Chapter 7

Mark stepped up to the small traveller that had stopped at his hail.

It was painted orange and had a sign on it saying ‘Rider’. He helped Jean into the back and climbed in after her. “Bell’s Wheels, please,” he said to the driver.

The rider (taxi) took off at a sedate pace. They weren’t allowed to go faster than 35km/hr in the city zone. Even on the open road, they only did twice that speed. Many people still relied on lankys and carts for transport and the travellers were barely tolerated by some.

Mark knew that if this society kept developing the lankys would become outmoded in the years to come. He was intrigued that this planet had skipped combustion engines for the most part, although they had steam ones for factory uses.

From what he could learn about the history of this planet, they hadn’t lost all of their technology after settlement, but it had been stalled many times. It seemed to have a lot to do with how long the Queens ruled for. The longer they ruled, the more entrenched and less willing they were to change things.

He knew the travellers had been around for over three hundred years and they had barely changed in design or operation since conception. Mark felt that it had a lot to do with how they stored power. The fact that they hadn’t had access to Quaz crystals for at least two hundred years, had to have a lot to do with it, he was sure.

He was beginning to think he might need to set up a second cave since he had new bugs to build the crystals. He decided he would do it in the exclusion zone so neither power could claim them if they were ever found. The aracnzies could be the caves guardians. He knew that the people here had no intention of killing off the aracnzies, as they were too valuable to both countries.

He had also been told that spells on the zone stopped people from moving into the area. Since they had been living there for more than three weeks, he wasn’t sure how true this was or if it only applied to none-magical people. Possibly because they didn’t take more than they needed was also a valid reason why they were still there.

They got out at the dealership to look at the travellers. They had three main designs to choose from. The small personal Autos like they had just ridden in, the Flatbeds and the Carriers. The privately owned Autos were in the minority of vehicles on the streets. You had to be rich to afford one unless you hired it out as a Rider.

The Autos seated four comfortably or five if they were small people. This included the driver. The rear seating was a bench style seat, and the front seats were split in two, so the drivers could adjust theirs. Autos didn’t have solid doors. They used a canvas type flap that could be rolled down in bad weather.

Sheets of thick flat glass were used on the front and rear for viewing windows, and the rest of the square shaped body was made of an alloy that contained alumina. They were about 1.5m wide and 3m long. Mounted on the front and rear between the wheels were short storage compartments. In the front, one was the control box.

If you tipped it over you would find the two drive motors, drive chains, a small generator and the steering mechanism mounted between the battery storage compartments that were down each side. The body was suspended over the axels using leaf style springs that could make the vehicle bounce if going over rough terrain.

The tires were not large, but they were wide enough for stability without causing the vehicle to have heavy steering when you moved the bar back and forth for direction. The driver sat in the right side front seat and only needed to press a button to start it.

The Autos didn’t have multi-speed gearboxes. A brake pedal and an accelerator were on the floor, and the seat could be adjusted for different leg lengths. The travellers had rear and front lights that could be turned on by flicking a switch on the left side of a small panel in the middle of the steering bar.

Flicking a three position rocker switch also located on the panel with your right thumb turned the blinker lights on or off. A short lever on the dash could be moved up from ‘park’ in the middle to forward or down for reverse. A dial meter indicated speed and a second indicated the charge of the batteries.

The weight of the batteries under the travellers and the low wheelbase made them very stable. The roof incorporated three flat panels. Two formed low angled sides, and the third was a wider central panel. Mark had determined that they were this planets variation of solar panels. The travellers could also be connected to an external power source to recharge.

Most of the towns relied on a form of a wind generator that had a long twisted metal sheet that rotated and/or solar panels for their power. They didn’t use electricity grids as each home or business had its own source if it had power at all. This world was a combination of old world and new.

Some of the batteries in the homes were very crude. The older more expensive ones did have Quaz crystals, but they were harder to get hold off these days. The most expensive and even harder to get units was the power converters for the voltage required for most machines, as they were made my mages.

There had been a lot of grumbling in Villas, Vasari’s city, about the fact that the converters were becoming scarce. The mages were very tight lipped as to why production of them had dropped off in recent years.

The Carriers were similar to the Flatbeds. They were 2m wide and 5m long. They both had a small cab area for the driver and a passenger. The controls were accessed via a short compartment at the front of the cab. The Carriers had five bench seats so they could sit up to twenty people.

The Carriers had fixed strips of canvas on the sides that only covered the width of the seats for bad weather and running boards to let people access and alight easily. They were used as buses and troop transports.

Above the bench seats, ran a rack so people could put purchases on them. You had to be careful not to bang your head on them if you were tall. The drivers also let people stand on the running boards and in the isles between other people’s legs. They tended to get crowded at home time with the workers who could afford to use them.

Most of the Flatbeds had canvas sides that were permanently fixed, with a sliding door up near the cab, and the back doors could be opened. Only a few had solid panelled sides. They were the transport fleet of the two nations and the most common vehicle on the roads between towns, the rest being farm carts pulled by lankys.

Mark wanted a Flatbed. Bell had four for them to look at. Mark noted that she didn’t have any new vehicles in her yard. When he asked why, she shrugged and said she had two Autos and six transporters on order, but so far, they hadn’t been delivered.

She had been waiting a year for them, and they kept coming up with excuses as to why she couldn’t have them. The people just kept getting the old ones fixed. Repair shops were big business in all of the cities and towns.

She pointed out one Flatbed and said it had just been done-up and even had a new converter in it. Mark took this to mean that it was probably the most reliable of the Flatbeds she had. He touched each one and asked why one that had metal sides was a lot cheaper than the rest.

Bell grimaced and replied, “I’ve only got it because even though the body is in excellent shape, the last owner gave up waiting for parts and just bought a newer one. I’ve been having the same problems as him. It runs fine, but it doesn’t recharge very quickly anymore.”

“That’s because the crystals are failing,” Mark told her.

She frowned and answered, “Yeah, I’ve heard that it has been happening a lot and not just too everyday things made with crystals in them. The rumour is that other magical items are also failing if you get my drift.”

Mark looked at her thoughtful and wondered how he could spin a story she would believe, and that wouldn’t get him into trouble. He got Jean to distract Bell and climbed in the Flatbed on the pretext to inspect it. He removed one of his smaller bags of crystals from his satchel and put it in his pocket.

He then went to approach Bell, “I have a deal for you Bell. I’m an Earth mage and a prospector. I’ve been playing around in the Bellini Range. I found a small cave and the possessions of a dead man in it. Among his personal effects, I found a small bag of Quaz crystals. If I fix the other three Flatbeds can I have this one?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. They shook hands and Mark went to fix the Flatbeds while Bell talked to Jean. It only took him a couple of minutes. He even added an extra crystal to the top panel to help it charge faster. He then upgraded the spells on the vehicles.

“I fixed the spells too, Bell,” Mark told her when he came back to fix his Flatbed. He added several more crystals to it than he had put on the other Flatbeds.

Bell went and touched one of the other Flatbeds. “Wow, it’s better than new. They are some nice spells, sir,” she said in delight.

“So you’re happy with the deal?” Mark asked her.

“You can come back anytime,” she grinned at him. Bell got Mark to touch the centre of the steering wheel with her, and she transferred ownership to him. He then got Jean to touch it so she could also drive the Flatbed.

He added another Anti-theft spell that was stronger than those on the other Flatbeds and a couple more spells including his version of a repair spell for good measure.

They said their goodbyes, got in and drove off the lot.

Mark drove the Flatbed to a warehouse, and once the door opened, he drove in.

“What is this place?” Jean asked him.

“Sorry but I’ve been doing some shopping without you. I decided to buy the Flatbed because the cost of delivery was more expensive than some of the items that I wanted. I rented this warehouse two weeks ago so the orders could be dropped off here,” he told her as they got out of the cab.

Jean inspected what was currently in the warehouse, and they discussed what else they wanted to purchase. “So how is it you managed to have so much cash in those bank accounts?” she asked him.

“I’m a very good Earth Mage,” Mark said and wiggled his eyebrows at her making her giggle.

“So how many times have you used that dead man story?” she then asked him.

“It was the first time I’ve used it. I told David I’d found a lot of gold nuggets in the creeks. He has been selling them for me,” he said.

“You do know that if Bell checks with the Mages Guild, she is going to find that you aren’t registered with it,” Jean said.

“Just as well that dead man was an Earth Mage and had a medallion that wanted to go to me isn’t it?” he replied and grinned at her.

“Can I see this medallion?” she asked giving him a lopsided grin that he found very cute.

“Sure,” he replied and produced a medallion with the Earth and Energy symbols on it. It also had the central Quaz crystal with a ruby and an emerald embedded in it beside the symbols of power. He had copied the design from ones that he had seen other mages wearing here.

Jean touched it and then touched his chest, “That is odd, why is your entity letting you wear two magical medallions?”

“This one is a copy; it has a spell on it, so anyone touching it thinks it is real,” he told her.