BSC4 Snippet 3

 Sitrep:

So, I received the manuscript back from Rea. I'm working on sending it to Goodlifeguide.

In other news, I finished the cover to J8:

 

It looks like I didn't post the Tauren Invasion cover:

 

 Tauren Invasion will be coming out in 2 months or so.

On to the snippet!

Chapter 3

 

True spring began with a series of storms. There was rain during the day but as the temperatures dropped the rain turned into a slushy snow. It turned the communities into a mess for several weeks.

Maggie had problems with the animals in the pastures getting stuck in the muck. She eventually had to restrict some of the species to the barns for a little while until the sun dried the muck up a bit. She grumbled about needing more drainage.

>>>*<<<

Mitch sipped coffee in the conservatory as he watched the sun slowly rise. He had been cuddling with Sandra until she’d been woken with a request for a radio consultation. Tucker had spent the night with a friend to give his parents some rare quality time together.

He saw shadows pass and looked up to the sky to see a flock of avians pass by. A massive shadow dived on one flock and batted some to the ground in the field nearby.

His eyes went wide as he saw a massive Pterosaur chomp one smaller avian and then peck and then rip off pieces of another it had landed on. He took his phone out and held it up to record the event.

“Don’t see that every day,” he murmured as he continued to take sips of coffee.

>>>*<<<

Phyllis had to make a regular thing for security to chase off avians. It was four or five times a day, especially around the barns, food storage, and of course the airport. “You can tell it is winter when they return and begin to shit everywhere and cause havoc,” Phyllis complained as she came into the great room after washing up.

Anne nodded. The ground animals had a tighter poop. Some of the avians had a wet poop almost diarrhea, a common problem in waterfowl like ducks. They sprayed it everywhere, including on the buildings and if possible, on the unwary. Lisa was constantly complaining about having to clean equipment and vehicles. The poop was nasty, it ate into paint fast.

It wasn’t very pleasant for the unwary either. Four people had been splattered by poop from the air. One had gotten an infection from the nasty stuff. One of Brian’s construction crew had been driven off from an area by a pair of birds that had been spraying poop and dive bombing.

It had turned out they had set up a nest in a nook. The decision had been made to leave them until the nest was clear and then seal up the nook to prevent a repeat.

Brian’s team were working with the plastics team to produce spikes that were placed on any surface the avians wanted to occupy. The avians hated them and avoided them.

“You heard about the blockage at the apartment?”

Phyllis blinked. “Ah… no?”

“Air vent to the plumbing. A couple of critters got up under the cap, chewed their way through the wire mesh and then into the pipe. They found an elbow and created a nest. Miguel and Henry were called in when the plumbing in that section started to act up. It took them a while to find the nest and clear it.”

“Oh. Lovely.”

“Yeah. They are persistent,” Anne sighed. Phyllis nodded.

>>>*<<<

As soon as the ground warmed and the spring rains passed the convoys were out running. They had started runs during the later stage of winter when the roads were clear. Paul had each of the 3 convoys keep a snow plow on the lead vehicle and at least 1 cow catcher.

Ignacio did the same in the south though the roads were not as well built there. They were limited to runs to Prairie and East for the time being.

Sam showed up at Base during the second week of spring after the equinox. Jack had wanted him to stick around Copper Town until after the planting but he had refused. They had cleaned up the road to the mill and to the mine but then kicked off to get busy elsewhere to get ahead of the migrations.

Sam’s crew worked on the road to Base for a week and finished setting up the bridges. They had learned to pull the bridges before winter in order to prevent them from being washed out by the spring flooding.

The ribbon bridges were kept on high ground near the bridge site during the long winter. Only minor repairs had to be made to the footings at each crossing before the pieces were put back in place. Sam's crew passed Gary on the way to Copper Town on his first run. They finished up the cleanup of the road and then moved on the roads north.

Sam was determined to concrete the road to Iron Town and work on the roads beyond that year. Mike had offered him a bonus if he could do it. Mike wanted to be able to travel the road year round, including during the winter to Base, something about ice road trucking.

In order to pull it off they needed a lot of concrete and gravel however. He needed to sit down and talk to Brian and Mitch about that. He was aware that there was a lot of competition for both for the construction projects at the base.

>>>*<<<