Bootstrap Colony (25 page)

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.

The convoy team led by Paul Fenn
took the same path to Copper town a few weeks later. They surveyed a better
path first with a light convoy of hummers and the drones. They were followed by
one of the tractors pulling a flatbed loaded with one of the bobcats and trade
goods. They reported an ecstatic greeting from the people of Copper town.

They traded tools, a ham radio,
antenna, seeds, medical supplies, and a couple of the survival manuals for as
much copper they could carry. Paul reported that a man named Jack was the
village leader. Jack pointed out a flat area for a runway; the bobcat was used
to smooth it out, as well as to do a bit of digging for their defensive wall
while the crew rested for a few days before the return journey. Jacklynn flew a
nervous Doc to the village and landed after Paul radioed it was ready.

Doc spent a day with them. She
checked them all over pronouncing them okay, if suffering a little from
malnutrition. She left some multivitamins as well, and eggs Mitch sent along to
give them a bit of surplus food. Jack asked for more eggs, he joked about omelets.
Jacklynn’s next flight brought them in, as well as a pair of small wind
turbines.

When the convoy returned Paul
reported in to Mitch. “Before we made contact with them, they were working on
domesticating some of the local wildlife,” Paul reported.

Mitch looked up interested.
“How’d that go?” he asked.

“Well, Dora and Diego Martinez
worked on domesticating dinos at first. They were former zoo keepers, Diego was
a bird wrangler.” Mitch nodded as Paul continued. “The large dinos were passed
over in favor of smaller therapods. They managed to catch a few bison calves in
the spring, but the animals are difficult to handle,” Paul said, wrinkling his
nose. Mitch snorted.

“They also caught a giraffe baby,
but it died,” Paul sighed. “They had better luck with antelope and deer they
caught, but the constant stress of being around humans quickly killed the
animals.”

Mitch
nodded. “Yeah, they do have a tiny tolerance for us.”

Paul
nodded. “Eventually they managed to catch an auroch cow with calf, as well as a
small herd of ancient horses.” He wrinkled his nose again. “I don’t see much
use for those horse things, they are tiny.”

Mitch
looked interested. “Tiny?”

Paul
nodded. “Yes, with weird hooves and dappled coats. They look more like deer
then horses.”

Mitch
nodded. “They are most likely the ancestor of our modern horses.”

Paul
cocked his head. “Huh, no kidding,” and walked off bemused.

With copper, iron, carbon, and
plastics on hand he set up an automated factory to construct more alternators
and wind generators. The first sets were crude, but go out to the iron miner’s
village, along with a bigger antenna.

Although sulfur had been found,
the seam was small and was used up quickly by the growing appetite of the
villages. More sulfur was extracted by the molecular furnace, but a pure seam
was made a priority find. Tin was a major problem, what little tin that can be
extracted from the soil was nowhere enough to satisfy their growing
civilization.

They hit a deal to trade with
each of the mining villages every other month, allowing them to stockpile
enough to make the trip worthwhile and so it was least disruptive to both
groups. The automated miners were back online. Now that power was restored
repairs and expansions to the greenhouses and other buildings were ongoing.
Ivan was excited about the planting, chasing Mitch and anyone around to gush
about the tools and rich soil.

Two of the Amazons, Brian, and a
couple teens worked on expanding the fortress, while the vet team handled the
large amounts of births and expanded the grazing pastures, with much heated
debate with Ivan over space. With the automated silicon miner going full steam
Mitch powered up the entire base and turned on the solar blanket fabricator.
The fabricator created cheap solar panels on a film as thin as a piece of
paper. Mounted in plastic frames, they were mounted outside on the walls and
roofs, while some were stockpiled for shipment to other villages as trade
goods. Super conductive wire was run between the panels and the base’s power
relay station. Things were finally looking up Mitch thought with a smile of
approval.

Mitch was making dinner, pan
fried tilapia fillets breaded and cooked in butter when Phyllis and Vanessa
came in. Wearily Phyllis sat down; Vanessa rather shakily sat in a nearby
chair. “Home the conquering hunters come... So what did you bring home this time?”
Mitch asked and glanced at them, and then turned to move the fish before it
stuck to the pan.

Billy came in, gathered dishes
from the dishwasher and then rushed off to set the table. Janet came in drying
her hands. “You two better get cleaned up here, diner is almost ready,” she
warned. She paused to look at the pale Vanessa. “What’s wrong?” Mitch turned to
regard them.

“We were hunting and just bagged
a giraffe when this THING came out after us,” Vanessa said, shaking. Janet
rested her hands on her shoulder.

“It was huge, like a boar,
bristled and dark, but with a hump and great big tusks,” Phyllis continued the
story.

Mitch handed her a beer and then
another to Vanessa. Vanessa’s eyes were lost. “I thought we were toast, I mean,
it just grunted and the next thing we knew it was charging...” She began to
shake again. Janet took her into her arms.

“So you killed it?” Mitch asked,
and then turned to move the fillet around to keep it from burning. He turned
the temperature down as Phyllis cleared her throat.

“No. We didn’t, something else
did,” the Sergeant said quietly. He turned and looked at her drawn face. “It
was half way across the clearing charging us when this tree suddenly moved and
slammed the beast to the ground,” she said and then shivered. “The thing that
was charging us was screaming and squealing like a pig.” Janet nodded.

“Then the arm came up with the
beast in its claw and just squeezed...cut it in half,” Phyllis said, gulping.
She shuddered again.

Hanna came in, noted the taboo.
“What did I miss?” She looked from Janet to the shaken Vanessa, trying to hide
hurt and jealousy.

“Phyllis and Vanessa had a close
call hunting,” Mitch filled in quickly. Hanna paled, and rushed to her lover.

“The tree thing... It was the
damnedest thing when it moved,” Phyllis took a long pull of the beer. “It had
black eyes, I did catch that. We got the hell out of there fast though.”

Mitch nodded. “I am glad neither
of you were hurt.” Natali looked from one woman to the other.

“Come on dear, let’s get them
cleaned up,” Janet said, easing Vanessa up, and guiding her out with Hanna.

“What do you think it was?”
Phyllis asked softly, eyes dark.

“The first thing that attacked
you may have been a relative of the boar. Ancient ones were pretty nasty
customers,” Mitch replied thoughtfully. He flipped the fish down onto the
serving tray. “Order up!” he called to the dining room. Billy came running in,
grabbed the tray and rushed off. “The other thing...” He looked in her eye.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”

She sighed. “I was afraid you
would say that. We didn’t see it, not until it attacked. It looked like a funky
tree, bark and all.”

He nodded. “Some ambush predators
have great camouflage,” he replied while cleaning the stove. “You may want to
steer clear of the deep woods, maybe hit the grasslands for a while,” he
commented. Phyllis nodded and set the empty beer down on the counter, then went
to get cleaned up.

Serana called to complain about
spider rats in the grain. She quizzed Maggie about the problem. Janet suggested
a simple old farm idea. “Put grain in the bottom of an empty barrel. Leave the
barrel out where they can get to it easily. Prop a plank or log up so they can
climb in and out. After they start visiting and bring all their friends, remove
the inside plank and fill the barrel with water. Then sprinkle the top of the
water with grain and bran.”

She waited a moment for Serana to
digest the idea. “Jambo, I like it,” she replied suddenly with a grin in her
voice. Janet smiled ferally.

Maggie took the mike. “Just to be
on the safe side I will send over half a dozen cats and a handful of dogs on
the next convoy.” Serana gratefully acknowledged the gift.

“Victoria secrets it isn’t but I
think it will do.” Anne held up the latest bra design from Selma.

“Ohh, I like!” Janet shucked her
shirt and wrap. “Gimmey gimmey!” Anne playfully kept it away, and then tossed
it to her when Doc came up behind her.

“I was wondering, I don’t think
any of the girls caught him all winter,” Anne said thoughtfully, wiping her
hands.

“I thought you said no man can
resist a woman’s charms?” Doc teased.

Janet shrugged. “You have to
catch him in a room alone long enough to weave a spell,” she said, testing the
bra. Doc nodded in wry amusement over that observation.

“Vanessa was more interested in
tying herself to him for power,” Janet wrinkled her nose. “Luckily, Hanna put
the kyboshes to that.”

Anne chuckled. “Vanessa didn’t
even see it coming,” she said with a smirk. “Some huntress.” Janet giggled a
little.

“Why didn’t you two hook up with
him?” Doc looked from one lady to the other.

“I guess you could say we have
both been in mourning for our husbands dear,” Anne replied, smoothing her dress
as Janet modeled the bra, tweaking the fit a little.

“Oh.”

“It is like riding a horse dear,
you just have to get back up in the saddle,” Janet added. “Practice made
perfect,” she grinned mischievously.

“Gee thanks a lot,” Doc replied
dryly.

The scorpions killed a goat in
the night; Maggie found the horrifying mess during her feeding rounds. The fur
rippled, and then hundreds of baby scorpions come out from under the hide,
sending her screaming in fear, startling many animals into bawling fits. The
scent of blood made the situation worse; several animals injured themselves in their
stalls. Doc and the vet sprayed the corpse, kill as many of the things as
possible, but a few got away.

“From the looked of these things,
they only kill large animals when they have an egg sack on their back ready to
hatch. Then they pop in, eat their fill, drop the sack and leave,” Maggie said,
clutching Billy.

Mitch nodded. “We will have to do
another fumigation,” he growled firmly.

She nodded. “Maybe we should
relocate some of the armadillo’s to the barn?” she suggested.

He nodded. “Might be a good
idea.” Maggie gave Billy a pat on the rump and told him to round a few up for
her. He gave a theatrical squall and rushed off.

“Keep a few in the sleeping areas
too,” Maggie shivered.

Mid spring the greenhouses had
another harvest; this prompted a major effort in canning and food production to
process the food into something that wouldn't spoil immediately. The
communications team worked with their counterparts in the villages, striking a
deal for needed material. Mitch headed out to the iron village first with a
shipment of wood, animals, food, clothes, and basic tools.

The trip was difficult and time
consuming; several detours make them late and annoy Mitch, who vowed to grade a
road when the storm season ended. Brian laughingly agreed as they hit a pot hole.
Almost to the mine a thunderstorm hit, washing out the creek, make them detour
to higher ground. When they arrived at the village they were gritty and sore.
Mike took a look over and nodded to the camper for them to get cleaned up.

Mitch looked things over, noting
that Mike and his team had not been idle, first setting up a palisade and moat
for defense, then buildings inside, each built off the ground. Many used the
interior walls of the palisade as their fourth wall. A more permanent stone
wall structure was in the works, with piles of rocks, sand, gravel, and clay
nearby. They had dinner together; the African domestic manager kept her cooing
baby on her hip, jouncing her once and a while. Janet had tagged along, they
trade recipes and tips. Paul had overseen the transfer of the animals to the
stables. He dropped in for a quick bite just before dark.

The next morning they loaded up
with the iron load and headed off. The heavy iron ingots managed to get them
stuck a few times; judicious usage of branches under stuck wheels got them
loose. A flat tire stalled them a short time later. While outside re-inflating
it a predator in the bushes put them on alert, but Mitch tossed a firecracker
into the bush and its loud string of pops chased the snarling animal away.

The return trip took nearly twice
as long as the one coming out, by the time they arrived Mitch’s jaw was set
with firm annoyance. Janet and Paul kept a low profile and tried to keep things
moving as fast as possible. “Unacceptable,” Mitch muttered over and over.

“You have to get used to it, it
isn’t like we have a freeway,” Doc commented in exasperation when they got
home, gushing out air and waving them to the showers. He nodded.

The next day he took Paul, Jolie,
and a small crew of volunteer teens out with the grader, spreader, dump trucks,
and other gear at dawn and they began grading a road. Vance was annoyed at
losing half his gear and crew. It was trial and error; none have ever done work
like that before. The road out was crude, but filled in many of the potholes in
the path to the north. They only manage a few hundred meters, but it was
progress. They managed to do this for two more days, increasing the efficiency
before a rain storm forces them indoors.

Swearing at the rain, Mitch had
his crew stand down while he worked on maintenance issues that had cropped up
in his absence.

When the storm cleared Angie and
Jacklynn took the bush plane out to the copper village with a small load of
trade goods. They came back with two hundred pounds of raw copper, along with
Sam, a road crew member. He took charge of the road crew, while Mitch and girls
sighed in relief and got back to other delayed projects.

A month later the rough road to
the iron village was completed. More dirt road than gravel, but smooth enough
for easier travel. Sam wistfully wished they could tar it, but without oil to
make tar asphalt it will have to wait. Although they had a supply of concrete
and cement, both were needed for the walls. His crew stood down for a short
party while he took leave in the copper village (courteously of Jacklynn flying
the bush plane for a trip) and then returned to get the next leg to the Copper
village under way.

Mitch took the road crew and
trade goods out to the Copper village, stopping along the way to use the gravel
they brought along with the bobcat to smooth areas for easier travel. They
arrived just as the bush plane landed a week later. Doc came out with her med
kit and was hustled off to a hut.

Mitch turned to Angie, who smiled
and told them that one of the ladies was in labor. Nodding he turned his
attention to Jack, the village leader. Jack was the quintessential woodsman,
wearing worn jeans, red flannel and suspenders. His boots were a bit worn and
torn.

Jack was enthused about the wind
generators, along with the load of lumber, animals, and food Mitch's crew had
brought along. He whistled up a stand by team who began to unload everything by
hand until they heard a motor and spotted the forklift and bobcat unhook from
the back of the trucks and then turned to work. They quickly got to work
unwrapping the tie downs and stowing them.

One of the men noted a pallet
with TP. Asking what it was, he cheered at the answer, making some grin and
tease him. He instantly turned beat red. Jack laughing told the convoy group
that, “Gary here had an unfortunate run in with poison ivy while needing a wipe
in the bush.” Everyone laughed at this. Gary looked steamed and then chagrined.

Helen snickered that he needed
some quality time with Natali and the calamine lotion. He shrugged off the good
natured laughter and ribbing. Mitch patted him on the shoulder and told him
that they aren’t laughing at him, just the situation. His unfortunate incident
while painful will let others know to be more wary of what they use in the
bush. Some nearby snickered a little more at that.

Mitch took in the scene, smiled
as Jack watched him. “It reminds me of something between a castle and something
from the Mad Max movies,” Mitch observed. Jack looked a bit defensive. Mitch
held up his hands. “No offense, you're doing wonders here. I just had a bit
bigger budget to shop for before we came.” Jack scuffed his feet. They passed
through the patched gates, made of sheets of metal and plywood Mitch observed.
Inside Mitch took on the complex. The three mobile homes were now pushed back.
Massive buildings, some of stone, others of crude cute logged hug the exterior
earthen and wooden palisade.

The largest building was made of
stone. The roofs were crude patched affairs, only one seemed to have shingles.
Some of the buildings have stone fireplaces; others had holes cut in the roofs
for smoke to exit. He nodded in approval. Jack gave him a searching look and
then pointed to an open faced building nearby. “That is John’s black smithy. It
seems I wasn’t the only one who a bit about castles and medieval architecture.”