Over the course of the next two months, I labored to get the people to uncover their Solar Collectors and also to contact the other settlements with such equipment. It took that long for them to send runners to reach all of the settlements in question. What would have been a few hours' travel with modern vehicles took weeks or more on foot, or riding beasts.

  Slowly, oh so slowly, the other Mech Defenders came online. Communications systems rebooted and reconfigured themselves to reach the station. Though my first contacts had taken to chastizing me for my choice of attire, and I returned the jab with claiming that Skirts were invented by men to make it easier to take women against their will. This naturally shocked an appauled the women, while making the men think improper thoughts I'm sure.

  The new contacts, though, acted just as reverent as the first had originally, and I had to use everything I had not to scream at them in frustration. People from other settlements were contacted and moved to the secure locations. This allowed me to protect them with the Defenders, and the barriers that had been installed shortly after landing all those ages ago.

  Once the last of the outlying communities had been relocated, I was able to begin scanning to locate the origin of the anomalous creatures, and when I did... my rage boiled! All of them, every single one, were genetically modified monstrosities. Some idiot... had made them all in a lab, and they got loose. They didn't get loose then, oh no, they got loose now. They were devastating the ecosystem millennia after the death of the idiot who created them, and left them in cryo-pods. There were still more of these malformed creations of an egotistical moron that had yet to be freed from their icey prisons.

  I wasn't going to let this stand, not for a second longer. The Station had a few orbital mining lasers, they would produce plenty of heat to destroy these monsters, and the facility that spawned them. With the orbital bombardment of laser fire eliminating the threat, it was now time to wake the remaining crew.

  As the vapor from their cryo-pods flooded the air, one man spoke. "What's going on?! Only one of us should be woken at any time, unless our replacements are here to take over. Why did you wake us all?"

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  I took a deep breath. "We're WAY PAST our relief time. It's been seven millennia since you went into cryo, the pods themselves were on the brink of failure. Had the locals not called for help, by praying, we'd all be dead in less than a year. I've sorted things on the surface, and help is on the way, but five centuries out, they didn't realize our station was still online. These people thought I was a Goddess at first, can you believe it? Me?!" My fellow technicians looked at me, stunned.

  "Computer, verify." Said one of the women.

  'Confirmed, time since cryostasis began is approximately seven millennia. Would you like a more detailed assessment of the time?'

  "No... thank you." They all looked glum.

  "Look, the surface is safe now, the whole mess that saved us was caused by an illegal genetic research lab, messing with the local fauna. I've already prepared everything we could rationally need to continue developing the planet into a proper civilization, by our standards. I've also included a VR interface and set mini-satellites in orbit to allow us to operate the Mech Defenders if needed, even from the surface. We just need to finish thawing you all out, and then load up into the descent vehicle. There won't be any way to send it back up here, so I sent a message to whoever it is that's sending help to let them know about that point. It's not what we imagined, but we signed up for a colony, and we'll make it work."

  I had picked the second settlement because Romannus was there, and he was perhaps the closest thing I had to a friend, from among the descendants. As the ship descended, flames jutting out from the thrusters to slow us for landing, most villagers backed away, but as I had expected, Romannus stood tall and proud, waiting. What did surprise me, is the woman who stood at his side, while a little girl clung to her leg.

  I walked confidently up to him and his family. "Well met in person, and may I presume that this is your lovely wife?!" Smiling warmly I awaited his reply.

  "Indeed, I am, Miss Pamela, yes?" At my nod, she continued. "My husband informed me of when you mentioned that he was your... type."

  I shrugged. "Yes, he is, but I don't poach other women's men, though, I'd love to share a man, if the woman were willing."

  She smiled broadly. "I see... and what of the woman you shared him with? Would she merely be a sister/wife, or would you consider her your wife as well?"

  Now that question really surprised me. "I suppose that would depend on the woman and what her wishes would be. I'm fond of women myself, but that wouldn't necessarily mean the other woman would be the same. In an ideal setting, we would all love and care for one another."

  Her smile stretched wider, if it was even possible. "In that case, we should pursue that possibility, as I am of the same mind. My husband is somewhat reluctant, mainly, I think, because he finds it awkward having two women at once."

  I grinned. "I think we can bring him around, if we choose so. Let's all go somewhere and talk. Would you like to ride on my shoulders, little one?" I knelt down to the child, and she timidly, yet eagerly, moved to claim the proffered perch. We walked together, even as my fellows moved off to find their own futures.