Well, one day had passed without even so much as a hangnail, and that is a great deal more remarkable than it sounds. Queen Mother sent for Demi and Bubo to come over, and as much as that sounds wonderful, it was because she wanted me to stay for another day to perform some heavy lifting.
I didn't mind, and it seemed like forever since I saw my dragons. They got to rough it, like camping dragon style and I got to be around them for a whole day.
Once we had cleared and cleaned the entire Northern section of the Common Area, Queen Mother had the eggs brought over one sled at a time. Most of them were stacked in neat rows up against the North wall, and a few dozen were placed carefully under heat lamps. I'm told that in a month or so we should have babies running around in a cordoned off area, and a lot of very happy Stewards.
A line of electric carts came and went with the clutch trays riding on sleds until all of them were placed in the appropriate sections. Queen Mother stood there staring at them when the last had been tucked away. She put both hands in the air and said, "Welcome Home Babies".
I'm led to believe that at least one of the trucks will be pulling out in about a week to head back to Sydney. Once there, it will be loaded with more items needed here at the mountain, and then make its way back. I hope none of the trucks wind up with problems, but it's not my call where they go or how the politics work. Bob Harris told me that curiously enough, the Australians have virtually no curiosity about anything headed for the Outback. There again, time will tell. Perhaps I've gotten too paranoid for my own good. Old age will do that, at least that's what I'm told.
As a side note, Queen Mother told me the Aborigines know where the river enters the underground section that leads to here. They've agreed to help create a dam that will slow the water down to a more acceptable rate of speed. I was glad to hear that, and I'm sure everyone else was too. Hard to bathe when you have to tether yourself down to keep from being washed away. Once that's accomplished, the usual filters can be installed, and the water cleaned before it leaves the mountain. The Aborigines told Queen Mother that creating the dam on the river will also help their village. I was elated to find that relations with the locals were progressing so quickly.
More and more people from Mt. Drago had been volunteering for tours of duty, and there was a veritable stream of humanity entering about once every two hours. It probably would have been higher if the Gate could stay open longer each time. Technology restraints, which is wise, considering how hard it was to get it to work at all.
Every time something new happened here in the mountain, it seemed to lengthen my stay and I was beginning to Jones for home. My dragons may be enjoying their stay here, but I'm not that much into camping.
There was activity constantly around the clock, with dragons doing most of the heavy work. It was like living in a beehive with the world's largest bees. It was also the first time I had gotten to see how the Drago Clan saturated the walls with phosphorus spray. It kind of looked like a fire hose hooked to a powerful generator. Once the spraying started, it seemed to go on for hours. When they had sprayed as much as they could reach with the high-powered nozzles, the lighting would increase substantially. I had only heard about it until then. The smell was a cross between paint and grass. Any light near it would cause it to glow and would retain the effect for longer and longer periods of time, depending on how often the light source reached it. Massive amounts of what looked like movie lamps were set up to help it dry, and the temperature went up accordingly.
I couldn't see how the staff here would need me much longer and that spurred me on to find Queen Mother. Perhaps she would send me home, if for no other reason but to bathe properly. The river here had plenty of water, but you required a large bucket of it captured to even think about getting clean.
I was looking for Queen Mother when I watched a man come out of the corridor that led to the river. He was wearing red bathing trunks, a blue tee shirt and shower shoes. Emblazoned on his shirt was the slogan, "Who Needs Football . . . When You Can Have a Cheer leader." The print was fairly small, but being white, it stuck out like a sore thumb. All of that seemed out of place, but the weirdest thing about him was the kangaroo hopping along behind him.
I wasn't the only one to see him either; over to my left I could see Queen Mother, and she was moving toward him like a torpedo. She didn't seem pleased, and the man being pursued was oblivious to everything, but the towel hung over his head. His hair was extremely long and very wet. I can only assume he had bathed in or around the river, and I don't think he was supposed to be doing that either.
Occasionally the man would stop and converse with the kangaroo, which was distracted by the number of things happening around it. The animal apparently listened to the guy and would then proceed again. The process happened repeatedly. The man, drying his hair, made his way over toward my direction. I would reach him at about the same time as Queen Mother and the Security Team running along behind her.
The man finally stopped when he noticed Queen Mother coming up on one side and me on the other. He ignored me but smiled at The Ariella. She took a deep breath and pointed at the kangaroo.
"Who are you . . . and what is that?"
The guy actually looked back like he didn't know what was following him.
"Larry Larson, Ma’am, at your service and that . . .”
He pointed to the kangaroo.
"Is my pet Roo, Bruce."
Queen Mother looked exasperated.
"How did you and Bruce get into my mountain, Mr. Larson?"
Larry ruffled his hair like he had all day.
"Your mountain? There wasn't anyone here when me and Bruce found it. You know, you've got a lot of dragons and people that don't look much like people. You've also got good food, which I've enjoyed very much. So, Bruce and I thank you very kindly, but after I retrieve my gear, I think it's about time we got back into town. We're out of supplies and I've got enough samples, probably more than I can carry. Once I get back, we'll find out if your claim was filed before mine, and if it was . . . well then, I guess it's your mountain."
There were suddenly a lot of dragons around Larry Larson, and Queen Mother walked over close to the interloper.
"Let me tell you what happens, if you get back to town."
***