Second Chances (103 page)

“Irma asked if we're sending another balloon up anytime soon,” Jolie asked, looking at Mitch. “Are we? And are we going to share the files?”

“We're not going to hoard information, Jolie,” Mitch said absently, still staring at the map. His fingers traced the southwest, zooming in to the area. From the look of it there was some sort of large island, quite large on that coast. His...instincts told him one community was on the coast, the other two were on the island. He was curious if he was right or not. It would be interesting to see if Jesus could get to them.

“Check with Jim,” Mitch said. “I know they wanted to do another couple of liftoffs last year but between the weather and the gear, they didn't get a chance,” he said.

“Well, Jim was also working on the fireworks for a while,” Pete said, relishing the memory of the brilliant fireworks. They hadn't been professional grade, but it had still been a treat to see them and quite a send-off to the herds. “He was also working on the aircraft and the liquid rocket, plus teaching a couple science classes. Jim Conklin is supposed to lend a hand. When he's not playing pilot,” he said. He turned to Mitch. “Are we really going to make a Ruritan flier? One that can go orbital?” he asked, eyes wide with excitement and anticipation.

“Maybe. I don't know. They've got a lot to prove between then and now,” Mitch warned. Pete nodded. “A lot can go wrong. I don't want any accidents. Or fatalities,” Mitch said darkly. Pete nodded again, this time sobered.

------*------

Jesus Salazar took a week shuttling fuel to the new trading post cache before he moved on west. It took him less than three days to find a series of lakes. He landed on the west shoreline of one, a nice flat stretch of a plateau overlooking the waters below. He set up another cache there then headed west again.

He found the western coastline after his second attempt...and a village on that coast. To his surprise and gratification he found it to be made up of South Americans, some of them Indians. He also discovered they were in radio contact with the two communities on the giant island across the narrow sea. One was made up of pacific islanders; the other was a town of Australians and New Zealander's called Bottom's Up. Confirmation of the contact made them the last human villages found.

“Well, glad that's over,” Mitch said with a nod as Jolie showed him the report. “Now the real fun begins,” Mitch said.

“Like what?” the girl asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Exploring. Getting trade up and running. That's going to take a long time,” Mitch said. She nodded. “You know the frequencies they use?” She shook her head. “Find out,” he ordered. “Get the radio frequencies. If it's ham try to get them on a good day or talk to Jim. We need to...maybe float a balloon from a mountain top or something. Bounce the signal.”

“I'll look into it,” Jolie said, looking thoughtful yet intrigued. “We still have trouble getting a signal to the Yukon and some of the other communities that are really far away. Are you going to set up some radio stations on mountains?”

Mitch sighed. “I'm not thrilled about the idea. It's very risky and a pain in the ass.”

“We could see if Olaf or the chief could do it,” Jolie suggested. “They are on a mountain side. They could go up and service the equipment when it was needed and provide the power,” she suggested.

Mitch shook his head. “No way can they provide power that far. No way. That's a lot of copper. Beaming is out too. Solar or wind, which means it's on us.” He frowned and then took his ball cap off and played with the worn brim a bit. “I know Piotr's still after me to set up his Doppler on a mountain. He doesn't know what he's asking.”

Jolie nodded. “I meant to tell you. Evan, the colonel,” she made a face at the mention of his name, “Jack, and some other community leaders are interested in expanding the Doppler network. What we have is local for us,” she said.

He exhaled noisily, then snorted. “Again, complex electronics. Waaay too complex for what we can do right now. I'll talk to Tao or one of the others though. Maybe we can rig something up even if it is simple. And throw in a radio tower or whisker laser relay system as well,” he said.

“What about the plan you made for spring?” Jolie asked.

“It's flexible. I threw in some slack since we weren't sure about the weather. Hell, it's pretty much toast right now anyway,” Mitch said, making a face. “I'll talk to Evan and that other engineering professor...”

“Hinkley,” Jolie supplied.

Mitch nodded. “Yeah, him. Don't they have a Doppler or some other radar in Crash Town?”

Jolie nodded. “Yeah. It's made up of salvaged parts.”

“Well, see if they need anything we can make. Get with Brian on it. See if they are interested in expanding their network too,” Mitch suggested. She nodded as she took some notes.

“Paul's getting requests to move out. He's only staying local though. That's not popular,” Jolie said, not looking up.

“That's on Paul. If he's staying local, that's his decision. I'll support him. Is he stepping on Laurence's toes?”

“A bit,” Jolie said, smiling a half smile. “They've been jockeying to see who could make the Iron Village run and beyond to the Jewish Mountain Village. Paul pulled rank twice. That's not sitting well with Laurence.”

“I'll bet,” Mitch said dryly. “Is he making runs to Olaf?”

Jolie shook her head. “No, he did one better. Since his father took over his run, he took trucks out to Jack. He waited until his dad was on the road to go too.”

“I bet that went over well,” Mitch sniffed. He'd heard there had been a bit of a radio tiff yesterday. Now he knew what about. And why Frances had stormed the radio room in a huff. No doubt he'd get an earful eventually.

“Gary's with him so he should be fine,” Jolie said. “Right?”

“It depends on the roads and bridges,” Mitch admitted. “I think the kid’s smart enough to swallow his pride and turn back if the bridge is too dangerous. With the spring melt we're not even chancing going to the graphite mine right now. And believe me, we need more carbon,” Mitch said, shaking his head.

“Oh,” Jolie said.

“Don't go riding him. If you do he might take it as a slap. See if Gary will talk him out of chancing a crossing.”

“I was going to warn them.”

“Jolie, if they are too far out, they have to make their own decisions. All we can do is support them,” Mitch said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “It's part of being a parent. Watching them grow up. Sometimes they stumble and fall. They have to learn to pick themselves up. Paul's slowly realizing that. Laurence isn't a kid anymore. He's quite mature for his age. Something about this planet...it makes you kids grow up fast.”

Jolie nodded. “I know,” she said. “I see it with those outside. I don't...I don't do it much anymore. I did, but...”

“Agoraphobic?” Mitch asked, eying her. She blinked and then shrugged. “Get some time, go outside and get some air.” Jolie shivered, looking away. “Stay in the courtyard. Maybe go out a bit later. Just go a little bit. Maybe hitch a ride with someone. I know you go see the migrations...”

She nodded. “With other people.”

“Fine then. Do that. See if someone is going to ride perimeter and tag along sometime. It could do you a bit of good.”

“But what if someone calls?” she asked, indicating the radios.

He snorted. “Tell them to leave a message,” he said dryly. She snorted. “Pete's on shift or one of the others. Go when you are off shift like I said.” She nodded. He patted her shoulder.

------*------

The third week of spring marked another overdue project, the first test flight of each of the An-38s. Each of the aircraft had a crew of two but could carry twenty-seven passengers or cargo. They had a range of 1800 kilometers, nearly 600 kilometers greater than the three surviving Cessna 400s in the air fleet. They had a bit of harry moments as Jackie and Angie put the prototype aircraft through its paces, but once they ironed out a few bugs with Akira Jackie was comfortable putting them into use.

Warrant Brown, Evan, Jack, and Tina radioed in congratulations when Jolie announced the successful conclusion of the test flights.

Each of the aircraft took a crew of two however, so they had to train additional pilots. Giles was glad. He finally had an aircraft again, and he could copilot with someone else. He'd spent all winter either manning the drone console, playing with the simulators, or mucking about in the hangars with Akira. The Korean was glad he was out; the kid had moped and picked apart his crash in infinite detail all winter.

Jackie loved the aircraft because they could haul more cargo or people and go further. She could do a straight run to East Village now instead of staging the aircraft halfway there. She ran the aircraft to Copper Town on the first long range test run with the theory that if anything went wrong on the other end Axel's mechanical skills could help put the aircraft back in the air. Fortunately nothing materialized. When she returned Akira and Giles tore the aircraft apart for an inspection, then Jackie took Giles up for a check flight to East Village.

When Giles was comfortable with his aircraft he made the run to either Copper Town or East every three or four days. Jim Conklin occasionally took the second seat with him or Jamal or a trainee. The second bird became a hangar queen until the need and additional air fields materialized.

Once the aircraft design was proven not only airworthy but worth its investment, Colonel Dunn and Klinger both put in orders for AN-38s of their own. Mitch made certain Klinger's people were on the top of the list.

------*------

Paul's convoy crew stayed local. Laurence was the usual local convoy captain; he was a bit put out over being supplanted by his own father. Paul's stated reason was the late storms made it too dangerous to go too far and get caught on the road. Rozerita wanted to go south, more and more every day. She hung about, checking each convoy before it left the base. She became agitated as spring wore on and the weather stayed clear, but Paul told her he wasn't going south until after the animals had passed. She frowned ferociously at the excuse but then nodded.

With the threat of the move now real, Little Miguel told her defiantly he was staying put. He had friends where he was and made it clear he wasn't going to abandon them for a voice over the radio. She at first tried to keep a positive face, just ignoring his defiance as a tantrum. Her dismissive attitude didn't help the situation however. When she realized that wasn't working she made all sorts of promises of seeing new things and being with people his age. Of doing new and exciting things. That helped with the younger kids, but not Miguel who immediately picked that argument apart. She finally told him to shut up, but that made him sullen and constantly angry with her. He disappeared making her fearful of his running away.

She caught up with him in the great room. When she grabbed him and tried to force him to leave he had a tantrum about the entire situation, and it devolved into a shouting match as she lost her temper.

She fought with him over it, snarling about how she had the right to be happy, to have a life. She looked about, embarrassed and tried to hold the conversation in Spanish. When that didn't work she tried to shut him up or drag him physically out of the room but he broke her grip. She stared at him, eyes wide as he scowled blackly at her.

He tried to draw others into the fight, but Mitch did his best to stay out of it. Finally, Miguel went over to Mitch and punched him on the shoulder to get his attention. Mitch sighed and looked at the young man. He could see the fear, the anger, the helpless rage. His heart went out to the lad, but he had to remind himself he was treading on thin ice.

He cleared his throat and then tried to be as tactful as he could. “Hey, little man, I know it's not fair. You've got a life here, friends, and a good school. I know for a fact Dunn
doesn't
,” he didn't shoot Rozerita a look but he knew the barb had gone home. “I've
been
there. Yes, it is shithole like you said, but they are trying to improve it. Maybe with you and your mom's help they'll be able to.”

“I still don't want to go!” Miguel said. “Can't I stay?” he asked plaintively.

“No one is kicking you out kid,” Mitch said. “Far from it. But you have to understand, you are a minor. Your
mom
is the adult. She has to ultimately make the decisions. Try not to be bitter and hate her for that,” he said. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Rozerita paled and looked stricken. She thought he was just a kid; he'd heard Juan or Don Juan or whatever his name was had convinced her the kids opinions didn't matter. Hopefully, she'd think about the damage she was doing to their relationship. Their trust. Sure she'd pumped the kids up with stories about riding animals and being with Spanish speaking people but...he shook his head, getting back to the conversation. “But...” he poked the near tearful defiant boy. “But, you can come back when you are a teen.”

“I can?” Miguel asked, sniffling.

“You will always have a home here little guy. And big Miguel could always use his little MiniMe helper,” Mitch said gruffly. Miguel threw himself into Mitch's arms, wrapping his arms around his neck. Mitch hugged him, then patted him on the shoulder. “Go on then. You've got school work to finish,” he said. Miguel nodded dutifully and left.