Lina managed only a couple of hours of sleep before the babies were demanding to be fed. Floyd helped position the babies but only Lina could feed the hungry babies. When the first was done feeding Floyd would hand it off to the Fixer for burping and cleaning up. His supply of clothes was being used up quickly for diapers. The next baby would then be settled in Lina's arms as she sat semi propped up in their berth. About the time Lina would nod off it was time to satisfy the next crying baby Fixer. The little one was crying but did not want to nurse. Lina started singing to it and expressed some milk which finally encouraged the baby to latch-on and suckle. Floyd kept bringing water for Lina to drink but he could not get her to eat.
A few more hours of rest and the routine started again. Lina said, "I wish the little one would eat first because my nipples are getting sore from the bigger babies sucking so hard."
Floyd could only say that his first wife had similar trouble and that time seemed to solve the problem. The next couple of weeks were a blur with care of the babies consuming pretty much all of their time and energy. The Fixers were a big help but in the end it was Lina who was essential and Floyd was her primary support. The routine had become well enough fixed that Lina told Floyd, "You need to get outside. Go check on what the Fixers are doing."
Floyd did not even argue and headed out the airlock. Tesla caught up to him and was all excited to show him how well their pump and filter system was working. Floyd followed him down to the lake and watched the slow motion pump, which was powered by the sun, create an intermittent but significant flow of water into the filter device. Another Fixer came by and used a simple scraper to clean the green goo into a bucket. This operation was much more efficient than having Floyd drag the sieve through the water. Floyd asked about the processing and Tesla responded by bouncing up and down as he led Floyd to the pump house. Inside the pump house were two vats to perform the primary fermentation and on the outside of the house was a simple coal burner made of stones which provided the heat for the distillation process.
Floyd had been so busy with the babies he had not worried about food production. His food worry was about getting enough calories into Lina to maintain her weight. Tesla next led him to the dome which seemed to be a miniature factory with Fixers working everywhere. Floyd was most interested in the Fixers who were taking the barley stalks, and after soaking the stalks in warm water rolled them lengthwise in their hands to separate out the fibers. They twisted the fibers together with their fingers forming a yarn like material. Other Fixers were using the yarn to knit jackets. Floyd was surprised at how soft the fabric ended up, much like burlap. He nodded his approval and said, "Lina will need a jacket." This made the Fixers all excited and they were all bouncing and nodding.
Floyd decided to have a look at the airplane before heading back to help Lina. He and Tesla walked down the hill to where the plane was tied down. Floyd looked at the broken prop and all of the duct tape that was holding the plane together. He flexed the wings and felt some movement. Tesla was watching and Floyd made him put his hands on the wing while he flexed the tip and Tesla was nodding. Something had broken and needed to be fixed inside the wing. Floyd was rubbing his chin as he walked around the airplane trying to visualize all that needed to be done to make the plane airworthy. He told Tesla, "Maybe instead of trying to fix this plane I could work on a design for a new airplane and just use the motor and battery system from this airplane."
Tesla obviously liked the idea and was nodding and bouncing. Floyd said, "Winter is coming on and the winds are going to pick up. Maybe we should dismantle the airplane and store it inside. Can it be dismantled without damaging it further?"
Tesla nodded and then began drawing a sketch in the dirt of the dome with the parts hanging below the sleeping loft. Floyd responded, "Good idea. I had better get back and check on Lina and the babies."
As they were walking up the hill Tesla made Floyd stop and look at the collection of quartz rock they had accumulated. They then had to look at the forge that the Fixers had made to form and weld the metal they were using. Floyd was happy to see that they had set it up downwind but the Fixers were not wearing any protective clothing, not even gloves. The metal would go into the forge until it was red hot and then they would pound the pieces together until they were welded. Floyd said, "I think we may be able to melt the quartz with a hot coal fire. I will check with Mr. Watson. We need a long metal tube to blow the melted glass into the shapes we need.” The Fixers working at the forge nodded and then went back to their hammering.
When Floyd got back to the ship he saw that Lina and the Fixers had been busy. Lina had them build a row of boxes along one wall of the walkway above Tesla's sleeping pad. This narrowed the walkway but freed up some space to move around in the ship. The Fixer doctor was finishing his exams of the babies and nodding his head in approval. Lina said, "They are wonderful babies but I wish they had at least some of my genes to pass on. The Fixer doctor was bouncing the best he could with his one good leg. He pointed to the babies and then to his eyes and then at her. It took Lina a moment to understand they had used her DNA for the baby's eyes. "You mean they are part me?" The Fixer bounced even more as he nodded his head.
Lina had found that if she sat in the helm chair she could use the arm rests to support the babies and feed two at once. The bigger babies would occasionally reach over their heads and grab the hair of the other baby. Lina thought it was an accident but Floyd said, "I expect that they are just being kids and it will only get worse until they are grown."
Now between the all too frequent feedings they actually had a little time together and could work on their projects. Lina was experimenting with the pancakes she made and found that if she let the mix sit after a few hours it would swell. This made cakes that were easier to eat but had just a hint of sour to them. Floyd complimented her saying, "If you keep this up I'm going to have to build you an oven and we will have real bread instead of these sourdough pancakes."
Lina was not sure what an oven or bread was but the tip of her tail was wagging with pleasure. The babies were getting hungry and the first started to cry. They waited for the second and as the Fixer brought them forward Lina positioned herself in the chair for the feeding. Floyd helped get the babies situated but they had no trouble latching on and in fact Lina had to gently scold one for being so aggressive. While waiting Floyd picked up his pad and started doodling airplane designs. Mr. Watson asked that he reposition the pad so he could better see what Floyd was doing. Floyd complied without even thinking about it. He said, "If the Fixers can make more of that black stuff the gliders are made from we could create a much better airplane."
Mr. Watson replied, "If you would put a piece in the analyzer I could at least give you the chemical composition. Of course, I asked you to do this a couple of weeks ago."
"Well, if you haven't noticed we have been a bit busy."
"Yes, these things you call babies seem to take an extraordinary amount of effort to keep going. I have estimated that they have almost doubled their birth weight. This is much faster than the growth rate of your people. I am concerned that when they become mobile that my circuits might be in danger."
Floyd asked, "Why do think that?"
"My analysis reveals that the Fixer genes seem to be dominant. Even the adult Fixers have trouble resisting the urge to take everything apart."
"But at least they put it back together again and usually better than it was."
Mr. Watson replied, "My fear is the youngsters will take me apart and break my circuit boards and then I will be crippled. I wish you would lock the access panels on the critical boards."
"They are just babies. What are you worrying about?"
"My worry is that they will not be babies for long and then my existence is at stake."
"I will talk to Tesla about it."
Time went by quickly and when the first snow came they were not yet
fully prepared. The Fixers were impressed enough with the snow but when Floyd and Lina joined them things got even more interesting. Floyd could not help but make a small snowball and throw it at Lina. She responded in kind and the Fixers joined in whole heartedly. Lina was wearing the coat the Fixers had made for her but still was the first to chill and needed to return to the ship. The Fixers played until they were soaking wet with the melting snow and only then returned to the dome. Lina was in high spirits as they shared some hot tea and said, "I like this substance you call snow."
Floyd responded, "The first snowfall is always fun but as the winter wears on we will get very tired of the cold and white."
"Mr. Watson has assured me that the ship will keep the babies warm enough but I worry about the Fixers."
"The dome is well built and if they can get one more load of coal down from the mountain they should do OK. I am afraid the darkness is a problem and we need to increase the lighting in the dome. Hopefully, they can adapt the lights from the drone somehow."
The babies needed attention again and Lina prepared to nurse them in the helm chair. Floyd did his part in positioning the babies but they were now active enough that Lina needed to keep separating their hands which tended to always grab the other baby's hair. Floyd let his mind wander to the airplane he was designing and asked Mr. Watson, "What did your analysis show?"
"The material appears to have a base of carbon fibers with a silicate binder. It is unusual in that the silicate material is a crystalline form much like the water glass used on Earth."
"So how are we going to make carbon fiber out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Mr. Watson patiently explained, "The industrial process is complicated but it should be possible to use the coal you have found to produce the base material. The spinning and weaving will require the development of equipment. Use of the fly ash from the coal heaters might be of good enough quality to mix with some of the quartz to produce the silicate you will need. In summary, a problem that should be solvable."
Floyd was thinking and it was a moment before he responded, "Seems like coal is the secret to our survival."
Mr. Watson agreed saying, "My review of human history would indicate that coal is what allowed the species to thrive and develop. The downside is of course; the pollution it causes."
Lina interrupted their conversation by asking for Floyd's help in positioning the next set of babies. Lina had named the babies and could easily identify them but Floyd struggled with remembering the names. When Lina asked him why he said, "It was the same back on Earth. Someone asked my son if he got upset when I called him the wrong name. He said no, he was happy when I got his gender right. I doubt that I will be any better this time around. Maybe we should have named them all George."