Chapter 32

I was stiff and sore and there was a bit of a bruise on my right chest where I'd taken the recoil of the rifle yesterday. I flexed that side a few times and then went off and showered. I met Vicky in there drying off. A glance showed me that she'd taken a hell of a lot more punishment than I had. Her right front shoulder had a nice dark welt on it. I winced on seeing it.

"You okay?" I asked as she started getting dressed.

"Stiff and sore," Vicky replied dismissively, "but I'll survive."

"That rifle does have one hell of a kick," I stated, pointing to my own bruise.

"Well," Vicky muttered, flicking her gaze at my shoulder for a second and then turning her attention back to getting her clothing on, "the rifle wasn't meant to be fired standing up in a vehicle. You either fire it from the prone with its bipod dug in or from the sitting with the barrel supported. We'll live."

"Yeah," I agreed absentmindedly, shucking my clothing as I did. By then Vicky was dressed except for her work boots. She stepped aside so I could go into the shower. As I went by I turned and said, "I'll see you at breakfast."

Breakfast turned out to be interesting. Everybody was there and everybody was waiting for me. I was surprised for a moment and then dismissed it. I went and got food from the kitchen unit and then went and joined my family. Emma was drinking coffee and eating toast. Sally was sipping a tea. Rebecca was at the end of the table, chowing down on eggs and bacon. I nodded to her as I sat down.

"So what's up?" I asked before even trying to eat.

"A lot," Emma stated bluntly, "but we'll start with the most immediate question."

"Which," Rebecca interjected putting down her fork, "means the alien women and their current state of health."

"So how are they?" I asked while I looked down at my plate and cut into a sausage.

"The same as last night," Rebecca reported. "They're both still unconscious, which under normal circumstances would be worrisome. You don't want people with head injuries lying around unconscious. Patients awaking and complaining are better than patients who you can't ask questions of, and who can't assist in their own recovery. I still think the fact that they're still unconscious indicates that your 'benefactors' are interceding. Their pulse is strong and steady. Their breathing appears normal. I've scanned their skulls again and the fractures that had been there last night are almost healed as is the damage to the one woman's shoulder. I haven't done much other than watch them and keep them hydrated with an intravenous drip. As for when they'll wake up, your guess is as good as mine."

"Okay," I murmured thoughtfully, stuffing some egg into my mouth and swallowing it down before going on, "what else needs taking care of today? Is there another message on the monitor screaming for our attention or can we go back to trying to build our new home?"

"There's no message today," Emma informed me, "but we do have a few things that we want to talk about before going back to doing what our so called 'benefactors' want us to do. There are a few issues that we need to face before doing anything else."

I gazed at my wife and saw that her face was very serious. Something had happened in the night to get her upset and concerned. I took a long sip of my coffee to clear my mouth and then I nodded at her to go on.

"I don't really know where to start," Emma began hesitantly. "It's because the issues are interrelated and they impact on each other. The big issue is the building plan that our 'benefactors' provided us. We've completed the entire subterranean infrastructure including the geothermal work that our 'benefactors' insisted upon. We've dug out every module and we've laid the foundations and basements for each of the units. We're now ready to start putting up walls. That's one of our big issues."

"How come that's an issue?" I asked innocently. "I thought our 'benefactors' were providing all the material needed to complete their construction plan."

"Well," Emma said with a sigh, "if we stick to their plan, we'll still be under canvas by the time winter hits and to make matters worse, we'll be all birthing babies at the time which is going to make life really interesting, especially for you."

There was a rumble of agreement from the rest of the women. I glanced about and saw a lot of women who looked unhappy. I sighed and turned my gaze back towards my wife. She was looking at me with the same unhappy glare.

"So why," I decided to ask, "haven't we wondered about this before?"

That brought on a moment of murmuring as women looked at each other to see who had the answer. Amazingly, it was Bethany who offered her thoughts first.

"Complacency!" Bethany compellingly stated to the room. "Our so called 'benefactors' have banged their drum and we've done exactly what they wanted to do. When you built the barn, you wanted to build it larger and with a concrete base with drains and all the fittings that you'd have done if you'd been building it back home, but you didn't. Our 'benefactors' provided the plans and the material and you did what they told you to do without arguing and before you get pissed at me for saying it, we did the same at the construction site."

"True," I replied thoughtfully.

"And all that exploring you did," Betty interjected adding to what Bethany had said. "You knew it was a waste of time and energy. Other than giving you a chance to take some one out for some private fucking, it didn't really add to our long term survival. Still you did it."

"I know," I acknowledged with a sigh, "and I agree that I thought it was pointless at the time, and then Tilly and her family showed up. When she told us about what had happened to Rodney, I got the feeling that all that driving about exploring was an attempt to keep the same thing from happening to me. I still do think that our 'benefactors' are trying to limit the potential of me getting killed."

"Maybe," Rebecca said, speaking up so everyone looked towards her, "but it really was a waste of time and energy. You could have been ploughing fields and growing crops. We've been on this planet for over four months now and you've planted a garden and that's it, and the thing is that we all accepted it as being part of the plan."

"But that's changed," Emma stated, garnering several agreeing nods as she spoke. "I don't know why but today we don't want to do things the way that our 'benefactors' asked of us. Their building plan is a nightmare and their repopulation plan has made it worse. There are thirty-five women in this family and thirty=two of them are pregnant. We're all in our first trimester and we'll be able to work for a while yet, but there is no way for us to finish that monstrosity of a dwelling before the first snow or before the first baby comes along. In fact, as our pregnancies progress, the amount of physical labour we'll be able to do will drop off to almost nothing. Our 'benefactors' might have made us younger and healthier and even slightly stronger than we ever were, but in all honesty, not one of us will be able to stack tires and fill them with dirt in three months time. In fact, even if we weren't all pregnant, I don't think that we could have finished the first module before winter."

"I know that," I stated, "and I thought we all knew this from the start. The construction of our dwelling was going to be a long term project and we were going to spend at least one winter under canvas."

"We did know," Emma growled back at me, her face red with anger, "but today we're saying no to that plan. There is no way we're spending the winter under canvas and there is no way that we're having babies and taking care of them in a tent; certainly not if we can help it."

"All right," I responded, trying to keep on my wife's good side, "what can we do?'

"We can discuss options," my mother suggested, glancing about as she did. "Maybe someone has an idea that can get the construction finished in the next three months."

"We'd be pushing it," Linda interjected, "and I doubt that we'd be able to finish more than the main module and maybe another. Even with different building material it's a pretty big job. I think we need to focus on the immediate and worry about finishing the dwelling later."

"And the immediate," Betty proposed, "is getting us better quarters for the winter."

I agreed with Betty and the rest. I really didn't have much choice in the matter. They were right and I had no desire to argue with them. Even I was realizing that our 'benefactors' had been manipulating our responses so that we'd do what they wanted without complaining. That had changed over night and I was now seeing things more clearly. I didn't know why, but I wasn't going to argue with the women. I knew that we needed a new plan. The big question was what were we going to do and the second big question was would our 'benefactors' interfere?

I finished my breakfast as did Rebecca and a number of the other women who were eating. Those who had chores to do on the farm went off to take care of them. Those on housekeeping detail got to it. That still left two-thirds of the family sitting about to chat about our problem. When I finished eating I grabbed another coffee and joined the women to talk.

"So who wants to start this discussion?" I asked the crowd as I sat back down. Vicky decided to go first.

"My thought is to use what the aliens have already given us," Vicky suggested. "We know they can provide shipping containers in all shapes and sizes. I know from being in the Guard that shipping containers can be fitted out as sleeping quarters, just like the kitchen unit and the bath unit. They might not be pretty, but shipping container barracks would be better than spending the winter in tents."

"True," I agreed giving it some thought, "and it would be better than what I was thinking of, which was building some log cabins to house us through the winter. Still, I really don't think container barracks are going to be much better than tents. What do you think Emma?"

Emma sipped her coffee for a minute and then answered.

"It's feasible," Emma declared, "so long as our 'benefactors' are willing to provide them. So far, they've taken back every container that they've sent us except for five - the terminal unit, the bath unit, the kitchen unit, the water pumping and treatment unit, and the medical unit. Other than those five, every time we've emptied a container of its contents, it's gone poof and vanished. Adam's suggestion of building log cabins sounds more feasible. At least if we do that we won't be depending on the assistance of aliens that we don't really trust."

"Oh," I said at that, surprised by my wife's words.

"Don't tell me you still trust these guys son," my mother asked pointedly, giving me a questioning look.

"Well," I started to reply and then stopped. I had to think about it. Thankfully no one piped up with their thoughts about it. It allowed me to come to my own conclusion. I sighed heavily when I did.

"No," I said after a moment or two of reflection, "I can't say that I really trust the aliens that brought us here anymore. We've been on this planet for almost four months and we've done little to assure our survival as a race. It's obvious that they've played with us the whole time and we still don't know why."

'Truthfully Adam," Betty added, not just for my benefit but for the whole family's, "I don't think we'll ever know the why or wherefore or anything about how we came to this planet and it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we take charge of our life now that we're thinking clearly."

"Agreed," Brenda said, imposing her own opinion, "so let's stop gabbing and get doing. Vicky thinks we should use container barracks to live through the winter and the births of our children. Personally, I don't find the thought of living in a metal box any more appealing than living under canvas, and while living in a log cabin would be better than the other two options, I think we should think big if we can and get some of those huge mobile homes and connect them together into one big housing complex."

"Mobile homes?" people voiced in amazement.

"Yeah," Brenda declared defiantly, "mobile homes!"