"Home" coming

The four of us were too wrapped up in what we were doing to notice how many people had shared our moment. Hope, Jacky and Shell still tease me about the audacity of the meek.

To this day I'm glad our extended families had our backs until we were truly ready to handle everything the world threw at us. We'd had no idea what we'd let ourselves in for. But in the end, would those who opposed us have really wanted us to know they were coming so we could be ready in advance?

From an interview with Rionnagh Cheshire Scott

Sometimes you don't want to fix crazy. You want to grab onto it and enjoy the ride.

Artemis

Cheshire

It wasn't long after we said our "oath" that Kim and Rachelle came to get us. After being introduced to Elspeth, Hana, Marion and their families they led us down a hallway to a small conference room where two figures were waiting. Kitsune, Astra and Shell followed behind.

The one figure barely had time to turn around before my arms were around her neck in a hug. "Ruth! You're back!"

As Kim did introductions behind me, Ruth wrapped her arms around me and squeezed back. "Chuckle. It's only been two days Cachorra." She nuzzled my forehead, "But I've missed you too." She gave me a thump on the back before setting me down. "I'm back, but not 100 percent yet. I have maybe an hour before having to return to rest form. I'll need to go back soon." She paused to brush a lock of hair back and tuck it behind my ear. "On that subject, Dr. Brock has something for you."

Dr. Brock smiled in greeting, "Hello again, young lady. Ruth and Evelynne tell me you've been busy."

I smiled back, "It's mostly been a good busy." I bit down on a giggle as Shell rolled her eyes.

"Chuckle. Anyway." He said as he pulled a leather pouch from his pocket, "This is for you." Handing it to me he continued, "You are the only one other than myself who can use it."

I could feel something solid inside the pouch as I turned it over in my hands. Reading the lettering I asked, "Little Yggdrasil? What is it?"

Dr. Brock had a twinkle in his eye, "Open it and tell me."

I gave him a wary look, I pulled the pouch open and slipped what looked like a metal casting of a tree part way out. "Looking" closer at it I could see a glowing framework within the metal. Pulling it the rest of the way out I found that the "roots" of the tree were the bars of a tuning fork. "OH!"

I closed my eyes and gently tapped the forks on the palm of my hand and listened to the tone it produced. Opening them, I could see a translucent image of a door with a bas relief of the tree on it. In a large arc in front of it were arches similar in size to the recessed alcoves in this room. Looking back at the door, just before the image faded, I caught sight of my crest.

I was in awe of the gift he'd given me. "A key. You finished it?" Looking around at the people gathered I asked, "How many people can we bring with us?"

Dr. Brock smiled, "To the first? Yes it is. To the second? Only the base features; Tokki is working on installing the flowerbeds, gardens, orchards and vineyards. To the third? We have 100 passes but only 20 tokens for breakthroughs."

Astra stepped forward, "Why the passes Dr. Brock?"

Dr. Brock nodded to her, "For security reasons, Ms. Corrigan. As Ms. Mitchell has been informed, the world is doubly dangerous for those of us that can bridge locations at will. For me, my little corner of reality serves the same purpose as your Dome. I admit my passes allow me to track the wearer, but without them the security I have in place will throw out any intruder. If they are lucky they will end up someplace hospitable on Earth. If not, they are thrown adrift to land where they may.

Astra's face was grim, "And the tokens for breakthroughs?"

Dr. Brock matched her look for look, "To provisionally allow those not connected to my collection of realms to use their abilities while there." Astra gave him a shocked look. "If you are thinking that means that any breakthrough without a token would be low jacked you would be correct." He frowned before continuing, "According to Dr. Harte, I share at least one trait with Lady Ozma: I am good, but if you threaten those I care for, do not expect me to be nice."

Astra closed her mouth and shook her head as if gathering her thoughts, "Provisionally?"

Dr. Brock explained, "The tokens and passes can detect intent. If the wearer intends harm to my realm or one connected to it within its boundaries, they cease to function. Attempting to analyze it or copy it in any way results in the same. As does intending to provoke another wearer into a violent action. I included mental manipulation and coercion in this restriction. Sigh. It still needs fine tuning, but we can discuss the excuses used by those that think 'the rules shouldn't apply to them' later."

He took a look at Shell's belligerent expression and added, "Don't worry, Ms. Boyer. Honest retaliation for tickle fights is permitted."

Despite the situation Astra smirked, and I had to smother a giggle at Shell's expression. She caught the twinkle in my eye and stuck her tongue out at us. She huffed when I returned it with a smile.

Dr. Brock clasped his hands together, "Now to better explain. I had an interest in learning about Ms. Mitchell's range of abilities so I solicited a contract with her guardians to create a place for her to stay." He turned to me and bowed. "And I apologize, Rionnagh. I did use the opportunity to test how well the passes will work, so they will only function in the arboretum. Which reminds me. No one that intends to come is allergic to bee stings are they? No? Good." Looking back to me he nodded, "When you are ready, young lady."

I picked an alcove and was just about to tap the key on my hand when a thought occurred to me. The tone hadn't been a "sound". I could "hear" magic; could I "speak" it? If only for this? "Oh well. If it doesn't work I can pretend I was just hesitant."

Taking a deep breath I brought the tone to mind and "sang" it. The tone reached out and the image, of what I now realized was basically a courtyard, formed again. In a bizarre version of echolocation the tone fluoresced off of the alcove and produced an echo in a courtyard arch. When I willed them to line up, the view into the alcove was simply replaced with one of a wood floored courtyard and facing me was the door that I was guessing led to my tree house. I blinked. Just a slight "press" and I was holding open a portal to Dr. Brock's pocket reality as easily as I was breathing.

Without looking back I stepped through. Gazing left and right I realized how right I'd been. The door was set into the trunk of a very wide tree. A twenty meter wide ramp led up to my right and down to my left pausing every ten meters vertically to level out at a "deck" to grant access to a balcony, maybe four meters wide, before continuing on. Trunklike "posts" along the outside of the wider ramp held it up. Looking closer I realized that there was actually a channel next to the outer rail, sunken into the surface of the ramp, with a brook running in it linking cascades and small pools of water. "It looks like it runs the entire ramp!"

Floating up and turning around I could see that there were other trees here, the closest over two hundred meters away. Smaller than the one I was next to, they looked to be about fifty meters thick. Their ramps were smaller and the balconies were absent. Following the trunks up I saw a network of branches about two hundred meters above me that seemed to connect every trunk to every other. The scale of the space stunned me. You could fit a football field and a decent sized stadium between any four trunks here.

I was thinking the trees went beyond my visual horizon until I saw the figure next to a thicker trunk a mile away. She was wearing a blue dress, had flowing white hair and was floating above a set of arches. Lighting my wings and shifting position confirmed it. "Yep that's me." Paying attention to my "sight" I could make out that this "room" was a mile wide each way by two high. Outside of the trunks it was separated into sixteen "floors". Inside the trunks... I lost count. I was in awe. Tokki Sif had designed what was basically a self contained arcology with twenty-five two mile high towers and Dr. Brock had crafted it in under three days. I could also see the Tokkis that were in the process of planting the garden areas... it was going to take them a while. Until then most of what could be seen was dreamcrafted. Dr. Brock and Sif had included "flowers" that, in addition to providing variety to the visual landscape, would tide over the little glowing clouds of bees from the apiaries that Tokki had already placed until the real plants started blooming.

"UHumm-hum." Dr. Brock cleared his throat to get my attention. "All of our guests are here, Ms. Mitchell. Are you ready?"

Looking down I could see everyone had come through and were spaced around the courtyard. I returned the key to the pouch, carefully tucking it into my sash, before closing the gate as I descended to land in the space next to the "front door". Taking in the expressions of confusion and awe in front of me I had to suppress a giggle. Grandma Alice, Daddy and Grandma G just watched me and smiled at my delight and the joke we were sharing.

Letting my inner imp take control I stood straight and addressed the group. "Good evening everyone, thank you for joining us. I am Rionnagh Cheshire Mitchell and I will be your hostess. On behalf of New Underland I would like to welcome you to the extra reality pocket that is the Little Yggdrasil arcology." I gestured at the vista around us and bowed. "We hope you enjoy your visit."

Roars of laughter broke out around me, literally in Ruth's case as she involuntarily shifted back to her rest form. Elspeth and Marion ran up to hug me while Hana adopted a more dignified pace. Behind her, her Grandmother caught my eye and gave a slight nod of approval. Astra and Shell's jaws hung open.

Shell recovered first. "An extra reality forest?" Shaking her head she added. "This place is huge!"

I kept one eye on Dr. Brock while I replied, "An extra reality simulation of a mythical forest and, while large, it is not as big as it tries to appear." I gestured toward where I could see our group a mile away in both directions. "As those of you with the vision to see detail at this distance can tell, that is actually this group you see at the wider trees. The arcology measures a mile in each direction laterally and if the intervening floors weren't in the way you would see that it measures two miles vertically for slightly over five cubic kilometers in total volume. Exterior to the towers we have a total of 16 floors. The interior of the 24 smaller towers each have 640 floors while the main tower we are adjacent to has 320." I attempted to stay serious but my tail was betraying me by refusing to hold still.

Dr. Brock's eyes twinkled, "Well, my dear, I believe it is time to show our guests inside."

"Of course, Dr. Brock." I nodded and turned to the door. Seeing the panel to the side with its arrangement of buttons I mentally shook my head. He had it set up so you could access every "tree" and floor separately. "I know I suggested it but I think he went overboard for the first attempt." Fortunately it was easy to deduce the floor designated as mine. I had to admit, it was so simple I may have made it look like I knew what I was doing the whole time.

Then I had to clamp down on a snort of laughter as the door opened by sliding to the side without a sound. Dr. Harte must have told Dr. Brock about the doors in the dome and he'd cheekily replicated the apparent function here. Then I stepped through and nearly forgot I wasn't alone. The door had opened into a den/bar/lounge area that was one of four large, equally sized spaces on this level. Measuring more than eighty feet each direction they all had overhanging loft/balconies that added half the space again to the floor area.

There had to be more than two acres of living space on this level alone and it included a circular, seventy-foot diameter, pool in the center. An open shaft went up nineteen more levels to what I realized was the bottom of another pool. Only the first balcony of the shaft had decorative plants but as I looked around I realized they'd managed to furnish this floor, including some indoor plantings, to the point that it didn't feel sparse. Breathing deep I realized they had to have finished within the last hour or two. I could still smell dust that hadn't settled. Two groups of Tokki in professional uniforms stood to one side. One group led by Ginger was dressed as staff and was loosely spread around the lounge. The closer group looked to be guides and the one closest to me gave me a wink. The tablet she was holding was labeled Sif.

I'd managed to take all of this in quickly enough to turn and be ready as the last of the group entered. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and continued, "This is the point at which I admit to having reached the limit of my information. I will now turn you over to Sif and her design team. Please direct any questions pertaining to the arcology to them. Thank You."

Tokki Astrid

I had a sad smile on my face as I watched Cheshire. The poor munchkin had nearly fainted at the sight of her "tree" house. I introduced myself and smiled as she welcomed me to the table she and her friends had been settled at. She always made a point of addressing each of me by our chosen name.

Despite the fact that every me I had was at least slightly different in personality and interests than any other me, I was/we were a redux, and we were used to being addressed as Tokki or even "Hey you." and it would be understandable if she did as well. That she made the effort to "know" each one of me left me/us as feeling as warm and fuzzy inside as she was on the outside. As a result I/we on the design team may have overdone it with our thanks.

"Well, Rionnagh, I take it from your expression that you didn't quite expect this?" I teased her as she sipped the drink Ginger brought her.

She shook her head, "I had hoped for something maybe the size of my rooms at The Dome, in a tree maybe fifty feet tall, next to a pool or pond with a gate to Tygeara's grotto. The whole thing wouldn't have been as big as the floor I have here."

I paused before taking a drink from the glass I'd brought with me. "The 'floor' you have here?" I watched as her eyes became saucers. "Rionnagh, we set aside everything from this floor up to just below the next pool for you and your guests." Yep we had definitely over done it. If only just a "bit".

Her voice was a squeak as she tried to grasp the information. "Why? How am I going to use so much space?"

I smiled, "For now? You and your friends are young. Why not use them as a place to further your education and training? With your ability to go nearly anywhere you want, it would be no problem for you to do the less energetic things here and then hop out to designated firing ranges for when you go all out. "

I watched Cheshire relax as she got over the initial shock and started thinking again. "I wonder if Dr. Brock could set up a pocket to repair itself after it's been damaged. Kind of like Tygeara's larder, except instead of replacing the material consumed it would renew the features damaged by training. It would be even better if he could make it with variable weather and terrain."

She sighed, "I'm being terrible. As convenient as it would be to have our own danger room, I'm sure there are far better uses for the power it would take to set up something both big enough and with different permissions than are in effect here."

I swirled the ice in my glass as I responded, "I don't know that he couldn't do it. After all, until you came along with your suggestion, he'd balked at doing this for over a year. Now that his part in it is mostly finished, we need a new project to bug him about."

A chuckle rumbled from behind me, "Heh. It wasn't enough to be the annoying older "sister". Now you've thrown in with Shell on being a bad influence." Ruth leaned over and nuzzled Cheshire's forehead. "Hey cachorra, I'm not as recovered as I thought and I need to go get a quick bite. I was wondering if you wanted to walk me out."

Cheshire frowned. "Oh, okay." Her tone wasn't happy, no surprise there, but she set her drink down and stood, taking Ruth's hand when she offered it. I could see her struggling to keep her ears up... for the first few steps at least. At that point Ruth pulled her out of line with the door and began leading her in a new direction. Suddenly her ears were perked forward and you could see the twitching start in her tail.

I smiled and looked at the youngsters at the table. All their eyes were wide with curiosity. Catching the eye of Hana Ehara's grandmother, I made sure to pitch my voice so she could hear. "Would you three young ladies like to see where they are going?" Hana barely looked at her grandmother long enough to see her nod her approval before getting out of her chair. Elspeth and Marion had stood and taken a step before looking to their uncles and waiting for their permission as well.

While the parentals followed behind, Elspeth and Marion grabbed my hands to follow Hanna, who'd managed to get to Cheshire and take her free hand while our backs were turned. Laughing, I allowed them to hurry me along until we caught up to the trio in front of us.

Walking to the left we passed through an archway and a short series of planters and fountains that completely screened off the area we walked into. This was the "little" corner we'd set up as the munchkin's private space. The two story "apartment" that took up half of the area was the size of a mansion. Private kitchen, dining room, living room and a gaming/movie area, open to the second level on the lower floor, and bedrooms, library/study area, and viewing balcony on the second floor.

The other half was a courtyard lit to make it look like a clearing hidden in the woods, including a woodland pond taking up the back corner, and several thermal soaking pools that drained into said pond. In a "nook" there was a futon bed big enough to make Ruth's rest form look small and it was piled high with pillows. One whole wall was actually a projection screen that could turn the nook into a private theater and even though it was in the part of the courtyard closest to the center of the "tree", it was separated by a floor to ceiling wall. The only open side was an arch facing the "pond".

The pond was what Ruth currently led us to. She put her hand on a post next to its shore and beneath the water a light shimmered, revealing a short tunnel that led down into the depths of her grotto. Bending down she nuzzled Cheshire's ear again and murmured, "See, lucecita, we did not forget." Cheshire gave her a quick hug making her chuckle. "Heh. I won't be long." Ruth stepped back into the pond before turning and diving down into the depths.

Cheshire watched Tygeara until she touched an underwater projection and the view of the tunnel disappeared, leaving just the pond. She gave a start as Hana spoke beside her, "You certainly have some amazing friends, Rionnagh-chan."

Cheshire reached and took her hand. "Hai Hana-chan, I do, and they all have their own special place in my heart." She reached her free hand to Elspeth and Marion, "Every one of them."

"Oh now, that is just too darling for words." I could almost feel my teeth ache from the sweetness as the four of them wrapped each other in a hug.

The next hour was spent in negotiations as the munchkins tried and succeeded to get what turned out to be the first sleepover for all of them. It didn't take them long to figure out that we'd planned on the possibility. After all, despite the extravagance of Cheshire's new home, there weren't many reasons to keep a walk in closet stocked with a rainbow of yukatas in four different sizes. Given how many of me there were, the end result was me getting a lot of hugs of my own.

Ruth returned in time to join the discussion and weigh in on the choice of chaperones. In the end Fuji Ehara would leave Kabe, Mizu and Hi no tori from her security detail to pull shifts, while Father Anderson and Father Hadid were satisfied that Ruth and I would provide support as needed.

Shell, Astra, and Kitsune, along with myself and Ruth played aunties and uncle to the munchkins for the next two hours as everyone relaxed before the adults not staying headed off to their hotels. Ruth stayed until the munchkins had fallen asleep before heading off for another feeding. When I checked in on them ten minutes later I sniffed the air, "That's funny. I swear I can smell cherry blossoms." I shook my head, "I must be more tired than I thought. I'd better 'call in' a replacement."

Dr. Adam Brock

As I reached the top of the hill, the four children were following Astra and Kitsune around a bend in the path on their way to wherever the stream flowed. My hostess turned to greet me as I approached.

Her voice was warm as she spoke, "Welcome, young crafter. I have been watching you for some time."

I bowed deeply as I replied, "It was a great honor to receive your invitation. I could not refuse."

"Why not? You have many times before."

Her eyes danced as she watched me. A teacher teasing a student. She already knew the "why". I answered anyway. "You were not the only one watching. Kabukicho was none too pleased when I won the bet and escaped him the first time. Part of him has been lurking ever since. It is because of his obsession with my 'vision' that I stopped attending anything resembling a theater. Three times he almost had me but there are no glowing koi in your stream." I turned the business card, with its blossoming cherry tree and multi tailed fox logos, over in my hands. "Your Kitsune was more persuasive, and far more pleasant to converse with."

She laughed, "Wonderful. You have considered our proposal then? Are the terms acceptable?"

"I have considered it. Though I am reluctant to agree to the terms."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Did you not find them generous enough?"

I smiled sadly. "My pardon, Lady Kannon. My reluctance stems from my questioning whether I am worthy of such generosity. Sigh, I will do my best to merely give them a positive learning environment. That is the only promise that I can make."

Kannon nodded. "Then we have a compact. I have been watching you, Adam the Crafter, longer than you realize. You were never one to take the easy way if it wasn't the right way." Her smile brightened the sunrise. "As your gift to Rionnagh exemplifies."

"Heh, point taken. Sif and her team had been bugging me for months to create an arboretum. One innocent little question from Rionnagh and over half of the logistics were solved. I wouldn't be surprised if something she said is behind the sketches I saw Sif's team playing with this evening." I shook my head. "If that is the case I should be getting back. But now that I know the path here I would like to return from time to time." Bowing, I continued, "With my lady's permission."

Kannon smiled, "Permission granted, for both your leave and your repeated returns." Handing me a jade case, she nodded her leave and turned to walk down the path the children had taken.

I did not need to open the case to know what I'd find. A silk cloth folded around petals from cherry blossoms. Together they contained enough power to create the training area and leave just recruiting the needed instructors. What Tokki jokingly called the New Underland education system would be a reality.

I slipped it into my pocket as easily as I slipped back into the arboretum. Ruth looked back at me from the darkness behind the children where she'd curled protectively around them. I nodded to her before I stepped forward to brush a lock of Rionnagh's hair back from where it was tickling her nose. I paused for a moment to study the glow from the charms on her necklace. It was emanating from petals that had "somehow" found their way inside the sealed vials.

I smiled. "Sleep well, young dreamers. The future will be on your shoulders." In her own way Kannon had set me a challenge. Her protections were in place, now it was time to see what I could do to make sure they never needed to be used.

Leaving them to the care of their "Denmother" I prepared to do just that.

Epilog

Cheshire

We woke up the next day to a wonderful breakfast made by Ginger. After eating and changing into more "day to day" clothes I returned us to Chicago via the N.U. Investigations branch office. Tom from The Dome and two more of Fuji Ehara San's security detail were waiting for us out front.

We were loaded into three towncars and driven back to the TWB convention. Hana, and to a lesser extent, Elspeth and Marion had some official duties to perform so we had to go our separate ways at different times, but time was made around mealtimes for us to meet back up. We even had a few hours where we were chaperoned by Seven(and his luck) so my three friends (I was wearing the glasses Ozma had given me) could experience the convention like semi-normal tweens. It was small but some of the technology used to support virtual classrooms was fascinating. I smiled when I spotted several of Tokki going from booth to booth and taking notes.

Friday passed into Saturday. Hana and her Grandmother had to fly out after the closing ceremony that afternoon but Father Nicolas and Father James invited my family to an early evening vigil Mass before they had to leave as well. By this time Ruth had recovered enough to join us in her human form without much risk of suddenly being giant and furry. Of course, looking around us I realized that at five eight Grandma Alice was the shortest of my adult family, Grandma G was six even, and Daddy, Stephan and Ruth were all just over six six. At my adjusted height of five feet tall I was completely hidden from the sides and back. Wearing a dress that matched Daddy's dress blues even my white hair didn't make me stand out. It still felt strange to not wear the glasses in public, but after a gentle admonishment from the presiding priest, the congregation stayed calm. At least until the end of the service. We didn't get mobbed, but Stephan and I-and even Daddy-received more thank yous than I could count.

After we said our goodbyes to Elspeth, Marion, and their uncles, we attended the F3 charity dinner and auction. I started in surprise when I saw Astra without her mask in a dress that superficially resembled one of her costumes. When I had the opportunity to ask her about it she laughed and informed me she wasn't here as Astra but as Hope Corrigan. Grandma Alice excused herself, saying she saw some old friends she wanted to talk too so it was just Daddy and Grandma G following behind as Hope looped my arm in hers and walked me passed some of the displays that held the items up for auction. They were mostly paintings and sculptures but I stopped when we came to four displays that held rosaries made with beads of carved crystal.

"Is something wrong, Rionnagh?"

Hope's question made me jump as I realized my whiskers were almost touching the glass of the display I was standing by. Blushing I stammered a reply, "I- I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lean so close. There isn't anything 'wrong' with them but… they don't feel like they're from 'around' here I guess?"

"They aren't." The statement came in a low baritone from behind us. I spun around as he continued. "I'm curious to know if you can tell just how 'Not from around here' each of them is." The speaker was the same height as Grandma G and was wearing a similar dress uniform to her and Daddy. The biggest differences were the BASAT patches on the arms and his ribbons looked to have something to do with different planets within the solar system.

Hope smiled, "May I introduce Mr. Ben Walker. Contributor to tonight's event, both financially and artistically. Also known as Daedalus of the Boeing Aerospace Survey and Transport Division and favorite adopted uncle in LEO and beyond."

Grandma G waited until he'd shaken hands around before asking, "Does Staci have you spying on us already, Mr. Walker?"

He shook his head. "Believe it or not, I was trying to avoid it, Although," a twinkle appeared in his eyes as he continued, "I admit after the stories Staci told after we disconnected it was a pleasant surprise to see you here, General Mitchell."

Astra smiled at the look of surprise on Grandma G's face. "Before you start 'young manning' him I should tell you he's actually in his early fifties."

My jaw wasn't the only one in my family to drop. Early Fifties? He doesn't look much older than Stephan! It turned out that even though he was classified as a high class B Atlas, he had ultra level extraplanetary speed and healing. It was theorized that the healing had "cured" the ravages of time and returned him to his more youthful appearance.

After we got over that revelation he had me take a closer look at the displays and tell me where I thought they were from. I hopped up and down when he told me I'd guessed right. Each of the individual rosaries had been made solely from crystals gathered from Mercury, Mars, Io and Callisto. When I'd concentrated on each one I'd somehow been able to 'see' the area they'd come from… though the places themselves felt far out of reach.

After that Hope's father came over and engaged Daddy and Stephan in conversation about construction and engineering. Seeing that I wasn't interested, Grandma G asked Daedalus if he would take over for Hope in chaperoning us around the hall. After he accepted, Hope gave us a wink and excused herself.

I spent most of the rest of the evening with Grandma G on one arm and 'Uncle' Ben on the other while we both asked him questions about the parts of the Boeing space program he was involved in. He'd started working for Boeing almost immediately after his breakthrough. He and his late wife had been investors into the Ares gate mission and had been training to be administrators of the Hydroponics division when she'd developed cancer and died.

He skimped on details about why, but shortly after, he'd broken through and taken the codename Daedalus. Given his past participation and his extreme extraplanetary speed Boeing had helped him arrange for stewardship of the calderas of Ascraeus Mons and the plateau for ten kilometers around them. In exchange he agreed to do long hauls for them to Mars and beyond at least once a week.

Since the Ares gate mission had been successful I asked why they'd included Mars in the agreement. It turned out that while the gate allowed instantaneous travel between Earth and Mars the power requirements made it more cost effective for him to fly payloads there.

In the months since, he'd manage to use his free time to build a proof of concept biosphere greenhouse in a smaller crater of an upper caldera using a Verne-created transparent fabric. The roof was held up by air pressure and used carbonweave stays to anchor it down and to distribute the load evenly. He was currently growing various food crops as well as keeping orchards of different fruit trees as well as banana plants.

When Grandma G asked how he'd constructed it so fast, he just shrugged and replied that not getting physically tired had its advantages...even for an otherwise B class Atlas. Grandma G tensed when I asked if his home was ready for visitors, but he just chuckled and said if Daddy and my grandparents agreed he could take us there as soon as they could get me a hardsuit that was comfortable enough for me to wear.

He started in surprise when I threw my arms around his neck in a hug but recovered quickly and returned it in kind. The rest of the evening passed quickly, as I spent much of the time daydreaming about a field trip to another planet and only paying enough attention to my surroundings to not seem rude.

Over the next few days I did get my field trip and we introduced Daedalus to Dr. Brock and Dr. Harte. I couldn't suppress my joy when they quickly became friends, or my giggles when Daedalus showed a knack for intuitive thinking when he figured out that the extra dimensional pockets of New Underland were no further from Mars than they were from Chicago. And that I could greatly extend my range by using them as a "shortcut".

By the end of two weeks we were implementing the plans for me. For the Sentinels I was doing charity appearances once every week or two. My education included "exchange" classes at Hillwood to cover where I was still highschool level, as well as advanced studies at the New Underland education center. As for my delivery service, we whipped up "prop" window and door frames to explain why I could make deliveries everywhere on Earth as well as to the outer edges of LEO.

I still had nightmares but as the days went by they became less disturbing and happened less often, while my good dreams became stronger. After three weeks I just needed to know where I could reach Ruth or a designated Tokki to sleep through the night. Not that I didn't indulge in a night's cuddle once or twice a week.

Snuggling down into Ruth's arms as I drifted off I sleepily reflected. My life might not be perfect but it is good.