Peabody and the Host
By Vic James
vicjames2@hotmail.com
Copyright 2013 by Vic James
http://vicjames.com
Please donate to nifty to keep it reading stories like this.
http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
You can see a list of my stories under my name at http://www.nifty.org/nifty/frauthors.html
Twelve
Lan was too excited to sleep. Peabody loved him most!
When Lan was certain Peabody was asleep, he got out of bed and walked over to Lin's side. Lin was still awake, too.
"I'm going to go see cavern seven. I want to see how it's coming along."
"Take pictures, will you? Peabody might like to see them later."
"That is a good idea," Lan said.
He got a blanket out of a closet and put it over Peabody.
Lan walked to the brother's rooms. All of them were out.
"Comm. Get Ban."
"Ban, here."
"It's Lan. Are you in cavern seven?"
"Yes."
"I want to see it."
Ban told him about the new tunnel to it.
Lan grabbed a camera from his room and took off running. When he got there, he found that there was air and he entered the cavern. He put the camera on auto and placed it on his shoulder. He had seen the cavern when they first surveyed it, but it had changed! The lights were on, so he could see clearly. Much of the rubble on the ground had been cleared. Holes in the rock had been dug and he could see where the walking path would be. While he was looking around, he heard water falling. He looked until he found its source. It was dripping down from the roof. Evidently, Pon had some of the water lines going.
Lan wandered around for pictures until he spotted Ban.
"It looks fantastic. You've made amazing progress. How did you do so much so soon?"
"Yes, it is progressing very well. Much faster than we expected. We forgot what it is like to be motivated. Before Peabody, there was no reason to hurry. We would all much rather work on this than sleep. We eat as we work and we don't argue about every little thing the way we usually do.
"Go see Pon, will you? He needs help."
"Comm. Get Pon."
"Pon, here."
"Pon, it's Lan. Do you need to see me?"
"Yes. I'll meet you at the entrance to the cavern."
Lan walked back and waited for him.
When Pon appeared, he said, "We need to get some soil from different areas. The soil directly above us is not suitable. I need to know if there is soil elsewhere that is suitable. Otherwise, we will need to bring a great deal of soil from Earth."
"Do you have any locations in mind?"
"Yes. P76A, P9197, and P21B."
"How much do you need from each?"
"About four kilos from each should be enough."
Traveling to those locations would take half the night, but Lan wanted-no needed-to contribute something to the park. He walked to a storage area and got bins for the soil. He carried them to B shuttle, since the automobile was probably still on the A shuttle. Exposing the car to Mars' atmosphere might damage it.
He put on a space suit and took off. He landed at the first site and grabbed a bin. He left the shuttle and looked for loose soil. He found a spot and dragged the bin on its side to collect some. He estimated it was more like five kilos, but more would be better than less. He repeated it at the next site. The third site took longer. He couldn't find loose soil. He walked in a spiral expanding away from the ship until he found some about one hundred and fifty meters from the shuttle. He collected the soil. When he went back to the shuttle, he entered the exact collection site in the computer so he wouldn't have to go through that again. All together, it took almost five hours, but he got what they needed.
"Comm. Get Pon."
He heard a bell, which meant Pon was asleep. That was where he wanted to be.
He carried the bins to the near end of the tunnel to Peabody's Park and left them there. They were labeled with the collection location. Lan walked to the brothers' quarters and took a shower there. He left a message for Pon telling him where he put the soil. Then he walked back to Peabody's quarters.
Oscar barked when he walked into the dark room.
He patted Oscar on the head and then climbed carefully into bed. He took the blanket off Peabody, snuggled up to his love, and fell asleep.
Peabody slept late, and Lan woke up before him. Lin was not in bed. Lan got out of bed and put the blanket over Peabody again. He walked into the kitchen and saw Lin with Oscar.
"He wanted to go outside, so I took him.
"How is the cavern progressing?"
Lan projected the pictures on a wall.
"They have made amazing progress!"
"Yes. Pon is doing soil tests. He had me collect soils from three different locations last night. The texture of one seemed very different from what we've seen. If plants won't grow in any of them, we will have to bring soil from Earth."
"Earth from Earth. It seems appropriate," Lin said.
"Pon would prefer we find native soil that we can use since we will eventually plant crops." Lin nodded.
Lan walked into the kitchen and made coffee. He decided to make waffles for Peabody, so he got started on them.
A few minutes later, Peabody wandered into the kitchen. Lan poured him a cup of coffee.
"Are you making waffles?"
"Yes. Do you like them?"
"I love them!"
Lan bent down and kissed him. "I love you."
"I woke up last night and you weren't there."
"Pon needed my help with something."
"Is everything OK?"
"Yes, beautiful. Everything is perfect."
"I already walked Oscar," Lin told him.
"Thanks. Later I'm going to take him to the cavern. After that I think I will use the treadmill in the gym. I am going to try to get Oscar on it. We both need more exercise. Oscar walks about twenty feet a day. He needs exercise to live a long life."
"That's a good idea. Three minutes should be enough for your first time. That is very conservative, but we can add a minute or two every day. I will go with you. Mun made this for Oscar." He showed Peabody cloth carrier that he could put Oscar in. "You can wear him on your back." Lin put it around Peabody's neck.
"That should work great. I will have to show my appreciation to Mun," Peabody said.
"Please, Peabody. You just said you were going to work out in the gym. Pace yourself."
"Is walking three minutes a work out?"
"You know what I mean."
"I will pace myself. I plan to limit myself to sex with four or five of my lovers a day."
"I'm not sure the word 'limit' applies. How about three?"
"Three and a half," Peabody countered, laughing.
Lin laughed. "I hope the half isn't Oscar. I don't think he is gay."
"I actually met a gay dog once. The dog only wanted to have sex with male dogs. He ignored females."
"We should keep Oscar away from him."
"Absolutely. It won't be hard because he is probably dead by now, and if he isn't, he lives on another planet."
"Oscar will probably live longer on Mars than on Earth due to the low gravity."
"That's great! I sure hope it's true."
Lan brought the waffles out.
Peabody took a bite. "Oh, Lan. These are wonderful!" Lan smiled at him.
Peabody winked at him. Lin couldn't see it. Lan felt so happy he thought he would burst.
After they ate, they all took Oscar to the cavern. He tried to drink the water.
"No, Oscar. It's poisonous."
He kept him close to them on the path. Peabody realized the cavern wouldn't be as good a place to walk him as he thought. He would have to watch him carefully and he couldn't let him off his leash. Well, Ban said they were working on someplace else.
Oscar had fun, even if he couldn't drink. Pon had lit the large cavern. It didn't look as mysterious anymore, but he could tell where water was standing. They followed a path through the large space. Even lit, it was eerie. When they had gone a ways into it, Peabody looked around. He was surrounded by stalagmites on the ground and solid columns where the stalagtites on the roof of the cavern, and stalagmites had joined. There was an area where they were more brownish in color, compared to the yellowish color of most of them. He saw one stalagtite which was only about two inches above a stalagmite on the ground. He wondered how long it would take for them to touch. Then he remembered Pon said the cavern had been sealed. He wondered if that meant they would never join. They turned around and headed towards the cavern exit.
They left the cavern and climbed the ladder to the gym. They walked into it and Oscar barked when the gravity increased. Peabody chuckled.
Lin made him sit for a few minutes to adjust to the gravity. Lin and Lan sat on either side of him and he stroked both of their cocks while he adjusted to the gravity.
"I'm glad your cocks are just as perky in higher gravity!" They all laughed. "I really love this gym," he said, while he stroked them.
"I love it for the first time, too!" Lan said. They laughed.
"This is good exercise for you, Peabody," Lin said. Peabody laughed.
"You mean the handjobs?"
"The handjobs in higher gravity!" They all laughed.
"I suppose I am giving my arms a workout."
"And our pricks!" Lan said.
"You can get on the treadmill now," Lin said.
"No! It is too soon!" Lan said. Peabody laughed and stopped stroking them. He got up and walked to the treadmill. He stepped onto it and then called Oscar who absolutely refused to get on the treadmill. Peabody shrugged and started walking on it. After only about ten seconds, Lin called out, "How do you feel?" Peabody laughed.
"Fine. I may be able to walk a whole minute!"
While Peabody walked, Lan tried to get Oscar to chase him. He ran to the other side of the gym and Oscar chased after him. Peabody smiled. Sometimes the oddness of his situation would hit him and this was one of those times. He was on a Sears treadmill on Mars, walking in artificial gravity, while his alien lover played with his dog! Oh, and his alien lover-doctor stroked himself while he watched him walk!
"That's long enough, my love," Lin said. Peabody slowed, then stopped and got off the treadmill.
"Do you feel like you have exerted yourself?" Lin asked him.
"Yes, and that is really depressing."
He sat next to Lin. Lin put his arm around him and Peabody leaned his head on Lin.
"You are pregnant, in addition to the gravity changes. You can't expect all that to have no effect on you."
"I guess that's true."
They left the gym and headed back to Peabody's room. When they got there, Peabody got Mun on the comm.
"Mun, thank you for the carrier for Oscar."
"You're welcome! How are you feeling today?"
"Grateful, Mun. Can I meet you in your room?"
"Wait thirty minutes, Peabody!" Lin said.
"I heard, my love. I will see you in thirty minutes!"
Peabody sat and waited. Oscar wanted attention, so he picked him up and petted him. Lin frowned at him, so he put Oscar down. He sighed.
"Peabody, please, please do not exert yourself with Mun," Lin begged him.
"I will be careful, Lin, I promise."
They left the gym and walked back to his room. After dropping off Oscar, Peabody walked to Mun's room and waited on his bed. Mun walked into the room and got into bed.
He looked in Peabody's eyes and said, "I love you, Peabody."
"I love you, too."
Peabody wrapped his hand around Mun's cock and Mun closed his eyes.
"Lin doesn't want you exerting yourself."
"Believe me, I know that! I'm afraid he will come in here this time to check my pulse! Will you kiss me, Mun."
They kissed and Peabody ran one hand over Mun's body. He enjoyed the feel of the fur and the muscles.
"You are more muscular than Ban."
"I work out in the gym more."
Peabody scooted down on the bed and took Mun in his mouth. Mun let out a long moan. Peabody found his balls in his fur and held them while he sucked. Periodically, he pulled off it and licked it as Mun moaned.
After a couple of minutes, Mun said, "Oh, Peabody!" and he came. A stream of sweet liquid shot into Peabody's mouth for at least five seconds. Peabody swallowed three times to get all of it.
He got back up on the bed and said, "Sorry it didn't last longer, but I am trying to take it easy."
"Oh, Peabody. You don't need to apologize! It was wonderful."
"Maybe I can suck cock and keep my energy."
Mun laughed and said, "I hope you can convince Lin."
Peabody sighed. "I really need to thank Ban."
"Peabody, you don't have to thank him today."
Peabody laughed and said. "But I want to!"
"We were so worried when Fon told us what had happened. He felt terrible. He felt he was the cause. If you were to start feeling bad while you are thanking Ban, he will feel worse for making you sick."
"I suppose you're right. On the other hand, after I've had a nap, maybe..."
Mun laughed again. "I love you, Peabody."
Mun ran his hands over Peabody and Peabody arched into him. Peabody was so responsive to him. He knew he wasn't Peabody's favorite, but Peabody made him feel special. He didn't have to worry about whether his touch was unwanted. He ran his hand between Peabody's crack again and Peabody smiled at him. He pushed a finger into him again. He watched Peabody close his eyes and smile with pleasure. He leaned forward and kissed him again.
"I better go. I'm sure Lin and Lan are worried I'll have a relapse. I love you, Mun." Peabody hugged him.
Mun got up and then Peabody did.
"I know we've said it to you, but Peabody, we are so lucky to have you here. Before you came, we mostly sat around and argued or slept. Now we are all happy and we all feel like making this a real, expanding colony. That's what we've been working on. We've created two new tunnels in the past two days."
"I'm glad. I want you and your brothers to be as happy as I am. He hugged Mun. Bye."
"Bye."
Peabody walked to his quarters.
"How do you feel?" Lin asked, the minute he opened the door.
"I feel wonderful. I have six handsome alien husbands, a beautiful dog, and beautiful alien children growing inside me."
"Do you feel like going to the clinic? I want to check your blood."
"Sure. It's not like it's far away. Do you allow dogs in your clinic?"
"Only Oscar. No others."
"Not even Toto?"
"I have a feeling Toto may be dead. I suppose a dead dog would be all right."
"Yes. Miss Gulch gets the last laugh! Come on, Oscar!"
That night, while Peabody slept, Lan flew back to Earth to pick up supplies as well as plants Fon wanted. They also picked up six more electric motorcycles. All the brothers wanted one. They made travel to Peabody's Park fun. They replaced the tires with ones that had more traction, since traction suffered in low gravity.
Over the next few days, Peabody began to feel better and better. His energy level had improved as well. He stayed up until 10:30! He mentioned it to Lin.
"It's because the children are removing your excess red blood cells and consuming some of the calcium and other minerals from your blood."
Lin convinced him to limit himself to sex with one other brother each day. They seemed delighted by that arrangement.
He was able to walk longer on the treadmill and that made him happy, too.
All of the brothers had stopped by to meet Oscar. Oscar liked them all, which didn't surprise Peabody. Pon and Mun had been very hesitant towards him at first, but he won them over.
Pon walked into Peabody's quarters in search of Lan. The two of them walked back to Pon's room.
"The soil from P21B seems to work well. Some of the Earth plants in it are already growing."
"That's great! How much do you need?"
"About four thousand kilos, for now."
"Will that fit?"
"Yes, with light compression. I calculated it."
Lan told Peabody he would be gone for a while and he left to get the soil. On the way, he thought about Peabody. He hadn't told anyone that Peabody loved him the most, but Lin had noticed and had congratulated him. Lin offered to go back to sleeping in his own room, but Lan knew Peabody wouldn't like that.
"He loves you, you know that."
"He loves all of us, but he's never seemed interested in having other brothers in his bed."
"He loves you more than the others."
Lin thought and said, "I've always hoped so, but I've never been certain."
"He agreed to have your baby first. Besides, what if he got sick at night?"
Lin smiled and said, "Thank you, Lan."
Lin was disappointed that Lan had been chosen as his favorite, but Peabody had so much love to give and gave it so freely, that he was still very happy. The minute Lin had an erection, Peabody wanted it. It was a wonderful feeling, being wanted. Lin was sure he had never felt that so strongly with Aracatal, but then he wasn't a favorite of Aracatal. He knew Aracatal loved him, but he never felt Aracatal had a quarter of the lust Peabody had for him.
Lan loaded a compressor into the shuttle and lifted off. About forty five minutes later, Lan landed the shuttle at P21B. The inside of the shuttle had been sealed to keep the dirt out of everything. He used a suction device modified to work in Mars' thin atmosphere to pull the soil up and into the compressor. The compressor generated high artificial gravity to pack the soil extremely tightly. He hit bedrock twice and had to move, but he finally had all Pon needed.
When he got back, he used a lifter to get the compressor and the dirt to Peabody's Park. All the brothers helped spread the soil. The next step was planting.
Fon approached Lan. "The lawyers say they have two grafts of Peabody's tree ready for pickup."
"What is a graft?"
"According to Pon, they took a branch from Peabody's tree and attached it to the roots from another tree. That way the visible tree is the same as the original. They are still extremely delicate from the surgery, I was told, so we need to be very careful with them."
"Pon has also requested a lot of other plants for the park, grass, flowers, and different kinds of trees. They are ready as well.
"I had an idea for my own contribution. I thought I would have a small house in here that Peabody might want to stay in sometimes. Do you think he might like it?" Fon asked.
"Yes. I think he will love it. He may want to move here, you know, if it turns out as well as we think it will. Better plan on a king sized bed in the house."
"I hadn't thought of that. If it's as nice as we think it will be, we will probably be spending a lot of time here, too. Fortunately with the bikes, it takes very little time to get here. I am going to order a modular home from Earth. I thought that might make it even more like Earth."
Lan decided they needed a barbeque grill and outdoor furniture. A bicycle, too, Lan thought. Peabody had said during The Wizard of Oz that he had ridden a bike to work every day when the weather was nice. This would be a good place to ride it and the weather would always be nice.
Lan got on the comm and ordered the bike, the grill, and the furniture. He was going to be making a lot of trips to Earth.
He walked back to Peabody's quarters to make dinner. Peabody stayed next to him the entire time.
"I miss, you."
"I miss you, too. There is just a lot of work."
Peabody continued feeling better and he and Oscar played a lot while Lin watched. Peabody took Oscar walking in the cavern twice a day. Oscar seemed very happy and Peabody loved him dearly.
Peabody saw less and less of the brothers. Lin kept assuring him it was temporary, but Peabody missed Lan terribly. Lan still cooked his meals and they usually had sex, but he didn't always sleep with them.
When Lan walked into Peabody's quarters, Oscar ran up to him and jumped up for attention. He picked Oscar up and petted him. Peabody said, "Lin, I would like to speak to Lan alone."
"I will be in my room."
"Lan, I want to know what is going on. Are you having sex with that lawyer again? You spend less and less time here. I haven't seen the other brothers, either. I've tried to think if I've said anything to hurt you..."
Lan put Oscar on the floor and took Peabody in his arms. "I love you, Peabody. More than ever. It is not physically possible for me to have sex with anyone else. I..."
"What is it?"
"We are all, except for Lin, working on a major project. It started out as a place to walk and now it's the biggest thing we have ever done."
"Is it the farming cavern?"
"No. I really can't say. I've been going to Earth for supplies and helping on the project. I need to help on the project. I have to feel I am contributing to it."
"Why can't you tell me?"
"Because it's a surprise."
Peabody sighed. "I've missed you."
"Oh, my love! I have missed you every second I've been away. I even tried to figure out ways to take you to Earth with me while still keeping you in the dark. I still haven't figured out how to do that," he said, smiling.
"I could promise not to look..."
"No. It's better if it's a complete surprise."
"You haven't started modifying the climate, have you? That will take a long time!"
"No."
Peabody rested his head against Lan's chest and sighed.
"I suppose I'm being silly."
"No, you are not being silly. We love each other. It's painful to be separated."
"OK."
Lan held his love while Peabody breathed in the scent of his lover. Then Peabody knelt and took his lover's big cock into his mouth. Lan sighed.
Pon was waiting eagerly for the plants and trees from Earth. The watering and drainage systems were in place and tested. The soil had been placed where it needed to be in the holes and grooves in the rock. They might need more soil, but they had enough for now.
"Comm. Get Lan."
"Lan, here."
"Lan, it's Pon. I really need you to pick up the things from Earth. We can't do anything more until we have them."
Peabody was still sucking his cock. Peabody sighed and said "I'll see you later, my love."
"I'm sorry, Peabody."
"It's OK. Oh. Lan, there is one thing I think we need for Oscar, a dog crate."
"Yes, my love."
"Comm. Get Lin," Peabody said.
"Lin, here."
"Lin, would you mind coming back?"
Lin laughed over the comm. "I would mind not coming back."
Lan passed Lin coming out of his room on his way out.
"How is it coming, Lan?"
"You've seen it on the display, right?"
"Yes. I was actually glad Peabody sent me away so I could check."
"Fon wants to put a small house in it where Peabody could stay, or just take a nap. I'm going after the trees and plants now for Pon. Ban has the pond full of water. He hasn't decided if he wants it to be pure water, or have fish. Mun is deciding what kinds of animals the park can support and how to control their populations without predators."
"The small house reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. We should have a yellow brick road."
"I don't want to think about bringing enough bricks for a road."
"No."
Lan walked off and Lin walked back to Peabody.
Lin saw Peabody and he felt himself get an erection. Peabody looked right at it and smiled. "You missed me!"
"I did, very much."
Peabody walked up to him and they kissed. Peabody then turned around and placed his cock at his hole. Lin pushed into him.
"I love the greasy stuff you put on me. It makes using the bathroom easier, too. What keeps it on?"
"It isn't grease or a lubricant. It coats the skin cells with a nearly frictionless surface. As the old coated cells die, they are replaced with uncoated cells, so it has to be reapplied periodically."
"I have Teflon on my ass!" Lin didn't know what Teflon was, but Peabody seemed pleased. That was enough.
He began thrusting slowly into Peabody while he held him. This was one of the best parts of being alone with him. They could have slow, leisurely sex. He lifted Peabody off his feet and while still inside him, walked them to bed.
"I want to be on top," Peabody said. Lin rolled on his back. Peabody smiled at him as he began fucking himself slowly. As a doctor he was pleased with Peabody's increased stamina. Peabody took his hands and used them to give himself leverage. Lin held them stiff enough for him to do it.
"I'm close, my love." Peabody stopped and leaned forward. Lin leaned up and they kissed.
"I love you, Lin."
"Oh, my love."
They kissed again and then Peabody got upright. Lin took Peabody's prick in one hand and stroked it while he rolled his balls around in the other hand. He made short thrusts into him. Lin looked at the contented smile on Peabody's face. He could see how much Peabody loved him and how much pleasure he was giving him.
They kept it up for about an hour. Lin saw signs of fatigue, so he made them both come. Afterwards, Peabody lay next to him with his head on Lin's chest. Peabody fell asleep and Lin lay there completely contented himself.
Lan landed the shuttle in the hangar on Earth. It was almost completely full of plants. He sighed. He knew Peabody's Park was big and needed a lot of plants, but this would be at least two trips. That would be twice as much time away from Peabody. He was very concerned about Peabody picking Lin as his new favorite. There was nothing he could do about it, though. Lan was the pilot.
He got off the shuttle and John Drake, who did their purchasing met him
"There are more plants inside the building."
"Oh," Lan said, disappointed.
"The things you ordered are by the west door. You didn't say what kind of bicycle, so I got two different kinds. One is a dirt bike, which might work better on Mars."
"Thanks, John."
Employees of theirs all came to the hangar to load the plants into the shuttle. Lan loaded the two carefully wrapped trees himself, first. Then he directed where to put the rest. One employee showed him how potted plants could be stacked. He had worked in a nursery. Lan was so pleased he gave him a five thousand dollar bonus. They ended up getting more of the plants in the shuttle than Lan thought they could.
Lan gave each of them a thousand dollar bonus for helping load the shuttle. Several of them had gotten dirty loading the grass. The dirtiest ones got fifteen hundred dollar bonuses. They cleared the hangar and Lan took off. He contacted Mars and told the brothers to be ready.
Pon and Ban walked to Peabody's quarters.
"Hi, Ban, Pon. It's been a while. How are you?"
"Exhausted and dirty," Ban said.
Both of them were erect. Seeing Peabody did it.
"Would you like me to wash you again, Ban?"
Ban moaned and Peabody laughed.
"My love, I know you are getting impatient and lonely," Pon said. "We are almost ready to show it to you."
"Really?"
"Yes. In a day or two."
"Oh."
"It would go faster if we could borrow Lin."
Peabody sighed. "I understand. I am sure glad I have Oscar!"
Pon took Peabody in his arms and kissed him. Then he stroked Peabody's cheek. "I love you, Peabody."
"I love you, Pon."
Ban kissed him while Peabody wrapped his hand around Ban's cock.
"I love you so much," he told Peabody.
Peabody hugged Lin. "If you feel bad or even odd in any way, contact me on the comm, my love."
"I will, Lin. I promise."
Peabody watched them walk out.
"Come on, Oscar!"
He got Oscar's ball and tossed it to the opposite side of his quarters. Oscar took off after it and Peabody smiled.
Lan landed the shuttle and saw all the brothers waiting for him.
"Who is with Peabody?"
"We decided it was better to finish quickly before he gets even more annoyed," Ban said. Lan couldn't disagree. He was relieved than Lin was helping them. It might keep Lin from replacing him as Peabody's favorite.
"Don't worry, Lan," Lin said. "With the bikes, I can get to his room quickly if needed. I will check up on him regularly on the comm."
"Very well."
They unloaded the shuttle and Lan headed back to Earth.
The brothers loaded plants on the lifters. They had created a tunnel between the shuttle corridor and the tunnel to Peabody's Park. They took a load of plants to the park and then returned for another load.
"Which is Peabody's tree?" Lin asked.
"This is one of them," Pon pointed out.
"It's not very big."
"It couldn't be to fit on the shuttle. Also we didn't give them time to grow it. The trunk on this one is from another tree and the branches are from Peabody's tree. The other one is smaller with roots from another tree and the entire top from Peabody's tree. It is only about two meters tall. Be careful with them. The joins between the trees are not healed yet."
"Mun. What did you decide about animals?" Lin asked.
"We are going to have male parrots. Parrots are a type of bird. They live a long time and they are colorful. We decided to leave the water in the pond alone and let Peabody decide what he wants in it. We have been warned about the reproductive abilities of squirrels. If we have a pair, we will have dozens in a few years. They don't live very long, so using only males would be temporary. If we have them, either we kill the excess or we get a predator. A predator large enough to eat squirrels could be a danger to Oscar, not to mention Peabody. One of the employees suggested rabbits, since the excess is edible. What is your opinion?"
"I think we should wait. Peabody might be happy with the parrots."
"Good. That would be easiest. We are going to put smaller parrots in right away. When the trees are taller, we can add larger parrots."
"They will breed as well. What will we do with the excess?"
"We are only getting males for now."
Lan landed the shuttle again in the hangar on Earth. Abbott was waiting for him. He really hoped it was business related. Lan regretted having a sexual relationship with him. He had done it to get experience having sex with a human. He had explained that to Abbott from the beginning. The worst part was he liked Abbott. He was a good employee and a kind person.
He walked down the shuttle gangway.
"Lan, my office is full of parrots," Abbott said. "Will you load them first?"
"Sure." They walked to Abbott's office. "John asked me to locate the parrots for you. He has been looking at the alternatives for Peabody's house. He called and said he would be here in about an hour with it."
"It won't fit on the shuttle."
"It's modular. You assemble the pieces on site. He made sure the pieces would fit on the shuttle. It wouldn't be any use if they didn't."
They walked into Abbott's office. The office was full of cages with small colorful birds. It was very noisy.
"I see why you want to get them out of here. What are these?" Lan asked pointing to some especially colorful ones.
"Those are sun and jenday conures. All of these are types of parrots."
They loaded the cages on a cart.
"How many birds are there?" Lan asked
"Thirty."
"What will they eat?"
"Eventually, the plants in the park will supply most of their food. Pon chose some of the plants based on what they need. Until then, we have purchased food for them."
Abbott would have loved to go to Mars and see everything. He had asked many times until Lan got angry. The brothers didn't want humans establishing any kind of foothold on Mars. They believed that if Abbott went, the government would want him to provide details about their base.
They loaded the birds on the shuttle. They were noisy, but they would certainly make the park seem alive. Abbott went back to bring the food while Lan and some employees loaded the rest of the plants on the shuttle. Lan saw the gas grill and outdoor furniture. He loaded it and then the bikes. There were benches in the hangar and he loaded those as well.
"I am going to take this and come back for the house," he told Abbott. "Is there anything else I can take now?"
"Me," is what sprang to Abbott's mind, but he said, "No. That's all for now. No. Wait. Ban wanted different tires for the Roadster. I'll get them." Lan went with him and carried the four tires to the shuttle.
"Bye, Lan."
"Goodbye, Abbott. Thank you for your hard work."
Lan boarded the shuttle and took off. He missed Peabody.
Abbott went into the bathroom next his office and locked the door. He was hard from being near Lan. He closed his eyes and stroked himself while he pushed two fingers into himself. He groaned as he came in the sink. Then he washed his hands and changed into clean clothes.
When Lan landed the shuttle on Mars, there were lifters, but no brothers. He assumed they were planting,
Lan unloaded everything into the corridor, contacted the brothers and told them, and then took off immediately for Earth.
He saw a huge, yellow machine next to their building when he was landing. The pieces of the house were in the hangar. Lan assumed the machine was how they got the pieces into the hangar. John Drake was waiting for him.
"Here are the assembly instructions." He handed Lan a binder. The furniture is due to be delivered any minute."
"Will it fit in the shuttle with the pieces?"
"No. The pieces barely fit. It was difficult finding a home that would fit at all."
"I'm sure it was, John."
"The house is small, with only one bedroom. However, I chose a design which can be enlarged later."
"Excellent. We don't want a mansion. Just a cabin."
"This is much nicer than a cabin.
"Lan, no one mentioned appliances. I placed a call for Fon, but he hasn't returned it."
"Whatever will fit. We don't know how much time we will be spending in it, but it could become his primary residence. The usual things: an oven, refrigerator, microwave, and dishwasher."
Lan saw the pieces of the house were already on rollers. He got started loading them on the shuttle.
An hour later, Lan was more tired than he had been in a long time. One of the employees walked up to him.
"Do you want us to stay late, Lan?"
"What time is it?"
"About 7:30."
"No. This is my last load today. Tell everyone they can go home after I leave."
"OK."
Lan sighed. "I want Peabody and a bath," he said to himself. He was pleased that he had managed to get the king sized bed onto the shuttle. At least the house would have a bed. He took off for Mars. He radioed Ban that the entrance to the park would have to be enlarged to get two of the pieces of the house inside the park.
When he landed, he left the house on the shuttle. He took a shower and then went to Peabody and bed.