CH19 (100)
It was now one whole year later:
They had Matt's one year old birthday just a few days ago. He wasn't going to remember it most likely, but he was going to get to see it when his parents teased him with all the pictures they took.
Alexis hadn't put up nearly as big a fight to stay as Kate feared she would. Alexis was surprised that she was going to Tellus instead of Ariel.
Alexis was silently excited to go live where her mother grew up. She was going to get to see the 2 mile high city that Kate and shown her pictures of. Plus she was going to get to ride the GETS trains. It was exciting.
Then she found out that Martha was going to be on Tellus and that they were going to share a condo unit and ride a GETS train to and from school daily. Plus she found out that Martha had plans for her. Just didn't know what they were.
Kate however had been right about one thing. Emily and Kali had cried for days and even had a temper tantrum. They wanted their sister back.
Eventually they settled down however. Emily had taken over the greenhouses from everything her sister had taught her and Kali had taken over raising Matt. Kali ran over there every morning to help Madison with her brother. Some days Rick and Kate didn't see her again until she came home to sleep.
Shawn and Rick were still surveying the massive coral reef this place had. Shawn was having a blast.
The fence had finally showed up and they had an Emu farm now so Rick and his crew only hunted crocs and kangaroo now.
Kate and Alexis had finally met who was going to work the greenhouse on the neighboring planet.
"SARAH!" Alexis had yelled at her and ran to hug her.
"Alexis what are you doing here?" Sarah hadn't been told the Castle's were neighbors.
"We're setting up the colony planet next door, Callisto." Alexis explains.
"Great! That means if I have questions I've got you just next door." Sarah was still a little worried that she had bitten off more than she could handle.
"You'll do fine Sarah. Did anyone come with you?" Alexis knew her parents were both dead, which had gotten her to cry when she was told.
Sarah however had shaken her head. No distant family member had wanted to come. Leaving Alexis to ask her parents if she could stay each time she was scheduled to bring the food for lunch. She would fly the construction workers and Sarah back and forth and help Sarah start the greenhouses.
By the time Alexis had left for Tellus, the contractor had already completed his first module and had it floating tied up to the dock. It was one of the easier ones since it was going to be part of the park, so it was just all dirt. Several of the ones to follow where going to be the same.
The barge they were using to almost literally suck up dirt off the ocean floor was a little bigger than Kate or Alexis had anticipated. But it looked like it was working out for them.
The colony of Callisto had risen in size as more people came and workers had arrived and were already half way done with the installation of the pilings for the city tower to the south.
Another group was here digging for the future construction of the dry docks, just like the ones on Athos.
Rick and Kate had also found out that their home on Ariel was still 3 months from completion. Tellus was stretched thin and supply shortages were affecting everyone.
Kate was also getting and sending video chips to her dad and the Quellers every two months when a ship showed up to deliver them.
Jim was also keeping them updated on all the construction that was going on.
The next three fishing trawlers were completed and they were getting ready to start the next three.
A factory ship that also caught fish had started construction. Rick and Kate's ship was also under construction and was 6 months into its 4 to 4-1/2 year build. Which might turn out to be closer to 5 with the supply shortages.
Jim had applied to come to Callisto to oversee construction like he was doing on Athos. He was going to show up in about 3 months and do for Callisto what he had done for Athos.
Rick and Kate figured they had another year left on Callisto. Also Kate had gotten a video chip from the doctor who wanted Kate on Tellus so he could look at her leg. He was hoping for clearance to help a limited number of people during his testing phase about a year from now.
Which was almost perfect timing depending on how long the doctor kept Kate on Tellus. Emily was going to be ready for kindergarten about that time. Plus the first elementary school on Ariel was expected to be open by then, provided it was not affected by the supplies shortage.
"I have two cargo ships entering orbit." Lucy informed them all.
Rick and Kate who were again defacto governors of the colony, were at the shuttle landing pad waiting for them. They watched one land at the contractor pad and one land at theirs.
The rear ramp opened and all that came out were more people. Rick and Kate soon found out they were miners. Tellus wanted to open a mine on Callisto just like the one on Athos. They had come with their own domes to house the miners and their families.
All the colonists had to do was help clear a space for construction of the domes and feed them. They would build their own domes. They also would need a shuttle landing pad to get to and from the mine area.
Three of the four shuttles they had brought with them would be staying to transport them.
Callisto was now almost overflowing with shuttles. The colony had 4 normal shuttles. They had 3 of the super shuttles, as Rick was calling them for transport between Callisto and Cyliene, now 3 more shuttles for the miners.
The miners had also shown up with their own quads that were bigger and could actually tow carts behind them to help move more items around at the mine site.
Rick was headed for the kitchen to check his stores. More people meant more food meaning more cooking. While Kate went to medical to pick up her girls.
"Hi Mags, how's our girl?" Emily and Kali were here to get their physicals.
"Kali is done and gone and Emily and I are just finishing, aren't we sweetie." Madison kisses the top of her head.
"Do I need to ask where Kali ran off to?" Kate was sure she already knew the answer, but you never know.
"Kali ran out of here like she was on fire as soon as I was finished. If you want her she's in our dome with Shawn watching Matt." Madison chuckles. Except for breast feeding Madison wasn't sure who the mother was, her or Kali.
Kate could only shake her head. How Kali had decided that Matt needed her was beyond their understanding. However she was really good with him. Kali had even slipped up on occasion and had referred to him as her brother.
"I think I'll let Shawn keep her for now. I'll collect her later. …. You go grab your reading pad and I'll meet you in greenhouse number 4. How does that sound?" Kate turns her attention to Emily.
"OK!" And Emily is off at a run. "That one is going to turn into another Alexis, Becks." Madison has noticed the two are similar.
"Yea, she even gave us the most grief when we sent Alexis to Tellus to attend school. Alexis however has taught her well. She's almost as good in a greenhouse as Alexis is. I think she might already be better than me." Kate couldn't help but chuckle.
Kate met Emily in the greenhouse and they both got to work.
After a while Kate noticed that Emily was sitting in the chair Alexis had brought out for Kate to sit in when walking was a lot more difficult. Not like it was today.
Kate walked up behind her and Kate could hear Emily sniffling. Looking over her shoulder Kate could see she was re-watching one of the video recordings Alexis had sent to her from Tellus.
It crushed Kate's heart and made it soar all at the same time. Kate leaned down and placed her hands on each shoulder and kissed the top of Emily's head. "You miss your sister, don't you?"
All Kate got back was Emily nodding her head and a sniffle. "You'll get to see her when we go to Tellus."
Kate had already made up her mind she was going to apply to be one of the doctors test subjects and hope her leg would go back to looking more normal. More filled out. Kate could go back to wearing dresses or shorts again. Maybe even a bikini on the beach to drive her husband to distraction.
Emily however didn't say anything back. "We'll be there in time for you to celebrate your next birthday with her. Maybe Alexis will even get you a birthday present. And when we leave to go home she will be coming with us.
Just one more year sweetie." Kate kisses the top of her head again. "Come on, we still have work to do. You don't want to disappoint your sister and let her greenhouses go bad, do you? …. Maybe we can work with Sarah tomorrow." Tomorrow was Kate's turn to take lunch to the contractors on Cyliene. Kate patted her arms to get Emily up and moving.
Kate didn't stray far from Emily after that. Emily was working the greenhouse. It looked to Kate like she was doing it without even thinking about what she was doing. It broke Kate's heart. Emily was missing Alexis and yet she had obviously learned a lot from Alexis.
The next day Madison was not scheduled to be in medical so she was with Kate and the girls in their dome along with Matt. Matt was already wide awake and looked to be about ready to crawl after either Emily or Kali. Just couldn't seem to make up his mind which one to go after and think to crawl at the same time.
Kate and Madison were just sitting there watching the action or in-action depending on your point of view. "If he's like my two, you will be running to keep up with him soon." Kate was chuckling as she watched Matt try to decide which girl to go after and how he was going to accomplish that task.
Madison however was deep in thought. "Becks how did we get here? … I don't mean we flew in a space ship (Rick was rubbing off on her). I mean, …. We were both lost. We used to have so much fun. It felt like being sisters even if we technically weren't. Then, …." Madison waves her arms.
"Now look at us." And waves her arms at the kids running or trying to figure out who to crawl after, just as soon as he figures that part out first.
Let alone married, working, living on a colony planet, happier than they have any right to be.
Kate suddenly looks serious. "If you had asked Rick that question I'm sure he would say something about it was the Universe talking again." Kate didn't believe in that stuff, ore to be more precise, she didn't use to.
"Me, I don't know. Maybe he's right and maybe he's not. …. I have thought about it some. I wish I had an explanation. Things were so dark and dismal back then. Suicide was out of the question and yet what I was doing was pretty damn close." Getting Madison to nod her head in agreement.
What she was doing back then was pretty much just like a long slow drawn out suicide. Make sure she suffered before she finally died.
"I still don't know what got me to sign up for a 3 year stint on the Horizon. I was in a cloud or something. I'm not sure I even knew what I was doing.
Living and working on the Horizon was no picnic." Kate pauses.
"Baby food." Madison mumbles, getting Kate to giggle a little. Kate had gotten used to it. Not like she had a choice.
"Then Bracken blows up my ship, then Rick and Alexis and here I am. …. It was a big planet Mags. With 71% of it being water. And yet I land just yards away from Rick and Alexis. Who could have just as easily been miles away at their house and never seen me crash, let alone rescue me.
Now I can't imagine my life without them in it." Kate works at blinking back tears. "It's like they fit perfectly into the hole in my heart. I'd crumble and fade away without them. …. Sometimes it scares the crap out of me just how much of me depends on them and yet the joy I feel outweighs all of it."
Neither Kate nor Madison had noticed it had gotten quiet. "Mom?" Emily was standing just off to one side of Kate looking at her with worry in her eyes and a question on her face.
Kate scoots forward and reaches out her arms getting Emily to walk into them. "I'm fine sweetie. Maybe even better than fine." Kate hugs her for all she's worth. This was the life she wanted. Maybe it was the universe talking or something else. But Kate was right where she wanted to be, even if she didn't know it back then.
Kali had given up getting Matt to try and crawl after her, now she was just sitting on the floor playing with him. Watching her mother hug her sister, not understanding why her mother had tears in her eyes, but hugging her sister seemed to be helping.
"Lunch?" Emily asks while Kate was still hugging her.
"LUNCH!" Kate all but yelled out. Looking at the time. "We have to get going. You run for the kitchen sweetie, I'll be right behind you." Kate lets go of Emily and Emily starts walking for the kitchen to help carry lunch.
"We have to go, can you watch her?" Kate asks meaning Kali.
"You mean will yours watch mine?" Madison starts laughing. "We'll be fine, go feed the contractors."
Kate bends down to hug Kali. "You be a good girl, your sister and I have to fly to Cyliene to deliver lunch. We'll be back soon. …. I love you sweetie."
"Luv you mom." Kali answers back and watches Kate walk quickly for the kitchen.
"Mom's good again?" Kali looks at Madison.
Madison smiles. "Yes honey, your mother is fine again. She can even run again a little if she wants to."
Madison was glad her friend was doing so well. It had looked bad when Rick first brought her into medical that one day. It took her hours just to make sure Kate got to keep the leg, let alone do anything with it like she was now. That croc had done a lot of damage.
The only person who knew about Madison having nightmares for a couple of weeks after that day was Shawn. Though nightmares might be too strong a word for what haunted Madison's dreams.
Madison had seen and worked on worse injuries, but this injury was Kate's and it had gotten to her.
Kate was landing on Cyliene on one of the two pads. This one was for the shuttles carrying people and was actually a pad on pilings out over the ocean. The other pad was for delivering cargo from Callisto. It too was sitting on pilings out over the ocean on the other side of the island.
The factory itself was almost 3 stories tall and had a crane that ran the length of the island. Then another crane was over an even larger dock area sitting on pilings where they kept the modules until they were ready to connect them to the others.
One third of the factory was for storage, while the rest was used for construction and final assembly.
The next two floors were quarters for the workers and Sarah. They were running two shifts each day, with personnel for three shifts in total. One shift was working, while the next shift was sleeping or living upstairs. The other shift was on Callisto and they cycled between the three.
Except for Sarah, she worked the day shift then slept in a room on one of the floors, and on her days off she stayed with the Castle's in their dome sleeping in Alexis's old bed.
Kate and Emily climbed the stairs to the dining area and dropped off lunch for both shifts and then started climbing again to go see Sarah.
Sarah's greenhouse took up most of the roof area and was bigger than the one Alexis had on her roof in New York. However unlike all the other greenhouses this one had a built-in watering and misting system based off of Alexis's designs.
The rest of the roof was a recreation deck. The workers had even built themselves a water slide that twisted round until it dumped you into the ocean. They had even put up netting around the area to keep some of the sea life out.
There was a net you could put up that was presently rolled up that could be erected to play volleyball or some other game. At least until the ball went over the side, then the offending person usually went down the water slide to go get it, then climb the stairs to bring it back.
Emily ran across the greenhouse to crash into Sarah. "Hi Sarah!" Emily missed Alexis a lot, but Sarah was a friend who helped make up for missing Alexis.
"Hi munchkin, you and your mom here to help me?" Sarah could use the help. She had a lot of produce to pick. A lot of it was ripening this month.
"Yup!" Emily was beaming at her.
"Good." Sarah gave Emily a heartfelt hug. "You know the drill." And Sarah let go of her so Emily could help her.
"Hi Kate." Sarah hugged Kate too.
"Today is good timing, Emily is having Alexis withdrawals." Kate tells her.
"OH! … I kinda know the feeling. Having Alexis around was a lifeline. Made me feel better about taking this job." Sarah was really afraid she was in over her head.
"How is Borislav?" Kate hoped she was getting it right. Hearing it from Emily who's Russian wasn't as good as hers made her hesitant.
Sarah blushed a deep dark crimson and turned her head down to what she was doing. "He's fine."
"Just fine or more than fine?" Kate just had to tease a little. "Uh-huh. Tell me you are wearing a stem." Kate prods.
Sarah slips and dirt goes everywhere. While she is quickly cleaning up her mess. "Yes, no unexpected children. We're nowhere near ready for that yet."
Kate places a hand on her arm. "Sarah?"
"He's sweet Kate, honest. A little shy even. Some of the other workers tease him sometimes. I just slip a little something into their lunch. Most of them have learned to be nice." Sarah leans in a little. "You should see his arms Kate. And his back and his stomach. I've never seen so many muscles in one place. His legs are toned. He has a tan everywhere except, …." Sarah trails off.
Kate was grinning. Kate didn't know what to expect when she reached Tellus. Alexis might have the entire planet with boyfriends or girlfriends by the time they got there. First her father, then Madison, then the Quellers, then Shawn, and now this Borislav.
"Rick and I are here for you honey, if you ever need us. I still know how to break every bone in his body without killing him if I have to. He lays a finger on you and I'll break something." Kate was pretty sure it would never come to that. Alexis was just too good to have missed seeing that as a possibility.
"Oh no, he wouldn't. He's sweet Kate, honest." Sarah tried to convince her.
Emily spent a lot of time with Sarah and had met this Borislav and had told Kate everything. Just Sarah needed to know she was not out here all alone. Her and Rick would help if they could. To Kate Sarah and this Borislav were just kids still. Kate knew Sarah was 19, but hadn't yet seen him but guessed early 20's.