"The two of you should be finishing about the same time." Alan looks at Susan, David, and back again.

"Within a year of each other." David says, nodding. "I'm taking more classes a semester but Susan's got three classes on me at the end of this semester."

"How many students do we have graduating this semester?"

"758, 800 next year, and 827 the year after that. Right now we're looking at around a thousand, maybe up to 1300 students graduating at a time until it's our lot, the Amish kids, and the offworld children left."

"Plus whatever children we've had since then." David leers. Alexander pushes him out of the chair this time. The others laugh.

The next morning Josette splits off duplicates to go to the various workplaces or start classes and joins the others walking to the dining hall. David sniggers as he gets a message, putting his PADD away.

"They're having to pump to fill the cisterns on the sorting planet today, they're figuring out how much work farming really is." The others snigger. Everybody's taken a turn pumping to fill a cistern when it was empty . . .most of the time after they've spent a couple hours pumping water for the garden and fields.

"When do they start farming on Archimedes?"

"They've got everything laid out and are planning to plant everything in a couple of weeks." Josette says. "They should get two good harvests before their fall, they're starting midway through the kitchen gardens so they have fresh fruit and veggies before and after the others have been harvested." Nods from the others. "By the time the plants are big enough to need more attention, the second group of students will be finishing their university classes to give them a hand."

"And then they'll start working on the animal planet?"

"In a year or so. They don't want to produce too much too soon. Even with a five hundred more students moving to their own apartments and needing to buy their own food." nods from the others.

"Are they going to enlarge the communal gardens next year."

"No, they're already got the full gardens planted this year, the students have been helping to harvest and can when they're not in class or taking finals to get them used to it and to have a good selection of food set away in their apartments before they move in. And some of the stuff they've been canning and drying on the sorting planet is being handed out too this fall. More is being stored for the sorting planet's fall so they have it over the winter beyond the canned food from the gardens."

"Toothpaste?"

"Delivered before the Harvest Festival."

"Candy?"

"Still got plenty left, probably put up a poll next fall and start making another batch the year after that."

"Is the elastic factory finished?"

"Yes, we're going over everything tomorrow." Josette says, yawning. "Same time I'm heading off for another offworld harvest."

The next morning after breakfast Josette, Doc, and Principal Madison head into town, looking over everything in the new factory as another Josette heads off with a group of townspeople to harvest offworld. The next few weeks pass quickly and Josette slides into her seat at the testing center in Eureka.

"Are you done with the offworld harvests?"

Josette waggles a hand. "The last one was heading off before we left. It's ours so once everything's canned, dried, or otherwise taken care of we'll be done until the last crops come in."

"Are David and James still on to bring out another apartment complex?"

"Yeah, this one's coming out by the growing areas instead of the factories." They nod in satisfaction. "As the commercial crops grow, we'll probably get more people moving there." Nods from the others. "How's the crops coming along here?"

"Good, I like the idea of setting them off from our gardens so everything's not coming in at once."

"Fresh fruit and veggies before or after your gardens have produced but it also means only three crops instead of four."

The others nod. "We're looking at two this year but it will be a good start. There's other jobs they can do here or the other planets while they're not working in the fields."

"With the switching stations and longer days, it's easy enough to put in a full day's work on another planet and still have time at home."

"And a lot shorter commute, no rush hour traffic jams." Dr. Cross chuckles. "You're taking to the vampire planet again?"

"After our finals. Another batch of furniture and other stuff plus stuff from the others since they're going to be running low on room. Even with enlarging their buildings with tesseracts last year."

"Nobody expected this volume of business this soon." Dr. McNider says.

"Exactly, they thought of a slow population growth, not two large leaps when first we lost Earth and had 40,000 teens who needed jobs and homes, and again when we took in the orphans."

"Did you use the smokehouse this summer?"

"Next year, fish, cheese, and chipilotes since we're running low, once they're smoked I'll put them on wreaths to dry like I do the peppers from the first planet." The others nod. "Easy enough way to store them and you can put them on the wall as decoration once they're dried, pulling one off when it's needed."

Josette nods. "And much easier to store than other things."

"Potatoes take up a good bit of space, so do onions and other other peppers." Josette sniggers but nods. "Even if you leave the tops long enough you can braid them and hang them from something. In a basement or underground storage place you'd have to walk through them. Not too many places have nice open buildings with rafters anymore."

"Those would have been miserable in the winter. Even the modern homes built like that have to be a bitch to heat." The others nod as the buzzer sounds and the others come over to the table after using the bathroom.

"Did you finish your degrees?" Dr. Cross asks.

"Yeah, I started them first when this semester started since I wanted to get them out of the way so I could get in the others I was trying to finish years on."

"How far are you on Cambridge and Oxford?"

"Three semesters for both, between the breaks and the semesters themselves next year I should have both of them finished next year. If not. . ." Josette shrugs. "I started three new degrees this year and I'll start as many next year."

After lunch Josette heads back to the dorm, absorbing her other selves that had been working the second shift after dinner. The rest of the semester flies by and after their finals Josette finishes putting everything in Atlantis and flies off, arranging for the payments and delivering everything, including a shipment of towels, washcloths, bath mats, and canning jars from the sorting planet. She returns to Haven an hour later, delivering the payments to everybody and getting thank yous back before joining David and the others at lunch.

"Get everything delivered?"

"Yeah, we're not making a dent as quickly in the orders as we were when it was to get everybody out of the temporary housing but we have a less pressing need to get everything finished that fast too. Because the more we got done meant one more person into their new home." The others nod. "Now we're just getting apartments ready for future inhabitants." She looks at David. "Did you get the other apartment complex up on the sorting planet?"

"Yes, it's within easy distance of the growing areas and we'll install a switching station when people start moving. The sorting planet wants to talk about the same sort of thing we have with the vampire planet to get them move-in condition ready."

"I know people brought furnished trailers all the time but I'd hate not to have a choice in furnishings." Lois says. The others nod. "Us too, but if you're just starting out, and they have covers you can throw over your furniture if you don't like the colors. . ." Nods from the others.

"How long until we have all the crops in?" David asks.

"End of the week even with the extra we planted. I gotta check the olives next week. They should be about ready to pick."

The next week Josette heads off to the first planet, coming back several weeks later for her with barrels of olives and a couple pallets of olive oil, taking a case to Vincent's.

"Is this from the first planet?"

"Yes, first pressing."

"You can smell the difference." Vincent says, opening one and wafting the aroma towards him like he would a wine, then trying a little on toast then cooking with it. They haggle over the price for the first case before he puts it in the back before dishing her up a plate of food.

"Is that everything?"

"I left some of the olives on the trees to ripen, I should get as many black olives as I did green that I have in barrels."

"Are you selling these?"

"Only to special customers. Not wholesale." He nods and they talk as Josette eats. Sheriff Carter comes in and nudges her shoulder.

"Stark wants to know if the sorting planet has talked to you guys about the same sort of deal you have with the vampire planet for furnishing the apartments."

"Not yet, David expects they will after we've got more finished though. Why does he want the same thing, an apartment complex brought out by the growing areas and furnished?"

"They're talking about it. And like you said, nobody said the students had to stay on Haven."

Josette nods. "An apartment complex on Haven, the animal planet, the sorting planet, and here would handle all the students and the adults who came with them that haven't settled into permanent housing yet." Vincent looks at her. "Floor monitors." He nods. "As their floors empty of students they move into houses or apartments they'd already selected, most of them have jobs in town."

"Do the apartment buildings have switching stations?"

"There's going to be one installed when people start moving in. The same thing here so people can get to Eureka or Haven." Josette grabs her PADD and sends off a message to David to check on that with Bruce. "I know they could use the ones at Wayne Industries or Stark International. . ."

"But it's better to check." Jack says. Josette nods. "Because sometimes you just got to get away and do something else." The others nod. "That's why we have cookouts or head off to the first planet or the island for a long weekend after school ends and our last crops are in for a few months."

"We'd figured that would happen." David says at dinner after Josette has given him the news of the Archimedes apartment complex. "And between ours, the sorting planet, Archimedes, and one on the animal planet that will handle all the students."

"And with the longer days you don't have to live and work on the same planet." Susan says. The others nod.

That weekend after the high school students have had their graduation ceremony and the university students have left the dorms, Josette and the others head off to the island for a long weekend, laying in the artificial sun, swimming in the lagoon, planting the gardens, and making love for hours before returning home. Upstairs in the growing area they plant what they can't on the islands without upsetting the ecobalance and celebrate Thanksgiving a couple days later, decorating the dorm for the lights festival and seeing the decorations going up around town.

A couple days before the Lights Festival, David and Josette talk to somebody from the sorting planet and Dr. Stark about the apartment complexes and furnishing them.

"We might be interested in a power production building but don't have the people to charge the batteries with everybody working. Same thing with the laundry, we just don't have the people right now."

"No but you will as more students finish their university classes and leave the school." Dr. Stark says. "Nobody says you have to live on the planets you work on with the longer days and switching stations."

"True." they start haggling on what they want now and in the future, working up an agreement before heading to their own planets. Josette calls all the managers together.

"Have the orders been canceled?" the candlemaking manager looks at Josette.

"Nope, in fact they've been extended. After we're done with the apartments for Wayne Industries and Stark International in three years, you're going to be doing the same thing for the sorting planet and Archimedes. David brought out an apartment complex to the sorting planet a couple weeks ago since we're growing commercially there now and they're putting one up on Archimedes on the same principle." Josette sends them the information.

"Ohhh man."

"I figure a complex on the animal planet when we start growing there should be enough apartments for all the students currently at school. Nobody says we have to live on the planet we're working on." The others nod.

"Get everybody told?" Michael asks when she comes back to the dorm.

"Yep, they're excited and a little scared."

"Can't blame them, this is a big step for us." Alexander says coming out of the studio. "Your books and the meeting at Agatha's?"

"Meeting is tomorrow, we've got some of the Amish women and people from Smallville attending too. I'll pick the books up next week when I go out to scout out locations for the new apartment complex. Won't be going up next spring for them since Sanders is busy with the other one right now and next year they'll be finishing the home renovations for Albatross."

Josette heads back to the first planet a couple days after coming back from Archimedes, picking the black olives and putting them in barrels filled with brine before heading to the offworld planting area where the grapes are planted, harvesting them and bringing them back to the winery where they're pressed and put in aging barrels, bottling the oldest barrels before putting the notice on the server. She chuckles as a couple minutes later the order from Vincent comes in as she's delivering cases of wine to the store.

"Thank you Josette," Vincent says when she delivers the wine the next day. "Did you check on the olives while you were offplanet?"

"Yeah, I've got three barrels at the dorm. I picked them before I harvested the grapes."

"Ice wine?

"Should be another month or so before I harvest the rest of the grapes."

The next day they head off to the other dimension, finding a note on the computer when they arrive. Shrugging they update their computer links and head off in opposite directions. They return to Haven an hour later, Josette starts bringing stuff out after lunch.

"Gah!" Josette shivers. She pulls on an old disreputable looking but warm sweatshirt and a second pair of socks. "We'll have a storm by bed."

"Bad?" David asks.

"Three or four inches of snow by morning, maybe a foot by the time it moves through by the end of the week. Be more wind and cold than anything."

"We'll check on the animals and get them inside then. A week?"

"Yeah, we'll be able to get to the barn easily."

The rest of the year passes quickly and the day after the Lights Festival Josette splits off duplicates to head off to start working again on stuff for the vampire planet apartment complex before heading off to breakfast with the others, then heading to the government building for the first meeting of the year.

"You've made good progress with everything for the vampire planet." Doc says looking at the list of what they've already taken out and what they have left."

"We've had experience and since we're not under a rush and it's the same thing we're making good progress. Which is good since we have eleven solid years of work with this one to get everything furnished, more if and/or when we start growing on the animal planet."

"One year less than the school will be open." Josette shakes her head. "The offplanet students?"

"Starting first grade with your six, the teachers are working with them to make sure they can keep up." the others nod. "David, is the list of what we want done to the school complete?"

"Yes, Dad, Joshua, and I have been looking it over and sorting it by priority. Except for something like the school library addition, it's all minor stuff that can be handled on weekends and during the breaks. And that's probably going to be handled by tesseract."

"Good, that's even better." Principal Madison sighs. "This way Katrina can stop dropping 'gentle' hints about my office and the administration building." The others chuckle. "Some of the buildings in town probably could use some work, it's been years since they were brought out."

David sends an announcement on the server. "There, anything major they can let me know. Minor stuff they can talk to us as Dad or I go through the buildings. Making the buildings tesseracts took care of most of the problems the candle and soapmakers had but they had a couple other things that needed worked on. We're going to take care of that when they have the renovations in Albatross finished."

"Can you work on that while they're working on the stuff for the other planets?"

"Yeah, it's just stuff nobody thought about before the buildings went up because the architects didn't have the common sense to talk to people who actually do the work. . .they would have told them what changes needed to be made." David snorts. "Of course part of it might have been the 'who are you to tell me what needs to be done? This is my work, plebe' mentality that was common on Earth. At least until the world started going to hell in a handbasket. Then people started wising up and they got their asses handed to them for being spoiled, selfish brats. That's why we had so many lawsuits from idiots who got told no about coming to Haven and sued to get their way because 'Daddy said I was spe-shul." Sniggers from the others.

"That's why GD was very picky about who they brought out, a lot of people with Ph.Ds who thought they were better than God were told to fuck off and people who didn't have them but had common sense and could work with others were brought out."

"Some people learn better outside of the classroom and don't need the three letters after their name to do the same job." President Bartlett says. "They might eventually get the pretty papers, but they're not as rabid about it."

"And some get the pretty papers because others are rabid about it." David mutters. The others laugh at him. He gives them sour looks.

"CJ and Bruce get the same thing from Thomas, it's the sign of being a good parent." Josette says calmly.

"Did CJ finish his Oxford degree?'

"Yeah, a couple years ago. He's going to be a year into a second degree the end of this year. He got his basic degree out of the way, now he's building onto it." The others nod. "Bruce is just over halfway done with his Chemical Engineering Masters. He's taking a year off classes to work full-time on the project and paper before going back to them." The others nod.

The rest of the week passes quickly and soon it's the night before the first semester starts and the twins and Josette head off to the auditorium. After a few announcements they talk about the plans for the school renovations and other things.

"Frances, Elaine, how are you two on classes?"

"Dead this year, most of the students in high school who want to take the classes already have but that will give us time to work on the renovations we want. The fine arts buildings are going to be doing the same thing in a couple of years." The teachers there nod.

"Josette, how many classes are you taking this semester?"

"Only 29, I'm got three hands-on ones at Assyrian in different stages, I'm finishing the hand-on natural dyes projects this year, I'm starting the hands-on buttonmaking degree, and I'm finishing the last three classes to be a year into the cooking degree. I'm also finishing a hands-on degree from Edinborough this year and want to get in the last years from Cambridge and Oxford."

"Josette, the musical instruments degree?" the music teacher turns to look at her.

"Starting the second year for the books portion of the curriculum, right now it's an overview of the different types of instruments with detailed drawings. The second degree gets into working on the actual instruments."

"Cambridge and Oxford?"

"I lack three semesters for Oxford and two for Cambridge. I'm picking up one of the three this semester, if I finish early I'll pick up another semester somewhere."

"What are you taking on the school computer since you're starting two degrees again?"

"One of the comic book degrees that I haven't started the curriculum yet and the electrical engineering degree from MIT. I'm a year into the chemistry degree but I start hitting labs this year too. I gotta talk to Dr. Stark about that over the break."

"David did his projects while we were taking our tests."

Josette nods. "I can do it anytime during the semester though, just as long as we have a lab set up. Hell, as long as somebody supervises me nights or weekends I could do it here." The teachers nod.

The next few weeks pass and Josette slides into her seat at the pushed together tables in the testing center.

"How's the crops coming along on the island?"

"Good, I went up yesterday to check over everything. We should have the early stuff starting to come in soon." The talk then turns to classes, Dr. Stark nodding and making plans to talk to the teachers about Josette's labs when she starts her chem classes this summer.

"Is there any backlash about only a few people farming?" Dr. Cross asks.

"Not when people know how much work gardens are, farming is worse since there's larger fields full of different crops that need to be taken care of. It's not like Earth where people just saw the money coming in when the crops sell during a good year, they didn't see the money going out, the hard work, the bad years. . ." The others nod. "They just saw quick money. I'm sure if Earth was still around and it wasn't in the middle of an ice age, they'd be suing to get into the action and suing because we don't use fertilizers, just good old compost and manure."

Vincent makes a rude sound that makes Josette snigger. Dr. McNider chuckles. "But how can you farm without fertilizers? And you don't buy new machinery every year? How can you do that to me?" He says in a mock trembling voice.

"Easy, it's called caring for the land. . .not the almighty dollar. Only growing what we need. And making do with what we have." Josette snorts. "Right now our biggest splurge is the apartment complexes going up by the commercial growing areas, but I can see them having inhabitants in a few years." The others nod. "We spread out to other planets, but we haven't spread out beyond the first settlements on the same planets. You setting up an area on the first planet, Clark, Thomas, and CJ putting up a lab on the second planet, and now these apartment complexes means we're spreading out."

"What about the 11th planet?" Josette chuckles.

"We're going over the information from the two years and hope to repeat the experiment longer next time. If we do, it will be for five years with more buildings, as a first step for an eventual permanent settlement on a winter planet. If we do, you, Clark, and CJ will have the job of delivering the supplies and putting up the labs. Right now we're looking at one on the equator and one on the pole with the original partway between them so we have readings from all the climates." Josette nods as the buzzer sounds to end the morning session.

"Get everything settled for your chem labs?"

"Yes, I'll give the school the assignments when Josette signs up for her classes so she can work there nights and weekends. You might have to only take three classes a semester." Josette nods as Vincent puts a plate in front of her and a bottle of Archimedes Dew. "Thank you Vincent."

"Are you three still getting the furniture out as fast as you were when you had the former students waiting?" Dr. McNider asks.

"Faster I'd say," Alexander says. The others nod. "We don't have to hurry because we don't have them waiting on the furniture to get out of temporary housing. We're also making the same thing one after the other. . ."

Josette nods. "We're not having to stop and see what the next order involves, we can keep on going until we finish a batch of whatever furniture we're working on. Meanwhile, I'm plugging away on the smaller stuff and at the end of the semesters or before the Harvest Festival we take in a batch of what we have finished. The end of the year I take in what the others have been working on since they're running out of room and they can take a break until the first of the next year."

"Toothbrush factory?"

"Coming out in a couple of months."

"Josette, what's the biggest problems with a canning factory?" Dr. McNider asks.

"We don't grow a single crop large enough to need one, we don't have enough people to need one, and we'd need a second factory to make the cans themselves." Josette ticks off other points on her fingers after putting down her silverware. "Food factories got a bad rap on Earth, well deserved since every time we turned around they seemed to be having problems with food safety." The others nod.

"Cutting corners to increase profits, shoddy inspections, or both." Dr. Stark agrees.

"And sometimes it's one of the farms that send them the crops." Nods from the others again. "With everybody canning or drying their own food, food-borne illnesses don't spread quickly. And if there's a problem, thank god we haven't had any, it's taken care of quickly since we have to eat the food, we can't just send it off to be somebody else's problem."

"Yes, that's one things the commercial growers didn't do."

"No, and despite the fines and supposed other punishments, nobody really stopped." Josette snorts. "Like I said earlier, it was all about the money." The others nod.

"Aren't the food factories in the other dimension computer run and all the food checked before it's accepted?"

"Yes, and the few commercial growers who sent in bad stuff because putting in an insurance claim wouldn't have meant a profit lost their licenses and got heavy fines. And yes, we have the factories on the first planet, but we don't need them."

"Not with everybody canning their own food." Dr. Cross agrees. "The apartment complexes have communal gardens and their own plots, don't they?"

"Oh yes."

After lunch Josette heads back to Haven, absorbing some of the duplicates that had been out and about. At dinner she nudges Clark and CJ, who are talking with Doc, Bruce, and Thomas in the back room. "GD is talking about expanding the lab on the eleventh planet for a second test, this one to last five years."

"Really?" Thomas asks, everybody looking at her. "Yeah, Dr. Stark and I were talking about it after my tests." Josette looks at the front screen. "He's going to contact you about the labs I need for the chemistry degree." On the screen Principal Madison nods. "Anyway, they want to add at least two more setups, one by the equator where if they do have a growing season. . ." Nods from the others. "And the other by the pole?" Clark asks. Josette nods. "Labs in all three climates, each to see how being so far from the suns affects plant growth and other tests."

"Including how long you can stand being in such close contact with no outside interference?"

"And how long it takes until Dr. Stark wants to beat you for whining." Josette sniggers.

"Is this a possible first step towards a permanent settlement on an ice planet?" Principal Madison asks in the front room. Josette nods on the screen. "Possibly, it won't be for centuries though." Everybody in the back room nods, the front table doing the same when Principal Madison passes along that news.

"Josette, how's your classes coming?" CJ asks.

"Good, I'll be a year for both Oxford and Cambridge after this semester and I want to pick up another semester over the break for Oxford so I can finish it this summer. I'm starting the chem classes next year, though I'll probably only be getting in three a semester with the labs." Nods from the others.

"Electrical Engineering?"

"First year or so is all books, then we start working on the hands-on, learning about the circuits and whatnot. Stuff I've already been learning from the cities and helping set up the labs." Nods from the others. "Rather than actual projects though, everything will be on the computer for the degree."

"Why not do the chem labs that way?"

"The projects build on each other and can be used for other things at GD, that's why the two degrees were worked on after the loss of Earth."

"Waste not, want not. It may be pious but it's words to live by."

"The old ways shouldn't be ignored just because they're old. They lasted for a reason." Nods from the others.

"Damn it, I sound like one of those miserable old women who were always looking their noses down on people because 'we didn't do that in the old days'." Josette shakes her head as the others laugh.

"Josette, I hate to break it to you but you're 91, you would be one of those miserable old biddies on Earth." David says patting her on the shoulder.

"Wouldn't speak too soon grandpa, you'd be one of the old guys eating dinner at 4pm to get the early bird special and not driving over 20 miles an hour." Josette snorts. The others laugh.

"Are we going to be grandparents again?" Thomas asks dryly.

"If not it's not from lack of trying." David smirks.

"Not me but the girls were . .." Josette's interrupted by a priority incoming message beep on her PADD. Watching the attachment she blinks and starts it again before dropping on the floor cackling. She waves the PADD in midair, somebody taking it.

"Wellll," CJ drawls watching the footage from the testing center. "Abby can stop tormenting Anna about laying down on the job since she's got one more child than she does."

"Twins?" Principal Madison sighs. CJ holds up three fingers.

"OI frigging vey." He moans. Everybody looks at him. "Triplets."

"Twins for Abby and Susan." He hands the PADD back to Josette once she's stopped cackling like a loon.

"At least we have other teachers to take over the classes when the girls have to go on maternity leave." Professor Druid sighs. Josette sends off messages to the others to expect a call in a couple days when the girls finish their tests, getting moaning e-mails back from Ma, Clarinda, and Mom.

David looks at Josette. "Are we four for four?"

"No, I'm too busy right now with all the stuff to try to get pregnant. Give it a few more years."

"This is probably the time to tell you that they're going to have cousins the same age." Doc chuckles.

"Here too." Thomas sighs. "Mary is a teenager and the boys are nearly as old."

"Well at least you won't be turning as old as as many children we have for a while." David says as Josette gets up and takes her seat again.

"Oh shut up." Josette grumbles. "Just remember, you're going to have a talk with your mother as soon as the news reaches them. And she's not going to be happy."

"Awwwwww SHIT!"

"Suffer." The others shake their heads and laugh.

"103 grandchildren." Mary moans in Eureka a few hours later after the others have finished their tests and had dinner at the Cafe. They're all sitting around their house in Eureka.

"Better than the heir, the spare, and Bob." Susan snorts.

"Wha. . .No, I don't want to know what was going through what passes for my son's mind at that comment." Mary sighs. She looks over at her chortling husband.

"At least it's not just us this time, Josette says Clark and Thomas are expecting, Pat and Bethany too."

"When is the toothbrush factory going up?" Alan asks. "And yes, I'm changing the subject."

"Should be about your second testing week if everything still happens according to plan." James says. "We're going to be starting the process of installing the links to the factory and supplies in a week or so."

"Do the factories have anything for us this year?"

"No, Josette said the candy factory will probably be putting up the poll after the Harvest Festival and the toothpaste and plastics factory filled their orders last year."

"How are we on baby clothes?"

"Something I'm sure Lady Hera, Lord Apollo, and Lady Aphrodite took care of when they went off to take care of the nursery."

"The Lords and Ladies take care of everything?" David asks when they get back to the dorm.

"Yep." Josette looks through the drawers and shelves in the closets. "I'll send out a note to the diaper service tomorrow to let them know to expect our business." Josette comes out, hugging Mom, Ma, and Clarinda. They'd all suspected the news from the note and had come out to talk to the others. The news that Clark and Thomas have a baby in the chamber and that Pat and Bethany are expecting too are met with congratulations.

The next day Josette goes into town after breakfast to do some shopping. Marilyn is behind the counter at the yarn store and blinks as Josette starts filling a cart then laughs.

"Really?"

"Yep, the girls, Pat, and Bethany. And Clark and Thomas have a baby in the chamber."

"Awwwww." Marilyn starts to say, then counts the yarn. "How many?"

"Well, Abby can stop twitting Anna about having one more child than she does. Abby and Susan are having twins, Anna's having triplets."

Sue, who'd come into the building to see if Marilyn wanted lunch, starts swearing. Agatha who's behind her laughs despite herself. Josette looks at them and smirks.

"Yeah, so we're expecting a 'really, girls' sigh from Mom when they come back from Archimedes today."

"I'll order a couple pizzas." Marilyn chuckles. "Are Pat, Bethany, and Clark and Thomas only expecting one?"

"We think so, we won't know about Clark and Thomas until they open the chamber but . . ." Josette shrugs and pulls up a stool to the table.

"How's the progress going on the apartment complex?"

"Good. which is good since Dad's got a crew working on one on the sorting planet by the growing areas and there's one coming up on Archimedes in a couple of years."

"Oh man." Marilyn moans. "Same sort of arrangement?"

"Yep, instead of two more years after this one to work on stuff. . .we have ten. More if we put up an apartment complex on the animal planet when we start growing there. But between them and the second one we put up here everybody will have permanent homes by the time they get out of the dorms."

"Which is the important thing." Agatha says firmly. The others nod. "How long is the school open?"

"Twelve years with this one, with our six, the Amish children, and the offworld children the only students the last four years."

"When is this next batch of Amish children starting?"

"Next year, they're attending the 'what happened to the earths' intro class at the education center this year."

"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it."

"Usually at Hogwarts." Josette snorts. The others laugh. "How's the renovations going for the textiles buildings?"

"Good. Dad's coming out again this weekend to check on the next stage. That should be expanding the buildings by tesseract. You can be in the building as that happens but it's a little .. .unsettling. You feel like you're on a roller coaster. . .or that's how we felt when they were working on the dorm for the first time. Now since they only work on one floor at a time, if it gets too bad they can just go up or down one flight of stairs and it gets better."

"How long does it take?"

"Usually a couple of days. The renovations to the rooms after they've shifted is the longer job."

"So get one floor enlarged, then work on what needs to be worked on afterwards, then start on another?"

"Yep, that's how we did it before we started adding onto the dorm by tesseract. Not only were we enlarging the rooms, we were tearing up the old industrial carpeting and linoleum in the bathrooms and adding larger windows to our rooms. Once we had the first floor done, we worked on the second, concentrating on my workrooms."

"Makes sense."

A couple hours later Josette comes back to the dorm, putting her bags upstairs in her room as the switching station alarm sounds and the others arrive back home. The girls swat David on the head on the way to their rooms. "From Mom until she can get here this weekend and beat you to death good and proper." Everybody in earshot sniggers. Almost as if their arrival had summoned her, the tesseract alarm sounds a minute later and Alice crosses her arms as she looks at the girls.

"Aht, get back here." She says as Josette starts down the hall.

"Bathroom."

"Really girls?" Alice asks when Josette comes back, sliding into a spot between Michael and Abby.

"I think the boys had a little something something to do with us becoming pregnant." Susan snorts. "Because it's still biologically impossible for us to knock each other up yet."

Andrew snorfles from his spot against the wall and Alice gives him a disgusted look, but everybody can see she's trying not to laugh.

The next few weeks pass quickly, Dad coming out to start the process of adding the toothbrush factory to the warehouse and starting to work on the renovations to the textiles buildings, starting with Josette's workroom.

"How is everything on Haven?" Dr. McNider asks the second testing week when Josette slides into her seat after finishing the tests.

"Hopping. The toothbrush factory is going in, Dad's working on the renovations for the textiles buildings. The girls officially go on maternity leave during our third testing week. I'm checking the stores of clothes we have made up, seeing if we need to start a batch. Dad and I are talking about the plans for the renovations to the school library and I'm clearing out Principal Madison's office so it can be redecorated in a couple of days."

"What's going on?"

"Cleaning, painting. Alexander's working on the desk. Mostly just stuff that he's been putting off as not necessary. Stuff that's driven Professor Druid up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the opposite wall more than once." The three men snigger. "I can get his office cleaned out in an hour and ready for the more intensive work the next morning. He might be out of it a few days but it makes Professor Druid happy." The three men snigger again. "Because then her office gets taken care of."

"And your office?" Dr. Stark says dryly.

"In the library? Good. Though I think once their offices are done Professor Druid's going to hint about mine."

"In the administration building, you are second in command after all."

"When would I be there?" Josette snorts. "I'd say the whole school is my office but that's an understatement."

"The whole planet is your office." Dr. Cross says dryly.

"More the truth." The buzzer sounds and the others come over, the girls already in maternity clothes.

When Josette gets back to Haven she heads to the island, checking on the gardens and bringing in the early crops from them and the growing area upstairs. David helps her put everything away.

"Do you think that the girls will be able to make the third testing week?"

"Nope, Dr. Stark already told us Dr. Blake and a proctor would come out to give them their tests since they're all carrying multiples. Dr. Blake's coming out to stay then, I'm sure the grandmothers and our sisters will be coming out a couple weeks later."

David nods, making a note to put the girls in adjoining rooms. And put bath stuff in the bathrooms.

"How are Pat and Bethany?"

"Disgusted with Doc, who's just smiling at them." David smirks, he's getting the same treatment from the other girls.

Josette chuckles and heads back upstairs, absorbing part of the duplicates that had been out and about all day.

"How long are the girls off?"

"At least through the 2nd semester, that will give them time to work on their papers." David nods he'd be doing the same thing.

The next day Josette starts clearing out Principal Madison's office, setting up a working area in the boardroom since it's not often used. Principal Madison sighs when everything's cleared out. "I didn't realize just how much stuff I've gathered in there over the years." He takes a box out of a desk drawer, putting it carefully in his pocket. David looks at her, he's busy taking measurements.

"There's some things that are precious to a person, for me it was my mom's picture, her gun, her ashes, and Samhein. I could lose most everything and live out of a backpack but as long as I had those. . ." David nods. "For Principal Madison it's whatever he keeps in that box, something of his father's."

"They're sacred."

"Exactly." They continue taking measurements, looking towards the door when a shadow falls into the room. "Oh this is already ten times better just by having everything out." Professor Druid says. "James?"

"In the boardroom. You don't know just how much stuff you accumulate over the years until you have to move it all. Or someone else has to."

"Amen, your first floor room was bad enough so many years ago. Moving your stuff now would take months. . .if not years."

Josette snorts. "We'd just move the whole building like we did last time." Professor Druid chuckles. The cleaning robots come in after everybody heads out. "Is everything in the boardroom?"

"The current stuff. The older stuff is in the overflow store room to be looked over."

"We've needed a couple of weeks to just sort through everything and move it to permanent microfilm storage or dispose of it. We've been meaning to but. . . "

"Stuff happens." Josette says. Professor Druid nods. "Sometimes you need a new set of eyes and pair of hands. Or two. Or ten. Like when the government had to go through their shelves of saved documents and weeded it down from a building to a room. Despite their whining they needed copies of memos from 2012 to cut down on toilet paper. . ." Professor Druid guffaws. "Yeah, that sounds like government nitpicking." She rolls her eyes and changes the subject. "What's the stores of clothes?"

"Good, we won't need to open the clothing factory until spring."

"Toothbrush?"

"Going in now."

She hugs her and checks the time before heading to class. They check Professor Druid's office, making plans for what they're going to need to do before heading back to the dorm. After lunch Josette goes upstairs and pets the cabinets and starts cutting out more blocks for her current project while a half-dozen of her other selves are busy knitting and crocheting baby caps and booties, blankets, and adult socks for the girls, Pat, and Bethany as well as new Daddy again gifts for the others.

The next few weeks pass quickly, Josette finishing her online classes a couple of days before the third testing week and go out to the ranch to check on the fields.

"Couple more weeks?" David asks when she returns.

"Yeah, I'll help Dad out with the fields and garden since Mom will be here with the girls." David nods and Josette walks upstairs, walking into one of the cabinets that disappears. It reappears about ten minutes later, Josette coming out and shaking her head as she pets the cabinet and settles back to finishing the last set of blocks for the quilt top so she can start putting it together.

"The dorm needs a good airing out." Susan says at dinner that night. The others nod. "The air cleaners help, so does having doors or windows open until it gets too cold but . .."

"We need to have all the doors and windows open for a few hours." Josette says. The others agree.

"How's the administration building coming along?"

"Good, they enlarged the building before they started working on the offices. Now they're redoing the boardroom and other rooms as they have the time and by how much work they need beyond 'this is driving me nuts, do something'." The others snigger and nod.

"How's the textiles building coming along?"

"Good. We're working on a floor at a time and Frances and Elaine love all the extra room."

The next morning Josette, Alan, Andrew, and Michael head off to the testing center after Josette's split off a dozen duplicates to handle the crops coming in on the islands gardens and upstairs as well as her other jobs. A few minutes later the switching station opens again and Dr. Blake arrives, hugging David and the girls.

"Project?"

"I'll be finished with it by the middle of summer, and have a thesis finished by the end of the summer."

"Good." Dr. Blake starts putting her clothes and other stuff away. "How are the fields looking?"

"The snow's melting well, Josette should be able to spread manure by the end of next week and plant a couple weeks after that. And we'll be able to open all the windows and doors and air the dorm out for a few hours."

"We do that as soon as the weather gets warm enough, the air cleaners aren't as good as real fresh air. Those labs that have windows generally open theirs at least once during the winter, so do many apartments."

Josette nods. "We open windows and doors during the winter but the cold makes us close them after a few minutes. That's not long enough to get the lived in smell out of the dorm."

"No, but it helps your room." Josette says, coming into the hallway and bringing out baskets of food from the island.

"Is this everything?"

"Hell no, I'll be picking just as much in a couple of days. I already passed along some to Mom and Ma." David nods in satisfaction. "The drying stations on the island are full." They go into the kitchens, starting to work on everything. for a couple of days. By the end of the week everything's in and Josette nods at the shelves of food in the kitchens before joining with her other selves that had been working shifts in town.

"Cotton?" David asks a couple days later.

"Yeah since we've got the other apartment complexes to furnish." Josette yawns, looking out the window at the rain. "This will get everything off to a good start after I plant." The others nod. A few days later Josette starts planting, everything in a few days later.

"Done?" David asks when Josette absorbs her other selves one night.

"Yeah, everything's in and I took the furniture to Salem since Hank was running out of. . ."

"GOD DAMN SUNNABITCH!!!! SHIT!!!!! WHAT SHE SAID!!!!"

"Room at the woodworking studio." Josette finishes what she was saying as David snickers and Alexander sends out the cleaning robots as Alan, Dr. Blake, and Michael help the girls upstairs. Josette sends out the announcements that the girls water had broken before she goes upstairs.

"Are you getting in another semester?" Dr. Blake asks after examining the girls and getting them settled in beds.

"Yeah, I'm starting a lit degree from my original sosh school on girl fiction when I finish this last semester in a few days."

"Oxford?"

"I'm getting in a semester in over the break and the last this summer. Cambridge I'll get a semester in over the second break and finish it this fall. I need to talk to my advisors about more degrees."

A couple days later Anna has had three sons, Abby a boy and a girl, and Susan has had two girls.

"Boys win."

"Only this pregnancy, the girls still have lead by 17." Josette says, the other women snicker. She heads out to answer the computer, coming back in a few minutes later. "Bethany had a boy and a girl."

"I didn't know she was having twins." Dr. Blake says, looking at her.

"Neither did she until Doc saw the afterbirth had hair. Lord Loki's cackling at all the swearing and threats if Pat's having twins too."

The news that Pat had a boy and Clark and Thomas had twin girls when they opened the chamber a few days later has everybody lifting their glasses in a toast. Pictures are sent out and cooed over and a few days later Josette, Alan, Alexander, and Michael head off to Eureka for their finals. A couple days after that Josette moves the last of the finished furniture to Salem and heads off to the vampire planet, picking up the payment after the lists are updated and the furniture delivered. Back on Haven Josette sends the payment to Hank's account. He nods after updating his records.

"How's the apartment complex on the sorting planet coming along?"

"Finished last week, the crew's switched back to Albatross to finish working on the last of the renovations now that we can paint and whatnot without running people out of their homes. They have low VOC paints but still being able to open the windows helps a lot."

The break comes and Josette gets in a semester from Oxford and another semester on the Flash comic book degree before the summer semester starts.

"How many classes are you looking at?"

"27, including 3 for the chem degree. I'll see how I fast I get through them if I want to pick up another semester for one of my comic book, Montague, or the sosh school degrees. All depends on how much work the crops and offworld harvests are."

"Finishing Oxford?"

"Yeah."

The new semester starts and Josette settles down into her classes, working at the various

places in town, and checking on the crops. The first offworld harvests start coming in and Josette's busy for a couple weeks as she's transporting people to harvest and picking up the harvests the machines handle.

"Are you done for a few days?" Anna asks when she comes into the dining hall for lunch, checking in on the babies sleeping in the strollers before filling her first tray.

"Yeah, until our crops start coming in. Then I'll have a couple more offworld harvests. It's a bitch working on ours and the offworld ones but it can't be helped." The others nod.

"Not when we realize that without the gardens we'd be relying strictly on the replicator since our reserves would have run out years ago. That was one of the problems with Earth, the reliance on stores. If they had vanished on Earth we'd have had rioting in the streets and people starving. . .here it's 'meh, who cares?'." The others snigger.

"Some people on Earth would have been heartbroken." Susan snorts.

"Some people on Earth were too stupid to live but somehow managed to survive anyway." Josette says.

"Y. . .yo. . .you grow your own food? B. . .bu. . .but why? There's a store isn't there?" Anna says in an 'I'm an airhead' voice

"And where the hell does the food from the store come from?" David snorts.

"Trucks bring it in from somewhere else, duh." Abby smirks this time.

"No trucks, no other settlements."

"Bu. . .but that's just wrong, ewww! How can you live like that?" Alan mock-whines this time.

"Easily." The others laugh.

The crops start coming in a couple weeks later, the girls working in the kitchen as a half-dozen Josettes work in the fields and garden, more helping Mom and Ma with their canning. A couple weeks later the new crops are in the ground and Josette's busy with the yearly crops when she's not bringing in more offworld harvests.

"Is everything in now?" Alan asks as Josette slumps into a chair.

"Yeah, I took cases of wine to Vincent along with some of the oil. There's barrels of olives in the store basement and at the dorm. The new wine is aging in barrels and I've got a batch of corn mash aging for bourbon and whiskey."

"Offworld harvests?"

"Every week until we're harvesting our own crops before the Harvest Festival. Off while we enjoy that then getting in the last ones. At least with this second batch of students graduating last year, we have people to take care of the offworld harvests and the communal gardens." The others nod.

"First planet olives?"

"In a couple of months, after we've got everything in. I'll be pressing more oil." They nod. "Everything else that didn't get sold to the other planets will be sold during the Festival." More nods before they get the babies settled in their strollers to head to the dining hall for dinner.

"How are you four coming along on your papers and your project?"

"Good."

"Josette, the smokehouse?" Principal Madison asks on the front screen.

"Going well, the fish went in this morning and should be finished in a couple of weeks. The cheese is in stasis to be brought out as needed and the peppers are strung up on wreaths and lines to dry in the sun. We'll be doing offworld harvests every week until our crops come in and the Harvest Festival, then we're getting the last of them after the Harvest Festival."

"Your classes?"

"Working on them. I'm looking at 26 classes this summer and want to pick up a semester for one of my comic book degrees sometime this year."

"Finish Oxford?"

"First classes I took this summer."

"Good, next semester?"

"Finish the first year for the electrical engineering degree, Cambridge, finish the degrees from Assyrian and Edinborough, the third semester for the cooking and chemistry degrees, be two years in for the musical instruments degree, and be three classes into the third year for the sosh school and naval academy degrees. Finish the year for the comic book degree I picked up or for the girls fiction degree I started. All depends on when I get these others finished."

"I can just see the reaction that would have gotten on Earth. 'But your honor, you have to stop her taking so many classes. It's. . .that's just not how it's done.'" The others snigger. One of the baby fusses in the stroller, Josette checking on them.

"When's the graduation ceremony for the students who left last year?"

"Next week."

The next few weeks fly by, everybody but David signing up for their fall classes one day as the crops are beginning to ripen. Josette's out in the fields by the time the books and supplies for the new classes are ready to be picked up, Alan heading off to pick them up after his shift.

"How's the crops?" Dr. Stark asks.

"All coming in at once, that's why I'm picking them up instead of Josette. Which you probably figured out." Dr. Stark smirks.

"When do the girls start work again?"

"Fall semester, having all this time off allowed them to concentrate on their papers." Alan pops the containers in subspace before heading off again, delivering the containers to the dorm hallway and helping out in the garden. The crops and garden are all in and canned, dried, or stored before their guests arrive.

"Girls." Mary sighs.

"Oh I know." Alice moans, rolling her eyes. "At least Abby can stop teasing Anna about having one more child than she does."

"I do hope this is it for a while?"

"Same here." Josette grumbles. "I'm 92 years old damn it. And I know damn good and well I'm going to be hitting the baby jackpot the next time I do become pregnant." The others chuckle and nod.

Josette, the various Doctors, the Doc who's a time Lord, and Jack head off the day after the party, coming back an hour or so later. Then the next day Clark and Doc head off with the Doc who's a time lord, returning a while later. Josette's talking on the computer station and they see Dr. Stark's office on the screen before Josette ends the connection.

"Eleventh planet?" Clark asks when she turns back to them.

"Yeah, they're deciding on areas for the new labs right now, the first batch of supplies should be ready to be delivered sometime next year, they figure about six before we can start putting up the labs."

"Six?" Time Lord Doc asks.

"Deliveries of building supplies, then probably a dozen deliveries of food and other supplies. The first experiment was two years for one set of buildings, this one is going to be three sets of buildings one on the equator since if a winter planet has a growing season it will be there, the original lab, and one in the arctic. And five years."

"No outside interference beyond computer contact?"

"Exactly, they had a biosphere years ago at GD until they had to shut down the project when a plant virus started people mutating. Though the lab had a switching station for medical emergencies."

"Even if Dr. Stark did want to beat them for being whiny brats." Josette sniggers.

"Starting to get on each other's nerves towards the end of the experiment?"

David nods. "With the lab there wasn't really a place you could go to get away from the others. And whining about everything they'd been excited about when the experiment started." The guests snicker and nod. "Man's not meant to be stuck in enclosed spaces for any length of time."

"That's why subs and aircraft carriers had shore leave."

After the Harvest Festival Josette heads off with people for another offplanet harvest after their visitors have left.

"Is that it?"

"Two more, one next week and the last the first week of the semester. That way we have a week for each harvest." The others nod. "Next year they'll all be in by the Harvest Festival."

"Is everybody still growing a full garden?" Anna asks.

"Yeah, there's been a lot of interest on the servers for recipes when we started introducing new stuff at the Harvest Festival last year."

"Class?"

"First one for Cambridge and finishing the 2nd year music degree next week."

The next few weeks fly by and Josette slides into her seat at the pushed together tables in the testing center.

"Did you find out if they can do the bristles?"

"Yes, that's one thing out of the way. We still need to make the bristles but we can replicate them if we don't have the machinery. I need to do a little more looking."

"Shouldn't be that difficult."

"No, just a bit of injection molding. Same thing we'd be doing if we ever make plastic silverware instead of metal. Or even a combination." The others nod.

"Classes?"

"Finished Cambridge when the semester started and I'm going to pick up the 2nd semester for the girls fiction degree from the sosh school. I'll be three semesters into the cooking degree and the chem degree, and a year in for the others."

"Alexander and Michael will be finished with their degrees next year." Dr. Stark says.

"Yeah, they're debating taking a year off, picking up a third comic book degree, or going on for a Masters from the comic book school. They'll figure it out before they have to sign up for the following years classes."

"CJ?"

"A year into Oxford, Mary should be graduating in a couple of years and starting university. Adam and Brett will be starting high school in a few years and Thomas and Bruce are about three semesters into their degrees."

"How's the gardens?"

"Good, everybody's growing full gardens this year and last to make sure we have fruit and vegetables over the winter after running out two years ago thanks to the late storm. We're adding new stuff at the Harvest Festival and people are checking recipes on the server. I've been making new stuff when the crops come in, they are too."

The three men nod in satisfaction. "It's always nice to try new things. And if they don't like it they don't have to make it again."

"Nobody's making giant batches of stuff." Dr. Cross agrees.

"Exactly, the communal garden stuff might seem like a lot when you're looking at it to have to take care of but when everything's portioned out you might get one or two good batches of something out after you've eaten your full of fresh fruit and veggies."

"Multiply that by three harvests and you have a good stock of food for winter, even before the offworld harvests are passed out. More if you have a second growing area or your own garden. Even with just one harvest from them it's an additional source of food for yourself or your family."

"Are you planting peppers next year on the first planet?" Vincent asks.

"Possibly, I need to check how many peppers we have left. The first batch should be running low." The others nod.

"Olives?"

"Going out in a couple weeks to pick and press. I'll be on the planet several weeks since I'm going to be spending some time in my fortress too."

"Do you have any black olives?"

"Two barrels aging in brine in the dorm. I'm harvesting more green olives for oil this year." He nods in satisfaction. "This year will be a full crop though I'm still only selling by special order."

"Are the black olives already sliced?"

"Yep,that way I could get them in two barrels. I'll bring out a glass jar as I need them for tacos, nachos, and pizza." Josette covers her mouth with her elbow and lets loose a rumbling belch.

"Chickpeas?"

"No, just a sour stomach."

"Baking soda and water." Dr. McNider says.

Josette nods. "Took it before we left, this is just the last of it." The buzzer sounds and the others begin to come to the tables after using the bathroom. They talk about their papers, their classes, Josette finishing Cambridge and what degrees she's picking up in the future as Vincent puts plates in front of them. After lunch the others head back to their tests and Josette heads back, hugging Mom and Ma who's come out to help with the babies and absorbing her other selves that had been out and about all day.

"How is everybody coming on the vampire planet orders?"

"Good, most will be around halfway done, some a little more and some a little less. All depends on what they're making." David nods. "Chem lab?"

"After dinner, starting my second class." The next couple of weeks pass and Josette heads off to the first planet, harvesting olives and pressing out the oil along with getting some in barrels to eat instead of leaving them on the trees to ripen fully. Nearly three months later she flies back to Haven, landing and putting everything in storage and sending out notes that the new oil is ready. She's not surprised when the orders start coming in and she chuckles before sending off the orders on Haven and heading to Archimedes with their orders.

"Thank you Josette." Vincent says when she appears at the door, bringing out the cases of oil in the storeroom. "Do you get many orders?"

"Yes, the others all tried bottles and demanded more, including our family in the other dimension. I'll take some more out when we go out after our finals and Thanksgiving. Thomas likes cooking to relax, so does Winston. Drs, Stark, Blake, and McNider brought some too, so did Sheriff Carter for when Dr. Stark's in a mood to cook at the bunker. You're actually my last stop on Archimedes."

Vincent waves her to the counter and has a plate of food in front of her in a few minutes. The bell tingles a minute later and Josette looks over to see Ray sliding onto the stool next to her.

"Josette, do you have any more first planet olive oil?"

"Beyond the half-dozen cases I just delivered to the firehouse from this second harvest?"

"Oh thank you, we've been out and about and haven't been checking our e-mails." Winston says, sliding onto the stool on her other side and nodding thanks at Vincent when he puts a coffee in front of him.

"Peter ordered them the minute I sent the announcement out."

Josette returns to Haven about an hour later.

"Get the oil delivered?" David asks.

"Yeah, and the rest is in storage for our use and later orders from the others. I pressed more oil and I also have a few more barrels of olives in brine, plus containers of olive paste." Josette smirks. She spreads that on sandwiches for an extra kick. The others shudder.

"Do I wanna know?" President Bartlett asks at Josette's smirk in the back room.

"Josette harvested the first world olives today. She has more oil. . ." President Bartlett nods. "I ordered a couple cases she delivered before going to Archimedes. More olives in barrels to eat by the handful or olive paste to spread on her sandwiches? That's the 'how can you eat that' shudder." Professor Druid sighs.

"Both." Principal Madison snickers.

Everybody at the front table chuckles.

"How is Josette coming along in her chem labs?"

"Good. I've been talking with one of the chemists at GD who's grading everything." Professor Druid says. "We don't really have a chemistry program like Tesla does but it's not needed for this stage since it's overview and gradual learning."

"Which is the best way to learn." The others nod.

"And crosstraining so that people know how to do other things than just their particular area." More nods.

The second testing week comes and Josette slides into her usual seat.

"Everything going okay on Haven?"

"Yeah, the students graduating are getting excited, thankfully they'll have another four years before they have to start packing to move out of the dorms." Dr. Cross chuckles. "I put another batch of furniture on Salem since they were beginning to run low on room and I'll get the rest after Thanksgiving so I can everything over." Dr. Blake nods since Dr. Stark's off lecturing somebody for stupid shit.

"Did you guys talk to Dad about the apartment complex?"

"Yes, it's coming out in a couple of years. By the time you're finished with the vampire planet supplies and have at least one year in on the sorting planet's orders." Josette nods. "And by that time the students who graduated last year should be ready to move out of the dorms. And the students doing internships finishing theirs and moving into permanent housing." Josette nods. "And by then we might be planting on the animal planet."

"The second batch of Amish children?"

"Starting high school next year, they're taking the 'what happened to the Earths' class right now."

Dr. Blake nods as Dr. Stark comes in, whispering in her ear when he comes over to the table. She squirms in her seat and slaps him lightly.

"That's why we have seven children under a year old." Josette snorts. Dr. McNider laughs. Dr. Blake gives them disgusted looks as Dr. Stark smirks.

"Do you have a schoolroom set up?"

"Yeah, so do Doc and Clark since they home-schooled anyway. That way the kids can get in lessons besides what they will from the education center or the computer." Nods from the others. The buzzer sounds and the others come over after using the bathroom. They talk about the students graduating, the future work to supply the apartment complexes, their planned trip after Thanksgiving, and how their classes are coming along.

After lunch Josette heads back to Haven, absorbing part of her other selves that had been out and about and joining the others getting the babies settled in the strollers for dinner.

"How are you coming along on your classes?" David asks when they're back at the dorm and the babies are in the nursery after their baths.

"Good. I'm busy as hell doing four hands-on classes but that will ease off when two are finished in a couple weeks.

"Weeks, not months?"

"Weeks." Josette agrees. "I always try to get the hands-on projects in quickly so I have at least the weeks between the 3rd testing week and finals free."

"Tests?"

"Not with the hands-on, by now I should know that the hell I'm doing so they just grade the projects. They just send the grades along to GD where it's put on the server and passed along to teacher."

The next week Josette is looking over the plans for the ships with Dr. Stark and Admiral Nelson, the two men shaking their heads.

"That will be a beautiful ship."

Josette nods. "We've got the other boats but this is different. This goes back to a different age of ocean travel." Both men nod.

"Extruded plastic for the frame made to look like wood?" Admiral Nelson asks.

"Yes, and maybe the outside as well. It all depends on what the trees look like when we get the frame finished. We've got at least ten more years of furniture after all."

Dr. Stark nods. "Even with careful planting, it will be a while before the forests recover."

"Working on the frame will take a while anyway. First we'll need to extrude the plastic and mark them so they can be assembled." The other two men nod. "That will take a while, even with full crews it took years for ships to be built."

"With only the seven of you working when you can it will take even longer."

"But we've got the other ship when we want to get on the water and we can take the time to work on this one properly." The two men nod as Josette puts the plans back in a cabinet.

"Can the replicators handle this?"

"The big commercial ones can, the ones that we use for the construction of the houses and labs." David says coming into the room. Dr. Stark nods.

"Shouldn't you be taking classes?"

"I needed a break before my eyes fell out and rolled on the floor for the cats playtoys." David snorts. "What's the latest on the biogas research?"