Chapter 32

Kim’s people showed up shortly after Ohba and I had conversed. I had the young woman stay in the kitchen area, while I took Kim and the others into the communications centre to have a chat. The room was bigger than the kitchen area, but it was still a tight squeeze for all of us to get into it to have a chat, even after displacing the people who were already there.

Kim introduced me to her four technicians before we got down to business. Not surprising to me, three of them were women. The first was Alexa Tanner. She was the Station Medic. She was a tall, blonde, ex-Army Nurse, and officially a trained Nurse Practitioner. She’d been recruited by Ridgeway from the Walter Reed Medical Centre. She was onboard with Kim and with me without any reservations and she was looking forward to meeting Clara.

The second person I got introduced to was Monty Tyler. Monty was the Station Power Manager. That meant he knew everything about the solar power arrays, the recharging units, the battery systems, and as I was quickly informed a whole lot more. He was tall, Afro-American, and ex-Air Force. He was also recruited by Ridgeway.

The third person was Beverly Tucker. Beverly was officially the Station Food Services Officer. Since she was the only food services person there it made her the chief cook and bottle washer on top of everything else. She was twenty years old and Afro-American. She’d been recruited by Kim from amongst the staff hired by Quantum. According to her, she came along for the ride looking for a little adventure.

The final person in Kim’s group was Penelope Woods. Penny, to her friends and basically everyone else, was the Stations Quartermaster. She was in charge of what was here and ordering what was needed from Quantum. She was tall, a red-head, and a former Naval Lieutenant. As with the first two recruits, she’d been hired by Ridgeway.

“Is ordering more stuff still a possibility?” I asked out of curiosity, when I heard the comment about ordering supplies from Quantum. The moment those words were spoken, images of Quantum resupplying me with everything I’d ever wanted, including enough weapons to take Quantum down, filled my mind. Boy, was that a short lived fantasy!

“No,” Kim admitted, speaking up. “Like the first compound, the anchor for this facility was never included in the package. That really pissed off the station leader. He was ready to shoot everyone here for being a traitor and a saboteur. Fortunately, Penny threw herself on that grenade and sacrificed herself for the sake of the mission. It made sense in a way, since Penny was ultimately responsible for making certain the anchor point and its associated equipment was loaded prior to our transition through the Gateway. Even so, I felt sorry for the woman. The station leader was a real sadistic bastard. Her sacrifice did help defuse the tension around here for a couple of days while people settled in and we got used to the idea that we were stuck here. Then one of the guards tripped over the village north of here, and at the same time your three people were captured. After that the Station Leader decided to take out his frustrations on the locals. The only thing that kept me from simply killing the bastard myself was the knowledge that you’d be coming for your people. I just wish you’d gotten here sooner.”

I didn’t like what was implied by Kim’s words, and from the reaction of the others, it was obvious that they wished the same thing as she did. It took a lot to keep from jumping down each and everyones throats. I did nail Kim, though.

“You could have dealt with the problem, yourself,” I shot back at her. “You could have cleaned up the mess and liberated the people that your thug employer had taken hostage, and then you could have gotten my people to bring you to me. What stopped you from doing that?”

“Orders,” Kim whispered in reply, obviously hurt by my sudden outburst.

“‘Orders’ doesn’t cut it, here,” I replied. “You had to have a better reason than ‘orders’ to hold back when you knew these bastards were out of hand. I need to know more.”

“It was important for your people to find this place,” Kim responded, her voice still pained and sounding hurt. “That’s all I can tell you, for now.”

I still didn’t like her answer, but from the expression on her face and the faces of those about her, I knew I wasn’t going to get much out of her. With that knowledge imprinted on my mind, I decided it would be best to drop the subject for now, and get on to more important business.

“What about food?” I asked turning my gaze upon Beverly. “Do we have enough food to feed everyone here, both here while we prepare to head back to my settlement, and while we’re on the trail, with the idea that we’ll need at least a weeks worth of food for everyone.”

We had the food and more according to both Beverly and Penny. I thanked them for that and moved on.

“What about transportation?” I asked looking over at Kim again. “I’ve got horses for my people and a couple of packhorses, but there aren’t enough of them to move everyone here in one go. If I sent a messenger back to my settlement we’d have more horses plus four ATVs. What do we have here?”

“We’ve got two ATVs the same as what Anderson’s group were equipped with, and two pup trailers.”

“Excellent,” I replied enthusiastically. “I’m going to want the pup trailers converted into wagons. I’ll show you how it is done and then I’ll put one of my people in charge of the project. We’ll need the wagons to move our food supplies.”

I then asked about language skills. I wanted to know if any of them understood the common tongue.

“I do,” Kim admitted. “I convinced the Station Leader that learning the local language would help us out by providing us with intelligence. He bought my idea and that gave me the opportunity of speaking with Geeta, Bogdi, and Gort. Your young friends actually understand more English than you think; though I think you figured that out last night when you were going off to do the dirty work yourself, and they spoke up and told you no. I’ve got about a week’s worth of speaking the language, but that’s it, and I’m the only one who has. The Station Manager and his goons were adamant that nobody form any attachments with the locals. The way he saw things, they were all expendable.”

I grunted my understanding and then I tried her out using our common tongue. It turned out that Kim understood enough.

“You’re all going to have to learn the language,” I told them sternly. “To survive, Clara, Gabby, and I did our best to pick up the language spoken by the Hilltop People. That’s the tribe that Gort came from. It just made sense that we adopted their language instead of forcing them to learn ours. Of course as anyone with two-ounces of brains knows, learning is a two way street, and Gort and the others picked up English at the same time. It makes sense since they didn’t have words for things like pot, pan, rifle, or bullet. When we adopted more people into our tribe, in this case the Horse People, we integrated some of their language into ours, and they integrated some of our language into theirs and we formed the common toungue. Words dealing with hunting come mostly from the Hilltop dialect, while words dealing with horses come from the Horse People, and words dealing with riding horses come from English. Eventually we also integrated words from the Plains People and more recently, the Forest People. All my people speak their own language, but almost every one of them speaks the common tongue fluently, as well. For now, work with Katherine. She’s only been with us for a month now, but she’s picked up enough to be understood. As you get better in the language, I’ll team you up with a buddy. They’ll help you pick up the language faster than you working at it on your own. Finally, once we’re all back in my settlement and we’re locked down for the winter, I’m sure Gabby will help you out. Of all of us, she speaks the language the best.”

“Is that why Winslow wants her dead?” Penny asked from where she was standing, causing those about her to look at her with surprise on their faces.

Her question surprised me, too. I’d wondered about it from time to time since that first attack over three years ago. I had wondered if it was because she’d had a child, and our child had gone on to mess up Quantum’s long term plans; but it had never really made sense to me. The common language factor did. My people spoke five languages and a bit more depending on how you looked at it. In fact when we took Ohba and her people back with us, we’d be integrating their language into ours. Sooner or later we’d have one language spoken by everyone. Now that was a force to be reckoned with!

“You might be right about that,” I told the woman, nodding my head thoughtfully as I spoke. “If you are right, it is one more reason why we should all be learning the common tongue and then passing it on to everyone we meet. The more people speaking it, the more likely Quantum will fail.”

There wasn’t much more to be said after that. I handed out a few assignments. The big one was outfitting everyone here to move out in the next day or two. That meant clothing for the ex-prisoners, food, water, and medicine. I handed it all over to Kim, and then headed back to the kitchen to check on Ohba. She was still sitting in the chair where I had left her. Tonko was talking to her, though their conversation was definitely stilted.

I took five minutes to explain to Ohba that I needed to talk to my men before I could finish talking to her. Ohba understood, and I left her sitting by herself while I took all my people outside the command post container to talk. I was glad I’d gotten dressed for the weather, as it was still snowing when I stepped outside. There was at least two feet of snow on the ground. We might be somewhere in southern Europe; but as far as I could tell, winter was here to stay. I led my people along the container and to the vehicle bay at the end of it. I opened it up and led the way inside where there was parked an ATV and a pup trailer.

“Get comfortable,” I told everyone, “this might take some time.”

My people did get comfortable. We were out of the wind if not the cold, so that was a plus. Once they’d found a place on the trailer or ATV to sit, I started.

“How are you men, today?” I asked in a serious voice, looking from Sygor, to Tonko, and then Durt, before glancing over to Gogra and Tisa.

My men claimed they were good. I sensed sternness in Sygor’s voice, but I didn’t challenge him on it. I just turned my gaze to his mate. Tisa admitted feeling sad about what had happened, although she understood that it had to be done. It made Sygor bristle hearing her speak.

“You’ve got to accept that Tisa feels what she feels, Sygor,” I told the man bluntly before everyone in our group. “Each of us feels differently about what had to be done last night. I was willing to do it all on my own, but only because I didn’t want you to experience the pain I feel every time I take a life.”

“I felt no pain,” Sygor declared defiantly.

“Then I congratulate you on that,” I told him, “but others in our group might not feel the same. That’s why I’ve first asked this of each of you, today, before any other question that I need to ask. Talking about it is important. Those men and the two women with them deserved to die. I had been tempted to send them out into the snow to let Mother Earth claim them, but the risk was too great that one of them might have survived. If that person did, the chance was there that they would have caused more harm. I will never argue that we should have spared their lives, but I will openly state that it saddened me and pained me to do the job. However, if the job must be done again, I will do it. If I need help doing it again, then I will ask for help. If you cannot do the job again, then I will ask another, and nothing will ever be said about it. I just want that to be understood.”

“We understand it,” Gogra admitted glancing to the others gathered there in the vehicle bay, speaking up for the first time, “and we appreciate you sharing your thoughts and feelings with all of us. It makes you a good leader, and I for one am proud to follow you,” he said. He turned to the others and added, “I, too, was saddened by what happened last night, even though I agree with Jake that it had to be done. I think more of this will happen in the future, and more talks like this will occur between Jake and those called upon to do the hard work. Hopefully, all here will remember why the work had to be done, and accept it as a task that must be taken up only when absolutely necessary.”

“I agree,” Tonko muttered in response from where he was seated. “I will do the work again, if necessary, but only if necessary. If not, I will stay my hand and turn my mind to other tasks.”

Durt grunted his acceptance of that thought a moment later, quickly followed by Tisa, who then looked at her mate. It took a moment, but eventually Sygor agreed as well.

From there I asked for reports. Gogra stated that all our animals were inside the shelter of the compound for the time being, although he was certain that he’d have to take them back into the forest very soon, so that the animals could forage for food. We’d packed in a little hay and grain with us, knowing that this late in the year the weather could change and grazing could be difficult, but none of us had expected the snowstorm. I told him if he did, to take another hunter with him.

I then asked Tisa about Geeta and Bogdi. She reported that they were better off than Gort had been, but that they both had high fevers and needed rest. She was giving them medicine to help them sleep and she was keeping them well hydrated.

With everyone basically in agreement, I moved onto my plan of action for this compound. I needed a pair of volunteers to return to our enclosure to deliver a message to Rugar and to lead back help to here. As I stated that point, I glanced expectantly at the three younger men in my group. It didn’t take long for them to respond. Tonko spoke up first quickly followed by Durt. I nodded my gratitude and then explained to everyone what I wanted done.

I wanted to clear out the compound of everything that wasn’t nailed down, that we could take in one go. There wasn’t going to be a second trip until springtime at the earliest. If we were getting this kind of snow down here in the lower valleys then I could only imagine what kind of snow we were getting up there in our valley. I figured we were already snowed in at our settlement, but given the situation, we had to risk making at least one trip from there to here and then back again. I wanted Tonko and Durt to leave within the hour, taking one of the ATVs with them. I figured that driving all out on the flats ... and a little slower, and a hell of a lot more carefully through the forest and up the big slope that leads to our valley ... the two of them should arrive at the enclosure by nightfall, or perhaps a little later. Once there they were to report to Clara and Rugar and tell them what had happened here, and how Geeta and Bogdi are doing. Then they’re to rally Rugar into putting together an expedition back to the compound as soon as it can be organized. I wanted all the ATVs brought on the return trip, along with all our wagons and as many packhorses that can be led here at a good pace. I knew the horses would be a problem. There wasn’t any real hope that they’d keep pace with the ATVs, but with determination, the animals could get here maybe a day later. I could only hope.

Both Tonko and Durt ensured me that they understood what needed to be done, and that they could do it, so I sent the two off to get their gear together and to grab a bite to eat. While the two young men went to do as I’d told them, my other two companions helped me to disconnect the pup trailer from the ATV. The plus to the design of this container set up over the first one, was that the vehicle bay had two bay doors. One was to the interior courtyard, and one opened to the exterior. Once the two returned and got ready to go, it was a simple task of rolling up the exterior door and letting them drive off. We all watched them speed away. Then, with silent prayers, we shut the bay again and turned our minds back to the matter at hand.

“I want you working with Alexa Tanner,” I told Tisa. “She’s a healer like Clara. I want the sick looked after, and hopefully feeling better, by the time we’re ready to leave. She doesn’t speak the common tongue, and you don’t speak English as well as your mate does; however that is what it is, and we’ll have to live with it. For now, make use of Katherine if you need a translator; but in addition to treating the sick, I want you to teach her our language. That is a very important job. In fact it will be the job of all of us left behind to help teach the people of my old tribe and the people we rescued last night, our language. Like you, those people will be living with us and becoming members of the Bear Tribe. To do that they need to speak the language.”

Tisa acknowledged my orders and then stepped back. I then turned my attention to Sygor.

“You’re going to be a busy man, Sygor,” I told him bluntly. “I’ve been told that there is plenty of food; but if there is a need for fresh meat, you’ll be the hunter responsible to get it. If you do go you will take with you one of the men who we surprised last night. He is a hunter as well, but only with a rifle. I’ll introduce you to him. I want you to teach him our language just as Tisa will teach the healer. It will be important, especially if we must defend this place from those who come to reclaim it. Just because the people here think no one else can come here, I don’t believe it! I will not stop worrying about it until we are safe in our home. That means that you will also be protecting this place. Do you understand?’

Sygor nodded his understanding.

“Good,” I told him with a smile, “because those are only a few of the jobs that need to be done today while Tonko and Durt drive through the snow. Gogra will be going out with the horses, later. You will go with him. I will try and get a couple more people to come with you. We’re going to need saplings and the branches of young trees and we’re going to need a lot of them. I know this is not the best time of year for gathering them, but we need to convert these trailers into wagons. All right?”

This time Gogra and Sygor both said all right.

Ohba wasn’t where I’d left her. That was understandable. It was now an hour since she’d shown up asking that I take her people with us when we left. I couldn’t expect her to stay in one place, forever. The good thing was that she hadn’t gone far. I found her down the corridor chatting to Geeta and Bogdi. I smiled warmly as I entered the room.

“Well now, there are three of my favourite people in the whole wide world, all in one place,” I said cheerfully in greetings. “I must be a lucky guy.”

Both Geeta and Bogdi beamed back at me in response to my greeting. It took Ohba a few seconds to catch on to what I had said, or what I had implied. It became painfully obvious that Ohba wasn’t as fluent in our language as I wished. That really wasn’t a big problem, at least from my perspective. I’d been down this road before with others in our community and I knew that eventually the language would click. I just needed to be patient with her.

“How are the two of you?” I asked Geeta and Bogdi as I stepped over to where they were lying in their bunk.