Bootstrap Colony (9 page)

A week of hard work on other
projects and he judged the landing strip cured enough to use. The predator
drone was wheeled out of its pod by a donk, and then pulled to the apron. It
took an hour of work with the robots and a couple cuts on his hands to get the
wings mounted and all the final connections made. The wings were over ten
meters long, covered in solar panels on the top.

The body also had solar panels,
but only along the hump where the wings connected. The classic melon of the
nose was left alone; the sensitive electronics were too precious to be addled.
He used the command hummer to run the check sequence as a tanker robot filled
the hydrogen fuel cells.

The drone had a four hundred
fifty kilometer range, but with the solar panels and proper cruising it could
extend that range up to seven hundred kilometers. The ball under the nose
twisted and turned, the cameras zoomed in and out. Wing flaps pivoted up and
down, Rudders on the canted tail twisted back and forth in sync with the
ailerons.

When the drone reported flight
prep complete he programmed it to head out north twenty kilometers, then bank
east and return. He wasn’t going to take chances; he could do a couple test
flights before he was comfortable it was okay to fly. The drone taxied down to
the end of the runway, did a slow turn around then flared its flaps and took
off with a rumble.

“Damn that was cool,” he said and
sighed, and then looked for Max. Alarmed he spun around, and then heard a
whimper under the truck. Crouching down he took a look, and laughed. Max was
behind the tire, whimpering, ears flat tail tucked under him. “Didn’t like the
noise uh boy?” The dog crawled out and licked his face. He chuckled, got a face
full of tongue, and then the dog began to bounce a bit. He pulled the ball out
and tossed it, watching him run off at full speed.

He let the drone do one more test
flight and then set it to one hundred kilometers out north by north east, then
bank south fifty kilometers and return. Meanwhile he spent the afternoon using
the crane and robots to assemble the Quonset hut hangars.

That evening he checked the feed,
and noted orange and green painted rocks about ninety three kilometers out,
almost on the edge of the run. They were between a forest and a river. The
drone had then flown south, flying over forests until banking west for the
return leg. It had passed over a river, then a lake.

From the looked of the river and
panographic images the river was the same one that bordered the possible iron
deposit. The lake was fed by another river, the northern one he had seen
before, and drained down a series of small fell into a large canyon river. More
trees were south, and what looked like a series of mountain ranges.

The range of animal life was a
bit surprising; there were herds of the giant hammerhead creatures as well as
dinosaur and mammal herds. Each species group favored its own, he was curious
as to why. The hammerheads were the most numerous, but there seemed to be only
the two species, the giants and the ceratopsia. The dinosaurs were also a bit
uniform, two herds, one of sauropods, another was a mix bag of ceratopsia, what
looked like hadrosaurs, and a few therapods tossed in around the outer
perimeter.

It was weird seeing them, they
had headed bare like turkey vultures, but from the neck back they were covered
in feathers. The hadrosaurs had scaly legs from the knee down. The
struthiomimus looked like emus, but with long feather covered tails. They were
quite spectacular; high stepping in ran with a peacock like tail. He was amazed
to see a couple of what looked like Anklasaurs as well. They waddled along with
the rest of the herd, thrashing their bone tipped tails.

The mammal herds were quite
extensive, bison and aurochs mingled in one great herd north, but along the
southern lake he had spotted a mixed herd of animals, some he was stumped
about. A few looked like giraffe, but others were a varied lot of deer, and
even two woolly rhinos! The deer each had a wide assortment of horns, it made
for a mad view, like branches thrashing about. Probably a defensive form of
camouflage or visual confusion method he mused, and then shrugged.

Apparently his base was pinning
some of them there, they were skirting the northern river to keep away from
him. Or at least that was what he assumed; it could be that they were just
staying close to the river. The drone had even caught sight of the eastern Rex
family; they were snoozing camped out near another carcass in the sun.

The next week was spent expanding
the pastures, overseeing robots putting up fencing while also juggling his
growing list of chores. The farm robots were doing well, if slow. He had hoped
things would have been faster, but the design team had warned him it would be a
slow process.

After the sixth day of putting up
fencing he finished the gate and took a break to wipe his sweaty brow. It was a
bit warm, but the sky south west was ominously dark. He took a long look,
wishing he had had the time and power to set up the weather station. “Great,
just great,” he sighed, and then looked things over. This pasture will probably
be the last he was going to put up for a while.

The outer ring of pasture fencing
was chain link, three meters tall, topped with razor wire. When he had the
power it would also be electrified. Until then he was stuck with constant
patrols by the robots, eating into his power reserves immensely.

Three long days of constant rain
drove him into the cave. He was worried about the cement driveway; it had been
poured by the robots only two days before rains. Too much rain could turn it
into soup.

The first day of rain had allowed
him to catch up on much needed maintenance and spend some quality time with the
animals. But the urge to get more done had been overwhelming. He had finally
booted the auto cad program, loaded the blueprints of the cave, then had it
auto generate an architectural blueprints. He spent the evening going over
them, adjusting them till he was tired and his head pounded from eyestrain.

The next morning after breakfast
he just couldn’t stand it, he had to do something! He glanced out at the gloomy
sky. Hera had jumped onto the bed, waking him with purrs and a desire to be
petted. When the kittens insistently mewed for her attention she ignored them
for the moment. Far more important things were to be considered, like a
thorough petting.

One of the little fuzzballs
managed to climb the bed and get up to mom. Mitch could almost see her sigh in
resignation. He smiled slightly in amusement at the thought. The tiny tyke
mewed, ears almost flat, eyes almost closed. He chuckled.

“Buut mooooom. I’m hungry,” he
teased, and then laughed as Hera gave him a dirty look as she lapped at the
kitten's head. She settled down on her side with a resigned sigh, and the
kitten began to nurse. He started to scoot off the bed when the second, then
third kitten came up. When he got off, he watched bemused as the fourth just
managed to get up over the lip to join them. The fifth was a bit lost; he
scooped it up and set it down with its brothers and sisters.

He muttered at the sky as he
splashed through the rain and puddles to the cave entrance. He pulled the
precious laptop out of his coat, and set it down on a crate. Maintenance was
quick, as were the animal chores. By the time he was finished mucking out a
stall before a robot could get to it he firmly decided to get to work on the
cave interior.

The decision made, he began
ordering palettes of materials. GP robots and donks sprang into action,
splashing though the rain to gather the materials from the cargo trailers.

He started in the room he called
the hall; it would be the main foot entrance to the cave complex. The robots
had cleared the chamber of stalactites and stalagmites. The Andy robots had
even completed laying the beams for the walls and ceilings.

Running the piping for everything
was a bit of a chore, it took a lot longer than he had thought it would, which
was typical. Still the work was absorbing. Seven sets of pipes were run in the
ceiling and floor, one for water, one for air, one for heating and air
conditioning, one for sewer, two for electrical, one for the integrated heating
in the floor, and the final one was a fiber optic cable. The electrical pipes
were separate, one was the liquid nitrogen jacketed super conductor for the
main power buss, the other was the low power lines for lights, outlets,
speakers, fans, and such.

It felt good laying it out after
a while, when he got the first box in it finally felt like he was building a
home. He had been so wrapped up in being overwhelmed with chores and his to do
list, it really hadn’t sunken in until that moment. He sat back on his
haunches, looking up to the ceiling. The sound of an Andy laying out wiring and
piping brought him back.

They managed to get the first
room done by lunch. He took a break while the robots worked on the next hall,
laying out the materials for him. He ate a cheese sandwich, watching the rain
out of the cave mouth.

Back on the job, he made short
work of putting the pieces together. Now that he had the hang of it, and the
robots were adjusting, he could keep just behind them as they laid things out.
By the time he was finished gluing PVC, twisting wire ties, and soldering
plumbing the robots had finished the next room or hall and moved on to the next
area.

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.