Feeling a little tired himself, Allistor elected to stay the night at the cabin.  Lifting the bear in his arms he carried him inside and set him atop the rug.  Fuzzy never even opened an eye.  Closing the shutters on all the windows, he turned the two lamps back on and stretched out on the sofa and closed his eyes.

Ten minutes later he was back on his feet, poking around in the office.  It was too early to sleep.  He was just considering lighting the stove to make coffee when he noticed a radio set up on the desk in the back of the room.   This far out from civilization, it might be a short-wave radio.  He sat in the chair and studied it for a moment, then flicked the power switch.   A dial on the right side let him adjust the frequency.  Turning it to the one Sam had been using, he pulled the large microphone pedestal toward him.   Pressing the button on the bottom, he said, “Heya, Sam, you out there somewhere?”

He released the talk button and waited.  When there was no answer after thirty seconds, he tried again.  “Sam?  Come in, Sam.  Uhh… breaker, breaker!  Wait, is that for CBs?”  He let go of the button again.

“Allistor?  Is that you?”  Sam’s voice was faint.  Allistor found the volume button and turned it up.

“Hey, Sam!  Yup, it’s me.  Found a ranger station with a short wave.  Decided to camp here for the night.  How are things there?”

Sam chuckled.  “We’re fine.  The kids are all excited because some chicks hatched today.  They’re naming them after cartoon characters.  You gonna make another Outpost?”

Allistor hadn’t thought about it.   “Actually, not a bad idea.  There’s a kitchen and a windmill for power. The place could sleep ten people pretty easy.  There are two nice park service Suburbans here.  It’s back off the road a good ways…” his voice drifted off as he considered.   Then a question occurred to him.

“Wait, chicks?  We haven’t had that coop long enough for chicks.”

Sam’s voice sounded amused.  “That’s what I said.  Nancy decided to experiment with the Grow spell she uses in the greenhouse.  Cast it on a nest of eggs that the hen had been sittin’ on for a week.  The damned things hatched the next day.  Should have been two more weeks.”

“That’s great!  We can speed up egg production that way.  Can she do the same thing with the bunnies?”

“She’s way ahead of you.  Problem is, we couldn’t tell if the bunny was pregnant.  Amanda had to use her spell to… you know, look inside?  Anyhow she found out that she was pregnant, and Nancy zapped her too.  The bunny, I mean.  Not Amanda.”

Allistor rolled his eyes.  “So, in a few weeks, we can be knee deep in chickens and bunnies.  That’ll help feed everybody.  I should tell you, I picked up a pet myself.  His name is Fuzzy and he’s a grizzly cub.  About six months old as far as I can tell.  The system bonded us together after I fed him, then drowned him, then saved his life and gave him a blanket.”