Chapter 17

The next day I handed out assignments. In a break from tradition I set no watch and we would all fit in the diurnal cycle of the planet. If we all slept at the same time then we would all have our meals at the same time. We would be like a family on the ship I had grown up on.

I made temporary groupings the same as the first night. The experienced crew would get to teach the inexperienced portion. Everybody had to continue with their education and some work would get done on building what we needed. Consti was kept busy to allow her to get over her loss

Zolanda and I worked on designing the forth size of precision fabricators. We needed the largest possible and the base we were now in was much too small. The eighth size of fabricator was needed for our research vessel but if we moved up to the size of ship that Zolanda controlled at one time the fabricator needed to be one size bigger again.

The proposed base on my other property could take even this but there would be difficulty getting the very large keel, ribs and hull plate out of Earth's gravity well without the parts being detected. A shield would have to be built around each member and this would be a ship in itself. Much better to move the fabricator to the far side of the moon and build bigger units in that location. A keel 2,400 metres long was best done in one continuous process. The ribs, though shorter, were the same way.

Computing power would be in very short supply and this too had to be addressed. It would be great to have large crystals but the smaller units forming multiple processors would have to do. After the next meal we sat and discussed the proposed base on the moon and what we would need. More details about Zolanda's past came out and this was the direction I wanted to follow. The fantastic speeds attributed to the ship came up again but we couldn't see how this could possibly be done.

Wreckage had been found all through the system and both Odava and Tommy went out to get it. This made sleeping arrangements different again. I got my old boat while the ship had Tommy's odd craft. They would only be gone a few days but they had very many millions of kilometres to cover and with frequent stops to pick up what the probes had found.

Probes had detected many fragments in museums but none of them were valuable to us. They could shed very little light on what the portion was originally of. The Earth had not been fully searched for the probes had difficulty in deep mineral laden water or with a large amount of overburden. The search continued but nothing of importance was discovered.

More cycles passed and the base was now like home. Designs were made for up to the ninth precision fabricator. We had the two smaller sizes still operational except the first which was used to feed the second. It was too small for much anyway. The forth size had been constructed in small pieces and shuttled to the moon. Margaret and Tom had built a small dome there for us. It wasn't hidden bellow the surface but was on the side facing away from the planet.

My own mind was monitored for the mental improvements we began a half year earlier. I found that my thinking had been clearer in recent days and talked to the girls about it. They too agreed with me on this but we decided to pretend that nothing had happened until the process was complete. It had to be monitored most of the time but the body could carry on with a small job at a time.

Sandra, Megan and Consti set up the power to the new lunar base we were building by constructing a fair sized reactor. The mining machinery made on Earth dug up lunar regolith to feed the precision fabricator that was assembled by the rest of us. Temporary billets of purified material were produced. When the time came to make some parts the semi-processed material would be available. It was important to do so in a continuous stream or the part would not come out right.

We built long curved ribs that were hung far above us for our dome. This alone took us three cycles to secure to the moon's crust and to each other. When the shield as finally energised the smaller dome underneath was dismantled.

This new dome was twelve kilometres in diameter and six high. The material under the dome had our strongest hull plate for the weight that would be upon it would be great even with the lesser gravity. Air could be easily manufactured to fill the dome but there was really no need with the suits we always wore.

A large nearby crater wall had disappeared to provide materials for the fifth precision fabricator and the associated infrastructure. Zolanda moved all the time so she would control the largest machines. Small computers were made but the large one we needed to power the fabrication process was the bottleneck. Only Odava and I could do most of the work with getting the substrate into the proper position in the computer. It was a matter of feel and not what a person could learn. In all this time we had not even completed one yet.

More of the moon's rough features disappeared as they went into our dome to become more machinery. The mining machinery though got considerably larger so the job could go faster.

Tom and Margaret officially moved out of Canada a year ago now. All of the property was sold in Victoria. People could still phone but they believed it was our call forwarding feature. Consti's features changed to resemble the girls. They went to Earth quite a few times for pleasure which meant to shop usually. Odava and Ichom were the only ones that didn't want to go to the uncivilised place. They didn't mind the deserted beaches and even the jungles as long as there were no people or large predators around.

Odava and I finished the computer and put it through its paces. It was not a quick as Zolanda but had lots of extra features. Sadly after testing we found that it would not work well with any but the smallest fabricator on the moon; the class four. Research told us that she didn't have the control that Zolanda had. Part of this could be the speed of one large crystal but it was also a timing problem. Tommy had given it the name Max but it didn't live up to the nomenclature.

There was nothing to do but try again. We all worked on what would be needed and tried to come up with a better design. We even built a larger processing module. There was some improvement but not enough to run a five never mind the ninth. Here again I realized that this work should have been much more difficult than it would have been without my mental improvement. It wasn't that obvious but the insights came when they were needed just like when I had Soldoy with me to give me hints. Now it was my own subconscious doing the assisting.

Cycles later the newest computer was complete. There were nine large processor modules each the size of what Max was now. After tests we found it could handle a class five adequately but again not the sixth precision fabricator.

Mindful of my promise to Zolanda, I began to build a ship that she could control herself with a full suite of sensors, tractors and weapons. There was very little space on it not devoted to one job or another. Zolanda helped me design the ship but I was the one that wanted it as safe as possible for her. At least I didn't have to put a computer into it. It would be the fastest ship I knew of for there was only limited life support facilities for a few people that may need to work on her systems.

The family worked with me on this but they were unhappy with the possible prospect of Zolanda leaving. I explained that she might not leave but she just had the freedom to go if she wished. Consti wanted to scrub the crystal and then we would have no need of this foolish loyalty arrangement. I remembered Soldoy and knew him as a friend. Friends gave each other breathing room when they needed it. If Zolanda was a real friend she would stay and help. Given enough time a computer would one day be built to handle the nine and the same kind could control the ship that could safely go between the stars.

The fabricators were kept busy making equipment. With the current project moving well, the more delicate or the large jobs were given to Zolanda. My old crew could not see the AI as that much of a person but the Humans saw all the AIs as intelligent beings with feelings. Part of this was because when I first introduced Borin I said she was alive and they had to treat her as a lady. Then again Humans are very unsophisticated and they may have done as I wanted even without any guidance.

When the ship was eventually complete Zolanda was moved over to it. The process took only a day to get her hooked up to the systems, the same as to the fabricators. She wanted to take a test flight. Tommy cried thinking his friend and mentor would be leaving and in a way so did I.

She lifted off easily enough and sped out of the system. She was configured the same way as the Seffra ships that would partially negate the Mardaf Limit. On the way she reported how the ship functioned until she was out of range of any of our probes. Megan and Sandra had some tears in their eyes but dutifully returned to their jobs.

Consti was angry at me for letting such a valuable piece of equipment leave but kept her tongue because I was still captain. Odava and Ichom were half way between Humans and Seffra in what they thought of AIs. At the moment they were more strongly influenced by the crying Humans.

Plans had been laid in for even more sophisticated computers and we just continued with what we had to do. The new ship's construction may even take longer now that we saw the difficulty of building a suitable computer to oversee the construction.

Consti came to me a few days after Zolanda left and wanted to talk in private. "Leefstic, I been wondering why you have been avoiding me. I need sex as strongly as your wives do. I have talked to Sandra and Megan about this. They are not opposed in any way to you and I in temporarily alliance."

I replied, "I have been very busy to even make love to my wives the way they need. I love you but we are not the kind to marry each other. There are just too many differences."

"I was not asking to join your family. You are attractive and I know you find me the same way. I just need some sex from time to time."

"Why don't you take on Tommy for a while to see what he's like?"

"He tries very hard but he is far beneath me intellectually. He's also just an alien boy."

"That is true but if he were raised to our level he would at least have the intelligence. Given time and with his drive he may even supercede what we can do."

She laughed at that then saw that I was serious. "Even if he will, he is still an alien boy. Only you have married outside our race."

I disregarded the slur and said, "It has been almost two local years since I came to this system. The boy is growing and will mature. I think he will make a fine crew member. Will you assist me in raising Tommy to the level he deserves and in turn you may join my wives in a temporary manner?"

"He is an alien Leefstic. You can't force me to do this."

"I am not forcing you at all. Tommy needs your presence and cooperation for half of a cycle. It's only intended to raise his consciousness. Complete this and I will not only be grateful but we will have sex when my wives have it too."

"I don't like this. It is still like you are forcing me. We are the only Seffra here and it is your duty to help me in this manner."

"Tommy is part of our crew too. I'm looking for his welfare as well as yours. You may not like the idea of mating with races other than ours but you find my wives intelligent, very charming and easy to get along with. They would risk their lives for you and I think you would do the same. There just seems to be a bit of hypocrisy here. Perhaps you should discuss this with Sandra and Megan to see how they feel about it."

Consti left a bit angry. I had been planning this for a long time and I wanted it to work as easily as possible. I had hoped that she would love the boy and she did but like the way a Human loved a pet. Even though I had toned down Tommy's response to puberty he still saw Consti as the only available female. Consti saw the same thing and didn't like it.

Consti avoided Tommy for a few days then went back to the way it used to be. After coming to this system Consti had toned down her bodies need for sex but I had encouraged Megan and Sandra to not hide their feelings. The same thing had been done to their parents. This may not be a good way for a race to function but it may be necessary in the present circumstances.

The Humans on the planet had no knowledge of us. They had sent some probes to Mars and were thinking of coming back to their nearest neighbour. This may mean more interest in the dark side of the moon where we were. We would now stand out for we were now in the centre of a very large plane that had been rough terrain when the last photographs had been taken.

Phone calls from Earth had come less and less except from the telemarketers that had our old number. The Human portion of our crew were not really put out by this but felt a bit sad at the same time. When they now went to Earth their old friends were quite a bit different from them. They could sense the disparity in minds now and didn't feel comfortable.

I was sold additional minerals even if I didn't need them right away. Our production of parts had not stopped though. The cruiser's design was in memory and we continued to build the smaller parts. The largest structural members would just have to wait until the class nine was completed and especially operational. Otherwise we would have to make the ship in smaller portions with less hull integrity.

A smaller dome was started almost a thousand kilometres away. This one was only four kilometres in diameter and two high. The material for this dome was taken from the material under which the dome itself would go. Again decking was placed over the entire area with half of the total area considerably lower in elevation. This was not the usual dome for fabricating. The contours were rolling and in places even rough and extended deeply into the lunar surface. Large lunar rocks had not been turned to dust but had been placed on top of the decking.

Our manufacturing processes produced a large amount of waste materials. One was water and this went into the second dome. Free oxygen was produced and this too went into the dome. We went to Earth to gather the majority of the nitrogen for there was very little in lunar soil.

Microorganisms were brought along with a great deal of soil. Odava and Ichom worked the hardest at this project. Sediment was taken from behind hydroelectric dams. This was put in very thick for the trees we wanted were very large. This situation would help the Humans and give us needed material.

A small reactor provided all the heat and light the living system needed. Trees, insects and shrubbery were added. I looked for the things that would remind the Gossna of their home. Fruit and vegetables were added along with grain that they would like. Vines would someday creep up the interior of the dome and hide some of the dome's artificiality.

Nobody argued with this expenditure of energy. It was a welcome change from building ship parts. We all like growing things anyway. The artificial sun glowed more orange than Earth and made the Gossna feel much more in their natural setting.

Odava and Ichom built one home that their race found comfortable. Other homes were built for us but everybody had a hand in the designing. My family's home had not been started yet and this got me into some trouble with the girls. I was still working on my matchmaking but now the target had shifted. Tall cypress, mangrove and redwoods would start us out but we would work a bit with the genetics so they would adapt better to the gravity. Parasites living in the tree were dealt with until there were no more.

Oak and conifers were planted in upland areas where they could live without having their roots constantly in water. Quick growing plants were introduced for ground cover. The cooler dome was especially fabricated to keep the air moving and provide localised rainfall.

When an area around the Gossna home was done I said to both of my friends, "Odava, do you consider me a friend as well as your captain?"

"Yes I do. If you were not my friend I don't think I would have volunteered to join your race's explorations."

"As a friend and as an authority figure I want to point out that we will not meet any new Gossna for quite a few years. Acting on Ichom's behalf I want to know what your intentions are?"

"Leefstic, I want her as my wife. One day we will have lots of children."

"Odava, my friend, I plan on increasing my own family soon. We are old enough and responsible enough to raise children. I am asking you now as Ichom's guardian. What are your intentions?"

He thought a moment and hung his head. "May I call on Ichom to see if she will have me for a husband?"

Ichom had remained quiet all this time. I simply said, "You may." In an unusual display of emotion Ichom ran to Odava and held him tightly to her. I added, "See, we have saved resources and not had to build another home." I doubt if either of them heard me. I was happy for both of them. They just needed a kick to get them in the proper frame of mind.

Sandra and Megan were currently returning from Earth. They brought back more soil and plant life. An hour later the ship entered the dome through the matter transmitter. It hovered over a thinly covered area and dropped many tonnes of soil. Tractors came out and moved it about. Pressors worked very quickly to compress the soil. A dozen large oak trees were planted so as not to crowd each other and small automated units went out to remove all the vermin that came with the trees and soil. A ways off some balsam were planted so as to overlook the water.

The girls came down when I called and so did Consti. I kissed them all which surprised Consti a bit. I held Sandra's hands and asked, "Do you think this environment is suitable for raising our children?"

"Ah... are you sure Leif?"

"Never more in my life. I have grown two years older as have you. I want to start making a crew and also to hold a new life in my hands and tell the galaxy how happy I am."

She hugged me then with a strength she seldom used. I said, "Do you think our other wife should start working too? If I am going to get a big belly she should too."

I turned to Megan now and held her hands, "Will you give me a child too? It may not be the most romantic way of asking but I think it is important to ask today and even now."

Megan held me tightly too and said, "I want lots of children. You are going to spend all your time making new babies and changing diapers."

"Well you now know my reason for not building a home immediately. Let's design a good one with a fair proportion now set aside for our growing family."

I was dragged to the ship that was floating a few centimetres off the ground a few metres from us. The girls wanted to start right away and not on home designs. In moments I was working hard and when the time came sperm was injected into one then another. Our love making went on for many hours until the girls got sore. I had instinctually settled into a special frame of mind that Seffra males did that ensured that they did their best to produce young. I had more strength that usual and my testicles produced even greater numbers of cells. The girls responded by releasing eggs.

We slept, ate and made love more until it was time to start our day again. The girls were not pregnant but would have to start their monthly cycle again. When the time came I was sure that there would be two additions to our number. The time though would be devoted to getting ready for we eventually had to let our other secret be known and hopefully accepted.

Odava and Ichom now stayed together and all assignments had to keep them that way. It was part of the way the Gossna did things during this time. Margaret and Tom hugged us. They too wanted to enlarge their family and were just waiting for us to begin. Tommy was excited by all this and not upset at all about his parents thinking of giving him another sister or a brother.

Consti was a bit wistful in how she saw things. She kept her feelings hidden but she too would like to start a family.

We took the day off to design and to start building the house. Megan and Sandra good-naturedly argued about the nursery and the number of rooms that had to be set aside for our children. In less than an hour we had what we wanted. It would allow for further expansion. Sandra had asked Megan if she planed on filling the entire dome with her children.

All of us went to Earth and picked up more soil containing living organisms, plus more trees, bushes and shrubs. Some were slated to go around our new home. The home would be much like a ship but would have a white picket fence around a portion of it with some small gates covered with a trellis.

Since I raised the wives to their present intelligence we had made quite a few compromises with the Human and the Seffra body. The latter was much superior in every way. This didn't make it perfect. The things that could be done to make the body closer to perfect were listed along the lines my wives wanted. A larger brain was a given but this required a larger head.

It struck me again that the Seffra must have gone through just such a process. They had stayed very close to what they had looked like before they altered themselves. Internal structure was different where it could not be seen.

Discoveries had been made since the Seffra came on the scene that could be incorporated into our bodies but had not been because of a reluctance to do so. Brain cells could be reduced in size and the number almost doubled. Added circulation would assist in getting oxygen to where it was needed for Seffra brains saw many times more activity than a Human.

Seffra eyes could be improved too with a small increase in size and a new type of receptor found in some reptilian life forms we had run across. It would give a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum to see by. Very short and very long distances could be seen better and the eyes would not look that much different to what I had now.

Sandra, Megan and I had been slowly altering our bodies to this new standard. They had only the obvious eyes left to do. The improvements to my mind had perhaps gone a bit further in that the brain cells were even smaller with the nerves even closer together. Apart from my maleness I would be similar in appearance to them. They didn't know how far I had pushed myself but if things worked they could join me. I just hoped that I had not gone too far.

With children due to be produced we talked to the rest about the eyes we proposed to make for ourselves. Margaret didn't like this but part of the reasoning was instinct. I had felt the same way not long ago. She wanted her children to be normal but she had to be talked to so she would understand that she was no longer normal herself. If she didn't alter her body and DNA then her children would be the same as any child conceived and born on the planet next door.

Consti didn't like this either. Her body had been great for a long time and there was no reason to change now. She too was little different than what I had thought. The other changes that we talked about seemed beneficial like the eyes but she was still too conservative to adapt.

My wives and I made the last few changes in the coming days. The eyes were larger but more of it was inside the skull. The pupils could open larger and the iris itself was able to capture more infrared and information was sent from there to the optic nerve and to the brain. We did looked different but not by a lot. The process of changing the DNA though would take a lot longer and require the med units if we were going to keep the time to a minimum.

When Sandra and Megan stopped hiding their increased intelligence. The rest soon found the best reason for this with our slightly different brain structure. Margaret had come around and so had Tom to this idea. The areas devoted to different paranormal abilities were well known and I showed how ours had been greatly enlarged. My ability to shield myself against Consti was now seen as very beneficial. Though I didn't use my PK very much it was much stronger than any of the Seffra that I had ever heard of.

Consti had called us reckless in what we had done but I showed her how much thought had been put into it. I could see behind her block that she liked the improved mind but publicly had to fight it because of her conservative upbringing. I was sure that any other Seffra would act the same.

I invited Margaret to begin her next transformation if she wanted it. The things I wanted to do to her could not easily be done by her own body even with my help. She would be the guinea pig for the remainder of the tests. Sandra, Megan and I had done the greatest amount up to this time and it had worked flawlessly. My wives had volunteered for this last portion but I wanted somebody less connected to me to do this.

Margaret was willing to be like us and to further push the envelope a bit more herself. This was quite a change from her previous attitude. I told her about the things that had to be done for this was not like healing a cut. She would have to go into a special tank to get this done. The process would take a few days. The natural way would take months and then she would have to work in altering all of her cells because the DNA would have to be changed in each. She would have much less problems and be productive much sooner if she took the easy path. She would also be more altered than we were.

I said, "I think you will see us as foolish creatures if you undergo this procedure. You may see us the way you presently see unimproved Humans."

Sandra and Megan told of all the things they had to do including shuffling memories from an old area to a rebuilt area. After it was all done there was still some things that were wrong that had cropped up. The girls mentioned how they wanted to overcome this and complete what we had been working on ever since they had agreed to be my wives.

Margaret talked to Tom and he asked quite a few questions but they were mainly slanted towards safety. I told him simply that this had been contemplated for a long time and we were doing the very best we could.

The tank only took a few moments to make. Max's only duty now was to monitor the tank and assist what had to be done. Devices were placed on Margaret's body to give nutrients, and oxygen while others would take away waste products. Different ones would function like med units to encourage the body to assist all it could. The tank held water but the majority of the contents were very small devices that would work far below the level of a cell. These had been made previously so they would be ready now. Here the devices could alter the basic DNA to what they wanted while working on the brain and body.

Margaret was put to sleep and placed into the tank under full control of Max. All of her memories were copied to a special crystal so gaps could be repaired at a later date if any were found. The process actually started in the base of the spine and worked up to the brain.

Tom slept beside his wife and I gave him simple duties to do that let him stay close. Tommy was worried but knew that I would not do anything to hurt his mother. The process appeared to work and took four and a half days in this case. The tank had been used by the Seffra but never to do this much work on a brain. As a race we seemed reluctant to do so.

Margaret came out of the bath still unconscious as liquid was pumped from her lungs that had not worked since she went into the tank. When the transmitters were all removed, Tom took her into a full cleanser to get everything removed.

Margaret had come awake during the process and was actively giving artificial respiration to her husband who carried her. When she was seated at a table food appeared for she was famished. She said as she ate, "I feel like I did when Leif first awoke my mind. I can see things that I have done that were either wrong or inefficient. There seems to be some inconsistencies in my training and I feel that either the data or the computers are at fault.

"I find I can now look out over the dome and see the lunar surface without the use of the probes. I am presently looking into Borin's computer and see all five dimensions. I could not do this before and definitely not from this distance."

This was more than I had hoped for. I could work in a computer but I had to feel my way. Margaret had not come close to doing this but might have one day if there was enough practice. The images her mind produced showed that she was much more capable of this then I was when young.

We did no work but we did exhaust Margaret with our tests. This was understandable and she would need some additional rest to recover. Tom and my wives eyes glowed with the promises that the procedure would give them.