Chapter 11: No Slaves

~~ August - Week 32 ~~

Lee had noted Kyle had taken to disappearing in the afternoons.

On this day, she followed him to the location of the ring platform. Because it was on Sparky’s land, he was safe from prying eyes. He had located a small cave near the ring. In it, he had set up a bench some cupboards and some portable lights.

One of the book boxes was in a corner, and a primer was open on a makeshift book stand Several jars and sample boxes, to hold his ingredients were on the bench, and he was looking at a spell page when she entered.

“Way cool Kyle, have you been practising?” She asked him.

Kyle jumped at her first word, “Shit! Lee, you scared the crap out of me. Um yeah, a little.”

“Show us what you got, Mr Wizard,” Lee grinned at him.

Kyle was a little self-conscious. But he had been dying to show someone, “I have been playing with the starter spells. I think I have worked out how to do glamours. But I don’t think it works on you. You saw through the one I did on the condiments last night.”

Lee laughed, “I was wondering what Gary was going on about. What else can you do?”

“Okay, dig this,” Kyle said as he picked up a stone and examined it. He put it on the bench and placed his hand over it and then mumbled some words. His hand glowed and then stopped. He took his hand away, and Lee saw four piles of different coloured granules and a small pool of liquid. Each collection was a different base element.

“I’m a recycler,” Kyle grinned at her.

Lee got him to connect to her and then she tried it. With both of them having spent so much time examining the codes and chemical structures for the replicators, they were soon crushing rocks and replicating simple items.

Kyle was amused to find it was even easier once he had linked to Lee. They discussed what they had learnt. The fact they didn’t really know how they were doing what they were, was something that they both pondered.

“I wouldn’t have thought that was a rudimentary spell?” Lee said to Kyle.

“No, it isn’t,” he said. “But it came to me how to do it when I was looking for a specific element for another spell. It just came naturally, even what to say. I must have read the spell already, so it was easy.”

Lee agreed. She tried to read for at least an hour a day. Even if she didn’t fully comprehend what she was reading. Like Kyle, she simply stored it away for later use.

“Have you tried to heal?” she asked.

“Can’t do it like you,” he told her. “It must be one of your specialities Simple cuts and grazes only, and it seems to work best mostly on myself.”

“So, have you worked out how to levitate objects?” She asked with a new grin.

Kyle pulled his wand off his hip. He pointed at a fist-sized rock and smoothly lifted it off the ground. Then he moved it over the bench and set it down. Of course, Lee had to try. She effortlessly put it back on the floor.

“Damn,” said Kyle. “That took me weeks to learn.”

Lee shrugged. She put the wand away and waved her hand. The rock flew out of the cave entrance at a great rate of knots. Kyle had to try. His didn’t go as far or as fast, but it did fly. Lee flew a rock back at him, causing him to duck. When he looked up, the rock was hovering in front of his nose. He put out his hand, and it dropped lightly into it.

“Bloody show off,” he laughed.

Lee laughed as well, and they headed back to town for food. She told Kyle on the way that it would probably be a good idea to keep a box of energy bars in his cave in a metal box and some water too. Kyle agreed he would stock it up next time he used the cave, he did get hungry a lot these days.

They got back in time to meet the new arrivals. A small contingent of Burgis’ were requesting grazing rights for their camlas. They preferred the grasslands. Lee, Sean, Dave and Kyle went for a look.

The camla stood up to 180cm at the head. They were similar to angora alpacas. With shaggy coats and longish necks and legs but they had a more bovine mouth structure indicating they preferred grasses to shrubs.

The Burgis told them they were good milkers. The pelts made fine warm woollen materials and rugs and could be spun into threads. Dave wished to purchase three. A pair to study and one for Andre’ so they could taste the meat.

Philip and Haf, representing the B&C Office, had come in a separate linger. They were soon in negotiations pending Andre’s verdict on the meat and the milk. Lee had worked out a standard contract so left them to do all the talking. She went to meet the people who came with Plato.

She came back several minutes later and told them the negotiations were at an end as there was a problem. They all looked at her in surprise, not understanding. Lee asked Plato about the six Prols in his company. When he dismissed them as unimportant, they were just slaves, he could see and feel Lee’s displeasure.

She then informed him in her coldest voice, her people didn’t tolerate slavery. Either he released them, or he left her lands immediately. Her voice made Plato shiver. He whined that his beasts needed to rest after the desert crossing.

“Fine,” she said. “What do you want for the entire herd and the slaves? You, however, are not welcome to stay.”

Seeing profit, he named a price twice the standard even though he knew she could refuse it as it was beyond the bounds of the agreed prices for both.

Lee said, “Agreed. Haf, pay him. For that price, you sir and your people will be off my lands in ten hours. I will send the guards to make sure. I’d appreciate it if you meet others on their way here, that you make sure they to know about the ‘No slaves’ rule. I will know if they try to lie to me.”

Lee turned and walked back over to the slaves. She told them to come with her. She explained to the six Prols that she had purchased their freedom. When she asked what their jobs were, she found they milked and looked after the herd. One of girls May also spun the woollen treads and wove cloth.

Good, Lee told them. As she now also owned the herd, they could come and work for her unless they preferred other jobs or wished to leave. The decision was theirs to make. The Prols were dubious at first. Thinking they were just swapping one master for another. Lee then explained the basic wages and conditions. The Prols were totally amazed.

She introduced them Dave and then told them he was their new boss. Dave found himself with a herd of camlas, six adult males, thirty females with twelve calves of various ages and six Prol workers. He got their few possessions and put them in a linger. He elected to walk the herd back with them. The camla had him intrigued, and he plied his new workers with questions.

June had designed six prefab units in two parts, which was then locked together and to other flats to form blocks of apartments. The different designs gave each set some individuality. They were for their shorter inhabits. The apartments were then bolted to a slab. Upstairs of each unit was three equal-sized large rooms and a bathroom.

Downstairs was a smaller bathroom/laundry kitchen, lounge, storage and stairs. They made them two units high by two long. A balcony and set of stairs were included for access to the top set.

They only required a connection to the plumbing system and the supply grid or a crystal solar panel and inverter. The floors were also only 2m high. Their benches and sinks were lower than human stranded for their smaller occupants. The flats didn’t have individual replicators, but the occupants could use the ones in the domes.

They did have a simple shredder type recycler on the side of the building, and they were pumped out on garbage day or pumped into Anita’s collection system once more houses were connected. They planned to put a smaller recycler/replication unit in the Common area. It would link back to each apartment, so they had a closer replicator to use.

Gavin and Jim had surveyed a subdivision on the plateau near the new human units. It resembled an old-style English village with a common and set up in a four by four grid street pattern. The sub-division connected to the main street and they could plot thirty-two blocks of flats in the grid and add more around it later.