FM Busby Long View 7 Rebel's Quest

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probably buy its own. "
"I know, " said Bran. "I just want to make sure."
Jargy cuffed Tregare's shoulder. "You worry too much. " With the walking
hoist, MacDougall was pulling the dozer up the side of one scout, to ride
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outside. When everything was cinched down properly, Bran got the work crew
aboard and lifted to the plateau. Gonnelson, with Ola
Stannert to talk for him, could handle things for a while at Base Two.
The bulldozing went fast; so did erection of storage buildings, mostly prefab
but some timber-
framed. Number One's trees, taken from the plateau's south end where cliff
eased into a gentler slope, gave good lumber. Using the energy gun from his
disabled power suit, clamping it under an improvised chute, Tregare shaped
square timbers by having the cut logs pushed through. "And everybody keep your
hands on this side, so's you don't lose any. "
He wanted the cabin to be a mini-fortress, so it took longer. Thick walls and
roof of solid wood, metal-reinforced. Windows with no ground-level look-in
from outside the one facing uphill looked at blank cliff face. Under the
building an escape hole dropped to a tunnel ending in a ravine to the south,
and partway along that tunnel was an upward egress to a brushy hummock. "I'll
make a pillbox there. Use it to cover the front entrance. "
Jargy shook his head. "To defend against what?"
"I
don't know.
Anything, I guess. " But after two more supply trips to the crater and one to
the Port, Tregare figured his little Base One to be fairly well secured.
Especially with the small defense missiles he'd bribed out of Alsen Bleeker's
warehouse without that gentleman's knowledge; those were now installed at the
plateaus outer edge, ready for hookup.
Some of the small detail was a bother. Time wouldn't allow bringing and
burying enough pipe to get sewage wastes off the plateau completely. So, since
the place would have to depend on a water table rather near the surface,
Tregare settled for building a fancy outhouse and heat-
fusing the pit to keep it sealed; three times, he had to recharge the energy
gun.
Once the cabins double-plastic windows were in, he took the work crew down to
Base Two and began loading the scout with some appliances and fittings he
needed, plus a fair amount of
food and drink. He was bringing his final load offship no point in bothering
the help with this little stuff when Leanne Prestor said, "Captain? I'd like
to talk with you. "
He turned around to her. "That'd be fine, except right now I have some work to
do, upslope.
Later, maybe?"
"Why couldn't I go along? And help with the work?"
I
don't need any help.
But this woman was the only person who had recognized the danger of
Stump Farm's paranoid captain and had the initiative to get away; it might not
hurt to get to know her better. So Tregare said, "If you can arrange leave off
your watch in the next ten minutes, come along. "
"Right. " Sturdy legs pumping, she ran up
Inconnu's ramp. Tregare put his gear aboard the scout, went back to collect a
few last-minute odds and ends, and returned to find Prestor waiting in the
co-pilot's seat. "I'm covered for tonight's watch. If necessary, I can arrange
for tomorrows, too. "
Tregare didn't let his brows rise in inquiry. "That's fine. But I expect we'll
be back then. " He warmed the scout's Drive and lifted. Flying to the plateau
they didn't talk. Bran had some questions, but he figured they could wait.
Once landed, he and Prestor carried supplies and equipment, mostly to the
cabin but some to the storage sheds. Then they got to work on the plumbing, so
he could start the pump and fill the attic water tank. Next he hooked up to
the kitchen facilities, and the folding tub in the bathroom. Prestor made a
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good helper; she understood instructions, and talked only to the point at
hand. She didn't need to know that the tub could pivot to expose the trapdoor
leading to his tunnel, so Tregare didn't tell her.
Under the west-rising cliff, sunset came early. Wiping sweat from his
forehead, Bran said, "The rest of it can wait; let's call it a day. You
getting hungry? I am. "
"Why, yes. " She pushed at the hair over her forehead; her own perspiration
made it curlier than usual. "I hope you can cook, though. Even if I knew where
things are, here, I'm not very good at it. "
"No problem there's frozen stew. " He saw she didn't know which way to take
the remark, so he said, "You watch, while I figure how this combustion stove
works, and learn from my mistakes. " Then she smiled, and wandered around the
cabin as though trying to memorize it.
There wasn't that much; one entered through the only door, at the right of the
front wall, into a room that took up half the building. Its left front corner
held a wooden bedframe with two bunk-sized mattresses, and now a pair of
rolled-up sleeping bags. The cabins rear half was kitchen and dining nook on
the right side, bathroom on the left. Not a lot to keep in mind, but
Tregare let her look all she wanted until the stew came to boil; then he gave
chow call.
The slab-topped table he'd built himself; the chairs were cheap flimsies from
One Point One.
The stew was good, and the small cooler he'd brought along worked fast, so [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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