Chapter 138

I woke early the next morning and managed to get my moccasins on without waking Deimeta. I intended to let her sleep as long as she would. Luckily I saw Georgo was up too and he was headed out of the cave. I followed him quickly, hoping he would know the way to their pisser. He did and we watered some bushes together.

"We will suffer without coffee this morning, John," he lamented, after we'd finished our individual ritual dick shaking.

"No we won't Georgo. My mates have taken better care of us than that," I told him.

"Did you bring some coffee then?" he asked, and he looked so excited about it I almost laughed at him.

"I did even better, and if you can find us some water we will be in business before long."

He rummaged in the big wagon, unknowingly pushing aside the bag with the forty-cup Party Perc in it and found a cooking pot my mates had packed. It would probably hold about a gallon and he set off with it at once. While he was gone I set up the percolator and plugged it in to the battery and fuel cell wiring the wagon had for operating the loading winch. When Georgo got back with the water and he saw the coffee pot his face lit up brighter than any kid's on Christmas morning.

"It won't be enough water Georgo," I told him.

"Good, very good. Pour it in and I'll go back and get more," he said.

It took him three trips and I had everything else ready, even fishing out some mugs, before he was done. When the water was in the pot I put the stem and the coffee basket in it and then put the lid on and flicked the switch. The little brewing light came on and since Georgo was studying the process intently he remarked about it at once.

"It is just to let you know it is working. Soon you will see the coffee jumping into this little part at the top and falling back down."

"How long will it take to be ready to drink?" he asked.

"It will only be a few minutes but it will seem like all day if you stay there and watch the whole time."

He thought about it for a few seconds.

"You are right. If I stay here and think of nothing else it will seem like forever before it is done. I'm going back into the cave and watch Deimeta sleep, that will be more entertaining," he said, and left.

I didn't mind Georgo watching the coffee perk of course, but I did want a little time to myself so I could use my Blackberry. I got it out of my things and tried to contact Argent. His answering message came back at once.

"John, we are enthralled with your latest actions," he sent.

"Yes, but could we save it until later, I might not have much time right now. I want to know if you will check Deimeta over to see if there are any things about her health I should be worrying about."

"You should know by now we pay more attention to you than that. I've assured you we don't read your thoughts, but we could have hardly failed to see Deimeta had come to mean a great deal to you in a short time. We checked her over thoroughly yesterday right after the rather unpleasant Nutaro dismissed her from the inspection."

"Then she is in good health?" I asked.

"She was in much better shape than I would have guessed. She was suffering from malnutrition of course and her development has been retarded slightly, but there will be no permanent physical effects from her ordeal.

"She was lightly infested with an intestinal parasite, but we engineered a custom anthelmintic for her as soon as we discovered them and we transferred a dose of it into the first piece of Roweea's bread Georgo gave her.

"She passed the dead parasites last night just before Tulaarra bathed her. All she needs now is normal food and a little attention. I have no doubt she will get all the attention she can bear as soon as your multitude of mates get their eyes on her. In fact, she seems to be getting quite a lot of attention from you and Georgo," he sent.

"I am glad to know she will be all right. I didn't worry about her health until this morning."

"She will be fine John, we will make sure of it," he sent.

"Thank you so much Argent. This means a lot to me," I sent, and signed off.

After that enlightenment I did what I had suggested to Georgo he shouldn't, I watched the coffee perc. It was done in about five minutes and I took the first cup. Georgo was out about five minutes later for a cup and then Danlo followed behind him. I teased Danlo a little about getting a son, but he was no dummy and shifted right back on me about my new daughter. Realizing there was no way I could win this teasing match I shut up and sipped my coffee.

After a while Jadatako came out and when he saw us gathered around the back of the big wagon he came over. He eyed the wagon suspiciously while he came toward it and when he did finally reach us I could tell he was very curious about what we were drinking, but he didn't seem to want to ask about it.

"Would you like to try some of the coffee Jadatako? It will taste bitter at first and you may not like it. If you drink a whole mug though you will probably begin to like it."

"Why would you drink it if you do not like the tastes?" he asked the age-old question.

"I have been drinking it for years now and I don't remember why I started. I will get you a cup to try and you can make up your own mind," I told him, and found another of the plastic insulated mugs.

"I can tell you why I like it - drinking a mug or two of coffee will make you feel like doing something, more so than you normally would," Georgo added.