Danstu pulled at his new blue shirt. “I have to admit, I haven’t worn blue since I was a young boy. Students wear white suits on Laant and when I went to work on Loos the designated suit color were yellow for government staff,” he explained.
“How dull. I couldn’t imagine being told what colors to wear. Well, blue looks good on you. It complements your eyes.” She sat again, handing him one of the computers. “This is what I have so far. We have forty-two students I noticed. I’m in the works at cleaning one of the schools. I did notice we have only one teacher.”
“We have a school here?” Danstu questioned.
“We have everything here. This is a working city, provided we dust it off and have the people to run it,” she mentioned. “We have enough classroom space to house one-hundred-thousand students. I also believe we have a university on level seven, not that I’ve seen it. Sedom doesn’t like us going below level five yet.” She moved in closer to Danstu. “Between you and me, we think she’s hiding something down there.”
“I’ll… keep that in mind.” Danstu nodded, grinning to himself. His eyes gravitated to her low-cut top, unable to peel himself away from her cleavage. He shook himself back to reality. “Right… um, what are the top five positions we need staff for right away?”
“Computer systems, communications, replications, education and medical services. I didn’t notice you had any medical personnel.” She removed her fluffy sweater, revealing the tight shirt underneath. “Is it just me, or is it warm in here?” she said, fanning herself.
“Dranium is working on the heating and cooling systems today,” he mentioned, trying his best not to stare at her. Danstu turned his attention to his computer. “No, he was shot. Crowarl’s technology was limited. Most were shop owners, farmers and hunters. Not many will be able to acclimate easily into Gathow. Many will need training.”
“We can do our best, for now. Sortec took a big risk allowing your people to stay here. I’d rather not disappoint her,” Cidele admitted.
“Step away from the building,” called several orbs outside the library.
Danstu and Cidele turned to each other in question. “Tell you what, put together a list of the top one-hundred positions we need to fill. I’ll return in a few hours and we’ll figure out who’s best for each. For now, I better go see what’s going on outside,” he decided. Cidele agreed, sending Danstu to the front doors of the library.
Outside, Rosanheer paced. “Damn orbs, telling me where to go all of the time.”
Danstu cleared his throat. “Can I help you?” he asked.
Rosanheer spun around, surprised to see Danstu. “Hey, yeah, I was waiting for you. The orbs have something against Clove blood or I would have gone in.”
“They’re guarding the library. It looks like the majority of the Narkoy’s knowledge is inside, so it’s no wonder,” he explained.
Rosanheer nodded. “It figures. Now that I have your attention, would you happen to know what’s going to happen to the orphan?”
“Julian? We’re not sure yet. We know someone’s looking after him in the infirmary. I’d like to talk to him and ask him why,” Danstu hinted.
Rosanheer shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just feel a connection between us. I’d-a… like to be considered for the boy’s guardian,” he requested.
Danstu watched him for a long moment. “An ex-Marisheio warrior with no wife or family save for a father his employer uses as a punching bag? You’re asking for the boy to be an orphan again. He’s already gone through too much. I appreciate what you’re willing to do, but I don’t believe it’s advisable. We’ll find him a proper family.”
Rosanheer walked away without saying another word. Danstu could see the disappointment in the man’s eyes, but there was little he could do. He was right not to allow the guardianship, deep down though he felt like he made a mistake.
“Keriney!” Zion called out.
Danstu turned to find Zion running towards him. “What now?” he huffed under his breath. “Zion.”
“Dranium sent me to find you. He’s managed to fix the power to the main government building over there,” he pointed to a tall building in the distance. “Communications should be online within the hour. He thought you might need access to the outside world.”
Danstu patted Zion’s shoulder. “Best news I heard all day.”
He hurried to the building Zion had pointed to. He paused at an ornate doorway entry, seeing two wide purple glass doors hidden within. He grabbed for the handle and pulled on the doors.
“Access denied,” the computer called out from a panel beside the doors.
“I should have known,” he grumbled. Danstu balled up his fist, ready to hit the door. “Fine, what area do I have access to?” he asked the computer.
“First level, boardroom two,” the computer returned. A long striped light embedded in the wall beside him brightened to a neon green, followed by three more in front of him on the ground, leading Danstu around the building to a large open boardroom. Inside sat a twenty-foot oval shaped table constructed from a dark wood. Several feet above the table hung nine monitors, some vicariously hanging from the ceiling and in much need of repair.
“I can work with this,” he decided as he sat at the head of the table. He tapped on a button on the table, bringing up a computer monitor. It took a moment before it flashed on, but when it did Danstu was able to bring up all the information he was looking for.
“Where I can I find Dranium?” he asked the computer.
“Dranium is on level four, section three-two-notta,” the computer returned. On the screen, a diagram of the city appeared along with a route on how to reach Dranium.
Danstu hurried to his feet, attempting to remember how exactly to reach the elevators that would take him to level four. He was in luck. Only footsteps outside the boardroom stood an elevator. Within a blink of an eye, the elevator had taken him down four stories. He stepped out, his eyes wide in wonderment.
The fourth floor was almost exactly like the first, other than the buildings were a little different. He walked down a long sidewalk, amazed to see parks and playgrounds, fountains and far more trees than the top floor. The only real difference was the sunlight source was about half as dim as the one above.
“Danstu!” called a familiar voice.
He turned to see one of the men he had been trapped with inside the cave, waving to him. “I’m looking for Dranium. Do you know where he is?” he called out to the man.
He waved for Danstu to follow him. Danstu rushed up beside the Crehail man, all the while he was unable to recall the man’s name. “I guess someone informed them of my mechanical skills, so they put me to work on the maintenance team. It’s hard work, but man is this place great!” the man exclaimed.
“I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself,” Danstu said.
“The boss is down there,” he said, pointing down a long, dark alleyway.
Danstu nodded, taking in a deep breath. “Thanks.” He continued to walk down the alleyway, searching the creepy shadows for anything that moved. At the end of the alleyway stood an open door. Danstu opened the door further and stepped inside.
Inside was a massive warehouse filled from floor to ceiling with technology he had never seen before. Every shelf had its own light, shining down on one specific item. His nose was filled with the smell of wires and freshly pressed plastics.
He walked down the row, examining it in amazement. He paused at one section that looked to house several communications devices and picked up a wristwatch from a box.
“Danstu, I thought I heard someone come in,” Dranium spoke up from the shelves on the other side of Danstu, causing him to jump with fright. He hurried around the shelves, noticing the reaction he caused. “Sorry about that.”
“This is where you hide out?” Danstu mentioned.
Dranium gazed around the tall shelves. “I’m like a child in a candy store in here,” he admitted. “So much of this will come in handy. It’s
just figuring out what it all does,” he admitted. He pointed to the wristwatch Danstu was holding. “Like those.” He took another wristwatch from the same box, tapping it. Suddenly the watch Danstu was holding lit up. “Testing,” Dranium spoke into his com, but his voice echoed out through Danstu’s com’s tiny speaker. “That’s really cool, right?”
Danstu held up the com watch, smiling like a madman. “This is why I came to look for you. I need a way to reach people without having to track them down all the time. How many of these do we have and can we adjust them to work with the computers to know who is who?”
Dranium held his up to the light, nodding as he thought. “I believe they’re capable. I’ll get right on it,” he offered.
“Also,” Danstu spoke up before the man had a chance to get too far away, “how do I gain access to the main government building?”
Dranium shrugged. “The Capital building? To open the doors requires level five security clearance. You’ll have to talk to Sortec about that,” he mentioned.
Danstu grumbled under his breath. “I want to arrange a meeting of all the departments tomorrow. Have you started working on your list yet?”
Dranium nodded several times. He waved for Danstu to follow him down one of the aisles. “I managed to find an office down here, so I kind of took it over. Not that Sortec cares. As long as I work on fixing her systems, she ignores me,” he explained as they entered a rather spacious office, or at least it would have been if it wasn’t for several pieces of machinery and parts lying about. He cleared off a seat where several old manuals were being shelved and offered the seat to Danstu.
Over twenty different computer pads covered the top of Dranuim’s desk. He frantically searched through the computers, suddenly relieved to find the right one. “Here’s some of my list, to start. As you probably noticed, I don’t have a lot of free time—which is good. I don’t like to think.”
Danstu gave the man a questioning glance. “Have you been here awhile?”
“Only a few months. Sortec rescued me along with Zion, Evolanc… and, well, Garric. I don’t know why she keeps him around,” he admitted, his voice trailing off.
“Who is Garric?” Danstu questioned.
“Zion calls him Sortec’s pet. He was the Marisheio responsible for transporting us. He was also responsible for killing the other’s companion, um… Asa I think her name was.”
“Asa Daveric?” Danstu questioned.
“Yeah, yeah. She was some princess or something like that. I don’t know. I was mostly unconscious during it all,” he explained. “It was pure luck the Marisheio were transporting me that day. If it wasn’t for Sortec, I’m certain I only had days to live.”
From his desk, a small disk spun up into the air and remained hovering about a foot above Dranuim’s head. He reached up, snatching it out of the air without looking at it and quickly stuck it into a metal box on his desk. Two more jumped up into the air and hovered above Danstu. Dranium reached above Danstu, grabbing the disks. “Crazy things. I have no idea what they are yet, but they do seem to have a mind of their own. They’re either a highly sophisticated scanning device or a child’s toy,” he explained.
Danstu stood, tapping the computer pad with his forefinger. “Well, this has been… interesting. So, I’ll see you at 08:00 tomorrow.”
A loud noise brought Dranuim to his feet. He waved back to Danstu as he ran into the warehouse. Danstu followed, keeping his distance when he saw Dranuim and two other men attempting to hold down a four by six-foot crate from jumping around. He desperately wanted to know what was inside, but he had so much more to tend to.
Three quick turns and an uncomfortable walk back down the alleyway led him directly to another bank of elevators. He entered the elevator. As the doors closed, he could hear a small squeaking coming from the corner. To his surprise, a small gray tof was sitting in the corner, grooming his fur.
When the tof realized Danstu was on board, he rushed up his leg and perched on top of his head. Danstu struggled, attempting to get the tof off of his head. The doors opened to a mildly amused Sedom.
“Carwavo!” she scolded to the tof. She held out her arms and the tof jumped off his head onto her shoulder.
“Your pet, I presume?” Danstu questioned. He smoothed his stiff hands over his messy hair.
Sedom held back her giggles. “He was here when I came to the city,” she explained. “I see you’ve managed to figure out the elevators,” she mentioned.
“I needed to speak to Dranuim,” he said.
“He’s on level four, right?” she asked. Danstu nodded. “Thanks.” She continued on board.
Danstu slipped in right behind her before the doors could close. “Chadon, I’m arranging a meeting with all the department staff heads for tomorrow at 08:00. Would it be possible if you could attend?” he requested.
Sedom stared at him for a long moment, making him uneasy. The doors opened to level four again. “I don’t see why not. It certainly makes me curious. I wasn’t even aware we had any heads of any departments, let alone any departments. How many departments do we have?” she questioned.
“Eight,” he returned smugly.
“Hah,” she returned with an amused chuckle. She nodded, pleased at his accomplishments, as she walked on.
TWELVE
At 08:00 the next morning, Sedom peeked inside the boardroom. To her surprise, the monitors were all online and glimmering with images of Gathow. Up until two days prior, there was no power in this section of the city. Now it was as if Gathow was a functioning city again. Looking at her, no one could tell Sedom was surprised, but Lolum could because of her excessive blinking.
Eight people stood from around the table, five which she knew. A few years prior she would have had no problems standing in front of the table. Today, her legs quivered at the thought of having to speak. She adjusted the back of her jacket and walked inside.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” she started. “Dranuim, I see you’ve managed to get the systems operational.”
He skittishly responded to Sedom with a head nod. “With help. Sections four through nine should be operational within the week. We also have full power to all the replicators in sections one through three.”
From the front of the table, Danstu watched Dranuim with concern for the man’s mental health. Just the previous day, Dranuim acted excited and outgoing. Around Sedom though, he was withdrawn and very skittish.
“Good. We have several levels to go. I know you’ve been spending a lot of time on level four, but it’s really not a priority,” Sedom mentioned.
Danstu raised his hand, gaining Sedom’s attention. “Chadon, how many levels are there in Gathow?” he asked.
“Thirty-two,” she lied. She didn’t even know, but she was going to find out soon. She turned her attention to Danstu, staring at him for a moment. For some reason, she couldn’t recall his name. “I understand you and Cidele have placed everyone in their proper positions?”
“We have three textile workers who are waiting until next week when level four opens completely. Everyone else, yes,” Cidele spoke up.
“That’s why you’re working on level four,” Sedom surmised, motioning over to Dranium. “And here I thought it was because of the tech warehouse,” she jabbed.
“Uh… yes. And… yes,” Dranium admitted.
“There’s some pretty interesting tech in that warehouse. Some would really benefit us right now,” Danstu mentioned.
“Like this?” Sedom removed the same metal box Dranium’s small buzzing toys were housed from her pocket and released one of the disks. The disk buzzed up and she grabbed it, tossing it at the door. The disk hit the door, exploding outwards and blanketing the boardroom with dust and smoke. Everyone in the room jumped back from the explosion, hiding beneath the large conference table.
As the smoke cleared, everyone poked their heads up over the top of the table. The disk had created a five-inch round hole in the door. Six orbs hovered nea
r the door, their tops glowing red.
“Stand down. It was only a test,” Sedom called out the door’s new opening to the orbs. The orbs switched back to green and returned to their posts.
Cautiously, the members of the group returned to their seats. Most had to wipe off their seats from the debris the explosion had left behind.
“Hell of a way to prove a point,” Lolum muttered.
Sedom wiped her hands together then placed her hands on her hips. “You have no idea what’s housed down there. Some of the equipment in that warehouse could not only kill you, it could destroy this city,” she scolded Dranium and then turned her scolding eyes to Danstu. “We’ll play with the tech toys once I see less empty beds,” she demanded.
Everyone settled back into their seats, all a bit shook up over Sedom’s little show.
“For a peaceful people, the Narkoy certainly had a lot of dangerous weapons,” Cidele mentioned.
“The war-mongers built the city. It was the religious sect who took it over during their civil war,” Danstu mentioned.
Sedom nodded, sighing deeply. “The Narkoy weren’t always peaceful. Nor will we be ever again,” she pledged.
Danstu shifted uneasily to Sedom, his squeaky shoes causing her to glance down at them. He was still wearing the same leather shoes she hated. “Um… right. Well, Chadon, we are still in need of several key positions. Teachers, for one,” Danstu mentioned.
“And doctors,” Noral added. “Evolanc and I are overwhelmed. We’re desperate for some help.”
Sedom nodded slowly, her mind racing from all the information. How could she find more people when the people she found were simply a fluke? In the back of her mind, she could hear Lolum whisper “we’re here to help,” but she was having difficulty asking.
“The city to the east of us, Scicon, has about eight thousand citizens,” Nokinil began. “Good, hard-working men and women who are undoubtedly nervous and worried about what happened to our city. Many lost family in our city. Not to mention there has been an increasing number of Marisheio roaming the streets.”
The Last Narkoy: Gathow: Book 2 Page 17