Roused from sleep, Caspian whipped his head around confused. His consciousness caught up with his body after a moment, and he realised a crackly voice was emanating from the hallway. He was just able to catch the end of it before the broadcast ceased. Something about meeting in the lounge in 5 minutes. Stretching, he massaged his face to try and wake himself up. When that didn’t work he resorted to slapping his cheeks.
“WAHHHHHHHH!” he exclaimed. Hopping out of bed, he tried to tidy his appearance as best he could. Running a brush through his sandy blonde hair, he flicked it up and out of the way. Only for it to tumble back down, resting in its usual place. The nap had soothed his headache some, it going from a sharp stab to a dull throb. He could at least think without pain now.
Finishing off the bottle of water, he looked at the crutches dutifully leaning against the wall. He didn’t want to keep using them. They were cumbersome, annoyingly slow, and noisy. On top of all that, he hated how weak they made him feel. Just a day of use had already made him grow tired of them. Experimentally testing his leg, he put some weight on it. There was only a tinge of pain. Pacing up and down the room, it didn’t get any worse.
“It’ll be fine,” he thought, deciding to forgo the crutches. If it got to be too much he could always come and get them later. Wandering out he made his way to the lounge, trying to get his gait back to normal. The room was still empty, so he threw himself onto one of the couches. He had to say, the base spared no expense when it came to comforts. These couches were luxuriously comfy.
Others slowly started to trickle into the room, excitement almost palpable in the air. Erika especially was an originator of this, but he thought he saw a small smile on Kurt's face. Could have been his imagination though. Victoria sat down next to him, concern on her face.
“Are you doing ok Caspian?” she asked.
“Yeah, peachy. Apart from a headache that is,” he said grinning. “Just a bit hungover.”
“Oh that’s good,” she said before holding her hands up. “You doing good, not you being hungover and having a headache. Those are obviously bad.”
“Haha it’s ok Victoria, I knew what you meant,” he said. “Thank you for your concern.”
“Oh ok, that’s good,” she said sighing with relief.
“Are you excited for today? We finally get to peak behind the curtain and learn what we’ll be doing,” he said.
“I’m a bit nervous. I don’t want to mess up,” she said looking down.
“Aww don’t worry about that, I’m sure you’ll do great. Is there anyone you want to get in particular? Me personally, Valorie seems to be the most interesting to learn about,” he said his eyes brightening. “She’s the one who tracks down the ruins and treasures they find. It just sounds fun.”
“Percy, I already know him,” she said. “Maybe I’ll get to see some of the animals we sold him again.”
“Oh yeah, your family owns a farm, no, a ranch right,” Caspian said thinking hard. Trying to recall things from last night was a bit fuzzy. “Erika’s family has the farm, I think.”
“Mmmm,” Victoria replied nodding. “I like animals, they’re so friendly. You always know where you stand with them. If a camel doesn’t like you, then they spit on you.” She murmured something else under her breath, but it was too quiet to hear.
“Well if I’m right about how this all works, then you’ll learn under Percy at some point,” he said. “You’ve got this though, I believe in you.”
Victoria seemed to blossom under his words because she started to smile a bit more. They continued to chat for a few more minutes until the old expedition members walked in.
“Thank you for your punctuality, everyone. Today you’ll be learning under one of your seniors about the different aspects of expedition life, and their roles in making it all run seamlessly,” Duke said, looking over the group. “For the next five days, you’ll cycle through each of them. Use this time to learn, ask questions, and absorb as much as you can. Don’t worry there won’t be a test, because we’ll be out in the field by next week.”
Murmuring started at that, finally a confirmation on the expedition, even if details were sparse. Duke kept talking, everyone quieting down to listen intently.
“Let’s see. Erika, you’re with Rich, Kurt and Sofia, Ivan and Chef,” Duke said pointing. “Victoria you go with Valorie for today, and that leaves Caspian and Percy. Good luck everyone, and try to have some fun with it as well.” With that Duke nodded at his teammates before leaving the room, disappearing through the way he came.
“I guess we don’t learn from Duke,” Caspian thought. “I wonder why?” Shaking his head, he looked as his fellow recruits all started talking to their teacher for the day. Well except for Ivan and Chef, they were already leaving the lounge. “Percy ay,” he thought, looking over at the tall man.
“Caspian my friend,” Percy said smiling. “Are you excited to learn today?”
“I am, pardon me if I am a bit slow. My headache is still running amuck,” he said rubbing his head. “I am eager to learn though.”
“That’s good that's good,” Percy said nodding. “We can get you some pain relief for your headache before we begin if you wish?”
“No no, that won’t be necessary,” Caspian said. “I’ll tough it out.”
“Very well, follow me then,” Percy said, his long legs quickly taking him out of the room. Without the crutches, Caspian found he had to push himself to keep up with the man, or else he would be left behind. “Let us start while we walk. How much do you know about expeditions and surviving in the desert?”
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“Uh, a bit I guess. Water is the most valuable resource to surviving out there, and ways to mitigate the heat is a close second. The two go hand in hand. I’m not really sure about expedition-specific, however.”
“A simple but ultimately correct answer. You have travelled through the desert on your own correct? Not including our little trial that is,” he asked.
A flash of worry shot through him. “How did he know that?” he thought before the answer came to him. He had mentioned it to Valorie. Of course, she would mention it to the others. “Uh yes, I have, nothing extensive though. I would sneak out of the city walls and go on hikes alone,” he said.
“Some would call that foolhardy, but your presence attests to the fact that you could at least handle yourself. The problem with expeditions isn’t so much the elements and resources themselves. It’s the amounts you must take,” he said. “We will be an 11-man group on this coming expedition, that may go on for a month or more. The sheer amount of food, water and other items necessary to survive is a huge endeavour.”
“I never really thought about that,” Caspian said. “I always carried what I needed with me. The longest I ever left the city was four days.”
“Camels make this easier, which is why we use them. Vehicles are too finicky, and prone to breaking down, especially when the terrain gets hard. Instead, we copy the civilisations of the past,” he said, as they finally arrived at their destination. The large garage that adjoined the base. “Camel’s carry the bulk of our supplies, barely need to drink water or eat, and even provide food themselves.”
“What do you mean provide food?” Caspian asked confused. “Like milk?”
“That, but also it isn’t unusual for an injured animal to be butchered for meat. That is one of the reasons Chef is such a valuable member of our expedition,” Percy said, waving him over to a table. On it was a large bag, equipment surrounding it. “Space has to be carefully managed, so what I want you to start with is packing this bag.”
Caspian eyed the bag, running calculations in his head. “All of this stuff?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“There’s no way it will all fit surely? There’s so much, and the bag isn’t that big,” Caspian said. He reckoned the bag needed to be at least 50% bigger to fit everything.
“It’s possible trust me,” Percy said smiling. “Have a go at least and see how you do. I will be watching.”
“Alright then.” Stepping up to the table, he examined everything sitting on it. “Heavy stuff at the bottom. But the weight has to be distributed evenly otherwise it will be annoying to carry.” Thinking, he experimentally picked up each object's weight, weighing them roughly. The heaviest objects were a set of metal cooking supplies, metal jugs of water, and a heavy-duty tent. Other items on the table were a sleeping bag, a collection of different long-storage foods, a medical kit, and some clothes.
Scratching his head in confusion, Caspian got to work. Opening the bag as wide as it could go, he placed the water jugs in first. Positioning them so that they would sit against the carry's back and act as a flat surface, the cooking supplies went in next sitting on the floor of the bag. Wedging the tent vertically proved to be a challenge, and he had to shift around some of the pots to make space for it. The bag was already half full.
“Hmmmm,” he mumbled, deep in thought. Laying the clothes on top of everything next, they slotted in well, but the empty space seemed to be disappearing alarmingly quickly. Slotting the bulky medical kit in beside the tent, the food went next to it. Holding the sleeping bag in his hands, he just stared at the bag. There was absolutely no way it was getting in there. While it was incredibly light, the thick bedding made it large and unyielding. Even trying to squish it down barely worked.
“I can’t do it,” he said, looking to Percy. “I’m lost.”
“You did surprisingly well, do not worry,” Percy said, walking over to the table. Looking inside, he shook the bag about. “You packed it well for what is in there. I especially like what you did with the water. By placing them up against the edge of the bag, you would have provided a comfortable experience for whoever carried it. That’s just as important as making the best use of space possible.”
“So what did I do wrong?” Caspian asked.
“Your first problem was with the tent. Because of where you placed it, a large amount of the space was left unused behind it, even though it didn’t seem like it,” Percy said taking the top layers of items out. “See here, there’s space for more. Now if you move it like this to the front of the bag, not only do you free up more room, but it also leaves easy access to the water.”
“Ok ok, I see that,” Caspian said. “But that’s still not enough room for the sleeping bag.”
“I was getting to that. Your second error was with the clothing. You placed it in the bag poorly,” Percy said.
“They were neat and folded, what do you mean poorly?” Caspian interrupted.
“Well that was the issue, they were folded,” he said smiling. “Instead of laying them flat, why don’t you try rolling them up tightly.”
Sceptical, Caspian did as instructed, turning the clothes into tightly wound rolls. “Now they look like they take up more space,” he said looking at his instructor.
“No no,” Percy said, starting to place them inside. “See.”
Peering over the lip of the bag, he saw the clothes filling all sorts of nooks and crannies the other things had created. Wedged between two jugs, lining the empty spaces between cooking pots, the rolled-up clothes took up basically no room.
“Whoa,” Caspian said. “That’s ingenious. That saves so much room.”
“Indeed it does. Forethought and planning are what's important when one packs equipment,” Percy said, placing the rest of the items inside the bag expertly. Unlike when he had done it, everything slotting in neatly with the sleeping bag sitting at the top. Putting the flap over the top, the bag closed easily, with room for more if one needed it. “Of course, this is for a bag carried by a person. Most of our luggage and equipment is carried by camels, which is a whole nother thing.”
“Are camels really the best method you have access to? Surely a big truck would be better,” Caspian asked.
“Ideally yes, a truck or similar vehicle would be more ideal. But they’re expensive to maintain, can break down easily, and often are unsuitable for a lot of the terrain in the Abyssal Desert,” Percy said. “Camels, on the other hand, are in abundant supply. They only take food, water, and an adequate handler to use and can carry immense weights.”
“That makes sense. How much can they carry,” he asked.
“It depends, but anywhere from 150 to 200kg. They’re also a lot less picky about their water than us, which means less water purification is needed, and some of the lower quality wells are usable,” Percy said.
“Ok. So what next, do I need to pack more bags or something?” Caspian said. Having learnt new things, the need to put them into practice ached in the back of his head. He’d never thought to roll up clothes to conserve space.
“Maybe later. What I want to do now is see how you are with camels,” Percy said, a mischievous look in his eye. “Come along, we’ll go to the pens out the back.” Waving for him to follow, Caspian couldn’t help but sweat a little. He’d never met a camel before.