An hour into the mountains, it was cold enough, they decided to put their cold-weather gear on. Lana made sure to leave access to the wardrobe she put the gear in and quickly took everything out. It was worn over their current clothing so nothing needed to go back in. Quickest change ever!
Soon they were trudging across snow in shoes made for the task. Way up ahead, they could see spots of darkness they assumed were the caves the maps talked about. They were halfway there when the sky started to darken.
"Um…. Lana?"
"Yes, Blaine?"
"Get that shelter kitchen out. Fast."
She did as she was told while he used fire to create a flat spot in the snow to put it.
She went to open the bag and noticed Paul had put a fingerprint access on it.
She pulled out a rather large metallic rectangle. Just like the others, this had a button on top. She followed the arrow for up and placed it in the middle of the area Blaine created and pressed the button. There was an immediate response and the thing seemed to keep growing and growing. They had to scurry away as they watched in awe. The end result was a domed structure with a door.
Lana tentatively pressed the button to open the door, which was also a fingerprint sensor, afraid she was going to break something. Inside was a kitchen in the middle, U-shaped with a rectangular table for 6 in the middle.
Around the outside of the interior, there were five cots. All were metallic. There were drawers under the back half of the cots to put clothing, like the feet would be pointing to the wall. The front half had an empty space for stowing gear. She could hear whistling behind her but was too stunned to turn around and see who it was.
The cabinets in the kitchen went to the top of the dome which was 7-foot tall. The edges where the cots met the wall were only 3 feet tall. At the end of the cabinets on the right-hand side was a control panel. The list of options was heating, cooling, turning on music, lighting which had 3 options, an open button for the door, and a help feature which had an automated option for walking a person through how to operate all the functions of this "Model 118 Luxury-deluxe Field Kitchen."
There was a video screen on the back side of the cabinets on the left side with a couch for 5 opposite it. This thing was rated to negative 140 degrees. But heat only went to 120. Still, that was a lot of planets this thing could be taken to.
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Dobin Plantwell 35%]
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Kattie Beastiary 15%]
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Chekof Starskiy 40%]
Before getting too far in, "Blaine, why did you want me to set this up?"
"There's a blizzard coming. I wanted us safe before it hit since we didn't know how long it would take to set up."
Lana nodded with a smile.
Lana's first complaint was she had to go outside to grow the food and bring it in, not that it mattered in the current situation. There were a lot of empty cabinets which meant they could theoretically set this up for a week and stock it while on an extended hunting mission, using this as a base of operations. The boys all played with the controls while she and Kattie discussed cooking while admiring the interior.
Soon nice music was playing then an argument started over what kind of music should be playing. Lana had to step in and choose something soft and soothing. While everyone was doing that, Duff decided to walk around the interior. He discovered on the back side of the kitchen was a miniature bathroom the width of the back side of the cabinets, about 5 feet but only 4 feet deep.
The toilet didn't use water. The instructions on the wall said to do your business then seal the top down and press the button. Curious, he decided to try it. He had a bit of urine in him so he relieved himself. He followed the directions and closed the lid, put the little clips down. Then he hit the button. A green light on the wall turned red and he heard a click. He heard a loud whoosh sound like a rush of hot air. It lasted a few moments then the light turned green and he heard a click. He opened it and the bowl was empty and sparkling clean.
By now a few of the guys were curious about the sound so the boys got to play with the toilet while the girls cooked. They were unable to try the sink or shower which were all integrated. Toilet lid doubled as a seat to use while showering. The shower head was above the door and the sink was next to the toilet. It was not very big. Under the "flush' button was a "dry" button. Alto would need to add water to the tank under the sink in there to enable the boys to play with it further. They decided to go sit at the table or the couch since the shelter was built for five and there were eleven in there.
Not long after, everyone had their choice-cooked steaks and everything else they cooked to go with it. The group began to sing Paul's praises for the kitchen and Lana, Kattie, and Rene, who also jumped in, for the meal. Lana sat on the counter because there were eleven people eating and six chairs. Some had to eat on the couch.
Once everyone was done eating, they placed their dishes in the sink. Alto filled the tank, which was larger than the tanks in the other two models. Lana pressed the clean button and the same mechanical arms and steam came out to clean just as with the other two models.
She was just thinking about telling everyone about Kent when there was a knock at the door. "Well, there is a negative. We can't see who it is and someone just walked up with no notice."
Dobin reached over and hit the open button. Standing at the door was Paul and his team. They could see the snow coming down behind them, though it wasn't heavy yet.
"Come in guys, quickly. We have the heat on so you can remove your gear but the place is rated for a team of 5…," Lana looked the newcomers, "we are now at 16."
Paul nodded and went to the control panel. He changed out the crystal to a bigger one that looked more pure, clearly a much higher grade. He then materialized a whole army of oomlauts and a whole bunch of metal sheets. Soon the shelter was bigger, there were 10 beds instead of 5 and a second bathroom was installed which was strictly a toilet and sink. The water storage was also expanded, and Alto was placed on water duty to make sure it didn't empty. The tanks were combined into one so Alto just needed to watch one tank.
Some would still need to sleep on the floor but Lana already had a plan. She took both foam chairs out of her bracelet and placed them in the living room. She then pulled out her pillows and blankets she had in her room in her tree.
"Blaine and I will sleep on the couch," she stated.
Once Paul was satisfied with his modifications, including adding cameras, "I'm sorry to barge in on you guys like this. I saw you set up and wondered why then the snow started to fall. I'd like to introduce you to my team." Paul pointed to a rather large man who could rival Chekof with a 7 on his watch, "This is Jessy. He can be a little rough but he means well."
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Dobin Plantwell 45%]
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Kattie Beastiary 25%]
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Chekof Starskiy 50%]
Next, he pointed to a boy with shoulder-length sandy-colored hair. He looked like he was 13 years old. "This is Sean. He's pretty good with ice." Lana noticed he had a 4.
"Marie here is able to phase through things which can be very helpful and increases her survivability." She had a 3 on her watch.
The last person was holding a bunch of bags and Lana saw a zero on his watch. She was so shocked, she almost missed Paul saying his name was Sam. "He's pretty good at martial arts and is far stronger than he looks."
"Paul, have you not been buying your team ability books?"
Sam was the one who spoke up. "He offered but we wanted to earn them. The crystals get sold and the credits divided. We save up and buy our own."
Lana nodded, "I see. I have been holding an ability book waiting for the right person. I think it would be perfect for a martial artist. Are you interested?"
"Let's finish introductions then we can discuss it."
Lana nodded and introduced her team. Blaine then introduced himself and his team. Paul made sure everyone in there knew Dobin and Lana were his brother and sister.
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Dobin Plantwell 55%]
As soon as introductions were done, Jessy immediately started ordering people to cook him a meal. Paul put him in his place then informed him the shelter belonged to Lana. Nothing happened in there without her permission. Paul heard a ding that was only in his mind.
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Dobin Plantwell 65%]
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Kattie Beastiary 35%]
[Quest updated: Progress toward friendship: Chekof Starskiy 60%]
Jessy looked at her and licked his lips.
**********************************
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