then chittered. Max turned back with sudden interest, the armadillo’s head disappeared. “You spoke to soon mate,” Mitch laughed, watching Max study the balled up creature intently.

  Mitch ordered the robots to begin laying out the forms to pour the back rooms, then work their way forward to the door. He started them in the infirmary, having them do those areas then work out to the garage. Tomorrow he would have them pour the bedroom areas, and then work back to the kitchen and hall.

  He checked periodically, but when he realized he and Max were underfoot he called the dog to him and took off for the truck. Max was reluctant to give up his playmate, but followed after the second whistle with a woof. Max needed no prompting to jump into the truck. Mitch sat on the seat, and then looked over to Max. “Ready I see?” Max was pawing at the window, wanting to get his head out. He looked at the big paws and sighed, noting the clods of mud dripping off. “I can’t take you anywhere you dumb mutt,” Mitch sighed as he closed his door and lowered the windows.

  A check of the perimeter found three sections of fencing down. He would need to repair them, and soon. A splatter covered CAT walked by, stepping with squishing sounds into the drying muck. Max wasn’t happy about the robot, growling softly and jerking his head back and forth. “Come on, it is just a robot,” Mitch said as he got out of the truck.

  “Danger! Hostile animal life form detected!” the CAT said suddenly, making him turn.

  “Max stay!” Mitch barked. He turned to the CAT to correct it, but it wasn’t facing the truck any more, it was facing the wood line beyond the fallen fence. He took a look, didn’t see anything, but reached in and grabbed the Bushmaster rifle.