Chapter 21: Home again

The trip home was a non event. We all arrived safely. We were met at the space port by Sally and Waush Shaua Chow. Everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the kittens. We had a pleasant surprise, the light rail line was open to Malik Mills town center. We had a short walk from the station to our home. Sally had a party planned to welcome us home. Anu and his set were there. Lake and Hunter Backus had been hired as Wellville Park rangers, and they were there too.

Shannon Crosby met and introduced our new doctors and nurses at the space port. She had arranged temporary housing for them at the hospital. They would be offered more permanent housing in Equus, Inverness and Malik Mills.

Anu had a successful trip to India. He had recruited five astronauts to work with Bangalore Transportation. We could now recommission the last mothballed ship, the California.

After the party it was good to spend time with Sally and Waush Shaua. The next morning a truck arrived with two containers of household furniture. I headed for the Hospital and a staff meeting and left the unpacking to Sally, Waush Shaua and Sushi.

Sally and Waush Shaua got a surprise one of the containers was furniture for their new home. Sushi and I had purchased basic furniture for their new home. It included a dining room set, bedroom set, kitchen equipment and most important, nursery furniture. They were set until they left for UC Davis.

My meeting at the hospital was mainly to introduce the new doctors and nurses. I also thanked Shannon Crosby for the excellent job she did while I was on Earth. We were now able to open three more operating theaters. We could now rehabilitate fifty people a day. We still had forty nine million to rehab. We had enough patients to last the next ten centuries with the present staff. We all knew we had to add to the staff and the facilities if we wanted to cure the patients at a faster rate.

It was really nice to have the light rail line to Malik Mills. My commute now took ten minutes instead of a half an hour.

Sushi had invited Sally and Waush Shaua for dinner. It was neat to be using the fresh produce from our farm. Sushi suggested, "Why don't we plan a picnic tomorrow to Wellville Park. We could visit Hunter and Lake Backus. Sally could see all eight kittens. I know our kittens would like it."

We all agreed to the picnic.

Sushi contacted Lake on the WE net.

"It would be a great time." Lake said, "Hunter just caught a wild turkey. We could have a great barbeque."

We took the light rail to the lumber mill then hiked the three miles to Hunter's home. We had a surprise when we got there. It was a log cabin. Well actually it was a four bedroom three bath log cabin. The cabin was finished but the landscaping was not.

"Anu had this built by the time we arrived on Bangalore." Hunter said. "Our kittens are very happy with this home. We are also building a visitors center like Top had at Austin Creek Recreation Area. Lake and I are taking park management correspondence classes from UC Davis. We will both have bachelor degrees in park management by next Christmas."

We turned the kittens loose. Lake and Sushi clucked as the kittens played. Sally felt her stomach. Her kittens wanted to play too.

Hunter took Waush Shaua and me on a short show and tell of what he had found. There were two small ponds a half mile further into the forest. The forest was mainly fir and cedar. Some of the forest fauna had been brought from Earth. There was a large flock of wild turkeys. They easily made their home in the forest. Hunter had set up feeding stations for them. It made capture easy.

We had a pleasant afternoon with Hunter and Lake. Hunter barbequed the turkey and Lake had beans and salad prepared. We all had a great time. We headed for home at 1600. We did not want to be out after dark with the kittens.

When we got home Anu came over.

"Tag, I have a situation. I need to talk to you about," said Anu. "I am not comfortable with the town named Malik Mills."

"Anu, the town's people made their choice." I said, "The town can change its name if it wants to but the name was selected at our town meeting. After all you are involved in the lumber, plaining, and flour mills. Malik Mills seem like a natural to me. I like it."

"I just did not want to be the big boss."