Toward mid afternoon Jack, Ruby, and Cameron Scott had cleaned enough fish for a decent fish fry. The days work would soon pay off. While concerned over the catches health, a few simple tests by young James Ian satisfied that they were edible. No signs of mercury, radiation, or era level bacteria.
While they had prepared fish and gathered enough drift wood to build a large fire outdoors, Elle and Greta had completed their mission. They had tilled a large patch of land near the cows and the static fence holding them within. The final touches led Malcolm and young James to bring out jars of seeds that he had also examined carefully through Ganthorian records of stockpile. It was simple enough to sew them into the soil and let nature take its course. Let the sun and the moon do their magic.
A good day's work as a unit. Team work was a necessity.
Jack Ramse had set up an outdoor table using sheet metal from their downed airplane and large rocks as legs. He had also busted loose a number of usable airplane seats to finish his dinette set. Dinner was all coming together.
As everyone gathered their plates made of trays in the Ganthorian ship, each of them took a seat.
Greta Winston admired the resourcefulness of everyone. However it still boggled her as to where the fish came from. The only water hole she knew of was the tiny oasis where Jack had found her. It bothered her that she wasn't being kept in the loop of things.
"What am I missing here?" She lifts a fish up by it's tail.
Ruby looked toward Jack with a smirk. She was going to leave it up to Jack to give her answers.
"A friend of ours brought us dinner. I didn't know about the lower floors of the spaceship being flooded. The water is back flow from an underground lake. As you know this is how we're quenching the thirst of your cows."
Her eyes look confused yet she nods, "So we have water to take a bath in now?"
Ruby enters with a resounding, "YES WE DO!"
Chuckles all around leads Jack to continue, "As soon as we fashion a few tubs to bathe in I don't see why not. While we're at it we need to design a fish pen for when Animahni brings us more fish. We can't eat all that she brought us as is. Good food shouldn't be wasted."
Cam volunteers raising a shot glass of his stash of vodka, "I'll build that pen. Can we ask her for some Lobster next time?"
Greta holds her hands up, "Hold on here. Overwhelmin' me. Who is this "Anniemay?"
Ruby leans her elbows on the metal table, "Animahni! She's a bit hard to explain. Ever hear of Mermaids?"
"Course I have. I read books. Short story in a book called "The Little Mermaid". My Auntie mailed it to me a few years back."
Cam belches loudly then whispers, "They had Disney back then?"
Everyone rolls their eyes at his comment. Greta merely looks dumbfounded, "Dizzy?"
Elle chuckles, "Why yes Cameron is."
Ruby holds her hand up, "Reel it in People. Greta? We have a mermaid. Kind of. She lives in the depths below our ship there. She brings us food. Well, at least this batch. So far."
"A real live Mermaid?" Greta's eyes erupt.
"Except she doesn't have a tail. She walks just like us. But, she breathes underwater." Ruby continues.
"Well ain't that somethin'. Next thing you're going to tell me Ya'll have faeries." Greta grins shaking her head and tilting her cowboy hat over her brow.
Jack suddenly recalled his encounter with Tinkerbell. He merely smirked.
As if on cue down the ramp skips Sophia Ridge in all of her glory.
"I'm here! Life of the party." Sophia starts toward the gathering when she hears the cows a little further away from them. She turns in step and drops her jaw, "We have a calf?"
The group look toward her reaction with fear. Sophia heads straight for the fence of static electricity and literally walks right through it without being shocked.
"SOPHIA!!!!!!!!!!!!" They all yell at once. Each of them getting up to give chase.
Greta merely stares in awe, "Ummm! Ya'll never mentioned you had a brothel."
Cam sits idle still drinking, "Don't ask."
Elle remains close by and observes Greta's reaction, "That's just Sophia. She had an accident that prevents her from wearing clothes. We'll explain later."
Jack, Ruby, James, and Malcolm border the energy fence as James uses his keypad to open a slender entry point. Jack and Ruby enter alone.
"Sophia? Don't do anything you might regret." Ruby huffs.
The girl crouches down and pets the calf. Her interior parasites told to behave. They obeyed.
