Calli left a message at the clinic before going into the Citadel. When Dr. Halliday was done for the day she requested a consultation in the surgery. Since she hadn't arrived at the Citadel until his shift was nearly done he didn't have long to wait to see her.
He had already moved in to Dr. Bennings old quarters, which was attached to the surgery consultation room, and through that to the surgery. On the other side of the surgery one door led directly to a recovery room. The other led into Calli and Hawk's room which had originally been a second recovery room. A second door in their room allowed direct access to the hall.
Nathan went to his room and changed before going to the surgery. He found Calli already there. She had requested dinner be sent up from the cafeteria for her and Nathan. It could be a long consult. This was probably going to arouse the curiosity of the Elder but she figured if everything worked as she hoped that wouldn't be a problem.
Nathan was sitting behind his desk with Calli sitting primly in the chair before the desk when the young girl entered with the trays. She glanced curiously at Calli, but she was wearing the veil she always affected in the Citadel. The girl was disappointed. She had been hoping to get a glimpse of the mysterious warrior.
Nathan waited for the door to close behind the girl.
"Are you here for a reason or just to see me?", he asked hopefully.
She smiled. "I am a physician you know. I pretty much know how to take care of myself, but I'll be happy to let you examine me."
He grinned. "I'd like that."
She looked him over. "How long has it been since you had an exam, doctor? Maybe I should give you a complete physical. A very complete physical", she said suggestively. His grin widened.
"But first, I have a proposal for you. We can discuss it while we eat", Calli said. "But not here. This place has recording equipment, and this conversation is private. Let's go to your room."
"All right" Nathan said, picking up a tray and leading the way through the door into his room.
"What do you have in mind?", Nathan asked as they settled at his table to begin eating.
Calli picked up her fork and fiddled with it. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors about the secret place Hawk and I go to in the west. I've heard them myself; they say it's where Jack was cared for until he died. Well, that place does exist. I want you to see it for yourself. I want to take you there and introduce you to my family."
Nathan was stunned. "You have family? I thought all your family was gone", he said.
"That's because I wanted the wasteland to think that. Anyone that is precious to me is in grave danger out here. But if what we have is going to work out I have to be able to trust you completely. Do you want to come?", she asked.
"Of course I do. Let me make some arrangements with Steve and see if one of the younger docs will help cover. How long do you think we'll be gone? Is it far?", Nathan asked.
Calli shook her head. "Not nearly as far as people have been lead to believe. We should only be a few days. I want you to see my real home. Not many out here even know about it except as a rumor, and no one knows how to find it."
"Is Hawk going to meet us there?", Nathan asked.
"No, this is for us. He's gone to his home. That's another secret I'll tell you about later", she said.
Nathan was intrigued. He was getting deeply involved in a lot of secrets but there was no turning back now. There was no way he was turning away from Calli. He wanted to know all there was to know about her.
They spent the night in his room where there weren't any video cameras. That was good since they gave each other very thorough physical exams. Early the next morning Nathan made his arrangements, climbed on the bike with Calli, and left the clinic behind. It was a beautiful day for a ride in the wasteland.
He was surprised when they turned off the road onto a Deathclaw trail, and even more so when she stopped to mez a young Deathclaw charging toward them. He would have thought she would kill it, but she left it lying beside the trail to recover and they went on up it. He learned later the trail was the path into Arhome and the Deathclaws themselves were part of her defense system.
Nathan was impressed with Cave Entrance. The guard station built onto the floor of the cave now housed half a dozen guards that rotated out from Arhome on a regular basis. Only one guard was ever on duty on the upper platform that controlled the entrance gate. The bikes were kept in a parking area beside the guardhouse. A large warehouse was built onto the floor of the cave on the other side of the ramp. It was surrounded by crates and containers. People were working at loading and sorting items.
A shuttle sat on rails at the mouth of the tunnel on the far side of the cave. As Nathan watched another shuttle slid quietly from the tunnel, glistening with water, and came to a halt on the opposite side from the first shuttle.
"Why is it wet?", Nathan asked Calli, pointing at the shuttle as they went down the ramp. There hadn't been any sign of rain on this gorgeous day. She had greeted the ramp guard and introduced him.
"Because it just came through the Valley of Death. It would be covered with highly radioactive dust that has to be washed off before it can be approached or opened, so it goes through a shower system in the tunnel. I'll explain everything", she smiled, leading him down the ramp.
He watched workmen surround the shuttle and begin unloading items from it. Some stopped briefly to wave at Calli. She smiled and waved back. She had removed her helmet as soon as they entered the cave. She didn't hide here.
"Hey, Derek", Calli greeted the guard at the console controlling the shuttles.
"Ma'am", he greeted her. "You're going in to Arhome?"
She nodded. "I want the shuttle to stop at the end of the tunnel for 15 minutes before going into the Valley. Will you program that for me?"
"Of course, Ma'am.", he said respectfully. "Are you going now?"
"Yes", she said. "I'll check the warehouse later."
They climbed into the windowless shuttle and settled on a pull down bench. It was comfortably padded. Overhead lights flickered on, brightening the interior. The door hissed shut with a solid thud. Calli waved at a bank of gauges near the seats.
"These are oxygen and radiation monitors." She indicated the monitors. "The air coming into the shuttle passes through microfilters to remove the radioactive dust. If they become clogged there are auxiliary oxygen cylinders stored in that closet. These gauges here monitor the radiation inside and outside the shuttle and relay the information to the control console."
It took several minutes to glide through the tunnel. The shuttle came to a slow stop and the door clicked as the lock unsealed. Calli checked the gauges then opened the door. They stepped out into the tunnel. Calli motioned him forward. As they stood in the end of the tunnel Calli reached her arm out into the open Valley. The Pip-boy screamed a warning. She pulled her arm back and silently showed him the reading.
"It gets higher toward the center, then lowers again toward the other side", she said. "Hawk and I have made it across with radiation suits and meds, but old humans would never make it. It takes us 3 days to derad after doing a crossing."
He stared at her in astonishment. "You actually went out there? How did you know you could make it?"
"We didn't", she said simply. He didn't reply to this.
"If no one can go out there why's there a road?", Nathan asked, observing the path made of what appeared to be large square tiles going off into the desert between the two sets of shuttle rails. Calli handed him a pair of field glasses.
"Look down the road. See that tunnel? You can see that it seems to be coming out of the middle of the far tunnel, between the rails. The tiles you see and that structure is made of a special material that is completely radiation proof. Once it's finished there will be foot traffic here too. It's high enough to permit passage of people on horseback as well, so livestock could be moved in and out. It's only about a third of the way done and we don't know how long it'll take to finish it. We haven't been able to locate a steady source of the base material to manufacture the tiles."
"I see. But surely you and Hawk didn't do all this yourself", he said.
Calli laughed. "We're good, but we're not that good. No, we have a small community of ghouls who do the work in the Valley and take care of the robots that never leave the Valley. They can only go out for three to four hours even in radiation suits and then they can't go out again for three days. Not a bad way to make a living, eh? You only have to work a few hours every third day. Of course, most of them do other stuff too. One of them's a really good hairdresser. He used to live in Underworld but there wasn't enough work there since it was mostly a ghoul city. He does my hair for me."
Nathan stared out at the valley. It wasn't completely empty. Besides the road and rails he could see a number of power units. Of course the radiation and constant sunlight would make it the ideal place to put the large solar arrays. It was the number and size of the arrays that interested him. There were enough power units to supply a pretty large city. He could see a few suited figures moving among the units.
"Come on", Calli said. "We better get back in the shuttle before it takes off without us."
They settled again in the shuttle, Calli choosing to sit next to him on a bench. The door hissed shut and made a sharp click as the lock sealed. It moved slowly forward. Calli reached up and dimmed the lights to a soft glow.
"I have another reason for bringing you here", Calli began. "I hope you don't get mad at me, but I couldn't take a chance on saying anything while we were at the Citadel. Do you remember what you asked me back in Cliffside Safe house?"
"What was that?", he asked, mystified. He had asked a number of questions.
"You asked if I thought we could make a baby together. Well, I can give you a definitive answer to that now", she said mysteriously.
"What do you mean?", he asked, puzzled. "Wait! You mean? Calli, are you pregnant?"
"Yes", she said simply, watching him.
"Are you sure?", he asked. "It's only been 3 weeks."
"You asked me another question. Did I have any other kids? Yes, I do, I have twins", she said. "A boy and a girl, actually they're the same age you are. But I should have realized what was happening when I first saw you. I'm not like old humans, Nathan. I don't have that chance to get pregnant every month. This is only the second time this has happened, this intense drive to mate. It's like a heat. Hawk recognized it right away; he says my scent changes. He wasn't surprised at all that I got pregnant. Besides, I'm tired, I've been throwing up, and believe it or not I'm feeling irritable. So yes, I'm sure."
Nathan was silent.