Page 69 of Tarek

I brought up my data pad and called the colony's AI.

“Bob, Tarek and I have an idea for our house. We'd like to expand the sheriff's building and turn it into a replica of Andy Griffith's house, with the modern amenities we need for our family. The jail is already better equipped as an office than the existing building, so we could use that for our workspace.”

Bob responded almost immediately.

“Well, that's an interesting idea! The school, the park, and the playground are complete so I can direct the construction bots to your project.”

Tarek nodded. “Thank you, Bob.”

“You're welcome! I'll prepare some design options for interior finishes for you to review before construction begins.”

I ended the call and looked at Tarek. “Well, that's settled.” I ran a hand through my hair. “That's only four days away, the scheduled grand opening and our getting pinned with our stars before the whole colony as part of the ceremonies."

“It is.” He offered me his hand. “Come on. I believe there's still cake.”

I took it, and we returned to the kitchen together. Cake seemed a good way to celebrate not only our friends' wedding, but also getting our house scheduled to be built. Besides, there was chocolate ganache, and no one in their right mind turned that down.

24

TAREK

As promised, four days later, the construction bots had begun transforming the original stand-alone sheriff's office into our new home, and Darren and I had already discovered that keeping children away from a construction site was almost as difficult as keeping tourists from treating the colony like an amusement park.

The children had discovered their new bikes were excellent for riding around town, especially when there was somewhere interesting to go. Every child in the settlement had been given a bike or a push-along scooter, so there was no shortage of little ones enjoying their newfound freedom. Unfortunately, our home was currently the most interesting place in town, largely because the construction bots were transforming it in ways that fascinated children under the age of twelve, as well as some well over that age.

The bots had first demolished the original building and were now 3D-printing the exterior, including the roof. Smaller bots would go in afterwards to add the floors, print the interior walls, and install everything else a home needed, including the plumbing and wiring. It really was rather amazing to watch, so while the boys had been told several times to keep their distance, they kept finding excuses to circle back for another look.

This meant that for the third morning in a row, we'd spent time repeatedly shooing away Evan, Matt, Jason, and especially Vrann, who all seemed to believe that watching the bots work from a few feet away was perfectly safe as long as they promised not to touch anything. It wasn't.

Darren and I had finally managed to get them to ride towards the park when we spotted a couple of tourists approaching the site with their recording devices held up.

"Oh, for the love of - " Darren muttered, already heading over to a group of three tourists who had clearly decided that the best way to spend part of their visit was to get close-up footage of the construction bots at work. One was already trying to find an angle between two safety markers, while the other was moving around the side of the building to get a better view.

I straightened and walked towards them, using my longer strides to reach them first. "Good morning. I'm afraid you can't go any closer. This is an active construction site, and you need to remain behind the safety markers."

"But we're only taking pictures," one of them protested. "We won't get in the way."

"You already are," I replied, keeping my voice polite. "The bots are working with heavy materials, and you could be injured if you enter the restricted area. Please move back to the public path."

They looked disappointed, but after a little more grumbling, they finally complied. I watched until they were safely away from the site, then turned back towards Darren.

He was standing with his hands on his hips, his expression somewhere between disbelief and irritation.

"Geez," he growled. "Kids, I get. Mine, yours, everybody's. They're curious, and they're still learning where they can and can't go. But the tourists are all grown-ups, or mostly, and they're so, so much worse."

I laughed. "The ones yesterday got me."

Darren turned towards me. "You mean the ones who tried joining in with the Tyridium?"

"Yes," I agreed. It seemed incredible to me that tourists from an Alliance planet could think interrupting a Tyridium dance ritual was acceptable.

He shook his head. "I don't get that whole thing, but to each their own. Still puzzles me that we get tourists full stop."

"I reckon it's the whole royal thing with Johree," I said. "A Dragonii prince, his human mate, and a colony on another planet. People are bound to be curious."

"And the whole Little House thing," Darren added.

"That, too." Between the royal connection, the colony's unusual origins, and Bob's increasingly infamous personality, New Haven had developed a reputation that was proving rather difficult to contain despite its small size as a community.