Chapter 6: Going Home

~~ November - Week 44 ~~

Sean and Lee returned home to get the Fortune ready for the return trip.

Sean got Gavin to harvest a heap of crystals to make up twenty pallets each of his solar-cells and C-cells to send home to his father to sell. He included the patent applications he needed his father to apply for on Earth just in case it becomes an issue.

The scientists not going home, and this was most of them, were busy getting their research notes typed up as part of their obligations to UNSEC.

Bing Edwards, Mathew Merritt, Nina Finn and Ryan Aioli had agreed to stay on the ship with Rolo, so they had a full company of the original engineers to the relief of the Captain. He, Sung, Brendan Cole and Alison Burt had also agreed to stay on, as the primary helm crew. They all planned to come back.

After a lengthy discussion, Robby and Tina Breeder had decided to go home after all. They cashed in their shares and pays and purchased a herd of camla and reptii to rear on Tina’s parent’s property in Queensland. They believe the animals would do very well there.

Larry and his wife Lyn signed on to the ship as the cooks but didn’t leave Clarksville short. Gary had informed Sean one of the Burgis women with several Prols were now happily running their diner. They were also building a shopping mall and a set of units for the soldiers in their own area. So, they could spend more time down off the ship.

Glenda and had asked the Duke, if she Tomos and the kids could go back to Earth to see her family, but she wanted to come back. The Duke agreed. He also pointed out that officially she still worked for him and was due some serious back pay.

Glenda and Allan organised resignations from her former crew for him. The fact they now had minders that worked made this easy to do, and she was happy that they could now keep in touch with each other. She also got a heap of instructions on what they wanted her to do with their assets on Earth.

With the help of the von Holtons, they set her up as their proxy to dispose of them. The von Holtons also suggested to the crewmembers that were staying should do something as well. As a result, they were kept busy sorting out the legal requirements for them.

Somehow, they managed to get set up with their own office and on the Futura payroll. They also intended to come back. Vanesa had already purchased a pony and had even commissioned a saddle from Lonnie. Lee and Philip had both agreed that having people who were versed in the laws of Earth and Utopia was a good idea. Plus, they were a lovely couple, even if they were lawyers.

Ivan, Iran and their girls also thought it would be fun to go to Earth. Plus, Ivan had become Rolo’s apprentice, and Iran had become Bing’s. Sasha had been working with Tina and Wendy with Larry, so no one was against them staying aboard the ship.

The Duke had even said that he had no issues with natives being aboard. He had gotten to know the Burgis couples on the trip to Futura and found them fascinating people.

The Army was providing the doctor, so the Yates could stay on Harmony. They would look after the Army’s ship as well. Doc Yates had also made sure the crew of the Ulysses were immunised with Lee’s inoculation.

The crew hummed and ahed about setting up hydroponics in the dome other than what was still planted there. They decided to fill one of the empty sections with natives. Especially the plants that they had found had new medicinal or interesting food properties.

Andre’ stocked the storage area with a mountain of the pickled and preserved reptii and camla meats. They had acquired several more herds since the Fortune had left to go to Harmony, so they had plenty of animals to restock after it left.

Gavin stocked several more holds with the rare minerals, elements and precious gems for UNSEC to sell to pay for the trip and to help pay for maintaining the new DSPF, minus Futura’s commission of course.

The Prols had a knack for finding the gems and rarer metals and retrieving them. They had even set up a gem washer. Several of the wives operated a cutter and polisher to increase the value of the gems.

Berny had teamed up with Cal, a Pix jeweller, and they and their apprentices had been busy copying some of the Genteli designs and making jewellery using the gems that Gavin’s people were mining to be sent back and sold as well.

Lee had left an order with Duke Lyndsay to send her some teachers for all levels of school, including Vet (Vocational, Education and Training) teachers. He had to laugh as he had a feeling, she was going to need them too.

In the two months that the ship had been away from Futura, two more housing buildings had been built, and the two little villages had become suburbs with their own small shopping centres. They even had a floating dock port for ships. This made Iain Bawface’s life easier since he now ran three boats up and down the coast.

Several of the lesser Genteli families had moved from, the smaller villages on the coasts, to swell their ranks. Several Pixs and even a couple of the Gentelis had also joined Natali’s News team and were now producing a news-website and even a monthly gossip and handy-hits website.

Many of the scientists had banded together and were now concentrating on getting a University set up. They were co-ordinating with Essco to teach in his University as well. They had also adopted the Keltrian education system.

Futura was a happening place.

Lee came in and then flopped on the couch.

Lee had been busily doing something on the ship over the week it was being fitted out for the return trip. She said to Sean, “Damn, that was bloody hard work.”

Sean knelt between her legs and massaged her growing stomach. He loved touching it, and Lee felt her daughter’s contentment as her father did. “What have you been doing on the ship, Lee?” he asked.

Lee groaned as his hand slipped down under her dress and probed her cunnie. She soon had her legs spread wider to give him better access. He leant forward and moved the top of the dress aside with his teeth. He soon had a tit in his mouth as well. They were definitely bigger, he decided, and he was perfectly happy with their growth.

Lee sighed and rocked into his busy hand. He still had the same effect on her that he did the first time he took her. She was more than happy with her hunky man. Lee grinned at him and said, “I modified the ship with magic.” She groaned again, and he pushed into her harder and took his mouth off her tit.

“What did you change?” he asked now distracted enough by the conversation to forget the tit, but the hand stayed busy.

“Well if what I did works, they should be able to be up to speed in eight days. Then take about two jumps to get to the slowdown and then about nine to ten days to get to the moon.”

He looked at her in amazement, “How safe is that and can the compensators handle the speeds?”

“Yes, I pretty much did away with them other than they keep a 1g downward force for the crew during the trip. The ship now creates a sort of isolation bubble, so the ship just sits in it, and the jumps are more efficient now too.”

“The passengers should barely feel them. The crystal and exotic matter coating worked a treat, and it helps with maintaining the bubble and deflecting unwanted forces.”

“How do you know this?” he asked.

“Oh, we took her out to Kylee and then did a couple of jumps. She shouldn’t have any trouble when she gets up to full steam,” she then yawned. Sean realised why she had told him she wasn’t coming home for a couple of days.