Chapter 52

As I went to alpha level, I easily found about a hundred and a half people. I actually stopped counting. The easiest to contact were the seventy-one children. It turns out that childrens’ minds are in an alpha state almost all the time. Well, the young children any way. Most of the teenagers were thinking of sex most of the time. School work. Sex. School work. Sex. It was a little different for the guys: school work, sex, sex, football, sex, sex. Repeat.

I was a teenager. Well in this life anyway. Maybe it was life #1 that prevented me from focusing so much on sex.

Oooo. I popped right out of alpha and started thinking about Rock and me. Then it was Bear and me. Then it was Apollo and me. I had a fleeting thought about a three-way with his fiancée. Okay. That’s enough of that. I took a break and opened my eyes. Those were definitely x-rated thoughts.

‘Thanks, life #1, for the dirty movies in my mind,’ I thought to myself.

Sitting on the floor opposite me was Shoshone Tex. That’s the way I now thought of him, rather than Little Tex. He had his cowboy hat down over his eyes and was leaning on the wall opposite. I wondered what time it was.

[12:39 p.m., Lexi.]

Right. I knew that, if I had checked my mental clock. I was distracted, thinking about sex. And FOOD. I was hungry. I’d skipped a real breakfast and elevenses too. I uncoiled from my lotus position. I guess the scruffing of my boots on the floor woke Tex.

He pushed his hat back and smiled at me. Nice teeth. That probably wasn’t what caught the eye of his girl, though. There I was back on sex, again.

“Oh, good. I don’t have to be quiet.” I shook my legs to get some circulation going.

“You weren’t quiet before.” He laughed.

“Let’s get some lunch,” said I.

I got up; he stood and grabbed his rifle. Matilda was it?

When we got to #24 I could see that the Jed & Crew Electrical Construction Company had been at work. There was a newly covered trench leading to a stake in the ground. Near the stake two heavy cables led up to a panel with several breakers inside – the door was partially open and the panel was attached to the outside of #24. Nearby, there were eight outlets on a 2x4 attached to the #24 wall. And of course, leading from each of six outlets were individual cords leading to six hotplates. Two of the outlets were unused. On each of the hotplates was a skillet with some yummy looking stuff cooking away. Each of the skillets, of course, were handled by one of the women I’d seen this morning. No sign of the fire extinguisher guy. (Good!) As each was finished the cook took the skillet inside, emptied it on a platter, and refilled it from a cooler.

Jed and Moses’ assistant and Big Tex were watching, but they seemed satisfied with the setup. “This looks great,” I told them. I turned to my shadow, Shoshone Tex. “You did the trench?”

“Yep,” he said. “That’s Carlie, over there.” He pointed at a big machine with a big wheel on the front with fangs to dig up the dirt and a pair of handlebars in the back. It was set up like a lawn mower, but about twice as big. “I call her Carlie, ‘cause she’s like the other Carlie in my life. They both rattle my nerves and rattle my brain.” He did his aw-shucks smile again.

Red, that’s Jerry Lee Lewis, right?

[‘Great Balls of Fire.’ Jerry Lee Lewis, 1957. That’s an oldie even in these days. He misquoted it, it should be ‘Shake my nerves.’]

“Shake my nerves, Tex. Not ‘Rattle.’ I like the oldies, too,” I corrected.

“Damn! I knew I liked ya, Whirlwind,” he said.

I turned to Jed. “Do you think we should put a roof over this effort, in case it rains? We can do something more permanent for the winter.”

“Yeah, good idea,” said Jed, the temporary electrician in charge.

“Also, tell Marylou when you get back, to order up an industrial cook top grill. Then we won’t be using hotplates anymore. And a fridge,” I said. I turned to one of the cooks. “Where does all the fresh food come from?”

“Oh, Miz Lexi, one of the men goes down to Morton (a nearby town) ever’ day and comes back with coolers of food. Whatever he gets. We all pitch in to pay fer it.”

“Thanks. Thanks a lot ... Jed, make sure we got some good electricity inside #24 too. We’re gonna get a big ol’ fridge and keep it inside.” I got another brainstorm: inside was food, and I was hungry. “I haven’t eaten since ... who knows when. I’m going inside to eat some of the food these ladies are cooking up.”

I loaded up some beans, cooked veggies, sliced meat that was cooked, flatbread and some cornbread. Tex, Big Tex, Jed, and Moses’ assistant (I’m gonna have to learn his name, someday) filled in the picnic table with me. I poured myself some sun tea from a big pitcher. I was talking around the food in my mouth. I know, it’s uncouth. But I tried to keep the food hidden behind a hand. “How d’ya cook cornbread in a skillet?”

“Just watch Carmine Deer Horn. She doesn’t have any trouble,” said Jed.

I swallowed. “Deer Horn?”

Jed answered, “Marylou’s aunt. She’s gonna live out here, with her husband--Smokey. Smokey’s a plumber. Licensed and everything.”

[Lexi?]

Yeah?

[If you’re gonna just be eating, I thought this might be a good time for an update.]

Jed said, “You want to get an industrial fridge in here?”

“Uh huh,” I replied.

Sure, go ahead, Red.

[It’s about the Burnside North site. They are close to getting started with chip production.]

Really?

Jed said, “We can get a cotton candy machine, too.”

“Uh huh.”

[It’ll be with Intel workforce, but they’ll have Navajo and Hopi at their sides. This will be a test run making both the chips for the solar collector and the ‘special’ chips in another section. The first run of test chips should be done by Friday of next week.]

Great! I got to get down there.