Chapter 14: The Wizard's Retreat

~~ November - Week 47 ~~

The next morning, Sean and Lee were sitting in the morning room as they called it.

They were watching the sun come up over the landscape of Harmony. “I could get used to living here, Lee,” Sean said as he looked out and enjoyed the view.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty place, very different, but I like it too,” Lee said.

“Hey Lee, I know you’re not into servants, but have you thought of finding a couple of families to live here permanently to help look after the place? Especially since we are going to be getting regular visitors?” Sean asked.

“Yeah I have, I’ve talked to Haf about it,” Lee replied.

She looked around the new dwelling. Jim had built them a dome home. It was a lot bigger than both she and Sean had envisaged. It was split into three levels. A 4.5m high straight Oznglass wall supported the dome cover. The two lower levels were 3m high. The top-level was in the dome.

It had fifty-four bedrooms rooms. The dome was dived into four outer quadrants and a central circular area that rose up to the third level. They were all separated by wide walkways.

On the ground floor, three of the outer quarters had ten bedrooms each. They were divided into five two-room apartments and storage areas. The three apartments on the exterior wall could be turned into four-man bunkrooms. Or they could be used as two individual rooms if the occupants were singles.

Each apartment had a bath/laundry and a small common room with kitchenette. The inner two apartments had slightly large bedrooms.

A replicator and a general storage room were located between the two inner rooms, and the ends of the outer set of apartments had storage rooms. A wide round walkway separated the outer apartments from the inner ones.

Each quarter was separated by a wide hallway that leads into the inner circular walkway that surrounded the central area. The fourth quarter was storage and support systems a couple of lab-rooms and a large general open area for whatever else Lee decided to put there.

The twelve Wizards and Queen’s apartments were spaced around the middle levels outer wall with three in each quarter. Each had a huge main bedroom, a slightly smaller nursery/spare room, a big bathroom, a private sitting room and a kitchenette.

A full hydroponics level circled the top of the apartments leaving the middle open. Small gardens inter-spaced the sets of rooms and stair entrances. They were designed more like herb gardens, even though they were mostly empty at present.

Three smaller domes were attached to the south, north and west sides. However, unlike the other domes, they actually butted into the central dome. They didn’t have the decontamination rooms separating them just large sliding doors. Each smaller dome had two levels.

The bottom level was 3m high as in the central dome. The top-level split, so the circular middle half was two levels high and open to the dome roof. Stairs accessed the top levels at both entrances, and a 1m high railing stopped people falling to the lower level if it wasn’t walled off.

The western dome housed a huge replicator recycler, and its storage vessels and a massive scanner. Shelving for storage of removed solid products was on both levels. A large hopper was attached on the outside for input of products from the surrounding area.

The northern dome housed their vehicles, machinery and a large multi-purpose workshop the upper level was currently empty on the second floor. The southern one was for animals and had a small surgery and butchers’ area. The upper level could be used for storage.

The middle of the central area of the main dome was a massive kitchen with huge walk-through fridges and freezers and general food and other catering storage.

Around the kitchen, one quarter was glassed off as the game’s rooms and a gym. It faced the main storage area. Lee had borrowed some of that space back and had added two pools, one for adults and one for the kids and a change room.

The quarter beside the gym and off the kitchens was designed more like a bar and meeting up area with a small stage at the other end. The parents could see the kids from here in the pool or the games area.

On the other side, one quarter was set up with formal seating for fifty. Another quarter had less formal seating for about as many again with a large bathroom area, accessed between the two.

The top of the kitchen area was a massive observatory and conference area with a large oval table that could seat sixteen to twenty people comfortably in one glassed off area. It had a massive holo-projector in the middle of the table.

There were smaller sitting areas and workspaces spaced around the other two quarters. These areas weren’t glassed in. The area could only be accessed from the crossing walkways to the upstairs rooms and gardens.

Lee had set up another quarter on the east side as her observation/security centre. She had the large curved wall, which separated that top corner from the others covered with monitors. She could access any area at any time as long as it had camera coverage, or the probes could see and or hear.

It could have up to eight operators seated at individual desks, which faced the walls. Hers and Sean’s large curved desk was raised higher on its own platform and could observe the whole room. It wasn’t glassed-in, because they could erect privacy shields as required.

Kyle had designed Lee a new computer that combined magic and technology. She simply had to think at or verbally command it, to do whatever she wanted within its capacity. Only she, Kyle, Tony and Sean had full access.

It was actually located twenty metres under the dome, in a cavernous room with no access except by teleporting. It had its own air recycling system that also connected to the central dome through small pipes and filtered inlets and outlets.

The area was huge, and only the four of them had access. They had also built a hidden workshop in here for just the four of them. Lee and Kyle had both transported all the devices that had been in Jahn’s and Rah’s treasure caves in there to study.

When Jim had shown her the new dome, she had been flabbergasted at the size of it. She had to get all the boys and Uren to help her shift it to Watson Island. The Wizards loved the place. They were looking forward to spending time there with Lee and Sean.

When Jim explained why it was so large, he said, “Well, at the moment you only have a few people that intend to use it. But I bet more space will be needed in no time. You all have kids on the way, and you will probably need to staff it.”

Lee reluctantly had to agree and had Haf busy looking for staff for her. But just this morning it was her and Sean enjoying Delta’s sunrise in the top seating area she and Sean had set up in what was to become one of the hydroponics areas on the east side near their set of rooms.

Lee said, “You know we could just disappear here, and no one could find us. We could let them sort out their own problems.”

Sean laughed and replied, “One day, my love. At least we have a retreat now. I find this place very restful. I think even once the staff turns up, it will be ours and the other wizards, favourite time-out place.”

Lee nodded in agreement. She decided Jim did a bloody awesome job of building her a bolt hole. There was still heaps to do here, to get it up to scratch. But she decided that it was a job for another day.

Sean looked at her, “Talking about the other wizards when are they due to arrive?”

Lee looked at her minder and said, “About four hours. I have to go pick up the staff Haf has found first and get them settled in, so someone can feed us all. I’m meeting him in about twenty minutes. Tony said he’d find people for Hydroponics.”

“Since I acquired that herd of ponies from Carl de Bou, I’m going to bring some of them here. Kyle and Tony are arranging their transportation and the other animals. They always behave better for Kyle than for me.”

“Don has recommended one of his couples who would love to move here to look after them. Dave has also found me a couple for looking after the other animals.”

“I was thinking I might borrow Jim or Qu and get them to build me two three-bedroom units in the Animal dome. There is more than enough room for them and the animals. Those people tend to like staying closer to the animals.”

Sean laughed, “Expanding already! I thought you said this place was too big already?”

Lee grinned at him, “I can’t seem to help myself, can I?”

“You just like people to be happy my love,” he said. He looked at his comm, “Hmm ... so what can we do for twenty minutes?”

Lee laughed and went and sat across his lap. He was only wearing his boxers, and she soon had him out of them and in her.

It was an excellent way to start the day.

It was a busy day as they ferried staff and animals to their new homes.

Jim and Magda had found two Burgis couples that they said would look after Lee’s building projects and hydroponics’ under Tony’s guidance. Haf had found a Prol couple and their three children they still had at home to take over the kitchens. One of the Pix families of five who worked as cleaners in Futura was happy to relocate as well.

Jim, Qu and the boys quickly altered one of the rooms in two of the apartments into two levels with a set of stairs and a railing for the top half as the Pix didn’t want it walled off. They put two smaller beds on each new level for the kids. The Pix parents also decided they wanted a split-level room as the wife was pregnant.

They would put their bed on the top and use the bottom as the nursery. Lee had to laugh when she saw Jim happily installing the new floor at armpit height for him. The Pix family thought it was funny as well as they didn’t even come up to his bellybutton. Lee also guessed why each story was 3m high since Jim had designed it.

The cooks and cleaners happily moved in. The two Burgis couples claimed rooms and Dave’s and Don’s couples did as well until their apartments were finished. Gavin called Sean and told him to come and get his Prols.

He had two young couples that would be happy to relocate to look after stocking the recycler and working on the outside paths and gardens. So, Sean dutifully picked them up. The two couples decided to share an apartment for now.

The staff had selected the set of rooms between the south and west domes as that was where they would be spending most of their time. It also gave them easy access to the gym, pools and games room as for most of the time it would be just theirs to use. Lee really didn’t care as long as they were happy. She could also see the advantages of their point of view.

Then the wizards started to appear. Kyle had claimed the set of rooms next to Lee’s. They had Jim put a set of double sliding doors between their adjoining sitting rooms. Lee had changed the third room in her quarter, which was effectively Sean’s room.

Lee had redesigned it, especially for their other children. Drako had the large bedroom. It had special heating pads in the floor and walls, so he was kept warm enough.

Since Lee had told Bellna that they were coming to the retreat, every second Sunday, Bellna had asked if she could visit. So, Lee had heated the big room enough for several large dragons to sleep in.

Bellna now had a daughter of her own called Adeana and Drako was more than happy to have a play friend and sleepovers, in his own room. Sean would often take him to go get them so he could have a quick visit with the other relatives as well. Sean was fascinated with the dragons.

Lee had modified the nursery room, so it could house Sparky and her family on the top half of one wall, and there was room for several more families as well.

Miss Piggy also got her own space underneath in that room with her daughter Sooty, who was Sparky’s pet piglet. The pigs and the faeries were all happy with this arrangement. As was Sean, since he loved spending time with his granddaughters.