To get back faster, Shalt again went out of stealth mode until they got close. They had to put the space portion of their communication system in place before landing. Then the real work would begin. Lana had been working on a list and some plans.
It was actually quite easy to place the system. Logan was quite smart. All they needed to do was open the cargo bay door and it did everything else. Lana once again smiled at the ingenuity of that boy.
Back on the ground, Lana went into the command post to see if anyone was there. One of the new girls was in there. She really needed to learn who they all were. The girl smiled at her and she smiled back.
"Where is everyone?"
"Most are in bed or just getting up. We put the orphans in the one 5-bedrom for now but there are no bunk beds in there. The two families are in the 40-foot houses. The rest of us are in the 2-bedrooms in the area over here, the houses they said you just built."
Lana nodded, "I'm thinking of having everyone move over to that area, actually. Have us all together for now but there is also intelligence in having people living at the corners as well to keep an eye on things. We need to have a meeting with all of us once everyone is up. Can you coordinate everyone going into the travelers' center? I have not slept yet but we need to discuss a few things."
She nodded and went around to the houses and let everyone know.
Lana went to the traveler's center and there was someone cooking breakfast but it was meager. She suddenly realized she dropped everyone off and didn't grow food before she left. They must have bought food from the market place. She ran outside and filled the yard of the travelers' center with food.
She realized her work was observed by some of the children and adults. She blushed a bit and got it done. She let the cooks know food was grown. If they needed to learn about what she grew to let her know. She made a note to buy them some cook books.
Soon everyone was in the room. Lana noted they put in the Quest system of the faction system while she was gone and that made her happy.
Lana took a deep breath and addressed everyone. "I have not slept yet so I apologized if things are not fully coherent. The first thing I wanted to do was thank you for being so flexible. At the Crow's base, they were having a meeting when I got there. Quinn survived. He brought back Alex, the forger, as well as Dennis, the leader of the Eagles." She heard murmuring and exhales that they were alive.
"The Crows are preparing for the eventuality they will be attacked by the Sunshields."
"We should prepare as well," one of the new people said.
"No need. We are on a red portal planet. Noone is coming here. As for this settlement, my friend gave me some funds to help with all the new people with the troubles this civil war have caused. Shalt and I had to move all the bags of stuff into the main compartment so we could launch that piece of communications equipment but it's in space now. There are clothes, toys and such in the ship for everyone. I'll let you guys unload and go through it once I'm done."
"My priority is still the below portion. Getting the walls done under this shelter. I also want walls to use as a corridor to the other side. I need to leave the dumpers up as a natural barrier but I also want to use a portion of the area over here as hunting ground for now. Those floura saurs are pretty tough monsters. I think you guys could gain a lot of experience by fighting them. At the same time, we need to get our earth users back to the Crows as soon as we can. They will be needed to rebuild once the Sunshields do hit."
"What this means is, we have 8 adults who need a job of some sort. Dilly is my seamstress. I need two people to take care of the children, that includes the 4 that are here with their parents. I need them on security duty. I need 2 in here cooking. I want all meals taken here so it will clear up time for the walls below to be completed. I also need someone to man the command post. The communications system should be fully functional now. Do I have volunteers for these jobs?"
The young girl who has short dark hair who was the babysitter said she would take care of the children but she couldn't do it alone. Her name was Emily. A red-haired woman who looked around the age of 30 named Crystal volunteered to man the command post. She had been in the military before the civil war hit so she had knowledge and experience on the equipment and protocol. Tania and Pinky, the two ladies cooking breakfast volunteered to keep doing that. Tania had ice blue hair and looked about 50. Her husband was on a quest at the time of the attack and she had no idea if he was alive or dead. Pinky's boyfriend, there were both in their early 20s, worked in the market and working with Tania was helping her keep things together as was knowing these other people depended on her. Zen was a short, dark-haired woman that looked to be 62 years old volunteered to help with the children. Lana informed them she would work on the orphanage next and they could all move in there once it was done. She was also going to put in a playground for the kids.
"For the three remaining, I need two of you to be in charge of food. One of you needs to be a teacher for the kids. For those growing food, if you want to learn my ability, it would be best as it would grow the food faster but there is a lot involved in my ability. For now, I will charge those two volunteers with harvesting what I grew so the cooks can focus on cooking."
"On abilities, I'm not keen on people who want one not having one. I have a trunk of ability books which will go in the library once I get it built. I need people to learn mine but they need to be absolutely positive they want to stay here and be a member of the Plantwell family, not just the faction. Think on that while I sleep. Of the three, who are going to handle growing the food?"
Mandy, a short, blond haired girl standing at 5'10" stood up to grow food as did Andrea. She was petite but looked like a spit-fire. She had a determined look on her face. These people had been through a lot. Nina volunteered to teach. She was soft-spoken and worried the children would not listen to her.
Lana smirked. She looked at the children, "when I was in school, I protected my brother from bullies. I promise you right now, if you bully your teacher or choose not to listen to her, you will regret it."
Between the 14 children, one volunteered to apprentice with the cooks, one with the command post and one with the farming. Hansa reminded Lana of Erin. She was firm and determined. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She was 14 and wanted to amount to something. She wanted to work with the command post and Lana happily agreed.
Bunt was the 14 year old that was the son of Lonnie and Bonnie, one of the couples. This family was assigned to a 3-bedroom. They were both D-rank. Mainly because they were also raising a child and didn't go on too many quests so they could be present for their son. He chose to learn to cook because even though eventually he wanted to join his parents, cooking was a valuable life skill.
The eldest of Biff and Lisa, Juan, chose to help with farming. He was 15 and didn't want to chose an ability just yet but growing food was also a valuable skill and he and Bunt were good friends. It made sense for them to learn life skills that complimented each other. Lana smiled.
A cute 12-year old orphan girl asked if she could work with Dilly. She wanted to learn how to make clothes. Dilly nodded and Pati was assigned to her.
One of the new travelers asked a question, "There are more travelers than earth users. Do we all need to help with security?"
"Great question! And Yes. There are king tiers down there and none of you are over C rank. I have Almin working on the lighting system in the cleared areas. Logan sent a plumbing system so we can install pipes to be able to take showers and baths. I need Alto working on that. If one of you are able to help him, please do so but we need our earth users able to work. With not knowing then the Crows are going to be hit, I feel more pressure to get done down there so we can send them back to help defend their families."
"Another thing I wanted to talk to you guys about is housing. I'm reserving the 80-foot diameter houses for now. I need to designate official positions that would be assigned them and the person doing those duties will live in those houses. Right now, we are living in different parts which is fine. I was wondering if you preferred to be scattered about or if you wanted to live all in one area? There are merits to both so I thought we would discuss it."
Dobin spoke first. "I know you will be moving further toward the other side of me but I will stay where I am and monitor the corner while I'm in my house. I think the corner houses need to be manned by the single people but everyone else should live where they want."
The rest started nodding their heads. Alto chose to stay where he was but Duff wanted to move to 30A. Kattie and Almin chose to move to the other end to 3AJ. Bonnie and Lonnie were in 2N and wanted to stay there. Biff and Lisa would stay in 3R until the other side was done. Rene chose 30AL. This put someone at each of the corners. Shalt and Lana would continue to stay with Dobin until she got their house done. The 4 single men would think about their living situation and be moved by the time she woke up so they could all get about work.
With that Lana called the meeting to an end. They had been served breakfast and ate while the meeting was ongoing. A few of the men went out and started carrying in bags. Everyone was excited. It also emphasized their need for a permanent house so they would not need to move their things.
Lana went behind the travelers' center and after an hour and a half, she built the first building to the orphanage. This building had a hallway on both floors that would connect to the next building. This way the person running it would be able to access the children fairly fast. Some of the children watched what she did then ran around the building excitedly.
She then went to the command post, barely keeping her eyes open and bought the furniture for all three buildings keeping the people busy moving things around. Shalt said he would put the furnishings in while she slept. And sleep she did knowing she now had a daily expense of 10 credits a day for 25 people plus the 50 she was paying the 8 earth users.