CH52
It was now one month later:
Everyone had pitched in to harvest Alexis's garden. They had quickly filled all of the storage rooms around the outer wall of the lodge.
Kate had gotten bigger and even more horny then she had ever been before. Rick was being kept really busy. He fast found out that hunting with just a bow and arrow without Kate's weapon was a lot harder to do then he had expected.
He was still doing all the cooking and when he wasn't doing either of those he was in the shuttle with Kate making love to her. He was keeping up with her but it was tiring. Kate's hormones had really gotten the better of her.
As expected she was happy and horny one day and pissed and crying the next. However Rick never left her side, happy or sad or anywhere in between.
The Sun Rises was due any day now. Using an Earth calendar, it was early November now and it was getting cooler. Not cold this far south, just cooler. It was actually pretty nice most of the time.
Alexis was out in her garden planting for the next harvest praying the winter wasn't too hard and kill it all off.
She heard something that sounded like the shuttle returning. Alexis knew her dad and Turner had gone north along with two other people to do some hunting while the other two would pick apples and cherries.
However when she looked up she saw two shuttles making a descent down to into their valley.
Alexis jumped up and ran for the lodge. "MOM, MOM, I think the Sun Rises is here." Alexis yells into the space as soon as she clears the door.
That got Kate and everyone else up and outside just in time to see two shuttles land a little ways out. Missing Alexis's garden by mere feet.
Everyone but Kate and Alexis ran down to meet them. Kate was forced to walk with Alexis at her side.
By the time Kate and Alexis made it Captain Montgomery and others were surrounded.
"Detective Beckett, it's good to see you. I see you've gotten bigger." Kate wasn't showing much the last time he was here.
"Bigger? I'm huge sir. My feet hurt, my back hurts, I'm tired all the time and I eat constantly. I'm never going to take all this weight off." Kate's hormones had her moaning about all her problems.
"Two more months detective, just two more months." Roy tries to make her feel better. It didn't work. "Where's Castle?"
"Rick, Turner, Pfaff and Murphy are up north with the shuttle hunting and picking fruit that grows better up there. We try not to over hunt any one area.." Kate explains.
"Sound like a, …." Roy and the others suddenly jump back. "What is that?"
Kate looks where he was looking and spots a now much bigger Tigger standing next to Alexis letting Alexis scratch the side of his face.
"That is Tigger. According to Rick and Alexis he is an extinct animal from Earth called a Saber-Tooth Tiger. Rick found him when he was a baby and it followed him home. Alexis has been feeding him ever since. She is also the only one he lets pet him. Although I think Rick gets one in now and again." Kate explains.
"We have a lot to tell you sir, a whole lot." Even Kate was still amazed how similar this planet was to Earth.
"Well I've got a lot of items to drop off for you. Plus these two shuttles. I'm taking the other one back with me when we leave. These two are made just for you." Roy tells them.
"They don't look very different." Kate looks them over.
"Mostly there isn't much difference, however these two can do this." And Roy pushes a button sequence and the back end opens down with a ramp in the back.
Everyone in eye shot looks inside. "QUADS!" Alexis yells out.
"We put what you gave us to good use Miss Alexis. We thought you could use these. These however are different than the ones you gave us information on. These are powered by hydrogen instead of whatever gasoline is.
Those engines were just way too dirty. I think you'll find these are a lot quieter too. And we have six of them for you on this trip. These are the first two." Roy tells her. "We have a lot of items to bring down."
They were unloading one of the many trips when Rick and the others showed up. Rick had returned with an Elk with huge antlers on its head. The meat would last for days for something this big.
The others also had several bushels of apples and cherries.
"Castle, I see you have gotten good at this." Roy was happy the colony had him.
"It's a little harder with just a bow and arrow. Kate can manage to shoot from a greater distance." Rick informs him.
"Well I can't help you there, but I do have a number of traps like you described." Roy tells him.
"Excellent! Hunting for big game is hard and tiring. If we can supplement it with something smaller it will make things easier." Rick explains.
It took a few weeks to unload everything off of the Sun Rises.
6 – Quads and one hydrogen maker filler station.
Parts and glass panels to put together two good sized greenhouses.
Roughly 60 pots for plants and almost as many trays to start seeds from.
Parts for two windmills along with 30 batteries.
22 – solar power panels.
6 – solar hot water panels with two storage tanks for the system.
Panels and the parts necessary to construct two walk-in cooler/freezers.
4 – large boxes of Tupperware like storage containers.
A large amount of medical supplies. Pain medication, surgical kits, anti-biotics, along with several First Responder like kits.
2 – kilns to make clay items.
The ability to make glass items for personal use as well as the ability to make glass windows. (They could replace the shutters on the lodge with double pane windows eventually).
4 – lasers to use for cutting (chainsaws)
Piping for hundreds of feet along with a pump powered by the flow of the water. (They can route water from the stream to the lodge. Just like the summer home)
12 – Barrels of spray foam as well as a sprayer.
4 – cases of 24 each of spray foam to seal the windows and other things.
Seals for the main and back doors of the lodge to keep winter winds from getting in under the doors.
Crate after crate of winter clothes, coats and boots.
Enough soap, shampoo, toilet paper and feminine products to start your own hotel.
Septic tank and piping for a drain field along with the necessary pumps.
"It'll be good to have my ship back. We have items strapped down in the flight bay. We can barely land the shuttles on board. The recreation room is half filled with still more items. We came back with less crew so we could use crew rooms to store some of it." Roy listed off what it took to get all this stuff back here.
Not that he was really complaining, since he was smiling the whole time.
"Me and my crew will be here for a week to help you build what you want to do first. Then we will be heading back for Tellus. On the day we leave it would be an honor to perform the first marriage ceremony if you two are ready. …. No pressure." Roy was smiling. He wanted to be part of a first so bad.
"On a side note, the next ship will be bringing very few supplies except for what you put on a list before I leave. It will be bringing Satellites to be placed in orbit.
GPS Satellite Constellation: The baseline satellite constellation consists of 24 satellites positioned in six planet-centered orbital planes with four operation satellites and a spare satellite slot in each orbital plane. The system can support a constellation of up to thirty satellites in orbit.
They will also double as weather satellites so you can track planet wide weather systems. It will also allow you to view the Mineral Exploration and Mining.
Satellite Imagery and aerial photography has proven to be an important tool in assessing mineral exploration tenements, it provides the geologists and field crew location of tracks, roads, fences, habitation, as well as ability to map out crops and regolith systematics and vegetation cover across an area or region." Roy tells them what is coming next. "And they are also communication satellites, so you will be able to talk to anyone from anywhere on the planet." Roy adds.
"Which reminds me, we also brought you a server system that took up one entire crew room. Once you have the solar power panels up you can have Lucy back on-line." Roy adds. Getting Kate to thank him over and over.
Two days after the Sun Rises had started to unload all its supplies, Roy was outside with Alexis and others putting the greenhouses together, while another team was putting solar panels, power and hot water, up on the lodge roof. People wanted hot showers for a change.
Rick rang the lunch is ready bell. "Castle if you people are eating like this all the time, you make me want to stay." Roy is laughing knowing he is not staying. But this was real food. Not the baby food on the ship. Which was a selling feature to get the crew to come down and help.
Since they were living on an Earth like planet, eating Earth like food, Kate got her way and they were going to have a mix of mostly Tellus with a touch of Earth tradition to blend the two.
Seems you had to start a long march down city streets singing and celebrating. Since they didn't have any city streets. They started at the lodge and went out into the valley circling around the garden, that was getting enlarged. Over to the river and then back to the lodge.
There were no vows or rings to exchange (Kate already had her ring anyway).
Rick did however have to sing to Kate and Kate had to sing to Rick. Then a unity ceremony took place that Roy presided over.
To better explain our unity ceremony of science: A chemical reaction results in an entirely new compound from two or more separate ones. They are unique on their own, but brought together they form something new.
Rather than flat out calling it the baking-soda vinegar reaction, we'll call it Sodium Bicarbonate and Acetic Acid (for science). When brought together the individual molecules break apart and form three different substances — Carbon Dioxide which form bubbles, which escape from the mixture and go into the air. Sodium acetate which is widely used, but also acts as a buffer in other solutions meaning the remaining solution will not easily become too acidic or too basic. It will remain at a fairly constant pH even when acids or bases are added. The last component it produces is water, the molecule of life. I could prattle on about other cool stuff water does, but it would probably bore everyone.
Regardless of whatever we try to do we can never again separate the baking soda and vinegar because they are no longer in the beaker, they have come together never to be separate again.
"As allowed by the rules and laws of Tellus, that all ship captains are endowed with, I'm pleased to call you, Husband and Wife. As part of Earth ceremony you may kiss the bride."
Rick took Kate in his arms and softly kissed her for an extended period of time.
Kate cried when he offered to marry her and presented the ring. Now she was crying again. Kate was pregnant, she was married and she was now a Castle as part of the Earth based tradition.
As part of Tellus wedding tradition each guest, in this case quite a few, typically provided gifts to the happy couple. However in this case there were no individual gifts to provide.
Captain Montgomery had talked to everyone, including his crew about what to do. Every colonist had signed as well as his entire crew a little something on a tablet. Roy was going to present it to the powers that be back on Tellus when he returned.
Rick and Kate as well as by extension Alexis and their unborn child were given 100 acres of land of their choosing anywhere on the colony planet. And with two shuttles for them to use they were going to be able to use them to personally view each place they liked, and then decide.
They already had on a tablet the entire planet for them to view their initial choices from.
Kate thanks to her hormones immediately began to cry, trying to get "Thank you's" amongst all the tears.
It didn't take Rick and Kate long to select an island they saw in the middle of a sea area that reminded Rick of the Mediterranean back on Earth. The islands shape reminded him of Iwo Jima. It however didn't have a mountain on one end.
The island had mostly a rocky coast except for the natural bay that it had where there was a large sandy beach area. The island was filled with palm trees and vegetation. There was an elevated area area just north of the beach. Far on the north end there was a jagged cut into the island that ended in a lovely sheltered inlet.
Not far away from this was a large cave area just at sea level. There were a number of small rock out cropping's on the east and west side. However it was the beach and the elevated area just north that could easily hold a very large house that caught their eye.
There was plenty of land for a good sized garden along with a number of greenhouses. They could easily build a good size dock on the east side directly across from the house.
The fresh water tower would go there. The septic tank and drain field would go there. Who needed a pool when you had a protected bay with a large beach.
When they flew over they saw wild flowers everywhere.
The island itself was only 87 acres in size. The 100 acres would easily include the rocky out croppings.
It was gorgeous in their eyes.
They eventually showed it to Alexis. She feared that the land would be too rocky for a good garden, however there was plenty of space for greenhouses.
"Does this mean we're going to have a boat?" Alexis was excited.
Before the Sun Rises broke orbit to head home the greenhouses were built. All of the solar power panels were installed. The piping from the stream to the pump and then down to the lodge with a stub out for the barn had been installed.
Also the footings and the floor for the barn to house the Quads and the hot water generating system were down. They just needed the walls, roof, doors and put the solar hot water panels on the roof. The piping from the barn to the showers was already stubbed in. It just needed to be completed.
Kate's feet and back were starting to hurt her but still she went out to help Alexis in the greenhouses. Kate had learned a thing or two helping her earlier and the greenhouses were important to all of them. Winter wasn't expected to be that hard this far south, but they didn't know this planet so it paid to be careful.
"Mom you should go inside and lay down. I'm just doing starter trays. This part is easy." Alexis didn't want Kate working too hard.
"The greenhouses are important pumpkin and I need to feel busy." Kate was tired of lying around and sleeping. Being pregnant was beginning to suck.
"Go have dad massage your feet. That'll make you feel better." Alexis suggests.
Actually Kate liked that idea a lot. So she kissed Alexis and went in search of Rick. She found him helping the others hook up the piping for the hot water system, along with piping for something else it appeared.
Kate walked up and put her arms around him. "Hi husband." Kate purred into his ear.
"Hhmmm, hi wife." Rick leaned back to get her closer.
Kate put her head against his back and breathed him in, which turned out to be a bad idea. Kate came over here to get a foot massage, now she wanted something else.
Kate goosed Rick. "Shuttle babe, now!"
Rick grinned and escorted Kate to the shuttle, where Kate instantly started stripping him of his clothes.
The benefit of having a shuttle was that Kate didn't have to scream into her pillow, she could let go and enjoy all of Rick.
Three screams later she was laying there with her feet in Rick's lap as he sat on the floor. Rick was massaging her swollen feet and Kate was in heaven. The sex had been great and just what she needed but this was heaven.
Rick and Kate were walking back to the lodge for the night when they saw Alexis sitting outside the front door next to Tigger who was getting petted while he chewed on his dinner.
Rick went inside while Kate stopped and plopped down next to Alexis with Tigger on the other side of Alexis.
"Pumpkin Tigger is getting bigger and he's a wild animal. You've been very good to him but he needs to live his own life out in the wild." Kate tries to tell Alexis Tigger needs to go.
"But Mom?" Alexis knew what she meant.
"He needs to live his life sweetie. Find a girl and have kittens like what he was when Rick brought him home." Kate still didn't believe he followed Rick home. She was sure big heart Rick had carried him home and dropped him off just outside the door.
"What if he doesn't leave mom?" Alexis hoped he would stay.
"He'll go sweetie because you and your father are going to stop feeding him." Kate tells her.
"But mom he'll starve!" Alexis played her last card.
"He'll hunt and eat just like he was meant to pumpkin. He'll be fine and you'll have your memories of him. Come on inside for the night sweetie." Kate asks of her.
Alexis pulls herself away and follows Kate inside.
Come morning Tigger was out front expecting his breakfast. Kate knew this was going to be hard on Alexis so she had Rick help her up and followed Alexis outside.
With Kate's eyes on her Alexis didn't stop to feed Tigger or pet him, even though she desperately wanted to.
Tigger hung around the front door too long to follow Alexis inside the greenhouse so he lounged on the front porch area for the next two days.
About the time Rick and the others had the hot water system installed a few days later Tigger was gone.
They were putting the solar hot water panels on the barn/shed roof when Tigger showed up again looking fine. He only stayed a few hours, long enough to get a lot of "Hi Tigger" from a lot of people including Alexis. Then he was gone again. Tigger kept this up for months before he never came back again.
It was originally intended to be a shed to house the Quads in. However it expanded to house the solar hot water system, the control system for the solar power panels and the two wind turbines. Also in the back was a large work bench meant for taking the Quads apart if necessary and then putting it back together.
Also back here was storage for tools and parts not just for the quads. There was also space for future battery installation so they would have backup power. Next to that was space for the server that Lucy would get connected to. There was also space for something that Rick knew was coming but kept his mouth shut.
A surprise wasn't a surprise if everyone knew about it.
Above the Quads was storage for already cut wood for use later. Each of the six Quads were side by side and each had its own set of doors.
They intended to build an addition on the back of the barn to be used to make glass windows in. If the winter wasn't too bad they would build the addition then and start construction of the windows come spring.
With no natural gas, propane or oil they had sent an electric tank type water heater to make hot water with. The problem with this is that it limited the amount of hot water they had to work with on days the solar hot water system couldn't keep up. Eventually it would get changed out for hydrogen.
"MOM, MOM!" Alexis comes flying into the lodge. "There are two shuttles landing!"
