Chapter 4: Project Tuath

~~ October - Week 43 ~~

Aeron showed Lee to his workroom.

He told her what he had been working on, and she asked about the shield he had created.

Lee was peckish and pulled the box of bickies out of her satchel to eat while they talked, the bracelet help, but she also found the extra food didn’t hurt either.

She said to Aeron, “Sorry, but I have a bloody fetish for chocolate and Juanita made these for me. I smelt them from my satchel. Would you like to try one?”

Lee offered him a biscuit. Aeron accepted to be polite and bit into the biscuit. He chewed it around in his mouth and swallowed. “Wow, that is really tasty. I’d never have thought to put chips of coabutter into a biscuit, like this. It’s a much nicer variety than ours too.”

“You have chocolate?” Lee asked excitedly.

Aeron thought for a minute, “I guess you mean coabutter is the same thing as chocolate?” he pointed to the chip of dark chocolate. Lee nodded.

Aeron said, “It is one of the newer products we have here. Our city was only just in the tropical area close to the deserts and dryer when the war happened. When the weather changed, we didn’t have to move. But several of our crops do not grow as well now in the higher rainfalls.”

“In the dryer regions further south and inland we still grow cotton. It is one of our major exports other than rubber and tuber vegetables from the north and timber. We used to export a lot of grains, but the other communities have not been buying as much for the last few years, and many of our farmers have been having a hard time.”

“The coa plants grow wild here and have become a pest in the new climate. They like the lower light levels and the rain we get, apparently. It is only recently that we have found a use for them other than eating the roasted beans.”

“I have been trying to get our farmers to diversify for years, but many resist. We would sell more of our tropical fruits but the ships we have, take too long to get them anywhere and still be edible. We have got better at drying them, and this market is slowly improving.”

“Shame you don’t have coffee as well,” Lee said.

“Did you mean kaffe? A strong drink made from beans like the coa beans?” Lee nodded. “Those bushes are just as much a pest as the coa trees. The major families have been having real problems with both plants.”

Lee grinned at him, “Aeron, how would you like to go into business with Futura?”

“What sort of business?” he asked. Wondering what they could offer the off-worlders. He had heard there was little they needed.

“Well, humans love kaffe and coabutter as you call them. Your processes may need revamping, and you may have to plant new plantations of the beans to get better production, but with some help from us, I think we can get some very profitable businesses up and running.”

“We did a deal with Allan to help us with the solar-cell panels. We may even be able to help with the tropical fruits and your drying processes. Zan is building us refrigerated ships that will help as well. We have no problem helping your people,” Lee said.

“Tell me more,” Aeron said as he happily finished the biscuit.

Lee thought for a minute or so. “Well, I have two charming ladies who would probably love to come and help you. June Smith is an Industrial Automation Engineer and should be able to help build the processing plants.”

“Yuko Maki is a Biochemist who apparently specialises in Food Engineer. She had had a lot to do with our cannery and vegetable freezing processes. She should be able to help refine the products for sale. What do you think?” asked Lee.

Aeron thought about this. Some new industries would be great. Many of the soldiers would have other jobs to move too. He also knew of two of the most influential military families who owned land that was having problems with the bushes and trees popping up in their fields.

They grew more food than they needed now since their sales had dropped, so many fields hadn’t been planted. If they changed to the new products, it would be advantageous for everyone. Some of the smaller farmers could go back to their farms if the prominent families had their interests diverted. This would deplete the number of soldiers as well. He loved the idea for this fact alone.

Lee unashamedly read his thoughts, and she agreed with him, “Have you got the room for two more guests? I can go see if the girls wish to visit and you could organise visits for us to the areas that have the biggest problems with the bushes and trees?” Lee said.

“I could, but it will take me at least a day to get to their properties. I can call them, but our lines are not always reliable to the outer farms,” he said.

“Oh, that’s right, sorry. All right, lesson one. I need you to link your mind with me, and I can then transfer the knowledge on how to teleport. I’ll then take you on a couple of test flights so to speak and after that, you should be good,” Lee said.

Aeron didn’t hesitate. With Lee’s help, he opened a link to her. She explained what he had to do. Then had him take her somewhere in the palace he knew well. Aeron thought of where he wanted to go and blinked.

He was delighted it had worked. Lee had him go to two other places so that he went a little further each time. Aeron had no problems bringing them home. “This is a wonderful gift, Lee. Its sure beats other modes of travel.”

Lee replied, “It does, but it uses a heap of energy. We try to keep it for when we need it. Like for long distances, that’s why we bought the linger with us.”

Aeron understood. Lee asked him if he had worked out how to move objects? He said not well as he didn’t seem to have the words correct. He didn’t have the books. He wasn’t sure where they ended up. He explained that it was by accident that he found the wizard’s box two years before.

He and Zak had gone on a trip to an old city in the north-east. They wanted to check out if the areas were still inaccessible. He had felt a desire to search a building that they had entered, and they had found a secret room. But if there was a box of books, they had been stored elsewhere. There was only a small diary type book in the room. He didn’t find it very helpful, so had been trying to teach himself.

Lee said she understood and then said, “I’ll be back in a second.” Then she disappeared. Aeron had one of the servants bring kaffe’ for Lee and some snacks as he was now hungry in spite of the bracelets. Several minutes later, Lee appeared in front of him carrying a large dusty box.

“I think this belongs to you,” she said. She placed it on a bench and opened the box. She shuffled through the contents and found the primmer. “Read this first and then the others at your leisure. It should help a heap. In the meantime, I will teach you how to move objects. It’s a handy skill.”

Aeron was overjoyed. He happily participated in Lesson two. Sean came in, as they were moving stuff around the room. “Not bad Aeron you’re getting the hang of it. Did she teach you to teleport?”

Aeron grinned and nodded his head. “Great,” said Sean. “Now you can go visit your brother whenever you wish and us too.”

Aeron thought about this. He liked that idea very much. He and Zak had always been close, and the thought that he could just pop in on him when he wished was very reassuring. “Hey, I can even go to the wedding and not have to stay!” he exclaimed happily.

Lee and Sean laughed. “Oh yeah, that’s definitely is an advantage, being able to leave whenever you want too,” agreed Lee.

The servant came in with the kaffe’, and Lee enjoyed the brew. It wasn’t as good as hers, but she felt it had potential. Hopefully, Yuko and June could improve the processes. She told Sean what she had proposed to Aeron.

Sean agreed it was an excellent idea and he was happy to do a similar deal as to the ones they did for Allan and Zan. He explained to Aeron how it worked. Aeron also thought that making the town the primary beneficiary of the profits was a great idea.

They headed off for lunch and not long afterwards, Zak was ready to go back to Arden. “Hey Zak, how about Aeron go with you and Sean, he needs some practice. Plus, he can then at least meet your intendeds. While you guys are visiting, I’ll go find out if the girls I want to work with Aeron wish to come for a visit. Say three, four hours, we meet back here?” Lee said.

The boys thought it was a great idea and they went to help Zak move.

Lee blinked back to Futura.

She found the bands really helped and she didn’t feel so drained. She changed back to attire that was more normal and went and found Yuko. Lee explained to her what she wanted.