“What does it change? They work well now.”
“The modifications allow them to carry more. They carry over twice as much now, as they did unmodified.”
“They don’t tip over?”
“We’ve been trotting them up and down the ramp. None of ours have tipped over.”
“Yes, I would like to see these modifications.”
“Where are you harvesting, tomorrow warm?”
“Northeast 4, we start at one, but I am there at seventeen o’clock.”
“Good. I’ll be over there at seventeen. I’ll bring one of our carts. If you like what you see, I’ll show you how to modify yours. May your blood stay strong. Goodnight.” Anna rang off. Des laughed.
“What?”
“You are in for a surprise tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Tanake’s mother was warrior clan. Tanake is very large.” Des’s eyes twinkled.
“Thanks, for the warning. How will I be surprised, when you already warned me?”
Des just laughed again and climbed into bed. “You will see.”
Anna certainly did see. It wasn’t like you could miss Tanake. By her guess, he stood about seven foot one or two and had a build to match his height. Man, any football team would have loved to have this guy. She couldn’t help it. Her mouth had a will of its own. “Dang… you would make an awesome pack-runner.”
Tanake threw back his head and laughed. “I was, until the carts replaced me.” He shrugged.
“I miss running, too. There is something about it. It just makes you feel good.” Tanake nodded. Anna motioned to the cart. “This is the modified cart.”
Tanake looked it over thoroughly. “This would help. Will you show me how to modify them?”
“No problem. How many carts do you want to modify?” Anna walked over to the supply processor.
“Eighteen or is that too many?”
“No, that is fine.” Anna ordered up what was needed. It didn’t take long to show him. She had brought a bottle of second boil glue and the wing nuts. There would only be six wing nuts, left over. She could do another cart for the cool shift. “There that’s how it’s done. Are you set to do the rest?” She asked after they had finished two carts. “Everything you need is ordered up.”
“Do you have another thing to do? Or are you uncomfortable working with me?”
“I have other things to do. I’ve been harvesting a maleka hive every other warm. This is one of those warms, when I’m supposed to harvest a hive.”
“How do you do this? No one has harvested maleka in over twenty annuals.”
“I go through the environmental corridors, up to the rail room, out on the rail, down to the hive, and then come back.”
“Those corridors are only partially heated!”
Anna nodded. “Humans have very good temperature tolerance. I’ve had no problems on this ship with temperature. I don’t wear an Isadi suit. I don’t need one.”
Tanake continued to stare at her. “You don’t feel uncomfortable around me?”
Anna threw back her head and laughed. “Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t want to get you mad at me. You are a big fellow. But if you ever did get mad at me, I bet you I could outrun you. So I’m not really worried.”
“Most females find me upsetting.” Tanake shrugged.
Anna shook her head and smiled. “On my world, you would most likely be very popular. At least you would be, once they got used to your tail.”
Tanake smiled back. “I can finish the carts. What is the fee for the teaching and the parts?”
“Ahh… I forgot about that. Umm… next time Des comes for fresh food, just give it to him.”
“Not enough, the fee must be fair. It must be more to be fair.” Tanake said sternly.
“Does your crew save the oesla tassels?” Anna asked. Tanake shook his head. “Have them save the tassels for me for two shifts. Put them in trays and cover them to keep them moist. At the end of the second shift, drop them off at Des’s and my place. That’s a fair fee. I could make more dye with those tassels.”
“That is fair. May your blood stay strong.”
Anna nodded and trotted out. Des was right. She had been surprised. She made the maleka harvest, six runs of the leka down to the processing room, and set it all to strain before the end of the shift.
Anna ate, crawled into bed, and fell asleep before Des got home. She woke up at the alarm, kissed Des goodbye, while he was still sleeping, and ran off.
Mapao, Kesti, Tafka, and Doru were waiting at East 6. They watched while Anna put up the barriers. She managed to finish all of the tree barriers and cut off the intercrossing limbs before she ran out of time. At ten minutes of ten, she thanked everyone and headed home. She felt a little tired, but not a lot. She fixed a big meal and ate. Afterwards, she logged on to the design page.
Anna drew up a trio of wolf puppies at play; first wrestling, then climbing a rock too big for them. She drew one of them curled up together sleeping on a pile of autumn leaves, one of them playing tug of war with a stick, and one of them chasing a windblown feather. Last of all, she drew one of them staring at their reflections in a water puddle. The colors were the colors of autumn; the vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges, the shaded grays of the puppies, the mottled browns of the rocks and tree trunks, and that muted white-yellow of light diffused by a thick forest canopy. She avoided showing the sky, since she had no blue dye yet. Everything was a picture at ground level, a picture of what it felt to be small, young, and curious. After the sixth picture, she logged off and went to bed.
Anna woke up the next morning feeling awesome. She once again kissed Des goodbye, as he lay sleeping and dashed off. She set out the mewu traps, packaged the leka, ran down the rest of the leka, and set it to straining. She packaged the tienara flour, crushed some more nuts, and put them in the drying ovens.
Anna ran to East 6 and ordered what she needed to build the tienara scaffold. She hauled it up to second level and assembled it. Holy shit! Being rested made a huge difference. It wasn’t even three yet. She got on the communication board and called Gresa. Would he be interested in putting switches up at Northwest 7?
“Well, I could do that. But I don’t need any more broiled takosund. I would like to get some leka. Is that possible?”
“Jatlo hasn’t verified the leka yet. It could be another day or two, before he gets to it. I could write it up and he could get it to you, after the verification. How much are you asking?”
“Six two-ounce packages, I will wait for them.” Gresa sounded hopeful.
“Deal. When can I meet you at Northwest 7?”
“I could do it at three sixty today.”
“That sounds great to me. Thanks, I’ll see you there.” Anna ordered up what she needed to make a first level barrier, netted it onto a cart, and trotted it to Northwest 7. She ran and got the wire roll from the supply closet. She had just finished putting the barricade up, when Gresa arrived. Now that they each knew what was going on, it only took about thirty minutes to put in the switches.
“How’s the filter fabrication going?”
“Great! I don’t know how you guys are getting all that denua fiber, but it is going to great uses. We are replacing filters as we make them. What a difference? Some of the systems haven’t run this good in annuals. Clogged filters really mess things up.”
“I’m glad the filters are helping. Every other night, we’re doing just denua. We are clearing all the paths, so we can use the carts. It works well for everyone.”
“The best plans help everyone. That is what makes a good plan. There we are finished; I will catch up with Jatlo in a couple of days.” With that Gresa trotted off.
Anna turned the field back on and ran to East 6. She measured off the ropes slides, and got seven of them up, before her time was up. Des was waiting with dinner, a salad, and a huge smile on his face. “You have made Tanake very happy. He loves the carts. He sends many thanks. He says their numbers have improved
by another seven percent. He loaded me down with food. He also offered to lend me his body. He was severely disappointed to learn that there is a waiting list. It nearly devastated him to find out that he was sixth on it and would have to wait his turn.”
“Des, we haven’t even got one off the list, and another one goes on the list. We are never going to get that list caught up.”
“Sure, we will. There are only one hundred and twenty-three tai’twain pairs on this ship. Only about seventy-five of them are of an age to want children. We will be caught up within ten annuals at the latest.” Des broke out laughing at the expression on Anna’s face.
Anna groaned. “Des, I’m sorry to burst your bubble. But I’m not doing this steady for ten annuals. We are taking time off between these children, at least a week or two between each one. And I‘m not even going to think about having seventy-five kids, worrying about the first one is enough for me.”
“Of course, one child, one set of parents at a time. There is no hurry for us. We are both still young. I am only fifty-nine. I have another one hundred and sixty annuals to do what I want to do, so do you. We will take our time and enjoy every part of being parents.”
“Des, can we follow some human traditions with the children?”
“What kind of traditions?”
“Well, our children aren’t going to need Isadi suits. But they are going to need clothes and blankets like me. One tradition is that a newborn is given a quilt. It’s a thick blanket with a design on it. Here, let me show you.” Anna walked over and logged onto the design page. She showed him the drawings. “See, these are wolf puppies playing. I want to see, if I could get the supply processor to put these designs on cloth. You sew the cloth drawings together with strips of colored cloth between the panels. You put a thick layer of soft denua fiber behind it, then a colored cloth on the other side. You sew it all together and you have a quilt.” Anna looked up at Des.
“This is a very good tradition. I think we should do it. Will you let me help? What about Sato and Fienu?” Des asked excitedly.
“You can all help, if you want to. I plan on working on it on my early nights. When I get tired, I’ll quit and go to bed. I’ll have to make the quilting frame first and get the cloth made up. I’ll tell you when it’s ready to sew.”
“I will help whenever I can. I like this idea. If the children are going to need clothes, I must learn how to sew.” Des nodded. “Now, it is time to sleep.” Des took Anna’s hand, led her to bed, and pulled her into his arms. Anna slipped into sleep as her mind giggled because Des might not yet know how to sew, but he really did make a great pillow.
Anna woke up and ran to East 1. She entered the design numbers into the supply processor. She queried it. Could these designs be printed up onto a medium strength denua cloth? Yes! Did it have enough dye to do thirty-two panels of each, sixteen panels at twenty-six centimeters square, and sixteen panels at forty-six centimeters square? She might as well do some extras, if she could. Yes, it had enough dye. How long would it take? It would take two days; some would be ready for tomorrow night. She entered the order. Now if she could get another one of the supply processors, doing the colored cloth it would save time. Wait, she’d need to fill the dye wells. In a flash, it dawned on her, Des’s dyes from his honor gifts. She ran back home. If Des was still there, she could ask him.
Desvren was headed down the hall. “Des!” Anna shouted.
Desvren whirled around and hurried to Anna. “What is wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. I was wondering, can I use your dyes from your honor gifts, to make the colored cloth for the quilts?”
“Of course, doesn’t Wolfe have enough dyes?”
Anna nodded. “Yes, but it would be better, if it came from you. Especially from your honor gift, we could tell the children about that. You know, your mother drew the pictures. Your father gave his dyes from his honor gift to make the colored cloth. It’s another bond, another gift.”
“You are right, but what about Sato and Fienu. What can they give?”
“Well, I was going to invite them over tomorrow cool, when I got home. I’m hoping they will help make the quilts. If Sato is willing to part with his cloth from his honor gift, we could make pajamas from it.”
“Pajamas?” Des’s eyebrows shot up.
“Clothes, you wear to bed, to sleep in. They are usually made out of soft cloth, like Sato’s honor gift. They help keep you warm, while you sleep, just like blankets do.”
“Oh, I am sure Sato would be willing. I will see if I can work tomorrow warm and be home in the cool by ten. I will ask.” Des kissed Anna on the cheek. “Take the dye. I love you.” Des walked off.
Anna ran and got Des’s dye. When she ran back to East 1, she remembered the mewu traps. First things first, she went over to processing room 2 and filled the dye wells on the supply processor with Des’s dye. She ordered up the cloth strips to go between the panels and a soft cloth backing. She ordered one set in yellow, one in orange, and one in red.
Before Anna forgot again, she got out the bucket and filled it. She dipped two hundred and twelve mewu, this time. Was there no end to the buggers? This was the third trapping in one room. That was a lot of mewu. She still had a half an hour before the cool shift started. She went to East 6 and put up the last two slide ropes. She ordered the boards to make another first level barrier and installed it at East 2.
The crew was already assembling when Anna ran in. “Hi, everyone. Brema, Dasie, I will probably be finished with the scaffold about midway through the shift. We can swing it over to your area and you two can tackle the tienara there. When we do that, I’ll give you one of my carts, you are going to fill them very quickly.”
“What will you harvest?” Brema asked.
“I’ll work on finishing up the greal and korftu in my section.”
“Feel welcome to pick in our section. You will finish yours first.” Brema offered.
“I might for tonight. But after that, I’ll go to East 6 and harvest over the rail there. Until you guys are finished here. There is no sense, trying to dance around each other. Plus, if I go to start on East 6, the carters won’t have to go so far. They could use East 6, processing rooms 1, 2, 3, and East 7, room 1. I put the first level barrier up and Gresa put switches on the field in Northwest 7. That is the next garden that we will put tree barricades in. It has two jump-out spots and fourteen trees, ten of them tienara. The harvest is good there.”
“So will we join you in East 6?” Dasie asked.
“If we don’t have Northwest 7 ready, we’ll harvest East 6 until it is. I’ve been running rail shelves, whenever I get a chance. So far, I’ve found four safe gardens Northwest 3 and 7, and East 6 and 2. East 8, East 5, and Northwest 4 have only small crossing limbs and could easily be made safe.”
“I need to know people. Do you think there are enough paths left to cut in East 6 to keep you busy tomorrow night?” The crew shook their heads. “Okay well then, you start on Northwest 7 tomorrow night. It will be back to normal harvesting in Northwest 7. I can’t offer you a percentage of the kapedo. It’s not my garden. I’ll just ask you to fill the bottom of your carts with denua every run. Clear the paths as you go. Watchers, I’m going to need you at East 6 first, so we can put up the scaffold, and then we’ll go to Northwest 7. All right, everybody sign in. Let’s go jump rail.”
Anna finished the tienara before the middle of the shift. Brema and Dasie helped her move the scaffold. She had to pick harder, to keep up with the carters, now that she was mostly on korftu. But she managed to just barely stay ahead of them. She had her section picked clean and had made a good dent in Brema and Dasie’s korftu, when the shift ended. She went to processing room 3 to talk to Jatlo. “Jatlo, are you verifying the leka tomorrow?”
“Yes, in the warm. Is that all right?”
“That’s perfect. I want you to offer a trade. You figure it out, how much leka to offer the crew, if they harvest just denua at Northwest 7.”
/> “I would say two ounces for every cart full. Leka is an expensive item and denua fills a cart quickly. Are you sure you want to offer this trade?”
“Yes, I have plenty of leka, as you’ll see tomorrow. We need the denua to make barricades. The mechanics still need it for filters. In my gardens, I’ll offer the kapedo, because that is needed also. Out of my gardens, I’ll trade to get what’s most needed. I still have four more hives to harvest. We’ll have enough leka.”
“Leka stays good for decades. It will crystallize, but never go bad. I recommend you don’t put the leka down the processor holes, package it all. We will put it in the emergency backup.”
“Okay, I can do that. Four more full hives to go, then it will be a once an annual thing to empty them.” Anna sighed. Doing those hives was really getting to her, she’d be glad when she finished with them.
Jatlo shook his head. “If they are overflowing like you say, the maleka have leka stashed elsewhere too. Give it three months and go back. You will find a lot more there, than you expect.”
Anna sighed deeply. “Three months then, trade chief Jatlo. You give valuable advice.”
Jatlo laughed. “Go help, shell the korftu. It is a shame that we have to shell it, to process it. But the shells jam the filters, if you don’t separate it. The shells have to go in the fiber hole; the nuts have to go in the fruit hole.”
“Maybe once the mechanics get the filters changed, we won’t have to. Gresa said that new filters make a big difference in the running of systems. His words were, “Clogged filters really mess things up.”.”
“We can hope.” Jatlo said and waved Anna to the waiting korftu.
By the end of the shift, Anna more than hoped, she intended to find out. She beat Des home. She set dinner out for him. She ate some of that wonderful salad, crawled into bed, set the alarm, and was sound asleep before Des showed up.
First thing in the morning after her shower, Anna called mechanical central from Des‘s cabin. She asked for the eldest mechanic on shift.
Phwolfe Song (Golsidan Revival Series Book 1) Page 27