Fresh Blood

by Jessica Hicks

  “Actually,” said Koale, “If it is okay with the both of you, I’d rather stay back. I’ve got some ideas I would like to try, and I can work in the shop and still stay in range of the research desk.”

  Felix shot a look to Koale. The last thing he wanted was to spend an extended period of time with Trent. He really didn’t have a reason to object that didn’t sound petty, though. “Sure,” he said through a forced smile, “That’ll work well.”

  Renessa raised an eyebrow at the exchange. “If we have that figured out, let's grab supplies and head out?”

  It would likely be an overnight excursion, with them arriving back at base early the next day. They packed food and tools for the duration but little else. They wanted to set out as light as possible to maximize how much ore they could haul.

  Having already traveled the path to the metal deposit twice, it was quicker than the first trip. It just felt much longer.

  Felix and Trent walked at opposite ends of the little group, keeping Renessa between them. She tried to engage them in small talk, but whenever she got one interacting, the other chilled. Soon her attempts fell off, and an awkward silence fell over the group.

  The sun beat down on them. The leather outfit Felix wore was insufferable in the heat. Sweat poured down his back freely. Dust clung to his skin.

  Felix spared a wistful thought for his grass skirt. What it lacked in dignity, it made up for in air flow. He chuckled at the memory. He must have made quite the sight when he first found Koale again. That skirt and those bright blue boots.

  “Glad someone is enjoying themselves,” said Trent.

  Felix bit his tongue and didn’t reply. Not worth the hassle it would cause.

  They got to the deposit by early afternoon. Felix was pleased with their foresight to mark the position. They had dug down far enough that the glint from the metal was no longer visible from a distance. The last thing Felix needed was to overshoot the deposit with Trent about.

  “It doesn’t look like there’s enough room for all three of us to work at the same time,” said Renessa.

  “No problem. We haven’t eaten yet either, so two of us can work while the other eats. Two birds, one stone and all that.”

  “Good excuse,” said Trent. “Yeah, go ahead and sit yourself down. Have a nice leisurely break while Nessa and I do the real work. Don’t you worry your sweet little head about it.”

  Felix took a deep breath. He held it and then let it out slow. He did sit down and grab out some fruit and a portion of roast cobb. Someone had to eat, and there was no sense rocking the boat.

  Felix ate at an even pace, neither rushing nor lingering and watched the other two. Renessa and Trent pulled out their picks and took turns striking at the exposed metal. A rhythmic tink filled the air.

  The two worked well together. At least at first. As they worked, Trent started glancing out to the ocean more and more frequently. He was mumbling under his breath. Renessa was talking to him quietly. He couldn’t hear the words from where he was at.

  Felix finished his food and stood up. Trent looked at him. “About time, lazy git. You take Nessa’s spot.”

  Felix shrugged and took out his pick. It took a little while, but Trent and Felix found their way into a groove, alternating strikes and mining up quite a bit of ore. Trent continued staring out to the ocean.

  Felix looked out as well, searching for whatever had so captured Trent’s attention. He couldn’t see anything out there. He squinted, scanning the horizon.

  In his inattention, Felix fumbled his timing and struck Trent’s pick. He turned back to the ore in time to see Trent throw down his pick. Just the splinted, broken haft of it. The rest of the pick lie on the ground on top of the ore.

  Trent’s face was red and the veins bulged in his neck. He stormed over to Felix. With Trent so close, Felix was forced to crane his neck to maintain eye contact. Sweat poured off the man, and his fists were balled up and trembling.

  A big meaty finger thudded into Felix’s chest. With a high pitch voice, Trent said, “We don’t. Have time. For. Your. Bullshit!”

  Trent turned on his heels and fast walked away from Felix, breathing hard. Felix blinked. He was positive he was about to get beat.

  Renessa got up from her meal and jogged to Trent. Felix was confused, and not a small amount concerned, but it also didn’t seem like any of his business. He took a deep breath to steady himself and got back to work.

  Trent squat down a short ways away. His shoulders were shuddering. Renessa squat down next to him, her hand on his back. Felix tried to ignore them. It wasn’t any of his business, he reminded himself again.

  Renessa was saying something to Trent, but too quietly to hear, even if he had been paying attention, which he wasn’t. When he heard the sobs, he couldn’t pretend not to notice any longer. Trent was no friend, but this was not a thing he could just neglect.

  He walked over to the couple quietly. He tapped Renessa to get her attention and sent her a questioning look.

  Close up, Felix could hear not just the crying, but see that Trent had his knees gathered tightly to his chest, his head atop them. He was rocking gently.

  Renessa caught Felix’s eye and shook her head. She waved him away. As he walked back to the ore, he could hear her talking. “I’m here with you hun. Just focus on your breathing, just like Dr. Anderson said.”

  Felix was not slacking before, but he threw himself at that ore with abandon. The metallic clack filled his ears. He would rather face a landshark than be here just now. He wondered what trait the ore was going to turn up. Anything would help.

  He couldn’t keep the pace up too long. He was already starting to breathe hard from the effort. Damn if he was going to slow down and accidentally hear something, though.

  A hand clapped him on the shoulder. Felix looked up, startled.

  “You broke my pick,” said Trent. His eyes were red and swollen. He still shook, though less than before. “Give me yours and go sit your ass down.”

  The sudden shift caught Felix off guard, and he looked past Trent to Renessa. She had her pick over her shoulder and nodded.

  “Don’t look at her. It wasn’t a question. Give me the pick.” Trent held out his hand, expectantly.

  Felix handed it over and moved away. He was not about to question anything right now.

  “Ahh hell,” said Trent. “I take a break for a few minutes and you’ve hardly made any progress at all. You just sit here gawking that whole time?”

  “I wouldn’t have been, if you hadn’t been putting on such a show.” Trent flinched. Felix regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.

  “I’m sorry-” said Felix.

  “Shove off,” said Trent. He turned his back to Felix and swung his pick with a grunt. The rest of the day passed in awkward silence. The two picks were passed around until everyone was full of ore. It was already dark by then, but there was an unspoken agreement to leave as soon as possible the next morning.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Three days passed in a gathering haze. The forest nearby was notably thinner than it had been when they started, but they had the start of what could generously be called a hamlet. The walls now fully surrounded the land approached and extended into the sea and reinforced gates stood at either approach. Workshop and smokehouse were both completed.

  Making the walls out into the sea led to a worrying find. There was something out in the water where the sea bottom dropped. It didn’t get close, they could just make out it’s silhouette at a distance, but it was huge. And it seemed to be watching them work.

  Felix was happy when they finished up the aquatic portion of construction.

  The workshop was outfitted with an anvil for metal working. A loom, scutching and heckling stations rounded out cloth working. The latter looked to be an involved process and Felix was glad that the system took up the brunt of the work.

  Research was a mixed bag on results. Tier 2 was completed on the ore. It was revealed to be met
eoric iron, and had a trait which gave a penalty to anything using it for the “honeable” property. That was the first material he’d seen with a complete draw back.

  The waterfruit tree produced wood that was flexible, and while that wasn’t great for everything, it did have some uses that it was suited for. A metal that couldn’t hold an edge well? That seemed less useful.

  The grasses were also researched to tier 2 with the traits of “invasive” and “fast growth”. This caused a panicked Renessa to methodically remove any signs of the plant within troughs growing food.

  The edible crops saved, she did say they would have all the cloth they needed in the near future. Judging by the progress, she was not wrong. Between the trait and the normally absurd growth rates on the planet, the first batch was nearly ready to harvest already.

  The rest of the research time was spent studying all the other samples they brought down from the lake. There were no other notable finds. A few of the fruit were edible and planted. One was even tagged with the “dye” property. That would likely be more interesting after they were secure.

  A firm construction base set up, Felix and Koale turned their attentions to their new crafting options.

  Their first priority was new weapons for everyone. New tools would be nice, but with potential hostilities looming, there was no real question between the two. Armor was another option considered, but no one was very enthusiastic about the prospect of wearing metal armor day in and out in the tropical heat.

  Felix quickly settled on a crossbow. Better range than even the spear with the atlatl and easier for him to use. It was a bulky, weapon but Felix was excited about the potential. He had plans for this thing.

  The weapon itself was archaic. It was a wooden crossbow with metal latch and trigger. The limbs of the crossbow were also reinforced with metal. Otherwise, it was a sturdy, squat weapon, if plain.

  They didn’t have the research to modify it at the workbench yet, but that did not stop him. After some experimenting, Felix managed to make a wooden sight for his weapon and attached it to a makeshift sight bridge. He’d call it an ironsight, but, well.

  Koale went with blow darts. Sort of. His main focus was on a leather belt he modified into a bandolier. He had pouches for his bombs on either hip and in the pouches he stuck vials made of glass. The vials were filled with an unknown substance. Koale got cagey when pressed for details.

  Felix gathered the idea was to dip the darts into one substance or another. What they did and how he tested them, Felix had no idea and preferred not to know. Koale said once he’d tested his concoctions further, he had ideas for Felix’s bolts. Whether that was a good idea or not remained to be seen.

  Compared to Felix and Koale, the couple had relatively sedate weapon choices. Trent went with a shield and a new club. The shield was a tower shield, compared to the smaller ones Felix had made before. It used a wooden base with leather straps and metal banding as reinforcement.

  The club was well made, if plain. Tier 2 materials made for solid quality craftsmanship, even if it was rather uninspired. When asked why he didn’t go with a sword or something else more advanced, Trent pointed to the drawbacks metal bladed weapons would bring. He added, in his words, “Besides, a club was good enough to take you out.”

  For once, Renessa was a larger disappointment to Felix than Trent. She opted to stay with her spear, though upgraded on the workbench and with an atlatl available.

  “But it’s just so boring,” said Felix.

  “A weapon isn’t for excitement, it’s to do a job. A spear I can use for hunting game or people. It has reach and with the atlatl, it can be thrown a decent range. Plus, I’m used to it, and-”

  Felix held up his hands in surrender. “I get it. It’s practical. But it’s still so boring.”

  “And what would you rather me use?”

  “Well, what about a sword? Swords are cool.”

  “With the metal we have?”

  “Point. A bow then?”

  “We tried those before you two showed up. Too difficult to learn in the time we have.”

  “Okay. Sling?”

  “Better range, but leaves me defenseless if something is close.”

  “Sling-staff.”

  Renessa just gave him a look.

  “A cannon.”

  “I’d need something mobile.”

  “A gun then?”

  “We can barely make your crossbow.”

  “A trebuchet?”

  “Mobility again.”

  “A miniature one.”

  Renessa rolled her eyes.

  “Chainsword katana! Hear me out- it has reach, it is effective, and you can even use it gathering.”

  “You know what? Fine. Make me that. I’ll just use the spear until then.”

  Felix’s elation at winning ebbed quickly.

  Weapons decided, the rest of the metal was used almost as fast as it was smelted. The bulk went towards reinforcing the walls. The rest went to a breastplate for each of them, and a number of nails, bolts and hinges.

  The next big construction project was going to benefit from the new construction materials. And on that thought, Koale mentioned it again after dinner.

  “I know last time I mentioned it, it had a rather ambivalent reception, but I’d like us to consider building a ship again. We’ve been doing well with the resource tithe, but we need to get it out of the base if it is to do any good, preferably with a copy of our research as well. We can build a small secondary base and store the materials and a ship there.”

  “I agree,” said Trent.

  Everyone stopped and looked at him.

  “What? Even you two were bound to be right eventually. I don’t know about leaving, but if all the metal here is the same sort we have now, we’re going to want to import some from elsewhere.”

  “Okay then,” said Renessa. “Clearly I’m out voted here.”

  “Great. We’ll go scout spots in the morning? Would you rather go with us, or should we wait until after the farming chores?”

  Renessa shrugged. “Your baby. You two go, and we’ll help you carry supplies once you’ve found a good spot.

  That night as Felix and Koale lie in their respective beds, they discussed their plans for the next day.

  “I think we should check to the west first,” said Felix. He had his feet propped on the wall, and Liz on his chest. They were playing before he let her out for the night.

  “No difference to me, but why?”

  “We saw the pirates to the north east, so best guess is they come back along the same shore. Plus Renessa said that’s the way they came last time.”

  “A lot of assumptions in that statement.”

  “Have you a better idea?”

  Koale made a dismissive sound. “Not what I meant. We can’t rely on the raiders landing on the opposite shore. We should take care to not be seen as well.”

  Felix grinned. “We can try those camo nets again. Sure worked wonders last time, eh?”

  Koale sighed. “Shouldn’t you be going to sleep?”

  Felix stood to let Liz out. “Right back at’cha, there.”

  The next morning, they set out soon after the sun had risen. Rather than wait around for the customary breakfast time after the farm chores were finished, the two grabbed some of the new jerky and ate on their way.

  It was snuffle lizard jerky, and while it could certainly use some seasoning, it wasn’t awful. Felix wondered how much of that was due to the continued satisfaction of eating something that had caused him so much grief and troubles.

  They did not expect their hike to be too strenuous. The goal was to have a base away from the main camp, but not one so far away as to be unusable. Finding a proper location would have been a lot easier had discretion not been important. The beach stretched on, straight and clear without obstruction.

  In another circumstance, it would have been lovely. A day walking on the beach with good company. The sun was shining, the sky was clear. A
s it stood, it was frustrating.

  It was shortly after they broke for lunch that they finally found the spot. A small inlet cut into the jungle. It was exactly what they were looking for. A short, rocky rise acted as a retaining wall on either side of the inlet, allowing vegetation to crowd the shore.

  First order of business was to make a small hut to house their stores as well as a bedroll and the spare research. The blueprint went up quick, but the actual construction took longer than it might have.

  They decided to use vine rope to save the nails for the ship. Even the wood took a while, as they didn’t want to thin out trees visible from the coast. No sense finding an out of the way spot and letting carelessness point an arrow right at them.

  Even with the inconveniences, Felix and Koale were able to round up supplies pretty quick. They had built a number of projects before joining the new base, but the last few days had been another thing altogether.

  They worked with the wordless ease of long-time partners. What they lacked in time, they made up for in an excess of life or death experience.

  In less than an hour they had a crude hut, and storage boxes. They had brought the freshly copied research with them, as it was necessary to build the hut and tucked that into a hidden nook on the roof. They laid out the bedroll they had brought with them and the outpost was complete.

  The last thing to do before they went back was to lay out the blueprint for the ship and see what the costs would be. They brought a single nail with them for use as the binding material.

  Felix laid out the blueprint on top of the water. It was a hundred feet long if it was an inch and two dozen across the beam. He gaped.

  “Agreed,” said Koale. “This is going to be expensive.”

  They didn’t have sails yet. The grass would likely be harvested the following day, but they had or could make most of the rest of the materials.

  Felix put in the nail. A number came up. It had four digits. He groaned. Renessa was going to have a fit at the cost. They’d already had to do a metal run during construction and the deposit was nearly played out. Nails were cheap to make and came in multiples, but this alone would more than wipe their stock.