The recruiting team and Enchanter took the fast transport system from Seagrass straight back to the association hall at the entrance. They arrived in the middle of the night. Todd, Valin and Ellen were waiting for them.
“I have not seen one of your species in a very long time,” Enchanter said to Valin when she caught sight of him.
“Enchanter, a pleasure,” Valin’s translator sang to her in selkie. The old selkie rolled her eyes at the elf. The use of her name was an indication the elf already knew who she was.
Valin lived in Enchanter's home square of Seagrass for years. Enchanter did not recognize the elf because he spent all his time in the selkie enclave in disguise.
“Alex, Sarah, can you escort Enchanter up to the Speedwell? She's going to be a residence supervisor for us. She wants to practice her human speech. Set her up with the language packages on the educational machines so she has something to do to pass the time,” Irene said. “We’ll leave at first light for Londontown. Ed if you want to stay here with Alex and Sarah that is fine with me. You can rejoin us tomorrow night when we head to Moscow.”
“I’d like to go,” Ed responded. His fingers were mostly regrown. Only his nails were bright red now. The itching was finally starting to pass.
The arrival gong rang. Grandmother’s party spun around to face the transport room, with their hands on their weapons.
“I guess we better see who it is,” Todd commented. Grandmother stepped into the transport room, Todd followed her in. The arrival gong sounded again. A minute later a woman in her forties emerged from the transport room.
“Betty,” Ellen said in greeting. “We weren’t expecting you.” She stepped forward to grasp the woman’s arm. Ellen led Betty in the direction of the glass door that led to the outside. Ed hadn’t seen anyone go out the door. This woman didn’t either. She stopped before the door and looked out at the darkness beyond before turning back to the surprised group.
“We used Muriel’s map,” Betty explained. “We weren’t certain it would work since she touched the crystal before you spawned the transportation room.”
“Is Muriel on her way too?” Ellen asked.
“Yes,” Betty said. “She should be right behind me. Joe is pushing her through.” The arrival gong sounded again. Muriel, Todd and Grandmother emerged from the transport room. Grandmother glanced around and saw Betty standing by the outside door. She walked over to the last grouping of furniture and sat down on the wood topped bench.
“What brings you to visit?” Grandmother asked. “Did you miss us in Home Square? I thought word would have made it to OpenSky in plenty of time for you to catch us there. Did I misjudge and leave OpenSky out of the school lottery?”
“Not at all,” Muriel said. “Eleven of our youngsters were selected. We were surprised at how many made it. No, we heard a rumor later and decided we needed to come find out if it was true.”
“What rumor?” Grandmother asked.
“That you have a method to keep women from getting pregnant unless they want to,” Betty responded. Lizzy shifted a bit in her seat at the next furniture grouping where they were all shamelessly listening in.
“Yes,” Grandmother responded. “Fertility implants. You need to go out to the Speedwell to get one. They prevent a woman from getting pregnant for three years or until they are removed. So if you want a child before the three years are up you need to come back and get it removed. If you still don’t want a child three years from now you need to come back and get a new one.”
“How much do they cost?” Betty asked.
“They are free,” Grandmother responded. “It is in the colonies bylaws. Do you want to know about the artificial wombs too? Their use is also free to any colonist or their descendent.”
“What do they do?” Muriel asked.
“They make babies,” Todd explained, he knew a lot about them because of the time Grandmother told him she was thinking about retiring and raising a child. Her declaration left him a little dumbfounded at the time.
“No, I don’t think I’ll be needing that service,” Betty replied.
“Well I’ve done a poor job of making it known the implants are available,” Grandmother said. “I can see that. Ellen, remind me to do something about it, at least in Home Square and OpenSky. We may need to upgrade another rest, before we spread the word elsewhere. I don’t think we’ll want a lot of traffic through here during the school session,” Grandmother observed.
“Where were we on Londontown?” Grandmother asked.
“I said I’d like to go,” Ed responded.
“Good,” Grandmother said. “Ellen, Todd and myself will keep a low profile and only step in if there is trouble. If anyone sees Lucas, tell him both his children are accepted. If he approaches the recruiters, Ed, give him two student reporting vellums.”
“Does that mean we can get implants?” Muriel asked.
“Of course,” Grandmother replied. “Alex and Sarah are heading to the Speedwell with Enchanter. You can go with them. You can travel overland to the entrance out that door, if you don’t want to go through the halls.”
“How far is it?” Betty asked.
“Not far,” Sarah responded, rising to her feet. “Let me grab a sheet of vellum and I will transfer the courtyard location to you.”
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Everyone decided to stay in the association hall until first light. Betty and Muriel’s perfect timing was more accidental than anything else. They came in the middle of the night trying to beat an early morning departure. Muriel knew there was a door to the outside here, so Betty would be alright even with her claustrophobia. The two women planned to stay near the upgraded rest until someone showed up.
Grandmother and Betty were sitting in the chairs on the terrace outside the association hall’s outside door. There were two chairs and a small table there. Grandmother cleaned them with a quick restore spell. Todd brought them two glass mugs of hot tea and settled into a watch position against one of the terrace's side walls. It was still dark, with no hint of light to the east. The sky was heavily overcast, concealing all hints of the stars.
Betty was using night vision to see through the darkness. Betty purchased the spell book from the magic shop in Home Square. It proved its worth in her wanderings around the surface over OpenSky.
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“What are you teaching at your school?” Betty asked.
“Reading, math, history,” Grandmother responded, “beginning crafting, imbuing and wizardry.”
“That sounds like what the school is teaching,” Betty said. “What are you teaching?”
“History,” Grandmother responded. “Specifically I am running a class that covers history since the colony ship landing. I am also going to teach a general class on magic. What it is, how it compares to human’s technology and the different fields of it. Lastly, I’m teaching earthen leatherworking.” Grandmother lifted her arm and indicated her worn leather armor. “Or how to make leather objects that aren’t integrated and don’t require crafting magic.”
“You're not teaching wizardry?” Betty asked.
“No,” Grandmother responded. “I’m leaving that to Todd, or Alex, or Companion. I think Sarah and Ellen will have their hands full with magical crafting.”
“Who is teaching hunting?” Betty asked.
“We are going to teach the use of the bow as part of our physical defense class. Ed is our main instructor for that. I haven’t been able to recruit an instructor specifically for hunting. I would like to. Especially someone who could teach both how to hunt with magic and without.”
“I can do that,” Betty announced.
“It would mean being away from Joe,” Grandmother warned.
“With the transport I can visit him once every six-day. That is more than enough,” Betty declared. Betty loved Joe and Joe loved her, but they were both too set in their ways to live with each other. Betty already spent a large amount of time on the surface above OpenSky.
“The position includes housing and meals,” Grandmother announced. “We're serving meals in the Speedwell, but there will also be food here in this kitchen. When we finish recruiting, I’ll dedicate resources to building you a hunter’s camp. While we are gone you can look around and see if there is any location you prefer. If you pick a spot past the structure boundary I can use human technology to give you water and heat. Has Muriel had any luck building lasting structures on the surface over OpenSky?” Grandmother asked.
“Yes,” Betty said, surprising Grandmother. “If you get a composting plant to grow, a small area around it becomes like a rest or mini square.”
“That is interesting,” Grandmother said. “Todd, do you still have those composting plant seeds from the inn is never full holiday?” she asked the warrior where he stood on watch.
“No,” Todd responded. “I entrusted them to Muriel.”
“Maybe she still has one left. I suppose we can go back down to the overgrown facility and see if there are any more seeds there,” Grandmother commented.
“I’ll tell Alex to check if he has time,” Todd offered.
“Why don’t you and Companion run down there right now?” Grandmother said. “I think the odds of finding a seed will go up if it is The Todd and his loyal Companion doing the hunt.” Todd frowned, clearly unhappy at this idea. Then he sighed.
“Your right,” he conceded. “I need a spear. All I have with me are javelins. I’ll see if Ellen can put something together.” Todd went into the structure.
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A large group walked into the square from the backdoor. Lucas paused what he was doing and studied them. They were wearing strange clothes, but they all matched each other. Even the selkie was wearing a version of it, although the shirt and pants the humans were wearing was transformed into something that looked a lot like wizard’s silks. The selkie looked like Companion, but having not seen any other selkies, Lucas couldn’t be certain. There was some other type of non-human Lucas didn’t recognize. It was a short, slight figure with bright white skin and large dark eyes. They were carrying strangely shaped baskets with them.
The group reached the outdoor tables in front of the inn and started setting themselves up for what was obviously a long stay. It was only then that Lucas recognized Ed among them. The warrior looked completely different without his eye patch and not in leathers. A quick inspection showed Lucas that his friend wasn’t missing any fingers, although the nails on those three fingers were a bright red.
Lucas narrowed his eyes and studied every person standing around the square watching this event. Near the opening to the training yards, he spotted a large warrior holding a spear. As Lucas focused, the ambiguous color touches on the man’s armor cleared to show red. Lucas walked over to talk to his cousin.
“Todd,” Lucas said in greeting. Todd was armed with an iron spear. It was very nearly the lowest tier spear that could be crafted. Strangely, a bright red tassel was tied around it near the point with a complex knot.
“Good morning,” Todd responded.
“What’s with the spear?” Lucas asked.
“Long story,” Todd answered.
“Where is Grandmother?”
“Over by the inn, guarding her brother’s back,” Todd explained.
“Her brother?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah,” Todd answered. “The old guy getting up on the table is Benjamin, Irene’s oldest brother. He is the head of the Speedwell Academy.” Todd started checking his pockets. “I have instructions here someplace for your two kids. Harry paid for their places.”
“We are the Wizard's Tower!” the old man, Ben, called from his spot on top of the outdoor table. “By special arrangement with Harry Maxim, master of the guard at Home Square, as a gift to his son Lucas, six places at the Speedwell Academy are available for your learners. We educate our students in reading, writing, mathematics and history along with teaching them scavenger, crafter, warrior and wizard skills.”
“What?” Lucas said with a start. The old man continued his call, talking about how both girls and boys could attend, but Lucas couldn’t concentrate on his words.
“Huh,” Todd said, “I didn’t know he was going to say that. I wonder if Grandmother knew. I hope it doesn’t make trouble for you.”
“At least he didn’t say I arranged it,” Lucas commented. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’d better go have a quick word with my boss.”
“Sure,” Todd responded. “I can’t find the instructions anyway. You can pick up a copy from Ben.”
Lucas walked around the courtyard and behind the tables to get to the inn door. Although plenty of people were going in and out of the inn, hurrying to carry the news, Lucas didn’t see anyone standing still, ‘watching her brother’s back’. He pushed the inn door open and entered the cougar’s den.
“What is the meaning of this Lucas?” an angry man in his mid twenties demanded. Technically James was not king. He was regent for the ten year old George that was. The boy was in the hands of a team of tutors and was rarely seen.
“They are recruiting students for a school,” Lucas reported. “I asked my father to try to get places for my two oldest. It looks like he told the recruiters about us here.”
“Your father is dead,” James countered.
“No, he left with a group of crafters in search of a new square. He is head of the guard there,” Lucas reported.
“Why wasn’t I told this?” James demanded.
“I thought you knew,” Lucas reported. He was certain James knew. When Lucas’ climb up the command structure stalled out he asked what he needed to do to increase his chances of promotion. His superiors delicately told him it wasn’t his skill that was holding him back but his family. For the first time Lucas realized it wasn’t who his family was. All this time the regent had no idea Lucas was related to a deserter. No, it was about who his family wasn’t.
“So these people are from your father’s square?” James demanded. Pointing out the window at the group.
“No, they are from the Speedwell Academy. The man standing on the table is Benjamin, Irene’s oldest brother,” Lucas said, deciding that if it was about family, the regent needed to know who all the players were.
“That’s a lie,” James retorted. “There were only two sons, Phillip and Christopher.”
“Actually, there were four sons and four daughters,” a female voice said from right beside the regent. “Every pair in the last generation of flight crew raised eight children.” Everyone jerked. Grandmother was standing beside the regent looking out at the assembly in Londontown’s courtyard. “You should send the young king to the Wizard's Tower. A ruler should have a solid understanding of history.”
“What do you want?” James demanded.
“Nothing,” Irene responded. “I didn’t know Benjamin was going to name Lucas, so I decided to check in and make sure nothing awkward happened. I don’t approve of how you rule Londontown, but at least your people survive. I’ve seen worse.” She smiled, before stepping forward and pushing the door open. She stepped out into the courtyard, but none of them saw anyone emerge from the door through the glass.