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Chapter Eleven: Starlight and Home.


BrotherofCats

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“Here. When you get a chance, read this,” said Heather, handing over a many times folded over old newspaper to Nora.

 

“Publick Occurrences,” said Nora, looking at the header.

 

“I don’t like to talk about it, but that article will explain why I have such a hard on for synths. And why I want you to help me kill them.”

Nora nodded and put the paper in her pack. While she might be interested, it was best to keep her attention on her surroundings out here. They were heading cross country to Bedford Station, and old railroad terminus that serviced the marble quarry nearby. Heather had suggested that they avoid the Rotten Landfill to the south, said to be home to a massive swarm of mole rats. They had been walking for a couple of hours, and were currently moving under a portion of raised highway. There were train cars ahead, some still on the tracks, some over on their sides.

 

“Ware the ghouls,” said Barb, as several of the disgusting creatures started to crawl out from under a car.

 

Nora landed a grenade between three of them, shredding the creatures and dropping them dead to the ground. Which stirred up more of them, until over a dozen where on the ground and heading toward the party.

 

“Stay,” she shouted to the dogs, then started servicing ghouls, putting single rounds through their heads and dropping them to the ground one by one. Heather turned a couple of them to smoking ash, while Barb waited for the odd ghoul that might get too close. Heather and Nora made sure there were none of those, and they walked into the station without any opposition.

 

“I think we need to check these cars and the buildings,” said Nora. “Everyone stay close and look out for each other.”

 

She had the space and the weight, and there were sure to be items of interest in there. There were some more ghouls, taken down with 5.56 and laser fire, one killed by Barb’s Mac 11. Nora made a not to talk with Barb about getting a long-range weapon when they were back in Sanctuary. She was deadly with the small machine pistol, but she had to wait too often for her quarry to come into range.

 

They found more telephones, small electronics, ammo, drugs and old cans of food. Along with a number of actual tin cans, kind of rare. She loaded about fifty pounds of gear into the cargo bot, then continued on down the tracks.

 

“Want to check out the drive in?” she asked as they saw the screen ahead and to the right.

 

“My grandfather told me about movies,” said Heather, looking at the ruined screen with interest. “Did you used to see movies here?”

 

“Sure did. Most were pretty bad, but there were some that stay with me.”

 

They found mines near the projection and concession station. Nora tried her luck at disarming them and got some circuits and explosive material. She then trudged over to the tin shack on the side to find one of the red workstations. Looking at the flat expanse of the area, she thought this would make a really good settlement, maybe an industrial park. As they got near the screen the mole rats came out of the ground.

 

The dogs performed as always, herding the rats away from their masters, letting the humans take them down. Nora pulled out the old Army officer’s sword she had taken from her house and killed them with slashing attacks, then drew her pistol when more of them surfaced.

 

“Mole rat can be good eating,” said Heather, looking at the bodies.

 

“Be my guest,” said Nora, as she looked over the hundred odd car speakers that were lined up around the parking area. That was a lot of circuitry, though it would take the Handy too much time to salvage it all. But she started on that task with the Handy, while Barb and Heather butchered a couple of the large rodents. She was wishing they had some place to drop the bodies for fertilizer, but they didn’t have those facilities yet.

 

An hour later they were back on the road to Concord. Nora took a second to look at Lexington in the distance, the Corvega plant looming over the town to the south of the city. Soon, she thought, worrying that the factory might be too much for her.

 

There were some Raiders in Concord, again, and they cleared them out on the way through. She was wondering when the dumb motherfuckers would get the idea that Concord was no longer healthy for their kind. Probably not before this generation of Raiders was dead and gone.

 

Red Rocket was as it had been. Someday she wanted to do something with this stretch of land, maybe build some outer defenses for Sanctuary. And ahead was Sanctuary Hills, with some old buildings gone, and some new ones rising a couple of stories over the old foundations.

 

“How did it go?” asked Preston, walking toward the party as they came over the bridge. “And I see you found another settler.”

 

“Heather is an herbalist and holistic medicine expert,” said Nora, nodding to the woman. “And she will be part of my strike team, unless she wants to pitter around making meds. Any new arrivals.”

 

“Two more, a mechanic and a carpenter,” said Garvey, smiling. “And we have shoots coming up in the farm.”

 

“Well, I’ve got some more seeds for you. Corn and razor grain.”

 

“What in the hell were you looting out there. A hospital. Sturgis was entranced by what Wilson was unloading.”

 

“Well, the satellite station, a downed airliner, a hospital, and even a Gunner camp.”

 

“A Gunner camp. Why in the hell did you tangle with them?”

 

“We had just looted the airliner, when a quartet of them came down from the overpass and demanded we give them all of our stuff.”

 

“And I’m guessing that didn’t go over too well.”

 

“Not so much for them, no.”

 

“Well, watch your step with them. We are nowhere near ready to take them on.”

 

“Got it. And I found the locket that the Abernathies were looking for, and found out what the settlers at Ten Pines Bluff wanted.”

 

“And?”

 

“They asked me to take care of the Raiders in Corvega.”

 

“You’re not going to do that, are you?” asked a quite alarmed Garvey. “Lexington is full of ghouls and Raiders. You might want to wait on that one.”

 

“I promised them I would do it. What are people going to think of the Minutemen if we don’t keep our word.”

 

“And if you get killed, we’re worse off than before. I can see I’m not going to talk you out of this one, but be careful. And go talk to Sturgis. He and Conrad have been pulling more tech out of the computers and tapes. I frankly don’t understand much of it. It seems like magic to me. But they seem to think it will work.”

 

Nora found Sturgis and the old chemist in the workshop the Tinkerer had built. They had a half dozen new construction robots standing waiting, while a couple of new Handies worked on constructing another. There were piles of new circuits to the side, and some brand-new workstations that left Nora scratching her head.

 

“Good. You’re back. And I’ve got some really cool new things for you to play with.”

 

“Is this a tech station?” she asked, walking over to the large workbench with a cargo bot attached. She had been reading about it before heading out, what she needed to construct so many things to further the dream.

 

“It is,” said an enthusiastic Conrad. “And we also have a new chemistry station. And the resource tanks for both, along with the scanners and fabbers. Schematics for water vaporators. Fusion generators, laser turrets, a farming workbench. You name it.”

 

“But this thing is the coolest of the bunch,” said Sturgis, walking over to an old mail container.

 

“That’s great. So what the hell is it.”

 

“A goddam quantum entangled storage system,” said smiling Sturgis. “Something from your time that never got put into operation. Damn top of the line, mother fuck me with a spoon, esoteric physics.”

 

“Okay. I’m even more confused. What does it do, and why should I care about it?”

 

“It links this storage container, and any material storage linked to it, to any other QESS container. Put something in it here, and the container at Abernathy will have it available. Put something in at Abernathy and you’ll have it here.”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

 

“No, ma’am. Slide something in there that you want elsewhere, then go across the street to the one we have over there.”

Nora stuck her pistol into the opening of the container, then ran across the street. It took a moment to figure out how to get it out of the container, but once she figured it out it was simple. She visualized what she wanted, her Pip-Boy sent a signal into the container, and the pistol was at the opening.

 

“Well fuck me.”

 

“Gladly,” said laughing Sturgis. He sobered in a moment, wondering if he had gone too far.

 

“Keep coming up with miracles like this and I just might give you some pussy. This is amazing. But how did you make it work without a Pip-Boy.”

 

“We hooked the entanglement module up to the local computer and used it. You have to carry the entanglement modules, about ten pounds each, to get the system working. Use your Handy to construct the case, then attach the module and power it up with fusion cells, and you're good to go.”

 

This changes everything. I can establish these at every settlement and have what I need at each. “You going to be in your room tonight?” she asked Sturgis, running a hand over his arm.

 

“You were joking, right?” he asked with a nervous quaver in his voice.

 

“Nope. You’ve earned a reward, and I plan to follow through on a promise. You too, Conrad. You can join me and Sturgis, or have me yourself on another night.”

 

One of her most valuable commodities was her body. She was good at sex, she enjoyed it, so why not use her body to reward people. As long as they didn’t come to expect it all the time afterwards.

 

“Now start to work disassembling the tech stuff I sent back. Then you can play with it all you want.”

 

“Do you have any more Stealth-Boys?” she asked Carla, walking up to the woman where she was sitting at a desk that had been salvaged for her. The brahman were grazing off to the side, unloaded. They probably thought they were in heaven.

 

“One more. Full price.”

 

“You’ve got it. And I can use another if you can come up with one.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do. Maybe in a couple of weeks.”

 

So she would have another hundred pounds of carry weight by tomorrow. A trip over to Abernathy’s, setting up a QESS unit and getting a construction bot to work, and soon she would have another settlement in the chain.

 

After dinner she went up to the room Sturgis had established above his workshop. It was in her mind to play with the Tech Station, but she was feeling horny and had a promise to keep. She found Sturgis and Conrad waiting in his room, Sturgis in his chair, the chemist on the bed. Nora had changed into some casual clothes from before the war, something she would have worn for a night on the town, and carried a couple of bottles of wine.

 

“You boys ready for me?”

 

“If you still want to do this,” said an anxious Sturgis.

 

Nora put the bottles on the dresser and opened them, taking a swig and passing it to the men. “Of course I want to do this,” she said, sitting on the bed. “I’m horny as hell, and want to get fucked.” She looked over at Sturgis. “Don’t be so nervous, Sturgis. It’s just sex. Not like we’re going to go steady or anything.”

 

Conrad ran a hand over her back, then leaned in to kiss Nora. Nora sighed and returned the kiss, parting her lips and letting her tongue out to play with that of her lover for the evening. Sturgis chugged most of a bottle, then came over to sit on the other side of Nora. She reached over and started to run her hand over his groin, feeling the cock start to harden.

 

The men were clumsy, and Nora had to take charge of getting everyone undressed. She sucked Sturgis’ dick into her mouth, her left hand stroking the cock of Conrad. Sturgis proved to have a respectable cock, long and thick, while Conrad’s was more average in size. The chemist started to play with her genitals after she had shed her clothing, running a finger between the lips of her pussy, then the lubricated finger over her clit.

 

“You’re so wet already,” hissed Conrad.

 

“I want a cock in me, boys. So who’s going to be the first in.” She smiled and laid back on the bed, opening her legs and inviting penetration. Sturgis got on her first, pushing his cock into her in one motion, a clumsy moved that brought a grunt to her lips. She smiled at the young man, running her hands over his naked back, then motioning for Conrad to give her his dick for her to suck.

 

Sturgis felt good, mostly because of his size and not any special technique. She pulled him in with one hand on his buttocks, her mouth working over the Chemist’s dick as it swelled.

 

“Oh god,” said Sturgis, his eyes closed. “You feel so good. I never imagined it would feel like this.” His cock started to swell and with no other warning he came, flooding Nora’s pussy with a copious amount of cum.

 

“I’m so sorry,” he said, regret in his voice. “I just couldn’t hold on. I’ve never felt anything like that.”

 

“Were you a virgin?” she asked in a soft tone.

 

Sturgis nodded, and she ran a hand over the side of his face. “It’s to be expected. So let Conrad have me and you can have another go.”

 

Conrad was much better. He drove his average sized cock into her sopping wet cunt, grinding his pubic bone into her clit. Soon she was whimpering as the pleasure started to build. She came, fast, her body ready for it. The man kept fucking her, and she came again, before she felt his cock swell and the second load of the night was deposited in her pussy.

 

“Now let’s give you some good sex,” she said to Sturgis, noting that his dick was hard and straining. “Now take it easy and take your time,” she told him as he slid into her. “This isn’t a race. We’re here to make each other feel good, so go slow.”

 

Sturgis nodded and did as she said. It felt much better this time. The man still wasn’t great on his technique. Expected, and she thought he would get better with time. In fact, she thought this might be a long-term project for her, training him to be a competent lover for a future love. She controlled the rhythm, the depth, making it as good as she could for both of them. She could tell after about ten minutes that he was again on the edge. She slowed down and opened her pussy up, then realized that he was still going to cum. But so was she, and let herself go, the tingling moving from her toes to her scalp as the pleasure exploded through her body. She cried out, then clamped down as she felt Sturgis’ cock expand and his second cum of the night flood her pussy.

 

“You came this time?” he said in surprise.

 

“I really did. You made me cum, Sturgis. Thank you. I needed that. And we’ll have to do this again some time. Now, I want to go play with some of my new toys.”

 

Conrad followed her out, stopping her to talk for a moment. “You were really good with him, Nora. I didn’t know he was a virgin.”

 

“Everyone is before their first time. I’m just glad I could cum for him. Build up his confidence. And if you keep doing well with the tech, there will be more nights like this.”

 

“Thank you,” said Conrad, leaning in and giving Nora a deep kiss. “And I think I’m in love.”

 

“None of that, now. I’m willing to have casual sex, but I’ll only ever love one man, and he’s dead.”

 

She turned her back on the man and walked down the steps. She wasn’t going to allow herself to fall for anyone. She would see to her body’s physical and emotional needs, and that was it. Now, she had a date with some new tech.

 

*     *     *

 

She played with the two new workstations late into the night, crawling off to bed as the sun was cresting the horizon. The Tech Lab had programs to make cargo bots, alloys, materials like cloth layers and polymer plates. Even filters that could give her purified water once she had the materials. The new ZX-1 experimental lab let her scan weapons, then build the parts for new weapons, as well giving her training courses on ballistics, increasing her skill with working with guns. And the chemistry station had some amazing programs, including body armor and, the real prize, the West-Tek Opticals, when she had the components. She checked component storage and almost cheered as she saw that she had everything she needed to make hacked goggles that would cycle through a number of modes.

 

She looked over body armor and thought the Kerrigan suit looked good. Light and with great protection, she needed plastic, carbon fiber and titanium scraps to make it. She had enough of the later on hand to make two suits, and she could recycle the ballistic weave from her and Barb’s armor to make it even better. And then there was the Forteleza armors, as good or better than the standard combat armors, and much more stylish. She could add polymer to those pieces as well doubling their protection. Add some really good helmets, and she and her people, while no way near invulnerable, would be able to take a fair number of hits from some powerful weapons and keep going. Still, she didn’t need her or her people to think that way. They needed to use cover and concealment against the enemies that were too dumb to do the same.

Looking over the armors, she thought she might go with the nanoarmor, something she had the components for. Along with gloves, a combat helmet, and..

 

“My god,” she squealed, looking at the next thing on the list. “A goddam jetpack. No way.” It was an optional component of the nanoarmor, as well as a sword that was much better than the old Army sword she was using.

 

Now what she needed was well made power armor. She could repair the T-45, but frankly it was little better than Raider PA. She needed to get the Worsin’s Station and the Electronics Labs up so she could reverse engineer some good armor. Something that would protect her from all damage, at least until its armor broke down under fire.

 

“Nora,” said Sturgis, looking down as he approached. “About last night. I’m sorry I..”

 

“Don’t even start on that. What we did was something that naturally occurs between people. You were a virgin, sure, but you know what kind of a rush it gives a woman to be a man’s first? You’ll get better with practice. In fact. I would like to do it again with you, soon. So no shame here. Okay.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And if you would, I would like the Worsin’s bench up and running, along with the Electronics station. No rush, but I do need them.”

 

“Will do, Nora,” said Sturgis, his mood improved with her words.

 

“Now, we’re going over to Abernathy Farm. I’ll be back this evening.”

 

“How were they,” asked Barb as they got on the road for Abernathy Farm.

 

“Conrad was okay. And Sturgis was a virgin.”

 

“Figures that the tech nerd would be a virgin,” said Barb with a laugh.

 

“Don’t you make fun of him. I had to fight my way to an orgasm so his ego wouldn’t be crushed.”

 

“I think it was very kind of you to do that for them,” said Heather. “You are such a nice woman, for a slut.” Heather laughed at the end of the sentence, so Nora was sure she didn’t mean that last part. Still, it was okay with Nora. She was a slut. She liked sex, and she didn’t care what others thought of her.

 

“We’re going over to Abernathies today. I’m going to put up some new tech that's going to blow your little brains out of your head. And then I’m going to set up a construction bot to improve their circumstance, if they decide to join up.”

 

“And if they don’t?” asked Barb, eyes narrowing.

 

“If they don’t, they don’t. We’re not conquerors. They’re with us voluntarily or not at all, and we have to accept that. And when we get back, I’m going to have some cool new armor for all of us.” And a jetpack for me, she thought with a smile.

 

“That’s wonderful,” said Blake when she told him she had gotten the locket back. “And you put all of those dogs into the ground, huh.”

 

“Well, more like we left their bodies to rot on the floor of the station. But, yeah. Those particular Raiders won’t be troubling you anymore.”

 

“But there will always be more. So we’ve decided to join your alliance. I could use more hands on the farm and more guns to back me up.”

 

“That's great, Mr. Abernathy. So we have your permission to make some improvements on your land. Things that will aid you.”

 

“Of course. I guess that’s why you brought that construction bot with you.”

 

“It is,” she said, sending the bot commands to quickly put together a mailbox. She then gave the Handy the QESS module to install.

 

“A mailbox,” said Blake in surprise. “You going to start delivering mail out here.”

 

“Not really. This going to amaze you.” She sent commands to both bots, and they started pulling materials out of the extra-dimensional storage space they were residing in.

 

“What the hell,” said Barb. “What is it?”

 

“A quantum entanglement unit,” she told them all, taking in the blank looks. “Quantum physics made useful. The materials put into the box are shuttled into an extradimensional storage space. where they can be removed at any of these boxes. So the bots will have everything they need to build what I want them to. And you will have clean water, Mr. Abernathy. As much as you can drink, and as much as your crops need.”

 

“That’s got to be magic,” said Connie, walking up and looking at the robots spinning up some concrete foundations. She continue on to Nora and wrapped the woman in a tight hug. “Thank you so much for bringing Mary’s killers to justice. And bringing back our locket.”

 

“I still have a big job ahead. I won’t be satisfied until there are no more Raiders in the Commonwealth.”

 

Next they hit the Starlight Drive-in, and Nora established another QESS link, giving her the power to bring in any supplies she needed here as well. She would have to walk a construction bot, but she was starting to wonder if Sturgis might be able to build some self-constructing units she could pull through the QESS system. She set the Handy to scrapping the numerous cars in the lot, giving her a bunch of nuclear material, wiring and other components. She was thinking of constructing some fusion generators. Small petrol-powered generators were all well and good, but she needed real power for the things she wanted to make.

 

“Too bad we can’t put ourselves through the box,” said Heather as they headed home.

 

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” said Nora. “I think it would be a one-way trip.”

 

What we need is teleportation¸ she thought. She didn’t even know if that was possible. But she wouldn’t have believed the QESS system would have worked either, before she saw it work.

 

*     *     *

 

“Shit,” yelled Nora as the ground came up too fast and she felt her left leg snap. She landed on her butt, groaning in pain as everyone who had seen her come down came running up. “How embarrassing,” she hissed as Heather knelt beside her and started probing her leg tenderly.

 

“What happened?” asked Preston, coming up to look down at her.

 

“I fucked up my flight profile,” she said. “Came down too hard.”

 

“You need to practice without going so high, hon,” said Barb, putting a hand on Nora’s shoulder.

 

“No shit.”

 

“Eat this,” said Heather, handing Nora some wafers. “It will give your leg fuel to heal.”

 

“How about a stimpak?” asked Barb.

 

“This is better. It won’t dehydrate her. Now let me set that leg so it heals right.”

 

Nora cursed as her friend straightened her leg out, then wrapped it with a trauma kit.

 

“Let’s get you to bed,” said Heather, helping Nora to stand. “If you keep your weight off the leg it will heal faster.”

 

Nora put her arm over the shoulder of Heather, looking at the cool new armor her and Barb were wearing. They had much better protection with the Kerrigan suits, the Fortaleza modular armor over the top. Her own nanoarmor was inferior in some ways, superior in others. While not quite as weapon resistant, it absorbed the effects of blasts. Of course, nothing protected her from falling, though there was no telling how much worse it would have been without the nanoarmor.

 

“And if I might suggest, leave the jetpack at home when you go to Lexington,” said Preston.

 

“Nope. I can see times when boosting into the air might save my life. And I need to get back on the horse.”

 

She fell into a deep sleep as soon as she was in bed, not even having time to contemplate all she had accomplished this day. She had made a 5.56mm Service Rifle for Barb, giving it a scope and a hundred round drum. Improved the power of Heather’s laser rifle, and given her a .44 revolver that was immensely powerful. She had also improved her own .45, giving it a more powerful receiver and a twelve-round magazine. She had run off one of the same for Barb. They were upgunned as well as uparmored, and she felt their chances were good against the Raiders in Corvega. As long as they were alert and careful.

 

“Make sure I’m up before the sun,” she told Heather as she swallowed down some recuperative tea. “I want to hit that factory early, while the dumb sons-of-bitches are still waking up from their drunken stupors.”

 

“Will do,” said Heather, helping Nora to strip out of her armor, then tucking her in.

 

*    *     *

 

“She’s so driven,” said Heather, shaking her head as she looked down on the sleeping form of her friend. “I worry about her.”

 

“She’s on a mission,” said Barb, frowning. “I feel sorry for the motherfuckers who stole her child. When she catches up to them they are so dead.”

 

“Unless they’re Institute,” said Heather, letting out a sigh. “But no matter who they are, I’m standing with her.”

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