Chapter 92: Day 121

WARNING — This chapter contains potentially upsetting material. I will mark the section so you may skip it, if you wish.

"I'm considering making another transit," Matthias said to Miri when they met in her laboratory at his request just after breakfast.

"That's a big change? Why?"

"There are a few additional things I want to bring back. And once I make the transit, I'll give you the remote control so nobody can use the device except with leave from the Crown, including me."

"What is important enough to make a third transit?"

"I want a few additional tomes — one on brewing craft beer and one on distilling. Nobody here has seen potatoes or corn, so I need a text that explains the processes of fermentation and distillation so I can make bourbon and other types of whisky, along with vodka. I want a baseball cap, so I'll bring some baseball caps, which I will give to Laurel in Southham to replicate. I was also thinking of seeds for Romaine lettuce, celery, and what my grandmother used to call mangoes — bell peppers."

"Leave it to a guy to want booze!" Miri teased.

"A thing which is relatively low tech and highly profitable. Grain alcohol is also very useful as a disinfectant, because I don't think we're going to be seeing chemical disinfectants, except bleach, anytime soon."

"Practical," Miri observed.

"I could also bring you Toblerone," Matthias grinned.

"You have NO idea what I'd do for that!" Miri exclaimed.

Matthias laughed. "I have a fairly good idea! Have an heir for the King, and that can happen!"

"Working on it! What else?"

"More tomato seeds and some Granny Smith apples for the seeds."

"A good apple pie would make me happy!" Queen Miri declared.

"Me, too. Can you think of anything else?"

"Not really. I'd suggest more First Aid kits and more multi-tools."

"Already on my list, along with aspirin, as well as more metal metric rulers and measuring tapes. I also plan to get a drafting kit."

"Slightly changing the subject," Miri said, "have you discovered how the iPhone is being charged in that room?"

"The book is a Qi charger. I do not know how it is powered, just as I don't know how a cell signal works in that room."

"You know, maybe a gross of pencils and a sharpener?" Miri suggested.

"I'll do that. I was going to buy ten mechanical pencils and all the leads I could find for drafting, along with several dozen of those white erasers."

"How much can you bring through safely?"

"Whatever will fit in the backpack or my pockets. I am being careful about anachronistic tech as you suggested. I had thought of a solar-powered digital calculator, but that's too advanced, which is why I opted for the slide rule."

"A real toothbrush!" Miri declared. "A rag just isn't cutting it!"

"I'm being careful with plastic, with the mechanical pencils being an exception, but I could. How many? You know they only last about three months."

"Moons," Miri corrected.

"I know, but it's just you and me. And we need to fix the calendar, too, but that's later."

"Unfortunately, you're right about the toothbrushes. I can't think of anything specific. What are you doing about the First Aid kits and compasses?"

"Lisette repacked the kits into leather pouches and satchels that she and Teresa can wear or carry. The compasses are only used by the Company, and only when nobody else is around. Other things, like aspirin, we repacked into glass jars with stoppers. I'll help John Tinker create compasses from available materials. Lewis Smith is making replicas of the metal rulers, and most of the other things I bought were metal, though some were aluminum, which cannot be produced here as yet."

"When do you intend to go?"

"In about a half-moon. I have to discuss it with Lilia. She won't be happy, but she won't say 'no', and I'll bring her more candy to mollify her."

Miri laughed. "She may demand you make a regular trip to get her fix!"

Matthias chuckled. "She'll have to convince you the trip makes sense for Nystria, not me. And that leads to a consideration — we need to ensure the device is never used once we're gone. We have no idea what might happen if it were to fall into the wrong hands."

"You mean someone like Kranos, right?"

"Yes, or even someone with the best intentions who doesn't understand the implications. Heck, I don't understand the implications completely, but I have a good working theory, as we discussed."

"Technology should win the battle with magic similar to how chemistry won the battle with alchemy."

"I think that's likely, too, but we do need to consider the question."

"Speaking of 'best intentions', what about your father-in-law?" Miri asked.

"He is still angling for a chance to travel, but so far, he isn't insisting. I made him aware of the challenges, but that didn't completely deter him. He can scry on other times and places in the multiverse without the remote, and scrying doesn't destroy the mana crystals, so hopefully that will keep him occupied for some time."

"I'll get you two sets of mana crystals. Between you and Kranos, you'll have burned through eighty after you make your next transit."

"At least," Matthias replied. "We don't know how many Kranos might have used in the past. Eighty crystals typically require, on average, roughly ten years to find. We'd quickly burn through the available supply if we were to keep going. That is an important limiting factor."

"Human beings aren't known for limiting consumption in the face of scarcity. Silphium in the OP is a prime example — Kevin modified it so it could be cultivated in places other than a single region in Anatolia!"

"True," Matthias agreed. "Have you figured out how your 'containment' boxes work?"

"Some kind of enchantment, but I haven't discovered how it works. I'm positive I'm missing something, but I don't know what — a known unknown. I'm going through every tome we found in Kranos' library and his journals with a fine-tooth comb, but so far, nothing."

"What about the mana crystal detector?"

"I worked with a tinker, and we cannot replicate the device, even if we put everything together correctly. I'm not sure what we're doing wrong, but it, too, might be some kind of enchantment. I'm more concerned about solving the mystery of the mana crystal boxes."

"That makes sense. How are you feeling?"

"Pregnant!" Miri declared. "About the same as Lilia."

"Did Lisette ask you about your midwife?" Matthias inquired.

"Yes."

"Good. I'm using the texts I brought back to, in effect, turn her into a rudimentary paramedic. I'm also educating her about infections and germs, albeit in terms she can understand and share with others. She's also going to work with a surgeon, but I have to be very careful about that, as I can't take a chance by showing him the books, because I don't want their existence to leak. It's a serious risk I need to contain, but I did share the engineering texts with John Tinker and Lewis Smith because of the mills and the printing press. Nobody who is not in the Company, or who does not work at Newtown, has seen them."

"Trying to avoid A Piece of the Action?" Miri smirked.

Matthias chuckled. "I don't think anyone from our OP will be coming here once a year to collect their cut in the way Spock mentioned!"

"What's next?"

"A hand pump! The first ones in England are about three hundred years in the future in our OP timeline. Can you imagine the work saved if water could be drawn with a pump versus buckets? Besides that, the printing press, followed by a brewery and distillery, although they may be built before the press. Everything depends on how quickly Lewis Smith is able to produce the type for the press.

"Tranos is working to add new smiths and tinkers to make the parts we need to build mills to allow me to use John Tinker and Lewis Smith to develop new technology; new for Nystria, that is. Right now, there's far too much work and not enough skilled craftsmen. That will change, but it will take time. That means some sort of formal training program, similar to the way electricians and plumbers are trained in our OP.

"The other thing I need to do is set up a school to teach everyone who lives or works at Newtown to read and write. That's a long-term project, but we need to increase literacy; otherwise, the books won't be as effective as they could be for technological advancement. I've already discussed it with Lisette."

"Maybe pump the brakes?"

"I intended to, but the Millers Guild forced my hand. But as I said, no new tech except the hand pump, press, brewing, and distilling."

"That still seems like a lot with the mills, the plumbing, and so on."

"Which is why I brought Tranos to Newtown to help."

"Just be smart," Miri cautioned.

"I will."

"Bring me two Toblerones! The big ones!"

"It'll cost you!" Matthias teased.

"And I'll happily pay your price!"

🎲🎲🎲

"Your Majesty," the Bailiff said to King Robert after being shown in just before it was time for the mid-day meal. "The former High Priest is speaking to a small crowd in the square in front of the Temple and proclaiming that you are an illegitimate usurper and that the Queen is, well, I dare not repeat it."