The wolf trotted over to him and lay down on the spot he pointed at and…
“Throw, throw, throw.” Sato yelled.
Anna threw. The knives flew. The knives hit. He told her to run parallel to the targets and throw, one knife from the right hand, one from the left. She ran backwards, sideways, at an angle, and threw. She leapt straight up, sideways, backwards and threw. The knives flew as she rolled on the ground, knelt, fell, sat and threw.
Throw all the knives, retrieve all the knives. Throw the tomahawks, retrieve. Every time, throw one from the right hand and then one from the left hand. Then, something disappeared from her mind and something else returned. Anna stopped.
“Throw!” Sato yelled.
Anna threw. She threw the knives from every position possible.
“Enough stop.” Sato said.
Stopping proved to be impossible at the moment because Anna was leaping through the air, when he said it. But, she still held both knives in her hands when she landed.
“Good.” Sato said. “Look at your targets, pack-runner.”
Anna looked at the targets. Little bits of fiber littered the ground all around them. Ragged holes gaped in their centers. Slash on top of slash sliced by the tomahawk throws decorated them. She looked at herself. Dirt covered every inch of her and her packs. She shook herself sending a cloud of dust billowing out in all directions and her muscles screamed in protest. Ow… she hurt. “What happened?”
“It is a way of teaching, a very impolite way. I take over, show you how, and then I make you do it. You have the right to punish me now.” Sato lowered his eyes.
Anna looked at the targets again and glanced down at the knifes in her hands. She looked back at Sato. “Call the targets.”
“Second from left center row and bottom right.”
Anna leaped backwards and up. The knives flew first right hand and then left hand. “Ka… thunk. Ka… thunk.” She landed and looked at the targets. Two bulls eyes!
“No punishment, only a sincere thank you can make us even. Thank you, Sato.” Anna bowed to him.
Sato sighed. “Good. I thought you were going to hit me with a stick.” His lips cracked open into a wide grin.
“You know about the stick!”
“Pack-runner, everyone on this ship knows about the stick. Desvren talked about nothing else for thirty annuals. The whole incident sounded very funny. But after five or six annuals of hearing about it.” Sato shook his head. “It got to be very tiresome.”
Anna threw back her head and laughed. “Poor Des, he gets beat up with a stick and then he tells his friends about it for thirty annuals.” She shook her head and smiled again. “I guess, I need to make it up to him. “
“You already have.” Sato said. “He is finally tai’twain after waiting for a long time. Now, he beams with happiness. If I didn’t have my Fienu, I would be tempted to steal your Desvren.”
Anna wiggled her finger at Sato. “Shame, shame, Chief, it’s very naughty to think of poaching.”
“Pack-runner, Des already warned me to be on my best behavior.” He chuckled and hit the release for the door. Anna gathered up the tattered targets and followed him.
Everybody started arriving. Anna went and put the target remains by processor number eight. She set two of her boxes up on the floor and two of them on the central station. She ran to the bathroom and washed off as much of the dirt as possible. She returned in time to hear Sato begin.
“Phwolfe volunteers to be pack-runner again for ten percent. She asks you to wait until you have three full bags before you call, giving her time to harvest between calls. Do you agree to this?”
No one disagreed. Then Brema stepped forward. “Dasie and I agree to use the pack-runner for ten percent and also agree to ten percent for the processors.” He bowed and stepped back.
Sato nodded. “All right, processors one through five manned by the same operators as last night. Marfi you take processor number six. Do I have a volunteer for number seven?”
A small Golsidan stepped forward. He spoke with a very deep voice for such a small person. “I’ll run it, Sato.”
“Thank you, Shalo. Sign in everyone. Pack-runner put your pick on number eight or central station as you choose. Five minutes to go people.”
Anna signed in. She remembered to grab a remote. She snapped six nets onto the front of her belly pack and waited by the door.
Sato looked over at her and gave her a hard stare. He pointed a finger at her. “You wait until I am there to watch before you go over.”
Anna nodded. “I’ll look for a good spot first. I won’t go over without a watcher.” She shook her head. “I need to find the right spot to jump to.”
“Smart, always think it through pack-runner. Plan your rail runs. Plan them well.” Sato ordered. “All right people, let’s go.”
Anna ran out the door. She loped around the side of the path. She waved to everyone as she passed. She cut back to the path and hit her full stride. Up the ramp, across the level, and a leap up onto the rail before her courage fled. She walked the rail top, scanning the jungle back and forth, from one border wall to the other.
Korftu and greal hung everywhere. They grew best and thickest at this height. The korftu looked like huge overgrown pea pods hanging from their growing vines which wrapped around the tree limbs. They measured near the size when their weight alone snapped them off the vines naturally. The greal looked to be a good mix of ripe, unripe, and overripe clusters. The unripe clusters of dark maroon darkened as they ripened until as overripe clusters they achieved a pitch black color and equaled the size of a small microwave oven. Each individual fruit grew to the size of a plum and they elongated as they ripened. The abundant pickings would make for an easy harvest. But finding a safe spot or the safest spot available to do the harvesting took some time.
It took Anna five transits up and down the length of the rail, before she decided on a lysordi limb over a half meter in diameter that had been cut off about two meters out from the rail shelf. Small branches sprouted from the end of the branch, begging her to lop them off.
Takosund never traversed over open air. They slithered out on to branches; but, not from one branch to another unless the limbs touched. They often reached out and snapped at objects from the safety of their perch. But, if they missed, they wouldn’t follow anything over an open spot.
Anna planned to first jump out and clear the end of that limb, then harvest it all the way back to the tree trunk to clear herself a good line of sight. After that, she’d jump to other branches. Plus, on the second level side this spot grew gesar bushes short enough to still see over. Also, a lot of small lysordi branches poked through the rail within a dozen meters of here. Sato could enjoy an easy harvest and keep watch at the same time. Anna jumped down, went, and told Sato.
He followed her to the spot, looked it over, and nodded. “May your blood stay strong.” He offered.
Anna nodded, smiled, and jumped up on the shelf. She took a couple of deep breaths and then leapt. She’d never harvested so fast in her life. The fear drove her. Her fingers flew, snapping, and pulling quicker than her brain registered the movements. The belly pack filled and then six nets. They went over her shoulder into the backpack. She stood on one leg and stuffed one calf pocket, then the other. She stuffed her thigh pockets full, a net for the outside of each one and four more nets over her shoulder into the pack, before the first call.
Anna gladly turned, ran, and jumped back to relative safety. She picked up Brema’s nets and went back across the rail. Three more filled nets and another call. She slashed off a full unripe greal cluster and netted it to the front of the belly pack, and then she ran to the call. The calls filled her up. She loped over to Sato, grabbed a lysordi bundle in each hand and ran.
Finally, Anna felt the weight. Her muscles worked. This would keep them strong. She ran in to unload, dumping her pickings into the boxes. The lysordi branches and unripe greal went on the center station. Then back out
she ran.
Anna managed to fill her belly pack, pockets, and five to twelve nets every run. She carried nearly double the amount of produce as yesterday. Those modifications to the pack made a huge difference. Plus, she brought in either two lysordi bundles or two unripe greal clusters in on every run.
Back and forth, back and forth, run Wolfe, run. Anna sweated. For the first time in four days, she sweated. She ran through the door. Jatlo started to unload her.
He smiled. “Ah… runner, you breathe fast and hard. You feel the weight now.” Anna nodded. “Excellent. You feel the weight but still manage to carry it. If you give up, you weaken.” He scolded her. “Don’t give up, keep running.” Anna inhaled deeply and then nodded again.
When one of her boxes bulged with ripe greal, Anna set it on one of the center station push carts. “Anyone who runs out feel free to start processing mine. I agree to the ten percent. Please leave the produce on the center station alone.” She’d already set aside half a box of overripe greal for dye making, about thirty nets of korftu nuts, the lysordi bundles, and the unripe greal clusters.
Off Anna ran. She managed to keep filling the process box as it got emptied, mostly with ripe greal. She tried to save the korftu nuts, overripe and unripe greal on the center station. The only thing that allowed her to save them was the fact that Brema’s and Dasie’s pickings kept Shalo busy. He worked even faster than Pealo. He said he seldom liked to process, because he usually didn’t get enough to keep him busy. He smiled a huge smile. “Maybe tonight will change my mind.”
Anna ran. Run Wolfe, run. She picked like crazy when she went over the rail. Only the fact that her speeding hands burned up the adrenaline surging through her body, allowed her to work without shaking like a leaf in a wind storm. But, it needed to be done. That infirm list haunted her. They needed full rations and a lot of natural vitamins to get them better. She didn’t want there to be more like Yerly and Kimbo, not if she could prevent it.
Marfi from the restricted list moved like everything ached; she smiled and worked as fast as she could. She apologized to Anna. “I am sorry that I take so little when you carry so much.”
Anna touched Marfi’s hand to reassure her and nearly jumped back in surprise. Marfi’s pain burned as a constant ache that she strived to overcome. Anna smiled at her, kept hold of her hand, and sent. You shame me. You work despite your pain. I’m only doing what my body allows me to do. You make your body work even when it pains you to just breathe. Your courage earns my respect and admiration. Mind to mind Marfi could feel that Anna meant every word. Anna let go of her hand. “I run now, friend.” Anna smiled again and went back to work
When Sato finally shouted out, “Twenty minutes people, fill and carry your own lasts.” Anna nearly shouted with joy. She gritted her teeth, breathed deep and hard, and managed five runs in those twenty minutes by going just for the unripe greal. Three clusters in the backpack, one in the belly pack, one in the net on the belly back, one on each side in nets that she tied to the bottom of her shoulder straps, grab one for each hand, and run. It took less time to fill the packs than to empty them. Finally last run, Anna made it to the center processor and slid to the floor, too tired to even unload. The crew gathered around her.
Anna looked up at all that produce stacked on the center station. She needed a lot of help because the korftu needed to be shelled, weighed, and packaged in one or two pound containers. The unripe greal needed to be washed, weighed, and packaged. The overripe greal needed to be loaded in the press, the pressings made a beautiful black dye. And all of it needed to be done in her part of the ship or she’d get charged. Only the carts and scales could be used for free. Trading goods for labor only needed three witnesses, not the Phsatorae. If she got enough help, they could finish everything that needed to be done.
“Chief Sato!” Anna gasped.
“Yes, pack-runner Phwolfe.” Sato leaned over her.
“We need to verify our trade. One lysordi bundle for either a pound of shelled korftu, a pound of ripe greal, or half a pound of unripe greal. I offer two pounds of unripe greal to each witness to verify this trade.” Brema, Jatlo, and Shalo jumped forward the fastest. Everybody else groaned.
“I offer another trade, open to everyone present. All of the labor to be done in East 1. I’ll transfer the produce there in carts. Unripe greal, you keep ten percent of what you wash, weigh, and package. Korftu nuts, you own ten percent of what you shell, weigh, and package. The packaging needs to be done in one or two pound containers. Overripe greal, you get two percent of the finished product of what you press, weigh, and put in the boiling pots. I will do the rest of the boils. I offer two pounds of unripe greal to witnesses to verify these trades. All of the equipment in the three processing rooms of East 1 and 3 is available. East 2 has the ovens going, so please stay out of there.” Anna removed her packs by wiggling out of them, and stood. “Anyone interested?” Silence, dead silence greeted her. Had she proposed a bad deal?
Marfi spoke up first. “I feel too tired to process. But if you get me a chair to sit in at East 1, I’ll stay all night and wait to witness.”
“Marfi, I’ll not only get you a chair. But also offer what we humans call refreshments, a hospitality gift for those who help me. Lysordi tea, oesla, catronu, and gesar fruit served every half hour until the job gets done. I’m hungry and I imagine you all feel that way too. “
“Here Sato, let us finish our trade while the others think over my offer.” Anna pulled out a cart and started stacking lysordi bundles on it. It took three carts rounded up like stacked firewood. “Forty-nine bundles, is that right witnesses?” Three nods answered her. Anna pulled out a container, set it on the scale next to the sink, zeroed it out, and turned to Sato. “Chief Sato, what would you like first?’
Sato closed his eyes for a minute. “I want fifteen pounds of unripe greal, fifteen pounds of korftu nuts, and four pounds of ripe greal, please.” Sato walked over to the sink beside Anna and started washing unripe greal. He helped shell the korftu too. With his help, it only took about ten minutes. “Fifteen pounds of unripe greal, fifteen pounds of korftu nuts, and four pounds of ripe greal is that accurate witnesses?” Again they answered with nods. The absolute silence began to unnerve Anna. She weighed up three two pound containers of unripe greal. Sato helped her with that too. “Three two pound containers of unripe greal, is that correct witnesses?” Surprise, surprise she got nods again. She handed a container to each of them and bowed. “Thank you Chief Sato, Brema, Jatlo, and Shalo. May your blood stay strong.”
Finally, they spoke. “May your blood never weaken.” They chorused. Brema took another step forward. “Is the offer you made a true offer? It seems… it seems overly generous.”
“Horseturds! I never liked bargaining, but I don’t consider it to be overly generous. Brema, look at this.” Anna held her hand out straight in front of her. It shook. “I’ve reached my limit. Tonight for the first time, I felt the weight I carried. Even in this light gravity, I felt it. Tonight, I went over the rail.” Her whole body trembled. “I did it, because it needed to be done. But I accomplished it on the fuel of fear. Now, that I’m behind safe doors, the fuel has run out. It will take all of my stamina just to push this in carts to East 1. I lack the energy to do anything else. If it sits until I find the energy, it ripens. Plus, this needs to be done as soon as possible. If I receive help tonight and we finish, I’ll contact the Phsatorae tomorrow warm, ask some medics to witness, and hopefully, get this to the people who need it by tomorrow cool. The medics can do a direct emergency buy of commodities, allowing half of this to go directly to the invalids from the Satorae share. And I can place another forty percent of the greal and thirty percent of the korftu on the commodities page, making it a good deal for everyone.”
Brema nodded. “A very good deal which I will help make possible.” Then everyone started speaking up.
They all helped, every single one of them. They also grabbed the carts out of the center processors an
d each took a full cart with them when they went to East 1 and 3.
Anna got Marfi a chair, walked around with platters of refreshments, which everyone graciously accepted. Then she started transferring produce. It seemed impossible to have harvested that much in one shift. But those greal clusters made it so easy. One slice of a knife to a vine and you walked away with thirty to sixty pounds of produce. At five feet ten inches tall with a husky build, Anna had often been ridiculed or made to feel embarrassed about her body. But here, these Golsidans appreciated and valued her athletic build. Add that to the fact that working in a light gravity allowed her to carry more than normal and she moved a lot of produce.
Jatlo said her average came to seventy-six marked bags, plus her own five to twelve nets, pocket pouches, front net, and what she’d carried in her hands every trip. Jatlo contritely admitted he gave up counting after Anna’s twenty-eighth run. The processors managed to keep up with their harvesters and most of the ripe greal. The rest had piled up.
Anna ferried full carts to East 1 and 3, and served refreshments every half hour. At sixty-nine after twelve, Desvren came looking for her and found her finishing about her fourteenth trade of the night. Tawai left with an impressive thirty-six pounds of unripe greal, and promised to return the cart before the next cool. At thirteen eighty-two, Anna handed the last witness payment to Marfi who stayed until the very end, sitting and nibbling on unripe greal ever since her first payment. Anna fervently hoped it contained what she needed.
Marfi left pushing a cart loaded with forty-eight pounds of unripe greal and twelve pounds of korftu nuts which she had traded for. The inter-trading between korftu, greal and dye processors gave the long night a very exuberant quality. Anna herself witnessed seventeen trades and Desvren witnessed eighteen.
Finally, they went home and got into bed. Desvren threatened to strangle Anna as she set the alarm for sixteen sixty o’clock. He subsequently forgave her after she explained she wanted to get the catronu oil and gesar syrup bottled, before she called the medics and the Phsatorae.
Phwolfe Song (Golsidan Revival Series Book 1) Page 9