City

Chapter 2

Kate showed up the next day and didn't see Rick at first. She found him in with the milk cows, where he was hooking them up to a milker. She stood there and watched him until he finished.

"Oh, so now you show up," Rick teased her. But he was pleased that she was here.

"What's on the agenda for today? Besides milking the cows," Kate inquired.

"You get to feed the pigs while I tend the chickens. I know you know how to do that."

"Great, feed the pigs," Kate muttered, but she headed for the pigpen. "Okay, pigs, I'm going to feed you this time, so take it easy on me." Kate was on the outside of the enclosure and fed the pigs. Each of the pigs eagerly ate what she fed them. It was more food castoffs from a container where the contents were heated first for a few hours.

She watched them eat for a while. Happy with herself for having done it, she went searching for Rick. She noticed him out in the yard of a large pen, the horse pen. She saw him standing next to a horse wearing a saddle.

"What are you doing?" Kate didn't understand.

Rick stroked the beautiful filly's neck. "You're going riding on Moriah. You met her yesterday. She's not pregnant and should prove to be a good ride. She is rather mellow."

"I am?" Kate wasn't sure about that. She was more than a little leery about even trying to ride a horse.

"Come on, I'll help you up." Rick stood next to Moriah, waiting patiently.

Kate nodded and steeled herself. "Okay. Now what?"

With his direction and the reins loosely in her hand, she took hold of the saddle, one hand at the front of it and the other at the back. Then Rick had her bend her left leg. He leaned down, cupped her knee with his left hand and put his hand under her ankle. Kate's head swiveled around, her eyes huge. "What do I do now?"

"Now you jump up on your right foot, and I'll boost you into the saddle." He grinned at her. "See? Easy.

"I'm going to walk you a little before I release you," Rick told her and walked her around the paddock.

She was doing it! She was actually riding a horse. It was a first for her.

"I'm going to release you now. It's simple. Pull your reins toward the side you want the horse to go. Softly kick Moriah if you want to go faster, and tell her whoa when you want to stop." He paused. "Enjoy." Rick released her and watched her walk around. All Kate did was walk, but eventually, she was smiling.

In a little while, she stopped next to Rick. "That was fun, thanks."

"Let's get you off." Rick reached up for her, and she ended up in his arms. Their faces were close together, and they looked at each other. Kate was sure he was going to kiss her. But suddenly, he backed away. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. You're done for today." Rick led the horse to the barn, took the saddle and the blanket off of her, and finally, the bit and bridle. He released Moriah to the paddock, and she walked around grazing.

Rick glanced over to where she'd been, and blinked in surprise when he saw her."You're still here."

Kate shrugged. "I don't have anywhere else to be."

"I'm sorry, but I have nothing else for you to do," Rick said. "Unless you want to help me release the milk cows after they're done milking."

"Lead on," Kate said and walked next to him. She looked at him, really looked at him, while they waited for the cows to finish. She decided he was handsome enough, at least for her. She watched and listened as he told her that with the automatic system, the teatcup fell off when a fourth of each udder was out of milk. Kate watched as he released the out into the yard.

"What about the meat cows?" Kate asked.

"We let them graze and eat. That's their job. It's part of why they don't like it when someone handles them," Rick explained.

"Oh." That made sense to her. It also made their job easier.

"I'm not looking forward to six months from now. I have forty pregnant cows and some of them will need help. Others will need help immediately after giving birth. I'm going to be very busy and with no help…" Rick trailed off. "Not that you don't help, you do. I didn't mean it like that. It's just… You've never watched a cow give birth, have you?"

Kate shook her head. "No, I haven't. Honestly, I was quite surprised the captain sent me here. I knew nothing about animals." She watched him, waiting for what he would say next.

"I'm glad she did. I need the help," Rick said to her. "Come on, you can help me feed the cows."

Kate broke up a bale of hay. She looked up at him. "Where do you get the hay?"

"This is the Stockyard; you handle the greenery, and there's space that's farmland. Farmland actually takes up most of the room on the ship. I get the hay from there. They also get full power. Without power, we don't get fed.

"Presently, I've got all the hay I'll get for a while. The grain I use also comes from there. This ship is colossal."

Kate knew this ship was big. Almost unbelievably big. It had a large dome in the center, surrounded by ship. The dome was where almost everyone lived, save for those who resided in the ship portion, like her, Rick, and others. Most of the ship was space for fields. It used artificial lighting to light the fields. It used up power, which was in short supply after the attack, but that was necessary.

"How long do you think we'll be at half-power?" Kate queried, wanting to know what he thought.

Rick shrugged, shaking his head. "I wish I knew, truly. But I have no idea."

Kate asked something else this time. "Do you have any idea about the damage?"

"Not really. I do know the power plant wasn't affected, so I'm guessing the power conduits were damaged, hence the half power," Rick proposed.

"Makes sense. We can fabricate new power conduits and install them. It will take time, I guess. It helps explain why the trains run at only certain times, too," Kate reckoned.

"Anything that takes power. Kinda like this place. Have you noticed that it's darker here?" Rick waited to find out if she had.

Kate looked around and finally realized that about half the lights were out. "Now that you mention it, half the lights are out. I didn't notice."

"Neither have the animals, thankfully. I'm running on about half power except for the chickens," Rick said. "I get to do old-style veterinary medicine."

"Which was why you did pregnancy checks the way you did," Kate told him as a light went on over her head.

"Exactly!" Rick was glad she caught on. "I don't have anything else for you to do. The animals are all fed. I've selected those for slaughter. The animals are out grazing. That's about it."

"I suppose I could go to Hydroponics even if I'm not needed there today." Though what Kate wanted was to stay. "Bye." She slowly walked away, giving Rick time to stop her. But he didn't, so she went to her work.

~oo0oo~

Rick smiled at her. "Hi, Kate."

Kate's jaw dropped; she was surprised to see him here."Rick!? What are you doing here?"

"Since you've seen where I work, I decided to come to see where you work. What is all this?" Rick looked around and saw a lot of trays several floors tall, and they all had lights over them.

"Um… this is Hydroponics. Hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil, and it may include an aggregate substrate, or growing media, such as vermiculite, coconut coir, or perlite. Small farmers, hobbyists, and commercial enterprises can use hydroponic production systems.

"Hydroponics offers a higher yield of calories per growing area. This area utilizes trays on tiers with lights at each level." Kate motioned to them.

Rick looked closer. "Interesting."

"Like this." Kate pulled a plant from a bay and showed its roots without soil. "In this location, we grow leaf lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, spinach, strawberries, watercress, celery, beans, and some herbs. That's just in this building. In another building we grow chives, blueberries, kale, basil, grapes, sage, and cantaloupes. There's another building where we grow radishes, mint, parsley, oregano, thyme and lemon balm," she told him. "Any leafy plant you can think of, we grow here."

"What we can't grow are things like potatoes, corn, any vine crops. Come with me." Kate led him out of this building and into another. "We grow nothing but watermelon here mostly due to the weight of the crop. It needs support."

"Follow me." Kate led him out of that building, over to a different one. "This building was experimenting with papaya trees and pumpkins. We use Deep Water Culture, Nutrient Film Technique, Aeroponics, and Wick and Kratky Hydroponic Systems."

Kate smiled at him since she was sure she overloaded him with information. "Anything except trees. Their root systems are large, and they're tall."

"Very interesting," Rick commented. "So what do you use for nutrients?"

"We use carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, and magnesium. Some micronutrients include iron, manganese, zinc, boron, molybdenum, chlorine, copper, and nickel. All are readily available in most cases.

"I know it sounds complicated, but really, it's not. Basically, you add nutrients to the water, and you can grow anything. Wanna help me?" Kate asked. "We're harvesting watermelons today."

"Sure. Just show me what to do, and I'll help." Rick got a quick guide in harvesting watermelons and set to work.

~oo0oo~

"Thanks for the help," Kate said, still surprised he was there.

"No problem. I learned something. I'll see you tomorrow." Rick kissed her cheek and walked away, heading toward home.

Dazed, Kate stood there and touched her cheek. She wasn't a virgin. Far from it, actually. It was just that she didn't think he was interested in her. Apparently, she was mistaken.

"A kiss, huh?" Out of nowhere, Zoey was standing next to her. "You should kiss him back. He's handsome." Then she turned on her heel and walked away.

~oo0oo~

Kate walked into the Stockyards to start her day and looked for Rick. She started with the cows and found him hunched over a heifer. "What are you doing?"

Rick craned his neck and smiled up at her. "Oh, hi. I'm getting ready to insert a trocar into this cow's side. She's bloated and full of gas."

"Gas? Like in stomach gas?" Kate stepped closer to him.

"Exactly. I insert this trocar and relieve the pressure. It'll make her feel a whole lot better." Rick held up the device he was going to use.

"That thing?" Kate thought it would never fit. It was too large.

"Yep, watch and learn. I put a cut in the cow's side like this." He made a small cut. "I insert the trocar like this." He jammed it in the hole he just made. "Once I do that, I twist it into place like this." He gave it a couple of twists. "Then I pull the plug, and all the gas comes out." He pulled the plug and…

"OH. MY. GOD! THAT STINKS!" Kate turned away from the stench. What she wanted to do was to throw up but managed to resist. "Does it always stink like that?"

"It's the gas in the cow's stomach, so yeah, pretty much." Rick seemed unaffected by the stench. "You're all set, girl." He slapped the cow to get her moving.

"You're just going to leave it in her?" Kate didn't think that could possibly be right.

"For about ten days, yeah, I am. Don't worry. Whatever the cow feels from having it inside is nothing compared to having gas in her stomach," Rick told her.

Kate grimaced. "Why is everything you do so stinky?"

"That's because I work with animals. Including dogs, by the way." Rick informed her.

"How many dogs are there?" Kate might be interested in one if there were enough of them.

"Let's see. Eight plus six, plus three, plus four, plus six, plus two. So that makes…" Rick tried to do the math in his head.

"That's twenty-nine," Kate said and eyed him.

Rick nodded. "Twenty-nine puppies. Then there are the adults. The Golden Retrievers are going to be animal companions. The Collies are going to be pets instead of herders. They have nothing to herd here. The Labradors are going to be pets, while the Rottweilers are going to be guard dogs. So if you're thinking of getting a pet, get in line. The line is long, really long."

"There went that idea." Kate felt bummed.

"You can help with my puppy." Much to Rick's surprise, the offer just came out of his mouth.

It took Kate a minute. "Your puppy? …What puppy are you getting?"

"I'm getting a black Lab when she's old enough to leave her mama," Rick revealed. "She's about four weeks at the moment. I need to wait until she's eight weeks old."

"And I get to help? I'll help you raise her. I swear I'll help. …You're getting a PUPPY!" She flung her arms around him and celebrated. She looked at him and what ran through her mind was, "Do I kiss him or not kiss him?" She released him without kissing him; she chickened out. She cleared her throat. "A puppy. Are you getting a puppy because…" She trailed off.

"Because I'm the only vet? That may have had something to do with it. I'm hoping she'll help me with the animals. In time," Rick told her.

"Come on, time to get to work. I'll let you feed the pigs." And he smiled.

"Of course, I get to feed the pigs." Kate rolled her eyes. But she walked in that direction.

All she really had to do was direct the discharge into the trough and then spread it around a little. She just watched as the pigs ate the slop. "I'm glad you guys like it." She certainly didn't.

She found Rick over with the cows. "What are you doing?"

"Thinning the herd for slaughter." Rick separated four cows for slaughter. Thankfully he didn't have to move them to slaughter or do the slaughtering. He just had to put them into position for pickup.

"Rick… Are you seeing someone? Have a girlfriend?" Kate asked bluntly.

He raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "No, and no. Why? Are you applying for the position?"

"NO." Kate looked at him from the corner of her eye, tilting her head. "…Maybe."

"In that case, dinner?" Rick asked and waited.

Kate upped the ante. "Dinner and a show?"

"If the theater is open," Rick countered. "Half-power, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Dinner it is, then. Do you even like me?" Kate asked and held her breath.

Rick reached out and tipped her head up. "Of course, I like you. What's not to like? I'm just sorry it took me this long to find you," he told her. "Dinner will have to be cafeteria food since that's all there is."

"That's fine by me." Kate was really looking forward to it. She would have liked dinner and a movie, but dinner would do.

They were interrupted when there was a whistle. They knew that whistle. It meant Captain Romanova was about to speak.

"This is the Captain speaking. As you know, an unknown enemy attacked us. Now rumors are floating around, and I'm here to confirm the facts and dismiss those rumors.

"Yes, we lost two of our four Cruisers we use for defense since we have no weapons on this ship. We lost one of them when they rammed an enemy ship. That gave us time to charge our FTL and recall the remaining two Cruisers. The other cruiser was destroyed in the attack.

"We escaped into FTL, and to the best of our knowledge, they did not follow us. The bad news is that they damaged our main power conduit during the attack. The secondary conduit cannot handle full power. Hence we are running at half-power.

"To fabricate a new power conduit will take three to four months. And another month to install it, followed by testing. Assuming all goes well, we'll have full power in four to five months. So hang in there, we're dealing with it.

"Yes, we lost people in the attack. I don't know the number; we're still searching the crew and comparing that to the ship's roster. I've asked some of you to double up on your assigned duties. Just do your jobs, and we'll get through this.

"There is damage to the hull, and sections of the ship remain cut off." There was a momentary silence, and they heard the captain draw a deep breath before continuing. "Some of our dead may be in there. We're dealing with it. Try to support those members of the crew managing the fabrication of the power conduit and those assigned to the repair of the ship.

"That's all I have for you. We will get though this." Captain Romanova ended the message, and there was another whistle signaling the end of the message.

Rick shook his head. "I'm glad I'm not her."

"She has so much to worry about," Kate murmured. "So tonight at six o'clock. I'll meet you there."

"Don't you trust me with where you live?" Rick challenged her.

"No, I just thought…" Her voice faded, and her face flushed. "I live in section C, room number 233. I live alone since it appears my roommate died in the attack. Her stuff is still there."

"You live in the dome, section C, level 23, room number 3. Got it. I'll be there at six o'clock." Rick kissed her cheek and walked away.

He knew they needed to end dinner well before eight o'clock when the train shut down. It was limited to running during the day and was down at night. It was a half-power thing.

If he didn't, he would have one hell of a long walk in front of him.

Kate was all smiles. He kissed her cheek! Maybe he was interested in her after all. As far as her boyfriends went, Rick was one of the better ones. Not that he was a boyfriend yet. YET!