Kennedy and her Sisters flew with us at first, but they often took detours. They had studies and experiments that took their time away from us. It was good to see them when they had the chance, though.

Our journey around the world was a long one. It took over one turn of the sun, or about a year, in its entirety. The caravan took a large loop north and south as we traveled west. We picked up the rest of our extended family, as well as many others, and the caravan swelled. By the time we reached the T'vailk mountains we were two hundred and fifty families strong, at least.

Men had not lived in the T'vailk Mountains for many, many generations. We found the caves that they had used long ago and the rooms were still in good shape. My family, along with another hundred families, stayed in the T'vailk. We set up a camp and made this our home.

“I knew we'd end up here," Kein informed me late one afternoon as we walked out of the bathing cave. The fields had been muddy. We were preparing a new area for crops and the weather hadn't really cooperated today.

The T'vailk Mountain range was known for wild storms, but if you stayed where we were, a half day's travel from the coast, it was a tropical paradise. We got soaked today, but that was unusual. The windward side of the mountains usually took the abuse and we just got the wonderful weather in our small warm valley. There was, of course, the occasional typhoon like storm that drove us into our mountain for protection, but it wasn't often. This place was the best we'd been.

“Shame some men are too scared of the weather to live here,” I commented as I noted the preserved food we were transporting across the country to our cousins from less fertile areas.

Bags of a rice like substance lined one wall awaiting transport. The high calorie food was shipped all over the world, but could only be grown in areas like this one. It was fast becoming a staple. We were limited in production by the number of men and women here, though.

The storms still scared many away from this region, but the long growing season made it ideal. Our small camp helped to provide a great deal of sustenance for the rest of the planet. We always wished we had more men to do the labor, but this wasn't a popular place to move, unless you had T'vailk heritage. It had a bad reputation, completely unearned, in my opinion.

Kein and I walked down the breezy corridor toward the place we'd chosen as our dwelling. The grouping of rooms was just big enough to house our friends and extended family around a communal sitting area.

“This whole region is virtually unpopulated," Bane complained.

“I still can't believe how hard it is to get a good game of chuke going...

He'd been dying to play against new opponents, but getting together five families with any skill at the game was difficult. Tyle's family gave him the most competition, but even that was getting old. Bane was ready for a new challenge.

“We need to advertise," he told his Brothers heatedly, “get some new families in this place. The storms aren't THAT bad. Beside that the wind at the top of the mountains keeps the aliens from getting anywhere near the ground..."

“How many even get that far?" Christof asked rhetorically.

It had been ages since the aliens seeking ore had bothered to attack us. Our new improved planet-wide defenses made it a suicide mission to try. The peace had been a nice change, although we tended to stay ready.

The men settled in the communal area while they talked. Much like before we'd asked the women to dig us a cave off the main walkway. The central fire pit gave everyone a chance to sit together and our individual sleeping ares were arranged all around. If we weren't working, we were here with the family.

Usually we spent our late evenings around the fire with everyone else, but not tonight. I'd been keeping a secret as had several other women. It was sneaky, but it seemed like a surprise the men would like. It was time for more family.

The other women in my extended family, along with myself, had petitioned our Administration. We wished to breed. Tonight my family and I would start the process, as would four other families. If it was to be female offspring, we had bets on who would get pregnant. If it was to be male offspring, we would all get to celebrate. The Great Harmonious Spirit was in control of that choice, though.

Damien and his Brothers settled next to Hodlen and continued to discuss who could play chuke with them as I slipped into our sleeping chamber. My thoughts were kept closely guarded as I lit the fires around the room.

Unplanned pregnancy was not something we'd wanted to do again. Kennedy and her Sisters had developed a novel way to prevent it. Well, novel for Pateria, it had been a standard on earth. The efficacy here reached almost 100%.

We used condoms, a word now well recognized by Paterians. The Rack's intestines could be cut and sewed shut at one end. The condoms were very effective and all human females kept a supply of them. If we wished to enjoy a family, they had to use the contraceptive. Damien informed me Little sensation was Lost and Evan actually Liked the way they made sex feel. The little devices gave us freedom to enjoy our physical relationship.

Tonight all the men, except Bane, would wear a condom. I'd promised him the next child and it was time. He would be beside himself with excitement and I knew that. It was going to be a secret until the last moment, though.