Ruin & Reliance

by Jeremy Dwyer

  “Yeah, Sophie, maybe we need to not totally hate each other right away. Nothing’s even bitten us yet. If it does, then I’ll slap Patrick…more than once. Until then, let’s just take some precautions,” Ruth said.

  “I can do more than sing. My ears are sharper than any of yours. These waters give me power over sound – including detecting it,” Elise said. She drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from her vial to be energized with the power of sound and listened carefully.

  “What do you hear?” Ruth asked.

  Elise held up her hands, gesturing to everyone to be quiet. She listened carefully and heard a great deal. After several minutes, she gestured for everyone to come closer.

  “And?” Ruth asked.

  “On the other side of this swamp, two (2) miles to the north, is another river. On the north bank of that river is a farm town with some connected quarries. It’s just been occupied by a man known as Prince Istvan. He has nine thousand (9000) soldiers – seven thousand eight hundred (7800) swordfighters and one thousand two hundred (1200) crossbowmen. I know that because he just commanded his majors and colonels to count them and assess their health. Not a single injury. The farmers and miners offered no resistance during the occupation,” Elise said.

  “So we have a large occupying army two (2) miles from where we’re standing, is that right? This boat can’t go much farther, right? Tell me, Patrick, how far can we go?” Sophie asked.

  “Calm down, Sophie. Calm down. This is Waderav. This happens all the time,” Ruth said.

  “You were so eager to leave, Sophie. Why are you getting all nervous now?” Sean asked.

  “Because it’s getting worse, not better, Sean. We don’t have an army to stop this bastard. I don’t want to be a slave to anybody – not Vizakrid, not Istvan, nobody. Look what they did to us,” Sophie said. She held up her right arm, lowered her sleeve and revealed her markings – numbers and symbols etched into her skin. Sophie then pointed at her markings and said: “This says I belong to Vizakrid. If this Prince Istvan catches us, he’ll put his own markings on us – more scars – and say we belong to him. Guess what, I belong to me. No more scars. No more marks of slavery.”

  “Same here. I hate it, too,” Ruth said, holding up her right arm, rolling down her sleeve and revealing her own markings, indicating that she was the property of Baron Vizakrid.

  “We all have it, Sophie. We’re just going to have to be careful, and stay quiet. Don’t assume the worst,” Ciaran said. He took Sophie’s hands gently in his own to comfort her.

  “Elise, do you hear anything else?” Ruth asked.

  Elise gestured for them to be quiet again and everyone stopped talking.

  Elise listened carefully and overheard more of the conversation of Prince Istvan and his subordinate officers. For several minutes, she gathered all that she could until the distant conversation came to an end.

  “Before seizing this nearby town, Prince Istvan already had a large territory to the northwest, consisting of more farmland and quarries. His farms are very profitable, but his quarries are only somewhat successful, some marginally. His bookkeeper told him that it was because the precious gems are selling poorly, and so is granite. Prince Istvan blames the central bank for manipulating rates. He knows the central bank operates ships along that river to deliver supplies to their bank offices and land holders in Waderav, so he’s waiting to ambush them. He plans on falsifying the bank records to fix sale prices for gems in his favor,” Elise said.

  “Sounds like your kind of game, Sophie,” Sean said.

  “Be careful, Sean. Don’t get her started,” Ciaran said.

  “Yeah, Sean. That’s not as funny as it sounds in your head,” Ruth said.

  “We can’t just wait around here. There could be a war. Do we go back? Or try to go forward?” Molly asked.

  “I agree we can’t wait. But this isn’t our problem. We’re two (2) miles away and there’s plenty of thick brush in between. I’ll get out and walk in the mud if and when I have to,” Ruth said.

  “Patrick, how much farther can we sail?” Odhran asked.

  “At least a few miles, but slowly. After that, we’re going to have to get out and walk in the mud,” Patrick said.

  “Take us as far as you can. We’ll stay ready, in case the wildlife gets a bit wild,” Odhran said.

  Patrick continued steering the riverboat westward, at a quarter (1/4) of their former speed, perhaps thirteen (13) or fourteen (14) miles per hour.

  Elise continued to listen, but focused her hearing downward.

  “What are you listening for now?” Sophie asked.

  “Snakes or alligators moving in the waters below,” Elise said.

  “And?” Sophie asked, nervous and angry all at once.

  “How many?” Molly asked, also nervous.

  “Nothing. I do know the sound of water movement, and when something moves through water. Fish swim one way, snakes swim another. I’m not sure about the alligators, but nothing much is going on down there. We’re alone for now,” Elise said.

  “Relax,” Ciaran said, still holding Sophie’s hands.

  “I want to be free,” Sophie said.

  “Only God can make us free. Pray to Him,” Elise said.

  CHAPTER 9: Policies of Review and Improvement

  In the continent of Ihalik, in Western District Nineteen (19), Commissioner Hannah paced back and forth along a wooden bridge that overlooked the construction of a canal project that originated one point four (1.4) miles south of her official residence. Three thousand five hundred seventy (3570) men and women were working intently at laying stones and moving mud and dirt to create the one (1) mile wide, eight point six two (8.62) mile long pathway toward the Gradaken Ocean.

  The fifty-two (52) year old commissioner drank anew of the waters of the Medathero Ocean from her vial to be energized with the power of calm, rational thought. The gray streaks in her hair and the wrinkles on her age-spotted skin belied a youthful, quick, clever and attentive mind. She made her own mental calculations about the bearing of the pathway and found a slight error. She approached the construction manager – a burly, bearded forty-nine (49) year old man – and said: “Ixidor, the bearing of your canal path is aiming zero point zero three (0.03) primalurens too far northward. For an eight point six two (8.62) mile long path, that results in an error of forty point eight five two nine zero six three four (40.85290634) feet. You need to correct this now. It’s completely outside of tolerance.”

  Ixidor was visibly annoyed by this interference. He had been standing on this wooden bridge and watching his workers only thirty-two (32) feet away and didn’t see any problem at all. He drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power to manipulate crystals and stones. “I’ll take a closer look, Commissioner Hannah. If there’s a problem, I’d be surprised, though. You don’t need to be here. Let me supervise. I’ll report their progress every eight (8) days, like we agreed in the contract.”

  “It is my responsibility to ensure that this project is correct from the very start, in addition to supervising its progress. I do need to be here because it won’t be compliant, otherwise,” Commissioner Hannah said.

  “I know what compliance requires, Commissioner. I’ve been a construction manager for fifteen (15) years and all my projects are compliant, unless the client changes the requirements after the fact,” Ixidor said.

  “I’ve been capable of basic trigonometry for forty-three (43) years and I can see the error right before my eyes. The specified length of the canal is eight point six two (8.62) miles. Five thousand two hundred eighty (5280) feet are in a mile. That’s forty-five thousand five hundred thirteen point six (45513.6) feet. Remember, there are two hundred ten (210) primalurens to the circle. Zero point zero three (0.03) primalurens is zero point zero zero zero one four two eight five seven (0.000142857) parts of a circle. The sine of that angle is zero point zero zero zero eight nine seven five nine eight (0.000897598). M
ultiply that by the length of the path to get your error. This is all basic mathematics, Ixidor, and you should know to do that, flawlessly, every time, for every project you manage. I don’t care what water you drink, you need to know that much about angles and distances to be in this line of work,” Commissioner Hannah said.

  “If there’s an error – and I doubt it – but if there is, it will get fixed, Commissioner,” Ixidor said.

  “I have little confidence of that. You don’t even see the error,” Commissioner Hannah said.

  “You’ll just have to trust my calculations and experience, Commissioner. Besides, how many canals have you built? I’ve built sixty-seven (67) and managed thirty-nine (39) of them,” Ixidor said.

  “Your experience doesn’t change the fact of this error right in front of both of us. It’s entirely obvious. And it will cost you if you don’t redirect your workers and fix it immediately. Correct the mistake, here and now, or you will lose this contract before getting paid!” Commissioner Hannah said.

  “Don’t threaten me, Commissioner. You don’t have the authority to cancel this contract. The labor union has binding agreements in place with the Imperial Financial Council to settle all disputes and correct any errors without terminating contracts. Now, just go home and leave this job to me,” Ixidor said.

  Commissioner Hannah was furious but she knew that this matter had to be settled at a higher level so she walked to the edge of the bridge and onto the dirt road nearby. She followed this road until it met a cobblestone pathway that led into her own town. While walking along the pathway through the town, she saw a large gathering of fishers and farmers – four hundred nine (409) men and women as far as she could see – and they appeared to be bickering about prices and threatening to halt work.

  She approached the workers and said: “What is this I hear about a work stoppage? That’s against the labor laws! If you’re not getting paid the agreed upon wage, I’ll work to correct it and secure your back pay. But work stoppages are absolutely against the law.”

  One of the men in the crowd – who looked to be in his later fifties or early sixties – spoke up and said: “Commissioner, we can’t work if we don’t have space to work. Too much of this district is swampland. Too many new workers are being hired. We’re crowded out. You need to have more new lakes constructed.”

  A woman from the crowd – who looked to be in her forties – spoke up and said: “There are too many farm workers and not enough fields. We’re bringing in less pay because of this – maybe a third (1/3) of what we used to.”

  “We’re building a new canal,” Commissioner Hannah began to say. She paused and then said: “But that won’t be enough, I know. Let me get to work on this…on all of this.” She had little confidence that the canal would be properly completed. The error was not insignificant – the deviated canal would have encroached on farmland, and worsened the economic problems. She walked to the center of the town and boarded an airship that was docked on the ground. The vessel was sixty-eight (68) feet long and had two (2) pairs of pivoting, double-masted sails. Hannah turned to the man at the wheel and said: “Captain, take me to Havinalka City, to the Bureau of Imperial Trade, Finance and Construction.”

  “Yes, Commissioner,” the captain – a man in his early fifties – said. He pulled levers to pivot the masts and sails to the sides of the ship and lift the vessel up to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. He steered the ship above the town and then lowered it into a river two (2) miles away, returning the masts and sails to the upright position. From there, he sailed the ship eastward along the river, toward the center of the continent of Ihalik, where Havinalka City was located.

  ~~~

  In the Jeshirinko Barrier land bridge, along the southern shore, General Tiglath stood on the barren, rocky ground and was flanked by Lieutenant Skender, Lieutenant Delfina, and Admiral Erisinni. There was a squad of ninety (90) special operations troops surrounding them. Within that circle, a man stood motionless, fearful and uncertain. The Coherent was docked on dry land nearby.

  “Lieutenant Skender, is our guest ready to cooperate?” General Tiglath asked.

  Lieutenant Skender drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from his vial and was energized with the powers of telepathy and empathy. He probed the thoughts of the man before them. “I believe that Erlend is ready to cooperate. He knows how to operate the constructor because he built it, based on reading Fantine’s notes. He can use it to assemble another ring-shaped crystal city, like the one that surrounds Haza’Kedro’Maral Island. He can also configure it to construct something else,” Skender said.

  “I want something more suited to our needs. A new port city, in this location and extending two (2) miles from east to west and one (1) mile northward inland, and (1) mile southward, into the Zovvin Ocean. This will be a safe port for our vessels. These waters are hazardous – the spirit energies are a threat to our ships. Erlend can hear my specifications, so I want you to watch his thoughts so that we know if he plans to comply. Lieutenant Skender, you are to focus on this architect at all times, so that he does not deceive us,” General Tiglath said.

  Erlend looked around the crowd and saw that – only one hundred fifty (150) feet away – were the thirty-four (34) constructor pillars he had previously configured. “I’ll need to alter the sapphires mounted on each of those thirty-four (34) pillars, so that they direct the light in a pattern that will build the port city you’re describing. Then, I’ll need to alter the control crystal – the thirty-fifth (35th) sapphire – that starts and stops the constructor,” he said.

  “We will bring you those sapphires and you will do the work immediately, Erlend. Lieutenant Skender will see to it that you are telling us the truth,” General Tiglath said.

  “General Tiglath, if this succeeds, then we will need a new northern port, extending into the Lujladia Ocean, as a defense against our enemies,” Admiral Erisinni said.

  “I know that, Admiral Erisinni. First, I want to see how well it can work. Then, I want to see how much better we can make it work. Take Lieutenant Skender and Erlend on board your ship and elevate the vessel to the level of each of the pillars, so that he can alter the sapphires to configure the constructor,” General Tiglath said.

  “Yes, General,” Admiral Erisinni said.

  “Lieutenant Delfina, go with them, watch everything carefully and document each step in detail,” General Tiglath said.

  “Yes, Admiral,” Lieutenant Delfina said. She drank anew of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean from her vial and was energized with the power to slow time. She used some of this power to slow her aging and thus extend her own life. She focused the rest of this power on being able to observe the details of events around her, no matter how quickly they occurred.

  ~~~

  Admiral Erisinni led Erlend and Lieutenant Skender toward the Coherent and they walked up the boarding ramp. Lieutenant Delfina followed them as they boarded the ship. When they were on deck, Erisinni took the wheel of the vessel and pulled levers to pivot its masts and sails toward the sides and then elevated the Coherent to fifty (50) feet of altitude. He steered it to line up with the tips of each of the pillars.

  Erlend drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power to control crystals and stones. Then took hold of the sapphire mounted atop the first constructor pillar and began altering its low-level structure to have a pattern that would bend light in such a way as to build the city that General Tiglath had described. He had no intention of defying the orders, knowing that he had no recourse or defense against this military. His only hope for survival was perfect obedience. After altering the sapphire, Erlend said: “The crystal is altered. We will also need to reposition this pillar, however, to define the city’s perimeter. The proper location is there.” He gestured toward another location on the shore.

  Lieutenant Delfina recorded all that she saw and heard into her book. Though she was no longer a Chronicler of the Oath, she cert
ainly had the ability to focus on detail. She did not, however, have the ability to see the low-level structure of the sapphires as Erlend was modifying them, so she only observed and recorded the high level details that could be seen by her unassisted vision.

  “The architect wants us to relocate the constructor pillar. Is this correct, Lieutenant Skender, or is it a deception to cause this operation to fail?” Admiral Erisinni asked.

  Lieutenant Skender continued probing Erlend’s thoughts and knew that the architect was being truthful. “Yes, Admiral. He is speaking to the best of his understanding,” Skender said.

  Admiral Erisinni directed his crew to lower ropes with grappling hooks and then to lift the first constructor pillar off of the ground. He then steered the Coherent over to the indicated location and directed his crew to lower the constructor pillar back down to the ground.

  “All the other sapphires will need to be similarly altered. The other constructor pillars, when arranged in a parabolic layout on the shore, will define the city, even the portion that extends southward into the water,” Erlend said.

  In turn, Admiral Erisinni steered the Coherent through the air to each of the thirty-three (33) other constructor pillars and Erlend altered the low-level structures of the mounted sapphires with the necessary pattern. When this crystal work was done, he indicated where each pillar needed to be placed and Admiral Erisinni had his crew hoist each pillar from its location and then lower them into their new positions after the ship was guided by Erlend’s directions.

  Lieutenant Delfina meticulously recorded the process into her book, including the parabolic shape of the arrangement of the constructor pillars.