Dear Jim,

it has been two weeks and we are finally allowed to go outside without protection for an unlimited time. Barbara is also allowed to leave the pod and I am very glad about that. Her mood was already getting on my nerves. I mean, I am very happy that she is well again but the pod is just too small for two people being permanently locked in it. And as I have told you her mood did not improve when I could go outside for short amounts of time and the doctors wouldn't let her. On the other hand Loreley has told me about how Candy behaves and I would not want to trade with her. I don't know how she endures sharing a pod with her.

The lake is covered in brownish dust, which collects as a slightly foamy substance on its banks and looks quite yucky. The little rain we had yesterday only made things worse by washing more of the stuff into the water. All our pods, the tent and everything else that has been outside has not been washed clean but has unsightly splotches. At least the air smells cleaner now and I don't have to cough and sneeze anymore.

We're getting similar reports from the other clusters. Cluster 6 had heavy rainfalls yesterday, which cleaned most of the pollen away and at the sea at Cluster 1 they report that (probably due to warmer weather) the whole pollination thing went faster for them. Only in the mountains at Cluster 4 the trees are still doing their thing and it is advised that all inhabitants stay in their pods for a while longer.

This morning I decided that things have improved enough to go do my work. I have a 'fun' time ahead of me as the pollen does not only cover the whole tent at the meeting place but of course also got inside. You know what that means? I have to clean the OMR again. Just like I did a few weeks ago. Oh fun. If this pollination thing is an annual occurrence I now know that I have to wait until after this event is over with cleaning anything.

Mr Pollak tells me that I am not supposed to whine and everyone has their troubles, to which his wife remarked that I never managed to completely fix their robo-maid. It is obviously a hardship to deal with this.

Anyway, Laszlo indicated that the OMR will be needed soon. The grass has grown long enough to be useable by now and getting started with the doctors' office seems to be his first priority. This means I have to get this done in a reasonable time and I will also have to finish disassembling the crashed pod so all salvageable systems can be installed in the new building. We will have to replace everything else with new parts from storage on the Zephyrus.

The first thing I did was take a bucket of water and a cloth and wash the whole exterior of the machine. I had to do this twice and it felt like I changed the water a million times. It took forever. When I opened the first screws and removed the first hull plate I saw how bad things actually were. The pollen had got everywhere. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. This required a complete disassembly, a soft brush and a miniature vaccuum. Sometimes I really hate being an engineer. Why don't I have a robo-maid that works for me?

I looked up from my work when I heard the unmistakable sound of an approaching shuttle. This was surprising, as we had no delivery of supplies scheduled for today. I tried to stay focussed on my work, but finally my curiosity got the better of me. I got up and looked though a gap in the tent flap. I watched how the vehicle landed behind Maia's and Arthur's pod. This was unfortunate as it blocked my view of what happened – or rather who was coming. I was conflicted about going back to work or looking what was up, but I decided I could need a break anyway, so why not see what was going on.

When I arrived, the shuttle was empty, so I looked around and saw Gerald's barn door was half open and I seemed to hear faint voices from there. As I walked closer suddenly Ryker dashed out of the door to greet me. This totally destroyed all the inconspicuousness I thought I had. I sighed, petted his head and walked into the barn with him. Gerald and Ingrid were there and two other people who had their backs to the door. I assumed they were whoever had come with the shuttle. Both of them carried large bags. They turned around when I entered. It was an older man with more grey hair on his face than on top of his head and a younger woman with dark skin and very short black curls.

The two strangers were introduced to me as Raymond and Malika, the vets from Cluster 6. They were here to deliver Gerald's babies. I was told that as I was already here I could stay and probably help later. Of course I was excited and agreed. We went over to the incubator in the middle of the barn, where Raymond checked the logs of the little ones' vital signs and then injected something into each of the six parts of the incubator. Through the soft covers we could already see movements inside.

We waited for several minutes. Then, Raymond pulled a scalpel from his bag and after a moment of consideration, carefully opened the first section of the incubator up with a long cut. Fluid came out, leaving a puddle on the floor of the barn, then a patch of wet, brown fur became visible. The vet reached into incubator and carefully pulled out a dark brown furry lump, which he slowly put on the ground. There, it tentatively unfolded four long legs while Malika checked its vital signs. The sound it made while its nostrils were cleaned was more surprised than anything else. When they both were satisfied, Gerald and Ingrid took their places, rubbed the baby dry with cloth and carried it over to an enclosure in a corner of the barn which was covered in hay, that Gerald had harvested last year. I was ordered to stay with the little one while we could already hear the sounds of a second, louder calf from the incubator. Gerald and Ingrid quickly went over to take care of it. I wasn't quite sure what I was expected to do, so I tentatively petted the little one's sticky head and told it that everything would be fine, while it looked around with big black eyes.

Soon I was brought a second calf to keep company. In lieu of anything meaningful to say I introduced them to each other. Then Ryker came over, wagging his tail tentatively. I told him he could come if he was nice to the little ones and he curiously sniffed at them. Before I could properly introduce Ryker and make him lie down and not be too excited, Gerald and Ingrid came over with yet another calf. They started to walk away again, but I called after Gerald.

'Do they have names yet?' I wanted to know. He laughed and pointed at the three in the order they had been brought to me.

'That's Bessie, Betty and Bella,' he told me.

I nodded and turned back to the babies, explaining this to them as good as I could. Of course they had no idea what I said; Bessie instead tried to suck on my hand. It was a very slobbery affair. As I was quite busy with three increasingly moving calves, I at first didn't notice that the amount of time which passed was longer than it had been. I could hear agitated voices from the incubator. Something was clearly wrong. I heard Raymond giving Malika orders that I could not understand.

'We have to get the other two out now,' he said then. There was more commotion at the incubator. Tom suddenly appeared at the barn door and sprinted over to the others. A few minutes later he and Gerald brought me another calf.

'Call Barbara,' Gerald said to me. 'She can help you. We may not have time. There's milk prepared over there. . . oh, and that's Belinda, by the way.'

Then, both men hurried away. I did as I was told. Barbara arrived not long after and joined me and took her time with petting the calves and talking to them like you do with a baby. Bessie had meanwhile managed to get up on her long legs and Betty was trying hard. We had to give both of them some space. Bella and Belinda were lying next to each other, looking around. It was great to see. On the other hand I got increasingly worried. The others had not brought another calf. I anxiously looked over to the incubator, but everyone still was worryingly busy.

Barbara went over to where Gerald had said he had stored the milk and returned with two rather large bottles of warm white liquid. It took us a bit to make the little ones understand what they had to do and we ended up needing four hands for one calf, but in the end they both drank their bottles and then lay down for a nap. By that time the third calf was standing on wobbly legs.

When we were done with all four calves and they had fallen asleep in their bed of hay, we watched Tom and Gerald carrying another brown bundle to a different corner of the barn. When they walked back to the incubator, Gerald shouted over to us to go home and thanks for our help. We quietly made our exit, trying not to wake the babies.

Love,
Sarah

Tavaron

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