Chapter 31

Felix gave Boyd a manly hug in greeting.

Boyd was glad that Felix wasn’t in season. He wasn’t sure that Catia would be happy with him getting all of the other High Mages preggers.

“Um, we have a bit of a problem, Boyd,” Felix started.

“Oh?” Boyd responded.

“Um, yes. You see, the stasis box got damaged when it was moved to my compound three days ago.”

“Damaged how?”

“Well, it was dropped off the back of the flatbed. The chains the fools used to lift it broke. We had to get it upright and let the people out. We even had to prise one of the doors to get it open. I was so worried the dimensional space had been compromised.”

“So, where are the people and do they need medical attention?” Boyd asked in concern.

“Oh, they are safe and well. My ancestors have lived here since not long after they escaped Earth. They also brought many slaves with them, so we still have the old slave quarters outback. We use them for the seasonal workers.”

“I collected up the local mages, and we fixed them up and put your people in them. I went and told Catia, and she gave me copies of the questionnaire. She also told me what you thought we should do with them, so we told them what the story was and got them to fill out the questionnaire.”

“So, how have they taken to their temporary home?” Boyd asked.

“Oh, quite well. The staff that are feeding them get asked lots of questions. Surprisingly mostly about us and where they are. They do their best to answer them. I have distributed the other questionnaire to the families that have expressed an interest in the people.”

“Catia said once you turned up, we could go through them and see if you can match some of the people up so we can get them settled. She also gave me a copy of a contract they had put together.”

“She had been back to visit some of the people in the cavern to get their opinions of the proposed contract, and so far, she has had good feedback. They seem more resigned to the facts since your pep talk.”

“Well, I will need to meet the people here, so I know who they are, and I need to test them with the crystal ball too. I’ve been amazed to find at least five people in each container that are at the least a novice, and one of the five is a potential mage.”

“Really? That many? Gosh, we sure can do with more mages. It would increase their worth and also narrow who they can go to. They will need a family with a mage in it to teach them and do more of an apprenticeship like you.”

Boyd nodded as he agreed with Felix’s assessment. He followed him to the slave quarters and was amused to see the gates were open. He was sure a couple of the people had tried to sneak out of them.

He was soon doing the meet and greet.

Boyd was amused that the compound was set up like an Army Barracks.

Five of the building housed twenty beds, ten aside. Each bed had a 2m high side locker, and they were well spaced. An ablutions block with five toilet stalls, five sinks and five open showers took up the back end.

Two of the barracks were down each side, and one was in front of but to one side of a central building. It acted as the mess hall and recreation area. Everyone had been given a tunic and thongs to wear.

Quite a few people greeted Felix cheerfully. When he told them they were having a meeting, they ran to get the others. Boyd smiled at the excited babble coming from barracks and the mess hall. He watched as people scurried or sauntered into the mess hall to get a seat at one of the tables.

Boyd had to change his speech and decided to introduce himself and explain who he was and what he was trying to do. He then went and introduced himself to each person and got a little bit of information from them as they held the crystal ball.

He was delighted to find his four new novices, and he also got two mages out of this group. He suspected one of the men would eventually be able to be a High Mage like Beth Turner.

He asked the people how they were settling in and if they were enjoying their new lease of life. He got positive feedback from the majority, and while he got a couple of whines, he was expecting them.

His pat answer was, would they prefer to be here and alive, or like they were before or dead? Most of the whiners had to think about that. They were at least smart enough to remember what they had left behind and realise the advantages they now had.

It is hard to think about dying when you have a fitter and healthy body than it had been in the previous forty or even fifty years of your life. They all remembered the aches and pains, and they were enjoying not having them.

He did explain that it might be another week or two before they could get them placed in their new homes and jobs. They were working on the solutions as fast as they could.

Some people weren’t super happy, but some people never were.