Oakmont–Verona–Plum Development Site, Pennsylvania
May 17, 2440, 11:42 AM
“Another one?”
S’rethi K’var looked at the geological survey display.
“Yes, Mother.”
“How large?”
“Initial estimate, less than three thousand cubic meters.”
“Wonderful. A small hole.”
S’ira smiled.
“After the one that swallowed eighteen rovers, I thought you’d appreciate it.”
“I do.”
D’vann looked up from his construction workstation.
“Are we measuring Pennsylvania in holes now?”
“Until we have something more useful.”
“I was hoping for buildings.”
“Your foundation is ready for the next formulation.”
“Excellent. Buildings.”
The main display showed fifteen hours of continuous survey work. Across more than forty square kilometers, rovers examined the shattered ground while aerial drones mapped the surface and boats surveyed the Allegheny.
The largest cavity continued receiving approximately one T-24 delivery per hour. Each load carried seventy-two cubic meters of dry components, injected in twenty minutes. At the selected formulation’s expansion ratio of one to two hundred fifty, that became eighteen thousand cubic meters of hardened fill.
“How’s the expansion?” S’rethi asked.
“Within the model. Next delivery at twelve.”
“Leave the sequence running.”
D’vann enlarged the construction platform.
“And this?”
“The lower foundation is ready.”
He smiled.
“Then let’s give our visitors somewhere to put their Quonset huts.”
12:04 PM
The first T-48 settled into its unloading position. Another was approaching, with a third scheduled behind it.
Their quarter-section cargo modules carried Wonder Foam components in quantities suited to the broader construction work. Each module had two thousand cubic meters of cargo capacity, internal power, and counter-gravity lifters to move it clear of the shuttle.
S’rethi watched the unloading feed.
“That’s going to make things easier.”
“You like having sufficient material,” D’vann said.
“I like having more than sufficient material.”
A notice announced the approaching construction specialists.
“Eight frames this afternoon,” he said.
“Provided we give them their foundation.”
“We are giving them several hectares.”
She glanced at him.
“I’m giving them several hectares. You’re meeting their shuttle.”
“Yes, dear.”
The human crew chief stepped onto the unloading area carrying a tablet.
“K’var?”
“D’vann K’var.”
“I’m handling the frames. You have our foundation?”
“Nearly completed.”
“How nearly?”
D’vann opened the construction model.
The man studied it.
“What’s under it?”
“Fractured limestone over consolidated bedrock. The subsurface problems beneath this platform have been identified and treated.”
“And the foam?”
“The lower structure uses a formulation that performs the function of limestone. The upper foot is less rigid, more forgiving under surface loads and movement.”
The crew chief enlarged the cross section.
“Same components, different proportions?”
“Precisely.”
“So you’re making rock underneath and something easier to work on above it.”
“For your purposes, yes.”
“What keeps it where you want it?”
“It levels itself as it expands and hardens. Forms contain it where necessary. We can also change the consistency near an edge to slow its spread.”
The man nodded, then pointed to the interrupted sections.
“And those trenches?”
“Your structural tie-ins. We leave them open until the frames are positioned, then complete them at the appropriate stage.”
“So the buildings connect into the foundation.”
“Yes.”
“I can work with that.”
He looked across the pale platform toward the shattered hills.
“Yesterday this was forest?”
“And considerably higher.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
He tapped his tablet.
“Let’s get unloaded.”
12:36 PM
The construction lumber began arriving from Leta.
S’rethi was reviewing the platform work when D’vann returned with the crew chief.
“We have our lumber.”
“And Leta has a little less of it in the way,” the human added.
He showed her photographs of timber awaiting processing or removal around the Leta development.
“That’s a substantial quantity,” she said.
“That isn’t all of it.”
“Why didn’t His Lordship clear that site the way he cleared this one?”
“Because it’s practically in his backyard. People, houses, utilities. He wasn’t going to pound the ground with kinetic weapons and find out what else shifted.”
D’vann nodded.
“Out here he had room.”
“Exactly. At Leta, they’re removing trees. We need lumber. Marmaduke Logistics gets it where it’s wanted.”
The provenance and processing records accompanied the deliveries. S’rethi checked the material against the construction order.
“Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Jefferson City are taking deliveries too,” the crew chief said, examining the schedule.
“Any conflicts with ours?” D’vann asked.
“Nothing that’s stopped us yet.”
“Equipment?”
“Everything competes for equipment. That’s why there’s a schedule.”
S’rethi returned his tablet.
“A substantial undertaking.”
“You should see the rest of it. We haven’t even gotten to the resorts.”
“Resorts?”
“The isolated accommodations for the V’ren girls going through their hormonal change. Fountain Grove first. Three more locations selected, off Alaska, off Costa Rica, and in Colorado.”
“That is important work,” S’rethi said.
The crew chief looked at her.
“I understand they need the isolation. Mostly, I see another set of construction orders.”
“The girls will need those buildings as much as we need these.”
“Well, then we’d better get both done.”
1:18 PM
The first Quonset frame rose above the platform.
D’vann stood beside Ralen as the specialists aligned the next structural section and secured it.
“They’re preparing the second position already,” Ralen said.
“Yes.”
“Eight this afternoon?”
“That’s what they promised.”
The crew chief signaled to his workers. Another section moved into place.
D’vann watched the alignment settle.
“I suggest we keep the next foundations ahead of them.”
Ralen checked the platform display.
“They are.”
“Good.”
The frame stood against the sky, the first clear outline of a building amid the broken ground.
Along the river, another crew was installing the T-38 on its prepared Wonder Foam platform. The bedrock shelf stood thirty feet back from the Allegheny and twenty-two feet above the water.
Its electrical connections would serve the nearby operating base and reclamation equipment. The installation could proceed while the framing specialists continued uphill.
1:47 PM
The waste tanks occupied a shelf twenty-five feet below the main Quonset platform. Another twenty-five feet below them, the small reclamation unit was being connected.
S’rethi examined the utility plan with one of the V’ren plumbers.
“The vertical separation is convenient.”
“Very. Collection above, storage here, processing below.”
The water tower was being positioned beside the huts. Below it, the tanks and reclamation equipment occupied their own shelves without crowding the working platform.
“The T-38 connections?” she asked.
“Being completed. We’ll be ready to receive power when they release it.”
The small reclamation unit could process approximately five TEU of suitable input in an hour. Camp wastewater and other waste would join river muck, producing reclaimed water, clean soil, and sterile organic material.
The soil would be needed as lawns and parks took shape behind the construction crews.
“For now, we can begin producing it before the landscaping catches up,” the plumber said.
S’rethi nodded.
“Anything holding up your work?”
“The service connections inside the huts. We need the shells and service points in place.”
“They’re coming.”
“Then we’ll be ready.”
2:26 PM
Two older human men stood beside a stack of curved shell panels.
One examined the first frame.
“This shouldn’t be too complicated.”
“Famous last words,” his companion said.
D’vann joined them.
“Any problems?”
“Not yet. We’ve got help?”
“Several of our people. The electricians and plumbers will follow as the shells are secured.”
“Fine by me.”
The framing specialists had moved onward. These two and their V’ren coworkers would enclose the buildings, leaving the specialists free to keep erecting frames.
One of the men looked toward the distant boundary of the pulverized ground.
“Quite a place.”
“Large,” D’vann said.
“That’s one word.”
“You said you wanted to hunt here?”
“When we’ve got time.”
“Some of the animals are unfamiliar to us.”
“Some of them are unfamiliar to me.”
“Really?”
“I know what a deer is. Doesn’t mean I’ve spent my life hunting every giant deer somebody’s ancestors decided to clone.”
“Your ancestors reconstructed a remarkable variety.”
“Don’t blame me. I wasn’t there.”
His companion chuckled.
“You’re not getting much hunting done standing here talking about it.”
“Probably not.”
He took hold of the first shell panel.
“Come on. Let’s build the damn huts.”
3:39 PM
The fourth frame was rising when S’rethi returned to the main platform.
The surface layer was complete across the designated working areas. Anchoring trenches remained open where the frames still needed their final connections to the foundation.
She checked the reports and released the remaining prepared positions to the framing crew.
On the first hut, humans and V’ren were securing shell panels. Electricians and plumbers waited on the advancing enclosure work.
D’vann joined her beside the display.
“Any trouble?” she asked.
“Nothing holding up construction.”
“The tie-ins?”
“Following the frames.”
A power notification appeared.
He opened it, checked the installation report, and passed it to her.
The T-38 was operating.
Below the platform, the reclamation unit began its first processing run. Camp waste and river muck were entering the system that would turn them into usable material for the new settlement.
S’rethi watched the intake figures settle.
“Good. We’ll want the soil.”
“We’ll want somewhere to put it,” D’vann said.
“One problem at a time.”
4:52 PM
The eighth Quonset frame rose into position.
D’vann watched the specialists align the final section and secure it.
Eight frames in one afternoon.
The shells, utilities, and interiors would keep the resident crews occupied after the framing specialists moved on. On the first hut, the two older humans were still bolting panels into place with their V’ren coworkers.
One looked toward the final frame.
“Eight of them!”
“Yep,” his companion said.
“Think we’ll get all those shells done?”
“Not if you stand there admiring them.”
The first man laughed and reached for another panel.
D’vann smiled.
“I like those two.”
S’rethi checked the completed-frame report.
“Then let’s keep them supplied.”
