Chapter 14

Tracy was soon speaking to Muriel.

"Muriel? This is Tracy Abdin: Hasan's wife. John, Hasan and myself were at school together. John brought us here recently, and I thought it would be nice to arrange a get-together. Is that possible?"

Muriel twigged who it was. "It most certainly is, Tracy. I was just reminding John a few days ago that we had promised to do that. How about you and I make the arrangements, and just tell the men it is happening?"

"That sounds like a plan, Muriel. Your house or mine?"

"I think we have more space, so make it the Governor's mansion. Oh, how did you get on with your cramped conditions? Did it turn out like you expected?"

"Indeed it did, Muriel. Roxanne had to share our bed, so I got her to share Hasan – which was what she wanted, poor girl. I was expecting her to want to be another wife to Hasan, but she says whatever suits us. She would be happy to be a concubine to Hasan, she says, and bear his children if he wanted."

"My goodness! The girl is still in Middle East mode, it sounds like. How have you dealt with it?"

"I am working on Hasan. Fortunately he was brought up with an English education, so I think he would not be too happy with her as a concubine. I need to work on him to accept a second wife. He still is not thinking that way: I believe he is putting off the decision. If you could work on him when we visit, I'd be grateful, Muriel."

"Fine. I can fix something up. What did you think of Gloria and Penny at the dinner? That was mostly preparation and training by me, though the dresses came from Rehome."

"I was staggered by how great the two girls looked. The younger one was your Penny; have I got it right?"

"Yes. The two teens were orphaned recently and we took them in. Penny is in some ways like your Roxanne, only she made it clear that she wanted to marry John, right from the start, after seeing how he dealt with her family. I got her on birth control, so she could get some safe experience of sex before rushing in, in case this is just a crush. I presume you did the same with Roxanne?"

"Ah, well, unfortunately that was an afterthought, Muriel. She might already be pregnant, you see. We are waiting to see – or rather I am waiting to see; I don't think Hasan is consciously aware of the possibility, despite being a doctor!"

"You can get pregnancy testing kits that work a couple of weeks after conception, so that would let you know one way or another."

"You have such materials in a colony on a new planet?"

"Yep. It would surprise you how many women want to know if they are pregnant, here. I suspect quite a few couples are not yet married and the woman wants to present her partner with a pregnancy, to urge him to the next step: marriage."

Tracy changed topics. "Anyway, how about setting a date? Does your John have any appointments in the evening? Or would you prefer a weekend date?"

"John is sometimes delayed getting home for dinner, so perhaps a Saturday would be best. How about a week on Saturday? The girls will want to prepare a menu, possibly after-dinner games: who knows? The one thing I cannot guarantee is that John won't have phone calls. Like a doctor, he is never truly off duty."

"At least Hasan can switch his phone off, if he is at a social event. I don't suppose John has that luxury."

"No such luck. Anyway, I want you to bring Roxanne with you, as part of your family. Any doubts from Hasan, tell him we asked for her to come. He won't refuse then."

"And you will have Penny and her younger sister – what is her name?"

"Tabitha, but she is known as Tabs by everyone. They would be furious if they weren't allowed to be there. They regard themselves as part of our family now, and we look on them the same way. It is surprising how little time it has taken for them to become part of the woodwork: we expect them always to be around now."

"They have settled down, then. How about at school?"

"Tabs is doing well at school, and Penny is charging ahead at college, doing economics. I am very proud of that girl. She is like a second daughter now, and for all I know, may become another wife to John. I can live with that."

"When would you want us to arrive at your door, Muriel? And should we bring a gift for your house, or just a bottle of wine?"

"No need to bring anything, Tracy. You are too new here for that to be expected. Roxanne's presence can be your gift – as long as Hasan takes her back again!

"I am looking forward to hearing about my John at school with you."

"I have a few tales to tell, Muriel, be assured of that. He was known as The Organiser, for a start."

"Now why am I not surprised at that revelation, Tracy?"

"More when I see you, then, Muriel. You can also pump Hasan. He will have stories as well. We all had to teach Hasan English, as he had only a smattering when he arrived at the school."

The Yakovlevs were extremely busy. More and more pictures were coming to Aaron and Piotr, for them to categorise, and it was taking more time to do so than they expected. Piotr in particular complained to his Dad that he didn't know what to suggest, and Aaron had a similar problem with identification. Eventually they took what they considered the easy way out, and chose to split them into: Dangerous; Potentially dangerous; and potentially safe. Fortunately The Personalia also saw the sense in this and accepted this decision. It gave The Personalia the opportunity to anaesthetize and remove animals quickly to locations beyond the new fence; then return to the enclave to pick another animal, which might otherwise have wandered off while the Landership was occupied elsewhere.

They re-thought their actions, and brought in groups of drones. They now made use of a group of drones to lift a comatose animal up above tree level and across to the fence. Anywhere beyond the fence was at first deemed satisfactory, until they discovered that an unconscious animal was a perfect snack for a predator. The solution they adopted was to install a ring of upright rails without enough space between them for a large predator to enter. Sleeping animals were deposited within the ring, and when they recovered, they made their own way out through the gaps between the rail fence posts.

With this solution in operation, the process was speeded up, and as fast as Aaron could send them a decision, they would implement any needed move almost at once. Any animal deemed not dangerous was tagged as such so that it was not bothered again should it wander into a new area.

Tree felling was at last in operation, in preparation for the cable car system of transportation. The enclave was not deemed sufficiently safe for humans yet, so the Personalia resorted to a Landership snaring a log by one end, and raising it to hang vertically. In that manner it was lifted to the cable car terminus, where it was cut to the necessary length to fit in the carrier, then dropped in. The first cable car pair was at once moved off, to be replaced by the next pairing, ready for the next log.

Operation of the cable car system normally would have required a human being to be responsible for each loop section's working, so that it operated safely. To solve this difficulty The Personalia designated some mechanoids to perform the car working tasks while it was being used solely to transport logs.

The completed sawmill was ready and waiting for its first timber to arrive, unseasoned. The rail goods yard was laid out, for when the tunnel was completed and the rail track could come through it from the enclave beyond. The first log-bearing cable cars arrived at the terminus, and the emptying mechanism utilised.

This was a ratcheting mechanism at both ends of the bottom rail up the end of each cable car. Dropping the ratchet lowered the bottom rail to the point where the log dropped and rolled sideways off the rail, and down to the ground. The ratchet was wound up again, ready for the unit to return over the mountains to the other terminus.

At this point, the lack of a link to the sawmill became obvious. The Personalia had assumed that one of the rail spurs would be to the cable car station, but the human Action Committee had been unclear about the logs arriving by cable car first, and had done nothing about it. They had assumed the logs would initially be flown by Landership direct to the sawmill, until the cable car work was completed, and had not heard about progress there. It was the old fashioned SNAFU, courtesy of a modern Personalia/human interface.

The Personalia informed the Governor, who informed Evelyn, chairman of the Action Committee.

"Evelyn, there was a distinct lack of action in installing a rail spur to the cable car terminus, at our end. Can you get that rectified smartish, as the first logs are already arriving. On the same topic, have you planned for a rail link starting the cable car at the enclave end, going out to the forests?"

"The latter is in planning, Governor, I assure you. It was an oversight that we missed the cable car link at this end. I will get on to it immediately, Governor."

At school, Piotr was getting on well with his studies, but one lad, Andrew, was a bit of a bully, always wanting to show he was in charge. One day he picked on Piotr, to show his control of his classmates.

"So, Piotr, you couldn't make it with your own people, so you are putting up with the humans?"

"No, Andrew, that is not the case. My family could not cope with everything that was facing them, so our friends the Yakovlev's volunteered to adopt me as one of their own family. Thus I am officially a human like you, assuming that you actually ARE a human being, and not just a bully. I am told that bullies are sub-humans. You aren't a bully, are you, Andrew? I wouldn't like to have to regard you as a sub-human."

He turned to his friends with him, saying, "We wouldn't want to have to see Andrew as a sub-human, would be, guys? We like him too much, even if he is a BIT different!"

Andrew was nonplussed, lost for words, and afraid to act as a bully in these circumstances. He decided on,

"Well, as long as you agree you like me, I'll let it be." He turned away and left them.

As soon as he was out of earshot, the other boys closed on Piotr. David said, admiringly, "Great going, Piotr. I didn't know you had it in you! You have always been quiet and respectful before now."

"That was the advice my Dad gave me, David: 'Be nice to others, and they will usually be nice to you. He apparently got that from his Good Book. I have yet to read that Book, but it sounds interesting."

His pal commented, "Certainly he gave you good advice, old son. How come you changed to brazen it out with Andrew?"

"I had noticed how Andrew behaved, and I asked Dad about it. He told me that bullies were usually insecure in their own selves. They bullied other people to hide their own insecurity, so he said, 'make him see bullying as a bad move, and he will probably see the better choice as backing off.' He gave me the idea of sub-human as a view of a bully, telling me that being a Towatan was not less than a human; merely a different, but equal, being."

He beamed at his pals. "I really like my Dad. He treats me as a son, and I am happy to have him as my father. I hope you all like your Dads?"

Most of them nodded, but one boy hung back. Piotr noticed.

"Graham, what's your problem? Don't you like your Dad?"

"I can't say, Piotr. I don't know what to think about him. He says things that I can't understand, particularly when he has been drinking."

David enquired, "What sort of things, Graham? We won't blab. We just want to help."

Graham explained, "He says he is better than other people, but doesn't get recognised. He moans about people with degrees and diplomas thinking they are superior, but he never tried to get a degree or diploma himself: I asked Mum about that, and she confirmed it. She says he is dissatisfied with his life, and takes it out on people around him." He quickly added, "He doesn't hit me or Mum, or anyone in the family. He just talks this way."

Piotr asked quietly, "What is his job, Graham?"

Graham said, sadly, "He is a labourer on the railway. He has to take orders from a supervisor; but so do the rest of the labourers on the track team. As far as I can see, the team achieves a lot more if they work the way the supervisor expects. Being part of a team is not a bad thing, is it?"

"No, you are right, Graham," said Piotr. "It must be more than that. Something is bothering him. Does he have any ambition that he has never been able to achieve? Something special that he might actually do; not a fantasy?"

"Oddly, you are right, Piotr. He always wanted to be a zookeeper, of all things. No zoo would take him on, for they all wanted people with degrees and diplomas in animal husbandry and such things. He just wanted to be able to help look after the animals. Isn't it weird?"