Second Chances (104 page)

Rozerita followed him out looking troubled. Mitch nodded. It was good; she had a lot to think about, he thought.

------*------

Sam's road crews also stayed local despite the surprisingly dry spring. They expanded the cement works and then worked with Bill to make concrete structures out of concrete and rebar. They laid pipes for drainage, more pipes for wiring and moving chemicals around, and then paved many of the roads in the base itself. They worked with Brian and Vance to double the size of the moats around the perimeter. Once that was done, they took a day off then went on to work on improving the roads around base, starting with the roads to Copper Town, Iron Village and the Mountain Swed village.

Brian borrowed them every two days to run the graphite mine. He stockpiled over a hundred tons of carbon in a month.

------*------

Maggie had been dealing with the calves and births in the barn when the winter had stuck around. But another birth presented itself, Hejira went into labor in the middle of the night. She awoke to pain and her water breaking...without Ivan. Sandra had been out at Mountain Village doing checkups so it fell to Cassie to oversee the birth. After Marjorie Jordan's death a few weeks ago during a difficult childbirth, both Hejira and Cassie were nervous. Marjorie had bled out during labor, just gushing too fast for the medics to save her. They had, however, saved her daughter.

The nervous young red head managed to handle the labor and duties well. Hejira bore the birth like a trooper despite the pain. “After all, it's not my first,” Cassie said as she cradled the little girl less than an hour after she got the frantic call that Hejira had gone into labor. “She's beautiful,” she murmured after she cleared the girl's airway and mouth. She did a bit of cleanup as Dora helped clean Hejira up, then passed the little girl to her mother.

“She's definitely got my eyes and hair,” Hejira said. “Once that red goes away, I'll bet she's got my complexion too. Shouldn't she be...paler? Lighter?” She asked tiredly.

“I'm not sure. We can ask mom later. Do you have a name yet?” Cassie asked. Hejira shook her head as she cradled the child to one breast. “Oh, I doubt ....” Cassie heard suckling sounds. “...Or not. Guess she's a hungry gal,” she said, smiling softly.

“She is that,” Hejira said, using her fingers to brush the infant's forehead gently. “She's so beautiful. Despite all the work.”

“The easy part’s over,” Cassie said with a grin. “Now the fun part begins,” she said. Hejira looked up at her then laid back and tried to rest. Cassie snorted. She called her mom and reported the birth. Both Tina and Sandra sleepily congratulated her. She winked at Dora. “It was a team effort. We just played catcher,” she said.

“That's the way it should be,” Sandra said. “When everything goes right. Good girl. Upload the baby’s stats to me,” she ordered. “And some pictures.”

“Okay, Mom,” Cassie said, wrinkling her nose as she smiled at Dora. Dora grinned and pulled out her camera. “The baby is nursing so we'll get you what we got. The rest of the tests will have to wait,” she said.

“Understood.” Her mother yawned over the link and then smacked her lips loudly. “Sorry. I'm going back to bed. Good work kiddo,” she said. “Congrats, Hejira,” she said.

“Thanks,” Hejira said, looking up to the ceiling speaker.

“Base over and out,” Cassie said, cutting the link. “Come on, let's get cleaned up and then give mom a break. Did you let Ivan know?” She asked, looking at Hejira.

Hejira shook her head. “He's been going flat out. I thought he'd be with me but the stinker snuck out I guess. Probably to work on the vehicles before he does more seeding,” she said.

“I'll call him in,” Cassie said with a nod.

“No hurry,” Hejira mumbled, now tired again. She laid back, enjoying the feeling of her nursing child and the euphoria of the experience.

------*------

Frustrated by the lack of convoys south, Rozerita talked Giles into letting her family fly with him to East. He checked with Jackie and Mitch; both okayed it. “If she's willing to risk her and her family’s neck, let them go,” Mitch said when Jackie deferred the decision to him.

“Hey! I'm not that bad a flier!” Giles protested. Jackie looked at him. “Okay, one crash...”

“Which you will never live down,” Jackie mock growled. “You should have known better than to fly in a thunderstorm! How many times did I warn you?”

Giles sighed and then nodded. “Too many. And I'll never live it down. Got it,” he said. “So, she can go?” Mitch nodded. “I'm taking off in an hour.” Mitch nodded again.

He, Anne, Selma, and a few other people were on the flight line to see them off. There were some tears and hugs. Selma and the other ladies gave the departing family some gifts. Janet gave them a basket of food. They boarded the plane nervously. Janet cried and waved as the plane took off.

------*------

Dunn's people recorded video, images and audio of the new communities and uploaded it to the net once Jesus returned in triumph to his home. Many of the images were seen by the more advanced communities. Jolie diplomatically incorporated them into her nightly news broadcast as well as congratulations to Jesus for the adventure.

When Mitch looked at the images he was struck by the variety. Many of the images were of small enclaves set up on hill or built into the sides of cliffs and caves. One mountain group was busy building a Gothic castle into the cliff hollowed out with caves. The endeavor was quite impressive, going up the pocketed cliff face over two hundred feet up and climbing. They were apparently kicking out alien and dino avians who had been nesting there, as well as something like a bat. They had tons of guano to trade.

Jesus forwarded a series of requests as well as items to trade despite the colonel's protest. The new communities had asked for architectural help from Capital. “Is that all they want? Architectural help? That seems...odd,” Mitch said.

“I'm wondering if they asked for more and Dunn's getting cute,” Jolie said darkly. Mitch and Anne stared at her. She shrugged uncomfortably. “I wouldn't put it past him. The man's a bastard.”

“No love lost there,” Anne said. Jolie nodded. “What strikes me is how we've gone back to the cave man days. Have you noticed that? We're the most advanced and yet...” she waved her hands to indicate the caves above their heads.

Mitch and Jolie looked up and then nodded.

“They are the most secure in a lot of ways. Sure we've got insects and some animals, but out in the open you're exposed to everything from every direction. A cave is a lot more defensible,” Mitch said.

“If it doesn't flood. Or like you said, insects.”

“Yeah,” Jolie said, making a face.

“Hey. I'd much rather be here than out there. Out in the open. There are a handful of communities that are pulling it off, but they have to divert a lot of time and resources to do it. Me? I'll stick with what works,” Mitch said. The ladies nodded.

“What about the help?” Jolie asked. “And they want it in Spanish.”

“Is Dunn fishing for allies?” Anne asked, sounding droll. “I thought most of these newcomers were from Brazil? Don't they speak Portuguese there?” She asked.

“I don't remember,” Mitch drawled slowly.

“Yes, Portuguese,” Jolie supplied after she looked it up on her tablet.

Mitch nodded. “I wouldn't put it past Dunn too play games. I bet he's filtering everything they want too. Or
he
could want the help for his own stuff. We have no way of finding out direct since everything goes through him,” he said darkly. “If we see an uptick of orders of stuff he usually doesn't want then we'll know.”

“He'll need...oh wait. He'll try to supply them with stuff he can do right?” Jolie asked. Both Anne and Mitch nodded. “So, we won't see that. But we will see it if he asks for what, trucks? Could that be why he wanted the Antonov?”

“Maybe. Or so he can do his own trading. He's still bottom on the list. And no, I don't care if he can pay or pay double,” Mitch growled.

“Playing favorites?” Anne mocked, tisk tisking as she looked at him. He just stared back at her. “Okay, be that way,” she said. “I'm in agreement if anyone asks.”

“Right.”

------*------

Sandra finished the spring physicals and began processing the labs she'd ordered. Everyone was in good overall health, Bob could stand to lose some weight and stress, but otherwise everyone was good. The kids were growing like weeds, which had brought up this particular round of testing. She got the DNA test results back and studied them carefully. She didn't like what she saw as she compared the various files. It didn't make sense, but in a way it did. She set the tablet down and closed her eyes.

She needed to tell Mitch. To tell the others. She just wasn't sure how to break the news. The good news was that the embryos and donated genetic material Mitch had brought along seemed immune to the Meme alien's gene tampering. At least for now she thought. She sighed thoughtfully.

She wanted kids. More kids, but not now. Not until Tucker was at least two, but the way he was growing and developing...she shook her head. No, her body needed a rest too. And with her work...she frowned feeling guilty.

She
needed
to tell Mitch, she thought again, circling that thought like a vulture. He wasn't going to like it, any less than she liked the implications both in the short and long term. It was...disturbing. Wrong. She wasn't...she sighed. She'd have to
find
the time; it wasn't something one just dumped in an e-mail. And telling him at night when they went to bed wasn't fair. Both of them were exhausted. They were also on odd schedules, so sometimes he didn't get to bed when she did, or he was up and out the door long before she and Tucker roused out of their slumber. For now, it would keep. She picked up the tablet and filed the information away and then put a reminder on her calendar to have the talk.

The real problem was when. A storm day might do it; it was probably the only time Mitch would be indoors. She checked the weather forecast. Nothing was on the radar for the week. No joy there, she thought. Until Mitch was forced to take time off, he would be working flat out, trying to make up for lost time with the late spring start. Everyone was doing it. She rolled her shoulders as she got to her feet. Even her, she had to check in with Maggie now that her last patient had been discharged.

------*------

Throughout the spring despite the weather the Capital Base vets had been called out to make house calls at various communities to birth calves and other animals. They could put it off due to the inclement weather for the first month, but when the snows faded away, they no longer had that excuse. They still did radio consults while the bases’ herds started to drop their calves and foals or began nesting.

Mitch realized that there was some expectation from some of the communities to see the new aircraft. Jack didn't need the help; he had the Fuentes to handle his herds. Mitch had heard that Dora and Diego had been in discussions with Colonel Dunn to relocate but had decided to remain where they were after Dora had their first son.

There was a great deal of disappointment when Maggie did as much radio help as she could to avoid traveling. “I can't be everywhere damn it! I have my own animals to look after!” She shook her head. She didn't mind the idea of going; she had gone to Iron Village once but refused to go further. Something in her ached to though.

“So don't,” Mitch said. “Jack's got the Fuentes zoologists, they can handle things in his area. Diego's been going to Mountain Village to help out so that's covered. I noticed Tsakhia isn't calling; the Huns and Mongols seem to have their bases covered. So does Dunn. The same for Adam and Prairie and Olaf and his Mountain Village. Do what you can where you can. It's up to you if you want to travel or can have Ducky or someone cover for you in your absence. Hell, if you two
want
to go,
I'll
cover.”

“You
?” she demanded.

He nodded. “I may not be an expert but I can get by for a week or so,” Mitch said. “I did it before you arrived remember?”

“Yeah, but Mitch, this is different. We've got ten times the number of animals and a lot of them are pretty wild.”

He nodded. “Which is why I'd rely on Jeff and the others to keep me in line,” he said. She slowly nodded.

“Well, I've wanted to see more of this world. More than just this...place,” she said weakly. “No offense.” She looked at him, concerned that he'd be hurt. There was still some brittleness in him. Some equated it to Rozerita's betrayal and abandonment.

“None taken. Go. Go see what they've got; help them improve or pick up ideas. Bring a database and vet gear with you.” She nodded and took off at a trot. “I didn't mean now...oh hell. Me and my big mouth,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Maybe I should have told her to charge for her services?” he asked himself rhetorically.

She went to where she thought she could do the most good in the least amount of commuting, East Village. She had been in talks with them ever since they'd made contact. Sue Charles, their rancher, was good with horses, cattle, and goats, but she was timid when it came to vet medicine. They didn't have a dedicated vet, and Doctor Ventura wasn't comfortable working on four-legged patients. They had an eager teenager Steve who wanted to learn but training a noob remotely was just asking for trouble. Fortunately, they had some Internet access so she'd sent Steve some material and even quizzed him on basic anatomy. She'd even done remote diagnosis with the web camera. She wished Steve would travel to Capital, but the kid flat out refused to leave his village. After the flight and sight of some of the dinosaurs and aliens on the ground, she wasn't sure if she could blame him or not.