Chapter 127

Dear Brother,

You seem to have found some new toys to play with. You get to disassemble an asteroid. (Just don't tell me someone called it "Number Five") and you think you are hearing an IFF from a Confed ship. Out there? That seems unlikely unless more than one Confed ship has started stumbling through worm holes that they had never discovered despite all their technology.

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not sure that is a huge surprise. One thing that I have learned about the Confed aliens is that they make the worst couch potato back on Earth seem like a unlimited source of energy. Their whole culture seems to have abandoned any form of initiative in exchange for a level of security and comfort that humanity dreams about. I've noticed that the AI does like to subtly encourage us to use a bit less initiative around Trinary Island.

I'm sure the AI units didn't expect the response they got. We are a small and rather close community. In many ways we are a tribe. At least that's what Professor Fabio explained to us one day during one of our beach cookouts. After all we have the ten tanks that force us to work together as a team. Part of that requires that we trust each other as closely as any family member. This has helped us become a very close knot group.

There even has been some pressure to move us from Trinary Island to the mainland and separate us. Part of the excuse the AI came up with was that our efficiency must be the result of good training so we can share the training if we are moved to different units. Also its been arguing that our isolated environment might stunt the emotional growth of the children and result in lower CAP scores.

The rather bitter laughter that accompanied that comment was not a surprise. Everyone here likes the current situation. Fortunately Colonel Frost is the kind of commander who won't break up a unit that is successful. He does loan us out regularly for training and even though Erica and I are now too pregnant to ride around in a tank, we still spend a lot of time teaching others. The difference is now they come and visit us and we use simulators mostly.

That does mean we get to hear about our little base. Envy always seems to be the first emotion we detect. And that shouldn't be a bit issue cause the other bases are all rather nice. In fact, several have large freshwater lakes or ponds nearby. Our lagoon might be isolated from the oceans thanks to the way the land falls and the nets we've put in place to prevent any predatory fish from migrating, but it's still filled with saltwater.

We do have the garden areas, thanks the seeds Meiling brought. After a year many of the plants and trees are still struggling, even with our brother's coming up with that incredible fertilizer. But we do have a large garden and get fresh vegetables. We even now have several small circles of soft grass. Most of the time its used as a place for babies to lay down and enjoy a bit of time outdoors, but I know that most of our meadows have been "christened" if you will. (Fine, I'll admit its all of them. :P )

I can't think of much more to stay at the moment. You have some clear duties to keep working at. And your primary one better be to get home to Marissa. It does sound like you've started to make some real progress though. Meanwhile, I should probably go play with Tiffany. She's still a bit timid after having spent more than a year in a barracks for unowned concubines hoping her step-mother concubine found a new home, so Erica and I have begun trying to get her more active. Besides, I haven't watched a roller derby contest in weeks.

Off to the races,

Willow.