Chapter 11: 50 Million to Serve

After I saw the Endeavor launch, I went and scrubbed for surgery. I chose Dr Crosby as my assistant and Dr. James as my anesthesiologist. Marsha had Dr. Gertz as her assistant and Dr. Smith as her anesthesiologist. We started on our first two patients. We performed surgery on six patients today. We switched our doctors around to give them all the most experience.

After the surgeries I had the doctors all meet with me for a debriefing. I was pleased for many reasons. The doctors were all very skilled. I actually got to perform as a doctor for the first time in eight weeks. Marsha and I both liked that.

One of the things I was very concerned about was fatigue. We had enough doctors for two teams with one doctor able to rotate service. I planned on five reconstructions per team per day. We would take one day off every seven days. I wanted my doctors to be excellent and not fatigued. We still had about 50 million patients in stasis.

We have six operating theaters so we could accommodate eight teams with two teams having time for R&R. I already had my request into the medical schools back on Earth. We had accommodations in the hospital for the extra staff.

I walked with Sally and Waush Shaua back to the farm and dinner with Sushi. When I got there I just collapsed. Sushi picked me up and took me into our bath. It was a Jacuzzi. I needed that.

Sushi gave me a thumbnail report on activities at the farm. Anu had a team of centaurs plowing one field. They had planted a large truck garden with potatoes, corn, onions, carrots, beets, bush beans and zucchini. Tomorrow they would plant a field in oats and a field in triticale. Anu found a thirty head heard of Angus beef cattle. There were no bulls! There was a chicken house but there were no chickens.

I had something else to get from Earth. I called Mary/Fran on net and requested that a load of chicks be in orbit to load on the Endeavor when it arrives. We would get some bulls in the next order. Sally and Waush Shaua liked the school. They had made three friends. The foals were smart. Sally and Waush Shaua were standing erect.

After dinner Sushi and I watched Tau Ceti set then went to bed. I was ready

Day 4 Bangalore:

I decided to meet with the farm team after breakfast. I called Marsha on net and she rescheduled the surgery rotation. We still had two teams in surgery.

Anu, Shari, Toni, Sushi and I met.

Anu wanted to clear some more farm land. He wanted to plant wheat and corn. That would give us a varied feed grain supply to vary the centaur's diet. He had the muscle, he needed some tools. I told him about the saw mill that I ordered. It was a portable unit that would need five centaurs to operate it. After he cleared an area he could move the mill to the next area to be cleared.

Toni asked what we planned to use the sawdust for. She was planning on mixing it with the manure and composting it. It would also make great bedding for a mushroom farm. We would need to build a sterilizer plant for the manure. In a couple of years Bangalore would be the most fertile moon in this system.

We all agreed that good stewardship has to be the way to run the planet.

Sushi suggested that instead of bulls we just order Angus semen. She could inseminate the cows as they came into heat and we would have calves without having to transport gnarly, nasty bulls. She had three centaurs that wanted to help with the cattle.

We will need to build a slaughter house for the chickens and the cattle. The farm workers need better housing than the barn. Once they are out of the barn we can use it for the cattle.

Shari suggested that we set up the fields in a rotation plan so a field can lie fallow for a year. We have plenty of land, we don't need to pump it like on Earth. We will get healthier plants and animals if they are not forced. This will be a real opportunity to develop truly organic farming on a planetary scale.

I suggested that Anu clear forty acres. He could start clearing trees near the farm. In two weeks the saw mill would be here. We will need lots of lumber products for the construction projects here and at the hospital.

I had Sushi place the order for the semen to catch the Endeavor. I asked Anu to find any centaurs with construction skills. I had five at the hospital and a few more would be handy. The next year will be a building boom here on Bangalore.

I would like those centaurs to meet with me in conference room A at the hospital at 0900 hours in two days. They need to have an inventory of supplies on hand and a list of tools needed. I will have the construction personnel I have at the hospital at the same meeting.

I went to the hospital just in time for lunch. Joe, Nancy, Marsha and James captured me. They had a breakthrough. They had built a duplicate of Doctor Steele's centaur machine except it would convert centaurs back to humans. It had not been tested. They wanted to test it with James. He had volunteered.

I knew he knew the risks. I really could not ask anyone else to do it. Marsha wanted to do it too but I needed her to help run the medical teams. I could not risk her life. We decided to go with James. I hoped I would not regret this decision. I really wanted to do something anti-WE law to Doctor Steele.