There were at least nine ships, the one in the lead looked to be a warship large enough to give even fearsome Effrayant trouble. Pam paused to catch her breath, breaking out the small birding scope she kept on a leather thong around her neck. Forcing herself to breathe slowly and deeply, she focused on the big ship. Yes, banks of guns, but no sign of firing crews making ready. She caught a glimpse of gold and blue, biting her lip, she scanned the rigging. There! Pam laughed aloud with delight. The ship was flying the Swedish colors! She began running again, her nerves buzzing with excitement. They had been visited by merchant ships from several nations over the last year, but this was the first time a ship from home had come!
The waterfront was filling up with interested colonists. They made way for her, and as she hurried out onto the pier, Pers came running to meet her.
"They're friendly, right?" she called out. One never could be too sure.
"Pam! They are from Sweden!" Pers replied, a gleeful expression on his youthful face. He would turn nineteen soon. To further reassure her, the "all's well" bell rang on Effrayant.
"Not all of them. Recognize that flag?" Pam pointed at one of the five ships making their way carefully into the harbor under escort from their defenders.
"She is flying what looks to be a naval ensign, red with a black saltire cross bearing gold stars. That's a ship from the United States of Europe!"
"Well, howdy doody. I wondered when someone might come to check on us." She took Pers by the arm and said, "Shall we go say hello?"
"Yes, ma'am, t'would be a pleasure!" Pers answered in his best West Virginia drawl; he was almost as good as Gerbald now, who surpassed even most hillbillies in his mastery of the accent.
The commander of the port shore guard, Lieutenant Jarv, one of the Muskijl's Marines who had helped rescue her from the kidnappers, were waiting at the end of the pier with some of his men. They took up a protective position around Pam, who was embarrassed at the fuss but thanked them politely. The ship came closer, a three-masted caravel. It was quite well-armed, and even boasted the same kind of carronade that perched menacingly on Second Chance Bird's deck. Anyone trying to board her might not live long enough to regret it.
Dore had been left ashore when the big, comfortable junk that served as their home headed out to meet the newcomers, captained by Pam's paramour, Captain Torbjorn and their faithful bosun, Nils. Dore joined Pam, eyes squinting in the tropical sunlight. She spent most of her time cooking for the sailors in the domain that she ruled with an iron fist, the ship's galley.
"All this fuss! I was about to bake potato flour biscuits!" Dore was always certain to be put out at being separated from her work, which she treated with a profound sense of duty and dignity, as if it were a holy calling.
"Visitors from the old country," Pam said, without as much enthusiasm as she might have expected. Now that the initial excitement had worn off, she knew she must put on her governor hat. It would be a shame having to deal with a bunch of nosy officials on such a nice day; she was behind in organizing her field notes on the dodos, and their island's unique eco-system, and resented an unannounced distraction. Even so, she put on her best official smile, and waved to the ships now tying up to the pier.
Aboard the caravel, which she could now see bore the name Linn?us, a crowd of around twelve eager-looking young people in their late teens gathered at the rail, their faces bright and excited. A pert young woman with a magnificent head of curly brown hair and an air of confidence organized them all into a line. She then marched them down the gangway to stand before Pam and her guard. Out of the corner of her eye, Pam noticed that her adopted son Pers was staring at the attractive leader of their visitors as if she were Helena of Troy come to life before his very eyes. Oh, brother, I know that look, and they call it puppy love!
"Welcome to Port Looking Glass and the Wonderland Colony," Pam said to the young lady, who might be as old as twenty, and who was obviously the one in charge of this gang. "I'm Governor Pam Miller."
The young woman's large, hazel eyes widened as if she was meeting a movie star. "The Bird Lady of Grantville! I've been looking so forward to meeting you, you are our inspiration!" The girl's English was slightly accented, but otherwise quite clear.
"That's me, I guess." Pam rolled her eyes at that damned "bird lady" moniker as she always did. Apparently she wasn't ever going to be able to shake it, no matter what her current title and station. The young woman, now looking a bit embarrassed at her initial starstruck reaction, straightened up and stuck her hand out in the American style, which Pam took. They shook vigorously, the kid had a good, strong grip, and Pam felt herself beginning to like her already, despite her secret wish that they would all haul anchor and go back to where they had come from.
"I am very honored to meet you, Governor Pam! I am Dorothea Weise, a student from the Katharina von Bora College in Quedlinburg. My companions come from various higher learning institutions around Europe, and we represent a variety of subjects we thought might be useful to your efforts-botany, geology, animal husbandry, biology, just to name a few! We have all come to assist you in your work here!"
It was Pam's turn to look goggle-eyed. Assistants? Someone to help with the mountain of scientific work she faced? Even so, they were all so young!
"Pardon me for saying so, but don't you have a teacher, or someone older with you?"
"Oh, of course! We are led by Professor Horst Altmann of the University of Jena."
"Well, where is he?"
"Unfortunately, the sea voyage did not agree with him. He is quite ill and abed in his cabin. We are very worried about him."
"I'll send our doctor to check on him right away."
Pam felt a bit flummoxed by this unexpected development. A helpful boon? A potential huge pain in the ass? Taking a deep breath, she regained her composure and managed to ask, "Who sent you?"
"Princess Kristina! She is our main sponsor!"
Pam looked northwest-ward in roughly the direction the USE might lie, and muttered "Thanks, Princess! Just what I need is a bunch of kids to look after!" The students, none a day over twenty-one, blinked at her like a pack of confused puppies, unsure and eager to please. She turned back to them and regarded them skeptically for a moment, but then her stern expression softened to a smile.
"Oh well, you may just prove to be useful. Ms. Weise, you and your group are now the Wonderland Colonial Natural Resource and Wildlife Service." She handed the stack of field notes she had been carrying to the erstwhile brunette. "You are obviously a natural leader, so I'm making you the director of said service. You shall report directly to me."