“Great!” Anna jumped back onto second level. “Thank you watchers, another shift should finish us here. We will start on East 2 next. I’ve got to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” She ran to East 1 and 2 loaded the cloth and thread on a cart and headed home.
Desvren, Sato, and Fienu were setting the food on the table. Both Sato and Fienu liked the hidden greal salad. Anna explained the tradition of baby quilts. They loved the idea. After they finished eating, she dug out her embroidery needles. She found a small tin with pins in it mixed in the supply of change they had brought with them from her house. They had a four-way, mind to mind, question and answer session. In fifteen minutes, the guys knew everything she did about quilt making.
Sato designed a quilting frame, then ordered it up and assembled it. Des and Fienu measured, marked, cut, lined up, and pinned the panels and cloth strips together. They started with the yellow strips. Anna started sewing on what they had set up. There was no such thing as a Golsidan sewing machine. They used a glue press method to make Isadi suits and work materials such as gloves and aprons. Clothing was considered to be a form of art and made with hand stitching.
The baby quilts were going to be three panels wide by four panels long. They were using the small panels. The blanket would end up being one hundred and eighteen centimeters wide by one hundred and fifty-four centimeters long.
Sato joined Anna in hand stitching. When they finished pinning the yellow quilt together, Des and Fienu picked up needles too. When they got close enough to the center to get in each other’s way, Sato and Fienu began assembling the orange quilt.
They had decided to make three baby quilts one yellow, one orange, and one red. They would vote on which one was for their firstborn. The other two would wait for the next child. If each set of parents did things like this together for more than one child. The children would have everything they needed when they were born.
Desvren and Anna finished stitching the yellow quilts’ front. She yawned and all three of the men stared at her. “All right, I get the point. I’m going to bed.” She kissed Des goodnight, then gave Sato and Fienu a mental hug. “Thanks guys. I’m glad we’re doing this together.” She mentally whispered. They both sent her happiness and joy. They were delighted to be working together with Des and her to make things for the baby.
Anna crawled into bed. Des brought her some water, hugged her, and whispered. “I will join you soon.”
When Anna woke up in the morning, she felt great. Her crossbow and ten bolts with arrowheads affixed sat on the bedside table. Forty-five minutes remained before the alarm would go off, but she felt too energetic to rollover and go back to sleep. She gave Des a mental kiss and whispered. “I’ll see you later love.” He sent her a mental hug, a happy loving feeling, and smiled in his sleep.
Anna stuffed the crossbow and bolts in her pack. She ran to East 1 and set out the mewu bait and traps. She called healer/medic central and talked to Creana, the Elder healer. She explained that the increased efficiency of the processors would severely decrease the work for the invalids. Could some of them harvest denua with the carts to keep them busy?
“Yes, some are strong enough to harvest in half hour shifts. I could set up a rotating roster for the warm shift. Where would you like them and what is their fee?”
Anna explained the kapedo trade and that she would like them to cut paths in East 5, 7, and 8.
“That is a generous trade. Many will want to harvest.”
“It is a trade that benefits all. The technicians need kapedo oil. I need paths. The invalids need work. All benefit. May your blood stay strong. Thank you.” Anna rang off.
Anna left the crossbow and bolts on the counter and went to run some rail shelves. Northwest 1 had some big crossing limbs, but no sign. It wasn’t worth it, not right now anyway. Pure North had some small crossing limbs, not strong enough to support even a two meter takosund. It had four jump outs, nineteen trees, and quite a lot of intercrossing though with other trees.
Northeast 1 had some big crossing limbs, but no sign. Northeast 2 was safe with five jump outs, twenty-three trees, and moderate intercrossing. It would take a lot of barrier building, but it would be worth it. Big limbs crossed the rails in both Northeast 3 and 4. Northeast 5 had some small crossing limbs, two jump-outs, and only eleven trees.
Northeast 6 contained lots of big crossing limbs and sign, causing Anna to race in fast, hugging the wall. Northeast 7 made-up for the scare with six jump-outs and nineteen trees that hardly intercrossed outside their grouping. Northeast 8 had big crossing limbs, no sign. Midnortheast 1 was the same big limbs, no sign.
Anna logged onto the trade site and went to the processing room list. She added Northeast 1 through 8, pure North, and Northwest 1. She logged off and went to Heroes’ Hall. She packaged the leka she had. It took seven more runs, to run down the rest of the leka. By the time she had it all down, the first batch was ready to be packaged. It took longer to package it, than it did for the computer to strain it. She finally finished. She called Gresa and asked him to install switches on East 2. He said he would meet her there at three.
Anna had an hour and a half to go. She decided to put in some first level barriers. She got up five, Northeast 2 and 7, East 5 and 8, and Northwest 4. She had to run to meet Gresa.
After they finished installing the switches, Anna spoke to Gresa for a bit. “Trade chief Jatlo, will be contacting you soon with an offer. I would appreciate you putting some thought into the winch system, we discussed. What supplies do you need? Who you would like to help you? What your fee would be? How would you install it safely and quickly and how would you train people in its operation?”
Gresa nodded and smiled. “I have already put a lot of thought into it. If I have your permission, to go do some measuring on Northwest 3 second level, I could start drawing up plans and making lists.”
“Permission gladly granted. Thank you, Gresa. May your blood stay strong.”
Gresa’s smile got even bigger. “I will swing by there right now, Phwolfe.” He waved and walked off.
Anna went to East 1. She dipped and processed one hundred and thirteen mewu. Geez, they must breed with the abandon of rabbits. She ordered up a big set of targets, triple thickness with a red center target the size of a small nerve node. She set the targets up in East 1 and started practicing with the crossbow. She hit the targets every time. No matter the angle or distance. She just didn’t hit the center of the target, every time. Once she did, she would move up to Sato’s suggestion, drag mattresses into the supply depot and try shooting from a height. She would practice every day.
Anna went home, taking the crossbow and bolts with her. The arrows were very sharp. She didn’t dare leave them lying around. Someone might get curious, pick them up, and end up with a very nasty cut. She set them on the back edge of the counter, when she got home. She’d just finished putting lunch on the table, when there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” She hollered. Tanake entered carrying four trays.
“Hi Tanake, I forgot about meeting you yesterday.”
Tanake shook his head. “The crew voted that two days wasn’t fair. We saved for three that is better. I finished modifying our carts, and we have an eighteen percent increase. We leave eight carts full at the end of each shift, to give the processors a start the next day.”
“That’s an excellent idea. I set up some fulls for the crew, while we were preparing for the feast. But lately I haven’t had the time.”
“How is the leka harvest going? There’s a huge amount available on commodities.”
“I have three more hives to go. If they weren’t overfull, I’d let them go. But the leka is dripping out and going to waste, so I need to harvest them. It’s getting to be a pain though. I spend every even warm harvesting a hive. Every odd warm is half taken up by running it in, straining it, and packaging it. I will be glad to be finished in six more days.”
“I can understand that. You must be very tired working both warm and
cool shifts.”
Anna laughed. “Not really, Des has finally taught me the importance of eating right. On the cools when I don’t go over the rail, I go home at ten. How’s Commodities looking on things other than leka?”
Tanake shrugged. “Everything else is sold out. Even the dyes, that went on yesterday are gone. This oesla dye will go fast, when it goes on.”
“Maybe I ought to have Cima make up some more yarns to put onto commodities. I noticed a couple of days ago, that Wolfe soft denua fiber is at ninety percent. It would be a waste to cube it.”
“If you have that much, you should put it on. I am on the list for cloth. I make clothes as a hobby. Now that I have dyes, I need cloth.” Tanake smiled hopefully.
“Really, I may be offering you some trades in the future. I’m going to need to know how to make clothes. My children won’t need Isadi suits, but they will need plenty of clothes. Most of mine are showing wear and tear already.” Anna smiled at Tanake. “As a matter of fact, if you don’t mind me making a couple of calls while you wait, I might have an offer for you right now.”
“Please, if it involves cloth, I will wait hours.”
Anna called Jatlo first. “Jatlo, I noticed yesterday our supply processors are almost full of soft denua fiber. I was wondering. Tanake’s here. Would it be all right if I offered to let him run off some cloth, and had Cima run off some yarn? I’m keeping you busy enough. I don’t want to make another demand on your time.”
“That is fine. I have first buying rights. That will allow me to get, what I want. Offer Tanake and Cima a quarter percent of what they order up. Sign it in at your terminal in supply, and authorize which supply processors they will be using. That will keep track of everything. Have them use modified carts, and deliver the finished products to the supply closets in Heroes’ Hall. We will verify it all at one time, after they have finished the orders.”
“Thank you, Jatlo. I’ll see you this cool.” Anna rang off and turned to Tanake. “No waiting hours for you, Wolfe offers you a quarter percent of what you order up in cloth. You can use the modified carts and deliver it to Heroes’ Hall supply closet 2. I will authorize you for East 1 supply processor. Are you interested?”
“Yes! Yes! When can I start?” Tanake bounced on his toes.
Anna laughed. “Come on, I’ll sign you in and authorize you. I’m going to authorize you and Cima to run down the processors to five percent. Split in half, half will go to you for cloth, half to go to Cima for yarns. There’s a lot of fiber there, Tanake. The processors are at ninety percent full capacity in East 1 through 8 and Midsoutheast 1 through 8. It will most likely take three or four shifts, to order up enough to empty them down to five percent. Are you still willing?” Tanake bounced even more, nodding as he bounced. Anna smiled and finished the authorization. “Sign in Tanake. You can start at East 1.”
Tanake signed in, and bowed. “Thank you!” Then he turned and ran out.
Anna called and offered Cima the same deal. “Do I have to work this cool?”
“Get permission from the Phsatorae to make sure it’s okay with him. The crew knows what to do, so it’s fine with me if you work on the yarns instead. Just swing by at nine and tell the crew you’re working the supply processor in East 2. They will understand. Put the yarn in Heroes’ Hall supply closet one, once you fill that move on to closet number three. Use one of the modified carts. It will save you trips. I’ll authorize you right now. Sign it in at East 2, when you start okay. Have fun.”
“Thank you Phwolfe, there is enough fiber there for shifts of processing. Whole shifts just making yarn!” Cima cried out joyfully. “Have a good night, Phwolfe.”
Desvren came home. They ate, curled up in bed, and fell promptly asleep. Anna couldn’t believe it, when she woke up an hour before the alarm. Des must be right; the unripe greal was good for you. She had eaten two salads of it today. She knew it wasn’t Des healing her, because he was waking up early too.
Anna decided to get up and go set the dye to steeping. Plus, she needed to start making some glue. She only had twenty-two bottles left in Wolfe stock. It took two or three full bottles for every tree barrier, sometimes more. She couldn’t use Heroes’ Hall. Cima and Tanake would be running in and out. Heat wasn’t good for them. The East gardens were either harvested, having paths cleared by warm shift, or being used by the processing crew tonight. That left the Midsoutheast gardens.
Anna carried the oesla tassels to Midsoutheast 1. She weighed them and set them in separate trays, ending up with enough for sixteen steeping pots. She set them all to steeping in Midsoutheast 1, 2, and 3. She checked the electrical fields, and grabbed the remote.
She went just for gesar, not even bothering with paths, packing it out instead. She needed that glue and knew the mechanics needed some too. That and feeling well rested, helped her pick fast. By eight thirty, she had twenty-one sixty liter pots filled with gesar and all the drying ovens in Midsoutheast 1, 2, and 3 full of gesar rinds.
Anna trotted back home and into supply. She grabbed a package of wing nuts and ran for East 6. She ordered what she needed and modified six carts. She finished with thirty minutes left till the crew arrived.
Anna pushed a cart up to the second level right hand rope tie, where she had the scaffold placed. She checked the barriers, jumped rail, and sent over nets of korftu until the ropes were backed up almost to the rail. She jumped back and started carting. It made six loads worth. She dropped four nets at each processing station. She ordered up twenty boxes from each supply processor. She ran to East 8 and gathered all the nets from there. She snatched East 7’s on the way back. She was going through East 6 supply closets, when the crew arrived.
Anna waited till they were all accounted for. “All right everyone, you all know your spots. I’ve got some korftu at each station to get you started. I have some boxes at the supply processor, order more if you need them. I see you carters brought over three carts. That’s all we’ll need, I’ve also got six more modified ones here. I modified them earlier. Everyone sign in, and let’s go.” She passed the remote she had to Doru, and trotted out to start picking again. She sent over korftu until Tamsi arrived. Next, she hit the greal. When all the carts were full, she started on the tienara. She harvested a lot of greal to clear headroom and went back and forth between tienara and korftu when she had time.
Tamsi made the smart decision to wait until she had three empty carts before calling. This allowed Anna to hit the tienara really hard which worked well because the jump-out tree she was on produced a huge amount. Tamsi called twenty of and she finished the tienara off the scaffold, filled her packs with korftu, and sent over greal nets for everyone to carry in. The carters said they would finish pushing in the carts.
“I’ve got to go put some glue on to boil people, so I’m not staying tonight. You all did an excellent job. Check with Jatlo about finishing up tomorrow. If Northwest 3 is finished, we will all go to Northwest 7 next. If it isn’t, we’ll work here again. Thank you and may your blood stay strong.” Anna waved to them as she went out. They were an excellent crew.
Anna put fourteen of the pots of gesar through the strainer and on to re-boil. She bottled the other seven pots. She managed to harvest eight more pots, before she ran out of time.
Just in case it was what helped, Anna ate another of the hidden greal salads before she went to bed. Desvren came in and snuggled up to her. She dreamed of spaceship design, operational systems, maton drive engines, deflector shields, drone mining shuttles, space debris guard pods and lasers.
Anna woke up thirty minutes early feeling great and joined Des who smiled happily when she got up. “The unripe greal helps even you. It is a good fruit, full of essential vitamins and minerals in their natural form. It is also good for the child. Keep eating the salads love; they will keep you strong and energetic. I think you are finally coming back to your full strength. Your original healing took more out of you than you realized. You are now back to the full strength of a healthy, Go
lsidan in the prime of their life. Enjoyable, isn’t it?” Des smirked.
“Yes, it is. I have been feeling very good, the past couple of days. Please tell me, that this prime of life lasts for a longtime.”
Des laughed. “Only about a hundred annuals, love.”
Anna’s jaw dropped. To be young for a hundred annuals. What couldn’t you do?
Des’s smile got wider. “Then there is the slow decline of the mid-annuals, about fifty to seventy of them. We don’t really get old, until we are two hundred to two hundred and twenty. Of course, they are longer annuals then you are used to, four hundred and twenty days in an annual. I enjoy making your jaw drop, love.”
“That’s all right, hon. I enjoy surprising you too. Let’s eat. I’m hungry.” So they ate, and laughed, and teased. Anna didn’t want to go to work and leave Des. They didn’t often get to have a breakfast together. They ended up walking out the door together, kissing in the hall, and going their separate ways.
Anna ran to Midsoutheast 3. She strained the glues and dyes and set them to re-boil. She pounded the rinds and put the sifted flour back into dry. She strained the gesar syrup and set that to re-boil. Then she went to Midsoutheast 2, where she did it all again. At Midsoutheast 1, she bottled the first boil glue. It wasn’t what she needed, but a lot of people used it.
After that was done, Anna ran and did a maleka hive harvest. She ran down four runs and set them straining. At four, she went and got her crossbow. She practiced in East 2 for half an hour, then trotted home happy. Her aim was improving; she hit the bull’s-eye about twice as much as yesterday.
Des was waiting. They ate together and curled up in bed. Anna thought wistfully, another twenty-four days to go without sex. Des broke out laughing, so hard that tears came to his eyes. “Are you counting already, love?” He smirked.
Phwolfe Song (Golsidan Revival Series Book 1) Page 29