Hands of Fate - Survivors of Flight AA214

Chapter 30

Bianca

Day 17 of Landing

Population of Thornhill - 48

The meal of roasted leg of elk and river trout was devoured like it had been dunked in a piranha pool. The demand for food in Thornhill was growing at a rate we couldn’t keep up with, and to make matters worse, our best hunter and food provider was assigned on a mission today. We had two sisters arrive today, Sorelle and Vesper. I assigned Sorelle to help Gladys and Vesper to help Herman. There was also a bizarre guy with tons of tattoos named Super Nine—yep, that was his name—and I assigned him to help Herman as well.

That brought our total to 48 people. It should have been 54 people had I been a better leader—no time to dwell on that.

So far, most of the new arrivals haven't had much luck getting classes. James got one recently, Diplomat, and Astrid, Animal Keeper. But I wanted everyone to get a class to make their jobs easier. In my talks with Alex, a game nerd, he hypothesized that only a certain number of classes are dealt out in a town, and to increase the number of cards dealt, I would need to increase the deck.

Where I sat was what was called the high table. I did not like the name, but that was what they called it. It was a picnic table that sat away from the campfires in the back, lit by two lanterns. The lantern smoke was ashy, causing my eyes to water, and in the future, we would either have to mine or find tungsten or hunt whales if I didn’t want such a dirty light source. I didn’t want to hunt whales.

The crowd was expectant, less rowdy than usual. Their mood had been solemn after the pirate raid, as expected. In a normal situation, I would give them time to mourn rather than tell them to keep pushing on and working.

This was not a normal situation.

“Alright. We’ll begin the meeting. I’ll make a few statements, and then I will answer your concerns.

“Firstly, the council—” Yes, it’s time to just acknowledge it rather than go on with this charade.

“The council has decided the next three buildings on the scheduled build order will be as follows. To make it short, we will refit the shelters to add additional floors to accommodate more sleeping areas. It will be cramped. It will be uncomfortable. It will take a while until we build another, but we have other priorities.

First, we will build a warehouse. The warehouse will be off-limits. We will assign someone to guard and manage the warehouse. Too often, too many things have been taken from this village and either not put back or not replenished. That ends. Cade will be in charge of guarding it. James and Sophie will inventory it.

Second, we are building a smokehouse. With rowboats in our possession and the nets from the pirate ship, we will catch and smoke fish. Fish will be our main source of food provided by the government of Thornhill from now on until we can reliably farm hogs and potatoes. Any excess fish will be smoked and salted for storage. This doesn’t mean you have to eat fish. You can hunt. You can catch turtles, birds, rabbits, and frogs, and cook them up yourself. There are shellfish and crabs on the beach. You can forage plants in the wilderness. Expecting someone else to feed you will never work. We can provide you with a base, but it is up to you to fill your own needs.

Third, to this end, it is unreasonable to expect you to fill your own needs without a bartering system. So, our last building will be a forge. We will take copper weapons looted from the dungeon and melt them down to make copper coins. As we find better metals, we will make better coins and reimburse them. This will promote trade and the economy.

Orion will be in charge of the dungeon runs from now on, and the dungeon will be closed every other day.

Everyone part of this process will be paid by the government in copper credits. If you filter water and bring it to the government, you will be compensated by the government at a price deemed appropriate. If you bring fish, you will be compensated by the government. If you help build, you will be compensated by the government with copper credits. As a perk, if you accumulate 500 copper credits, Slate will start work on your personal lodgings. It won’t be much, but at least it’ll be yours. This price is a baseline; it will change and go up depending on the situation.”

Hushed murmurs came throughout the crowd. Larry, an older man, spoke up.

“I’m not young. I can’t run around carrying water and doing all this heavy lifting. How am I supposed to get credits?” Larry shrugged, his shoulders lifting in a questioning expression.

Nods of agreement from some of the older folks came through.

“There are several children in the group. You can babysit them or teach them. If you don’t want to do that, you can wash clothes by the river. There are needs around camp that people want done that don’t require strong arms. The whole point of this system is to find something you can do that provides value to the community.” I answered without an ounce of emotion in it.

“And if we can’t?” Ruth asked, her worried face made me want to hug her.

“Then you will sleep in your crowded shelter and eat the fish we provide you. It’s not fair; I know that some people have classes and are young, but this world is not fair, just like our old one. It doesn’t mean we are going to let you starve or make you homeless. Eventually, my goal is to build everyone a home that they can own and be proud of living in, even if they don’t have the coppers for it. But only for now... this will help us get through until we can reach that time.”

Some were resigned, others bitter, others sad. When they faced the reality of this world in the raid, they accepted it. Soon we will get more new people, and they too will have to go through the same thing. I wanted to wrap them all in a hug, but I needed to be strong. I needed them to stand up for themselves. If all of them can be like Rye, Anika, Marek, or even Herman, this community can be so much more.

“Listen. I know it sucks. I’ve been there. I’ve had the exact same thoughts as you all had. I thought I wasn’t good enough to survive here. I thought I wasn’t going to make it. But I realized I wasn’t alone. I had all of you. I had strangers who I never met before become people who saved my life countless times over and are now my family and best friends.

Nobody back home is coming to rescue us. We are never getting back home. The only people here who will save you are the ones next to you right now. The people standing here. We can’t get back to Earth, but maybe we can bring a little piece of Earth here.”

I stood up from my seat, making eye contact with all of the villagers

“GRATEFUL FOR THE MEAL, GRATEFUL FOR THE COMPANY!” I yelled.

And in unison, the rest of the council yelled the same. And a second later, the rest of the villagers did too.

I wanted to believe that my speech roused them to this small act of companionship and not my Founder Skill.

“Where’s Herman?” Orion asked.

“Said he’s going to sleep,” Anika replied with a sad smile.

Orion let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “He probably blames me for Clark.”

“No one blames you for Clark,” Anika assured him.

“What about Ethan?” Orion asked.

“He’s busy with the wounded still,” I answered wearily.

“Why are those two here?” Orion pointed to our new guests on the council, James, who sat up regally, and Sophie, who leaned back, twinkling her fingers in a mischievous wave.

“James has news to break from his conversations with our captive. Sophie is kinda our treasury secretary. She’ll be in charge of the economy,” I explained.

“Wow... important job. Wonder how she got it?” Orion said with a wry smile. “Couldn’t be that she was brown-nosing you the first chance she got here.”

“Someone here has to offer advice to stimulate the economy other than exile everyone who doesn’t work. What is Orion’s job again? Secretary of Snide Remarks?” Sophie smiled back at Orion, who just shrugged.

“When Bianca said we would bring a little piece of Earth here, I thought she meant like art, literature, and science. Not the government being run by big business,” Orion retorted.

“Awww... the little edgelord has anti-capitalistic views...” Sophie said with a finger on her chin, smiling. “How surprising.”

“Can you two shut up? Orion, we need her, and she has good ideas,” I said, rubbing my temples.

“She has good something, alright. If I still had my phone and Instagram app, I would show you what,” Orion remarked.

“Hey, let’s leave the old world in the old world, mister cook. We’re all new people here,” Sophie chirped.

“Enough! James, your news?” I asked, wanting to get this over with.

“I think I located where we are on this map,” James cleared his throat with a cough, rolling out the piece of parchment that Orion had looted from the ship. “I believe we are by this river. We call it Turtle River, but the natives here call it Yendel River.”

We all gathered to look at where James was pointing, at the far bottom left corner of the map.

“You see, here we are, right by this river. Up the river, there is a lake by a mountain with a frontier town, mostly mining, I think. From what I gather from my limited knowledge of the language, it is about either a 3-day walk or ride there. I’m not too sure either way, darling. Over here is a port town, a much larger town. We lay between these two as part of a larger county or province. The capital of which is over here...”

James pointed near the top of the map.

“I suggest we set up a trade expedition to the mining town. We need ore or ingots unless you can force people who never lifted a finger in their life to go into mines,” Sophie suggested.

“That sounds dangerous,” Orion said, shaking his head dismissively. “If they find out about this settlement of ours, we’ll get taxed. Meaning they will want stuff we don’t have, and they will want to raise levies. That's IF they don't decide to wipe our village off the map.”

“We don’t have to go as ambassadors to Thornhill. We can go as traveling merchants,” Sophie said examining her nails.

“What would we even have to trade? We only have 63 of those gold coins, thanks to the pirates. Other than that, we have no valuables aside from weapons,” Anika asked.

“Think about something we can offer them that they can’t replicate. Something we have on Earth that nobody else has here in this world,” Sophie said.

“Nuclear fission?” Orion answered.

“Nothing dangerous, of course. We can’t give them cannons or gunpowder. I‘m not stupid,” Sophie said.

“We have knowledge. Knowledge of mathematics, knowledge of science, knowledge of the universe,” Anika suggested.

“Exactly. So what can we sell to them that they can’t replicate but will need to buy from us?” Sophie asked.

“Shakespeare plays?” Orion suggested.

“No..." Sophie had a wicked smile when she gave her suggestion. "Drugs."

The rest of us looked at each other in revulsion.

“You want us to be drug dealers?” I asked.

“Nothing too illicit. Anika has a skill. If she can produce something addictive, we can sell it to them, like maybe nicotine or oxy, and then we can ship them drugs to exchange for trade goods. I would like to set up a front company to buy trade goods from them there and then ship supplies here using drugs as the bargaining chips,” Sophie smiled deviously.

“You want us to start another Opium War?” Orion asked, laughing.

“Anika, what do you think?” I asked her.

“I’ve been starting firecracker berry fields with the help of the farmers. They do have some caffeine and another compound in it called nocedrin, which can be quite potent. In large doses, it can cause the same effects as cocaine, like euphoria and increased energy.”

“No, I mean, what do you think about the moral implication?” I asked. “Are you okay with us being drug dealers?”

“Bianca, I wanted to work for the big pharma companies before this. I recognize some of it can come with negatives, but I believe in free will. I will make the drugs if Sophie agrees to sell antibiotics and other tinctures as well.”

“Oh, sure, sure. Sell Viagra, for all I care. Drugs will only be the last resort. My first option is Bianca’s teapots and ceramics. We're a small village so we can't go with quantity. We need to focus on artisan products. We sell the teapots as a Trojan horse, and then we sell the drug as a steady source of income. You can make it as mild as you want, just make them want more.”

“When you put it like that, it doesn’t make it sound as bad...” I said.

“Bianca, most of us have been drinking firecracker tea to get by for a while now,” Anika said. “It’s our form of coffee. The risks are mild, and it’s only dangerous in high doses.”

Great. Now I’m Pablo Escobar.

“We’ll prepare for our first trade mission then. Keep in mind this may take weeks or even months. I’ll level up my pottery and make better ceramics for trade. Other than that, we have all the coins we looted from the pirate. Orion will level up in the dungeon. James will work on his language skills with our captive. Anika and Ethan can work on drugs. Orion will escort James and Sophie to the trade mission.”

“How are we going to get there?” James wondered. “I must say I don’t fancy walking all that way. We’ll probably be gone for a week.”

“Can you send Cade or Alex instead of me? I’d rather not go,” Orion said bluntly.

“No. I need someone reliable to protect Sophie and James there." I denied Orion and then answered James' question. "Astrid, our animal keeper, has told me she has leveled up in Animal Training, so tomorrow Orion and she will go lasso an elk and try to raise it as a mount. I’ve placed an order for leather to be cured for the saddles that Roza will make. It will take time, but eventually, we will have a couple of elk mounts for you to ride there.”

At that suggestion, Orion beamed, looking forward to the prospect.

“Rye, can I speak to you alone?” I asked the wandering cook after the council meeting, picking up a package I’d prepared for tonight.

“I’m already capturing elks and conquering dungeons. You want another favor?” Orion smiled but came over.

We walked toward a large tree trunk felled by Slate. I placed the lantern down next to us, and he sat back to back with me on the trunk, not facing my eyes.

“What’s that in your hands?” he asked looking back at the package I left at my feet.

“Here, it’s yours.” I handed him the package, wrapped in banana leaf and tied with vines.

Inside, he would find a fine earthenware teapot glazed with wood ash. The pot was the culmination of my efforts with pottery so far—a fine red piece of ceramic engraved with a “B” on the bottom.

“It’s my first C-class teapot,” I said proudly. “It will enhance the effects of tea brewed in it.”

“What’s this for?”

“We boarded the plane on the night of March 23. We woke up on March 24. It’s been 17 days since then,” I explained.

“Oh...” Orion said. “Wait... how did you know? I didn’t even realize.”

“Cass.”

“Well, thanks... you didn’t have to, Bianca, but thank you...”

I wanted to see his face then, but we sat facing opposite directions on the trunk, each of us sharing half, our backs resting on each other.

“When’s your birthday, by the way?” Orion asked, looking back. I rolled my eyes.

I laughed and said, “You can be a little more subtle than that.”

“How does that naturally come up in conversation?” Orion said.

“You know, maybe between ‘Bianca, we need a coop’ or ‘Bianca, we need more salt,’ you could fit in a ‘hey, how are you doing’ and ‘when’s your birthday’ once in a while.”

“Didn’t you get your information from Cass?” Orion scoffed.

“That’s because I wanted it to be a surprise.”

A silence fell over us, and we were both comfortable in it. I chose to speak up first, something I’d wanted to confide in someone for a while now.

“It was my fault all those people died. You know, the captain and the rest,” I said somberly. The night breeze blew away the strands of hair that fell onto my downcast face. I felt a weight lift off my back as I confessed. “Back when I picked my perk, I could have chosen a battle perk for Slate, but I didn’t. They paid for my mistake. I wish... there was so much I could have done differently.”

“Listen, you put a roof over all our heads. Your cups give us water. Your pots make us food. You shouldn’t be expected to defend us as well. That was my fault if anything,” Orion said bitterly. “Not that it was, mind you. It was none of our fault. Not the captain, not me, not Alex, not you. The only people we can blame are those pirates, and they’re feeding the worms Herman uses as bait.”

It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. I knew the toll it took on him and how much he felt like it was his fault. More silence fell over us as we both reflected on our choices without trying to break the silence.

“My dad does this thing during Christmas and New Year with me and Cass. The three of us share our goals for the next year, so by the end of next year, we can see how many of them we accomplished. By saying it out loud to each other, we kind of made a promise that we would do it. It wouldn’t be anything big, like winning the Super Bowl or something like that. More like, I want to ask a girl out or l want to save up enough money from a part-time job for a VR set. Realistic stuff, you know?” Orion said, encouraging me to answer.

“In a year, huh... I want to... I want my house to have indoor plumbing. I want a working toilet. I don’t want to get up in the middle of the night and walk a mile to pee,” I answered first. “I want everyone to have their own home.”

“Geez, thought I said realistic,” Orion said.

“What about you? Come on, spit it out, Rye.” I nudged him with my elbow.

Minutes passed before he could come up with an answer.

“In a year... I want to open a tavern. You know, one with a nice wood-fired oven where I can serve pizza. I also want to make a coke. Like a cola. We’d all be there. Cass will be helping in the front of the house. There will be a bard singing ‘Country Roads,’ and we’ll all be eating pizza and having a coke,” Orion said wistfully. When he talked about his goals, it sounded like a kid listing off his wishlist for Santa Claus.

I laughed at the absurdity of his dreams, and he gently bumped his back against mine, playfully knocking me off the trunk. I gave him a light slap on the back, only to wince as a jolt of pain shot through my hand.

“We’ll see in a year, then,” I said, climbing back onto the trunk and gazing up at the starry night sky. A quiet pause hung between us, the world seeming to hold its breath, until he finally broke the silence.

“Just don’t make the pipes out of lead.”