Chapter 16: More to serve

The hospital is working smoothly. Inverness is under construction. We are getting response to the ad for more staff.

The staff has setup three scholarships for any centaur foal that wants to go and get their doctorate in medicine or psychology. We might as well grow our own. Mark had me also set up two scholarships for civil engineering.

Since we have no birth restrictions on Bangalore our schools need teachers. We do have one rule. If you have a youth in school you or your spouse must spend at least four hours a week as a class assistant. Parents of school children must provide sixteen hours of site maintenance each one hundred and twenty days.

I called Dr. Shannon Crosby into my office. I explained that Sushi and I needed to go back to Earth so Sushi could have her kittens with her mother present. We would be gone for two hundred days.

Anu and his set and Joe and his set were going to Earth with us. They would return in ninety days.

When they return Sally and Waush Shaua would be leaving for two years to get their degrees at UC Davis. Sally would be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Waush Shaua would have a degree in farm management and education.

I asked Dr. Goetz to watch Doctor Steele carefully.

I wanted to return to the hospital and find it working better than when I left.

When I return I want him to plan a vacation schedule for all of the staff. They will well deserve it.

I talked it over with Sushi and we agreed to bring Beth Spio and her foal Mira along. I was going to try to go to five medical schools on Earth and advertise our work here on Bangalore. Sushi was going to be busy with four little kits. I needed someone to keep me on track. If Beth would come she would be a natural.

Beth and Mira were overjoyed to be coming with us. She made flight arrangements for all three groups. We were all booked on the Enterprise. We would land at Edwards Space Port in California. She booked a flight from Edwards Space Port to Misore for Anu and his set. She chartered a plane to take the rest of us from Edwards Space Port to Sonoma County Airport. James would meet us with two vans and a horse trailer.

I called James on net and had him make arrangements for a centaur in his home. I wanted Beth and Mira to be comfortable when we arrived. I did not want them stuck in a stable. He said no problem, the changes would be ready when we arrived.

Sushi and I were excited. Sushi was really starting to show.

Doctor Goetz surprised us with a going away party. What a party. Sushi and I did not get home until 0030 hours. The Enterprise lifted off Bangalore at 1100 hours. We did not have much time to pack and rest before lift off.

We arrived at the Wellville Space port at 1015 hours. Fran was shaking her head at us. We were the last passengers to board.

Beth and Mira Spio, Anu and Joe and their sets made it at 0930 as required.

We no more than got in our seats and buckled our seat belts when I heard the hatch close and seal. Fran lifted us off at 1100 as scheduled. Lift off was so smooth we did not feel anything until the ion drives kicked in We were on our way (not to home but to our Earth families.)

I went and made up our bed. Sushi and I sacked out for the first eight hours of our trip. When we woke I found an email on my PDA inviting Sushi and I to have dinner with the captain at 2200 hours. I checked the time it was 2130 hours. I went and woke Sushi and showed her the email. We went to the forward lounge as directed. Fran had our whole party there. It was a good meal and we had great conversation. Fran had an old DVD of "Willie Wanka and the Chocolate Factory." We watched it then played some cards. I lost unis 10.00.

Sushi and I went to the gym and ran a few miles on the treadmill. We then went back to our room and had another nap.

At 1000 the meal bell chimed for our section. We were fed twice a day. Our meals would be 1000 and 2200 for the trip. Yes the meals were SRJCMREs Oh well. Fran got us one good meal. We would enjoy getting to Earth all the more.

Let me tell you space flight is mostly boring. Nothing happens except at the beginning and the end. The ship is very quiet even at warp eight. There are no machine noises. The only sound is the meal bell. Fran had one neat feature on the Enterprise. She had a killer collection of DVDs. You could check out three DVDs at a time and take them to your room to watch. That is what we did. We slept, we ate, we exercised, and we watched DVDs.