Chapter 6 Embryo Delivery
The following morning, AMI laid out the most logical course to the stable Confederation planets on the way back to Eden. Even using the shortcuts Allen had discovered, it would take too long to go to the furthest Confederation planets and get back home before the women were supposed to deliver. The population on Earth was still pushing the resources of the planet, even though food and other needed materials were being supplied from colony worlds. There would be no embryos reserved for Earth until the planet's population fell below the number of people the planet could reasonably support.
Isabella
was scheduled to deliver the embryos to the rest of the stable planets. By the time the ship arrived at the first planet to receive embryos, Gia, Ana and Gabby were closer than they had ever been before. The joy of their impending motherhood had created a powerful bond between them that would never fade. They were closer too to their husbands. There was something special about making love with the woman who was carrying your babies. There was still partner swapping, of course, but both Brad and Rob enjoyed it more now. When Brad made love to Ana, he thought of her unborn child as his sister. When he made love to his aunt, he knew that her daughter would be his new niece. He finally had a complete family. Rob felt the same way about making love to Gabby, the mother of his grandchildren.
Every Confederation planet they visited was a very similar experience. There was usually an official welcoming ceremony where the crew of
Isabella
was awarded several medals and honorary titles. After the ceremony, they were taken to the locations that had been set aside for new Utopian communes. The locations offered to Utopians for this purpose were usually located well away from the existing settlements, but were in warmer areas of the planet, suitable for nude living. These locations always had ample fresh water and fertile land. On most planets they could sense that the current population wasn't 100% approving of the Utopian lifestyle, mainly because they didn't understand it. Allen had hoped that once the more resistant planets interacted with the Utopians, they would be converted. They usually left right after the tour, trying to get to the next planet as soon as possible.
When they arrived in New California, they got a call from Fred and Emily who invited them to their home for dinner and to stay the night. Having eaten only synthesizer food since they left Earth, they happily accepted. Rob was interested in how Emily and Fred were doing after they retired from working at the mines. After delivering the embryos and the usual awards and tour of the new colony, they flew to the coordinates Fred had given them. They realized that the Utopian colony was located adjacent to the coordinates that Fred had given them for their vineyard. It only took a few minutes to find Emily and Fred's place once they got to the Utopian reserve. Fred and Emily met them outside the ship, wearing nothing at all. The Maxwells all took off their flimsy before they went outside to greet their friends. Fred and Emily gave them all Utopian hugs and kisses. Now that Emily wasn't a working girl, she felt free to show her emotions to the men she chose to interact with.
Once they went into the very nice house, they were met by Emily's parents, Ruth and Norman. Once inside, Rob and Brad sampled the wine that had been made on the property and Fred made the ladies mocktails after discovering that all of them were expecting children.
"I'm scheduled to receive my embryo in three months, now that you've brought them to New California," Emily beamed as she kissed Rob and Brad again.
They all sat around, catching up with what had been going on with their lives. When they bought their land several years ago, Fred and Emily had chosen a remote location with some of the poorer soil on the planet. Unlike many farmers, Fred knew that this land would be perfect for growing grapes. Land prices were very low for this land, so they bought nearly the entire valley and surrounding hills. Originally, they only planted and tended a small area, perfect for their needs. The rest, they leased to like minded growers. Within months, there were a dozen families living in the valley and starting their own vineyards, all of them Utopian.
When the planet's government announced that they were required to set aside land for Utopians, Fred and Emily came forward and mentioned that the land they owned was in a great location for the colony. Nobody else advocated building the colony on their property and the government was not eager to devote much of it's planetary land, so the Utopian colony was set right there in the valley. Wine grapes grew well on the slopes but the bottom land was fertile and Utopian farmers of other field crops and grazing land for ranchers were offered those parts of the valley.
Ruth prepared them a delicious dinner, using only fresh veggies and fruit that she'd grown in her own garden. The main dish was a Chinese vegetable stew, Buddhists Delight, they called it. The stew was accompanied by a variety of side dishes. "Have you heard about Agnes and Tim?" Emily asked Brad. Brad shook his head and asked what had happened. "There was a leak of a toxic chemical at the mine right after we left. They ended up closing the mine, and thankfully there were no fatalities. Both Agnes and Tim were affected, however and received some permanent damage. They received a generous compensation package and a nice pension for life," Emily explained. "Agnes had to have a full hysterectomy. She'll never be able to bear children," Emily said. "Tim has some neurological damage, and he'll never be able to farm, but they moved to New Texas anyway."
"That's a shame," Brad said, Agnes really wanted to have babies, children to help run the farm."
"We can look them up when we get to New Texas," Rob told Brad. Ana and Gabby knew about the two sex workers that rode to Kento with their husbands and felt sorry for Agnes.
"You won't have any problem finding their spread either. After talking to Tim and Agnes, they did the same thing we did. With the settlement Stellardyne paid them they bought a huge piece of land. With the money he gets from the leases from Utopian farmers and their Stellardyne pensions, they are doing well financially and Tim is slowly recovering. He's well enough to operate an anti-grav farm truck and can manage a ranch. He hires cowboys from all over the place to run his cattle. You'd be surprised how many people had always dreamed about being cowboys. Tim and the other ranchers have no problem finding dedicated workers."