Chapter 51 - Making The Grade

"This all sounds very strange", said Deidre when it was her turn to be told.

Brent gave Andy his full support. When he said 72 hours he meant just that. "The tip off came from someone who is in a position to know. It's a lot to take in. I'm sure Andy must be convinced to have come out here given our case load. Now's your chance to side step a problem that you have no evidence will not happen. You've also got some female company there."

Deidre was worried about going to a strange cut off place when there was a chance the boss could be crazy. She had just built up some goodwill with her boss and didn't want to spoil it. Brent was with her and had decided to take the safe option. Brent was also the bigger man so she should be safe. Not that Andy had ever acted threateningly before. Andy's words came back to her: So since you were afraid of acting foolish you acted the fool. "Ok, you've got me on board. But if you leave, I leave."

"Agreed", said Brent.

Deidre did some feminine shopping before they all left for Andy's ark. The homestead looked ordinary but well kept from the outside. As they approached the barn they saw the big pile of mulch. So that's what 17 cubes of mulch looks like. Tracy hasn't wasted anytime shoveling it to the right place, thought Andy. Deidre felt more comfortable upon seeing another woman. They parked their vehicles in the barn. Andy introduced them to Tracy.

"Sorry, my hands all grimy and sweaty", she apologised as she met Brents gaze. "We have one wide fork between us. So when I get tired I could use the help of a strong man."

"Glad to be of help anyway I can. I'll get out of my office clothes."

"Of course. I'll give you the guided tour of our humble abode Sir."

Andy almost started to tell her that there was no need for titles. Stop being so fucking naive he told himself. Andy and Deidre was left looking at the start that Tracy had made on the mulch. "Thank goodness you've only got the one fork. I hope you're not expecting me to work like that."

"No worries. I didn't get you out here to injure yourself. This is the last heavy manual job before impact, by which time you'll know if I'm right or wrong. While no job is beneath anyone, both of us have ample time to get used to breaking a sweat, I'll make sure of that", he reassured her, "however Tracy tells me she's done all the hard work ahead of time. That way we keep our appetites in check."

Brent was being shown the house. Tracy was no longer sweating, but the scent of a healthy young woman at close range was inescapable. To see her vibrant healthy young body against the background of stone masonry gave her a kind of barbarian sexuality that was taking him back to the stone age. Handcrafted by Gods, conquered by man... ".. and this is your room. The window shutters are to be drawn at night so we don't act as a lighthouse to our enemies."

Brent snapped back to reality. "I'll be with you in a few minutes after I've changed."

He went through the kitchen to see Tracy showing Andy and Deidre how to use the rocket oven. Andy left the women to it and met Brent half way across the room. "I just hope she's not into discipline", he whispered to his boss. Andy slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I have the utmost faith in your abilities young man." A short while later Deidre had got the hang of it, while Brent and Tracy got on with the mulch.

Deidre had been born and bred in the suburbs of Albany. Everything about a self sustaining farm was unfamiliar to her. However she hadn't seen anything that could be called stupid. It was also obvious that Tracy had been here, for at least months alone, putting all this together and that Andy knew that she was alone here without anything untoward happening. She had also noticed who Brent had eyes for without any jealous vibes coming from Andy. She could relax in that area at least. Now all she had to do was get the food cooked. Shouldn't be too hard. Tracy had gone with roast chicken with potatoes and boiled passion fruit leaves.

"Oh, there's only two plates", she informed Andy.

"Well there are some spare in the cellar in case of breakages. Those two are for you and Brent. Look behind you, there are four document containers labelled Andy, Tracy, Brent and Deidre respectively. These containers have compost in them. To save water the idea is that we lick the plates clean. Then we bury the plates in the compost and there is no cross contamination and no flies or other disease spreading insects can land on the plates. Since the scheme water is still on Brent and yourself can wash them in the normal way until after.

Tracy came up with the idea and has been using it for several weeks. I don't think it would be fair to her to be the only one to use this technique tonight so I'm joining her."

"Thank you, I shall gladly wash both mine and Brents.", She looked at him quizzically, "Don't you think it will make you sick?"

"Well the thinking is that it won't because the compost has beneficial bacteria in it instead of the type that makes you sick. I'm not sure how true that is, but it didn't make Tracy sick. Our bodies can get used to it and if disaster strikes then we certainly have to plan to save water until things become clearer."