Chapter 7
Making Deals
This morning, they would make their weekly call to the chief. He knew he’d sent them an unprecedented number of inexperienced and untrained people. She hoped he’d feel bad about the situation he’d put them in. Oret dialed him up, and she heard the chief’s voice at the other end.
“How is everything going?” Radvar asked.
“The builders are trying, but they are struggling to get close to the level they need. Having to go off-planet to procure supplies also hurts us. The farm that’s going is doing so, but with help, Tasha and her kids have hit the ground running.
Since she’s working in the mine, she can only help them a little.
The mine is close to the level you want, but some are complaining that they aren’t getting more time off.
Our cafeteria is in poor shape, and not one of the workers knows how to cook. ” Oret explained.
“We need some experienced help. My second-oldest daughter and her family could push us where we need to be,” Victoria observed.
The chief laughed. “You’d take my mine manager and the one in charge of my builders? Try again.”
“What about Gabe and Anna?” She asked.
“Only if they agree. You may not get what you need out of them.” Radvar mentioned.
She was certain they would agree and do as she asked. Victoria was a good negotiator, and Radvar had just agreed to what she’d suggested.
“By the way, I know what you did. If it didn’t make sense, I wouldn’t have agreed.” Radvar hung up, and soon she would know if Gabe would arrive with his family in tow.
All she could do was hope they would come, and it would be enough to help them get things in order.
Gabe’s kids were ten, seven, five, and three years old.
Depending on where their parents worked, the kids would be able to accompany them.
Childcare here was largely under the care of seniors and teenagers.
Infants were kept by medical staff to ensure the best possible care.
Not that doctor Early liked changing diapers.
The medic and nurse didn’t seem to mind, especially since there were only two babies and they didn’t have them all the time.
It was a matter of not having enough resources and trying to spread those they had.
Victoria knew eventually they would make a go of things, but she wanted it sooner rather than later.
A great deal of work needed to be done here.
Even food and water were limited and needed to be put here.
They had a plan, and it would require just a little more help to pull it off.
She ate breakfast with her mate, and they headed to their work areas.
Victoria put in twelve hours before going home to clean up, then head to Tasha’s new farm.
Her daughter had some new builders who would work nights with her, so she wasn’t there.
Victoria helped the older kids work on the second floor.
With a new farm family coming soon to train with Tasha’s family, they needed to finish soon.
Victoria could smell something good cooking, and it was time to call it a night.
The two youngest children had cooked supper, and they had done a great job.
It was stew with bread and a cake for dessert.
Tasha had taken home some of her kill so that they would have food to fix.
The other ingredients had been brought from Mars 2.
The honey for the biscuits was from their own hives.
They've been here for two weeks and have already divided one of the hives, so they now have six.
Wildflowers were already growing around the house, and the bees were already feeding on them.
Supper was done, and it was time for Victoria to head home. The children locked the door after her, and they would only have a few hours before their mother would come home. Oret was waiting for her when she arrived.
“Is everything alright?” He asked.
“They seem to be doing well. We are halfway done on the second story, and they are working on the second barn and a couple of sheds. All the fields are sown, and the extra water we brought them is in a storage tank in case they need it for the fields.”
“Do you think they'll need it?”
“I’m not sure, but the other farm has extra water too, just in case,” Victoria observed.
Three tanks were full of water, and two had gone to the farms. The other one was here at the main camp.
None of them would be used unless needed.
She felt good about the emergency water because there wasn’t enough on this moon.
Victoria believed in always having emergency reserves.
They knew too little about this place and hadn't been around it nearly long enough.
The scientist guessed that there wouldn't be any seasons, but there was no way to be sure.
As far as she was concerned, they needed to plan for every possibility and ensure that emergency rations of all kinds would be available, just in case.
Victoria was able to sleep for six hours, and then she jumped up and ran to get breakfast so she would make it at the start of the mine’s day shift.
Not one of these new miners could keep up with her, and every one of them knew it.
Some of them tried, but most of them didn't bother.
It was all right because she didn't think that if they tried too hard, they would be able to make it to the end of the day.
These new people didn't understand the work that was required in a mine or any other place in a new colony.
That was the problem: all the good workers had left, and now they had what was left.
This was what she had to work with, and they needed to understand that they would have to put in some effort.
If they couldn't make it in the mine, they would probably go to the builders next.
If they couldn't make it there, the kitchen would be their last stop.
If someone had a medical problem, they would probably be put in childcare.
That was a different issue altogether, and they would address it accordingly.
None of the miners had any medical problems because they had undergone health checks to ensure they were healthy enough to perform this job.
The same was true of the builders. Kitchen help and even farmers would sometimes be allowed to take on the job, even if they had medical issues.
Colonizing was a complex process, and the rules had been in place from the very start.
She knew those rules came from the old empire, and it was hard to say if they had come from here to begin with or not.
She had two more days of work at the mines before heading to the farm, where she helped the children complete the second story and began making some upgrades to the house.
The two youngest children cooked better than any of the people she had in her cafeteria.
She'd like to say that was sad, but it was no surprise.
She trained all her children in cooking and other skills they needed to know.
Victoria had never considered anything as "woman's work" or "men's work"; it was all just work.
Tasha would be working nights for several weeks, and she would do her best to visit her grandchildren and assist them whenever possible.
It wasn't easy because she had other areas that also needed assistance.
“You’re back,” Oret observed.
“I am.”
“Where are you at as far as Tasha's farm?”
“Both levels are complete, the laundry is installed, the kitchen is as it needs to be except for water, and the bathroom is ready for water. The kids have finished the barn and are now starting on the first greenhouse. All the fields and their personal garden are planted.” Victoria explained.
“Impressive. Will the barn hold all the animals they have?”
“There are two barns, so they will for now, but they intend to add more.”
“What did you bring me?” Oret asked.
“The kids fixed chili and cornbread. They made carrot cake for dessert. This is the best food that you will probably get for a while.”
Oret didn't wait and immediately began to dig in.
It was obvious that he was enjoying it, and she had to smile.
This was probably the way she had looked when she was eating it.
The food from the cafeteria was filling but not necessarily tasty.
That was something they had to change, but how to do that when they had no one who could cook?
Everyone in her family who was a skilled cook oversaw an area where they were needed just as much.
Victoria could remember when they had come back and had a BBQ with some of the meat they had brought from another planet.
People had fallen over the food because it had been good.
It was so much better than what they were getting daily.
No matter how much she wanted to improve the quality of the food, someone had to run the mine, and they also had to work in it to help it reach the expected level.
They were close, but they just couldn't seem to make it.
They had only made it one day, and that was because the others had helped just to see if it could be done.
Now she felt like she was falling behind every day when she didn't meet the level of expectations.
Maybe she could manage if she worked an extra half shift, but she needed that time with her grandchildren so she could be sure they were alright and had the help that they needed.
Right now, there was no place that didn't need all the help it could get.
“Things will get better,” Oret said. “The chief always sets higher levels than he expects, and you made things worse because you met them when you were on Mars 2. He's not unhappy, not yet. We should know soon if he's sending Gabe and his family or not.”