"Master Greile," Hevna addressed him as she came nearby while he looked out over the ferry's railing.

"Hmmm?"

"We'll be arriving soon."

"Ah."

Greile didn't really respond properly as he was thinking about what he wanted to get. His funds were limited, mostly because he had to ensure he had all the funds necessary for the tournament venue, and was unable to use them as a result. That being said, his funds had piled up while on the island, and he had a sizable sum not tied to that construction. There were benefits to not having to pay rent, or purchase basic amenities that would normally cost quite a sum each month. The trees in the forest were deciduous, so the leaves could be used for wiping in the place of toilet paper. In fact, Sena had purposely cultivated certain vines which would quickly regrow their leaves, and were safe to use in the place of toilet paper, in the hydroponics gardens of the already completed communities. They had begun to introduce people to these communities following learning what had happened with Brad. Before this, people had acted as house-keepers for the homes, simply visiting every few days to dust, and check the condition of the homes, but no one was yet living in the new communities aside from the first. It wasn't that the buildings and utilities were not ready, but that the people just were not there to inhabit them.

The villages were designed for several thousand people, and Sena had already considered government in them, setting up the necessary buildings for a town or village-sized equivalent to a congress building, a courthouse, and a town hall for each community. The town hall acted as the center for the executive branch, the courthouse was the center for the courts, and the final building would be the one used by the representatives of the people in order to debate, consider, and pass laws. Sena and the others had already formed a provisional government with the help of their newest members who had arrived a week ago now, but they really needed to form a permanent government for the island. They had already started to receive requests to join the island, or to shelter some members of individuals' families or friends who were living on the mainland and wished to get away from the constantly encroaching tyranny of activists and globalist leadership there.

Greile was still hashing out the permanent government with the newest members of their team, and those who already lived on the island, but Greile had authorized Sena and the others to begin to bring people into the island a little at a time, and settle them on a family by family basis. They would start with people like farmers, or those willing to learn, and apply themselves in farming, and go from there. One of the few things he did require was that no one be brought to the island to strictly serve in government. He did not wish to bring in people to make the newly forming government conform to the standards of the mainland, but wanted the resulting government to take their queues from the new constitution, and the original government his home country had once been governed by. A few historians were immigrated to the island, but no one would be brought in to govern it using modern politics. He didn't know it yet, but this would result in a slower, more deliberate government, and a populous that was free to go at their own pace, rather than being bogged down by a faster moving government that thought little of hampering the people they were beholden to.

Greile believed that the best way to keep the peace on the island was to involve everyone in the discussions of how the new government would work, and this had already borne some fruit. It was decided that a militia would be mandated for the island, but not under the control of the government itself. The requirements for being a member of the militia would be stated within the constitution they were writing, or, more properly stated, rewriting. The requirements were to he rather broad, but would lay out that all people over the age of fifteen would be applicable as part of the militia. Women could join, but would not be required to do so, but all able-bodied men above that age were to receive training from their local militia members in the handling of a gun, and the various requirements all members of the militia were to conform to. Most of these requirements were not to be strenuously enforced, but would be overseen by all other members of the militia, but certain key parts were to be strictly enforced by all members of the militia. These requirements would be to uphold, and enforce the soon to be completed constitution, and all lesser laws that were not in conflict with it, and maintain a certain level of neutrality in disputes among the community, as well as protect the island/nation from outside, and insurrectionist forces. He was considering the oath of the militia, which would include those responsibilities within it.

"There's the dock," Hevna declared, interrupting his musing.

Greile let out a sigh, she had been standing beside him since the town had just barely come into view, yet he was still so caught up in considering the new government that he hadn't noticed as it drew slowly closer, and had ignored her the entire time. He really needed to stop doing that, but at the same time he felt that this new government was important not just to the island, but to his own home country. To be able to see the fruits of a free society would be very important to convincing people to turn away from the non-egalitarian forms of government that all socialist experiments turned into. The people didn't see that socialism was just a means to an end, as his new companion pointed out, the end was undefined, but the results all pointed toward totalitarian governments being the ideal end of socialism. Not once in their existence had a single socialist take-over of a country ended in anything but a tyrannical government that lorded over the people. Because of these concerns, he was working very hard to finish up the new constitution as quickly as possible, but she had convinced him that this was not the best way, and a swift construction would leave the new constitution weak, even with the foundation being the original founding documents.

He looked over to Hevna, and said, "Sorry, I'm supposed to be spending time with you, but here I am worrying over the new constitution once again."

Hevna smiled lightly, and replied with, "It's okay, I know you're worried for your own people, and want to ensure nothing like what has happened with your home country occurs on the island. I do want you to know that you don't have to bear this burden by yourself, you can rely on me."

"You're too good to me, Hevna," he told her, releasing a sigh.

"I think the same of you. You could have chosen a form of love that left me no choice but to obey you in everything, and shower you with love no matter how much what you did conflicted with my safety, or what was right, but you didn't do that. For that, I am eternally grateful," Hevna told him, with a brilliant smile. "I wouldn't tell just anyone I wished to be his wife."

Greile couldn't help blushing at her words, that had been incidental, but he couldn't help thanking God that he had suddenly had an impulse to choose that option. He hadn't personally known where it came from, but had chosen it because it somehow felt right. He had since come to understand that it was from The Holy Bible, but he hadn't been aware of it personally at the time. It had become an important friend in his time of need, and he was reading through God's Word, an hour or two at a time, every day. One might think we'd never get anything done this way, but with twenty-four hours in a day, and 8-10 of those devoted to sleep, that still left 14-16 hours of awake time, and one or two hours of that was not such a difficult thing to accomplish when one was not distracting themselves with games, sporting events, or other distractions. There was not an abundance of such things on the island after all.

The reason Greile began reading The Holy Bible after so long was nothing to do with his grandfather, he still remembered little of him at this time, instead it was because reading through the founders' writings in the national archives he found them not only mentioning the book, but but referencing specific passages of scripture, pastors, and various men. The professor had given him a laptop as part of his deals, but he was not reliant on the technology, having not been able to afford such luxuries for most of his life. He was able to browse the national archives, and that was enough for him, he could use it to learn the constitution, and the other founding documents more thoroughly, and from there he went to learning about their other writings, and it went onward from there. He came to find that there were a host of other founding documents, like the Mayflower Compact, that were hardly ever mentioned in public school, and that only in passing. He also learned that the founders were often referencing, and mentioning the Holy Bible, and many of the other founding documents he had discovered in the national archives mentioned, and referenced it, as well as the creator who had written it through human agents. They spoke of it as if it were infallible, despite the fallible nature of the human hands dictating it for the almighty, and that intrigued him. So, he began to read the book online at first, but that was taxing on his eyes, so he checked the general store on the island, hoping against hope that a copy would be there, and lo and behold, a copy of the word was there, and had been preserved for his meeting with this precious book. Since then he had been reading it, and had already found so many places where The Holy Bible had influenced the structure, rules, and organization in The Constitution, that he was amazed.

They had told them the Founding Fathers were atheists, or that they attributed divinity to nature, but by reading their writings, the very Constitution they had written under inspiration, and The Holy Bible, he had found those claims to be antithetical to their actual beliefs at the time of it's writing, and that those beliefs had been written into the Social Compact, their Law of the Law they had written, "The Constitution." Their Magnum Opus included so many hidden scriptural references that it was astounding, and he wasn't someone who knew the scriptures well, yet even he could see these references.

He looked over as the ferry drew near the pier, and came in for docking. This time he focused on the event occurring before him, rather than thinking about the potential nation they were designing, or more accurately rewriting, a constitution for. The ferry slowed as it inched toward the dock, reversing it's engines shortly before the bumpers would have hit the dock. The ship slowed noticeably, and stopped short of the dock, although he couldn't see by how much. The captain had called in, so dock hands were ready, and made their way onto the ferry, securing it with ropes, as the ramp began to lower.

It wasn't long before the captain approached them, and said, "You're good to go, Young Master Greile. I'll be here for a couple of hours, and then head back to the island with anyone who wished to come over. The trip takes around three hours, so I'll be making two more trips before I head to the island for the night."

Greile didn't bother arguing over how Captain Ahab had addressed him, the last few times hadn't done any good after all. "Alright, Captain," he responded. "What will you do while you're here?"

"Hmm, I think I'll hire some hands with that new funding you and yours have given me. I don't care for money myself, but others might."

"Why not offer them a place on the island in exchange for work," Hevna suggested.

"Hmmm, that might work," Ahab responded, "Once you get that new government and monetary system up and running I can actually pay them wages too."

"Sena's already gotten the printing molds, and we're working on printing the coins," Trombol said, and Greile turned to see him approaching them, "We should have enough coins in place within the week to start using them in association with barter to trade for goods. It'll likely take a while before we have enough for full-time trade to be done through them, but that'll eventually happen, so long as the islanders wish it to."

"I think we should keep the barter," Greile responded. "Coins are good, but having them alone for trade will lead to an avenue for governmental control. I don't wish to repeat the mistakes of the past."

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"Coin's fine, my boy," Ahab responded, "What you need to avoid is government setting prices by controlling the value of coin through purposeful inflation, and regulation." The man wasn't a slouch in the brains department, although he rarely said much. "Now get going, get your Christmas shopping done, before them protesters find out you're out and about."

At the reminder, Greile grimaced a bit, but took the man's advice to heart. They quickly headed over to his car, and headed into town. Thankfully, they didn't run into any protesters, and their time shopping was enjoyable, for the most part. Greile gravitated away from big name retailers, and toward smaller, often family owned businesses for their shopping. This was because he had noticed a tendency for these businesses to be less likely to force their customers to follow unconstitutional government regulations, and honor traditions such as Christmas. He also tended toward avoiding establishments that wouldn't say Merry Christmas, not minding if they also took to celebrating other holidays, but simply avoiding ones that Xed out Christ, or placed the holidays into one blanket statement in a lazy, or sometimes purposeful manner in order to avoid offending others. It offended him that they would do such a thing. He didn't mind if they did something like say Happy Holidays, and then include the names of the various holidays, but leaving out Christmas in favor of other holidays, or Xing out Christ, or hiding the holiday names for fear of some protesters showing up was not something he could agree with. He understood why they might do so, but he didn't like businesses enabling those groups by giving in to their bullying.

As time went on, the three soon had gotten gifts for the members of their group, and the various islanders. This was likely to be the only year he could get gifts for the islanders and people from The Guide Company, but he hoped to give them all a special Christmas with the things he had bought, and arranged for.

-----

They hadn't made it to the ferry in time, and so Greile, Hevna, and Trombol were sitting at a family diner, eating a meal, and enjoying Christmas music.

"So, everything's as usual in D.C., ya'd think they'd get the idea for once," Greile heard an old guy complain.

"Them big city politicians don't care 'bout the little guy," another old man replied, "The kids don't see it, but that Maggie kid was right, them folks are just bullies forcin' ev'ryone else ta do what they want, even if it's not what's best fer them."

Another old man let out a sigh, "Sad ta see arr countray reduced ta a bunch a schoolyard bullies rulin' the roost through deseptian, and beatin' down the li'l guy."

"Wish summun'd shew them what thur missin'. Countray used ta be free."

"If'n you old fellers don' quiet down, I'mma gonna knock yer heads tugetha, sicheachun's depressin' 'nough wit'out yer complainin'," an old woman's voice broke into the conversation.

"Ya want anaythin' else sweetie," Greile heard the waitress ask.

"No thank you, Ma'am," Greile said, turning to the older waitress, and politely declined, "We're just waiting for the ferry to return before we head back to to Sanlistra island."

"I hurd summat weird twer goin' on o'er t'ere," one of the old guys responded. "Wurd is thar's a new owner o'er there, an 'e's a strang' un."

Trombol couldn't help laughing at their words. "What're ya laughin' at sonny," one of them asked, not seeming bothered, so much as confused.

"He's a weird one, alright, but that new owner's likely to give your young folks a taste of what your country used to be like," Trombol responded, with a hearty laugh.

Greile couldn't help blushing a bit, but didn't say or do anything. It was kinda weird being called weird, but he didn't fault the man for it. It wasn't like the old men had personally called him weird, but they had called what was going on on the island weird, and he was the main one behind it, so it wasn't a far stretch to say they had called him weird either.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"He's forming a nation on the island, or, at the very least, a government for the island that's far closer to your nation's original government than the current one," Trombol told the men.

"How'll that wurk, Sonny," one of the old men asked, "No protecshuns? Dern't seem wise."

"Who says there're no protections without bureaucracies," Greile couldn't help but say, "Sure, there're less regulations, but that doesn't mean there are no protections. There'll still be laws to protect the people, they just won't be created by unelected agencies. The Congress will be the ones deciding the laws, rather than a bunch of unelected officials who are not answerable to the people. Court cases will also be through the regular courts, rather than through a separate bureaucratic court system where those same unelected bureaucracies decide the cases, rather than a jury. How many cases are decided based upon illegal, and unethical laws each year?"

"What do ya mean," an old woman's voice asked.

'"How many times this year have you felt the need to express just how unfair the laws were to the businesses around you, or family members," Greile asked, "or even to both sides of an event?"

"Mor'n I'd lak ta admit," she responded.

"How many of those laws have been passed as regulations by unelected officials in bureaucracies?"

"Too many ta count," the waitress responded, letting out a sigh. "I've had ta reduce ma staff three times this year, 'cause regulashions made it difficult ta get by."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Ah've had ta reposition the door ta the back four times cause two bureaucracies dusagreed. Ah've had ta replace two stoves because tah bureacrahcies in D.C. required it," she replied. "Ah've had ta pay num'rous fines fer things that dern't ken."

"Ken?"

"Colloquial talk for make sense, or know, depending on the use," Trombol talk Greile.

"Yee, Ah ken ya un'erstahnd," one of the old men stated.

"That'd be the other use of it," Trombol said, smiling.

"Ye ken a'right," a woman's voice sounded, "but Ah di'n't ken tah truubles ye met, Fara."

"Ah dern't complain, Good Lord willin', Ah'll git by," Fara told her. "Tis mah gran'daughter Ah'm worrayed fer."

"Trouble making ends meet?"

"An' then sum," Fara responded, "Dern acteevists's causin' truubles."

"Thar tryin' ta force bus'nesses ta go vegun," one of the men said. "Now dern't git me wrong, Fara's got plentay thot's guud with them vegematarians, but she dern't curray no vegun swill."

"Maybe you'd be willing to move your business to the island," Hevna asked, then turned to Greile, and said, "We don't have a diner yet."

"Ah don' reckon Ah can," Fara responded, "Mah gran'daughter's got specul needs."

"Special needs," Greile asked, not sure if she meant the girl was a special needs child, or had certain dietary requirements.

"She has ta have certain medicashun," Fara responded, "oth'rwise her condishun acts up."

"What condition," Hevna asked.

Fara then struggled to name some strange name of a condition Greile wouldn't have a clue what it was if he tried to guess from the name. Hevna quietly listened, and then picked up a phone she had recently received from her sister, and made a call.

"Sister? Can I speak with Father please? Yes, I can wait," Hevna spoke.

Hevna waited quietly, while the others asked what was going on, and Greile informed them that she was calling her father, although he wasn't sure why she did.

Hevna switched her phone over to speaker phone and asked said, "Yes Father, have you been monitoring us?"

Greile felt a chill at her words, but he soon heard a response that helped him relax.

"No, my dear, that would be unethical," he responded. "Why do you ask?"

And so, Hevna began to explain the situation with Fara's granddaughter. After hearing the situation, the old man let out a sigh, "Why is it that only in the States do people have such troubles treating this illness? Elsewhere it's been virtually wiped out, without harming those who suffer from it. Well, I'll not comment on the problems with the Federation's medical ethics, Fara, would you like your granddaughter to be cured?"

"Ah mean, suur, but Ah dern't have tah muney ta afford it," she responded.

"You needed worry about that," the old man replied, "We'll send you a medical pod that should have it treated within a short while, and we'll include a free lifetime subscription to Gravoid. She'll likely be fully cured in four treatments."

"Ah dern't ken why yah'd help mah gran'daughter, there's nuthin' init fer ya," Fara responded.

"Honestly Fara," the old man responded, "Such charity cases give me and my company a hefty tax write-off, so you needn't worry that there's nothing in it for me. I regularly award such pods to those with special needs due to this. Aside from that, your granddaughter meets the requirements I have for such donations, and being as my precious daughter asked, I thought I'd add in a bit more."

"What more da ye get fer it," someone asked.

"There's nothing more to it," the old man responded. "Although, if you want me to request something, I can."

"Wut would that be, Ser," Fara asked.

"Accept one request from my daughter, and her companion," he responded, "You needn't accept, there is no requirement for such, but if you feel the need to do something in return, you can pay back the one who made the request, rather than an old man who's interested in doing what was required by his savior, and requested by his daughter. I'll be going now, Hevna, let your sister know where to send it."

"No need fer that," Fara responded, "Ah'll go to tah island, if fer nothin' more than tah pay back a debt Ah owe."

"No such debt was accrued, May God be with you Fara," the old man responded, and there was a disconnecting sound.

"I'll send it to the island, Ma'am," Hevna's sister addressed her. "You really needn't think you owe a debt, Father is just trying to pay back the debt he owes to his Lord and Savior as he may, although I doubt he sees it that way himself. Hmmm, I haven't given a gift to your granddaughter, so I'll give a bit of advice, advice you and Hevna could also stand to heed Greile, In the upcoming Christmas event that is to be help on Christmas Eve, give cheerfully, you will not come out in a bad position, no matter how much you give."

"Ah'll make suur ta tell 'er," Fara responded.

"That'll do," Hevna's sister responded, "Aside from that, don't be afraid to accept gifts for your granddaughter from Greile and the others, they enjoy helping others. Although, I do caution you to keep your gifts from being too often, Greile and Hevna, otherwise those you give to may come to take your gifts for granted."

"Wisdom," one of the old folks simply stated.

"Ah'll come ta tah island in a few days, so long as the good captain keeps ferrying," Fara told them, "This un's on tah house."

Greile shook his head, "I'm sure you'll need the funds for moving. There may not be all the regulations on the island, but there is also not a diner all ready to go."

"Ah'll be fine, Ah got two brand nuu gas grills Ah can bring. Ah just finished payin' fer 'em when tah regulashuns were changed."

"Well, we'll do what we can to help," Greile responded.

"Ye dern't need ta, son," one of the old men responded, "Mah boys'll help."

"As twill mine," another chimed in.

"Alright," Greile responded, "If you have any friends who're being persecuted by activist groups, weighed down by regulations that are too unruly, or just need a place they can call their home, we're accepting people to the island, though we can only accommodate so many."

"We're pertty set in our ways, but Ah reccun we can change if''n thur's a need," one of the old guys said. "Asides, we got younguns t'at need a moor stable sitchiashun. Wou'd ya be willin' tah accept us old'uns? We tend ta make truubles fer a'selves wit' d'em protesturs duu tah teh Lord's cammands."

"Sena said to keep it below a couple hundred for a while," Trombol advised, "And to lean toward the youth and middle-aged, but old folks aren't bad to bring along."

Greile sat thoughtfully for a bit before saying, "You'd have to make due with smaller houses."

"Not a problum, mosta us have little shacks out'n tah boonies," one of them said, "Fara he'ps us out now and again, sa we do what we cahn ta he'p 'er in retuurn."

"They don' have much, but t'ey come und purchase what t'ey can," one old man said.

"Dern't bey actin' loik ye don' do teh same."

"Fah, Ah got plentay tucked away, but Ah'll suppert Fara so long as she continus ta he'p the urphaned und oppressed."

"Orphaned?"

"Town orphanage," Trombol informed him, "I heard it was run by an old woman, but I think we see who it is now."

Fara looked sheepishly at him "Ya won' have mer mouths tah feed, Ah'll find a way."

Trombol spoke up again, "I heard she also helps the locals who're facin' backlash from the protesters."

"Now you're making me want to help her more and more," Greile responded, the let out a sigh, "Hope I can afford a new orphanage on the island."

"Ah'll he'p, so long as'n ya gotta place fer me thar. Don' ask much, a roof o'er mah head's 'nough. Ah can't tek it wit' meh when Ah'm gone anayway," the old man spoke up once more, looking very sheepishly toward Fara.

Greile wasn't sure if he had some kind of ulterior motive, or simply looked at her because she had previously said those words and he was being sheepish, but he figured she could handle herself. The old man didn't seem to mean harm, and it was none of his business if that was the case. If he was to make a judgment, Greile would make sure there was enough evidence to make a just one, but again, it wasn't his place at this time, nor would it be unless he was to become a juror in a court case once the courts were in place, and Congress passed the laws that were to be upheld. Well, he might have to serve as a judge should something occur before then, but he hoped that would not be the case, as he, himself, did not know if he would be a good one, his thoughts already seemed to be compromised by "popular thought."

Greile decided to set any concerns there aside, and think of how to handle the immigration, Trombol had been trained in diplomacy, so perhaps he'd be the best one to asked for now.

"Trombol, can you help with organizing everything on this side? I'll see what I can arrange for a building, and see about contacting Magnus," Greile asked as he heard the diner's door open.

"What do you need to contact Mags about," he heard Cordelia ask, and so he explained the situation. "Ah, I see, I'll contact Mags and Axel, and see what we can do," she replied upon hearing him out. "How many children are there?"

Fara explained that there were twenty-seven children in the orphanage, and two teen girls who remained because they wished to give back something to the orphanage, and help her protect the other children.

"Alright, I'll call them up, but can I get a bite to eat first? When's the ferry due back?" She then made an order.

"In about an hour," Hevna responded after she had finished her order.

"I thought you were supposed to be gone for a week more," Greile said, a bit confused by her presence.

"We finished a bit early," she responded, although her tone suggested something had gone wrong.

"Something wrong?"

"Not really, the dealings just got a little down and dirty this time," she responded, letting out a tired sigh.