Maz brought the ship to a landing in a stretch of runway behind the Dome.
“How long is this thing?” Elektra wondered aloud.
“Thousands of long-measures wide,” Maz said. “Thousands of wide-measures too.”
“It will fit the ship?” Skyla asked.
“There will be room and then some,” Nessa assured her. “I’ll have Kommer unload my ship later.”
Kommer paced the ground in front of the dome. Nessa and her friends came in from the runway.
“You can unload your ship whenever you’re ready,” she said.
“Good to know,” he replied. “Now, if you’ll follow me, we can get you to the call center.”
Down a tiled hallway, Nessa strained to make her eyes adjust to the darkness. They stopped at seven round chambers.
“Get inside,” Kommer instructed. “I’ll activate all the teleports from my implant.”
The call center of the Great Dome was a dingy basement with a musty smell. It was dark for several measures, and then they came to a series of square digital glows. Log-drives were set into a computer board. Standard hovering chairs were arranged around the computer board. Nessa and the elder race chose their seats.
“What now?” Nessa questioned, watching Kommer retrace his steps and vanish.
She tilted her head at Maz.
“What’s the plan?”
Maz had already selected an application on the log-drive.
“Sending out a mass transmission to everyone’s implants,” he said. “For the next week or so, we’ll assemble at the learning facilities at 18:00. We’ll teach them what we learned about the economy from our parents.”
Nessa rose and smoothed her garment.
“Well, I’m going to make a call to my parents while you do that,” she said.
Her hearts overflowed with joy as she selected her father’s name in her contacts storage.
“Nessa!” he exclaimed, accepting the call. “Are you home?”
“Father!” she exclaimed in return. “I am home. I’ll be bringing nourishment packets home soon. I have so much to tell you.”
“Tell away,” he said.
“First, my friends are having everyone assemble at the learning centers for the next few weeks at 18:00. They’re going to help us establish our economy.”
“I’ll make sure your mother knows,” her father replied.
“Father, one more thing: is there a powering station that would accommodate a colony ship?”
Her father let out a whistle.
“It used to be what an army used,” he said. “So, yes. It’s in Basin 2 a few long-measures from Lenn City.”
“Can my friends use it?”
“You’d have to ask Iliyah’s father for the code. I’m sure he won’t mind. He may charge though.”
“Thank you, Father,” she said. “I’ll send a transmission to Ensley.”
“I’ll see you later, my daughter,” Dreklan told her.
“My love to you, Father,” she said.
The call disconnected, and she located Ensley’s contact.
“Nessa! Greetings!” Ensley’s jovial tone brought a grin.
“Greetings! Is it well with you?” Nessa asked.
“Certainly! What can I do for you?”
She traced a pattern with her foot.
“There are some people here that are moving here,” she said. “They are children of the elder race. They will not harm us; they are here to help us self-sustain. How much would you charge for them to use the powering station? Not sure how long.”
“I charge 250 currency units per 1/12 of a star-revolution,” he said. “Are you paying?”
“You may transfer it from my work account at Learning Facility 1,” she said.
“I will arrange that,” Ensley said. “The code is N377A.”
Nessa almost shot a stream of saliva.
“Wait, really?” She questioned, then collected herself. “Thank you, Ensley. I appreciate it.”
“Appreciate your business, and I hope to see you around soon.”
“For sure! I’ve reconnected with your children. Also, I don’t know if you’ve gotten the transmission--or if my friends sent it out yet--but for the next several weeks, we’re having everyone assemble at the learning facilities at 18:00. My friends--they’re children--but their parents taught them about building an economy. I’d like to see you all there.”
“I will make sure of it,” Ensley said. “See you there.”
“Thanks again!” she said. “Bye.”
She disconnected the call and let her implant darken. She spun to face her friends.
“It’s all set,” she said. “The code for the powering station is N377A.”