Funny how that hadn't been considered before he thought wryly.
The moody sky made him look up
and around as he patiently waited for the tank to fill. It could hold nearly a
thousand gallons, enough for a lot of cheese. The cheese would come in handy,
not only to supplement his rations, but also as a great trade item. From his
estimate it was early spring on this planet, the animals should be drying up
soon as they enter the last trimesters of pregnancy. Bob had suggested
stringing the births apart over several months to give him a steady supply of
milk, now he was glad he didn’t go that route. The months without milk would
give him some more free time to get other projects off the ground.
He had been lucky, only two still
birth rabbits, and one still birth raccoon. He had even managed to resuscitate
a pup. He was quite pleased by that. The Cheetah had eaten the still births
with only a few bites.
The tank was filled; he shut the
valves, let the hose drain, then unhooked it and coiled it. The robot trundled
the tank off to the cheese factory. He turned and pulled out his Bluetooth,
ordering a donk to relocate one of the three sub stations to the center of the
field between the windmills and solar farm. One of the donks moved from their
park into action. He nodded then smacked his hat against his thigh as he
trotted to catch up to the milk truck.
The first steps with the cheese
making were mostly automated, so once he got the ball rolling with the heaters
and renate he headed off to the substation. A pair of GP robots were there
already, stringing new cables to the solar farm and the wind generators. He
disconnected the line connectors, and then reconnected the new ones. A donk
trundled up with a trio of replacement panels for the burned out solar cells,
the burned wiring and melted plastic was enough to tell him they weren’t worth
trying to salvage. He disconnected them then had them sent to the recycling
pile. He ordered the donk to return with a lightning tower, he was damned if he
was going to allow a second occurrence. He didn’t have the power or equipment
to spare.
With the base perimeter mostly
secured he no longer had the added power drain of a second perimeter to
maintain, nor did he have to constantly recharge the tractors and donks to move
the trailers to and fro. The tractors had required hydrogen, draining his
reserves each night. Now the reserve tank was finally beginning to fill. When
it was topped off he would be able to shut the compressor down and power more
equipment.
A security alert made his Bluetooth
beep insistently. He fumbled it out of his breast pocket and placed it in his
ear, catching the tail end of the message. “Repeat message,” he ordered.
“Perimeter alert. Human, quadrant
three, five kilometers North by North west.” Amazed he instinctively turned
around until he oriented in the correct direction. He shaded his eyes but
couldn't see anything; the distant tree line were cluttering his vision.
He walked over to the hummer.
“Command. Shunt visual to car...” he ordered. He looked for its number and then
grimaced. “Car five,” he finished with a sigh. He sighed in annoyance as he got
in and squished down into the still wet seat. The laptop sprang to life; he
could see the outline of a person, possibly a male staggering out of the tree
line. Concern etched Mitch's brow. “Command. Launch UAV two circle unknown.” He
pointed to the human on the screen, and then circled it with his finger.
“Acknowledged,” the AI voice
confirmed. He drove to the gate, then along the line of boxes. The UAV
launched, then banked and reoriented toward the north.
“Command, magnify and enhance,”
Mitch ordered. He watched as the visual jumped forward and blurred, then
settled into a visual of a wounded terrified man running for his life. He was a
brunette, sun burnt, with a beard. His clothes were ripped and torn, but he
clutched at a makeshift spear. His look over his shoulder and
The moody sky made him look up
and around as he patiently waited for the tank to fill. It could hold nearly a
thousand gallons, enough for a lot of cheese. The cheese would come in handy,
not only to supplement his rations, but also as a great trade item. From his
estimate it was early spring on this planet, the animals should be drying up
soon as they enter the last trimesters of pregnancy. Bob had suggested
stringing the births apart over several months to give him a steady supply of
milk, now he was glad he didn’t go that route. The months without milk would
give him some more free time to get other projects off the ground.
He had been lucky, only two still
birth rabbits, and one still birth raccoon. He had even managed to resuscitate
a pup. He was quite pleased by that. The Cheetah had eaten the still births
with only a few bites.
The tank was filled; he shut the
valves, let the hose drain, then unhooked it and coiled it. The robot trundled
the tank off to the cheese factory. He turned and pulled out his Bluetooth,
ordering a donk to relocate one of the three sub stations to the center of the
field between the windmills and solar farm. One of the donks moved from their
park into action. He nodded then smacked his hat against his thigh as he
trotted to catch up to the milk truck.
The first steps with the cheese
making were mostly automated, so once he got the ball rolling with the heaters
and renate he headed off to the substation. A pair of GP robots were there
already, stringing new cables to the solar farm and the wind generators. He
disconnected the line connectors, and then reconnected the new ones. A donk
trundled up with a trio of replacement panels for the burned out solar cells,
the burned wiring and melted plastic was enough to tell him they weren’t worth
trying to salvage. He disconnected them then had them sent to the recycling
pile. He ordered the donk to return with a lightning tower, he was damned if he
was going to allow a second occurrence. He didn’t have the power or equipment
to spare.
With the base perimeter mostly
secured he no longer had the added power drain of a second perimeter to
maintain, nor did he have to constantly recharge the tractors and donks to move
the trailers to and fro. The tractors had required hydrogen, draining his
reserves each night. Now the reserve tank was finally beginning to fill. When
it was topped off he would be able to shut the compressor down and power more
equipment.
A security alert made his Bluetooth
beep insistently. He fumbled it out of his breast pocket and placed it in his
ear, catching the tail end of the message. “Repeat message,” he ordered.
“Perimeter alert. Human, quadrant
three, five kilometers North by North west.” Amazed he instinctively turned
around until he oriented in the correct direction. He shaded his eyes but
couldn't see anything; the distant tree line were cluttering his vision.
He walked over to the hummer.
“Command. Shunt visual to car...” he ordered. He looked for its number and then
grimaced. “Car five,” he finished with a sigh. He sighed in annoyance as he got
in and squished down into the still wet seat. The laptop sprang to life; he
could see the outline of a person, possibly a male staggering out of the tree
line. Concern etched Mitch's brow. “Command. Launch UAV two circle unknown.” He
pointed to the human on the screen, and then circled it with his finger.
“Acknowledged,” the AI voice
confirmed. He drove to the gate, then along the line of boxes. The UAV
launched, then banked and reoriented toward the north.
“Command, magnify and enhance,”
Mitch ordered. He watched as the visual jumped forward and blurred, then
settled into a visual of a wounded terrified man running for his life. He was a
brunette, sun burnt, with a beard. His clothes were ripped and torn, but he
clutched at a makeshift spear. His look over his shoulder and
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