It was early summer by the time they finally made their way to Entrance Cave. Calli did a check on the bikes and supplies. Satisfied, she did a check on the shuttle sitting on its rail ready to go into the Valley of Death. They wouldn't have to wear the radiation suits as they always had before since last winter Hawk had constructed a decontamination bay by running pipes from the mountain stream into the tunnel going into the valley. The spray now washed the shuttle clean as it passed through the tunnel. The run off ran through grooves he had cut into the tunnel floor and eventually washed into a grate that covered an underground pipe. For now this simply ran out under the floor of the valley but he would continue working on that as he could.

They loaded the shuttle with supplies to take into the valley. Hawk set the controls and climbed in with Calli, making sure the door was tightly sealed. They settled back for the one hour trip. Calli was wakened from her doze by the sound of the water hitting the shuttle, sounding like rain. She stretched and prepared to leave the shuttle. It slowly ground to a halt and the door unsealed.

Calli stepped out and looked about. The house wasn't visible from here, but the waterfall was as beautiful as ever. She smiled at Hawk. They quickly unloaded the shuttle and placed the supplies in the wagon. A small robot would haul it to the house. It was still early so they headed on toward the house. It would only take 40 minutes to walk there.

Calli spied the bright spots of red before they reached the house. "Hawk", she called excitedly. "Look! Around the house! I think the roses have bloomed." Abandoning the wagon she hastened toward the house. Hawk sedately walked the remainder of the distance, staying with the wagon.

He found Calli touching the silken blooms, skipping from plant to plant, smiling happily. "Hawk, come here, look at these. Aren't they the most beautiful things ever?", she squealed happily. Hawk came slowly up and stood beside her. He reached out and plucked a perfect rose from the first bush. Turning to Calli he presented her with the rose.

"Not as beautiful as you are", he said quietly.

Calli froze, her eyes wide as she stared into his deep, dark gaze. For just a moment it wasn't Hawk who stared back at her. As she reached out and took the rose, her hand grazed his. Hawk drew back, turned and walked over to the wagon to begin unloading supplies. Calli held the rose to her as she walked into the house. Maybe, just maybe, he was still in there, somewhere.

Hawk paid no attention to Calli as she crushed the petals, mashing them into a paste. She molded the paste into a small, fat, perfect circle then with her knife she made a small bend in one side to make an imperfect circle. She set the bent circle aside in the shade to harden, then went about the tasks of preparing their meal and cleaning the house. They were going to rest here in peace and safety for a few days until heading back into the wasteland.

Three days later Calli received a message from her old friend Amata, now the Overseer of Vault 101. It was time. The vault was opening its doors to the wasteland and she wanted Calli to come educate the citizens on what they would find outside the safety of their sanctuary.

The partners considered the request then decided they could remain at Vault 101 until it was time for the Tradewind to return. The citizens would need the knowledge and any help they could give them to make it on the outside. The next day Calli took her tiny jewel and they left for the wasteland.

Calli held out the jewel to the craftsman. "I want you to make a setting for this. It has to be pure gold, not any of this alloy crap. I want it to surround the jewel with a small band of golden leaves with a thick, solid back. On the back I want you to engrave a name. Can you do it?",she asked. The woman took the bent circle and studied the swirls of reds and browns in it.

"This is very interesting. What is it? I've never seen a gem like this. It isn't a stone, is it?"

"No, it's crafted from plant material, resins and some secret ingredients. It doesn't matter what it is. Can you do the setting?", Calli responded.

"Sure I can. This jewel is bent though, You want the setting perfectly circular, don't you? Do you want a loop on one side to attach a chain?", she asked.

"No.", Calli said. "I want to keep the bend, not a perfect circle. And no chain or loop, just the bent circle setting."

"All right. Just write down the name here so I don't forget and pick out the style of lettering you want. It shouldn't be that difficult. How about you pick it up next week?"

"Okay. I'll come by a week from today. Please be very careful with that gem, it's precious to me."

xx

The next eight years saw changes and progress in the wasteland. Calli no longer hunted the Enclave and rarely came across a camp. They no longer seemed obsessed with capturing her. She heard rumors they were rebuilding their forces in an old abandoned vault in the west, but she didn't try to confirm its validity. The partners were very busy consolidating their business ventures. Every three weeks Calli caught the Tradewind and caught up with the sea trade business. Her two month winter sojourns in the South with Jack had become a pattern wastelanders were beginning to count on. Still, Hawk was around, and he didn't brook any funny business with their enterprises. Few dared to challenge the intelligent mutant.

Harold's seeds had been spread throughout the wasteland and were taking hold in many places. Juvenile forests were springing up in areas, providing cover for wild animals and humans alike. Farms were becoming more numerous. The rain that fell on the land held almost no radiation now, although sections of land, small pools, and many underground water sources were still radiated.

The work on the southern cave and the valley house progressed excruciatingly slowly as Calli still would not allow anyone else to know about their existence. Laying the rails had been hard work enough even with the robots doing the heavy lifting, but planting along the river bank and on the oasis and other work to improve the valley was extremely difficult. They simply didn't have the time or ability for many of the projects they would like to see done. Calli began to consider if they should allow others to know of the valley.

Though Raiders and ferals were falling off the number of thieves, thugs, and highwaymen never seemed to dwindle. Ghouls were an ever present problem. Ghoulifications continued to happen. The problem was most of the new ghouls went feral before they could be found and eventually had to be destroyed. The FEV popped up in the most surprising places and sometimes had unforeseen effects. The partners still had plenty to do protecting the wasteland.

It was Calli's 37th birthday. She rarely celebrated her birthdays, often even forgetting that it fell late in September, but Jack remembered and wanted to go out dancing. It sounded like a good idea to her. She and Hawk had just completed a difficult contract in the wasteland involving some high powered weapons and she felt in need of some relaxation. Besides, a new bar had just opened a few weeks ago that had an actual dance floor and real live band.

The barman approached them with garrulous good will. "What will you have?", he asked, addressing Jack.

"Um, I'll have a whiskey and cola.", Jack said. The barman smiled.

"And your daughter? What will she be having?" Calli raised a brow at him.

"I'm not his daughter, I'm his wife, and I'll have a whiskey. Straight." The barman's smile wavered, then brightened. He winked at Jack.

"Good for you, man." he said, turning to the bar to get their drinks. Jack watched his back for a moment. He quirked a grin at her.

"Well, you gotta admit, hon, you haven't aged a day." Then his grin disappeared. "But I have.", he said.

Calli wasn't going to let the incident ruin her evening. The band struck up and she caught Jack's hand. "Come on. We came here to dance. Let's dance." They were both GECK born, with the warrior's natural rhythms. Within short order they had caught on to the local dance steps and enjoyed a rare and pleasant evening of dancing and socializing. They were both slightly inebriated when they left the bar shortly before midnight.

They were in their room aboard the Tradewind preparing for bed. Jack had completed his routine and looked over to see what was keeping Calli. She was staring into her mirror, cocking her head on one side, then the other, studying her face. He went over to put his hands on her shoulders and look in the mirror with her.

"What's wrong, darling?", he asked.

"I haven't aged, have I?", she asked.

"No, you're just as beautiful as ever.", he said.

Calli knew she wasn't beautiful, not in the classic sense. She had never cared about that. This was different. "Jack, people are noticing, aren't they? That I don't get older. I'm not a ghoul or a super mutant, people expect them to be ageless. I actually look younger than I did when I changed. I don't look a day over 18." She turned to look at him. "I'm frightened. What is going to happen when people realize what I am? They can't tell with you. You are aging beautifully, you're as attractive as ever, but look. You have some gray starting in your hair and some wrinkles around your eyes. I'm older than you and that barman thought I was your daughter!"

"Calli", Jack said slowly. "I want to tell you not to worry. But I don't know. People react badly to mutants. There's sure enough of them as a result of the radiation. I have heard a few comments in the bars lately." He ran his hand gently over her face. "We'll figure something out, babe. Come on, let's get some sleep. We have to see to the loading tomorrow so we can head back out. Why don't you just come with me early this year? It's only a couple of months early. You can spare that time, can't you? "

Calli leaned into him. "You know I can't, I have a contract. I'll come in December, like always. It's late. Let's go on to bed. We'll worry about this later."

Over the next two months Calli completed her contract so she could be ready when the Tradewind returned.