"Yeeeessss, miserable bastard tried breaking into the house of the author he tried firing. . the conserver over him wouldn't let him add onto his house. If he couldn't have the house he wanted. . .neither should she. She can buy another house. Now he's telling a psychiatrist that if wanting to add onto his house is a sign of mental illness. . .her having a home that large means she should be put away. Little bastard's busy plotting about what he'll do with her home. . .because of course the courts will give it to *him* once she's locked away."

"And his client?" The psychiatrist called in to examine him asks a few days later.

"Josette Takahawa never has and never will be a client of his. She's a successful author and artist. . .she shows under the name Jakahawa. Her husbands show under Madison and Jalex."

"Oh Christ. . .I was at their latest show. The quilting books were flying off the tables."

"Yes. .. the old fool was graciously going to be allowing her to keep her quilting books once he turned the publishing house into what he wanted. She self-publishes those books so all the proceeds are hers."

"Something he was wailing about."

"Yep."

"Does she have a large home?"

"Yes, but she also has a large family and they all have multiple hobbies that need all the space. She doesn't have a large house to show off how important she is. . .she has a large house because it's their home."

"Exactly. Now Madison has a large home. . ." her boss snickers.

"Yes. ..because Joanne, Jessica, and I had three sets of twins before the zero-population period started. Once the kids had left home the three of us were rattling in that big house and went back to our little ones. He just wants a big home because he's a . . ."

"Fucking idiot who wants to lord his importance over everybody else." Joanne snorts from the doorway. "Josette dropped off a thumb drive for each of us, she's off attending the graduation ceremony at her comic book school."

"How are her quilting books coming?"

"The last of them will be printed this year."

"How many quilting books does she have?"

"Nearly seventy. With Josette getting all the money."

"No wonder the old fool wanted her books."

"He doesn't stop to think that the only reason they sell so well is because she offers them at their shows. The sales at Ellis's aren't a fraction of the sales there and they'd still be a thousand times better than any sales he could make."

"Amen. . .the only reason they sell so well is because she's an artist and the morons at the shows just gotta have them to say they were there and had them autographed." Jessica snorts. "Dumbass should have learned from that fool girl who wanted to step right into the big leagues here and was so sure Josette would accept her as a her agent over the three of us and turn over her quilting books. She'd double the number of books Josette sells. . .it can't be more than five or ten." The other two women snigger. "She and her daddy dearest came to one of Josette's shows to try and talk her into bringing the books under the publishing house and were stunned when they saw the books flying off the tables. Daddy dumbass asked if his darling daughter could double Josette's sales. . ..'nnnnnoooooo, she had thought Josette was funning her when she says she sells over eight thousand books at a show. And usually has two books premiering . ..and has nearly that many old books being signed."

"And of course that old fool would give her some of the money from her books. . .while greedily rolling in his profits." The receptionist snorts as she comes to the door. "Not that the old fool will ever get the chance now. . .the police just arrested him outside when he tried to shoot Josette."

"Is she okay?" Madison jumps to her feet.

"Yes, the old bastard didn't realize he had the safety on." She sniggers. "He's wailing about Josette hitting him while he was stupidly standing there pulling on the trigger. He then threw it at her, she ducked and cococked the moron before threatening to kick his ass up around his ears like his momma should have done before security grabbed him."

Josette is interviewed for a couple minutes before being allowed to leave. . .all the witnesses and security cameras backup her statement that he had attacked her.

"How the hell did he get out of his cell?" One of the jailers asks as the cell door clangs shut behind him.

"Some bleeding heart group got him out of jail under his own recognizance until the trial. It had to have been some mistake. . .he's an old man who's just confused. He doesn't know what he's doing . .the charges should have been dropped."

"Bullshit."

Josette arrives at the school and brings her cap and gown out of subspace, Hannah and Bronwen helping her dress as the others get settled in the auditorium.

"Are you goddamn stupid?" A judge roars at the whining fool in front of him. "You tried attacking that woman and got your ass handed to you like you deserved."

"But she hit me." He whines.

"And you tried shooting her but you were too stupid to realize the safety was on." He snorts. "Twenty-five years to life in the medium-security dimension." He bangs the gavel.

"But you can't do that to mmmmmmeeeeee." he wails as he's dragged off.

"Fucking fool. . .why wasn't that old fool reined in before now?"

"Because the others thought he'd finally figure out he's a goddamn moron and grow up. For everybody who's been through conservatorship and came out better for it on the other side. . .you have somebody like him."

"What are we doing with his stuff?"

"I'm all for giving it to his victim as payment for his bullshit. If she doesn't want it, sell it to help pay for his upkeep in the other dimension."

Josette moans as she looks over the grandiose mansion. "He must have been rattling in here like a dried up old pea in a pod."

Madison nods. "Why the hell did he need eight bedrooms with its own bathroom. On each floor? Three bedrooms that you'd call maids quarters plus one for a live in cook or housekeeper? Two kitchens?"

"And he wanted to add onto this again?"

"Of course he did. People might forget about him otherwise."

"He was looking for the power, he lost it when the zero-population period started and he missed it. He was so sure that schools would keep on buying books. . .because he said so."

"Just like those fools who wanted schools to stay open even without any students. The teachers should just sit in their classrooms and molder."

"What should we do with this . . ." Jessica waves a hand. Josette had been awarded his house, land, and bank accounts. Something he'd be howling about if he knew anything beyond working ten hours a day at menial labor.

"How is this zoned?"

"Residential mixed commercial. He wanted it that way for a home business that never happened."

"Can we turn this into a bed and breakfast?"

"Nope." One of the local police officers who'd been tapped to escort them says. "Dumbass got his buddies in the city council to outlaw it. . .saying it would bring the wrong kind of people into town."

"People spending money?"

"Exactly." He snorts. "Damn fool. Both of them."

Josette snaps her fingers. "Quilting and knitting retreats. Have them come in for a week or so for intensive training since we're close to a textiles school?."

"Oohhhhhhh yessss." the officer moans. "My wife owns a store here in town." He calls her and Josette grins as she can hear the yell.

"So that's what happened." Josette says when she returns to Haven three weeks later her time. The others shake their head at the sheer stupidity of the man.

Josette returns for the book tour after the Harvest Festival, detouring to the house to find baskets of yarn being put on shelves while bolts of fabric are being sorted out. One of the women starts to open her mouth but the other woman grins.

"Ms. Takahawa, how can I help you?"

"I'm in town to go over last minute details for a book tour. I wanted to stop in and see how you're doing?"

"All the spots for the first retreat are already booked. They arrive Sunday." Josette grins and heads off.

"Who is that?"

"The woman who owns this house and had the bright idea to use it for a retreat? Google Jakahawa."

"Oh my lord. . ."

"Yeah, I'm hoping she'll let us put up an area for her books."

"She tours with those books?"

"Nope, she tours with her other books. Google Josette Takahawa fiction." The other woman whistles when she reads the list of books. "No wonder that old fool was so damn determined to get her books whether she wanted him as an agent or not."

"Yep. Ms. Takahawa self-publishes her quilting books so she gets all the profits."

Josette slumps into the couch when she comes back.

"How long were you gone?"

"Seven weeks. Five of it was for the book tour then a special manufacturer sale. A comic book expo. . .and making money hand over fist in Vegas and Atlantic City."

"How are the plans coming for using the house as a retreat?"

"They had the first one while I was there, I'm getting a portion of everything. I'm just letting it sit in the account."

"Did you give them the option to buy the house from you?"

"Yep. It all depends on how successful the retreats are whether they do it or not." The others nod as Josette looks at the time and forces herself to her feet, bringing stuff out of subspace.

"Is this new?" Susan picks up one of the skeins of yarn.

"Yes, it's a new line being introduced by the manufacturers. I was able to get in a good sized batch of it at the sale and more coming with the other yarn orders."

"Lemme guess, your large orders got you that spot at the sale?"

"Yep." Josette puts everything away and looks out the window. "Have rain by dinner."

"They just predicted the storm before you arrived back home." David says. "They're also predicting an early winter, snow on the ground before we harvest and turning cool."

"Lovely, people finding room in their homes for more wood earlier than normal."

"Too bad there's no easy way to add leantos to the homes for wood."

"They've have to add another door to get in there unless you filled it and brought in the wood from the outside."

"Hell in that case just put a shed up for extra storage."

"And it wouldn't work in apartments."

"How is the news about the treadle machines coming out in Granda's dimension?"

"Some people are just seeing it as a fad. . .you know reducing your carbon footprint until they realize how useful it would be in a colony where they might not have electricity on demand and need to make clothes because they ran out of the ones they brought with them."

"Even if they had tons of clothes in storage, they're going to wear out. Which you didn't see on Gilligan's Island."

"People still think that they're going to be able to go on life as normal on a colony world."

"Why not? We did." Josette smirks as she looks at the time and they head to lunch.

"Yeah but we have to make do with limited power, heat, and people would howl at having to grow and cook their own food. Oh yeah, and they'd hate our small houses."

"And no heat at the turn of a dial? Oh god the horror." Susan pretends to faint.

"Must be talking about people on Earth expecting life as normal in colonies." Professor Druid says in the front room.

"Welllll yeah, having to do without anything would traumatize the poor darlings." One of the women in the kitchen snorts.

"I take it people are poo-pooing the battery powered sewing and knitting machines?"

"But why do you need them? You're just being green and reducing your carbon footprint? What. . .what do you mean in a colony world you would have to make your own clothes after what you brought with you wore out. Buy them at the . . .there's no malls?" Josette mock-wails.

"How long until the city-ship returns?"

"Next year. I'm planning to go out with one of my ships and take footage of the return trip for Granda."

"Put it on the server too." Principal Madison orders. The others nod.

"What are the plans?"

"Airing the ship out .. .winters are bad. . .five years without any fresh air will be ten times worse."

"Yep, they don't have the air scrubbers my ships do." Josette says. "Which is why in sci-fi where space travel was common they'd get new air on planets. And grew food."

"Be even worse if they do start colonizing worlds and they have to muck out behind animals if they don't have something like stasis or coldsleep."

"Something else the nitwits on Earth will complain about."

"Airing out the ship?" Professor Druid asks.

"Airing it out. . .cleaning it. Debriefing everybody, removing all the garbage if they didn't have a replicator for it. . .The whiny fools who were wailing about how nobody could survive time in space will no doubt be pouting about no disasters they could point at and say 'see, this is why you should have listened to me'. After that's done they'll start going over the list of supplies to see what they did or didn't need and make plans for another trip. . .probably to Mars since they had the information on our failed Mars colony."

Josette comes back from Becka's dimension a few days later, filling shelves in the warehouse with the fabric that had been ordered. She sends the message to the stores and detours to the plant building to gather some yarn, fabric, and thick batting for a few winter quilts.

They head off to Mom's dimension a couple months later.

"Are all the buildings clean and painted now?" James asks after dinner in the rooms.

"Yes, we ran out of paint just as the last wall was finished. We couldn't have got it any closer if we'd tried."

Josette sniggers. "All the women who were looking at their homes and realizing they needed painting will have to wait a couple years as we put up the poll of colors again."

Alan looks over at Josette. "Is the paper order done?"

"Yeah, I'm bringing it out when I pick up the recycling. The pizza and burger places have been replicating a few things."

"How are the retreats coming?" The others look at Josette. "What a damn fool."

"Yes. . .he's wailing at the loss of his oh so special home and all his shit I cleared out of it before they could start using it for retreats. I looked at the account they're putting a portion of everything in and it's growing steadily."

"Dumbass doesn't realize he's going to be there for the rest of his life?" Clarinda snorts.

"B . . .bu. . .buh . . .but you have to let me out of here." Josette mock-wails. "People are being mean to me."

"By making him work? I'm sure at his age he's not involved in hard labor."

"Any labor is hard labor in his case." Josette snorts. "He's missing his six floor house. . .with eight bedrooms each on three of those floors."

"And the moron wanted to add onto it again?" David stares at her.

"Yeeesssss. . ..because he's special. Just like that fool woman who was suing to get back everything she'd paid for the stuff she brought at our shows .. .but still be allowed to keep it. We forced her to buy everything. . ."

"I take it her case was thrown out of court?" Mystique drawls.

"Yeessss, the poor dear had to either get a second job to pay her card off *sooner* or go to the work dimension to pay them off. Or not buy stuff she can't afford."

"God forbid the woman take responsibility for her own actions." Professor Xavier drawls. The others laugh and nod.

They arrive on Haven several weeks later for them, Josette waving a hand and bringing out the boxes that hold everything they brought out.

"Recycling from the other planets?"

"Tomorrow." She stretches, yawns, and looks out the window. It's dark from the storm coming in.

"Thankfully we got everything in already."

"Yeah. . .this is going to be a long winter."

"Josette, four degrees?" Principal Madison asks dryly a couple days later. "Not counting the tv degree?"

"Three of them were ones I'd been skimming through for years, getting a semester in at a time in one then going on to the next. And I'll be finishing just as many next year." The teachers around her chuckle but nod. "And these were all the mega huge degree sets, seven degrees per set on up to twenty-one or twenty five for comics."

"And the last?"

"Submarines used in war from the Naval Academy. I've been taking that one from the last four years. But again, it's a multiple degree set. It's the second of four degrees."

"Have you started any new ones?"

"Yeah, I've got two or three I'm only a semester in."

"Did I see you getting in an order from a food supplier?"

"Yeah, coconut sugar. . .it's sweeter than other sugars but lower on the glycemic index." The cooks in the kitchen look at them in interest. "It's in the food replicator." They grin. "And coconut oil for soapmaking and GD for their lotions section. . .it's not used all that much in cooking. That's going in the large-scale replicator and I copied large batches in limbo while I was on Earth, along with large shipments of pomace and lye for soapmaking." Principal Madison nods in satisfaction.

"The so-called experts kept going back and forth on whether it was good for you or not." One of the cooks snorts.

"Please they all hate us eating whatever we want and still being in good health because it makes all their health predictions nothing but hot air." Josette waves a hand. "We eat milk, butter, eggs. ..real food. Everything they tried saying was bad for you. Pooo' babies are pouting." Everybody sniggers.

"What are you finishing next year?"

"Three more degrees from the mega-sets, that leaves one, a degree on plane crashes from a history school, and my doctorate. This will leave me either starting all my degrees or just halfway."

"So the only reason you're finishing so many is you're a semester from finishing one in all the mega-sets?"

"Most of them. I'm only a semester in two more."

"Not the first time you were finishing degree after degree after degree in a short time."

"And it won't be the last."

"Dissertation and project?"

"Been working on them nights offworld harvests." Everybody nods in satisfaction.

Josette puts away the books and boxes of comics from her last classes, the others coming in and doing the same so they can clean the room before they start their new classes after the first of the year.

"Grief. .. even with only taking four classes a year everything adds up." Anna says. "Are those new?"

"New old." Josette smirks as she looks at the new shelves.

"You know what I mean." She rolls her eyes.

"Yes, they're part of what I got from dumbass. He had massive libraries to show how important he was. . .not because he enjoyed what he was collecting." Hisses and boos from the others.

"Of course not. . .only common people enjoy hobbies." Professor Druid drawls from the doorway. "Miserable old fool. Are we still on for the cookout?"

"Hell yes, I want to sit in the sun for a few hours. Without needing to wear winter clothes." Susan says.

"What she said." Josette laughs. "Day after tomorrow."

More than one person is moaning as they soak up the sun. Bottles of sunscreen are passed around and people settle in the sand as the food cooks.

"Did you pick up the shipment of new lights?"

"Yep, they're on the ship for now since we don't need them." Principal Madison nods in satisfaction.

"Paper?"

"Rolls and already made up in packages. I also brought out tons of recyclables. . .We can open the mill next spring to shred it and start it soaking. I've got tons for my paper and more dye and fabric paints." Everybody nods in satisfaction.

The decorations for the Lights Festival start coming out a couple days later. Josette disappears and reappears a few hours later. "Goddamn moron."

"Whining about you getting all his stuff?"

"Yes. . .how dare I use his home for knitting or quilting retreats. The judge told him it's not his home anymore and to shut the fuck up. He's wailing about having to work, he only has a small bed to sleep in. . .he can't order his own meals. . .he has to eat what everybody else does. He has to wear a prison jumpsuit. . .they're treating him like a common criminal."

"Isn't that what he is?" Bronwen snorts.

"He was stunned when he found out he wasn't going to get out of the medium security dimension and be able to take my home. He'd been working forever. Surely one of the bleeding heart liberal groups that petition courts to overturn prison sentences is going to take his case." Rolling eyes and snorts of disgust. "So he's working to pay off another judgment in my favor. .. maybe he'll finally figure out he's too damn stupid to live."

The others look at each other. "Nah."

"Yeah, he was stunned when he found out nobody was buying textbooks yet. What are we doing?"

"Working and going on with their lives until they can afford to have children. Even then it would still be years before the children attended school." Bronwen drawls.

"B. . .bu . .buh . . .but the schools have to reopened by now." Josette mock-wails. "Useless old fool." She says in a normal tone of voice.

"Is he still thinking he's going to have money start rolling in?"

"Of course, the publishing house has to be funning him about firing him." Josette snorts. "Madison says that section is shut down until it's needed again. When it is somebody will take it over."

"B. . .bu. . .buh . ..but all my authors have to be writing new books now. . .aren't they?"

Calvin snorts. "The only books that would be being written right now might be history textbooks."

"Amen. Or texts in the other areas that he didn't cover like textiles, art, music. . .stuff that was still happening even without kids." The others nod. "Stuff he'd never lower himself to accept."

After the Lights Festival Josette is busy replicating books for the twins, Alan, and David. She'd already got the books for the four classes she was taking on the school system.

"What are you taking?" Alan asks, finding her putting the books up.

"The last year I need for the plane crashes degree from the history school, I decided to finish that one rather than starting another degree right away." He nods in satisfaction at the nearly empty shelves over her desk now that all the other books are put in containers in her closet or moved up to the library.

"Do you need more room for your books?"

"We doubled the room when I started the massive degrees, it's been doubled twice more since then." Alan laughs and drags her out of the room.

"Did you finish a comic book degree last year?"

"Nope, this year, this will be five from National, I'll get in two from Timely next, then the last two from National and last one from Timely."

"Ten years?"

"Eleven with this year. I'll have at least three tv degrees in by then. . .maybe four if I'm attending a graduation ceremony."

"Are they still adding new degrees?"

"Yep, I can see buildings just for the degrees from that and my comic book sosh school degrees if they'd continued adding classes the way this school is." The others nod in both dining rooms.

"Boys, how far are you on your classes?"

"Be three years in this year. Granda's talking to us about degrees when we're done." The teachers snigger. . .especially when Josette smirks and says 'it's not another damn boring ass history degree anyway, you can't really top Oxford'.

"Yes, thank you god for small favors." Michael snorts.

Josette snorts a couple days later as she reads the databurst. "Dumbasses wanting to know why the schools haven't reopened yet."

"Ummmm, there's no fucking students?" Michael says dryly, waving a arm towards their own school buildings.

"But that shouldn't matter. . ." David says in a whiny, hiccupy voice.

"Exactly." Josette drawls. "They have to listen to them now. . .they wouldn't keep the schools open during the zero-population period but that's over now so they have to open the schools. .. who cares if there's no students and won't be for years."

"You know. . .I'm sure some fool judge will order them reopened and then the states will go whining when their precious budgets take a dump. Because even though they should have been putting money away for schools they knew they'd have to be funding, they didn't."

"Yep. Because that money can be put to better use in their pet projects instead of sitting in a bank somewhere."

True to their words the next databurst is just that. Josette arrives back at the school . .sniggering as she listens to the complaints about school districts and states and the judge who'd started all this blustering that he thought they'd be ready by now.

"But the schools are empty." the dumbass who'd sued wails as they walk through empty buildings.

"What the hell did you think would happen dumbass? It's going to be at least six years before anybody's old enough to attend school. . .if people become pregnant right away."

"But where are the teachers?" She wails.

"Working either jobs or retired during the zero-population period."

"B. . .bu . .buh . . .but shouldn't they have come back to the schools once they reopened to go over books and lesson plans?"

"Why? There's not going to be any students for years."

"But don't they want to be ready for the students when they arrive?" Jane says in a fake oh god the horror voice when Josette comes out to deliver socks and stuff for the spa.

"That would take maybe a couple weeks. . not six years." Maria snorts from the front room. "It could have been worse."

"Really?" Jane drawls.

"Yeah, if that old fool who kept going after Josette had gotten in this nonsense. . .not only would the schools be open but they'd be buying thousands of school books too." Maria says from the doorway, handing letters to Jane and Calvin.

"Yearly if he got his way." Josette snorts. "I hear rumors that you're offering classes?"

"Yeah, adult education in stuff like textiles, languages, jewelry making . . .It's keeping us in practice until we get students."

Principal Madison sighs when Josette returns to Haven. "So they're just leaving all these schools open?"

"Yes, and most of them don't have any employees. There's rumors about getting fast-food restaurants in the cafeterias to try to make them self-sufficient. . ." Professor Druid moans.

"I had dreams about schools having stores in them."

"I think all of us have had that dream. . .and missing a day and trying to find your classroom since everything changed overnight. How is Dad handling it?"

"He's offering adult education classes. .. textiles, languages, jewelry making. . .and plans on opening a bookstore like Barnes and Noble on the school grounds. And a store for yarn, fabric, and jewelry making supplies . . .with each having their own buildings in the future."

"Ten bucks schools whine 'but we can't compete'."

"Of course they will. Even without students yet."

True to Josette's words the wailing is all over the databurst.

"Aren't there supposed to be laws keeping fast food restaurants away from schools . . .so the students have healthy meals?"

"Oh we gotta get rid of those. We can't make a profit if we do that. . .and let's toss out free and reduced lunches too. If they can't afford to eat there. . .too damn bad. Let them starve. Ohhh. . .and you can't eat in the cafeteria. . .you'll bother the paying customers. What do you think this place is anyway. . .a school? Ohhh yeah, it is your school."

"EWWWWWW! You're offering healthy food. That's wrongidy wrong wrong wrong . .we're gonna sue." Josette says in a snide sing-song voice.

"Exactly."

The next databurst is full of wails when people realize they can't have fast food places in the schools because they want the students to eat healthy. And nobody's going to pay to put in a second cafeteria for the students.

"Fucking morons."

"They're seeing schools sitting empty for years until kids are old enough to have children and being a drain on state budgets. They were frantically trying to find a way to make them self-sufficient instead of saying . ..ummm whoops, we made a mistake listening to this fool."

"The government can't have that."

"Oh Christ. . .here we go again." Josette moans at a databurst a couple days before their first testing week.

"Oh don't tell me they're wanting the damn credit unions again." David says.

"Of course. . .with schools not open yet we're on the ground floor. Students will be automatically enrolled as they start school and so will employees as they're hired. We'll have the money rolling in. Money, money, money. . ." Josette rubs her hands together in a greedy manner. "Fucking morons won't have any better response now then they would then."

"And of course they'll have people flocking to the schools. Morons." Susan snorts. "Just quit making all these damn plans and shut the schools back down until students start arriving. Morons."

"Oh good god." Josette moans, reading further in the databurst.

"Asswipe suing to make all the schools buy textbooks so he makes money?" Alexander snorts.

"Yes, and he's whining that he didn't think the publishing house would really fire him. If he was just gone for a while. . .he was sure they'd come to their senses and come begging him to come back. The authorities will have to let him go then .. .won't they?"

"Fucking moron." Susan snorts.

"Yep."

Drs. Cross, McNider, Stark, and Blake shake their heads hearing all the nonsense about schools in Calvin's dimension when Michael, Alexander, and Josette come out.

"Bu . . .but there's credit unions and fast food restaurants in the other buildings that used to be schools." Josette mock-wails.

"But they're not schools anymore, are they?"

"But they're making money. . . and we're not." Michael mock-pouts.

"And of course they're not talking about the schools that had to be torn down because they were in such bad shape."

"Oh nooooo. that would be mean to school districts. Reminding them that sometimes they fail." Alexander drawls. "Any word on the stores Granda wants to build?"

"The other schools are wailing they can't compete but the courts told them to grow the hell up. Granda's got the land. . .the town sold him a good lot that they didn't have the need for anymore and he's got architects drawing up buildings."

"Are they getting their supplies from Ellis?" Dr. Cross asks.

"Yup, and Ellis is going to be offering classes at his place. Granda is stocking up on supplies from him. . . including knitting and sewing machines now that they've got the new building up. Instead of just one room like most buildings that still had home ec had." The others nod.

Josette looks through a notepad of quilt plans when she gets home, Marilyn chuckling when she opens the door at Sue's the next morning to find tables full of fabric piles and Josette bringing out new bolts of fabric from the storeroom.

"We were wondering when you were going to be buying for the new quilts." Marilyn and Josette measure the old bolts and put the empties on the pile to either reorder or fill again. Josette scans the card she'd been putting everything on and winces at the total even with her employee discount. "Are you planning new books from these quilts?"

"God I hope not right away, these would easily put me over a hundred books."

"Shows?"

"Me Granda's, the boys Mom's. I go first this year."

Agatha chuckles as Josette looks over her notes and brings out bags, everybody jumping in to cut fabric that goes in the bags. Josette double checks everything, waves the bags into subspace, pays her bill, and pours herself a cup of coffee. Leaning back against the counter she tells the others about the plans Calvin has for offering classes until he gets students, the new businesses he wants to put on the school grounds, and the school in town wailing they can't compete.

"Well of course they can't compete." Agatha says briskly. "Even at schools that had home ec, it was only one room . . .two at the most with room for the ovens. Albatross didn't have home ec, everybody already learned all this stuff at home. It's only a school like yours that allowed students to really learn what they needed to know."

"Do you have examples of the former schools turned stores that . .."

"The morons on Earth were trying to turn others into so they were self-sufficient? Yeah." Josette looks through the files and puts up a couple examples on the screen.

"No wonder they wanted them in the schools . . .but where would the students go?"

"Yeah, they didn't think about that. They'd probably whine there wasn't any room for the students in the other buildings and have to be reminded the buildings were sold, they're not schools anymore."

Snickering from the women around her.

"Are you growing on the first planet?"

"Not this year, we're not running low low low on anything."

"Not with the something coming ripe on the other planets."

"Yep."

"Sleeping weather." David says the next day when Josette is yawning on the couch in the living room in front of the fire.

"Yep, we're warm, full, and got no place we have to go and nothing we have to do." Susan says, snuggling into a chair and getting a cat in her lap.

Doc looks out the door of Headquarters, chuckling when he sees three sleeping figures. Four if you count the cat.

"We're not the only ones napping." He tells Pat when he shuts the door. She grins and smothers a yawn. "I really should be experimenting with some of that winter weight material for outside clothes but going back to sleep sounds good too."

Josette cusses as she's suddenly summoned back to Earth.

"No I am not related to that fool man. I was awarded the house as part of the judgment when the bastard tried to murder me but was too stupid to realize the safety was on Ranger Walker."

"Do you know anything about his family? We're hoping to find somebody to deal with . . .with the estate."

"Let me contact somebody."

"Madison Sinclair." Madison puts the phone between her shoulder and ear and continues typing.

"Madison, it's me."

"What's up Josette?" She stops typing immediately. Josette doesn't normally call her.

"Do you know anything about that old fool's family? I've got a pair of Texas Rangers at the school, his son died in a 'blaze of glory' stunt and they're looking for family to take care of his remains and his estate."

"Let me talk to the bosses, I know there was a daughter but . . .oh good, just the man I was thinking of. Boss, in here."

"If there are no other family members it would go to his father. . .and from this judgment it looks like it might come to you." Ranger Trivette says, reading the legal papers.

"I've got his father's money, even if I don't get the estate I'll pay for his burial."

"So that's it Alex, the body can be released to the funeral home and if your friend can fax up the paperwork for just a plain burial, plot, and headstone." Walker says on his phone.

"I'll come up with him, Cordell. CD has offered to fly us up. A friend is wanting to visit a supplier so he's taking a larger plane with plenty of room."

"Okay, that was strange." Josette snorts when they've driven off. The others look at her. "Walker, Texas Ranger was a tv show in my dimension. Josette says it was a tv show in her dimension too."

"Really, do you have them?"

"No, but Earth put all sorts of DVDs on the servers to save when they found out what was going on. We've got the factory to make them and figure on slowly making them once the stock of what's already made up runs out."

Josette returns to Haven, finding Doc and Principal Madison waiting on her when they got the alert about an unexpected departure. She tells everybody what had happened.

"Apple didn't fall far from the tree then." Susan snorts.

"Sure sounds like it." Josette says before she flies to Salem.

Calvin smiles as the gate opens a couple days later. "No wonder he wanted this house." Trivette says, looking around the grounds. They'd detoured past the house that Josette had received in the judgment, shaking their heads at the news that the old fool had wanted to add onto the house again.

"This. . ."

"Is a home. . ."

"Not a showcase like that other place was until Josette turned it into a retreat for knitting and quilters."

Josette is yawning as she opens the front door.

"You were up all night, weren't you?"

"Most of it, the bunnies howled and I was drawing most of the night." She pours herself a mug of coffee that Trivette swears is big enough for her whole head. Calvin snickers. She waves a hand towards the living room.

"I've got coffee for anybody who wants it."

"Can I ask what you do for a living?" Alex asks.

"What doesn't Josette do is the better question." Calvin chuckles. "Officially Josette is the librarian at the adjunct school my son runs. She's also a successful author and artist. It's her quilting books that caused this problem in the first place."

"This isn't the first time somebody from the publishing house that handles my fiction has wanted to bring in the quilting books I self-publish because I make oodles and gobs of money from them that they could be taking." Ranger Trivette muffles a snigger. "It's not even the first time one of them wanted to kill me for not doing what they wanted, it's the first time it got that far though. The morons don't seem to realize the only reason my books sell so well is I'm offering them at mine and my husbands shows, everybody who thinks they're somebody has to have the books and get them signed to prove they were there. The supplier who also handles my books don't have near as many sales. The only reason I got the house, money, and possessions when he went to the medium security dimension is the old fool would not stop harassing me demanding my books. . .then my house when the conservators he was put under dared to tell him he couldn't add onto his house again."

The funeral home director brings out the options and Josette chooses one. "Was he told about his son's death?" Josette asks as she sends the payment from the account his money went into.

"Yes, he was wailing about his precious baby. . .he'd been murdered and he was going to sue the city. . .the money would go to making sure he lived the life he was accustomed to because he's wasting away in the medium security dimension. He's not getting the food he likes and he has to work. This time they'll have to do what he wants. . .he's traumatized."

"He'll me more traumatized when everybody ignores him. . .as usual." Josette snorts. Josette hands Calvin a bag as they walk outside, he looks in it then at Josette. "I replicated them before I came back."

Josette returns to Haven several weeks later for her. "So that's it. The courts are determining whether or not dumbass gets his son's estate. . .he's sure this will make him big man on campus in the medium security dimension. If so. . ."

"It would all be sold to pay for his upkeep anyway. He wouldn't see a dime of it." Susan snorts. "It could also be taken by the state to pay damages for his son's stupidity."

"Yep. And if he does get it, he's open to lawsuits from the victims of his son's stupidity. . .which would mean more of the money he's making being taken from him.

"Awwwww, poo' baby." The other coo.

"Is that more quilts?" Pat asks as Josette puts several dozen more notepads in the filing cabinets.

"Yeeessssss." Josette drawls in disgust. "The damn bunnies jumped me one night while I was there."

Midterms soon arrive and Josette heads off to Archimedes with Alexander and Michael.

"You have a show?"

"Week after next." Josette yawns. "Early enough in our year so that we're not in the middle of anything. Even with the offworld harvests coming in early this cycle."

"Yours?"

"Midterms thirds semester."

The next couple weeks pass quickly and Josette dresses up for her show, smiling as she finds a familiar figure in line for signing books. Ranger Walker introduces his old partner CD Parker who has a box of books for a friend.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure, contact Calvin and he can bring you out to the house tomorrow. I'll sign the books for your friend while I'm there."

"Thank you Ma'am." CD tips his hat and they get out of line.

Josette is yawning over another mammoth mug of coffee the next morning when Alexander opens the door for their visitors.

"What was the woman who runs the retreats wanting to talk to you about?" Anna asks after they've gone.

"She wants to put up a space for my books, she's getting in a bunch of books. Both from guest artists who've been to the retreats and others. She feels that the woman who owns the house should have an equal opportunity." Josette rolls her eyes. "I'm letting her have ten each of my first five books, but I'm not holding my breath on sales."

They return a couple weeks later.

"Has Dad started construction on the new buildings?"

"Yes, despite the wails of the school in town. They opened a credit union in the school in a 'seeee, we know what to do. . .in yo' face' move then pouted because nobody has joined."

Principal Madison rolls his eyes as Professor Druid and some of the other teachers snigger. "Meanwhile the bank branch is doing brisk business?"

"Yep, despite the wails of the morons who are convinced we'll taint the children by having a for profit business on the school grounds."

"What the hell do they think most private schools are?"

"But real schools aren't for profit."

"Yes, and so many of them were so far in the red. . ." President Bartlett snorts.

"How is retreat business going?"

"Briskly."

"Book sales?"

"I already told the printing operation they'd be printing a second run of four books this year, I'm going to be out otherwise. And a third printing of the first book."

"Even with printing 50,000?"

"That's the sign of a good author." Frances says. Elaine nods.

"That's the sign of idiots who just have to have it because 'OMG, she's famous and if I have it signed by her it proves I was here'." Josette snorts. Sniggers from some of the teachers. "When those are done, we'll start printing more of my books since the store put up shelves for them." The others nod.

It starts getting warmer and Josette is outside spreading manure on the fields while the others are washing windows, airing out the dorm, and washing curtains. Both Ma Kents come out by tesseract and nod in satisfaction when they see all the work going on.

"Nothing better after a long, cool winter than opening windows and cleaning."

"Yep, it means winter is over and spring is here."

Josette opens the containers of books for her teacher classes when she comes back from picking up the recycling on the other planets. The books for her finished degree go upstairs and she clears out the books, comics, and DVDS she's been reading and watching for her degrees from the library, the others doing the same.

They're full again a week later when Josette brings out her supplies for her second semester classes.

"So Dr. Blake talk to you about getting in a real degree next time?" She sniggers when David comes in with a cart of supplies, half of which go on the tables.

"Yes, I'm starting a degree in history, getting at least a semester in this fall."

Josette snickers. "It's a new degree, concentrating on building the moonbase and city-ship."

Josette heads off a couple weeks later, filming the return of the city-ship and sending the raw footage to the school.

There's an almost audible whoosh as the shields come down in the city-ship, every window and door that can be opened opening to get some much-needed fresh air. Josette sends the footage to the servers when she returns to Haven, the other planets sending requests so she sends it along to them too.

The databursts are full of the doom and gloom predictors wailing that everybody survived the five year mission with life and limb intact. They skulk off when a new mission is announced in a few years . . .to Mars this time.

"Did you pass along the updated supply list to Calvin?" Doc asks at dinner that night.

"Yes, and he passed it along to the government. . .it pretty much matches what they're finding from the mission's records. It took three large semi-trailers to get rid of all the recyclables and garbage even with flattening all the cans they could."

"That's the problems with cans. . .the damn corrugated bottoms." Professor Eppes says.

"It makes it easy for stacking. . .but it means they don't flatten and fill up bags too quickly." All the others nod in both rooms.

"Recycling?" Principal Madison smirks.

"They'll have to install a replicator for it and garbage."

"Not what I was asking. . .and you know it." Principal Madison says dryly.

"They were already baled. . .just had to be shipped off to recycling facilities. Same thing they do on aircraft carriers. Except they had a lot longer trip so they had to shove stuff in rooms."

"Are you still hitting recycling centers?"

"Every time we go out. For every bit I run through the machines or tear apart. . .I bring out just as much. Mostly clothes, paper, and glass." The others nod.

"It's wrong finishing a degree in the middle of the year." David mock-pouts, putting up his books and supplies after finishing his degree. Josette leans against the doorway and cackles. "Is your degree finished even though the city-ship just landed?"

"Yeah, it's actually a multiple-degree set, the city-ship is going to be the second degree. They're still working on that one."

Josette leans back in her chair after taking the finals for her last class, stretching and yawning as she starts the update Calvin had told her about running. Pushing herself to her feet, she starts putting the boxes of comics, books, and DVDS in subspace, shelving everything in the building and making a mental note again they'll have to split off a building for the tv degrees eventually as she joins the others in the living room.

"Start your download?"

"Yeah, just now when I finished my last class."

"Project and dissertation?"

"Sent them to GD yesterday. It will be a few days to go through everything, so I'm not expecting to hear anything until I finish the last classes."

The others start coming out for the Harvest Festival, Doc and New Dimension Doc spending a few hours looking over the information on the moonbase and city-ships from Calvin and Becka's dimension, passing it along to people in their dimensions.

Josette slumps into a seat in the living room, closing her eyes. She'd been to Calvin's dimension with Principal Madison.

"People whining because you won't do what they want?"

"Yeeesssss, some fool sued to stop the construction on the new buildings because oh my god, students at other schools don't have that. You're trying to get all the students to come to your school. The judges told them to grow the hell up, every school is different. Every student is different."

"Little ticky boxes."

"Exactly." The newcomers look at them and Josette snorts, singing the song. Sighs and nods from the others. "Expect some grumbling. . .a special interest group went to their butt buddy the president and got a law passed demanding credit unions in every school. And every employee and student has to join them. And put in money every week. Supposedly for retirement and education funds. Because of course nobody had the brains to already have them started."

"Good grief."

"Yeah, I'm expecting the courts to slap the stupidity out of them if Congress doesn't veto the damn thing."

True to Josette's words the president is whining that he thought this would help students in the next several days.

"But they'll be owners of the credit union, isn't that soooo much better than a bank?"

"Really, does anybody ever make money from owning a credit union?" Somebody asks dryly.

"Weeeellllllll. . . .nooooooo." they finally have to admit.

"So there you go. ..the president is wailing that this should have helped the students. . .but it won't now because that evil old Congress vetoed his law instead of the other way around." Sniggering from everybody in the front room as Principal Madison finishes telling the story of what had happened.

"Are the new businesses back on track?"

"Yes, the damn fool who wanted them stopped wasn't able to stop construction and walked off pouting because everybody knows what everybody already knew. . .he's a miserable old fool who can't handle change."

"Did you finish your last degree this semester?" David asks in the back room.

"One of them, I'll get the other one in as fast as I can."

"At least the offworld harvests will be finished by midterms."

"Yeah, the offworld harvests and our harvests coming in at the same time is a little too much."

Josette slumps into a seat three weeks later.

"Is that the last of the offworld harvests?"

"Yes, and everything is either delivered or waiting in stasis on the ships until the other planets need them." Josette stretches in the chair and closes her eyes for a twenty minute power nap.

"Sooooo, is the offworld fund picking back up?" Alexander asks as they walk to the dining hall.

"Yeah, it started growing again as people still put money in it after the cruise, it's nearly at normal levels now. I expect it to be ready to go again in another year and the money that's going in it now will be put to paint for homes." The others snigger and nod as they walk in the door, shaking off their umbrellas or slickers and putting them up.

"Josette, did you ever hear about the estate of dumbass jr?" Principal Madison asks, waving her to the front room.

"Yes, that's part of what Ranger Walker wanted to talk to me about after the show. Some fool in the government there wanted to sue me for his stupidity and got his ass handed to him by the media. He walked off pouting because he couldn't use the case to be somebody. The old fool got his son's estate. . .though everything was sold to pay damages and medical bills plus judgments for wrongful death. He didn't get a dime to lord over everybody in the medium security dimension. . .Instead he still owes them money. He's howling at the injustice and is trying to sue to get that money back. They owe it to him."

"Dumb fucker."

"Yes, he also tried suing me for using his money for his son's funeral. Or rather not giving the little bastard this grand funeral he had planned."

"And where was dumbass going to get the money for that grand gesture of a funeral?" Professor Eppes snorts.

"Suing the victims of his son's stupidity no doubt." President Bartlett says.

"Exactly. He doesn't owe them money. . .they owe him money for killing his son. The judge already threw out his lawsuit for wrongful death."

"Lemme guess, he's wailing about his darling son. . .how he died too young and he misses him though it's been. . .?"

"Over forty years since his family left him."

"His wife and daughter?"

"His daughter had a medical condition that caused her to die young, the records are gone and people who knew her have differing ideas of what it was. Everybody who knew her said she was a wonderful young woman who had her whole life ahead of her. Her mother was killed in a car accident several years later."

A few weeks later Josette grins as she opens the door of the rooms, Clarinda looking over and getting up to hug her. "The others?"

"Either shopping or talking to Dexter. I had a meeting with M'Lynn so the others grudgingly agreed I had an excuse not to go shopping." James sniggers at the grin on Josette's face.

"Are more of your books premiering in Doc's dimension?

"Yes, four more. I've got a book tour there next week."

"Did the estate ever get settled?" Professor Xavier asks. Josette tells the story and the others sigh or snort in disgust. "Yeah, so he's pouting about not being able to be* somebody in the medium security dimension and he still has to work. He is still so convinced he's going to get out of there and go right back to his life even though the courts have told him he's going to be there the rest of his miserable life."

"Bu. . .buh . . .but you're just saying that to scare me." Michael mock-bleats from the doorway.

"Exactly. . .everybody will come to their senses eventually and the old fool will be back on easy street like he wants. Every day it doesn't happen he pouts."

"As Agatha has repeatedly said, some people grow old but they don't grow up."

Josette leans between Principal Madison and Professor Druid when they return to Haven several weeks later for them.

"I got a ton of books from Mom's dimension that you might want to go through, tell me when you want me to bring them out." She looks at the other teachers.

"Textbooks?"

"Yeah, I attended an expo just like I did Doc's dimension. One set for the school and one set for us. Since so much of it is different I didn't bring out a set for the library." The others nod.

"Speaking of Doc's dimension?"

"Book tour next week." They chuckle at her hangdog look. "And New dimension Doc was looking at everything I have on the server. Pat was howling at some of them."

Josette flops onto the couch, waving a hand to bring everything out before falling asleep.

"That good a tour?" David snorts when he nudges her awake for lunch. Josette just looks at him and he chuckles.

"God save me from flaming idiots who either hate the type of books I write because they don't wike that genre or think they're sooooo much better than you are until somebody with some brains shuts them down. 'Oh, I sold fifty books today. Whoop de fucking doo, I sold five hundred. . .each'. And that's nothing compared to one of my shows'."

"One upmanship at its worst."

"Yes, I'm a successful author but that doesn't make me who I am. I'm an artist, a wife, a mother. I have a job I love. . ."

"You're happy and they're miserable. . .that's why they're trying to shove their shit down your throat." Susan snorts as they walk to the dining hall, hanging up their winter clothes.

The fall crops start coming in and a half-dozen Josettes are busy with the others harvesting or cooking while she, Alexander, and Michael head to Archimedes for their finals.

"So this makes five degrees this year?" Dr. Blake asks after giving Josette the okay on her doctorate.

"Yep, I figured finishing a degree would be better than starting another one."

"Your others?"

"I'm three semesters from finishing two degrees, five from finishing two more, two years from finishing a fifth, and a semester into two others. That's not counting the one I'm finishing first semester next year. That one is the last of the seven degrees I've been flipping through so they all were finished bing, bang, boom." Dr. Cross and McNider nod in satisfaction. "So you've been finishing degrees right and left but . . ."

"They're not ones I was working on finishing except those three."

"They're just all coming due at once."

Josette looks down a couple weeks later from putting another string of lights as the twins bring out another container. Abby starts floating the lights up and Josette clicks them into position.

Bronwen looks up when Josette comes into the book room and starts bringing out boxes of books in various areas.

"I was going to say you were running low on books. Is this everything?"

"No, they're going to be starting a third printing of my first book next year. Then start printing my fiction." She nods in satisfaction. "The other books?"

"Good for another couple years yet."

"No, you can't sue the woman who paid to have your son buried because she didn't spend the amount of money you wanted her to spend. There's nothing wrong with the stone she selected and she kept him from being buried by the state in a potter's field. If you want something different get off your ass and start putting money towards another headstone. . .and while you're at it you'd better put money away for your own burial if you don't want to end up in one."

"But aren't you going to make her pay for it?"

"Why the hell would she pay for your burial? She was being nice by paying for your son."

He walks off wailing.

"Dumb fucker."

"Yes, he can't believe everybody's not bowing down and kissing his useless ass. He saw all the money that young woman was making and wanted it. . .she'd only be doing all the work while he rakes in all the profits. The publishing house pays their authors too much money . . . when he takes over those damn authors will know their place."

"Moron doesn't realize without authors there would be no publishing houses?"

"Details." the first speaker waves a hand.

Josette slides into her seat at the government meeing the second week of the new year.

"Anything new? Josette, books?"

"The printing operation is starting the third printing of my first book today, after that is some of my fiction. Now .. .I do have something new. Meeting Ranger Walker last year . . .yes, as in Walker Texas Ranger," She says at their looks. "I replicated the DVDS for Granda when I came back. But anyway, do we see the need to bring out a factory to make all the DVDS we have on the servers?"

"Not for a while." Principal Madison says slowly, the others nodding. "We've still got tons of DVDS in the stores and can replicate special ones." The others nod. "Okay, just thought I'd bring it up since I was telling Granda about how they sent up servers with all the DVDS as well as the ones already printed."

"We don't need to make that large of a batch of DVDs for right now."

"Hell for years probably." David snorts. The others nod.

Josette disappears, cursing fluently in a number of languages when she returns.

"Do we want to know?" President Bartlett asks when she stops cussing.

"That goddamn stupid bastard. He promised my quilting books to his butt buddies, they sued demanding I honor his contracts with them for my books. They walked off wailing when the judge gave them a disgusted look. If they want money, sue dumbass. 'But he already had judgments against him, we'd have to wait to get paid. Why won't you make her let us print her books'. Morons wanted to charge me three times as much as we pay now for the printing."

"Lemme guess, one third of that a kickback to their good buddy?" President Bartlett drawls.

"And there was a clause stuck in there no doubt taking your books." Principal Madison sighs.

"Yep. the judge was not happy. Only the fact that this wasn't their contract, it was something dumbass had written up kept them from getting in trouble. But all their contracts are being looked over now to make sure he hadn't slipped anything into any of them. Dumbass is facing more charges and he's losing all rights to the internet and contact with the outside world, he's got to go through the authorities now. Who aren't putting up with any more of his shit."

"Should have cut him off long before now."

"It's the morons who'd tried breaking into the dorm all over again. They should have lost their phone privileges but still had to have contact with their lawyers. Anyway, I'm suing the bastard again for this and if they're really victims of him and not crooks like he is they'll be doing the same damn thing."

"And if they don't it will prove they're in on it and everybody will soon know not to be trusted."

"How's the city-ship coming?"

"They're busy scrubbing everything down for the next mission. They hope to have the supplies in and a new crew by the end of next year. . .our year."

"Are they planning on expanding the crew and making it longer?"

"They'd almost have to, it takes about four months to get from Earth to Mars?"

"Somewhere around there. A five year mission would still have over four years to do experiments once they landed. Though adding a couple more years would be better."

"And they'll have to have determined a landing place before they head off to make sure something like our Mars doesn't happen." Nods from the others.

Josette stretches and yawns as she walks into the dorm with Doc and David.

"How are classes at Assyrian and Edinborough?"

"Good, it's all self-paced and the teachers have plenty of time to give everybody one on one attention. And it's easy enough to find help if you can't contact the teacher between classes."

Upstairs in her workroom Josette grabs a bag and looks at the copied notes, turning it into a proper pattern as she cuts pattern pieces out of the plastic, starting a couple blocks before lunch.

"Are you goddamn stupid?" A man roars in the medium-security dimension later that day. "No, you can't fucking sue her for not giving your butt buddies the job of printing her books. You're not her damn agent and you had no business making a contract for her."

"But . . .but . . .but I'm not making any money off her."

"Asshole, you have no reason to be making money off her, she's not and never has been your client."

"So that's it," Josette says the next morning. "Dumbass is facing more judgments and the company did sue him for pulling that shit. Which doesn't mean they weren't in on it but. . ."

"People will look over their contracts more closely to make sure they're not crooks, just stupid."

"Members of the old boy network, trying to make as much money as they can." President Bartlett says from the front room. Everybody else nods.

Josette smiles as she comes out midterms and sees the construction going up by leaps and bounds on various buildings.

"Bookstore?"

Jane points to one. "That one's going to be fabric, yarn, and jewelry-making supplies. Eventually we want to expand each one into a different building if . . ."

"The sales warrant it?"

"Exactly."

"How are classes coming along?"

"Good. How are the retreats going?"

"Good, they're talking about adding scrapbooking if they can find somebody to run one. They've got a revolving list of people who want to run quilting, knitting, and sewing retreats."

"Books?" She chuckles.

"Yes, I took out ten each of the first five and they already sold." Maria chuckles behind them.

"What's that?" Maria had just handed Josette a letter.

"Ooooohhhhh, aren't I special? The publishing house is suing. . .demanding my quilting books. Because they have proof I signed a contract with them for them."

"Lemme guess, that stupid, miserable old fool."

"Yep."

"Are you fucking stupid? This is so bad a forgery it's not even funny." A judge snorts.

"But he told us she'd signed it." the head of the publishing house wails as he sees millions of dollars in profits he'd been promised slip out of his fingers.

"He lied, just like he lied when he gave a contract for the printing of her quilting books to a friend's printing operation." He wails as he reads that lawsuit. "Now why would he add that contract giving him her books if he had a contract. . .hmmmm?" the judge purrs before slapping him upside the head with a huge judgment that essentially gives Josette the publishing house unless he gets off his ass and goes to the minimum security work dimension to pay it off. Josette slaps dumbass in the medium-security dimension with a lawsuit, she swears she can hear him wailing as he gets the news.

He's wailing when his former boss starts cussing him out when he's dragged into a room in the medium security dimension visitor area.

"You stupid little sack of SHIT! What the hell were you thinking?"

"But. ..but didn't the court give us her books?" He whines.

"No, not only did the court not give us her books, I'm working my ass off to keep her from getting the publishing house. The judge was not happy at your damn fake contract. . .both the one she supposedly signed for her books or the one you created for your friends at the printers giving you her books."

"B . . .bu . . .buh . . .but I didn't tell them to try to enforce the contract." he howls as he's dragged away. "I can't get the money from it in here!"

"Fucking fool." Josette snorts as she returns to Haven.

"How long were you gone?"

"Not quite four months, long enough to be given the publishing house. The head of it's still in charge and plans on going back to the work dimension to try to pay off the judgment this time because he screwed around. . .the judge wouldn't really give me the publishing house, would he? Dumbass was stunned the judge didn't believe his fake contract and give them my books. The fucking contract he wrote for his butt buddies that gave him my books might have been a problem."

"Why would he put that clause in that contract if he already had your books." Johnny snorts.

"But I didn't tell them to enforce that contract!" Josette mock-wails. "Anyway, management finally figured out that trying to get my books would only result in bleeding more money. The buildings are finished at the school and stock was going in them while I was there."

"And the school in town is wailing they can't compete?"

"Yeeessss, why the hell can't people just pull their damn big boy pants on and work for what they want instead of wailing because somebody else is actually working for what they want?"

"Because that would mean they were grown ups." Something suddenly shimmers around them. . .Josette and the others screaming and throwing themselves at Sarah and Jason.

"Whoa! That was strange. . ." Sarah says, holding a hand to her head. "Okay, hear us out. There was an accident on the vampire planet several decades ago that killed the boy who killed us and his mother days after her daughter was born. This was supposed to be the correct timeline but dumbass wailed in the afterlife that she shouldn't have died, she had her whole life ahead of her. . .so what we lived through for the last several decades happened. She died on the sorting planet hated and alone because of her attitude today and the timeline changed back because she was supposed to have learned things. But didn't. Because she was a spoiled, stupid brat."

"And now? Her daughter?" Principal Madison asks, holding Jason to him.

"The girl went to live with her father and stepfather and grew up healthy, happy, well-adjusted, and is a credit to Global Dynamics. Only those who were intimately affected by our deaths, our family and friends. . .including everybody here at the school, know that we died. Oh Mom? Harvey cussed for hours when he saw the dedication in your first book." Josette cackles. "Your parents love you and would be here if they could be but they're happy for their other selves, that they've got a second chance with you. . .even if you are the queen of stubborn little shits." The others snigger.

Sarah and Jason get settled back into their lives over the next few days, getting caught up in their new memories.

Josette picks up the last batch of her quilting books, putting them away and looking out the window at the snow falling.

"Not the first late winter storm we've had." David says, leaning over her shoulder.

"And it's not going to be the last. It's helping the water table and it won't stop us from planting."

"Yep. Are you super low on any other books?"

"Getting low on some but I can replicate boxes of books if need to. I can't believe I've sold so many books, I swear it seems just yesterday when I thought 500 was a large batch of books. And no, we're not having sex so don't even think about wrapping your arms around me and kissing my neck." David laughs. "Go bother the others, I'm busy."

"Really?" He drawls.

"Yes, I'm off to the other dimension in less than an hour to pick up a batch of DVDS and books Doc is sending out. Then I gotta go to the other dimension for a meeting with Vinetta about more books."

"Vegas." David chuckles.

"Of course. I'm also staying at the Tower at least a year, Doc wants me getting more degrees." Alan laughs from the doorway. "You know, there may be a way to pick up television channels through the databursts."

"Do we really need a hundred channels with nothing to watch?" Susan snorts. Behind her in the doorway Professor Druid rolls her eyes.

"Noooo, but people would be horrified about not having tv on colony worlds." Josette drawls. Professor Druid rolls her eyes again but sighs and nods. "They're able to pick it up on the moonbase thanks to satellites, same with the city-ship while it was in space."

"And Becka can pick up channels from Earth on Mars."

Josette returns to Haven nearly ten years later, her time.

"How many degrees did you get in?" Principal Madison asks when he joins the others in the dorm.

"Eighteen." Grabbing one of the remotes she turns on one of the tvs and starts scanning channels.

"No." Professor Druid moans as she sees the list of channels on the screen. She'd thought Josette had been kidding but had stuck around anyway.

"Yep, they figured out how to do it. I've got satellites in orbit on every world. We're getting Granda's satellite, so is Archimedes. The 9th planet has the other dimension's tv, 10th planet has their tv. We can also get the others if we want."

"We don't need that much tv."

"No, that's why just us know right now. People are going to start getting outside as the weather starts warming up and we're going to be busy until next winter."

Josette puts the new diplomas on the walls in the room set aside for Hamberg. ..it's the entire floor for now so she has plenty of room and puts the new books away before joining the others walking to the dining hall for dinner.

"Are you taking over the publishing house?" President Bartlett chuckles.

"Hell no, I do not want the fucking headaches. As long as the stupid fuckers leave my quilting books the hell alone I'm good. If the boss has the money he can buy it back, otherwise it's going to be like the retreats, a percentage from everything is sent to me."

"If money's coming out of their pockets they might straighten up?"

"Doubtful, but the knowledge I won't put up with their shit and they'll be gone* if they try anything might make them straighten up."

"What you said, doubtful. They saw money rolling in that wasn't theirs. That's why so many people are arrested for embezzlement." Professor Ziegler says. "Is anybody updating textbooks?"

"Some university level, not so much the others unless it's history or government."

"Which probably would be the only textbook we'd be writing on Haven."

Josette stretches against a wall when they return to the dorm, yawning as she pulls the curtains on her windows, there's nothing to see outside but snow and the glass is a little chilly. She doesn't have to check the weather probes to know the temperature is falling.

It finally begins warming and Josette spreads manure on the fields and garden when the snow melts, checking on the others and finding them doing the same thing. Walking into the dorm she finds Doc, Charles, and Dr. Cross in the living room.

"Are you done?"

"For now, in a few days I'll till it under and plant."

"Good, we need you on Earth."

"Are you fucking stupid?" A judge hisses a couple hours later. "It's obvious that you're not the young lady in question, that's her right there." He waves a hand at Josette. "And it's just as obvious she did not sign that fraudulent contract you're trying to get damages on. Get out of my courtroom before I slap you stupider."

"But he promised us that contract." the moron who'd tried suing wails.

"It wasn't his to promise, he's never been her agent."

"B. . .bu. . .buh . ..but we could print her books." He wails again.

"And take the same books thanks to the clause that old fool wrote into the contract? Which is illegal." The judge snorts. "I don't think so."

"But we can print her books!" If he says it often enough, the judge will *have* to change his mind.

"I just got a third printing of 50,000 for my first book. ..the same size print run as all the other books and it cost me a fifth of what you want to charge. Hell no." Josette snorts. "Now run along little boy before I sue you ass for this stupidity. Trying not only to steal my books but steal my land? I don't goddamn think so."

He tries charging her bellowing that she has to use his printing operation and is dragged off by the bailiff before Josette can slap the stupidity out of him as Dr, Cross starts the paperwork to sue that stupid bastard again.

The news that any contracts dumbass created are now void thanks to fraud and will find anybody trying to enforce them jailed has many people howling. . .not least of all the dumbass in question who's now stuck in solitary confinement for 180 days, food and his work pushed into an airlock in the room.

"So that's it, every contract that bastard every wrote is now null and void, anybody trying to enforce it will be slapped in jail by the court. Any real contracts he made were already replaced with new ones when he lost his cushy job at the publishing house. Meanwhile he's now stuck in solitary for 180 days in the medium-security dimension and is wailing that they shouldn't have tried enforcing the contracts, he can't get the money in there."

"God, people are stupid."

"Yes, and all his other dealings are being looked at and we've got people lining up to write about his stupidity for sosh and psych classes."

"Awwww.. . the little bastard will be famous. . .but not the way he wanted." Susan coos. "Couldn't happen to a nicer asshole."

"Yep."

The manure is tilled under and the crops planted. David and Alexander are busy filling cisterns for the others, getting looks from Ma, Ma, and Mom. Alexander sniggers. "The others told him to go away and go do something besides annoying them. I'm here because I needed a break from a project that's annoying the crap out of me."

"Ahhhhhh." Martha Kent laughs. "Let that go for a few days boys, I've got some work you can do in the house."

David and Alexander come back to the school at dinner. "Ma had us moving stuff for her since Clark, Jonathon, and Kara were busy."

"Has Clark expanded into his entire apartment building?"

"That's what they were working on. Kara's looking through buildings they'd copied for a place of her own."

"Everybody needs a place to call their own, no matter how loving a family you have."

"Yes, because you just have to get away from them."

"Or have a place for them to go." Professor Druid says, giving her husband a look. He just smirks at her.

Josette puts the books away for her last finished degree away in the library.

"This your first new degree from the comic book school?

"Yeah, though I'll have a tv degree this summer. I figure on having five more comic book degrees and two more tv degrees before I sign up for graduation again. Or should I say Granda tells me it's time to graduate again." David sniggers.

"How are the others on their degrees?"

"The twins and Alan will be two years into their degrees, Michael and Alexander are gonna be seven semesters into theirs, and Susan's going to be three semesters into hers."

"And I should be three semesters into mine. Did you start the new update?"

"Yeah, just now. Granda said it would be a couple days, with the zero-population period over the open schools are adding more degrees. . .especially my comic book school."

A few days later Josette is busy bringing out supplies in her workroom, looking over her shoulder when Alice and Andrew look in.

"Josette, we just found something interesting on our tv. . ." She says dryly. Josette laughs and tells them what happened.

"Of course they couldn't live without tv on colony worlds." Andrew says dryly. "Until they realized how long they'd be working to build their new planet and didn't have time to sit around in the evening because they went to sleep after dark. Because they were tired."

"Oh please, Miranda Baxter." Alice waves a hand as she opens a box and starts shelving what's inside. "The woman could not have lived without her damn soap operas. She died a few years before we left Earth." She tells Josette.

"Did you bring back anything else?"

"Yes, tons of books and DVDS, including a lot from the channel stores like A&E, Discovery. . .all places I'd have ordered from for the school back on Earth."

"Are the factories ramping up baby stuff?'

"Yep, and it's flying off the shelves."

"Are the schools still open?"

"No, people with actual sense realized they can be shut back down until students start arriving. Which the fool woman who'd wanted them open is wailing about."

"Miserable fool, was she expecting people to start flocking to them the second they opened to throw their arms against the buildings sobbing how they missed them?"

"Yeeessss." Josette drawls. "State governments are wailing because now they have to start putting money aside for schools when they open, instead of all that money going to their pet projects. Meanwhile schools like Granda's are going on business as usual."

"And old fools are going on business as usual?" Andrew snorts.

"Oh god yes, not just that old miserable bastard who can't believe I wouldn't give him my books. The damn government is still wanting credit unions in schools and are stunned that Granda is telling them no. .. who does he think he is?"

"The head of the school?" Andrew says dryly.

"Yes, they tried pointing to the credit union at the school in town to prove why he needs a credit union, walking off pouting when they found out there's no members."

Alice leans against Andrew, cackling.

"And the town council is grumbling, they were expecting all this business and now have to tighten their belts to pay for that damn credit union sitting empty at the school."

Principal Madison sighs but nods in the doorway. "Lemme guess, they're seeing all the new construction at Dad's school and wailing because it's not theirs."

"YYYYYeeeeeeppppp." Josette says dryly. "Meanwhile if they put in a little effort to getting new businesses in. . they could have more tax revenue coming in."

"That is common sense Josette, something most town councils never have." Andrew snorts. "Are you in the same time-period now?"

"I will be in two weeks. I gotta go out not only to pick up the new supplies. . .and no, I don't know what Granda was chortling about either. . ." Principal Madison sighs but nods. "And I've got a meeting with Madison about my new books.

"How is the publishing house?"

"Cleaning house left and right, they've got a new person over that old fool's oh so precious textbook line who's talking to the authors that didn't die during the zero-population period. A lot of upper management lost their cushy jobs too, they're finally realizing they're there for the authors, not to make as much money as they can off them."

"Are you going to Ellis's?"

"Yes, the new seasons of the textiles shows you see on PBS are available. I'll pick up a few copies of each of them and look at the 'hot new fabric' that's not worth a plug nickel. Elaine and Frances are coming with me, it's not a massive shopping trip."

"It's more a research trip." Principal Madison says. Josette nods. "We're also going to be looking at machines, there's supposed to be improvements coming out."

"Whether they're actually improvements or just a cosmetic change to make people buy new ones is something else."

"Yep. I've looked at everything in Granda's new building because it is new." Principal Madison laughs and heads off.

Josette, Elaine, and Frances head out a few days later, coming back a couple days later their time.

"Get everything looked at?"

"Yes, and while we should look at getting new machines in the future. . .it's because they're old and might fail. . not because the manufacturers came out with new ones."

"And the new hot must have fabric?" Josette makes a gagging sound like a cat hacking up a hairball. Frances and Elaine make faces. "All hype, no hope."

"They're hoping for mega-sales to prove to the nay-sayers they know best. Which they won't get. Their oh-so precious fabric will go in the bargain bin." Josette brings out a few yards and Pat, Agatha, Sue, and even Principal Madison moan.

"That is so far beyond garish."

"Yeah."

"Did you talk to Madison?"

"Yeah, I split off a duplicate to do that while I was at Ellis's." Josette brings out her copies of the contracts and books and puts them away.

"What were you mumbling about? Auditioning?" Frances asks as they all walk to the dining hall for lunch.

"Oh some stupid agent was demanding one of his authors audition to read for a new release of one of her books on audio. He ended up getting his ass handed to him by management at his publishing house. He didn't want to release the book in audio, she did. Because she knows there's a demand for it."

"And he's sulking?"

"Oh yes, because that was the last insult she needed and she dropped him like a bag of garbage. Moron is in deep now because that means he's lost a lot of revenue. And he can lose more if more of his authors leave."

"Is stupid settling down in the medium-security dimension after all the fake contracts he made were brought to light?" President Bartlett asks in the front room.

"Hellllll no. . .the old fool is still whining about them trying to enforce them now. . .he won't see a dime of the money in prison. It took him a couple weeks to straighten up in solitary, he was refusing to work and got mighty hungry when they told him no work, no food. And since he's being punished, he's not getting the few cents an hour he was receiving*."

"D'aawwwwww!" David coos as he settles down at the table. "I see you started a new degree?"

"Which one?" Josette asks. "If you mean the school computer. . .yes. It's part of a three degree set from Oxford on the Titanic, the first degree is about the problems they had with the other ships, the second degree is building the Titanic, how it was a grand masterpiece, and some of the people that were on it, the third is the accident and the various theories about what happened. Josette was telling me about the theory on the news recently in her old dimension, how the fire in the coal bins made that area super-hot and brittle, so when they struck the iceberg. . .bang."

"Just like dropping a piece of plastic that's got brittle from age and having it shatter."

"Exactly. Or dipping something in liquid nitrogen and having the same thing happen."

The crops start coming in and everybody's busy canning, drying, or storing the first harvest and planting second crops. Josette finishes her tv degree and puts the books, DVDs, and supplies away when she finishes the comic book degree. As she'd said, most of the update had been for the comic book school and she'd added a good half-dozen degrees to the list she had started.

The second harvest and yearly crops come in sooner than humanly possible everybody thinks and Josette looks over at Calvin.

"How is things settling down with dumbass's contracts?"

"People are coming to the courts with his contracts and he's getting his ass handed to him by the courts. He'll be paying off judgments for centuries . . .and those are just the companies that came forward instead of throwing the contracts away because they knew if they were investigated they'd be in cells of their own."

"Because those are the type of people who would listen to the old fool instead of saying 'hey, why is he offering me this contract, if he had the right to them wouldn't he have the publishing house print them? Something isn't right here' and doing some looking."

"Yeeessssss." Calvin drawls. "Interestingly enough, most companies are honest."

"Are morons still wailing about people not magically popping out five year olds ready to start school?"

"Yeeeeessssss," Calvin drawls again. "Then they go looking at the records from the previous zero-population periods and deflate when they see this is all normal. Even if it was a longer than normal time."

"Has there been any interest in a colony dimension."

"Yes, and people realize this is going to be hard work and not lording it over everybody while the little people do the actual work."

"The old fools wanted it to be a recreation of Downton Abbey with them as the lords and ladies."

"While the young fools couldn't understand why everything they have on Earth wouldn't be waiting for them in a colony."

"Josette, did I hear something about a comic con?"

"Yes, it's a week after one expo I want to attend and the week before another one so I've got a hotel room for three weeks. Almost as easy moving stuff the the ship as it was putting it in a truck during our old expos."

"Easier, you wouldn't have to empty it multiple times a day." David says as he walks past.

"True. . .and pay for parking."

"Which is fucking stupid. Hotels should have their own parking lots or comp your parking if you have to park off-site."

Josette looks around the school when she returns to Earth, there's a sharp bite in the air that signals fall has arrived. The new stores are open and Josette sees people moving around inside. Taking socks and others stuff to the spa and office she heads off for a meeting with the judge.

"But. . .but. . .but money is going into the account daily." The head of the publishing house wails in a courtroom a couple hours later.

"The only money going into the account daily is interest." The judge snorts, looking at the records for the account money was supposed to have been going into to pay the judgment.

"But . . but. ..but the interest will pay for the judgment, I was told it would just take time."

A couple days later the head of the publishing house is wailing about losing the company to Josette.

"Own damn fault, did you really think the judge was going to believe you were going to pay her off with the interest on the money you'd already made? You should have got off your useless ass and gone back to the minimum security dimension, if you'd made the good faith effort of putting money in that account repeatedly the judge would have let you hold off on turning the business over to her."

"But interest was going into the account regularly." He whines. "Duncan told me it would work."

"I wouldn't believe anything that old fool had to say, even if he told me it was raining in the middle of a monsoon." One of the board snorts. "What the hell were you thinking listening to the man? He's a damn fool."

"Never should have listened to him about the so-called contract in the first place, you knew he wanted her books and had tried killing her because she wouldn't give them to the house. . .or should I say give them to him. Did you really think the magical contract he had was real?"

"But he told me the judge would give us the books. We'd have been making millions in extra profits."

"Dumbass, the only reason her books sell so well is because she offers them at the shows. People buy them because they're there."

"But. . .but . . .but wouldn't they sell as well in a store?"

"No moron, they wouldn't."

Several weeks later Josette returns to Haven, her other selves delivering containers to the school and the Kent apartment building and her purchases to the dorm.

"How was Earth?"

"People are fucking stupid. Some asshole in DC was suing trying to force Granda into putting up a credit union until he arrived at the school and saw all the business. 'I guess you really 'don't' need a credit union.' He went to the school in town to see how a school with a credit union has to bring in the business he was looking for and was crushed when there were no members."

Everybody in both rooms roll their eyes. "Yeah. The oh so fantastic hot new fabric fell like a proverbial lead balloon, I picked up tons of it from Ellis. ..other suppliers were happy to send it off to get rid of it. We can use it in something, even cutting it into pieces for a quilt." Frances and Elaine nod in the front room. "Of course the designer was wailing her life was over because she didn't become an overnight sensation but that's just human nature." Josette looks at President Bartlett and Professor Ziegler. "Granda got me advance copies of a few textbooks written about the aftermath of the zero-population period, I'll put them on the server."

The two men nod in satisfaction.

Josette's other selves arrive back at the dorm.

"Get everything delivered?"

"Yeah."

"What's Clark doing at his apartment building?"

"He's putting in a growing area, not as large as what's in the compound but it will be more food in the winter. Herbs, fresh fruit and veggies, everything you need to just be able to walk in and pick whatever you wanted."

"Did Kara find herself a place?"

"Yes, she found a design she liked and is looking for land next year."

"Are they going out to their dimension?"

"After Thanksgiving to see how Earth is recovering."

"Oh jeeezus, what a fucking moron." Josette snorts a couple days later as she reads the databurst.

"What's going on now?"

"Some asshat is suing to get Granda's school shut down because public schools don't have all that." She says in a sing-song voice.

Everybody cackles when dumbass is handed his ass in the next databurst, he walks off wailing about how public schools can't compete. Weeeeellllllll nnnnnnnoooooooo, he doesn't have anything to do with schools . . . but still it's the principle of the thing.

"They could, if they took this time to actually work on their curriculum instead of sitting around on their asses."

"But that's what people with sense would have done, they can't have that." President Bartlett drawls.

"Yep, the morons who wanted private schools brought in line with public schools are crawling out of the woodwork again. This time the government has to do what we want." Josette says in the back room.

"And they're still not getting any luck."

"Nope, schools should have been working on their classes. . .even if they do use the same books they'll have different classes."

"Exactly. No two teachers teach the same."

"Are they starting having children?"

"Yes, there's reports of pregnancies. That's why the fucking nonsense starting up again."

The last crops start coming in and Josette, Alexander, and Michael head to Archimedes for their tests. Back at the school she puts the books and boxes of comics away and looks out the window at the threatening rain. Thankfully it had held off long enough for the harvests.

"Did dumbass come out of solitary?"

"Yes, and he's whining about having to work an extra two hours a day to pay down his judgments and fines sooner." Josette mock-sobs. Everybody in earshot hisses and boos. "And how putting him in solitary was mean to the stupid puke." More hisses and boos. "He's wailing about how he's never going to get out of the medium-security dimension, about how everybody will be sorry when they come to the grand funeral he wants. .."

"They'll come to make sure the bastard's actually in the coffin."

"Amen. He's wailing about having to pay for that self-same elaborate funeral, wailing about not getting the money from my books."

"How many books did you sell at the show?"

"Ten thousand each. . .the publicity from dumbass trying repeatedly to steal my books meant some people came just to buy them. Marcus had a sign with Ellis's website where they could buy others."

"Ahhhh."

"Wailing about if he wants a more elaborate headstone for his son's grave he's got to pay for it.. . . it will be years before he can get everything he wants. It's not fay-ay-ay-ay-urrrrr."

"Miserable old fool."

"Yep, he's the type of person who was miserable from the second he was born."

"And made everybody around him miserable."

"Does he have a chance at parole?"

"He's got to meet some strict guidelines, which include being a model prisoner, owning up to his crimes, and paying off his judgments."

"And he's not doing any of it."

"Nope. He's continuing to rack up judgments, gets charged with more and more crimes, and is a miserable bastard to be around. Not even the people who would normally be bleating about his age want to touch his case after listening to him."

After Thanksgiving Josette and the others start heading out to the other dimensions, returning a few good years later for them. Josette delivers stuff to various rooms and drops onto the couch, getting a cat in her lap.

"How long were you gone?" Pat asks from the door of headquarters.

"Which dimension?" Susan snorts.

"Ignore them. . .Doc and the others talked them into more degrees while we were gone." Pat chuckles and puts out her hand, the others digging into bags for their diplomas.

"Did you cross your own timeline?"

"Yes and no, I had notes of where I was so I wasn't meeting myself." Josette chuckles. "Doc and the others came out while we were there."

The diplomas are put on the walls later that day after the others have found their textbooks and shelved them. The decorations start coming out and going up over the next couple days.

"Josette, quilts?"

"Working on them, I'll have a good stockpile when I finally start writing more books."

"How many do you have yet to debut?"

"Twenty-eight."

"Yeah, it will be a while."

"I understand sales were brisk at the show?" Agatha's lips twitch. Josette just gives her a look. "All the moron's attempts to steal my books made people who'd normally never come to a show come and look at just what was so damn important he'd go to prison for it. Marcus put up a note with the website for Ellis as a place where they could order more books."

"Speaking of books?"

"The printers will be open through next year, that will be sixteen books total. By then they might be printing more quilting books."

"Speaking of printing, do you own the publishing house?"

"Yes, after the third time the head tried getting my judgment delayed without making any further efforts to pay it off the judge had had enough and let him have it with both barrels. He. . .he. . .he couldn't believe that the judge wouldn't let him keep dragging it out, he swore he was making an effort to pay me. Wellllll . .. no, he wasn't going to the minimum-security dimension to pay it off, working on recycling, or going to the work dimension. . .but he was still trying to pay it off. The interest on the money he had put away already would pay me off eventually, right?"

"Oh Christ, was he really that stupid?" Agatha moans.

"Yes, the judge told him instead of waiting for that magic interest to appear, he could have been putting more money in the account. He hemmed and hawed and admitted that yes, he could have done that tooooo. . .he supposes. But as long as interest was going in that account. ..it should have been enough. . .shouldn't it?"

"And how long would it have taken?"

"Only 1280 years." Josette drawls. "I could wait, couldn't I?"

Snorts of disgust and rolling eyes. "He could not be that damn stupid."

"No, that was some half-assed excuse from the dumbass in the medium security dimension that he was sure the judge would accept. After all. . .they were making a good faith effort to pay it off. There was money coming into the account daily, right?"

Rolled eyes from the others. "Yes, the dumbass was wailing about that when his former boss told him the judge wasn't as stupid as he was. It took him a few minutes but he huffed about being insulted."

"Moron should be used to it by now."

"Oh he's so full of shit, he still thinks everybody is going to do everything he wants because he told them to." Josette says, rolling her eyes. "Moron is making all these grandiose plans for when they finally have to let him out of the medium-security dimension, you don't mean they're actually going to keep him there do you?"

Josette puts everything away in her workroom or pantry, the leftovers going in the kitchen.

"How many degrees do you have finished from the comics school?" Calvin asks as Josette brings up their supplies from the administration building.

"One tv, one comics. The twins and Alan are two years into their degrees, Alexander and Michael are finishing the degree they're taking next year . .." both he and New dimension Doc smile at that. "Susan will be halfway through her degree, so will David if he only gets in six classes."

"Allison made him get in more classes?" superhero James asks with a smirk. Mom's James grins as well.

"Yes, he has to take the three classes he needed to finish his comic book degree last summer and he started a history degree concentrating on space travel from Granda's dimension. He's nine classes in but it's two degrees, the first one on the moonbase, the second one on the city-ship mission that just ended last year. Have they finalized the details for the next mission?"

"Yes, and should have all the supplies and personnel aboard for lift-off the end of your next year. I'll let you know closer to the time they decide on so you can take video footage like you did the takeoff and landing. And the footage of the full moon lunar eclipse and comet."

"Does Josette and the others always get degrees from your dimension?"

"Yes, and I understand that they just got more degrees from Clark's dimension?"

"Yes, they're all out there right now. . .our time."

"And it was a few months ago for me my first trip and a couple weeks ago for our other trip."

"Josette got two bachelors in four years at a private university, plus picked up enough classes for a third while taking a dual masters and a doctorate the first time. I don't want to know how many degrees you got this time."

"Nope, you'll start giving Josette that look again." David says with a chuckle as he walks through.

"As opposed to the look you get for being a slacking brat." Josette sniggers. Principal Madison laughs as he comes in. "Josette, sorry to bother you. Mushrooms?"

"I planned on growing again next year, both in the growing building and the first planet since it's been a few years. I also figured on opening the smokehouse and growing on the first planet again." Principal Madison nods in satisfaction. "That was everything I was going to ask about after the Lights Festival."

"Soooooo, is dumbass still wailing about losing the publishing house?" Josette asks Bronwen. She rolls her eyes. "Oh yes, and how he can't believe the judge wouldn't accept the interest coming into the account as a good faith attempt to pay you. He lost his cushy position as head of the publishing house, his great-nephew took his spot. He's got the brains in the family. Dumbass was wailing about all his work was for nothing. . .his life was over."

"Never should have listened to his gooooooooddddd buddy in the medium security dimension then."

"Oh yes, the rest of the publishing house felt the same way, he was stunned nobody at the publishing house would take his side in the matter. And his great-nephew taking over, the boy's just a boy. .. he'll ruin the business."

"Really?"

"Nope, the boy's got a good head for business and has been raised knowing he'd take over someday. He's making his great-uncle get off his ass and add more money to the account so they can buy back the publishing house eventually."

"Which he's wailing about?"

"Yes, he felt that money should have gone to him for all his hard work in saving the business." The others snort around them. "Exactly, the publishing house is better for him not being in control anymore. Did Calvin pass along the new textbooks?"

"Yes, I put them on the server when I got home and I think everybody downloaded them."

"A sociology teacher wants to talk to you about dumbass and what happened."

"I'm sure that's going to be a big topic in sosh and psych classes."

"And in some law classes no doubt."

Josette slips into her seat at the government building the second week of the new year.

"I understand you've got a book tour?"

"Yeah, midterms."

"Classes?"

"I picked up a couple extra, I'm taking eight classes on the school computer but that's because I picked up a degree in metallurgy and I'm going to be working a lot with GD." Doc nods in satisfaction. "The announcement that the smokehouse went out and we've started a list of what we're going to be working on, expect the smokehouse to be open at least three months."

"And people in the big buildings making sausages, baloney, and sauerkraut just as long?"

"Probably." Josette sniggers.

"First planet?"

"I'm going out to plant next week."

"Has anybody notices ages sliding?" President Bartlett chuckles.

"Yes, I'm turning 161. Sarah should be turning 141 but she's claiming she's only 138 since Jasmine and Sebastian swear they're only turning 135. Ages are really just a number and nobody pays that big attention to them anymore. Especially with all of us on different planets with different years." The others nod.

"There's no magic numbers anymore. Nobody is retiring at 65, you don't graduate school at 18 anymore. . ." More nods.

Josette puts up the bag of doughnuts and snacks she's got at the bakery when she arrives back at the dorm.

"How many more degrees do you plan on from the comic book school?" Alan asks as Josette looks in the library where the others are starting classes.

"I'm partway through the fifth National degree, that will leave two more from them and three from Timely before I hit the hoopla about the comics code. I want to sign up for graduation again when I have them finished and maybe three more tv degrees depending if I pick up semesters during breaks."

"Books?

"The printers are going to be printing through the end of next year, that will be sixteen books."

"Smaller runs than the quilting books?"

"Yes, because the store doesn't have the room for boxes upon boxes upon boxes of books."

"Yes, most bookstores only get a box of each book." David says dryly as he walks past the library.

Josette walks into the workroom and goes eeny meeny miney mo to pick a bag of quilting supplies, looking at the notes and starting to turn it into a real pattern. Looking at the box of plastic she sighs and walks to the storeroom, rummaging through a container until she finds the pallet of plastic and digs out more boxes, making a note on her PADD to order more. Looking around she grabs a carton of boxes filled with x-cto blades and handles, adding those to the list too.

"Do you have a list of . . ." Josette asks, leaning in the door of Pat's studio.

"Stuff we didn't think about when we went to Ellis's? Yes." She sighs.

"I'll stop when I'm out for the booktour. And see if Pat on the 10th planet has a list started." Pat nods in satisfaction. Josette looks at what she's working on. "Is that the winterweight fabric?"

"Yes, I've been experimenting with it with Pat. It keeps them warm on the 10th planet under a lighter jacket. This way they're not . . ."

"So bundled up they can't move when they have to go outside."

"Yes, and pulling up your hood is not the same thing." Pat chuckles at her look.

Pat leans in the doorway of the 'briefing' room on the 10th planet. "Josette has a book tour in a couple months our time, she's stopping to Ellis's since we both have lists of. . ."

"Stuff we didn't think about when we were there but we're running low on?" 10th Pat chuckles. "Let me know a couple days before she goes and I'll pass along my list. I'll work on a large order later."

Josette returns from the first planet the following week full of energy after having spent several days planting.

"Everything on schedule?"

"Yep, I'll be harvesting mushrooms when I go out to green pick tomatoes and peppers." Josette stretches and yawns. "I've talked to my advisors about my metallurgy degree, they're of the mind I probably know more about the raw ores than they do." David sniggers.

"You've had a few decades harvesting them." He pets the cat that just jumped on his shoulder.

"Josette, shows?" Elaine asks at lunch.

"Me Granda midterms this summer, the boys Mom dimension two weeks later. Some sneering woman was having a fit about me bringing out dollhouses since there was not children old enough to play with them until she saw it and realized it wasn't just a plastic or cardboard toy." Professor Druid rolls her eyes.

"Well yah. . .always going to be somebody who thinks they're special and just end up making a fool of themselves when they open their mouths." Professor Parker snorts. Everybody else nods.

"Josette, this is a stretch but would you pay for a funeral for that old fool's similar to his son's. . .?" Calvin asks as she's introduced to somebody from the medium-security dimension.

"If he doesn't put aside the money for his grand masterpiece of a funeral that will have everybody weeping at his loss? Yes, it was his money after all. But he doesn't know about it."

"Yes, this way the old fool is still putting money aside for it. He's terrified he's going to die alone, unwanted, and unremembered."

"Well, he's got the first two right but nobody will forget that old fool." Maria snorts from the front room. She brings in the mail already sorted for Calvin as the two men nod and laugh.

"How are the sales for your books?"

"Leveling back to normal as all the people who'd been to the boys show to see what was so damn important about the books that the old fool would not stop trying to steal them brought them. Marcus had a sign up with Ellis's website so they could buy more if they wanted. . .there wasn't that much of a demand. Certainly not the millions of dollars that old fool and the former head of the publishing house expected in sales if they had my books. . ."

"Because the only reason they sell so well is because of your shows." Jane drawls.

"Exactly."

"How are sales at the retreats?"

"Steady, but on par for the sales at Ellis's. People are buying them because they want to make the quilts."

"How many more books do you have to release, not counting this year?"

"Twenty-six."

The other man whistles despite himself. "I get slammed with ideas for quilts and when I make them I sort them into areas that later become books. Since I have the quilts already made. . ."

"It's not that difficult to work on books."

"Exactly."

Josette is introduced to the new head of the publishing house, who apologizes for the abject stupidity of his great-uncle and his friend in trying to steal her books. After a meeting with Madison, Jessica, and Joanne she takes the manila envelope with all the information on the tour and heads back to the mansion to pack bags and replicate pens.

Josette slumps onto the couch several weeks later, ordering food after a nap. Picking up the food the takes care of her laundry and tosses the empty pens in the replicator, putting the partial boxes away to use later.

"How was the tour?" Susan asks when she returns to the dorm and has dropped of Pat's order on the 10th planet.

"Hopping, the new head of the publishing house has a lot new ideas that his great-uncle would be wailing about but are making money."

"So he's whining instead?"

"Yes, especially since he's got to get off his ass and add money to that account by working. The way the old fool's going at it, it's going to take that selfsame 1280 years for him to get the money."

A knock on the door has Vincent looking and smiling as he walks over to unlock the door. Josette waves a hand and brings out baskets of green tomatoes, green-picked peppers, and mushrooms.

"You know people would be poo-pooing green tomatoes back on Earth."

"Of course. . .not realizing the stuff they get in the stores in winter might as well be green it's picked so damn early." Vincent snickers and nods. "And what do they think green peppers are anyway?"

"Y . .you. . you mean it's not a different pepper?" he mock-wails.

"Or that chipilotes are smoked, dried jalapenos. Ancho peppers are dried poblanos, or that most of the stuff you find in the stores is flavorless compared to fresh picked."

Vincent nods. "There's nothing better than being able to walk out your back door and make a salad from your own garden. Or growing building."

After her other stops Josette puts the rest of the food in subspace before joining the others in the dining hall.

"Sell a lot?"

"Yep, and the rest in in stasis."

"Josette do you see growing portabella mushrooms?" President Bartlett asks, waving her into the front room.

"For burgers? Not commercially, the vat meat is just as good. Now. . .I can see people growing them in the kits more. . .for their own use."

"Just like any other species of mushroom we don't normally grow." Professor Druid nods. "Now, while they'd sell like gangbusters on Earth. . ."

"They wouldn't do well here dried like a lot of the mushrooms are now."

"Exactly, and while you can put them in stasis. . .that's a product you'd rather buy fresh and eat that day." Everybody nods. "Which is why growing your own seems the way to go."

"Eaten on a piping hot fresh bun slathered with whatever topping you want." One of the cooks says. Everybody nods.

It begins warming up finally and windows are opened to get some fresh air into buildings, being shut when furnaces start running or it gets too cold. Josette once more firmly reminds herself that they can open windows for fresh air. . .it would have been much worse on the city-ship even with the air scrubbers.

"When should you be in the same time period in Doc's world?" David asks when Josette comes back from spreading manure on the fields, the boys having taken a break from their art to do the same to the garden in the hope that a little work would knock the muse loose and let them finish a project.

"Harvest Festival next year will be close. . .I remember Doc and Pat heading off a couple months before I left."

"So Doc should be giving you a look about how many degrees you got by Lights Festival."

"Probably." Josette sighs as she pulls off her boots.

"Those aren't going to last much longer." David says, looking at her.

"Nope, I'll have to replicate some this fall. There's still enough stock that we won't need to open the factory for a few more years."

"No, not with shoes and boots coming in in the supplies for the school." David agrees. Josette puts her workboots up and pulls on shoes before walking through the ranch into the dorm.

"I haven't heard any messages about that old fool. Is he finally staying out of trouble in the medium-security dimension." Josette cackling tells him not hardly.

"Oh he's gutted, absolutely prostrate in desolation. His oh so magnificent plan to shaft me by 'oh. . .surely the interest will pay her judgment' got his ass handed to him by his former budddy-buddy. He's finally figured out he's never going to get his job back now that the great-nephew's in charge of the publishing house. Letters to his old 'friends' are being sent back unopened because they're all frantically pushing him back to try to keep from being tarred by the same brush. All his begging letters to various special interest groups that try to get prisoner's sentences overturned aren't getting him the attention he wants and he has to work twelve hours a day or more if he wants anything. He finally figured out his stupidity is only hurting himself. Or so he's loudly claiming to the authorities. . .whether he's just trying to run a scam. .. " Josette shrugs. "As long as he leaves me alone."

"How are the retreats going?"

"Pretty good, there's usually at least two a month, that gives them time to give the building a good cleaning after the guests leave. They're expanding it from just knitting and quilting to other textiles and even scrapbooking. I've been asked to look at plans to add onto the building. . .this time there's really a reason for it. There's money in the account for it and I'll give the permission if the plans are good."

"Do you have the room?"

"Yes, the houses on either side have been empty for years, the city council is giving them to me to get them off their hands."

"Because nobody wanted to live next to him?" Susan drawls. "And now with the zero-population period ended there's a lot of empty homes and apartments."

"'Xactly." Josette looks at the time and walks to the dining hall with the others.

"How are the classes going at Calvin's?"

"Good, each one has a waiting list. The bookstore is doing brisk business. .. and yes, Granda had me do a book signing there when it opened." The others laugh. "Madison and the others are taking select authors out there for signings beyond book tours. Granda's advertising those days on the school's website."

"And Ellis's?"

"A waiting list there too and he's got an agreement with a hotel in the area for people to stay at while they're taking them."

Frances grins. "Do you see retreats at the school?"

"Maybe in the future, I know Granda's in talks with the textiles school near my retreat house to offer special classes. Having a store on the school grounds and being able to order special stuff from Ellis seems to be a tipping point in the schools favor."

Josette, Pat, and Pat fly to Ellis's on Haven in a flyer, filling a wagon with purchases from there, the thread complex and the other supplier's before heading back to the dorm and sorting out bags.

Pat looks at her workroom on the 10th planet in satisfaction, there's plenty of old clothes for patchwork quilts for anybody who wants one, her shelves are full, and she's got a dozen projects to work on this winter. While it's early spring on Haven it's late fall on the 10th planet and beginning to turn cool.

Josette walks into the cafe, waving a hand to bring out bushels of tomatoes, peppers, and bags of herbs.

"Done?" Principal Madison asks when Josette walks into the dining hall.

"Until I go out this fall to plant again. Everything left is either dried or in stasis and the recycling is taken care of. I gotta deliver containers to the 10th planet this year."

"How is their world?"

"Getting used to the new normal. The flooding's stopped with the temperatures back to normal but the ocean level is staying high. Everything that flooded was either replaced or if too badly damaged torn down. Subways are a thing of the past in a lot of places but they were able to replace water and waste treatment plants."

"They're on track on what our Earth was without the permanent gloom in the air from the rockets."

"Yes, they learned a lot from our experiences. Every building that can has solar panels to help with power needs. All this gave humanity the kick in the ass it needed and there's no poo-pooing about climate change. Big business had to clean up their act and recycling is mandatory. They're still keeping an eye on the increased volcanic activity, hoping it will settle down. People are still hoping they might eventually be able to return to where there homes were. . . if only to show their families."

Josette sniggers as she reads the latest databurst. "Dumbass's desolate condition lasted only until he realized that that wouldn't get him out of there." She tells David. "Now he's back to causing trouble."

"Is the former head of the publishing house still dragging his feet?"

"Yep, he's wailing about the family losing the business but he's not making any attempts to get off his ass to make money to buy it back. The remaining family members are about ready to lynch the stupid fool. He wants them to help put up the money to buy back the business while he sits on his ass counting all the interest coming into the account on the money that he already put into the account."

"And they're telling him why should they do any of the work involved in buying back the business, they're not the ones who listened to dumbass and lost it in the first place?"

President Bartlett moans but nods when Josette passes along that news at lunch. "Yes, that sounds like big business. . .I don't wanna have to take responsibilities for my actions . . .let somebody else do it."

"Big business Hell, a good percentage of humanity." Professor Parker snorts. "That's why TMZ didn't have any lack of celebrities acting stupid."

"Show?"

"I'm moving most of my stuff to the ship next eighth day, that will just leave a last few items. I'm running out of room and my stuff takes up a helluva lot less than the boys stuff."

"Yeah, Josette's already took one batch of stuff out for our show and will have another after we go out for her show."

"Are you taking more books out?"

"Yes, but I don't see the need for them. The sales at the boys show was because more looky-loos were there wanting to know what was so damn special about the books that supposedly grown men would keep trying to steal them."

"Like the sales for the Salman Rushdie book took off because the fools ordered a hit on him." President Bartlett rumbles.

"Or when it was leaked that that one book was written by JK Rowling under a pen name." Susan snorts. "Cynic in me says the news was leaked because it wasn't selling."

"The cynic in me agrees with the cynic in you." Professor Druid says with a grin.

"And the motion passes in the cynic town council." Josette says with a smirk.

Josette walks through the houses the town had sold her, looking over the different plans the architect had come up with.

"This one." She points to the plans that everybody seems to agree is the best and sends off the first payment.

"Thank you Ms. Takahawa."

"Good plans?" Alan asks, looking up from his book when Josette comes into the mansion.

"Yes, it's going to incorporate the two other homes. They're still in good shape, just needed some cosmetic work. This will give them more workrooms and selling space."

The show is a couple days later and Josette hears Charles chuckling where she's sitting eyes half-closed trying to inhale a mug of coffee.

"How long were you signing books?"

"Hours. Both the looky-loos at the show and serious quilters who'd purchased books at the retreats or at Ellis's. Marcus is going to have all the numbers tomorrow, I told him to go home and sleep."

"Where are the boys?"

"Going through everything from the new houses to see if there was anything that needed to be tossed out right away. We'll still sorting through everything from that old fool's house. These were homes where generations lived. . ."

"And had stuff stored in basements or attics?"

"Yep." Josette finishes the mug of coffee.

They return to Haven a few weeks later their time, Josette moving boxes various places.

"Stop at Ellis's?" Principal Madison asks as Josette walks into the dorm.

"Yes, beyond taking the books in. I picked up stuff Pat, Pat, and I were running low on during my book tour but we'd all had lists of stuff to get. I visited a new to me supplier too."

Josette brings out envelopes of information she hands to Frances and Elaine at lunch. "New supplier. . .or rather new to me. I passed along this information to the others too."

"Thank you Josette, we'll look them over later. Has the increased business at Calvin's causing more whining?"

"Oh god yes, it's not fair they have their own store. . .their students would have to go there or another store for their classes. They'll see the school, like it, and decide to leave. They had to be reminded they don't have home ec classes anymore. Wellllll, we could offer it. . ."

"I could hop up and down, patting my head and rubbing my stomach but it's not going to get me students." President Bartlett snorts. "Is it just the thought of not having students pouring into their schools that are making them act like this. . ."

"Or they're normally this stupid? Six of one, half-dozen of another." Josette snorts. "They're so damn scared the school might take one of their students ignoring the fact that Granda doesn't take students until fifth grade. . ."

"And no parent is going to want to start paying for their kids education starting at pre-school, no matter how good a school it is unless they have no other choice."

A couple weeks later they lift off for Mom's dimension, beeping making Professor Xavier look at the computer in the meeting room. "The others are here."

"I think sooner or later somebody will come up with their hat in their hand asking Calvin to take over the school in town." Clarinda hears Alan saying when they walk into the rooms, sighing in relief when they see food on the table, bags from one of the restaurants vetted by the government on the counter.

"Yeah, Dad and I've been having the same thought. But like we said, nobody's going to pay for their child to attend pre-school though I know there are schools that had waiting lists for kindergarten. And the cynic in me says it would be an attempt to take over the school."

"Yep." Everybody says when they find out what they're talking about.

"Did the former head of the publishing house ever add to the account?"

"Oh yes, he made an over the top melodramatic showing of working at one of the drop-off centers one day. He added a whole twenty dollars to the account. The poor dear was so proud of adding that money to the account. . .now the interest should really start rolling in to pay me off. He walked off pouting when the family just gave him a look. Dumbass is still looking for a miracle that will allow him to buy back the business and get it back under his control again.

Josette finishes the last question in her last comic book class to finish the first Timely degree, stretching and yawning before moving the books and boxes of comics into subspace. Putting everything away she checks the grading of the test, smiling when she sees the degree in her finished section.

"Done?" Doc asks from the doorway.

"Yep, just finished the degree from Timely. That leaves four more degrees before I figure Granda will start hinting for me to attend graduation again." Calvin nods as he walks past.

"That will get you just before the next large group of degrees you wanted to start." He says with a grin. "Is the turbine spinning?"

"Yeah, we started it running before the storm hit, it should be good for another week. If we need it running longer, we'll start it running again. This isn't this bad a storm. . .we've got food, heat, and power."

Josette is cleaning off the shelves in her desk when a hand plucks a book from the pile.

"Metallurgy?"

"Yeah, my advisors at GD agree that I probably know more than they do about the raw ores with all the harvesting I do."

"Are you going to be putting all the dorms together?" New Dimension Doc asks Calvin after dinner.

"We're going to have six dorms with eight hallways and one dorm with six. This way we've got all of them in case they're needed again but the buildings aren't cluttering up the school. The same way the temporary living dorms were put together years ago."

"So it will be . . .building one, spoke E if mail was being delivered?"

"Dorm one, Room 112E. Each building would have their own mailboxes instead of having them all in the front of the dorm."

"While the basements would be one big one with separate areas for each building. That way there's only one link to the tunnel system. There will be signs in the basement so students know which area is their dorm and maintenance can deliver supplies."

"We'd planned on doing this as soon as the school closed, but waited until the rooms were all cleaned and painted before we started work. We told everybody we'd take care of the buildings once we started adding onto them to handle the massive influx of students that usually forecast a zero-population period."