Chapter 430

Ship’s Academy

“Take a seat at the game consoles in the back,” the instructor said as he motioned to the aviators.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Worthington grumbled as he and the others came to their feet to discover rudimentary game consoles that hadn’t been there moments before. And his was not the only complaint. “Are you honestly telling me that we’re going to ‘fly’ planes in a game? No fucking way is that going to help...”

The instructor let out a chuckle as he interrupted. “You wish. What you are going to do is a lot simpler in concept than that. All of you have a seat and we’ll get started.” Then turning to Arlene and Ann, “Ladies.”

When the aviators had all seated themselves at the new game consoles, Arlene stepped a pace forward. “We’re going back to basics to work on your reflexes, but ... you won’t stay at that stage any longer than necessary. Once you have the beginning level down pat, the decision process will gradually become more and more complicated.

“The rules should be on your screens now, so with your joystick, just move right or left to avoid the incoming beam fired by the enemy fighter.”

After a few moments, the girls looked at each other and Ann asked the group, “Easy, isn’t it?”

Worthington groaned, but before he could say anything to piss the instructor off, Camp kicked his shin. While they were glaring at each other, Ann went on, “Ok, now let’s speed things up a bit. And remember, all you have to do at this stage is to dodge your fighter right or left to avoid the incoming fire.”

After a minute or two, one of the pilots was a bit slow and got a mild jolt, which produced a hissing intake of breath.

“Oh, we forgot to mention that there were ‘penalties’ to – shall we say – keep your full attention on the game.”

“No bloody shit,” the pilot who got the jolt said under his breath.

“Of course, as Lieutenant Allen can attest, the jolts aren’t nearly as intense as the ones on the interceptor simulators, but still...”

“They smart like a bitch,” Allen offered.

“So ... you now have a reason to put your full attention on the game,” Arlene inserted.

Without telling the pilots, but at Arlene’s direction, Ship gradually increased the speed of the incoming pulses, which meant that there was less time to dodge aside before the pulse hit. But the increase was applied very slowly over the next twenty minutes, and with only two exceptions, all the aviators managed to avoid the incoming fire. The intervals between pulses continued to be random, generally varying from one to ten seconds.

What had at first seemed trivial, was becoming harder and harder to accomplish, but even in the short time that they had played the game, some were beginning to show shorter response times. Of course, most of this was just getting used to the game, but Arlene and Ann were betting that it would eventually become reflex just as practicing a block in karate thousands of times becomes reflex instead of thought and then action.

Every twenty minutes the aviators were given a ten-minute break, but each time as they returned to the game, something else had been added. After two hours, more and more pilots were being jolted, and Arlene suggested to the instructor that they break for an early lunch.

After the aviators had left the classroom, Ann turned to her sister-wife. “What do you think?”

Arlene grinned back at her. “It’s too soon to tell, as you well know.”

“Where did you acquire this idea,” Ship/the instructor asked.

“From Helen,” both said as one before Ann went on for both of them. “Helen teaches us her favorite moves from several types of martial arts. We practice a maneuver many times, go to something else, then come back to it to practice ad nauseam. But after a few thousand times, you block without thinking and the block becomes way faster and more precise than before all that practice. But, too much repeated practice in a short period of time isn’t good either.”

The girls looked at each other for a second, before Ann continued for them. “We suggest that you give them two hours of this in twenty-minute sessions, then have your normal classroom and interceptor training, then back to reflex training, cycling back and forth throughout the day.

“Bill and Kathy said they will be here this afternoon, our time, to fly against the pilots, and Arlene and I will also check back this afternoon, our time, too.”

Arlene added, “And Daddy has told us that he has arranged a tour of the tunneling after lunch, so we all might be a bit late.”

“As you know, days of simulator time will have passed before your return this afternoon, but I will have sufficient material to keep the aviators busy until then,” Ship assured them.

The Retreat

As lunch was coming to an end, Jeff stood to address everyone. “I have made several tours of the tunneling in the past week. I’m sure that everyone has noticed that the big borer has been brought back above ground, disassembled and much of it has already been flown out.

“The project is still a long way from being a completed fortress, although the major part of the tunneling is done. But, the smaller borers still have all the connecting tunnels and rooms to do, not to mention the elevator and air shafts.” Then correcting himself, “Well not all the rooms. They have already completed much of the first level, and, before long, will be on the second level – hopefully. After they complete the rough work, they will begin the installation of the power, water and sewage systems. After that, we can start on putting in ceilings, floors and walls. All that concrete-covered rock is pretty gloomy so far, so don’t expect too much on our tour.

“As we have discussed before, we will have access to landline power from the grid, backup power from our wind generators, plus more backup generators fueled by our buried propane tanks, and lastly, another diesel generator in yet another location to operate more generators should there be a need. We have to circulate filtered air and pump water in addition to power for the lighting, refrigeration, heating, cooling, etc. But even with all that, there will be a manual system to pump in filtered air should everything else fail, and that will also give us some lighting – and exercise,” he finished with a grin.

“And yes, I’m paranoid, but then again, we might very well be attacked by these aliens. Those who decide to stay rather than go with us on Ship, should there be a battle, will have a safe place to be – if we get the fortress completed in time.

“Although there are heaters in parts of the tunneling, you should dress warmly, because there are still large areas that have no heat at all, and it’s only fifteen degrees outside. Eventually, when everything is complete and it becomes, basically, a closed environment, we expect that little heat or cooling will be needed inside the fortress.

“I have arranged to use the boring company’s carts. Each cart seats four people and the little train of them is pulled by the lead cart. Should take about an hour. The rest of you can divide up however you please. Tomorrow, I’ve arranged for the other alphas and their families to do the same. I suspect that Dave and Evie have seen quite enough of the tunneling – unless they just want to come along to be with everybody,” he said as he nodded to them.

“I think we’ll pass,” Evie said with a chuckle while reaching to take her husband’s hand.

Dave managed to tear his eyes from his tiny wife long enough to say, “We have a crew that is scheduled to finish a big job at roughly the same time the tunneling should be completed. Things should dovetail together well with the crews moving in just as the boring equipment leaves the complex. Just keep your fingers crossed that everything stays on schedule.”

Helen came to her feet. “Okay, men, out of here so we can finish and be ready for the tour.”

Joyce got the coffee detail and followed the men to the living room with a serving cart.

The boring supervisor turned to his assistant. “You’re positive my cart is fully charged. I don’t want it failing halfway through the tour.”

“It just came off the charger. I checked the batteries; they’re hot and your cart is fully capable of pulling the train. The shafts are clean of any rubble, debris or scrap of any kind. There isn’t anything that will hurt any of them, and all the guys know to stay out of the way when the rich owners are near. What’s got your panties in a twist?”

The supervisor glared at his assistant. “Let’s just say that you haven’t seen the things I have. These are not people to fuck with, especially Mr. Matthews. You have been here only a week. You have no fucking idea.”

“So? There’s always been some rich asshole to take on a tour on every site I’ve worked on. What’s so special about him? Oh, granted, he hasn’t bothered us much by making demands like some of the assholes have, but rich is rich. They’re all the same. He’s got his own little place to play, so he’s making himself a fortress in case there’s a nuclear war, or something,” he said with a sneer. “All rich people have their own special plaything. His is a fortress in this fucking mountain. And before you get even more excited, I know which side my bread is buttered on. I’ll make sure he gets to see everything, and I know how to act, but I don’t have to like it.”

“And we do it safely,” the supervisor emphasized.

“We? I thought I would be using your cart to pull the train and take them on the tour.”

“There is a whole group of them coming this time, so I’ll lead. You just back me up with the second pull cart, should something go wrong, and...”

“Yeah, I know. Safety first. I was there when Hutchins got his arm jerked off last year. I was already careful. Now I’m doubly so, and I’m not gonna risk losing my job because I let one of my charges get hurt.”

“Talk is cheap. But these people have been less of a bother than anyone I’ve ever worked for, and I want them back in that mansion over there without even their hair being mussed. Nothing frightening the women and nothing to piss the men off. Clear?”

“You got it, Boss and ... Oops, here they come.”

After Jeff and his women had gathered beside the carts at the beginning of the downslope, the supervisor spoke up. “I apologize, ladies, but everyone has to wear hard hats while we are in the tunnel. And before you ask, there isn’t any chance whatsoever of the roof caving in or anything falling on us. The granite is solid and every inch of it has been doubly tested. You may also notice a dry, somewhat dusty smell despite the concrete tunnel cap that was put in place as the borer worked its way through the rock. That is normal and should dissipate when we have the permanent ventilation system fully installed.”

They mounted the carts, and the little train moved down the rather steep slope for several minutes, making it obvious that they were now deep underground with the supervisor leading and his assistant bringing up the rear with the extra pull cart. The brightness of the sunshine on the snow was replaced by what appeared to be gloom in comparison, but shortly their eyes adjusted to the tunnel that was actually well lit with light fixtures equally spaced along the top.

“I smell concrete and a chemical smell more than a dusty smell,” Jennie commented as she motioned to the giant concrete “rings” that the borer had put in place as it worked its way through the granite.

“The walls, ceiling and flooring will cover most of that smell, and the ventilation system will take care of the rest,” Jeff assured her.

At first, the tunnel gradually angled to the right, but they soon reached an intersection, and their tunnel entered the main one much as an on-ramp attaches to an interstate. From then on, the main tunnel began a very slow, but continuous turn to the left. Motioning behind them and back down the main tunnel, the supervisor said, “We are in the main tunnel now, and behind you is where we will end up after we make the loop. Ahead on the right,” he said, again motioning, “is the ramp down to the next level. When the complex is completed, the ramp we just came down from the outside will be filled, and the only entrances will be the elevator and the emergency stairway.”

Both the supervisor and his assistant were on the lookout for signs of claustrophobia, but so far none of the people seemed to have any problems.

“Let’s make the loop on this level before going down,” Jeff suggested.

“Yes, Sir. That will give us a chance to show you some of the rooms and hallways that are nearing completion – well, with the boring, anyway,” the supervisor quickly amended.

“I didn’t realize it was so big,” Nat commented from her position in the second cart. “Oh, I’ve seen the drawing several times and even discussed the dimensions, but now that we’re here, it just seems much bigger than I expected.”

Jeff turned to her. “I didn’t visualize something just for our family. I wanted a place of safety for our neighbors and, well, just about anyone who lives close enough to get here should something happen. We will have our private living quarters, but there will also be quarters for many more people. The ramp that we took down here won’t be closed until the fortress is provisioned. No use doing by hand what we could more easily do with machinery.”