Bootstrap Colony

by Hechtl, Chris

  Angie closed her open mouth with a clop, ending the stunned silence. “You know she may have a point,” Vanessa said, getting a thoughtful look. “Kinda cold though...” she murmured, still thoughtful as she walked out. The rest of them fell into a fit of giggles and laughter.

  “Janet from another planet,” Anne teased Janet, arms up to her elbows in soapy water. Janet looked up, gave a sniff and then continued her knitting. She was doing another sweater. Now that she had the technique back, she was planning one each for the kids and a full body one for the babies.

  “Janet from another planet?” Lisa asked, for once not being her usual quiet self a facing self.

  “I get that she is from another planet, I mean we all are,” Brian said innocently and then shrugged. Anne chuckled.

  “Ancient history to you. Soap opera history actually,” Janet chuckled.

  “My mom used to watch some of All My Children, a soap opera while we were growing up. Janet from another planet became a favorite tease,” Janet replied, giving Anne a mock dirty look.

  “Oh,” Lisa said, and then shrugged.

  Brian smiled and started to open his mouth. “Don’t even go there bub,” Janet said in a clear put down, not even looking up from her knitting. He closed his mouth and yipped as Lisa pinched him. He growled, she gave a start of mock fear, and then led him on a giggling chase out of the room and down the hall.

  “I thought they would never leave,” Anne said, sloshing away. Janet grunted agreement.

  Mitch sicked Mike, Henry, Buck, and Brian on putting the still and micro brewery together. Janet of course had to get in a ribbing about so many men trying to do such a simple thing as boil a liquid. When the teenagers asked if they will get any Anne stomped her foot and pointedly said no. Mike, Henry, and Mitch gave the teens a wink and a nod.

  Mitch and Brian cut an evergreen tree and brought it to the outside of the garage. After the kids went to bed the adults stay up setting the tree up and decorating it.

  Mitch pulled out boxes for the kids and laid them under the tree. The next morning the kids were awestruck by the tree. The boxes were opened as everyone gathered around. Within were homemade plastic toys. Blocks, match box cars, dolls, and action figures. The younger kids had a ball.

  Selma, Anne, and Ester had used scraps from the clothes to make small outfits for the dolls. “That was awfully sweet of all of you,” Doc commented, hugging Mitch's arm.

  Mitch shrugged. “We have been planning it for months. I dug the plans out of the computer for the plastic bits and did a little at a time over the past couple months,” he explained. She smiled.

  “What no mistletoe?” she teased.

  “Not worth my life,” he muttered, he gave her a mock glower that turned into a hug.

  Mike, Buck, Janet, and Mitch talked about weird animals over a couple of beers in front of the fire. “There was this one thing, looked like a six legged platypus.” Mike commented, looking off to the ceiling.

  “Oh Yeah! I remember that one!” Buck turned excited and told the story. “We were walking along the trail near the water and this thing came scuttling out of a burrow in some grass hedge, looked at us, and then scuttled for dear life. It looked like a cross between a duck and a six legged beaver!”

  Mike nodded. “That is why I said platypus.”

  “Oh, right,” Buck frowned. “Scared the hell out of all of us.”

  “It scuttled, throwing its head and tail back and forth for the water.”

  Mitch nodded. “I wonder if it was the alien equivalent of a platypus,” he mused thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin.

  “I dunno, but it tasted worse than sloth,” Mike replied, somewhat disgusted.

  Janet gave them a disbelieving look. “You ate it?”

  Buck looked sheepish. “About one bite each. Nasty thing. Ended up using it as bait,” he said. Mitch and Janet laughed.

  Mitch called a weekly town meeting. “We’re doing okay for vitals,” Janet said when it came her turn. She turned to give a quizzical glance to Hejira. “For some reason we are low on cucumbers.” The girls gave each other guilty looks and then tried to hide their smirks when Janet gave them a suspicious glance.

  Mitch shrugged. “Oh well, maybe someone is having a late night snack,” he said. A furtive giggle was quickly smothered. He turned, and then shrugged again. “Anyway, so everything else is okay?” he asked.

  Janet nodded. “No sign of the scorpions. The armadillos are still balled up in hibernation too. I think the cats and dogs are tired of batting them around, they just ignore them now,” Janet replied. Maggie nodded.

  “Well, it is my turn to make dinner tonight so we are having Au’ gratin ala Mitch,” Mitch proclaimed, giving Janet a look.

  She wrinkled her nose. “You are going to have a vegetable this time right?” she asked pointedly.

  He shrugged. “All right all those in favor of peas raise your hands?” A few hands were raised. “All those in favor of green beans raise your hands.” The hands up jerked down. A few of the adults raised their hands. Some of the kids were giving the adults dirty looks. He snorted. “Okay, how about all those in favor of carrots?” A few of the kids raised their hands. He sighed. “Okay, I will do small amounts of all three,” he said. Relieved faces blossomed from the kids.

  Doc stood and gave her report, short and brief. “Do you need anything?” Mitch asked, looking up from his tablet when she finished.

  “No,” she almost snarled as she sat down. Brian gave her a questioning look, and then shrugged when she didn't say anything more and just clutched at her pant leg.

  “Any ideas on when winter will end?” Brian asked wistfully glancing toward the door.

  Mitch shrugged. “I hope any day now.”

  Hejira looked up. “Me too! Walking in the snow to the greenhouses is freezing!”

  Mitch snorted. “I thought it would bring back fond memories of Chicago?” he teased.

  She glowered at him. “I am not that homesick thank you!” The group broke up into laughter.

  “You're not getting anywhere with that attitude,” Janet said, not looking up from her scrubbing.

  Doc sighed. “Is it that obvious?”

  Janet snorted. “Too everyone but him. Remember though, all the other girls are after a partner too,” Janet pointed out and then shrugged as the red head looked her way. “Sasha has cornered the Russian market with Piotr, Kathy and Jacklynn are sharing Henry... Who is walking particularly bow legged lately...” Both women snickered in amusement.

  Doc waited a bit as she caught her breath. “Am I supposed to share him?” she asked and then sighed. It would probably come to that she realized, there weren't enough people to keep the gene pool going at this rate.

  Janet looked up. “It might have to come to that. Lord knew we aren’t exactly blessed with single men here dear, we are running a bit of debt on that side of the ledger.”

  Doc snorted. “Yeah, two women for every guy,” she agreed. Janet nodded.

  Anne looked up and sighed. “Yeah, some of us will pair up with each other, like Phyllis and Natali, and like Hanna and Vanessa eventually did, but not everyone is up for that,” Anne said, giving an offending smudge a swipe and then more serious scrub.

  “Women are for comfort, men are for pleasure,” Doc said and then smiled.

  Janet nodded. “You’re not going to get to him by being crabby every time the other girls start chasing him though,” she observed. She nodded.

  “Besides, he is so wrapped up in taking care of things, and repairing stuff, I don’t think anything is sinking in right now,” Anne commented.

  “More flies with honey then vinegar?” Doc asked wryly.

  “Exactly. Honey, we all know the deal. Just remember to share him,” Janet replied with a nod.

  “I am not sure I can do that, but we shall see,” Doc snorted.

  “Don’t you two think he should have a say in this?” Anne asked.

  Janet gave her a look. “When did we eve
r give a man a say in it?” Then she did a wiggle.

  Anne snorted. “Okay, you got me there.” The snort turned into a soft chuckle.

  “Thanks ladies,” Doc replied as she headed off to check on the infirmary.

  During the last month of hard winter they managed what repairs they could, planned spring planting and additional repairs, while working out what Mike’s group would take, where to best lay out their village, and the path they would follow to get there. Mike was prickly about taking gear, as was Mitch, but he made a deal that it was a loan, to be returned when they complete their own buildings and buy or make their own tools.

  This eased the flares of tension, much to Janet and Doc’s relief and amusement. Mitch insisted they take the motor home until they had a safe base set up. Unfortunately the area around the iron deposits had no caves, so they would have to build on a nearby hill top.

  When the first thaw became clear to them Doc asked if they were going to salvage the gear from the Amazon village. “We need more clothes; we only have two or three sets per person other than you,” Janet commented, adding her two cents to the conversation.

  “We need to bury the dead too. If there are any left,” Maggie commented quietly.

  Mitch nodded. “Okay, we will head out tomorrow morning early.”

  Phyllis stood up. “If it is all the same to you, we already talked about it and we will go.” She indicated Vanessa, Gina, Hanna, Jacklynn, Hejira, and Selma.

  Mitch gave them an appraising look. “Okay, what is going on?” He turned to Phyllis.

  “We need to do this ourselves,” she answered him quietly.

  He nodded. “All right then. Keep in contact with Jolie there.” He waved to her. “At least one check every hour,” he ordered. Phyllis nodded.

  “Yes mother,” Vanessa said snidely.

  “It is for our protection. If something happens and we get cut off from the radio they can send help,” Phyllis said cuttingly, glaring at Vanessa.

  Vanessa stomped out in a huff. The others followed more subdued. “What was that about mate?” Henry asked sotto voice, leaning over to Mitch.

  Mitch gave the exit a long look. “They want to take care of their own. They lost friends and family there, and do not want strangers handling them,” he replied quietly.

  “Oh.”

  Late the next evening the women returned with a loaded trailer. It was almost dark; Mitch, Doc, and Janet met them in the garage. “Thought I was going to have to send out a search party,” he said, and then took in the looked of the women. They were pale and haggard, with visible signs of crying. Janet came in and offered food. Vanessa swallowed convulsively and shook her head no.

  Phyllis told them they won’t be able to hold anything down right now. The other women agreed and left quietly. “That bad huh?” Mitch asked softly.

  “I have been on the battlefield, seen death, seen dead comrades. This was... hard for them,” the Sergeant replied, giving the far wall the thousand yard stare. “For me too,” she added softly.

  He patted her shoulder. “Glad you were there for them to set the example.”

  She seemed to come out of the funk after a moment. “The dead are buried. It was hard, the soil is still hard and the bodies...” She swallowed again. “Janet, we have some stuff on the trailer for you, best fumigate it as you wash it. If you’ll excuse me.” She walked off. Doc offered to help her, but she waved her off.

  “Are they going to be okay?” Lisa asked tentatively.

  “Maybe in a little while,” Mitch replied, watching Phyllis go. He sighed and turned to Janet. “Okay, I suggest you dig in with Anne, salvage what you can. We will send out a follow up group after I get their report,” he said. Janet nodded and dug into the mound on the trailer. Doc came over to help.

  The women took turns heading out to the village and stripping it bare. Mike’s group offered to help, but they were turned down right alongside Mitch. “This was our mistake, our clean up,” Phyllis told them firmly.

  They managed to clear most of the gear, even towing the rusted vehicles back to be fed to the recycling program. When a storm showed on the Doppler Mitch called them in. They arrived at the Northern gates fully ladened just as the storm struck. Phyllis informed Mike and Mitch that that was the last load; the village was cleared and razed to the ground.

  Snow melt water had swollen the rivers and waterfall; they now had plenty of power, in fact, a little too much. The emergency sluice gates were opened to relieve some of the over pressure, rapidly cooling the Great Hall. Janet, Ester, and Anne muttered about it a lot, upset about the debris and water more than the temperature. Mitch shrugged it off. Ester had settled in with Anne, and quietly informed Mitch she would be staying on when Mike left.

  Maggie and her animal handlers dug into sheering when they were sure their wouldn't be a return of snow and cold weather. It was still cold out, but Maggie judged that the animals could handle it as long as they kept them in the barn at night. The traditional animals were easy; however the Tauntauns were as difficult as they had feared. The young were isolated early; Maggie had used a disbudding iron to remove the horn buds. The adults were difficult to sheer, it took a concerted effort by all the adults to get it done without major injury.

  Ivan set in with a crew and the tractors, plowing and then planting the interior fields, and then moved south. They relocated the Southern border fence out another four kilometers and set this area up as farmland. Vance led a crew with the bobcats to wall in open areas. Phyllis and Brian relocated the Crushers to the perimeter until all the gaps were filled and covered. Fortunately the wild animals in the area were scared off by the vehicles.

  Once they were certain of spring Mike led his team off North to build the village slightly south of the iron mine. Jacklynn trained Angie in the basics of piloting with the UAV’s, mapping the area in better detail for Mike and his crew to use.

  A week later she took the controls and headed South West to explore. Jacklynn piloted the UAV through a narrow mountain pass forty kilometers away. On the other side of the pass she found a savannah. Off in the distance a sign of smoke got her curious. She discovered a small village two hundred sixty two kilometers South East of the base.

  She found a rough town of log cabins and other materials, with three mobile homes placed in together to form a triangle at the center. The town was on a hilltop surrounded by a wood, metal, and rock palisade. People waved in excitement as the UAV flew overhead.

  Paul Fenn led an expedition to meet them a week later. It went well, they stated that there was a nearby seam of copper, and they were willing to trade for it. Paul traded six chickens, a rooster, fourteen rabbits, seeds, a medical kit, along with an updated map for four hundred and thirty pounds of raw ore the villagers had stockpiled before winter had set in.

  With the first blossoms of spring brought the return of the herds. In scattered groups they wandered North by the base, up the road along the river. Ivan was a bit amazed at the sight of all the diverse animals. He, Phyllis, Brian, Henry, Buck, and a few others did a bit of hunting, restocking the freezers.

  They even caught a few Struthiomimus with a lasso, turning them over to Maggie to keep. Maggie looked dubious about the idea but set them out in a back pasture. She had a devil of a time keeping them in there though; they jumped over the short inner fences with ease. Over the next two weeks she and Ivan chased them all over the base before they rigged higher electric fences to keep them penned in. “Their honked and bird chatter are a lot like the geese and turkeys,” Maggie muttered. Pete teased Janet about having a big enough oven to cook one, making the group laugh.

  The protoceratops were easier to catch, a classic rodeo round up Mags and Janet proclaimed.

  At the iron village, Mike had set up shop with the camper, and received the first shipments of wood and material to build the base. They found a small rocky plateau to build on, elevated enough for protection. A close call with an evolved carnatosaur gave them some urgency to build the
defenses quickly, but strong enough to handle a predator of that size.

  Mike described the carnatosaurs over the radio. “They are two meter tall killing machines with horns. They looked like miniature Rex’s, but with horns over their eyes and another set sticking backwards to form a halo. They were stocky, with a broad muzzle and beak. The front arms were wing like, with extended fingers tipped by claws,” He paused, getting his head together. It had been a close call and some of the people were a bit shook up still.

  “Yeah, it sounds a lot like the South American Carnatosaurus.” Mitch replied, hitting the transmit key.

  “Like the predators from Dinosaurs?” Jolie asked.

  Mitch turned to her and nodded. “But smaller, with another set of horns and a lot of feathers.”

  “When they moved they kept the wings tucked in tight, bobbing their heads and twisting them about. Like a chicken on the hunt for a bug,” Mike observed and then paused. Talking about them clinically helped put the event into perspective and behind him. After all, he couldn't afford to freeze up.

  “When one of them bumped another animal the victim reacted, flaring the wings out and shaking them,” he snorted. “Looked like an overgrown chicken with teeth and no KFC in sight.”

  Mitch snorted. “I doubt you could get the family recipe anyway,” Mitch responded. Jolie chuckled.

  After the spring planting and repairs were complete Mitch returned his attention to the other villages. He used the tree cutter to stockpile wood, shipping some of the more seasoned wood out to the iron village as trade goods. He also had the convoy team set up a series of relay antenna and weather stations on high ground along the path. Each had a solar panel and wind turbine for power.