“Taking a finished item and breaking it down, learning how it was made in the process,” Gothy replied.
“Ah. Yes, I’m sure they can,” Ironhand nodded. “Can I get a sample of this fire?”
“I’m fresh out right this minute,” Alvin grinned. “I could probably get some in a few days.”
Grimacing, Ironhand took another drink from the bottle. “What about your conveyance? Is another like it available?”
“Our world has many vehicles that are similar in concept,” Alvin smiled more broadly. “Did you want one?”
“Depending on cost,” Ironhand nodded. “How do they move without a beast to pull them?”
“Mechanical engine,” Alvin shrugged. “I can make sure there’s a rune applied to it so you don’t have to worry about fuel.”
“How much?” Ironhand asked.
“For a vehicle similar to the one we came here in… two hundred thousand XP.”
Ironhand almost spit out his mouthful of whiskey. “Preposterous!”
“What does a suit of armor cost?” Alvin countered.
“Ah… I see… you equate it to that in value,” Ironhand muttered. “Is there anything similar, but at a lesser cost?”
“Yeah, it all depends on what you want the vehicle to do,” Alvin shrugged. “If you want a fast one with very little armor, that’s cheaper. A bigger one for transporting goods or people would still be cheaper than one like ours, but not as cheap as the first one. The very cheapest option will transport four people, but isn’t going to be good for anything else.”
“What would the last one cost?”
“Half of what I quoted you to start with.”
“Hmm, okay, I can do that one,” Ironhand muttered. “I can have it tonight?”
“Sure,” Alvin chuckled. “It’ll take me an hour to get everything organized, but I can do it.”
“Would you be willing to throw in a few of those chairs?” Ironhand asked.
“I’ll toss in these three,” Alvin replied.
“Excellent.”
“Come back here with an XP token for the amount, and I’ll have the vehicle waiting for you,” Alvin smiled.
“I shall look forward to it,” Ironhand said, getting to his feet and putting the cap back on the half empty bottle.
“Me, too,” Alvin replied.
Seeing him out of the room, Alvin waited for the door to shut before he chuckled, “Okay, let’s go fleece the rube.”
“You’re going to pull the Humvee out of the base and then buy another vehicle, aren’t you?” Gothy smirked.
“Yup. I could purchase a third bay, but we don’t need one right now. The car I’m going to give him will cost under fifty thousand XP, even with the fuel rune added to it. A nice fifty thousand XP profit for me.”
“What car?” Gothy asked.
“I’m thinking a Yugo.”
“That’s mean,” Gothy laughed. “I love it.”
“Let’s go give the idiot what he wants,” Alvin laughed, heading for the base and snagging the camp chair that Mousie had gotten packed for him. “Thank you, Mousie.”
~*~*~
It took half an hour for them to get the Humvee out of the base, purchase the Yugo, apply the rune, pull it out of the base, and park the Humvee back in the base. Alvin purchased another book, still keeping him under the fifty thousand XP total he thought it might cost for everything.
He was waiting by the Yugo, watching the other Dwarves staring as they passed by. Ironhand and two armored Dwarves approached fifteen minutes later. “Here is the vehicle,” Alvin said.
“It is smaller than yours,” Ironhand frowned.
“Well, I’m just better endowed than… oh, you meant the car. Yeah, well, you got the cheap version. Which you have no idea how to drive or operate,” Alvin stated with a smile. “I hope you brought some more XP with you.”
“Why?” Ironhand asked. “We came to an agreement on the price already.”
“I have a manual that will teach the reader how to operate this thing.”
“Ahh, I did fail to account for that,” Ironhand sighed. “Fine, what do you want for the manual?”
“A bottle of your best alcohol,” Alvin smiled.
“I can get you a bottle of the best from the inn behind you. Would that suffice?”
“Two if you’re going to make it the stuff from here, since I’m sure your private stock is better.”
“In that, you wouldn’t be wrong,” Ironhand agreed. “Go fetch two of their best bottles,” he ordered one of the Dwarves with him. “Now, can I have the book?” Ironhand asked when the Dwarf left.
“Sure.” Alvin tossed the thin book to Ironhand. “That’ll explain all about automobiles to you. The basics of how to operate them, anyway.”
Ironhand took the book and read it, the book turning to dust after a few seconds. “I see. I need the key, it seems.”
“Yup, I’ll give that to you as soon as you hand over the XP token.”
Ironhand pulled a hand sized metal disc from his bag. “Here is your XP.”
Alvin took the disc and a small pop-up telling him how much XP it contained appeared before him. “Looks good,” he said, handing over the key. “You are the proud owner of the first car in this world. ‘Grats.”
“I need to get this to my engineers. A pleasure doing business with you, Hero. If you come up with a sample of that fire, I would pay a high price for it.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Alvin chuckled.
“Your drinks,” a surprisingly light voice said from behind him.
Alvin took the two bottles from the female Dwarf and placed them in his bag. “Thanks. Goodnight.”
“Good evening,” Ironhand said as he got into the driver’s side. “Dismiss your armor and get in,” he commanded the two with him.
Alvin watched them drive off slowly, keeping the smirk off his lips. “I could get used to fleecing the unknowing,” he commented.
“I’m good with that,” Gothy said, coming to join him after Ironhand left. “Think he’ll be pissed when he finds out how much you took him for?”
“Probably, but he won’t be able to do anything to us by then.”
“I’m glad he didn’t try to take what had been bargained for,” Mousie said, joining them a moment later.
“That’s why you two were close at hand,” Alvin chuckled. “We do have a meeting with the King in the morning, so we should head to bed.”
“Bed, yes. Sleep... maybe in a bit?” Gothy said, taking his hand.
“I was thinking we could watch some TV and cuddle tonight,” Alvin said. “Goodness knows we’ll be active tomorrow, and we haven’t just cuddled in a while.”
“If that is your wish, Hero,” Gothy nodded.
“A cuddle puddle, as you’ve called it before?” Mousie asked.
“All of us,” Alvin agreed, kissing her cheek. “I’m thinking of starting ‘Babylon 5’ again tonight.”
Chapter Forty-eight
After another of Jarvis’ delicious breakfasts, the three of them left the base and saw Desiree waiting for them. “Good morning. The King is summoning you,” Desiree told them without preamble.
“Hoping to catch us in the base still?” Gothy asked, grabbing the Dwarf and bending to give her a kiss.
“While I would love that, it isn’t proper to keep him waiting,” Desiree replied.
“Has word spread about Ironhand yet?” Alvin asked.
“That you sold him a vehicle, yes,” Desiree frowned. “Why did you do that? He already has his best people tearing it apart to figure out how it works.”
“It’s a Yugo— the worst vehicle ever mass produced, or close to it,” Alvin snickered. “If he makes more of them, he’ll only be hurting himself. Besides, I’m sure I can do better for your father.”
“I will trust you, but the balance of power in the clans has shifted already just from that single item.”
“Well then, let’s dump it fully back the other way,” Alvi
n grinned.
“Hero will do right by you, like he did for the Queen,” Mousie added.
“I will trust in him, and you, as well.”
“We’re good to go, then,” Gothy said.
The same armored carriage was waiting for them outside. The trip back to the castle was slow, since the streets were even busier than they had been the day before. As Alvin watched the Dwarves going about their business, the biggest thing he noticed was the lack of coordination of the traffic; there were no marked roads or sidewalks. The few wagons that went by them had to fight forward just as much as everyone on foot.
“Need to suggest traffic control,” Alvin muttered.
“What is that?” Desiree asked from beside him.
“The roads of my world are laid out so that traffic goes in set directions on each part of the road and pedestrians are given their own areas to walk in. That way, vehicles don’t accidentally hit the pedestrians. Of course, many of our cities weren’t this… crowded.”
“Reminds me of videos I’ve seen from a lot of Asian cities. Hong Kong, for instance,” Gothy added.
“Fair, but they still have traffic laws, even if the pedestrians do flood the crosswalks.”
“True enough, Hero.”
“It’s just an idea, but if your father or the other clans are going to purchase a lot of vehicles, then it’s going to be necessary.”
“I’ll make sure it’s brought up,” Desiree said. “Can you tell me about it as we go?”
For the next half an hour, Gothy and Alvin gave Desiree a rough explanation of traffic control. It was when the carriage came to a halt for the first time that Alvin stopped talking.
“First gate,” Desiree said. “We should stop there, though. It won’t be long now. Thank you for helping me understand it. Is there a book that can explain it?”
“If there isn’t, one can be made,” Alvin replied. “Overall, it’s an easy concept to understand once you get the rough picture of it.”
“It is,” Desiree agreed.
About five minutes later, the four of them were walking through the hallways of the castle, though Alvin thought of it as a bunker because none of it was above ground. Instead of going to the throne room like Alvin was expecting, they were led to a large room where over a dozen people were already seated around a long table. Drinks and snacks were arrayed within easy reach of each seat.
“I have brought the Humans,” Desiree announced when she led them inside.
“Very good. You are dismissed, Sergeant,” Mithrilblood replied.
“We’d prefer if she stayed. She’s been traveling with us and might have insight you could use,” Alvin said.
“Very well. Bring another chair for Desiree,” Mithrilblood commanded.
Alvin was surprised when he was seated in the middle of the table, directly across from the King. “Not how I imagined the seating arrangements to go.”
“This makes it easier for us to converse, while letting the others join in,” Mithrilblood smiled. “In the past, other Kings would hold meetings from the head of the table, but that is not my way.”
“Sensible.”
“Now that you are here, we can begin. Please, have some refreshments.” Sitting back in his chair, Mithrilblood seemed to exude an air of command. “We’ve heard of your fight with the fungals and the firebreather outside the portal. The fire you used was purported to last much longer than fire should.”
“The substance is known as napalm on my world. What we used was the quick, dirty, layman’s version of it.”
“Reports have indicated that the fungals fear it more than even our armor. Is it possible to get some of it, or perhaps the recipe so we may make it ourselves?”
“It’s not going to be cheap,” Alvin said. “It would take me a long time to get you what you need. Any skilled alchemist could make it for you, and with better results than what I could give you. I could get the recipe for you, but because that would give you the ability to create it on your own, I would need to ask for more since we’d never be able to sell you the product at that point.”
“I won’t argue that,” Mithrilblood nodded.
“What else are you looking for?”
“Vehicles, like the armored one you arrived in, are also something we are interested in.”
“That gets tricky. What I have is a military vehicle, something that normal people didn’t own. I’m sure you could figure out how to make something similar with the right knowledge, though,” Alvin smiled. “I could get you a manual that teaches the basics so that your engineers could have an understanding of how vehicles like that work.”
“Hmm... without a viable prototype, I’d want the price reduced,” Mithrilblood replied.
“I can get you a prototype without armor,” Alvin shrugged. “If you try to add armor, you’ll break it, because the body isn’t designed to hold the weight. It would still give you a solid idea of how they work, though.”
“We can make that work. Is there anything you would be interested in from us?”
“I’ve heard that there might be prototype armors that run off lumios batteries. Someone had thought ahead of maybe selling them to people who couldn’t interface with them like you naturally do.”
Mithrilblood looked to his right, meeting Gunther’s calm gaze, and turned back to Alvin, “This is possible.”
“I’d like to get three sets; one for each of my party,” Alvin smiled. “I also have something you might be interested in, not as King, but as a Brightblood.” Alvin pulled the waist piece of the Twurgh relic out of his bag and set it on the table.
Mithrilblood snatched the piece before Gunther could react. “This… it couldn’t be…?”
“I’ve examined it. It appears to be Doomin’s armor,” Desiree said.
The entire table stirred, all of them trying to get a better look at the relic. After a minute, Mithrilblood handed it to Gunther. “May I have it examined?” the King asked Alvin.
“I trust you to return it,” Alvin replied. “I’d be willing to part with it, for the right price.”
Mithrilblood grimaced, “Of course.”
“Make me an offer, Majesty,” Alvin gave him a friendly smile.
“A trap if I have ever heard one,” Mithrilblood snorted. “I will wait for you to name a price for it.”
“Not sure I will. It’s hard to put a price on family,” Alvin replied. “Before we go down that road further,” he added quickly, “why don’t we return to everything you want from us? You already heard the extent of what I’m looking for.”
“You only want three sets of armor?” another Dwarf at the table asked incredulously. “You aren’t interested in mithril, gems, weapons?”
“Not really, though I’m sure there will be plenty of people on my world who are.”
“We haven’t talked about the food that their world can provide,” a female Dwarf down the table spoke up, addressing the King. “We need to secure more food. Maybe we can plant some of their crops here.”
“That’s true,” Alvin nodded. “I even brought some samples of food from our world. If you’d be okay with me handing it out?” Alvin looked at Mithrilblood when he asked.
“I would like one of the—” Mithrilblood began.
“I will test it,” Desiree said, cutting him off. “If they wanted to poison people, they would have started with me long before now.”
Mithrilblood stared at her for a long moment before he nodded, “I will permit this.”
Alvin pulled a selection of Tupperware containers from his bag and arranged them in front of Desiree. “It’s an eclectic selection, so you might want a drink between bites to make sure the flavors don’t clash.”
Desiree took a bite from each container, then passed them around the table. For the next twenty minutes, the Dwarves sampled the dishes Jarvis had prepared for them. By the time all of the containers had been tasted, most of them were eager for the King to make a deal that included food.
“Enough,”
Mithrilblood said firmly, and the others quieted down. “It seems that we will have to add your food to the list of what we wish to acquire, as well.”
“If you give me a list of what you want, I can get you the basics now,” Alvin smiled. “Once we’ve finished that, we can talk about the relic and about setting up a more permanent trading solution between the worlds.”
“It will take us an hour to create a list, but what of price?” Mithrilblood asked.
Downtime and Death (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 5) Page 40