Chapter 73: No Smoke Without Fire
I was more motivated than ever to help with the reloading, now that I’d been promised an all you can eat buffet of loot at the end. The crates were incredibly heavy, but the benefits of my new physique shone through yet again, letting me carry them with only a faint twinge on my back, where it would have left the old me bedridden. Harvey did go slightly easy on me, letting me move crates to the nearest two carriages, whilst he took them down to the far end up front, but it was still pretty hard going as we began to clear the pile. I thought I did a good job, shuffling the piles inside each carriage here and there to fit just a little bit more, but true to Harvey’s words, we didn’t get close to fitting everything in.
“That’s the best we’re going to do,” Harvey concluded, after a short inspection of all four carriages.
He hadn’t held back in the least, even tossing away his own chair in favour of sleeping elsewhere going forward, but even with our best efforts, there were still six crates that we were unable to find any room for.
“Take what you can,” Harvey ordered, as the drivers coalesced to play what little part they could.
Each of them waved their arms over the crates, swallowing up fruit by the bucketload. Between the four of them, they managed to empty the top halves of the crates, though to my bemusement they left the actual expensive contraband untouched.
“Most inventories are limited in size or category,” Harvey reminded me, having spotted my confusion. “Drivers can easily access a storage area oriented towards the care and nutrition of their animals, but anything more generalised is very hard to come by.”
After his explanation, Harvey put his own storage to use, hoovering up three crates worth of drugs with ease.
“My storage on the other hand is a Thief’s special; very good for size, but I can only store certain predefined items. Fortunately, both weapons and stimulants are permitted, otherwise we’d be facing a major loss today.”
After storing half of the contraband himself, Harvey brought his book back out, pressing its cover against the fourth crate of six. Instead of spitting out another summon, the book opened its mouth, complete with razor sharp teeth, and began to quite literally inhale vials of white powder. It managed an entire two crates as well, not quite as good as Harvey himself, but more than made up by the fact that he could subsequently store the book as well, making it an example of a nested storage.
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“I’m feeling a bit inadequate here,” I remarked, as I dutifully absorbed the final crate’s worth of gear.
[Crate of Valkyrie Dust (200) stored.]
“Every storage has its own strengths and weaknesses, " Harvey replied, clapping me on the back as he moved to collect the empty crates, piling them up together in the corner for disposal. “For instance, you were able to store the crate itself, not just the dust. I’ve never been able to store empty containers like that; I’m a bit jealous really, it always takes me ages to unload when I do it like this.”
I didn't say anything as I watched him pour a silvery liquid over the crates, before lighting a match and putting them all to the torch, completely unbothered by the act of starting a fire while we were all underground. After a moment, I realised why, as the smoke I’d been expecting failed to materialise, allowing the lot to burn with unnatural grace while leaving nothing behind.
“Smokeless Solution, a tunnel rat’s best friend,” Harvey proclaimed proudly. “There’s even better versions which hide all traces of light and heat as well; Soldiers love it, since it lets them cook a proper meal on the front lines without giving their position away. Expensive stuff though, which is why I make do with half the benefits for a tenth of the price.”
“Ooh, can I have some?” Pumpkin chimed in, having crept up beside me without me noticing, a level of stealth I hoped to imitate with Silent Night in the future. “I can burn everything!”
“Do you have anywhere to store it?” I asked rhetorically, not particularly keen to indulge the budding pyromaniac.
“That’s what you’re for!” Pumpkin replied shamelessly, curling up around my legs and showing me his big, round eyes in a clear attempt at persuasion.
[Water (1 oz) withdrawn.]
“No,” I replied mercilessly, finally getting revenge for my suffering in the bathtub by unloading the spare water on his head.
Pumpkin scratched my legs to ribbons in retaliation, but I’d say it was still worth it.
“Alright, that’s the redistribution taken care of,” Harvey declared. “We’ll burn the remaining carriage once we’re ready to resume the journey, it’s a bit too big to do while still underground.”
“When will that be?” Pumpkin demanded, still wrapped around my left leg in anger.
Harvey just stared at him blankly, reminding me that for all of the veteran Thief’s talents, he didn’t have a way to talk to cats.
“At least two days from now, I’m not risking bringing us back up until I’m certain the Storm is long gone.” Harvey sighed heavily. “This is what I’d hoped to avoid by pushing our pace so much, but as always, the plans of heaven make a mockery of men.”
Truly, it seemed that no matter which world I was in, I could never escape the phenomenon known as hurry up and wait. With nothing left to occupy me, I headed back to the isolation of my carriage, Pumpkin following behind by virtue of refusing to let go of me. I was far from my best shape, I realised, if a little shelf stacking was enough to tire me out, so clearly my near death experience had left more damage than I’d realised. An early return to bed sounded like just what I needed, given the circumstances.