“Majesty we are recycling everything we can from Trena. But we’re in the early stages of the evacuation and there isn’t that much stuff available.” The sergeant began, “So we don’t have enough raw materials to do what we need. We will be using materials from the asteroids as well; but the wood products will be used for trim pieces, and nailers. We need the wood products to build the prefab.”
“We really need the wood products Majesty,” Lieutenant Hooper chimed in, “not just for trim but for siding and such. We could use artificial materials and we will; but we also thought that using the wood from Trena would be fast and furious. Especially, since we don’t have to be ecologically friendly to the planet.” Jill noticed the sergeant gently kicking the back of lieutenant’s leg. “I don’t like what we are doing your majesty; but it will help our people.”
“I know,” Aggie replied.
“Let’s go to the output end,” the lieutenant suggested. They trooped to the other end of the factory. As they trooped through the immense factory they watched homes being built. It was an automated process with robots doing most of the work. They saw homes assembled from raw materials. There seemed to be a hundred or so homes being built at one time.
The lieutenant escorted them into one of the finished single family homes.
“This is a house for eight people.” He showed them into the house, “It is all prefab. Our average family size is eight so we are building modules in multiples of eight. We won‘t be able to cut the house down to four people so everyone will get a house that can comfortably house eight. Everything is being made from either the asteroids or forests.”
Jill saw the hard wood floors, and plastic walls. The windows were all cased in wood. The lieutenant continued getting Jill’s attention, “the walls are filled with blown in insulation made from the wood we are bringing up. All of the systems are being prefab piping, heating, and communication. Some of the people are bringing their expert systems so they will be able to be plugged right in to the home’s network. We’re trying to make it a turnkey system.
“It takes about ten hours for the raw materials to be converted into a home. We will have about four of these factories soon in orbit. We are putting a couple of them in a couple of attack carriers. They will be star capable factories then. We hope that we can build all the houses we need within the time we have. Currently we’re producing a hundred a day. We could go faster; but we disassemble them step by step to make sure nothing is damaged as we packaged them for shipping.”
The lieutenant walked them over to where a home was being packaged. First the roof was carefully disassembled, followed by the interior walls and fixtures, then the exterior walls. “We wrap each section in this though plastic” he held a sample of opaque plastic, “which can be used for other things. If you notice the plastic has the assembly instructions for the section it is wrapped around. This way if the plan is lost the refugee will still have a reference to assemble each section.
“Before we wrap the pallet,” the sergeant opened a large crate, “we put this crate on it.” They looked in the crate and saw boxes of fasteners, tools, several hard hats, and two envelops. “This crate has everything needed to reassemble the house. Each envelops contains one complete copy of the assembly instructions.”
The Queen was very impressed she turned to the lieutenant, “I am very impressed
Lieutenant Hooper. Pease keep up the very good work.”
“Thank you ma’am,” The lieutenant replied, the party left then as they did Jill thought she heard the sergeant scolding the lieutenant about his manners. Jill asked for and got a photo of the damage the clear cutting was doing to Trena. She placed it in her diary.
###
“Lady Wilson,” the general finished the class, “as we discussed last week, received the Pulitzer prize for her photos.” Projected behind the general was the picture of the father with his son in his arms, and the tear running down his face. The other photo was the scene of the clear cut operation along the north coast. “These two pictures, the first showing the emotional toll of the evacuation, and this one showing the harvesting of Trena’s North Coast won her the Pulitzer prize.
“The clear cutting of Trena North Coast Forrest,” the general continued, “was done to save the forests of Home. We have worked earnestly to preserve Home’s natural resources, That is why we have built underground and used and still use environmentally friendly building techniques.”
“Such as North View,” Princess Lisa remarked. The palace had been built into the side of a cliff overlooking the Northern Ocean.
Chapter 14: The Admiral’s Arrival
“The Admiral,” General Jones began, “surprised everyone when she showed up. The Marshal and Lady Wilson had no idea that the Admiral was coming to Trena. What surprised everyone was that she was even able to get into Trena Space to begin with! No one was permitted to enter the Kingdom unless they were a ship or a resource that was going to be used by the Marshal’s team. A couple of large transports and carriers were coming in but any ship not requested by the Crown or the Marshal or a diplomatic vessels were not permitted to enter the kingdom.
“To this day we don’t know how the Traveling Lady got to the inner marker.” The general commented. “But somehow she did.”
###
“Trena Control,” the elderly voice said over the com system, “Traveling Lady is with you requesting clearance to Trena.”
“Traveling Lady this is Trena Control we have you in bound at the inner marker.” The AI called, “please confirm that you are a private vessel of two thousand tons. You have a crew of eight out of Mars and registered as a Martian vessel.”
“That is confirmed.” The voice replied, “Please tell the authorities that the owner is aboard.”
“Roger that. The owner is on board,” the AI reported, “Traveling Lady you’re cleared to Trena McKay. Expect parking orbit about McKay at 0332 Trena Time
Coordinated. Time Hack is now 2152 TTC.”
“Roger. Cleared to Trena McKay. Expect parking orbit at 0332 TTC and it is now 2153 hours TTC” The elderly voice replied.
###
“Francine,” there was a knock on her door, she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost five am. She shrugged and rolled over and said “enter.”
“Francine,” Georgia slipped into her room. That got Francine’s full attention. Georgia never sought Francine out when Lady Wilson didn’t need her. “Admiral Wilson’s
is about to clear customs at the port. I am sending a limo to pick her up.” “Have you told Lady Wilson?” Francine asked.
“No,” Georgia said and Francine wondered why, “And before you ask, one of the port cops gave me a personal heads up. From listening to Lady Wilson, I get the feeling
they were close, I thought it wouldn’t be out of line to surprise her.”
Francine nodded stepped out of bed and quickly dressed. “I’ll go get her.”
As she went to the port she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Later she knew she would do it again given the choice. The look on her mistress’ face when she saw Joyce Wilson was just too precious to ever forget.
“Admiral,” Francine introduced herself to the Marshal’s mother. She was waiting in the VIP lounge where the customs officers asked her to wait for someone from Serenity to pick her up, “I am Francine. I work for your son’s family.”
“Did they send you to pick me up?” The admiral asked.
“No ma’am,” Francine and quickly told her what was going on.
“She’ll kill us both!” Joyce said, “But it’s too good to not do!”
Francine took an immediate liking to the admiral. They loaded into the limo and went to the palace. She knew she had a small window of opportunity before the Marshal would be out of bed for his morning coffee. The Marshal would sometimes spend part of his morning working in the residence unless he had a staff m
eeting or an event outside of the palace. Lisa was also an early riser. Sometimes taking the girls down to the pool for an early morning swim, and occasionally taking a long morning walk before she got her own breakfast. She had called ahead to have Georgia waiting for them at the vehicle entrance to the palace. Georgia personally escorted the pair of them through palace security and to the Marshal’s residence. Maggie was just finishing making the first pot of coffee for the house.
“Francine?” Maggie asked as Admiral Wilson was escorted into her kitchen.
“Maggie, this is Admiral Wilson, the Marshal’s mother,” Francine replied.
“Welcome to this home Admiral,” the housekeeper replied. Joyce was impressed. The housekeeper, majordomo, was fully dressed, and immaculately groomed. Much like the senior chiefs and NCOs she had dealt with in her career. She also carried herself with the same air that those men and women had too.
“Hello Maggie,” Joyce said. “May I intrude into your kitchen for a while?”
“Yes Ma’am.” The housekeeper said, “I take it the Marshal and Lady Wilson don’t know you’re here?”
Joyce shook her head as Maggie raised an eyebrow. She turned to Georgia, “Get your camera young woman. Lady Wilson is going to want pictures of this! I’ll go get her.” Joyce poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.
###
“Lady Wilson,” Maggie quietly entered the master bedroom. She had known that the marshal was up and moving before she started the coffee. The AI gave her a status report as she woke every morning of where everyone was in the residence, “Can you step into the kitchen for a second.”
“Now,” Lisa asked she was entertaining found thoughts of joining Michael in his shower.
“Yes ma’am it’s very important.” Maggie said, “Francine has brought something home you have to see and she says it can’t wait.” Maggie would never lie to any of her principles, but that didn’t mean she would tell the unvarnished truth either.
“Okay,” Lisa said, so much for a morning romp she thought. She got up and put on a robe and followed her housekeeper out to the kitchen.
“Hey Lisa,” Joyce said as the biowoman walked into the kitchen, “I don’t suppose you can tell me where I can get another cup of coffee in this joint do you?”
“Joy....”Lisa was speechless as she nearly ran to the older woman. Georgia quietly slipped into the kitchen and was taking photos as Joyce fiercely hugged the lady that had given her life back to her.
“Joyce I am so sorry,” Lisa said, “I heard about the Colonel’s death on Holly, where they sent me after you left. I did get the bastard who claimed responsibility.”
Joyce held her at arm’s length trying to comprehend what her daughter in law was saying. As she said it Lisa remembered how she became involved with the Wilson family. She remembered the distraught, marine colonel who had interviewed her. The Colonel’s wife had suffered a hideous combat injury on their wedding day. It was a couple of months after the injury, and the colonel had been persuaded by his son on the advice of the Space Station’s Chief Surgeon that they look her up. The chief surgeon, Michelle Klond, then a lieutenant commander, had seen her work and thought Lisa could do wonders for Joyce. But Colonel Wilson was not happy about hiring her contract. He didn’t want to have an indentured servant in his home. It wasn’t just the morality of having an indentured servant in home; he couldn’t afford to have one in his home. It became moot as the Interstellar Rescue Service covered the expense of Lisa’s contract.
So Lisa went to live with the Wilson’s. The Colonel had made Lisa welcome in the apartment that he and his family shared in the better part of the space station’s housing. Mike’s father never treated her like a servant, more like a daughter, or niece. She worked every day with Joyce helping her mend her arm and her soul. Her soul had taken a severe hit. Flying was in Joyce’s blood. If she couldn’t fly then there was nothing else she was willing to do. Lisa didn’t know who was happier when Joyce got her flying papers back Joyce or herself. Joyce had been her toughest patient to date. Somewhere along the way, she had fallen in love with the whole family. Colonel Wilson she would never forget, he was a quiet man often observing and sometimes you would think he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on only to repeat exactly what you had said word for word. He was the best of the best in the Marine Corps SpecWar who had become a member of the Black Guard. She remembered the last time she had seen him, and the woman she was hugging.
“Lisa,” he had said, “The apartment’s yours to use for as long as you want it. We own it. We should be back by the end of the year. I want to thank you for all that you have done for us.”
“Your welcomed Colonel,” Lisa had said, not telling him that she had gotten word that the company had pulled her contract and that she had to go to Holly where they wanted her for production. Up until her and Mike’s reunion five years ago, it had been the happiest time in her life. It would be months later when the company found that she couldn’t be placed in production, (They had of course forgot that she could control her menstrual cycle at will,) she had been assigned to a containment team. She was sitting in the squad lounge when one of her team described in great detail what he had done to a marine colonel who had been captured on a company base. Including the grisly details of cutting his head off and sending it back to his widow. As she heard this she made up her mind that she was not going to be team medic for these animals. The one or two missions she had been on with them already had shown her that this company team was nothing but murders. This was her second team and it was so different from the first one that she was having trouble dealing with it. A few nights later she escaped from the company. As she did she executed the man who had murdered the quiet gentle marine who had given her a place in his family. She had killed him in the bed he had taken her to. On a whim she left a note on his chest, “Never kill a marine, their family and friends will always honor their passing and if given the opportunity render justice.” Later as if the note was prophecy every one of the containment team had been killed. All of them except for Hozenbur.
Joyce looked the younger woman in the eye and knew it was true. She had never told her step son, but she knew more about Lisa’s activities while she had been on the run than she let on about. Lisa had been an item of interest on many intelligence summaries. She knew that the gentle caring healer who had mended her so many years before could and had render justice on more than one occasion. “Thank you!”
Maggie, Francine, and Georgia looked at their mistress with new respect. Francine had known a great deal about Lisa’s exploits while she was on the run. Georgia and Maggie did not. Francine who had never been black understood what it was that Lisa had just said to Joyce.
“Let me take a look at you,” Joyce said holding the younger woman at arm’s length not wanting to discuss what Lisa had done. She noticed a slight bulge that some of her friends had in the past and jumped to a conclusion, “You’re pregnant!” “About three months,” Lisa said.
“Boy or Girl?” Joyce asked. Lisa looked fit and healthy. It had been years since she had seen her; but the years had been kind to her. She bore no scares of her ordeals on the run. At least none that were visible.
“One of each,” Lisa said.
“What did Michael say to that?” Joyce asked.
“He doesn’t know,” Lisa said.
“I want to see his face when you tell him.” Joyce as she was mugged from behind.
“Grandma,” Jill had come into the kitchen. Francine had forgotten that Jill had the same habits of her father and step mother, an early riser.
“So you got here huh?” She was still angry at her granddaughter. She wanted to have an intense counseling session with the youngster. The girl had scared her to death. She knew that Jill was on her way to Trena; but until Michael had sent word to tell her that Jill had arrived safely she had been worried to death. “I thought we had discussed not c
oming to Trena.”
The youngster didn’t say a word. She knew better. If there was anything she had learned from her grandmother; it was better to just keep quiet and let her vent. If she tried to interrupt; tried to state her case before her grandmother was ready to hear it, it would only make things worse.
Lisa was about to say something; but decided to keep quiet. She wanted to see how Joyce was going to handle it and to see if Jill was going to be a problem. She was still trying to learn how Jill reacted to things. What she had seen so far had made her respect how Joyce had raised her step daughter!
“I should ground you for the rest of your young life!” Joyce said, “I should do a lot of things to explain how stupid you were. But I trust that your father and Lisa have done a better job than I could, and most likely have. The only thing I am going to say is: that the next time you pull that stunt, you best be on your way to join the marines, or to get married, because the next time, if there is next time you best will your soul to your gods because everything else belongs to me!” She hugged Jill and said simply, “You scared the crap out of me! Please don’t do it again.”
“Welcome to Trena Grandma,” Jill said, “I will never do that again. I thought we weren’t coming to Trena?”
Joyce chuckled a bit, and said “Well I got lonely on Mars!”
“All right folks,” Lisa said finally, “we need to get breakfast going. Maggie what do you want me to do?”
“Set the table,” Maggie replied, “I can take care of this, you folks get out of here and let me get things done.”
The women filed out of the kitchen. Francine came back into the kitchen and asked, “What do you need me to do Maggie. I know you and Lisa usually do this so with the extra...”
“Start making juice, and let’s put out some more fresh fruit.” Maggie answered. Although she really didn’t need the help, it was appreciated. She wanted for some reason to show the admiral that her family was well cared for.
They had just set breakfast out on the table in the dining room, when Michael joined them. He didn’t see Joyce at first. He had barely noticed that there was one additional person at the table. It wasn’t unusual for one of protective detail, Aggie, or some other member of his staff to join them for breakfast. Joyce was sitting with her back to the door. She had chosen that seat with care. She didn’t want her step son to see her until he sat down.