Chapter 56

I changed my tune then. The way she kept asking let me know we would be getting something. I wished I had an idea of what we could expect, but I decided to just ask for everything I knew about and see what came of it.

I reminded her we needed something to move the logs onto the sawmill and then I was a little more specific about the dozer we could use for uprooting stumps and removing the bigger roots to make the land more useful for planting.

There were also plenty of hand tools we could use and even a few more things for the cabinet making. A big table saw would be nice along with a radial arm saw or two. I even mentioned one of the smaller saws for making miter cuts. I ran out of things to ask for when I got down to more hammers, handsaws, and plenty of chisels.

George took a turn with some leather working tools, but Bill could barely think of anything he thought we needed desperately. Finally Sigfried signed off saying it would take him a few days and we should keep it in mind in case we thought up something else he could provide.

It was a little disconcerting for a second, but when I asked Rose how much of it she thought we'd get she said, "All of it, and more."

"I had several request I put in myself. He's being generous now since the fish have been sent elsewhere. Who ever is running the show decided the fish were fucking up more than they could fix.

"Apparently we have enough people in hand for what they wanted in the first place and no more will be coming from earth, or anywhere.

"Sigfried also let me know the others from the last bunch aren't moving in a direction he cares for. He didn't tell me what they were up to, but he did let me know we needed to keep an eye on them."

"I guess our idea of taking a ride down to take a look wasn't such a bad one after all," I said.

"Well, it was a good idea with what you knew about the situation, but it won't be necessary after a couple of days," Rose said, and she knew she was leaving out information she intended for me to beg for.

"Ok, Rose. We all know you know what is going to happen so why don't you go ahead and tell us," I said.

"Well you don't have to be mean about it. You could have let me have a little fun," she said.

"Ok, do you want us to beg or what?"

"Sigfried is going to make us a tunnel all the way out to the broken off shelf which was too high for us to climb. It'll slope from where he starts it and come out on the shelf level. From there he'll build a sort of bridge like the one that leads down on the other side of the river."

"That will be handy, but I hope it won't encourage the others to use it coming up this way," I said.

"They won't be able to, or at least they won't see any advantage to it. We'll have a door we can operate, but they won't be able to use. He's going to modify the other bridge up to the plateau so they won't be able to use it either."

"That's great. We'll be able to come and go as we please and they won't be able to get up here at all."

"Well, they'll still be able to come across the river and work their way around like you did the first time, but it won't let them move a large number of people up here quickly and quietly for an attack or anything," Rose said.

"I see. All we'll have to do is keep a watch near our way down from here," I said.

"We won't even have to do that much. Sigfried is putting up a wireless network for us and he had some nice cameras he'll be leaving around. He's also leaving us plenty more we can use as we see fit," she said, and grinned.

"Do you think the wireless will reach down to the first horse canyon? It would be nice to be able to take a look down there on days when it's too bad outside to go out."

"He's way ahead of you there too. He'll be providing camera setups for all our shelf and even some nice views on the ramps at the other end.

"He is also providing a tunnel to all the other pastures too. He is only asking that we keep all our mechanical movement underground as much as possible. When he's done you'll be able to transport hay and feed underground.

"It will be easier for the ones doing the feeding and it will keep from leaving wheel tracks visible from outside," she said, and I could tell she was proud of herself.

Hell, as far as that went I was proud of her too. If the work Sigfried did was up to his normal standards we would have much easier access to the other places we had to tend to now and it would all be basically hidden from anyone else. I wasn't sure who we were hiding it from, but it would make things seem more normal for people from this time.

"You and Sigfried have been busy and all I can tell about it from your descriptions is it's going to make life really easy here," I said.

"Even easier than you think. The rush to finish out the bathroom is over since Sigfried is going to do it tonight while we're asleep."

"Oh."

"Don't put on that Oh face. I've still got plans for you and the woodworking. As soon as you get ready to get going I want cabinets for the kitchen and for all our other occupants.

"We could use a lot better table for eating and everyone else in our caves needs a few things along those lines."

"Yes dear. I'll get right on it," I said, and then smiled.

The trouble was I couldn't get right on it since we were still waiting for Sigfried to do his part. I'll admit I was glad he was going to take care of things for us, and I knew it would be great to have the improvements he was planning on, but I just couldn't see how he could do it all so quickly.

After Sigfried signed off it was time for bed. It was hard to pry Rose away from the table she'd been typing at, but finally she gave up and we all settled down to bed. Strangely I didn't get anything started with the women and they mostly seemed like it was fine with them. I was asleep before I even knew I was trying.

Even though I slept soundly I was still surprised when I woke first the next morning. Everyone else was still snoozing so I managed to get out of bed and into the bathroom first. I was shocked when I arrived.