Chapter 31

The settlers watched in abject fascination as the magicians worked.

A stream of rocks, water and tree trunks headed towards the middle paddock of the compound from the direction they were located. As they travelled, they seemed to dissolve into a cloud of brown dust.

The dust cloud then settled over an area of land, and the building began to form under it as the cloud rose into the air. The cloud then moved on, and the next building was formed. The cloud was constantly being fed from the locations where Lee was pulling the materials from.

Those who had seen the building plans told the others what each building was as it became clear of dust and sat sparkling and new in their midst.

On one half of a square, they had a six-story building that was to be the council chambers, immigration, the police station, various offices, the main bank and the courts of law. The other half held a hospital and research centre that was equally tall.

The cloud moved to the paddock that the tents had been in and seemed to swirl over the paddock for some time before it began to lift higher into the air. The onlookers gasped as the buildings appeared as each level was finished.

From the two corners going from the road intersections to the back of the square were two combined hotel and apartment blocks. Both had six occupiable levels.

Connecting the two buildings down the middle at the base and the third level were shopping precincts. Wide walkways and shops formed the two courts. At the base on the crossing street side, the area between was left open for easy access to those shops.

On top of the sixth level and splitting the fourth and fifth levels were open floors that covered the entire area between the main buildings. On the top floor (the seventh level, if you wish), two smaller buildings that housed the lifts and stairs could be seen under the interesting wave-patterned roof that seemed to float high over it.

The two open floors were car parking areas. The people would later find that there was also an underground carpark and a level under it that contained all the systems to maintain the buildings above.

Many of the people also wondered how the car parks were accessed. They later learned that there were two entrances and two exits on the ground floor that looked like large single-car parking spaces.

A Linger, bike or a ground car drove in. Once stopped, it either rose to one of the top carparks or went down to the bottom one and they could drive out. The exits worked the same way, but in reverse, of course. Some people found the fact that they couldn’t see a floor under the vehicle a little disconcerting.

Foot traffic was encouraged to use the more conventional-looking lifts, even though they seemed to work very differently from Earth-style lifts. It almost seemed as if you stepped in and then stepped out a few moments later, no matter which floor you were going to.

The hospital and the municipal building had a basement carpark and a carpark level that split the third floor from the fourth in both buildings and the third parking area on the top level. These buildings had interesting, patterned roofs that covered the top-level car park.

Many people never realised that the buildings were covered in a shield and that they would not become the first choice by people wishing to commit suicide because you couldn’t fall off the buildings no matter how hard you tried.

The observers were surprised when the land to the west of the fence suddenly became a dust ball, and a large area was flattened. They watched in awe as the ships floated over the fence to this new area and then the missing streets to the gates in that end formed.

In one of the new corner blocks, a new four-story structure took shape down one side. It became the building and warehouse for the recycler that produced the bulky and large ticket items for the community.

A new road beside it was fronted by three-story high buildings that were simple warehouses. They backed onto a row of two-storey buildings on the existing street that could be used as workshops for the light industries.

The last building that Lee erected was a school. It was designed to house all levels of learning and even had a crèche and kindergarten built on the lowest level. She built it on the southern side and fenced the block in the corner to become its play area.

“I think that will do for now,” she said as she looked at the mages.

She could see it had been a little overwhelming, but the knowledge was now in their heads, and they could use these skills if and when they required as long as they had access to the magical energy, the abilities and or the skilled people required.

Lee had noted while teaching them that Dusty and James seemed to exert little effort in keeping up with what she was telling and showing them. Bindy and Aaron were also coming along nicely. She surmised that the rest, except for two, would all be adequate mages.

Kola interested her the most and Pat disappointed her. She would have to have a little chat with her. Lee got the impression that while Pat got on with the team, she wasn’t satisfied.

Kola, however, seemed to have developed a lot faster than the other mages and she had a feeling that he wouldn’t be satisfied at his current level for long. Even without the gems to support him, he was delving into the other skill sets with ease.

She had seen other potential wizards do this once they got a taste of what they could do, and they blossomed. Dusty and James were of this type, too. She had thought to limit them for the time being to better observe their capabilities and not have them outstrip their team, but like Kola, she would need to upgrade them way sooner than she had thought.

“We need food and lots of it,” Lee told the crowd.

She got a lot of grins, and people hurried off to fulfil her wish. Lee told the rest of them that they should go find a room in the new apartments.

Above the first two floors, the hotels were designed as two-room apartments. There was enough space for everyone. Some of the singles and the couples who weren’t staying could use the single rooms and rely on the hotel restaurant if they chose. However, the locals might want to staff them first. They would need to sort that out with the committee.

She knew some of them would move out once they had their parcel of land sorted out and their new homes and businesses started. Others would be living in the apartments longer as they took up various jobs and worried about separate accommodation down the track.