BSC 4 Snippet 1

 Sitrep:

So, I just finished Jethro 8, At the Crossroads Tuesday. It is in the hands of the first Betas. If any other Beta wants it, let me know. :)

 Speaking of crossroads, I was trying to decide on which book to send to Rea next. BSC 4 or Tauren Invasion. I finally settled on BSC4 a moment ago. She has the manuscript now.

So, I get to work on the cover to J8 and ulp, my taxes. 😅

Chapter 1

 

Base

 

Winter had socked the continent with a couple extra weeks of snow, making everyone weary of the white and ready for spring. Everyone seemed like they were champing at the bit to get moving. There had been no reports of famine and no deaths. There had been a handful of frostbite and pneumonia cases but they had been treated.

The distribution of medical supplies had helped immensely. So had the good harvests during the warm months of the year, and the trade for warm winter clothing.

Mitch Chambers looked at the list he had and sighed softly. There were still a few long term things on it he was keeping tabs on. He saw movement behind him and glanced at the meme bobbing like a jellyfish nightlight. He snorted and went back to his ruminating.

Jacklynn had reluctantly recovered Ciara and Tariq from their island of exile. The fact that the 2 ladies had survived when the men had not spoke about their survival skills and stubbornness. That had sparked a problem though; both the Fortress and Tropics had not wanted them to return to their communities.

Joe had been concerned that Ciara would challenge him over time, and would eventually fall into bad habits and become a bad influence to his community. Neal had said something along the same lines. The 2 ladies had eventually been offered a place in the East Europe and Russian communities. Sydney and the 2 children had gone with Ciara to live in New Siberia. Jake had remained behind in the Fortress to remain in the home that had been built for the family.

He shook his head. By all reports the ladies were quiet and keeping their heads down. Tariq had settled into the East European community and worked on any task they gave her without complaint. Ciara was much the same. Both ladies had put on some weight over the winter.

His mind turned to home. Cassie had survived her pregnancy and the birth of her son. His wife had been furious over her daughter’s actions and she’d taken steps with Brian to lock down the reproductive lab to prevent a repeat. Not that Cassie seemed eager to have another baby anytime soon.

Jack had lost half a dozen people to Base last year and was not happy at hemorrhaging people. Not that he’d put their skills to use. The Fuentes were happy in the zoo and Jessica Walker was having a ball at the Base. They did talk with their old community and friends regularly. Jessica had said she was more than willing to consult on architectural buildings if Jack ever got off the stick and moved forward on a project.

For the moment the young woman was driving Brian up a tree about various projects and making eyes at visiting the Han Village and maybe others as well.

Jack was not happy about Mussad making eyes at Ishtar. The quiet Islamic woman was his only teacher and damn good at her job. But she was lonely and she was interested in visiting the Middle Eastern Village. So far Jack had refused to countersign her leaving.

He had stopped short of saying he’d keep her. He’d just refused to fly her out on one of his community’s planes. Mitch shook his head. He knew that denial was a bad thing. Denying the lady what she wanted bred resentment and anger over time. Letting her go for a visit or hell, to stay would be better. He’d heard a few stories about the middle eastern village. It was definitely not a western lady’s cup of tea. She might or might not want to settle there. It all depended on how religious she was and how determined she was to be with her own culture.

He didn’t know the lady and it wasn’t his problem so he shrugged such concerns aside.

Jolie had started a help wanted page when some communities had asked for one skilled person or another. That had sparked some interest from the kids in school at the base. But when they looked into the communities and their amenities they hadn’t been impressed enough to want to go there. That might or might not change in time.

>>>*<<<

Jessica Walker walked around the base and then back to her office. It was cramped and small, but it was hers. It was also better than the little cubby she’d had in Copper Town.

She sniffed.

Things were so much different at Base than at Copper Town. She’d heard about it but hadn’t taken the plunge until she’d heard about the apartment complex. She’d listened to Jack and Hera promise soothingly that they’d do more at Copper but when they hadn’t followed through she’d finally pulled the trigger.

She had no regrets. None.

She wanted to make more advanced buildings and use her skills to make her mark. They had consulted her over the years, but now she was hands on. She had even proposed a few changes to make things look better and less dull. She had proposed a few other buildings too. She really wanted to make her mark on things and not just build another damn tavern.

At the moment she was researching the Seattle Library. The building had been built with all sorts of innovations like a micro sunshade. Layers of glass and then an aluminum mesh and then air and more glass made up a glass wall. The mesh was so fine it looked transparent. But angles are made so it blocked the afternoon sun and keeps the room from becoming a greenhouse during the summer.

That was fine, but she wasn’t so certain about how that would help in winter. Winters were cold in Seattle though, so they had to have done something.

So far she had been trying to model the system with her computer. She had a desktop, they promised her access to the servers in time but for the moment they were being used for the space program. She didn’t begrudge it.

It would be nice though to have additional computer support though.

The micro shade was just one project. She was also looking into an articulating roof structure for the college, something that would open and close like a Venus fly trap. That idea had come from a college building in Florida.

She had all sorts of ideas to explore. Living walls, maybe something from Singapore… and of course ways to put her own personal stamp on things.

And Base was just one community. She had picked up feelers from other communities like Fortress, the Europeans, and Crash town. Even Bottom’s Up had inquired about her skills. She smiled to herself. Eventually she’d be famous and have her own suite in her own personally designed mansion.

Her computer blinked and said it was finished. She glanced at it and then settled in to check the results, daydreams of the future forgotten for the moment.

>>>*<<<