The Diego Diaries: Farmin' (dd6 402)
-0-At the Home Ranch
"ADA!"
"WHAT, SPUDDER!?"
"BWAHAHAHAAHA! LOU CALLED ME FUDDER! ADA!"
"WHAT, SPUD BUNNY?"
"BWAHAHAHAAHA! LOU CALLED ME FUD BOO! ADA!"
"WHAT, SPUDDY LOU-LOU!?"
"BWAHAHAHAAHA! LOU CALLED ME FOOFY! ADA!"
"WHAT, SPUD MUFFIN!?"
"BWAHAHAHAAHA! LOU CALLED ME STUFFIN"! ADA!"
Genesis who was sitting on the table holding a hysterically laughing Hero glanced at Quadrus with a grin. "I could listen to this all orn."
Quadrus who had a hysterically laughing Praxus smiled. "Me, too."
Sunspot was laughing too loudly to give an opinion.
"ORION!"
Everyone turned to Praxus who smiled. "ORION! YOU … YOU A BOO BOO!" he hollered, then grinned broadly as he waited for the applause.
He got it.
"BWAHAHAHAAHA! LOU CALLED ME BOO BOO! PAX!"
And so it went for a moment or two more.
-0-Down below
They took the elevator down listening to Sunspot tell knock-knock jokes as they did. Arriving at the ground floor with uproariously laughing infants, they sauntered to the door and outside. Walking to the group around the bus stop, they pointed, chatted, punned, laughed, and told hilariously silly jokes.
"WHAT IS BLACK AND ..." Infant peers closely at a traffic light nearby. "IT BLINKS AND … CARS NEED IT!" Sunspot said happily as Spot sat next to him, a tongue lolling picture in contentment.
It would take a while for the infants to figure it out.
The Youngling bus arrived so Sunspot, Prime's kids and a dozen others with their pets entered it to go. Next came the Intermediate School bus. Genesis jolted, then looked at Ratchet. "Ada, Quadrus and I have to go to the weather station on the TransWorld Highway today."
"You don't have lunches. On it," Ratchet said with a smile.
They hugged him, then hopped on their bus, waving as the bus pulled away. Next came the Circle of Light Preparatory Academy bus which picked up Solus, Sojourner and Prowler among a dozen others, then drove off happily, filled with smiling tiny children. Everyone there looked down at Hero who was waving at them as they left. She looked up, felt a self conscious thrill that others had noticed her, then walked self consciously to the cab stand. Pressing the button, she said, "HI, MR. CAB MAN! THIS IS HERO!"
"Hi, Hero. Are you ready to go?" a warm voice answered.
"I AM! I'M GOING TO SCHOOL NOW!" She looked at the adults grinning at her with a joyous smile. "MR. CAB MAN IS SO NICE!"
"Who wouldn't be with you?" an elder who accompanied their four grandchildren to the bus stand every day said with a smile.
She stared at the ground self consciously, then smiled brilliantly at all of them. A cab slid up, she slid in, then waved to them until it disappeared. The elder grinned. "That's one fine little sweet femme, Ratchet."
"I think so, too, Hister," he said with a smile. They chatted a moment, then all of them dispersed to the life at hand … navigating over the mountains of sand, dirt and particulates the size of boulders that were piled up everywhere but the narrow band of highway everywhere that had been dug out the night and early morning before now. Some of the roads and highways were still waiting to be opened but one could go about above ground to all the schools, the different cities and important places without clambering over mounds and mounds of blow back.
Now side roads ...
-0-Back at the Other Ranch
She stood on the sandy dirt staring around herself. Picking up a rock, she put it into her mouth. Every adult including the humans froze, then fluttered in a frenzy. Ironhide picked Halo up, then removed the rock over her loudly (for her) voiced objections.
Prime grinned, then looked at Ironhide who held Halo in his hand, holding her before his disapproving eerily similar face. "She takes after you, I see."
Ironhide frowned at him, then grinned. "She does. THIS IS A STELLAR SPARKLING!"
Halo startled as she looked at her father, then smiled because he was smiling. "Atar. Bai?" she asked.
"See?" Ironhide said proudly. "By the way, don't tell anyone that she walks. Or talks. Or does slag."
"That's rather young isn't it, Ironhide?" Jetta asked as he and Mack stared at the baby with amusement.
"ITS SLAGGING YOUNG! If anyone asks, tell them," he said as he gently put her down on the ground.
She smiled at him, then picked up a rock and put it into her mouth.
It would take a while to get this one back out and she would whimper in his carry hold for a while.
-0-Medical Center
Ratchet watched as trucks trundled past heavily laden with sand. They were taking it out to the new habitat to spread it around the outside for future farming land and to landscape the area. They believed in beauty in all things. He walked in, went up, had a staff meeting, approved and disapproved many things, hurried to The Catering Place to get two lunches ordered for Genesis and Quadrus that he could barely lift … he was a good ada … then he had them delivered in time, went back to chat with Lee-Lee about her upcoming sojourn with the Autobot Scouts in Alaska, something Ratchet had forgotten completely, did rounds in Intensive Care, consulted on four processor cases, congratulated everyone in the separation wing with a new baby, ate candy at his desk, took several calls from Gliese and three from Cybertron, went over a budget proposal for expanded care in the camps around the Manganese Mountains which was step one in the process of prioritizing production of said idea/need or action, ordered dinner to be delivered that evening, sorted his desk drawers, and caught up on gossip before he was ready to go to Unidad to see what was up.
He walked out with a smile.
-0-The Ranch
"This will be plowed to work the soil. We haven't had this much land to reform lately but we know how to bring sterile soils back to life, Optimus Prime," Larc said as she and three of her experts told him of their ideas to bring things up to workable. "We have the formulation in to the Foundry Exchange and it will begin to be delivered later this afternoon. We're going to put in pasture land for the dairy first, then work out the overall layout for the fields to be planted as the infrastructure comes on line."
"The orchards and vineyard will be last," Les Hadden said as his wife, son and daughter-in-law listened. They'd been in conference with the Hu-An for three hours that morning, a thrilling experience for Les because the ideas he wanted Earth to adopt were those the Hu-An had refined for generations. Renew, reuse, refine, reap responsibly.
The Five R's.
There would be a natural organic bent to the farming that would be accomplished here with a minimal use of fertilizers, all of which would be naturally derived and careful irrigation throughout for a maximum yield per acre. Bees would be paramount for the process along with 'good bugs' and crop rotation to ensure that fields were fertile and not overused. Nothing would be introduced without adequate study. This was a closed space and if a problem began, it could spell catastrophe.
Prime and Ironhide listened as they discussed things with Jetta who asked questions and Mack who took notes. The humans had it going on. Prime and Ironhide were sucked in because they liked cowboys, cows, farming as an idea if not a practice they had any knowledge of beyond the few times they were asked to help pick something or dig a well by hand on an alien planet somewhere, or any interest in the food in question. They just liked the calm peaceful idea of working on land to make something bloom. It was a metaphor for Cybertron. On that, the humans and bots were simpatico.
"Harley and Omar are organizing a herd of 60 cows, Jetta. We're going to get them before the pasture is up but that's okay. We have plenty of feed in stores and hay as well. The paddocks and other enclosures will be up by the end of the orn so they can have room to live before the pastures come online. We want them acclimatized to the place before they get let out to graze. It'll allow the canals to be in place and the river to begin circulating water throughout the area," Les said, then he grinned. "That sounded awesome."
"It did, Dad," Zak said with a grin.
In the distance, the bots could see work going on in different areas, including outbuildings already in place. It included a huge dairy structure and barns for other animals to come later. Jetta began to point them out. "That's going to be a low dam with a spill way to help circulate the water that'll be flowing around the canal system. Each field will have their share of it by a system of shutters blocking them off from the main flow. When a field has to be watered, pastures or otherwise, the barrier can be pulled up by hand to allow it to flow in, then lowered when optimal watering is achieved. The pastures will have small channels networked through them for the grass to grow and the fields will feed water everywhere down rows between crops.
"We're making water from the oxygen and hydrogen outside as well as tapping into the deep deep aquifer below ground. Its massive, Optimus. We've located a lot of them and analyzed all of them. This one is clean and has no problems associated with it. Microbes and viruses are not found there and its big enough to last longer than I bothered to calculate for all the needs here and elsewhere for that matter."
Prime nodded. "That is good news."
"It is," Jetta said as the humans watched them silently.
Prime glanced at Les. "There are indigenous lifeforms here of microscopic size and they are part of the reservation we have about unconditional habitation. We are careful about our use of land and resources because of them. We do not dig willy nilly. It is a source of friction between us and Earth2."
"Everything that stops Owen Harris from doing what he wants is a source of friction," Zak Hadden said as Monica nodded.
"Apparently," Prime replied.
They listened to the humans and Hu-An as they discussed the following plans …
*Plowing the soil would begin shortly with a number of big mechs transforming to make plows that would pow in tandem and turn soil as it mixed nutrients and other vital elements in with each furl of their blades.
*An experiment with horses would take place in the area where the vineyard would be planted to figure out if such was feasible and practical on other worlds in future. That the horses would be mechanical and pull a wide plow with many blades would be the only caveat to credible information. Since they had no horses yet, they would experiment on the process with those from the Autobot City Municipal Stable.
All knowledge was good.
The horses who pulled the street carriages would have a chance to show their stuff given that they were on hiatus until public works chiseled the streets out of their wind blown cement-like dust coverings.
*Everyone including Prime and Ironhide would be there to watch that happen. Ironhide would call his elders and they'd come, too, Unidad Primal Liaisons and all around cow daddies that they were. The first two cows ever in the habitat would watch as well, lowing with interest at the operation.
*Ratchet would stick around because. Bumblebee who LOVED cowboys and horses would arrive with First Aid in tow as well.
*Bee would plotz.
*Cows would start arriving any time between nine o'clock tomorrow morning and noon. The herd would be hand picked by Harley and Omar, then brought in after securing health certificates. It would include 58 cows and two bulls. 22 of the cows would either be ready to calf soon or would have little calves with them.
*Two ponds and a slightly larger 'lake' would be crafted in three orns. Their construction would take a week because they would have to be rock lined, sealed against draining away, allowed to proof against leaking, then fed by the canal system. It would take two orns for the system to fill up with enough water to spill over the dam and make circulation possible. It would be then that the system to pump water from the aquifer would come on line to ensure that the levels stayed at a set level no matter how much water was used otherwise.
*That an underwater paddle system at the spillway would assist circulation would be a boost.
*Various fish were planned to live in the system. Screens would be part of the canal barrier system to prevent them from swimming into a field to die. Studies would commence on the possibility of raising fish in different kinds of circumstances. The idea overall was to have diversity of species and not dinner.
*The bots were very glad to hear that. Mack even made it a note as all the bots were assured that none of the animals or birds that would live here would become food.
*A clue that Wheeljack and Perceptor, finding the eating of animals 'appalling, the brutes' were working on food replicators for humans to use was explained, though it was in preliminary stages. More details would be released later but it would make growing animals, fish or birds for food obsolete.
*Everyone was cheered to hear that including the humans.
*The dairy would be up and running in less than two days, providing their first ongoing research project. Harley would be Numero Uno and his three sons and two daughters would assist.
*They informed Prime and Jetta that his three sons and two daughters with their spouses, all retired, would come to help run the dairy and make products from the milk. Apparently, they were all experts in the mysteries of cheese, butter and sour cream.
*Prime expressed delight that this was so, being an only child and all, then asked if Bobby Epps was aware of it.
*He wasn't.
*Everyone agreed not to tell him.
*SURPRISE!
*Trees from every continent, of all manner and relevant growing zones were being sought out on Earth by the team who Warren assigned to take their orders and find things to send over. From the grass seed needed for the pastures, the bushes, flowers, plants that anchored soil, plants that grew around lakes, ponds and along moving water like that of canals, food starter seeds, fruit trees, olive trees, vines, decorative plants, helpful weeds, lily pads, and all the other kinds of vegetation that's constantly taken for granted and/or abused on Earth was chosen and orders placed. A forest would follow the east walls, thick enough to have trails and some elevation. It would also have underground sprinklers to keep it healthy, a nod of the helm/head to a lack of rainfall and other precipitation.
*It all would be sent when the moment called for it and until then gathered in warehouses rented in Hawaii for just that.
*Everyone decided that Hawaii was a great place and there would be exchanges there when possible.
*Pigs, sheep, goats, chickens-ornamental and otherwise, ducks-domestic and wild, geese-bad ass to the bone, a few peacocks because peacocks, wild birds of many kinds to begin a natural wild population, rabbits, squirrels, insects to set wild populations and to help care for the ecosystem, personal dogs and two cats left on Earth by Zak and Monica rounded the order of living things. Adding it to the cow population and the hope of real horses, donkeys and a mule because Harley liked them, it was a beginning. Other animals from other parts of Earth would be carefully examined and added to the ecosystem when it expanded later on.
*The enclosed dome had the possibility here to expand in its nearest environs to enclose 500 square miles solely around itself. Given that it was in a place that was designated for this on the until now private master plan that Prime and Prowl had drawn up way back when when a huge habitat was desired and they would have to do something about the uproar but on their own terms, the slaggers, it meant that it could expand beyond that for a very great enormous distance before hitting the wall of growth potential all around it.
*It was decided that Prime and Prowl were either visionary or wusses. The verdict was split along bot v human lines.
*A council of individuals would have to be formulated to govern the facility on site and answer questions of the locals as well as liaison to the Prime on all things. He would have ultimate control of everything as the Big Kahuna but day-to-day would have the committee to figure out the small stuff.
*They'd have a security force like the small one at Earth2 and a jail. All trials would be the purview of Prime and would either be settled in discussion amongst those with grievances or receive the Big Jim Johnson solution in federal court.
*Warren Roberts would receive and handle applications and their vetting, though there were currently 1,472 individuals on the invite list for positions in the habitat. They were already vetted, extremely capable and half were employees of Autobot Nation Incorporated already. The rest of the 10,000 individuals would have to be hired 1,000 at a time as industries came on line.
*Everyone agreed that a beer would be handy right now, given all the decision making going on. The Hu-An would go home to eat lunch, everyone would go inside who was human to eat some more of Mama Merlie's awesome food and the bots would go to The Diner On The Corner to kick back and eat. All would reconvene at 1300 hours here.
All was well on Mars.
-0-TBC 7-3-18 edited 7-3-18