The next two years was taken up with finding qualified people willing to leave behind their families and lives to take on the challenges in building Arhome. Builders, farmers, engineers, craftsmen, many talents were now in demand. Temporary lodgings were set up in the smaller tunnels to house the new residents until permanent housing could be developed.
Trusted guards watched Cave Entrance and regulated the traffic coming into Arhome. No one left Arhome except those few individuals authorized by Calli, Hawk or Jack. Harkness led the new guard unit to make sure this regulation was strictly enforced. The wasteland and Baton Rouge Bay areas stirred with rumors about Calli's secret city and the disappearance of talented people, but no one was able to trace the entrance. They knew only that it was somewhere in the far west near the monastery of the Disciples of the One. This rumor was fostered by Master Katherine who had become a well known figure in the wasteland.
The first major project to be undertaken was opening Arhome Bay to the ocean. The planning stage alone took nearly four months. Jack was present when the first charges opened the wall. It would take over six months to complete the opening. To protect Arhome a gate was installed in the mouth of the tunnel that completely filled the opening from the ceiling to the floor. This would keep out not only any persons who might find the bay, but unwanted sea life from finding its way up Arhome River into the Valley. It could be raised up across the ceiling to allow entrance of the medium sized boats delivered to the Bay on the Tradewind ll. More guards had to be hired to watch this entrance and were rotated in and out of the city.
Stew became second in command of the guards and was in charge of the security of the bay. He was fiercely loyal to Calli. He also became a devoted follower of Master Katherine's religion, much to Calli's dismay. She hadn't expected the religion to spread as it did. She had many requests for copies of Marcella's Bible she always carried. She had a few printed and distributed to groups in the wasteland but printing was still fairly expensive mostly due to the lack of available paper. She started a small business paying for scavengers to gather and deliver old paper to a facility in River Port where it could be recycled. She also discovered the groups were willing to contribute to the 'cause'. This proved to be quite profitable.
With the opening of the Bay large objects could now be brought into Arhome. People from the Baton Rouge area were brought in through the Bay. The wasteland didn't even know it existed. The Tradewind stopped in the hidden cove before sailing up the shore to the wasteland ports. Without the bay Arhome could not have grown as the amount of food and supplies now required couldn't be brought in through the Valley of Death.
With the Bay open and the Tradewind making regular stops Aileen was finally able to go into Arhome on a regular basis to get to know the twins. Brent was delighted to have siblings to play with. He wasn't a shy child. The ship always stayed in port for 2 nights and 2 days while products were unloaded and loaded. Jack would stay in Arhome with his family while Aaron handled the operations.
Aaron resumed his job as first mate aboard the Tradewind but often brought one or more of his kids with him. The children enjoyed going into Arhome to visit and play while their Dad worked. Since Hawk rarely took the ship his room was remodeled for Aaron and his children. When he did take the ship he bunked on a large mattress in the crew's quarters.
Trade was brisk as the number of Arhome products grew. By the twin's third birthday Arhome Bay was in full operation, with a guard unit stationed on the beach, and a dock large enough for the Tradewind and the smaller ships that would navigate the river. Warehouses were built to store products coming and going from the ever growing city state. Manufacturing was taking hold in the numerous huge tunnels, where the temperatures and humidity were steady.
Calli decided it was time they took the children to visit their grandparents. Jack's mother had never quite accepted the warrior as a suitable wife for her son, and Calli's decision to keep the twins in the wasteland had further alienated her. Calli was not looking forward to the visit. She had never quite gotten used to the sea and was nervous about taking the rambunctious youngsters on the ship.
The Tradewind ll stopped in the Bay after leaving the wasteland, as it did every month now. Jack was beaming happily as he brought his family on board. The twins had been allowed aboard the ship every month since Jack wanted them familiar with it, but they had never actually been to sea.
The twins had a great time. They took to the sea like their father. Calli and Aileen took the children ashore at a few of the safer ports, where they were a great hit with the tradesmen. Many of them knew Jack and his wives. The twins' outgoing, happy natures and boundless energy made them friends wherever they went. Not many people now remembered when Sally had stopped here, with her brilliant red gold hair and ivory complexion, but the Ranger at the Florida Isles port saw a resemblance in the little girl. He wondered what had happened to the flaming haired warrior to make her hide herself from public view. At least Captain Jack had not abandoned her even if he did have a beautiful young wife.
"Mom said she'd watch the kids tonight, hon", Jack said. They were in their room in the house he had bought for them. It was a nice house not far from the bay where the Tradewind ll was currently moored. Calli approved its low, open profile in this hot, humid climate. The twins' room was right next to theirs, which made her feel safer, with Aileen's room on the other side and Brent's just across the hall from hers. Blinds covered all the windows so she could go without her head covering when just her family was present.
Jack leaned in the doorway, watching her. "Let's go out. We haven't been dancing in ages.", he said. Calli grinned.
"That sounds like fun. Can we try that new place over on 2nd? I heard they have a good band. "
"And a good bar, too.", Jack laughed.
Calli was happy. She would get to wear her new dress. Made of Louisiana cotton it had been created in Arhome to suit her needs. Form fitting at the top, with a high neckline and long, loose sleeves, it had a flowing skirt specially constructed to conceal the knife and laser pistol she deemed necessary to carry at all times. Even Jack's mother had approved the lovely dress, unaware of its special attributes, though she didn't approve that Calli always wore the small hat with netting covering her face. She felt family at least should be able to look at her no matter how badly damaged she was.
"You should tell Jack's mom.", Aileen said, arranging the cap over Calli's shining silver hair.
Calli sighed. "She'd never understand. She doesn't like me much anyway because I'm so different. I don't want her to reject the twins, Aileen! If she knows about me, she'll know they're mutants too. I can't risk it."
"I guess you're right. It's too bad though.", Aileen replied.
They had a great time. Jack was secretly pleased by the interested looks men cast at Aileen, who seemed to grow more beautiful each year. He felt so lucky to have two such wonderful women. Tall, dark Aileen with her luxurious figure and quiet, calm manner hiding a will of steel, and small, willowy, sleek, silver haired Calli with her brittle warrior's nature, intense curiosity, and keen intelligence. So different and yet they complemented each other perfectly.
Life settled into a pattern for the family. Arhome grew at a tremendous rate. It didn't matter as much now that radilite had become impossible to find. It was only formed from certain minerals in the belly of a nuclear explosion. The area around Vault 87 had been the prime source but it was now depleted. The overland passage wasn't used much anyway except by Calli and Hawk. Most traffic and trading took place through the bay. This made it a lot easier to keep the location of the valley secret.
At intervals they would take Joe and Mattie to the Life Vault to choose seeds or livestock. They had learned how to use the artificial incubators. The first animal they brought out was an alpaca, as they determined the creature would be useful for meat, milk and especially attractive wool. With this success they began bringing out other creatures. It was a surprise, but a big advantage, when rain began to fall in Arhome.
Calli was delighted when Aileen became pregnant. She urged the woman to stay in Arhome but Aileen refused. She wanted to stay on the ship with Jack. Even Calli couldn't bend her will. As her due date approached Calli grew ever more nervous. To placate her sister wife the now heavily pregnant Aileen left the ship to stay in Arhome. Since he wanted to be there for the birth Jack too left the ship in Aaron and Dawson's care to stay with her.
Brad was born on a dark, stormy night in late summer. Jack held her hand when she delivered and beamed proudly as he was presented with his son. Calli was both delighted and relieved. They only stayed a few weeks while Aileen recovered. It did take her time since she was old human. She took her sons and they resumed their life aboard the Tradewind ll.
By the time the twins were nine there was a nice herd of horses they were just learning to break. Brent turned out to be especially good with the animals. He loved sailing the sea routes with his father but was considering asking if he could stay in Arhome for a while to work with the young herd.
The small school now had a fair number of students. Calli continued to bring in young orphans though she didn't bring many children over the age of 6. Older children or those she deemed unsuitable for Arhome she left in Little Lamplight or found homes for in the wasteland.
Many of the residents took to the cult of the Disciples of the One Calli had created to hide herself in the wasteland. It had originally just been her. Now it had a small congregation in Arhome that was looking to create their own gathering place. They were intent on reproducing the Bible Calli had been given by the missionary on the Island when she died.
There were still some wild places in the wasteland, some places in the city to scavenge, and plenty of bad humanoids to keep the partners busy along with their growing businesses and trading.
It was mid-summer and the wasteland was hot and dry. Calli had found an old cave system that had once been used as a Raider hideout. It was now being used as a fire ant colony. Fire ants were nasty, dangerous creatures created by a mad scientist with no scruples. She had been trying to eradicate them from the wasteland ever since their conception. Clearing the caves of them had been a difficult task, but profitable. There was a lot of salvage in the caves.
They stored most of the salvage for later pick up, took what they could carry, and headed for the Super Duper Mart. There was no way Calli was missing the Tradewind ll this trip. Aileen was pregnant again and due soon. Aileen was adamant about staying on the ship so Calli was going to stay on the Tradewind ll until her sister wife delivered. Aileen and Jack already had two sons so she hoped it would be a girl this time.
Calli was happy. She had a husband she loved and who loved her, children she adored, a sister wife she felt very close to, a partner she could always depend on, and friends who cared as deeply for her as she did for them. Arhome was thriving and the wasteland was prospering. Life was good.
But the winds of fate were blowing and sometimes change isn't for the better.