Confirming Carter Bk. 04 Expansion Ch. 06

"They didn't say anything about where we placed it, they just wanted to know if it would interfere with the gate in the tower, and how long shipping operations are going to take." Chuck told her as he sat down. "Where the gate is doesn't affect them, so they don't care."

"I have to admit, putting it at the junction of the north and east piers was a good idea." She said grudgingly. "It means we shouldn't have to move materials over and over."

"Thank you." Chuck said as he opened his laptop, then opened a file on the monitor on the wall at the end of her desk. "I have an inventory of materials on hand in Anchorage, and we have more than enough for the two settlements we talked about."

"I saw that in your email this morning." She said as she scrolled through her email. "Do you want to send it ahead through the stargate, or have it loaded to an Aurora to take with them?"

"Best case would be to have them load it on the Aurora they'll be sending as soon as possible." Chuck said, closing his laptop and sitting it on the floor. "If we can get some loaded ahead of time, they can start processing it and producing the prefab sections of the buildings."

Samuels looked up at him, then nodded and picked up her tablet and made a note.

"I'll talk to Caldwell and see when he can send one of the Auroras to Anchorage to pick up the materials." She said. "The more we get done ahead of time, the sooner we can get them back here to do something else."

She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes as she said, "Tell me about Anchorage. What's the status on repairs? That hasn't been in your last few emails."

"The forests have been cleared to just over a hundred meters outside the outer marker, so we're clear to start excavating." Chuck replied. "The production areas on the north and east piers are fully functional, and running at forty percent capacity."

"And the structural repairs?" Samuels asked opening her eyes and looking at him. "When do you think you'll be able to take it into space?"

Chuck shook his head and looked down at the floor before he answered.

"Two years, at a minimum." He said softly.

"You have the materials, you have the manpower, and you know what needs to be done." She said slowly.

"Dr. Samuels, I..."

"Let me finish Chuck." She said, sitting up and folding her hands in front of her. "But you elected to spend your time and resources on the production and living areas, and putting up four new settlements to increase stone and wood production while we're waiting for the first crops to come in."

"I didn't expect that. Pharris sings your praises, going on about how you respond immediately to a need, or have a plan in motion before she realizes that a need exists." She said. "The same goes for Atlantis. You have this city running will a fine watch, and that impresses the hell out of me."

"I have a good team..."

"You have a great team." Samuels laughed. "You cherry picked the cream of the crop for your staff and maintenance crews. But a good team doesn't mean shit without a good leader, and our queens picked the right man to get the job done."

"Thank you. I don't..."

"Take the compliment in the spirit its intended Chuck." She said as she looked down at her laptop. "If there's anyone in this city I need to keep happy right now, it's you. So I'm going to ask the queens to give you one of the ancient outposts we just acquired, but I will not be asking them to follow through on making you an earl...now get out of my office you polygamist moron..."

(-)

Interior-Kitchen

1829 Hours

"I thought we were out of beef." Tammy said as she gnawed at the bone she was holding. She pulled it away and looked at it, then went back to chewing on it.

"Aside from a couple of tons of frozen hamburger, we are." Sam said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I think we're almost out of pork too. I know the mess hall served the last of the ham more than a week ago."

"Then what is this delicious hunk of meat I'm feasting on?" Tammy asked. "And when did you put in this order? These are some of the best freekin' ribs I've ever eaten."

"I put in the order this morning." Sam smiled. "And you're not gonna believe it, but the meat is dron."

"No way." Tammy laughed, dropping the bone on her plate and picking up another rib. "If it is, I think I just found my favorite cut of dron meat."

The comm on the wall chirped, and she looked at Sam.

"Do you mind? My fingers are all greasy and covered with sauce..."

"You have sauce all over your face too." Sam laughed as she got up and walked over to the comm. She tapped the button and said, "Carter."

"Colonel, Dr. Samuels would like permis..."

"That's fine, send her up." She said, then closed the channel.

A moment later they heard the elevator.

"Good evening ladies." Andi said as she pulled out a chair and sat down. She smiled as she looked over at Tammy. "My apologies for interrupting your dinner. It looks like you're enjoying it."

"She is, but I need to get her a bib next time." Sam chuckled as she watched Tammy take a bite out of the rib. "But what's on your mind Andi? And where's your tablet? I don't think I've ever seen you without it."

"I left it in my office." Samuels smiled. "I wanted a little down time, so I'm taking the evening off. But there are a few items I'd like to discuss with you before I go to my quarters."

"Let's hear it." Tammy said as she dropped the bone on her plate, then picked it up as she got to her feet. She sat it on the counter and washed her hands and face at the sink, then filled a glass with water before she sat down again.

"We've finalized the plans for two settlements on the far side of the galaxy, in sectors 527C6 and 549D3, and confirmed that we have materials on hand to complete both." Samuels said. "I've spoken to Caldwell, and he can send an Aurora class to the area by the end of the week. I'd like permission to begin building them as soon as possible."

"You don't have to ask for permission Andi." Carter smiled. "Just keep us updated on what's going on. We knew you had these settlements in the works..."

"What's really on your mind Andi?" Tammy asked, stretching her legs out under the table as she leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head.

"I'd like to talk about Chuck..." Samuels began.

"I know he's not your favorite member of the staff Andi, but he gets results and..."

"I agree, and it may surprise you to hear that he is my favorite member of the staff." Samuels said, shaking her head. "He's the only one that I don't have to hound for updates, and he's usually several steps ahead of me when planning operations. Pharris sings his praises as well."

"So what's the problem?" Tammy asked.

"In the last several weeks, he has built four new settlement around Anchorage to increase wood and stone production, bringing the population outside the city to just under three hundred and sixty thousand. At the same time, he's added twelve thousand workers to the production facilities in the city, and now has them running at roughly forty percent of capacity."

"I'm not hearing where any of that is a problem Andi." Carter said.

"All of this was done at the expense of moving crews from the structural repairs, which is going to delay making the city spaceworthy." Samuels said, looking at Tammy.

"That wasn't a high priority item." Tammy said. "But how long does he think it will take now?"

"He now believes that it will be at least two years before the city will be spaceworthy." Samuels told her. "But I think you should gi..."

"No." Tammy said, sitting up and looking across the table at her. "The deal was he gets that city into space in twelve months, and we give him an outpost and make him an earl. He can't do it..."

"You're not hearing what I'm telling you Tammy." Samuels said. "He put the interests of your cities and your people ahead of his own. He could have used the manpower and materials to make repairs, and be well ahead of schedule in making the city spaceworthy..."

"Are you defending him Andi?" Carter asked.

"He's done nothing that needs to be defended, on the contrary, he should be commended and rewarded for what he's accomplished." Samuels replied. "If there is one person in your domain that you want to keep happy, it's your city manager."

"We can find some other way to reward him, but we can't give him an outpost or a title." Tammy said. "Everyone on the senior staff knows about our deal with him, and if we give them to him, it will set a bad precedent."

"I understand." Samuels said. "And you need to know, this was my idea, not his. He's actually disappointed that he can't get the city into space any sooner. He may want to see it fly more than you do."

"Excuse me." Kinai said as she stepped into the kitchen. "I need to request a favor."

"How did you get in here Kinai?" Carter asked, turning to look at her. "I thought you were spending time with your family."

"I was. I contacted Angelo, and he came over and got me." Kinai replied. "Was he not supposed to do that?"

"No, he wasn't. For several reasons." Tammy said. "But we can look at that later. What's the favor?"

"I would like to borrow the clothes I wore earlier, the tattered pants." Kinai said. "I want to have Angelo scan them so I can make duplicates that fit me better."

"You won't have to take them apart will you?" Tammy asked as she got to her feet. "I love those jeans. It took me years to get them just how I wanted them."

"No, the process only requires an internal and external scan, then a pattern is built that can be used to duplicate an item of clothing." Kinai told her. "The clothing is produced in the same systems used to build the androids. You were not aware of this?"

"No, we weren't." Tammy told her, then turned to Sam. "I have some stuff downstairs I wouldn't mind having copies of. You want in on this?"

"Yeah, but call Jenn and ask her to bring one of those wraparound dresses she has." Carter said as she got to her feet. She smiled as she looked over at Samuels. "Are we done Andi?"

"Yes, I'm going to go meditate, then go to bed." Samuels smiled as she watched them go out the door. "There's a pipe full of thumper with my name on it..."

(-)

Interior-Robotics Lab, Central Tower

1900 Hours

Tammy stood at her terminal watching as images filled the screen. Sam, Kinai and Jennifer we laying clothes out on a table, then turning them inside out as Angelo scanned each item.

"No, do that one again." She said, glancing over at Jennifer as she laid a dress on the table. It didn't scan right."

"Do you need the whole thing, or..."

"Just do the whole thing again, but pay attention to the inside seams...yeah, that's better, we got it that time."

"Did anyone bring any naughty stuff, like garterbelts, pushup bras, stockings, or anything like that?" Jennifer asked as she rummaged through the pile.

"No, it just looks like jeans, dresses and casual shirts." Sam said as she stepped over and looked at the terminal Tammy was working at.

"I need a full body scan of you Kinai." Tammy said, looking over her shoulder at her. "Ours are already in the system, but we need to add you so we have accurate measurements."

"There's a scan of her in her medical file." Jennifer said as she had Angelo scan the last item on the table.

"Okay, I'll let you pull that up." Tammy said as she closed the screen and opened Angelo's profile. "You can use another terminal for your stuff, I have something I need to look at."

She closed the file she had open and pulled up Angelo's profile, scrolling through it quickly. She stopped when she got to the protection protocol and access section. She scanned through it, frowning when she didn't find anything that would allow Kinai to have him do what he'd done earlier.

"Kinai, would you come over here for a minute?" She asked, looking over at her. "I need your help finding something."

Kinai stepped away from the terminal she was working at and walked over, stopping behind Tammy. She put her hands on her shoulders and she leaned over her and looked at the terminal.

"I can't find anything in Angelo's profile that would let him bring you to the residence." Tammy said, looking over her shoulder at her. "I don't care that you can do it, but it's a loophole I don't want other people to be able to take advantage of."

"It is here." Kinai said, expanding a section of the profile. "I was automatically added to the protection protocol list when you allowed Angelo to have sex with me, then those permissions were updated when you had him escort me to the residence from the lab. I have had him bring me here several times since then."

"I didn't notice that." Tammy muttered. "I'm not going to modify your permissions, but we do need to look at limiting what oth..."

"That can be done when the initial permission is granted by adding a limiter." Kinai said, moving her hands down and cupping Tammy's breasts. Her fingers opened the buttons on her vest slowly, and she smiled as Tammy leaned back into her. "Simply state that the permission is on a one time basis, or how it can be used when permissions are modified."

"You can show me how to do that later." Tammy sighed as Kinai started nibbling on her neck.

"I wish to worship my predator queen." Kinai whispered huskily. "I wish to taste your delightful essence, and hear you sing my praises as I pleasure you."

"Mmmmm, a girl after my own heart." Tammy laughed, pushing her hands away as she got to her feet. She took Kinai's hand and led her across the room.

Sam looked up, smiling as she saw them slip behind the partition on the other side of the room. She shook her head as she went back to modifying the dress she had on the screen in front of her.

* * * * *

This chapter has been sitting waiting to be uploaded, and I just never got around to it.

Give it a read, and let me know what you think.

Chapter Seven is in progress, but I'm not sure where it wants to go. I may post it anyway.