Chapter 10: The Missing Staff

Sushi issued the command to the WE in the centaurs in the hospital to bring back their native intelligence. We decided to bring back the hospital staff centaurs' intelligence next. In the group was Captain Fran Harris.

The WE reported that the rebuilding their intelligence would take two to five days. There would be some memory loss. They would remember their lives before and after conversion. They would not remember the conversion.

I had Wendy, Anu, Toni, and Shari drive half of the field centaurs to the barns at the farm. They would feed, water and care for them for the next week. Wendy was to monitor their intelligence. When they were capable, she was to encourage the centaurs to start caring for themselves. Paul and the house keeping team would feed, water and care for the centaurs remaining outside the hospital. Marsha and the medical team would feed, water and care for the centaurs in the hospital.

We were all wasted by the time Tau Ceti set. I arranged separate bedrooms for the medical team.

Paul and the housekeeping team came to see me. He had given Anu, Shari, and Wendy thirty SRJCMREs. They would see us in five days. He would have breakfast ready at 0800 local for the rest of us.

Marsha put our centaurs to sleep for the night. We would not have to monitor then in sleep mode. The WE would be able to rebuild their intelligence faster while they slept.

Sushi suggested that she take Sally and Waush Shaua and help at the farm. She really wanted to get into that clinic.

I agreed. I told her that I would miss her. I would join her once we reestablished the original medical team. We snuggled and went to sleep.

Day 2 Bangalore:

Marsha woke our patients. They now had the ability to communicate. They still had not been identified. They were all very confused with their centaur bodies.

After we took all of them out for a potty break, we set up breakfast. The Centaurs got oats and a SRJCMRE. For many of them it was the first human food they had in ten years.

After breakfast, we had them meet in the auditorium. Marsha explained what had happened to her and them. We explained that Joe, Nancy, and James were working on a machine to return those that wanted back to human bodies.

We knew that they have grown accustomed to their centaur bodies. Bangalore is a large moon. Most of the females had foals. There was plenty of room for all of them and their foals on Bangalore. We have a ship on the way here with food enough for everyone for the next year. Our supplies will feed all of us for the next three months.

It is our plan to make Bangalore a self-sufficient colony in the next year. We have mineral, water and timber resources in place. There is rich farmland available and the ocean is filling with edible fish.

There are about 500 centaurs on Bangalore. That is enough DNA diversity to start a healthy race. Inbreeding will not be a problem.

Because of population pressures, the centaur foals will not be allowed to return to Earth except for short visits. Short is defined as three to six months.

"Could we have a show of hands of those whose memory has returned enough to identify yourselves." I requested.

Half of the centaurs raised their hands.

Marsha suggested, "Would all of the medical staff to please gather around her. The nonmedical staff are to gather around Tag. She pointed at me.

Anne and Sofie had clipboards. Anne stayed with me and Sofie went to Marsha. Half of my centaurs were foals of various ages. The others were mainly housekeeping staff. Anne quickly took everyone's name and former job.

I had Leah gather the foals. She explained, "We would be starting a school for the foals so they could work to build their colony. We would both use the WE and hands on courses." She was received well.

I introduced the other centaurs to Paul. Until we had established centaur replacements Paul would be head of housekeeping. Paul and Sofie gathered the housekeeping centaurs.

There was one centaur left. She was not in either group. It was Captain Fran Harris. I recognized her from the briefing Mary/Fran had given us. She looked very sad.

I poured her a cup of coffee and asked her to come and sit with me. She was really beautiful. She had an appaloosa body and bright red hair.

"What's wrong." I addressed her as Fran. She snapped to attention. "Your transmission got through to Earth." That brought out a smile.

She opened up to me. She had two foals while on Bangalore. They were her children and she couldn't leave them here and return to Earth without them. She still wanted to be a starship captain. She did not see how that would be possible now.

I told her part of the self-sufficiency of Bangalore would require trade with other planets in the federation. That trade will need starship captains. Those captains will be an equal opportunity positions. I was sure that a captain from Bangalore could be a centaur, human, or smart cat. She definitely had a leg up so to speak on one of those positions. She would not have to leave her foals. They only have to retain non-Earth citizenship.

I said that I would help her get in touch with Anu Malik out at the farm. He was our pilot that brought us to Bangalore. He is planning on starting a freight and passenger service between here and Earth for starters. He will need captains and astronaut/pilots.

We were just finishing as Paul and five centaurs brought in lunch

I invited Fran to join the rescue team for lunch. She asked, "Could she have her foals, Heather and Kara, join us too?"

I said, "Of course."

Marsha had her white lab coat that had been cut to a jacket on. She had four other centaurs in white jackets with her. There was one male and three females. They were all doctors. They all joined us for lunch.

Marsha made the introductions. There was Dr. Ralph Gertz, Dr. Shannon Crosby, Dr Elaine Smith, and Dr. Heather James.

I welcomed them back to the cognizant. They all laughed sort of. We ate lunch. They really liked the oatmeal Paul had prepared in addition to the SRJCMRE.

One thing I noticed was that Centaurs took a lot more food than humans or smart cats. They definitely liked plants with fiber.

We talked about what we had to do to get the hospital back to rebuilding the injured patients from Earth. The four doctors had made the decision to remain centaurs here on Bangalore. They all had families and they did not want to leave their foals. They all felt that they could be just as effective doctors as centaurs as they could as humans. They would like to start a town with homes for their families.

I agreed that would be very possible. There was plenty of timber on the island and we would need to clear some of the forest for food farms. In the twenty years since terraforming the fir trees had grown to 130 feet tall and three feet in diameter. One tree would build three homes. Bangalore will need a lumber mill and a plywood plant.

Then it hit me, how would centaurs roof a house? Huston we have a problem here. A fall from a roof is bad for a man but a horse would have real problems just getting up on the roof. I called James and Joe on net and gave them a heads up. Roofing will be a challenge to overcome.

James assured me that we would solve the problem to everyone's satisfaction. First we need to bring everyone up to speed.

It was fun talking with Heather and Kara. They were excited about the school Leah talked to the foals about. They wanted to start today.

I passed this on to Leah. She was glad for the feedback. She was planning on starting a Carol school tomorrow. They would meet outside for now.

All afternoon I met with hospital staff as the centaurs reassumed their jobs in the hospital.

About 1530 I finally finished. I found Fran Harris and invited her to join me for the trip to the farm. I needed a personal secretary. It was becoming easier to miss appointments. I asked, "Fran for the next thirty days would she be my personal aid and secretary. It would be a temporary position."

She looked at me deep in thought.

I explained to her I needed someone to keep me on track with all of the various staff meetings that were going to occur in the next few weeks. I wanted her job to be temporary until we could find a suitable secretary for the Head of Medicine of the Hospital of Bangalore. I still wanted her to contact Anu about the ship captain's position.