Author's note
Well, I'm back. Two more chapters finished and uploaded. Sorry it's taking a while, but in spite of other things demanding my attention I have no intention to abandon the project. Have fun
Talemaster
*
There wasn't much to see yet. The sun was still low in the sky and the high crater walls kept the ground in deep shadow. Sergeant Conners and his men checked the area around the Pygmalion. As expected there was no sign of life. Nevertheless they established a perimeter the size of a football field with proximity detectors every ten yards. These would warn us if anything bigger than an Earth size cockroach tried to get past.
Pedro's crew was already unloading Jack's gear. Jack and Juan were directing the containers to an area fifty yards away from the Pygmalion. There were already three twenty foot standard containers on the ground. I had no idea Jack had that much gear.
"Must be one hell of a lab by the look of that stuff," I said.
"You've seen nothing yet. There are another nine containers to be offloaded." Jack and Juan grinned when Jack said that. "Seeing you were paying for the freight, I brought the farm."
"Farm? What farm?"
"The one Juan and I have designed over the years. The idea was to take a fair sized farming operation on to a virgin world rather than just a lab. This way we would get really meaningful results very early on. As you know, not everything that works in a lab works on the ground. We tried to sell the idea to the Federation, they just laughed at us.
"About three years ago I had the shits with the Federation putting roadblocks in my way every time I tried to do something. I settled on Earth told them to get fucked and retired from the game. By that time I had more credits than I knew what to do with. After a couple of months as a retiree I got bored with nothing to do. I had all these plans for a collapsible farm we had been working on so I decided to have the thing built. Juan and Jeremy, Pygmalion's engineer, would give me a hand every time they were back on Earth and we ironed all the bugs out. Result, a farm in kit form. When you called I thought it would be a great opportunity to put the thing to the test."
Jack and Juan have always worked well together. Juan, apart from being a crack pilot, has a degree in microbiology, which fits in well with Jack's area of expertise. I first met them years ago on the Pygmalion on my very first virgin world expedition. We became friends and have have been together on a number of expeditions since then.
Feng had reimbursed Jack's expenses. I had never seen the invoices, that's why I didn't know how much stuff he had brought with him. All in all it was a good thing and well worth the money. I said so.
***
What a difference a week makes.
I was sitting on top of the gangway that led from Pygmalion's main hatch to the ground. Being about thirty feet above ground gave me an excellent view of the area under development. Bearing in mind that a week on Olympus is the equivalent of two and a half Earth weeks it was still amazing what we had achieved in such a short time.
Jack had not been exaggerating when he had called it a farm. When assembled the contents of the twelve containers had given us a two storey farm building with a kitchen, dining room and storage rooms on the ground floor and a dormitory that could accommodate twenty people, as well as showers and toilets on the floor above. Adjacent to the farm was a machinery shed, a laboratory and a greenhouse.
It was a masterpiece of engineering. When it was completed there was not as much as a bolt or a nut left over, even the walls and floors of the containers were used in the construction.
All members of the Pygmalion's crew apart from being skilled in operating and maintaining the craft were scientists with advanced qualifications. Geoffrey was the geologist of the group. As soon as the cargo had been unloaded he assembled a small drilling rig and started drilling for water. By the end of the second day he had sunk three spear points into the ground which were all producing. The farm complex was then built around them. The water was acceptable, though it tasted a bit off. When it was piped through a purifier it became palatable and safe to drink. There were some bacteria in the water, but they seemed not to interfere with the germination of Jack's seeds.
The moment they had water Jack had the lab and the greenhouse assembled and he was already running experiments while the rest of the farm was still being built. Talla was working with Jack. She had Trevor and his boys partition off a section in the dormitory and had her bed and other gear moved in there. When I asked her what that was all about she told me that this is where she would live from now on.
"Talla is learning how to grow rye and how to make Pumpernickel. Jack is teaching Talla. The Goddess wants Talla to do this. Talla is happy."
When I asked Jack about it he said that Talla had asked him if he would teach her. He was delighted that someone took such a strong interest in his work and agreed on the spot.
"These people," he said, "have agriculture in their blood. Talla fusses over every plant and makes sure her little charges want for nothing. She loves what she is doing. Eventually we will have her people tend the farms. Who better to teach them than one of their own. Talla seems perfect for the job."
I had told Jack that he had a free hand. If that's what he wanted it was alright with me. I said so.
I was still deep in contemplation when the hooter went off to tell us the food was ready. I went down the gangway and made my way over to the farm house where Ben had set up shop. It was a lot more convenient for the workers to take their meals there.
By the smells wafting from the kitchen Juan had been doing the cooking today. Mexican food. Enchiladas, chilli con carne, nachos, the whole deal, down to the Sangria served in colourful jugs he carried around with him for such occasions. He loved doing this occasionally and he was very good at it. My mouth was watering. Naturally, Talla had to have something different, but she did get into the tortillas.
After we had been fed Pedro asked me and Feng to join him on the bridge. From there we went to his briefing room where we were joined by Juan, Jeremy and Geoffrey. Pedro took the floor.
"Gentlemen, it's time we started thinking where we go from here. I know we said we would stay here for a month, but I can't see the point. Jack has things well in hand. Trevor and his boys are helping him. They still carry their guns with them just in case, but they are playing farm boys. Ben is cooking and Geoffrey will still sink some more spear points for extra water. The rest of us has bugger all to do. We could explore some of the planet, but that can wait until we are better organised. What we need is water and power, heaps of both. Let's get that organised now."
"I thought we were alright for water and power for a while."
"At the moment all of Jack's gear is connected to the Pygmalion's reactor. With the Pygmalion gone he has to rely on his generator. It has just enough grunt to keep things ticking over if he is careful not to use too much electricity for things other than his lab and greenhouse and a few lights at night. He can perhaps cook for an hour a day and use one shower sparingly. There won't be enough to do any heating at night. I can let Jack have one of Pygmalion's emergency generators while we are gone but it will still be far from comfortable for them while we are away. As to the water, these spear points only reach into the water table. They produce about eighty gallons each per hour with the pumps going full pelt. To get any meaningful supplies we need to drill down into the aquifer. We neither have a suitable drilling rig nor the associated pumps and so forth to get this going."
"So what are you suggesting?"
"We go shopping."
"I don't want to return to Okton4 just yet."
"Who is talking about Okton4? I wouldn't be able to get there what we need anyway. No, we go straight to Earth from here. You said yourself there aren't any controls so we don't have to ask anyone. We just do it. Say eight days for the return journey, four days on Earth to get everything together. We can be back in twelve days. Jack will be able to make do until then."
I had to admit what Pedro was saying made sense.
"When do you want to do this, Pedro?"
"Give me eight hours to get the Pygmalion ready and the generator sorted out. Any time after that. Geoffrey and Ben are needed here, you and Feng will have to jump into the breach."
"Go for it, Pedro. I want to take Talla and Al with us, any problems with that?"
"I'll have to move Talla's gear back into the Pygmalion. Trevor and his boys can do that. Care to tell me why you want to take those two?"
"I don't want them to feel we are doing things behind their backs. It's difficult to know how Talla feels, but Al feels very much that he is an outsider and only tolerated because he is the Oktonian representative. He is a good bloke. I want to show him his heritage and hopefully convince him that his and his people's future is with us."
We left it at that and called an end to the meeting. Feng and I went to look for Talla and Al. We found them in the greenhouse with Jack. They were in excellent spirits. By now Jack's seedlings were growing. His trays were full of green shoots, some of them as high as three inches. Jack proudly pointed to an area behind the greenhouse about twenty by twenty feet that looked like a lawn.
"We won't have any problems growing rye here. Look how healthy the little buggers are. We are irrigating with raw water too. There is no need to treat the water, which is a big plus. All I need now is enough water and power and we are off in earnest."
"That's why I'm here, Jack. We'll be leaving for Earth in a few hours to get your stuff. Barring any unforeseen hold ups we should be back in twelve days. It all depends on your stuff being ready for pick up."
"I gave Pedro a list of what I want days ago. He ordered it there and then. It'll be sitting on the tarmac when you arrive."
"Talla, can you get Trevor and the boys to put your stuff back on the Pymalion? I want you to come with us."
"Frank wants Talla to go with him to Earth?"
"Yes, Darling."
Talla did a little dance, flapping her wings furiously. Even I could tell she was excited.
"The Goddess loves her Frankie, so does Talla," she said when she had calmed down a bit.
I turned to Al. "I want you to come with us too, Al."
