"How far are you?"

"Starting my fourth year this summer, I'm uploading it after Thanksgiving."

"How are we on supplies for the growing area?"'

"Good, We just finished the first container of supplies and we'll start the second this fall." Alan nods in satisfaction.

"Have you been out to the 9th planet recently beyond picking up recycling?""

"Yeah, I was there third testing week to check on the growing area at my place. I was there a few months."

Calvin brings out some people about the bison and Llamas, talking with the people from the cooperative, Balaclava, Edinborough, Assyrian, and people from the animal planet.

Josette brings out more special orders at the show, dropping off belongings for the students and school employees returning home that fall. After the yearly crops are in Doc comes out for the Harvest Festival, Josette coming out with the first batches of supplies, putting them in the area set aside for them as Doc and the government rep look at all the work being made on the factories and the building coming up for the alterations.

"Is this from the first planet?" Doc asks.

"Yeah, I grow tomatoes, herbs, and peppers twice a year every other year. The high heat and limited rainfall makes the peppers hotter than normal. I pick green and ripe."

"Is this cheese smoked?" Anton asks.

"Yeah, we have a smokehouse that we use every few years, this year we smoked fish, cheese, made chipilotes, and smoked some of the sausage we made this summer. The eighth and ninth planet used it too, that way we all have enough supplies made up for a few years."

"Sausages?"

"About fifteen different kinds, depending on the spice mixture. We also made barrels of pickled baloney, kimchee, and sauerkraut."

"Do you smoke all your fish?"

"No, we dry some of it, we've been experimenting with salting, though most of it goes in stasis." The others nod in satisfaction.

"Do you have the only fish farm?"

"No, the government has one and Archimedes has one too, though they grow other things. Both are near the aquaponics buildings." Doc looks at her and she chuckles. "I'll take you out after the festival."

"Your fish tank in the dorm?" Chip asks.

"The first trial, we still use it for herbs. There's one at the school in the admin building and one on Archimedes. Like us, they started out small and once we knew what we were doing we enlarged it."

Doc looks around at the vats of water with plants growing in them. Josette is busy picking food and transferring small plants from growing trays to a tank.

"What did you do with the fish water before aquaponics?"

"Put it on the fields, we still do sometimes. It's perfect for the crops." Doc nods, making notes on systems. The unit in the dorm would be perfect in Headquarters for medicinal herbs, while a unit like this wouldn't work in the Fortress it would do well somewhere else.

Josette can see the thoughts flickering across Doc's face. "Talk to Clark, they had something similar at his Fortress. Still do."

"Thank you Josette." Several days later everybody returns to their dimension by their time but only minutes have passed on Earth. Checking the computers to make sure nothing had happened in their absence they start talking about what they'd seen.

Back on Haven Josette starts bringing out the new students, the new school employees had already arrived before the Harvest Festival. A couple weeks has all the new students settled at the school and most of the belongings of the students and employees heading home delivered back to the school.

"The only thing now is your classes and the offworld harvests until after Thanksgiving when the students and returning employees head back home."

"Not quite, I gotta make another couple trips over to Doc's dimension to pick up the supplies so they're ready when the jobs open next year." President Bartlett nods in satisfaction. "The uniforms factory?"

"Will be ready then too, Granda's got the list of orders and I'm picking up more supplies when we go out next time. The factory that's making them now had to make triple orders for their customers for breaking the contracts, they howled but the courts insisted. So they're good until we can start delivering them."

"Toothpaste and candy? It's been a few years since we made batches."

"We'll put up the polls before the Lights Festival and they can start next year." President Bartlett says, looking at the notes on his PADD.

The offworld harvests are coming in before they know it and Josette's busy taking out groups to harvest and moving the crops. She slumps into her seat the third testing week.

"Is everything in now?"

"Yes, thank you God." Josette sighs. "I just got back from the last offworld harvest. I gotta start delivering next week when they're done." The others nod. Josette heads off for her finals while the crops are coming in, not that she doesn't have a dozen of her other selves already working in the fields and garden and the others are all there to help.

"Nearly finished?"

"Yeah."

"Are you planting in the growing area this year?"

"No, I'm planting on the satellite this year, I'm going to be experimenting with more crops we don't grow right now and it's not that much more work to grow what we'll need over the winter while I'm there. How are the classes coming along Vincent?"

"Good, it's different cooking something and learning from. . ."

"Somebody who does it all the time." Vincent nods. "The instructors are really happy about the vat raised meat, it tastes much better than the vegetarian . .."

"Crap you got in the stores?" Josette grins. Vincent and Dr. Cross nod.

After the crops are in they invite everybody out to the beach for a cookout, laying out on the sand until the second sun sets and the moons are beginning to come up. Walking to the brownstones they head inside various rooms for a good night's sleep before heading home the next morning. After Thanksgiving and the visits to the other dimensions Josette flies to the satellite and settles in for a year, planting two different batches of crops and making notes on how stuff is growing before coming home. Putting the saved food away she sends her notes to various people getting thanks back.

"Getting a storm."

"Yep, the boys are already at the ranch getting all the livestock in and making sure they have food for a few weeks." Susan says, coming up from the basement where she'd been checking the batteries from the solar panels. "Got a couple extra batteries in the rack and everybody in town is stocking up on last minute items before they head home. Everything but the communal kitchen is going to be shut down until the storm passes and we're dug out."

Josette joins the others at the Albatross Nest after the storm, bringing out the two quilts she's finished over the year, sending the files with all the information to Sue and Agatha.

"They're adorable Josette, these will sell well in the kits. Are you keeping track of everything?"

"Yeah, Bronwen wants me to send a couple of the quilt patterns into a magazine for publishing or even make them into a book." The others nod in satisfaction. Josette puts everything in subspace and heads back to the dorm after the dishes have been washed, packed up, and the leftovers handed around. Putting everything away she joins the others walking to the dining hall for lunch. They find Doc and the others waiting on them when they return, Shoshanna is staring out the front at the piles of snow Maintenance is moving.

"I didn't think you got bad storms."

"Yeah, every so often we get a winter that's colder than normal or has storms coming in from the other direction that are pretty bad. The snow's wet and heavier, it takes time to dig out even with the snowblowers. Forget shovels, they won't make a dent in this kind of snow. We put the livestock in the barns and with dial up extra food in the automatic feeders, it gives them food for the storm since we can't get out and extra while we're clearing paths and the streets. We already knew this was going to be a colder year than normal so we stocked up on supplies."

"Not as bad as when the second sun's orbit was shifting and we intersected." David says, coming up from the basement where he'd been checking the solar panel readouts.

"Yeah, those were a few pretty bad winters, we had more than one storm coming in from the other direction, by the time we dug out from one they were forecasting another one. One year we got one just when we'd be planting, it delayed everything so we would have been harvesting our third crops during winter, we only planted twice that year." David stops and thinks a second. "Damn, has it been over forty years already?"

"Yeah, Clark and Thomas were still living in their dimension, they hadn't even made plans to move to Haven yet."

"Is that liable to happen again?"

"No, the astronomers say the orbit of the second sun is as settled as it gets, it was just our bad luck to hit the 'turbulence' on our orbit." Doc nods. "This isn't the first we had a storm blow in before the festival, it won't be the last time."

"Not as bad as the 'storm of the century' back on Earth."

"Storm of the century?"

"That's what the media called it." Abby snorts. "Those of us who lived through it called it something a whole lot worse. A giant storm came through Massachusetts and just stayed there dumping snow on the area, by the time it finally moved away from us there was up to twenty feet of snow in some areas. . .including the school."

"And this was before the rockets went off stirring all that shit up in the atmosphere so nobody was prepared for it. Power was off at the school nearly a month, the National Guard was delivering supplies to us since we had so many people at the school. We were piling our garbage up in an empty room in the front of the dorm since we couldn't get out to the dumpster, Principal Madison told the students to pile their garbage out front or in the tunnels for maintenance to grab while they were digging us out."

"It was a little easier when we installed the replicator, we went out and 'shot' the garbage with a handheld unit, it got rid of the garbage bill for the school."

"And after we'd had the main replicator a while we installed the food replicator."

"Does a food replicator give you all your nutritional needs?" Doc asks.

"No, at least at first they didn't. People were whining on Earth about having growing areas, why couldn't people just eat replicated food? It wasn't until people started getting sick that they realized, yes you still need fresh fruit and veggies. Somebody was coming up with a pill that would give you all your nutritional needs. . ." The others shudder. "Yeah, if you gotta eat those instead of real food. . .they're handy in case of an emergency when you're not sure when you can get real food but. . ."

"That's the reason why starships had gardens in science fiction stories. And took on supplies from starbases or planets." Josette nods. "With the vat created meat it's different. You've got the nutrients you need from the soybeans and other raw ingredients, and it's not your only source of food." The others nod.

Josette slides into her seat at the government building the first day of the new school year.

"Did you get the last of the supplies delivered?"

"Yes, this is it for a few months. I'm going to be taking the first batch of orders out when I take out the others." Nods from the others. "Factories all up and running?"

"Yeah, with it mostly being stuff we already made we've got a mixture of experience so it's 'ehh, let's go over the details and start working' instead of having to be told exactly what to do."

"Toilet paper?"

"I'm growing cotton offworld and bringing out scrub trees for tp and paper towels."

"Your degrees?"

"Finishing the one online this fall, my Masters probably over first break. Granda's already got me an appointment to present the other one while I'm out for the show."

"Your thesis?"

"Uploaded it this morning."

"Doctorate?"

"Start it next year when I'm finished with both the Masters."

"Other bachelors?"

"I'm two years into two of them, including the other one I'm taking online. I'm three semesters from finishing two more, and I'm two semesters from the last one. If I get at least one more finished this year I'm good, if not I'll get them over the next couple years."

"David?"

"I'm uploading my dissertation this summer, I'll be a semester from finishing it then."

"Next year is your graduation ceremony?" David nods. "I suspect Grammy Allie will be out to talk to the others after Thanksgiving. CJ?" He looks at Josette.

"Is looking at another degree but he, Clark, and Thomas are also planning on being on the second planet doing some experiments."

Back at the dorm Josette selects a pattern and starts working, looking out the window and shivering as she sees snow blowing. The next few weeks pass quickly and they're digging out of another blow when Josette heads to Eureka for her tests.

"Your thesis has been approved." Dr. Stark says at lunch. Josette grins and thanks Vincent as he puts a plate of food in front of her.

"How are the cooking classes?"

"Good, they're really good at scheduling them when we're not busy. I'm two blocks in and I'm starting a third." Vincent says.

"I hear rumors you're going to be an author?" Dr. Cross smirks.

Josette sighs. "Bronwen wants me to show my quilts at a show, with the thought of either putting out a pamphlet of patterns for sale at the shows, possibly submitting them to magazines, or even coming out with a book." The three men snicker at her hangdog look. She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Yeah, that was everybody's reaction at Agatha's too." She disappears a second later, the others calmly counting off seconds until she reappears sighing.

"Not again." David sighs when she tells them what happened at dinner. She nods for Principal Madison and Professor Druid to come to the dorm after dinner.

"People are stupid." Josette says, slumping into a seat and opening the bottle of Haven Dew David hands her at her look when they've returned to the dorm with the kids.

"Amen, but what brought that on?" Michael asks, looking at her.

"This dimension was a mixture of Mutants ruling the Earth and the timeline where mutants lived in concentration camps until somebody went back in time to their younger body and changed history, Mutants outnumbered normal humans and had the power but there weren't detention camps for human or mutants. Instead there were areas where only normals lived and areas where only mutants lived as well as mixed zones. This absolute twit signed papers to have his neighborhood converted from mixed then was stunned when because his daughter had been left the house and all the furnishings by his mother. . .his normal daughter. . . the rest of the family had to move since that had been declared a normal area since there was a normal homeowner."

"But I didn't mean for it to affect me?" Alan says in a fake hiccupy whiny tone.

"Yeah, he figured that way he could get rid of the stigma of having a normal child. His family had been mutants for generations."

"Sounds like the purebloods in Harry Potter talking about squibs." Susan snorts.

"Yeah but they might as well be squibs themselves since they're latents and they'd have a weak mutation if they did become active. He's positive his younger daughter has an active mutation. . .she has purple nose hair." Josette says in a sing song voice.

"Oh Jeez!" David sighs. Principal Madison moans and Professor Druid's lips twitch.

"Yeah, so when he found out he'd have to move he tried claiming that his older daughter didn't own the house, his younger daughter did. It had to say her granddaughter and he was positive that should mean the the younger one. Nope, she gave it to the older one by name because she knew her son was an idiot and would pull something like this while his wife was a shrew. Then he tried demanding the girl turn the house over to her sister, with a mutant owner the area should become a mutant area. She refused. He sued and lost and had to move into a studio apartment in the new mutant quarter. Which was the baaadddd part of town."

The others laugh in appreciation.

"Now the older girl is a certified genius on Reed Richard's scale, she's going around making oodles of money with her discoveries and they have to work." Snorting, catcalling, calls of serves them right, and more laughter. "So he keeps suing her, trying to get her to turn over her discoveries to him. . .nope. Get her to support them in the manner they'd been accustomed. . .nope, sued her for what he would have got selling the house that wasn't his. . .nope. Tried suing her for him losing his job because he kept suing all the time. . .Nope. He got hurt and sued to make her pay his medical bills insurance wasn't covering because it wasn't on the job. . .nope. Finally the court ordered him to leave her the hell alone or face jail time. Meanwhile his 'precious' mutant daughter lost her job, got expelled from school, was running with a gang, doing drugs, got pregnant as a teenager, and ended up in prison. His life was ruined."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer asshole." Principal Madison says. They head back to their house as Josette walks outside, looking up at the sky and shaking her head at the folly of men.

The next several weeks pass quickly and the ground is beginning to thaw when Josette starts spreading manure on the fields and garden, tilling it under several days later and planting the spring crops. She's returned from her finals and picking up the recycling when Josette, the others, Principal Madison, and Professor Druid disappear. They arrive back to Haven an hour later on Aztec, shaking their heads as they head back to what they had been doing.

Josette heads off to Doc's dimension, delivering the first orders to the government warehouse, going over everything with representatives before it's sent off and an additional payment sent to the account set up before she takes off to the Fortress, Ulonda settling on the water nearby as they look over the changes Doc has been making to the Fortress.

"Is that. . ." Josette rubs her eyes.

"Uh-huh." Ulonda says, looking over her shoulder. "A volcano in the middle of the arctic. With what looks like the wilderness around it. And that's Doc and the others." Meanwhile Doc looks down at the device beeping on his belt. "Josette's here." Anton nods and checks the computer. Josette arrives a few minutes later on a flyer.

"Wha?"

"There's been a lot of volcanic activity recently. While it means a growing area in the arctic. . ."

"More global warming and sea levels rising. Plus the possibility of dust being kicked up in the atmosphere."

"Which would actually bring the temperature back down."

"As our world proved."

"So we're putting up a shield around the area and the Fortress in case we have to take off suddenly."

"Using the same technology we used to bring the islands."

Doc nods. "We hope to be able to stay for another decade but things are getting bad."

"We were planning for nearly as long before we finally made the move. I was pregnant with Clarinda and Yoriko when the rockets exploded in the atmosphere, they were nine when we moved to Haven and we'd already been making plans towards having to leave eventually. We were lucky in being able to stay on Earth so long."

Beau and the others nod as they head to Headquarters. Josette sits down with Doc and makes a list of what they're going to need, finding they'd already been working on many of the same items. Josette heads back to Haven six weeks later by Earth time.

"Oh good, you're here." She says, finding Lee and Harry talking to Dr. Stark when she heads to Eureka to pick up her and David's books from the first semester. "Expect to have Doc wanting to talk to you when he comes out this year, there's been a lot of volcanic activity on Earth, including one by the fortress that's created a growing area they're shielding."

"They're looking into bringing it up?" Lee asks.

Josette nods. "They're thinking a decade before they come up, they're in the stages of getting supplies in right now. There's a lot of volcanic activity . . ."

"Which will cause more global warming, melting of the ice caps, and sea level rising."

Josette nods. "But if the volcanic activity keeps up it might kick up dust in the atmosphere. . ."

"Which will bring the temperature back down, causing the ice caps to start recovering." Dr. Stark sighs. "Have they settled on a place?"

"They're leaning towards the tenth planet, I'll do a little exploring and find them a few good spots."

Josette puts the boxes in David's room when she returns to the dorm, dl'ing the books into her mental library and putting them away in containers in her closet before joining the others walking to the dining hall for lunch. After lunch the last of the supplies from the other dimensions are delivered by her other selves and she holds up the finished top to another quilt in her workroom, looking it over before laying out the backing and batting and pinning everything in place.

"How many does this make?" David asks from the doorway.

"Too many." She grumbles. David laughs and walks away. That weekend Josette washes the quilts they'd been using all winter as the windows are opened in various rooms and spring cleaning starts with taking down curtains and washing windows, Josette splitting off a half-dozen duplicates to get the outsides of the windows on the upper stories. They look around in satisfaction a week later, everything seems ten times better after that long winter.

"Did you get your masters finished?" Doc asks at the government meeting the first day of the summer semester.

"Over the break. That, a semester in another degree I'm close to finishing, and doing some spring cleaning. The others nod they'd been doing the same thing. "We opened our windows as soon as we could, everything had been shut up so long with having such a cool fall."

The next few weeks pass and Josette heads to the other dimension, delivering special orders and presenting her thesis before the show, picking up supplies, taking care of recycling, and spending time arguing with Bronwen about the quilting book. She'd been amused. . .amused to hear Josette had been bit by the quilting muse again, laughing at the image of the quilts doing a conga line through Josette's subconscious.

"Masters?" Mary asks as Josette takes off her shoes after the show.

"Finished the one from MIT over the spring break, I've got two more classes for this one." She nods in satisfaction.

"And your other degrees?"

"I'm working at getting them down, I finished one degree this semester and I'm one semester left on two more, not counting the ones I'm taking online. I'm finishing one of them this year too, that will give me eight out of the ten degrees I had started done for the graduation ceremony next year plus the ones I already had finished. Everybody will have something but David will be two classes from getting his doctorate unless Dr. Stark nudges him into getting them over the summer."

"Too late." David says in a hangdog look and Josette laughs. "He and Grammy Allie sat me down and told me that I'm getting at least one class in this summer. If not two. I've played around quite long enough, thank you very much." Everybody sniggers. "That means she's going to be turning her attention to the rest of you next."

"Are the boys getting ready for their internships?" James asks.

"Yep, they went to the 9th planet last year to look over the intern housing and made a list of what they'd need to bring with them and a second of what they'd need when they moved into permanent housing. They're working shifts in the factories to have money put ahead." The others shake their heads but they can understand the reasoning of having money put aside so they can move directly from their parents home to intern housing then to their own homes.

"How did the first batches of uniforms turn out?" Josette asks as Calvin comes back into the room. He'd been expecting a call from the other schools who were looking over the uniforms Josette had delivered.

"Good news across the board. Expect larger orders by the Lights Festival." Josette nods, makes a note on the PADD. Back on Haven six weeks later for them Josette lifts her face to the sun and floats aimlessly for several minutes.

"Josette, how is the cherry crop coming on the first planet?" Principal Madison asks a few days later at the government meeting.

"I'll have enough to make another batch of wine this fall, Samuel is coming up to help me." The others nod in satisfaction. "I gotta open the brewery to make vodka, bourbon, and near-beer. we're running low." The others check the supply on their PADDS and nod.

Josette looks over at the door opening as she fills the last cask, putting it on the racks with the others. Samuel looks around the brewery with a grin. "How long do you age it?"

"At least a year, some I age in the bottle, some in casks to give it a different flavor. I make vodka, bourbon, and near-beer." She waves a hand at the rooms of racks. "Some I hold back to age longer." he nods in satisfaction as she shuts up the brewery and they head to the first planet on Vallejo. By the end of two weeks work back on Haven they have several pallets filled with boxes of cherry wine and Josette puts a note on the server, getting immediate orders.

"That was quick." Samuel says.

"They were waiting on me, the cherry wine has been talked about since my first batch. If the demand is good they're going to plant more trees on Haven."

Samuel looks at the orders. "I think we can say there's a demand. I'd never heard of a pure cherry wine before but anything with a high enough sugar content will ferment."

Josette nods. "Most of the wine gods concentrated on grapes because that's what grew in their areas, but humans had tons of fermented drinks to get drunk and stupider on." Calvin had come up behind them and snickers. "Too true, as Spring Break proves."

The Harvest Festival comes and Josette picks up more containers of supplies for the offworld orders, delivering a second batch of orders and chuckling as she sees Lee, Harry, and Doc talking about enclosing the growing area at a table during the Harvest Festival.

"How is it?"

"We're getting a bit of climate change, you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it. What is happening is being blamed on the greenhouse effect and global warming." Beau nods. "Everybody's ignoring it, have for years. It's going to take a major catastrophe before people realize that global warming, greenhouse effect, and carbon footprints are more than just catch phrases."

"Oh, it's not going to affect me. . ." Josette says in a huffy 'go away, you're bothering me' tone. "Until it does."

"Exactly. And by then it will be too late."

Josette puts away the books from the degrees she finished over the break and that summer when she picks them up along with David's books at Eureka. The offworld harvests start coming in while the new students are arriving and Josette's kept busy. She slides into her seat at the dining hall after her midterms.

"Get the degrees finished you wanted?" Susan asks.

"Everything but the one online, that won't be done until finals. I got one of the degrees I was a semester from finishing over the break and got in the last two classes for the Masters and the other degree this semester." The others nod. "That just leaves me two degrees. I'm three classes from being three years into the one and I'm three semesters from finishing the other."

"Did Grandpa Nathan tease you about only taking thirteen classes this semester?" David smirks.

"Yeah, he says he'll let it slide this time since I'm finishing three degrees this semester. Including my second masters this year." David sniggers at Josette's sour look.

"Did you sign up for your doctorate?"

"Yeah, this summer. I'm in, I'll start the classes next year."

"Are the offworld harvests all in now?"

"Yeah. I've got a few weeks to relax until our harvests start coming in."

The rest of the semester flies by and after Thanksgiving and the trips to the other dimensions everybody heads to the first planet to relax for a few weeks. The house is finished and they 'christen' most of the rooms as well as the nearby growing area. They return and see the triplets settled into their new rooms on the 9th planet before Josette heads to Agatha's for the party, bringing out the quilts she'd finished that year and sending the files to Agatha and Sue.

"How many do you have left?"

"About 78?" Josette says then shrugs. "The muse landed on me like a cargo container of potatoes when she finally showed back up." The others laugh and nod. Josette puts everything away when she returns to the dorm, bringing out quilts to put on her bed and checking the supply of her winter sleepwear. She'll have to make some more next year, these will last this year but that's about it. She makes a mental note to check the rest of her clothes over the break and joins the others walking to the dining hall for lunch.

"Is anybody else sorting out clothes that are getting worn out?" Susan asks.

"Yes, my winter sleepwear will last this winter but that's about it."

The others nod. "Our sheets are getting worn out and the triplets had to sort out a lot of clothes before they left. Something else you don't think about until your elbow or foot goes through something." The others nod. By that night there's a large bag of stuff for Josette to either shred and add to pulp for paper or use in patchwork quilts with more stuff being brought out to replace it. Josette spends the next couple of days sorting through everything, removing zippers and buttons and soon has containers filled with material for more patchwork quilts.

The others start showing up for the Lights Festival and as Calvin had said he's got more orders for uniforms with him. He finds Josette going over plans for what she's going to grow on the first planet the next year while David is upstairs transplanting some of the new growth in the greenhouses. Hannah looks around her in satisfaction.

"You haven't grown here lately."

"Not for the past two years, last year Josette grew everything while she spent a year out of time on her satellite and the year before that we planted on the islands. We knew we weren't going to be planting here and planted extra over the year to make up for what we can't grow on the island. Or rather won't grow on the island so the ecosystem isn't thrown out of whack." Hannah nods in satisfaction.

"You grow potatoes in hydroponics?"

"Easier to get to the baby potatoes that way, we weren't sure about growing them at first but we did it as an experiment. Along with Josette picking green tomatoes for recipes. The experiment turned out well so we grow them both."

"How many quilts?" Hannah asks, looking in Josette's workroom a couple days later and finding shelves filled with bags.

"About 75? 78? Somewhere around there, I got six of them done already. I thought 25 was bad, the muse was letting me off easy." Bronwen snickers behind her mother. Josette finishes cutting out the pattern pieces from the plastic, putting the sliver in the box to recycle later. "We were planning on stopping at the suppliers. Want to come along?"

"Please. I need to pick up a few things, including more plastic."

"You don't reuse pattern pieces?"

"I could but then I'd never know what envelope had the piece I was looking for." Bronwen nods. "It means multiple copies of the same basic shape but it also means I have everything I need when I open an envelope."

Josette brings out her purchases from the suppliers, David chuckling. "Hush annoying one." She puts everything away and joins the others for a late dinner. The Lights Festival comes and goes, Calvin talking to the manager of the uniform factory about the new orders.

The first semester of the new year comes around and Josette shoves David out of his chair as she sits down.

"Ahhh, you too." Doc chuckles.

"Yeah, Pat called this morning and told us that she and Bethany were pregnant."

"We have a baby in the gestation chambers." Principal Madison says. President Bartlett nods. "Us as well."

"A lot of people are getting empty arms when they're confronted by the fact their babies are going to be leaving home this year." Josette snickers. "Professor Parker and Mr. Storm?"

"Yeah, Franklin told me he was going to be a cousin again when I went out to pick up the books from our fall classes. He was amused by that. . .not so amused to find out he's going to be a big brother again."

Everybody chuckles. "Isn't that everybody's prerogative, to be embarrassed by the idea of your folks still having sex. Aren't they old?"

"Anything else?"

"Nothing in my notes, the factories are all working on the orders from the other dimensions, I gotta pick up more supplies after finals. Took the trees and cotton to the tp factory last year, I should be picking up the orders when the first crops start coming in. We're good on supplies for everything else. . ."

"We might need another batch of towels in a couple years." Doc says, looking at his PADD. Josette pulls up that file and nods. "Yeah, I'll grow cotton again offworld this year and next for the towel factory." She sends the message to Brigadoon who passes it on to the robots. "Okay, all set. I'll put up the poll at the Lights Festival this year, I'll take the cotton out next year, and the towels, washcloths, and bath mats should be ready the year after that." The others nod in satisfaction and the meeting breaks up, Josette heading to the bakery for snacks before hitting the yarn store.

"Really?" Agatha chuckles as Josette tosses yarn over her shoulder into the cart.

"Yes, all six of us, President Bartlett has a baby in the chamber, so does Principal Madison. I haven't heard from Mom and Dad yet, but I expect they will this year along with Mom and Dad who will see our babies, the newest Covington, and get empty arm syndrome."

"Your youngest are turning nine this year."

"Yep, that's a good age between children. We told the boys seven years after they were born."

Josette grabs a handful of gift bags and heads back to the dorm, finding Susan already making a list of what they'll need in the nursery. Josette nods and starts looking through the baby clothes, shaking her head and putting most of them in a bag to be used for blankets.

"We had to expect it." Abby says, looking at the now nearly empty dressers. "I'll go to the store after lunch, between the baby store and the resale stores we'll have a good supply. This time's only one baby each, next time we won't be so lucky."

"Yeah, stock up on what we can for next time." Josette heads upstairs, putting the bag in her studio before putting everything else away. After lunch she goes to the warehouse to check the orders as the twins head to the resale store warehouse, coming back to the dorm with a couple bags of baby stuff. The dressers are soon full again and Josette joins them at the table for dinner.

She's not the only one heading to Eureka for her first testing period, Susan had started her Masters in History while the boys had started their Oxford Art History bachelors. They were attending a different school than Josette had taken her classes from though, to make things interesting. Alan and the girls had started another bachelors to complement the ones they had already finished.

Josette smiles at the picture of the newest McNider-Cross daughter who's sucking on a bottle in her daddy's arms.

"Ten bucks says Rick, Courtney, Kara, or Billy is pregnant by the end of the year."

"Sucker bet. Billy's boys must be three or four. A good age between children when you want them to be close."

Josette heads to the 9th planet later that week, loosening her cloak and lifting her face to the sky. It's very early spring and Josette chuckles as she looks at Rick and Courtney. They look at her and laugh too. Doc and Pieter are nearby.

"Josette." Doc sighs.

"Yes, I'm pregnant. All four of us, Pat, and Bethany. It's all one child thankfully and we'd wondered if you were pregnant when we saw Dr. McNider giving the baby a bottle when we were in Eureka for our first set of tests."

Pieter laughs and nods. "The twins are starting pre-school."

"I thought they must be about ready. David had empty nest syndrome when the triplets left the dorm, even with sixteen younger children still living at home." She finds the triplets at work and musses their hair, hugging them and generally embarrassing the hell out of them. Much to the amusement of everybody watching.

"Mooommmm." Anderson whines. "Ah jeez. . .again?" His brothers look at him, then their mother, and facepalm.

"Yes, your dad was blubbering about how his babies had left home." Josette sighs. Dr. Blake smirks at Dr. Cross and nods.

"He does realize we've got sixteen brothers and sisters still living at home, right?" Samuel asks, his hand still covering his face.

"Doesn't matter, one of his children has left home. He'll do the same thing when the others leave too."

"They're already pregnant." Josette says as she slides into her seat at dinner. The others but David laugh.

"Dr. Cross and McNider have a little girl, we were wondering how long it would take the others on the 9th planet to become pregnant." He grins. "I also embarrassed the hell out of the triplets while I was there." David sniggers. "Who?" Abby asks.

"Rick and Courtney, good thing I brought extra yarn. The twins are starting pre-school this year." The others grin, that's always a good reason to have children."

Josette looks up from her knitting several weeks later when a head pokes around the door of her workroom.

"How are you doing Josette?" Mom Sanders asks as she, Mom Covington, and Dr. Blake hug her.

"Good except for not being able to see my feet. So I'm having a girl."

"Have you told the others? I know Clarinda's in her own dimension for a while."

"Yes, I sent out 'you're going to be grandparents again' messages and once the babies come I'll send out another message with pictures." Josette rubs her stomach where a foot had kicked her.

"Did you send bags to Rick and Courtney?"

"Yep, finished theirs first since they'll deliver before we will from the way they looked."

"Two girls, Jessica and Elaina." Dr. Blake sends pictures to Josette's PADD and she smiles at the exhausted but proud parents. David pokes his head around the door.

"What do you think of Zebulon and Zachariah?"

"Hell and no. Put the name book down before I have to hurt you." Josette says firmly. David grins. "Abby hit me with her slipper for five minutes."

"Hopefully her foot was in it for that suggestion." His mother says dryly. David sniggers, kisses the three older women, gooses Josette, and heads off.

"Did David finish his doctorate?" Mary asks Allison as they get settled into their rooms.

"The first thing he did this semester, he knew I'd be watching him after we made him take extra classes last summer so he'd be finished for graduation." Mary sniggers at Allison's nasty kitty smirk.

"Josette, do you have any idea how many bachelors you have?"

"231, I'm not counting the cooking degrees. the three degrees I have finished on shipwrecks from the Naval Academy, the comic book degrees I have one or two degrees in out of three, or the Tarzan multiple degree curriculum I just started. I am counting the multiple curriculum degrees I finished since the last graduation ceremony since I did finish them."

"You're weird." David shakes his head.

"You just figure that out?" Josette drawls. "This way I don't have to sit down and realize how many fucking degrees I actually took. Bad enough I'm graduating with 29 bachelors, 3 masters, and 3 doctorates this year."

"Doctorate from the other dimension?"

"I signed up for it after my masters was completed but there's a waiting list. I start next year. That gives me a year to work on the papers." Allison nods in satisfaction.

"Deliveries from the other dimensions?"

"After our finals. I'll split off duplicates to handle it and take care of the fields and garden."

A couple weeks later Josette is waddling down the hallway when her water breaks. Swearing she heads off with Lord Apollo as the others swear and are herded upstairs when their water breaks. By the end of the week two boys and two girls are born and the news that Pat and Bethany had given birth to two girls had been passed along along with baby pictures.

Josette and the other girls take their finals in the first floor lounge and Josette splits off duplicates to handle the recycling and deliveries to the other dimension, bringing back supplies that are sent to various places before Josette absorbs her other selves and settles in her seat at the dining hall. Mom, Mom, and Dr. Blake were heading home that weekend now that the girls were up and moving around slowly.

"Has Doc decided on a site yet?"

"No, but he's got it settled down to three possibles. I took the last batch of probe data out while I was there."

"Is he still talking ten years their time? From last year"

"Yes, so about six years for us now. He should start sending out supplies as soon as he settles on a place and if he wants to bring anything out early like Clark did. or just have me bring out supplies, with the ships and the satellites and build barns and other outbuildings for animals before they come up, then plant." Allison nods. "If he brings the Empire State Building out early, the work it needs can be done before they arrive. It wouldn't want to be out too soon. . ."

"And they're going to want to bring out their homes. Plus probably some other buildings. . .either in the future or already waiting on them." Allison says. Josette nods. "You can't just live on a planet without some form of entertainment. That's why we have so many people from the fifth and seventh planets beyond just doing their laundry. Even with the television and radio stations broadcasting." Everybody nods. Josette adds that information to the list of what they'd have to talk about, she can easily 'copy' whatever they need from the other dimension.

With the babies arriving they're a little late with the spring cleaning but a couple weeks into the summer semester has all the windows washed, curtains washed, starched, and hung back up. Windows and doors are all open to the warming air and David inspects the mechanicals with a crew from GD while another inspects the solar panels and roofs.

The first crops had come in when they head off to Eureka for the graduation ceremony. Her loving family and friends are sniggering in the audience or on the stage with her.

"How does the ninth planet handle their degrees?"

"They put all their degrees on servers, for the colonies, the people on the moon and Mars, and for the ones who came out here. When Luthor closed all the schools the classes on the servers were all that was left until the schools hopefully reopened. Now it's like our degrees, when one is finished they print out the diploma. We brought out universities, so we started adding new degrees early, they might do the same thing as things change. And Doc's bringing out a server with *their* school degrees."

"We had an early start with the schools closing." Principal Madison says. Josette nods.

Back at the dorm Josette sighs as Pat makes a big production of counting the diplomas for framing. Heading downstairs she picks up Alanis and changes her, handing her off to Anna when the other woman comes in already pulling off her shirt.

"Damn kid, you suck like a hoover." She says as the baby latches on. Bethany giggles from the doorway.

"Shows?"

"A couple of weeks."

Josette leans between Michael and Alexander's shoulders at dinner that night. "Silver tea services?"

Michael looks at her and Alexander facepalms. The others snigger. "You're harvesting this year?"

"When I pick up the offworld harvests." The others nod and they talk about the latest databurst from Doc who'd picked a spot on the 10th world.

The trip to the other dimension is a few days later and they spend several weeks in the rooms and visiting malls, museums, and whatnot. Back on Haven the yearly crops start coming in, followed by the second round of harvests and the offworld harvests. Josette slumps into a couch at the dorm one night after checking in on the babies.

"Where is everybody?"

"Looking over the information on the area Doc selected and talking about what is going to be needed before he comes out. And what's going on in the other dimension, the volcanic activity is picking up." Josette nods and closes her eyes, taking a quick nap on the couch. The others chuckle as they come down, Josette waking up in time for dinner.

"Did you start your dissertations?" Calvin asks as Josette pokes the last piece of salad in her bowl with a fork.

"I did, gives me a head start on the other one before I start the classes. I had an outline and notes already laid out for the electrical engineering diss." Josette gets up to fill her tray again, filling her bowl with another salad she 'puts' on the table before sitting down. "The other paper I'm starting from square one but I've got years before I'm at the stage where I can defend it." The others nod.

After the Harvest Festival Josette is busy taking the others on a trip to the satellite, bringing in the offworld harvests, and hitting the stores in the mall warehouse to get new clothes for the next few years. She replicates more stuff, looking in satisfaction at the filled dressers and closets. She hates shopping but her dressers were getting a little bare. Looking through the linen closets she heads to the supplies and brings out sheets, towels, and other stuff.

"Get everything you needed?" David asks at dinner.

"Yeah, I hate having to get new stuff but after the last couple of years nearly everything is gone." The others nod.

After Christmas Josette splits off a dozen duplicates to help bring in the harvest, working in the kitchens with David canning, drying, or otherwise storing everything while the others are in Eureka for their finals. Everybody's done the next day and by the end of the week everything is put away for the winter and the food from the offworld harvests is delivered. Looking at the full shelves in satisfaction Josette checks the list of what she'd planned on making this winter, David nodding. The ice cream toppings is something that won't go to waste, when a jar is opened it goes in stasis until it can be used up. Same with the dressings for salads and condiments.

"Do we have enough jars and crocks?"

"I replicated extra just in case."

After the trips to the other dimensions to deliver orders, pick up supplies, and spend time with their families. . .shopping much to Josette's disgust and the others amusement they return to Haven.

"Did you pick up the first batch of supplies for the 10th planet?"

"Yeah, it's on the ship, I'll start bringing it out next year after winter's over there when I'm putting up their outbuildings."

"I know Doc's got money but . . ."

"I insisted that he use part of the proceeds from the orders to get in supplies. And there's people in the government who can read the writing on the wall and are giving him as much help as possi. . ." Josette disappears. She reappears a few seconds later, sighing and sending out messages on the PADD. Soon a dozen people arrive at the dorm.

"Another world gone?"

Josette sighs and nods. "Moron governments outlawed super-heroes. They left in droves but surprise, surprise that didn't stop villains from attacking. And the police and military units were defenseless against them."

"Morons."

"A mad scientist invented a mind-control ray to take over the world, but when his companions opened the door of the shielded room, they were affected too. Since the last order was to do nothing everybody just stood there while a dangerous experiment released an experimental gas into the atmosphere, killing everybody on the planet." Josette splits off duplicates as Clark heads to his ship and two Josettes head to Brigadoon, one being dropped off on the satellite as the others split up and head to various ships.

Everybody returns an hour later, you can tell it's been a long time by their faces.

"There but for the grace of god go I." Dr. McNider says.

"But it should have worked." David says in a fake bleating voice. "If there was no heroes, there shouldn't have been any villains."

"And when they found out otherwise it was too late."

Josette nods. "Not the first time humanity has done something so stupid." the others sigh and say silent prayers for the dead before they head various directions. A few days later Josette takes Dr. Cross and McNider to visit the Justice League. They return six weeks later their time.

"How is it there?"

"Good, they're building a second settlement in one of the canyons on the moon, a dome over the rift and building down. It was that plan that made them wonder if any of the underground areas on Earth was salvageable."

"I don't think I'd be able to stand living like that but sometimes there's no choice." Josette nods.

"Are they in contact with the colonies?"

"Yes, the news that Earth was lost was a heartbreak to them. They'd cut their ties with Earth but. . ."

"It was home and there was always the chance they might come back if things got better." David says, the others nod.

The next day Josette settles in her usual spot at the Albatross Nest, opening a bottle of pop as she balances her plate on her knee. They talk about the patterns for the next year, the sales on everything, Josette moans as Agatha twits her about a possible book, and pass out the cookies and kits.

Josette is shelving the books from the degrees she finished that year when the others arrive for the Lights Festival. She puts the containers down the hall and joins them walking to the dining hall for dinner. After the Lights Festival Josette takes the others to the tenth planet, allowing them to see the area they'd selected in winter, then bringing up a holographic picture so they can make plans on what they'd need to do during the winter.

"When did the 9th planet put up the library?" Doc asks.

"Their second year, along with the growing buildings, the building for their food, the tv and radio stations, and the building for their classes. They had Eureka's library until then, plus whatever books they had in their homes."

"They brought them out?"

"Yes, we built new but the others either already existed when they came up or were brought up later and worked on."

"How many solar panels does the library have?"

"Eighteen, plus they can piggyback on the alternate energy source. They expanded by tesseract on the inside and were bringing out books, magazines, DVDS, and other stuff until they lost their earth."

"We'd be doing the same thing." Doc says. The others nod. "We have good sized libraries at Headquarters and the fortress but they're tech heavy."

"We can order directly from publishers and visit bookstores until those orders start arriving."

"And there's the option of what we did, copying libraries, museums, and everything else you'll need to bring out in warehouses." Doc thinks a second and nods. "The way the volcanic activity is increasing, that would be a way to preserve everything. Especially the way the oceans are rising."

They head back a few days later, checking the computers for alerts while they were gone before settling around the table. "Do we want some way to get between the buildings during the winter? Especially during a storm?"

"That would be prudent, either tunnels like the school has or enclosed breezeways. Calvin has offered to help us whatever we choose."

Josette slides into her seat at the government building the first day of the new school year.

"Have you checked to see how the bison and Llamas are settling in?" David asks, checking the list of what they were going to talk to at the meeting.

"Yeah, the others say they're doing fine." Josette says. "The Llamas were sheared once before winter and we nearly had a fight over the fleeces even though there's plenty for everyone in a couple years."

Doc chuckles.

"Orders?"

"On track to deliver at the end of the semester and pick up more supplies. Doc chose the outbuildings and I've got the first batch of plastic framing being made up." The others nod.

"Do we expect them to increase?"

"In a couple of years. We've proved we can deliver the goods."

"Dad's orders?"

"On track. We might get asked if we can make more things but. . ." Principal Madison nods, rubbing the back of the little boy on his chest while President Bartlett changes his daughter in the corner of the room.

"Did you hear from your parents?"

"Yes, Abraham Jonathon Covington and Gabriella Louise Sanders are being doted over by their parents."

"Apartments?" Josette looks at President Bartlett. "How are we on empty apartments?"

"Good, the furnished apartments are a quarter to a third full. The other apartment complex here on Haven is a quarter full and there's still empty apartments in the others. It will be decades before we have to bring more out." Principal Madison's lips twitch. "Yes, even with the way we're having children."

"Josette, your doctorate from the other dimension?"

"Started the classes this morning. I'm finishing a degree on boys literature this semester nad finishing the degree on Pearl Harbor over the break."

David smirks. Josette rolls her eyes at him. "Dr. Blake's going to beat you if you only get in three classes this semester when you've done a year a semester." Principal Madison nods as Doc and President Bartlett chuckle.

"I'm picking up another degree from the other dimension. Grammy Allie already gave me a look until I told her what was going on. I started it last fall."

"Are you going to be able to handle going for two doctorates at the same time?" Principal Madison asks.

"Yeah, I'm taking two classes for that one I'm getting in first and taking the class for this doctorate last."

After the meeting Josette stops to the bakery before heading back to the dorm, eating a doughnut as she walks upstairs and opens one of the kits, copying the pattern pieces onto plastic as she lays the fabric out and copies the instructions, starting a new envelope for the quilt she pins to the corkboard until she's finished.

"Are you going to be able to handle two doctorates at once?" Dr. Stark asks at lunch their first testing week.

"Principal Madison asked the same thing. I took the two classes for over there first and I'll get my doctorate class here last. That gives me a break between them if it's needed."

Dr. McNider nods in satisfaction. "I hear you're finishing two degrees this semester?"

"Semester and break. I'm finishing a boys fiction lit degree and I'll be three classes from the Pearl Harbor degree to the Naval Academy. I'll finish that over the break."

The three men nod in satisfaction. "New degrees?"

"Beyond the doctorate over there? I'm a semester into a degree on Japanese internment camps from the history school and a year into the bombing of London."

"Cooking?"

"I'm in my fourth block of classes."

"How are the Llamas and bison settling in?"

"Good, we expect to have milk for cheese and soap within a few years and yarn from the Llamas."

"Is the new dairy making cheese?"

"Yes, but not all the varieties they want. They're looking into putting up an orchard and starting a vineyard to infuse wine and cider into the cheeses by soaking. Right now they're making small batches to introduce the cheese to us and learning what cheeses we make."

"A lot easier to buy wine and cider on Earth." Dr. Stark says.

"But there's also something to say 'yes, we did this, we grow our own grapes and make our own wine, the cider is pressed from our own apples... It's a lot of money and upfront work before you can start reaping the benefits of your hard work." Dr. Cross says. Josette nods.

"Are you growing more grapes for wine?"

"Yes, I started new vines a couple years ago when the dairy came up and talked to me and Alessandro about our wines. He's semi-retired, letting his children take over the business. He planted more vines and I also planted more offworld."

"Forget how time goes by some days."

Josette nods. "I miss Harvey." Harvey had died a couple years ago at nearly a hundred and fifty years old surrounded by his three problem children. His ashes were compacted into the gem that hangs on the wall of remembrance in their home.

"He was a big part of your lives for nearly fifty years before you lost Earth and was still a good friend after that." Dr. McNider pats her hand. "Now I understand you're making silver tea services?"

"Yeah, we're taking out examples of the silver and porcelain ones this year for the show, see if there's any interest." Dr. Cross chuckles at her bland tone as the boys roll their eyes at her.

"I take it the special orders aren't slowing down?" Dr. Stark chuckles.

"Hell.No." Alexander sighs. Josette and Michael nod.

Back at the dorm Josette slides into her seat at the dining hall with the others. "Have you started the plans for the gardens?" She asks David.

"Yeah, I wanted everybody to look at them after dinner. Get your doctorates classes finished?"

"Yeah, and I'm two classes down to finish the boys lit degree." After dinner they settle in the living room, David sending out the file he'd been working on and they talk for a half-hour before getting the babies ready for bed and making sure the older kids have gotten their baths and headed to bed after working on their schoolwork. The next day Josette heads off to plant on the first planet, coming back six weeks later for her.

"Everything in?" David asks, leaning against the doorframe of her workroom.

"Yep, tomatoes, peppers and herbs in the raised beds and a full garden by the house to see how they grow in the heat."

"Plastic order?"

"Be done midterms, I'll take one of the ships out to pick it up. By the time I can start bringing out supplies, the second batch should be ready." David nods. "By that time Doc and the others should have a solid plan for me to work with."

Josette heads off to Archimedes on Brigadoon the week of midterms, picking up the first batch of building supplies. She slides into her seat at the government building when they return to Haven. The meeting lasts about twenty minutes and she stops to the bakery for a bag of doughnuts before she heads to the dorm.

"Did Dad talk to you?" He'd been arriving as Josette was heading out the door.

"Yeah, we're getting some interest from the vampire planet on new buildings or bringing out other ones. He's going to be talking to everybody over the next few years since it's not anything they need right away, it's all planning for the future." He sends her the file of possible options and Josette nods. "Once everything's finalized we'll talk the to the plastic replicators and the others." Josette looks over everything, then makes a couple suggestions. David facepalms and sends that information to his Dad.

After lunch Josette heads to the factories, moving the orders already completed to the ships so they have more room and bringing out more supplies for them from the containers. This empties several of them and she moves them to the ships to return to the other dimensions, knowing the spots will be full again in a couple of months when she brings out more supplies. Josette stops to the clothing factories last, talking with Pat as they go over the supplies and see what they need to make next.

"Underwear?" one of the women sewing asks.

Josette nods. "It's been a few years since we had the factory going." She checks the supplies and nods.

"Towels?" the man at the next machine asks as he takes the garment and pins another piece to it before starting his sewing machine..

"The announcement will be going out at the Harvest Festival. Once all the orders are in, they'll start working. Possibly by the Lights Festival but more likely next year." He nods, clips threads, removes the pins, and hands the piece down before turning and accepting another garment.

The sweater factory is next, Josette looking around in satisfaction as the scarves, hats, mittens, and sweaters on the shelves before she and Pat walk to the communal kitchen. The party for the kids is after they come back from their third testing week and Josette heads off to check on the crops growing on the first planet with one of the botanists from GD, taking video footage she sends off to Professor Druid's family who'd wanted to see how a regular garden handled the first planet's growing conditions before they return several days later for them.

Josette heads to the other planets with the green peppers, selling a good portion before drying part of the remaining bushels and popping the rest in stasis. The snow is beginning to melt and Josette spreads manure on the fields and garden as windows begin being opened, if only for a few hours just to air out the dorm until the furnace kicks on. The finals come and Josette is asked again if taking two doctorates at the same time is too much work but she assures them she's fine.

Stopping to various factories to make sure she has the last of the orders to take to the other dimensions she picks up the recycling on the other planets, dropping it off various places before heading off.

"Get everything delivered?" Doc asks when she slides into her seat at the government building.

"Yeah, and I'm delivering supplies right now. I got another batch of supplies for the tenth planet, I should be able to start working out there after the Harvest Festival. Oh, we might be getting new orders/increased orders then too. There's been a bit of flooding in some areas with the sea levels rising and some factories had to shut down. They've got a stockpile of items but. . ." The others nod.

"Is anybody besides Doc keeping an eye on the situation?"

"Yeah, the best guestimates is if the volcanic activity decreases, the ice caps will be melted in ten years. If it keeps going the way it is, half that time. And they're already seeing the effects of all the dust being kicked up in the air. Winters are getting colder. Another couple years and they'll see the problems we had. They say the volcanic activity should decrease. . .eventually."

Josette dances when she finishes the Naval academy degree then turns her attention to spring cleaning with the others, washing windows from the outside and cleaning gutters. She looks over the exteriors of the buildings, they'll have to paint in a couple years she thinks as she lands on the ground.

"Everything finished outside?" David asks as he comes up with another batch of curtains to go on the windows as a pair of Josettes shake out the quilts to air outside.

"Yeah, we gotta think about painting in a couple years." Alexander nods behind David. "Yeah, I was noticing the same thing. Inside and out." The others nod, it has been a few years since the dorm had work done. "And a major cleaning."

Josette nods as she joins them walking to the dining hall for dinner.

The next few weeks pass quickly, Josette scrubbing the outside of the dorm buildings when she's not taking classes or doing one of a dozen other things. The special orders for the shows are taken in and Josette waves a hand, boxes appearing against one wall. A smaller pile appears against another.

"Thank you Josette, students who's parents can pick them up?" Josette nods. "Embassies?" Jane points at the second pile. Josette nods again. She sends a file to the other woman. "Students and number of containers." Jane nods. "I'll bring the last of them out during our third semester, I'd say the students can't have that much left in their rooms but I know damn good and well how much stuff can accumulate over several years. Even without the big stuff." Nods from the other two women.

Marcus smirks at Josette as the extra forms he'd had made up for the show to see if there was interest in the silver tea services flying off the table. And the interest in the other special orders is still going well. The other show is just as hectic and Josette slumps into a chair at the rooms, closing her eyes and toeing off her shoes.

Back on Haven the offworld harvest, yearly crops, and second harvests are beginning to come in and Josette's kept busy, heading to Archimedes to pick up the second order of building materials a couple days before the Harvest Festival.

"Is everything in now until after the festival?" David asks.

"Yeah, the remaining offworld harvests, the first planet crops, and the last harvest here is it."

"When are you heading off?"'

"After the festival, I figure it will be at least six months. About the same amount of time I was gone putting stuff up on the 9th planet and getting everything ready for us to come up." The others nod. "I'll start the first planet crops while I'm gone."

After the Harvest Festival Josette heads off, returning an hour later and showing Doc the progress she made on his place before the meeting with the government official about the increased orders.

"Thank you for agreeing to help us out, with the problems caused by the climate changes we lost a lot of contracts this year." He outlines the new orders, then the increased orders.

"Josette, sock orders?" David asks.

"I've got a second shift running the machines for us. Right now I'm working on a batch for the fourth planet, then the eighth planet. The others either got in their orders last year or will next year."

"Our supply?"

"Filled it last year along with a shipment for the 9th planet. Fifth and seventh planets should be putting in orders next year." The others nod in satisfaction.

"Are you going to have another order of plastic by the end of the year?"

"Yeah, I'll take it out next spring when I get another one. By the end of next year will have a good start they can build on." The others nod.

"Are they bringing out animals?"

"With them when they arrive, they've got a nice selection coming up."