Bootstrap Colony

by Hechtl, Chris

  “What about that war robot?” she asked.

  “I have dozens of security robots of various types and several UAV’s as well,” Mitch explained. The pilot perked up at this news. “Give us a day or so and you can take one up to do an orbit around the area,” Mitch said, shooting a glance her way. She nodded.

  “Lisa? Do you want to help me break out one of the UAV’s? Or have Brian show you around the machine shop?” Mitch asked, turning to the taciturn girl. She looked to Vanessa who gave her an encouraging look and then hugged her. Doc watched.

  Dora piped up, “I want to help Brian and Angie, and we need to finish setting up the lift in the garage anyway.” Lisa looked relieved and pointed to Brian, Angie, and Dora.

  Mitch nodded and slapped his thighs. “Okay, let’s be about it.”

  Three year old Mateo came in, yawning and rubbing his eyes. His mother carried his baby brother while his six year old sister followed in their wake. “Awake huh?” Mitch asked, smiling at the little boy. Mateo nodded sleepily, caught sight of everyone and shyly hid behind his mom. The women smiled softly. Phyllis snorted.

  “Are you going to cook the beef stew?” Little Ruby asked.

  Mitch gave the girl a questioning look. Then he caught on after a moment and heartily smacked to his forehead, making her and the kids giggle. “I totally forgot! Okay, I will get it started then while it is simmering check the UAV’s.” He got up to leave,

  Janet piped up, “No more barbecue sauce!” she growled. He grinned evilly but didn't respond.

  “Barbecue sauce?” Vanessa asked, wrinkling her nose. Mitch's grin widened. Cassie rolled her eyes.

  “You cook?” Sergeant Phyllis asked.

  “Yeah, like he said, everyone helps out, and chores are rotated.” Janet replied and then turned to his retreating back radiating annoyance. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to make that damn sauce?!” She waved her fist at him. He ducked laughing. She threw her hands up in the air. He smiled at her and shrugged.

  The radio squelch cut off a retort. “Maggie?” Wayne asked over the radio net.

  “Yes Wayne,” Mags sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing what was probably coming.

  “I got the eggs, checked on the geese and turkeys, but they are sleeping. The cheetahs are pacing a lot. Horses too.”

  “Cheetah?” Vanessa asked.

  Natalie however had different priorities. “Geese?”

  “Goose meat, and feathers for bedding and jackets,” Janet replied.

  “Oh,” Natalie nodded. “But cheetah?”

  Mitch smiled. “And raccoons, pigs, horses, rabbits, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, turkey, alpaca, chinchilla, Fish, some dinosaurs, tauntauns, and others,” he said, listing the animals. She goggled at him in shock.

  “Crap! Maggie one of the raccoons got out again!” They could hear sounds of Wayne chasing them at a frantic pace, mute chittering of glee could also be heard in the background.

  “Okay,” Maggie said, “I will be there in a minute.” She pointed to a couple of the couple kids, “You kids up for a coonie hunt?” They nodded. Doc, Cassie, and Dora turned and wheeled the invalids back to the infirmary.

  Chapter 11

  Phyllis reported a sighting on the border a few weeks later. She was settling in well, now kicking herself for not making the jump sooner. She took turns with the Aussie bush pilot, keeping an eye on the UAV feed.

  The long range UAV confirmed a sighting, but the cloud cover and dense forest were too much for it to get an accurate reading. Concerned it might be refugees, they took a hummer out just as a storm front began to hit.

  As they made their way to the targets a shaggy brown furred lumbering creature came out of the snow fog. “It is a mammoth,” Mitch murmured in awe as he brought the camera up. Another and then another came past the truck. They could feel the low thrumming noises the animals made. One turned and trumpeted toward a ridge. They turned to look in the indicated direction and spotted a giant snow beast.

  Easily two meters tall, it was covered in shaggy white fur. It had six legs, and a flat face. Two horns jutted out like devil’s horns, another larger set curved down to point outward on either side of the head and beyond like tusks. The front torso was massive, like a bull or gorilla.

  It was the eyes that were the scariest thing, the four red eyes that shined and almost glowed. The fur rippled in the wind. It seemed to watch the herd, and then turned its attention to the hummer. Phyllis’s frantic intake of breath was the only thing they could hear for a moment. Then another blast from the mammoths.

  Tiny ears on the behemoth mammals were flapping in anger and distress; they turned their tusks to the foe. Their trunks thrashed, trumpeting war cries. The predator seemed to watch them, standing there like an alien version of a silver back gorilla. Two clouds of air would jet from its nostrils, which twitched. Then in a sudden swirl of snow it was gone.

  Phyllis shuddered. “Can we go home now?”

  Vance mutely nodded. “Good idea. I for one do not plan on leaving the base till we are knee deep in spring.” He turned to Mitch. “Did you get it?”

  Mitch nodded as he shut the camera off. “And the mammoths. There were some four tuskers in there too, possibly mastodons.”

  “Where did they come from? We haven’t seen them all year?”

  Mitch shrugged. “Most likely they were north. When it is hot out they probably stay in the northern reaches, along the arctic line. But when it got cold, they probably head South,” he hypothesized. The herd chuffed a bit in annoyance and then moved on South.

  “Then again, some of them, like that snow beast, might be on the mountains,” Phyllis added and then shuddered. “God I hope not. I would hate to have met up with one of those things.” They heard a wolf baying, then another and another.

  “Time to get the hell out of dodge,” Mitch said as Phyllis steered them for home.

  A few days later the pilot Jacklynn called him in, she had spotted suspicious activity a dozen kilometers away. He met her in the control room and she pulled up a video feed from the UAV. Anne came in, she squinted and didn’t see anything at first, but when the pilot switched to thermal imaging they could see the thermal image of twelve to sixteen people stumbling along in the snow.

  Mitch punched a button alerting Brian of incoming. Piotr came in shrugging on a parka. They quickly outlined the situation on their way to the garage bay. Meeting Brian they each took a vehicle.

  “Are we sure dis is no another false alarm?” Piotr asked. His English is improving, but it took a moment for Mitch to digest that question.

  “Jacklynn got in nice and tight with the camera and IR, definitely human,” Mitch answered as he opened his door.

  Brian grunted. “Lucky we just dozed around the garage door!”

  Mitch smiled and flipped the communications channel open. “We will keep an open channel. Tell Doc and Janet to prep for incoming.”

  Doc immediately came in over the radio. “I have Cassie and Dora setting triage one up now with plenty of blankets and thermal packs.”

  “Roger Doc.”

  An hour later Janet called, “We have a storm front brewing.”

  “Bush Amoy! DA! I know dis!” Piotr answered sounding vexed. Mitch grimaced. They would have to make this rescue quick. They pulled up on the ridge. Piotr asked why and Mitch pulled out a pair of binoculars.

  “Okay, got them,” Mitch said after a moment. He passed the device to Piotr. The Russian looked.

  “Hmm three to six kids, five no, six men? Maybe two or three women?” They pulled forward, breaking trail ahead of the other vehicles. The lead male spotted them and waved, another smacked him on the arm.

  They met a wary exhausted group a minute later. They had furs covering their body for warmth, and primitive snow shoes. Like Mitch and the other base males the refugee males all sported beards, though theirs were a bit ragged.

  “You folks need a lift?” Brian asked just as one of the males pulled a gun. Brian’s eyes wide
ned in surprise.

  “Don’t mind if we do. I guess you're going to walk though,” the man snarled. They heard a loud click of a gun.

  “I don’t think you’re being very nice son. Put the weapon down,” Mitch snarled.

  The stranger turned arrogantly to look at Mitch and froze when he noted Piotr and Mitch holding Bushmaster rifles pointed at him. “I think you need to stand down now,” Mitch observed. The pilot buzzed the group, the strangers duck for cover, but Piotr said, calmly, “D’at one is ours.” One of the men looked up and spotted the UAV. He pointed to it.

  Slowly the male with the gun lowered it. “All right your move.”

  Mitch looked to the stranger. “I don’t like people pointing guns at my people,” He growled. He was still coming down from the adrenaline, not happy about how badly it could have gone.

  The woman near the apparent leader whimpered and another looked to her and then turned and begged. “Please, don’t blame him for being wary.” Mitch dared a quick glance to her, still angry.

  “At least he didn’t shoot him,” Piotr added. Brian nodded. The lad now had his gun out.

  Mitch slowly nodded, looking at the woman. “You okay miss?”

  “Okay? We are starving. Sasha is sick, and pregnant.” One of the kids stumbled and fell crying. The males ignore him but one of the women bent to help him.

  “Put your weapons down. All of them,” Mitch ordered. The other men looked at him. Mitch got a look at the woman, she was gaunt and the bulge on her back was a child in a pack. The males were lightly loaded. He scowled. “Miss come here.”

  One of the males protested but the first stranger waved him off, eyes narrowed but watching Mitch. “Buck stand down.”

  The woman came over. Mitch put the rifle on safety and then checked her and the child. “You have frostbite. The child is sick,” he observed. “Hell you both look like you haven’t ate in a while. Strip,” he ordered curtly. She looked at him as he stared at her. “Strip. Your furs are wet, and cold.” He took his parka off. “Strip.” he ordered again. She needed no further urging. She quickly stripped and he handed her the parka. “Get in.” He pointed to the truck. He could feel the cold wind through the sweater; he had no intention of remaining exposed with only it on. He tossed her furs in the trunk and then turned to the huddling group.

  “There is a storm coming folks. Here is the deal. I am in charge.” He looked them over for a moment. “You’re more than welcome to come back with us. We can take you back to my place and after the storm you can continue on your way.” He reached up and tripped his Bluetooth. “Base, we have multiple people, standard cold reception.” One of the teens looked up and smiled tentatively.

  “Anyone wanted to sit the storm with a hot meal and shower best get in now,” Mitch ordered. The wind picked up, almost on queue and the light changed. The lead male hesitated, the woman with the child near him didn’t. She placed the child in the car, and then she came back without the kid, grabbed the pregnant lady and pulled her to the car.

  “Come on!” Brian scooped up a kid and carried her to his truck. The nearby teen just about jumped and ran for a truck.

  Mitch snorted. “Y’all going to stand around scratching your asses?” The men looked blearily at him. “Now that the ritual chest beating is over, let’s get the hell out of this shit hole and somewhere warm!” Some of the men cheered wearily at that.

  The male leader turned and barked to the teen to help with the kids. The teen tossed his gear into the truck and grabbed a kid. “Come on snot nose!” the teen said, hoisting the kid up into his arms. Mitch picked up his rifle, flicked on the safety and nodded. With this signal everyone loads up.

  The entire trip back no one said a word. They arrived at the base, the teen give a low whistle. “Major! A real castle!”

  Mitch nodded. “Complete with drawbridge.” He pointed to the waterfall area.

  Piotr looked at them. “Mitch did it. He saved us too.”

  Mitch looked at him for a moment, and then shrugged. “I had a bit of help after a while,” he commented as they pulled into the plowed home stretch.

  In the garage as the door went down Doc met them. Mitch waved her to the sick pregnant woman and she immediately checked her over. Dora moved to one of the kids, Paul and Frances Fenn, Cassie, and Vance assisted. Walter and Janet handed out mugs of hot tea. “Anyone with a medical problem let Doc know. She has her hands full now so if it isn’t serious, get a shower first,” Paul said as he maneuvered a kid into a wheel chair and wrapped him in blankets.

  Doc checked the woman with her stethoscope. The woman coughed feebly. Doc frowned. “You have pneumonia. We need to get you inside and to the infirmary.”

  Cassie blinked. “Mom, the little girl is out, I mean O-U-T out, and not responding. She is still cold and barely breathing.”

  Doc took over, used her stethoscope and blanched in concern. “Her temp quickly,” she ordered not looking up. Cassie pulled out an electronic thermometer and stuck it in the kid’s ear. Doc took a look and blanched again, swearing softly. “Okay people, let’s move!”

  Henry helped Doc get the woman onto a stretcher; Mitch made eye contact with one of the males and nodded for him to follow. Janet grimly smiled. “All right you grimy lot! I think the first order of business is a hot shower. Who’s first?” she asked. The teen rushed through the door after Walter and the three kids. Piotr snorted.

  Janet handed out homemade hot pockets to the others. “With everything frozen, we only have enough hot water supply for three showers at a time right now. So eat up while you wait,” she said. Some of the people nodded, others dug in. Janet got them organized and out of the cold garage bay. Lisa looked relieved.

  The new people looked around in awe, some still huddled under blankets and were just too pure tuckered to care as long as it was warm. They took them to a living room and settled them in front of the fire.

  Jolie came in and handed Mitch a tablet. He looked at it, thanked her and handed it back. “From the Doppler radar report it looks like we have another three day storm ahead of us, hope you people didn’t make any appointments,” he joked. One of the males snorted.

  “So what is all this?” Mitch looked to the young woman who had asked the question.

  “It is a cave,” he answered and smiled.

  “I know that, I meant this?” She waved to the furnishings.

  “Well, when we were warned I took it seriously,” Mitch smiled.

  “Oh,” she replied in a small voice and blushed.

  Mitch smiled. “I invested most of my money into outfitting myself with the most equipment, animals, and gear as I thought I could get away with,” he explained. The male leader nodded.

  “Luckily it was all transported, the aliens said something about everything we owned, and I took them literally,” Mitch finished with a diffident shrug.

  She nodded. “Hope it gave them a hernia,” she growled. Mitch chuckled at this.

  “Most of the people here are from an abandoned village sixty kilometers north of here. Piotr and Henry were walk about like you folks.” Piotr waved his hand with the missing fingers. “A few of the kids were found nearby too.” One of them looked up from playing in the corner and waved and then returned to more important matters.

  Doc's voice came in over the speakers: “Sarana is in bad shape. The little girl is in a hypothermia bath but she doesn’t look good. Her core temp is below seventy, and she has pneumonia. I am not sure she will survive the night. I set IV’s up for both of them. The young man, um Ivan? He has mild hypothermia and mild frostbite. I had to amputate a toe. I am ready for the next group.”

  Janet wiped her hands on a towel; “Well I have a roast to check on.” She nodded politely to the group as she left.

  “Piotr, Vance, can you show these three to the Infirmary?” Mitch asked, pointing to the teenage girl and two of the males. They got up wearily and left.

  Now alone with Mitch, Mike gave him a look. “That was an awfully gutsy th
ing to do. Or was it desperation?” Mitch asked quietly.

  Mike nodded, chewing the hot pocket. “A little of both,” he answered.

  Mitch snorted. “Don’t do it again.” Mike nodded. “Just remember, I am in charge here, you are more than welcome to stay if you wish, and if you are willing to work, but the buck stopped here,” Mitch said firmly. He tapped his chest. Mike slowly nodded.

  “My name is Mike, Mike IronKnife,” Mike introduced himself between large bites of the hot pocket.

  “I had gathered from your look and the comment the teenager said you were an Indian and a Major,” Mitch replied.

  Mike nodded. “We were dropped somewhere east of here.” He took a bite. It took a moment to chew and swallow. “I managed to keep a small group together. We tried to find a safe place to settle, but ended up on the move.” His face grows dark. “I lost a lot of people to predators.”

  Mitch sighed. “Yeah, we have lost a lot around here too.” He looked off for a moment.

  “Well, I did lose one damn fool when she panicked and ran off a cliff,” Mike commented.

  A wet teenage Buck came in. “What did I miss?” he asked. His eyes alighted on the tray of food and widened. He jumped to the tray of hot pockets. Dripping wet kids came in behind him, and stopped to look at the tray of food. Anxiously they looked back and forth.

  Mitch pointed, “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked. They nodded and rushed to the tray. Both men snorted in amusement.

  “Do you have enough food?” Mike asked.

  “Yes, we have enough for four more months, and enough feed for two to three,” Mitch replied.

  “Feed?” Buck asked, mumbling it through a mouth full of food.

  “Yeah, for the animals. We also set up four greenhouses, though three are leaking, and two have panels that collapsed from the snow,” Mitch said, wrinkling his nose in annoyance.

  “Greenhouses?” Buck mumbled then sipped a drink.

  “Yeah, like I was telling Mike here, I brought as much as I could,” Mitch replied with a shrug. Buck’s eyes lit up at this news. Mitch turned; he could hear claws on concrete. Anne came in; she was dragged in by a pair of cheetah. The new kids flinched and cried out in fear. The cheetah snort sniffed in their direction. Mike was frozen. Anne gave a tug on their lead to keep them moving.