Chapter 22: The Search

“How does your new body feel?” Horti asked Craig as they lay in bed, all hot and sweaty.

“My new body feels like I had a pretty good workout, and I am reluctant to get out of bed. Your new body feels pretty good next to me,” said Craig moving lazily out of bed towards the refresher. “The demands of the real world call us. We must eat and head for class.”

“I think we have enough money to look at farms. I contacted an agent yesterday, and she has several properties that will fit our budget. The land isn’t that expensive, but the equipment and AIs are the killers. We must also pay for spores, seeds, power, and ongoing water licenses. The grandparents have long lists of requirements. I hope we can make a go of it.

“I can’t find anything on a haunted farm. The best I could find was a farm with unexplained gruesome murder ages ago. Join my family and me for dinner. I will be reporting back on what I found,” said Horti.

Horti sat in the canteen with her friends, Craig and his sons. “I am onto the fifth agent and have been looking for three weeks. Tomorrow is agent number six. Not one of the agents admitted they knew of a haunted farm. I know they know exactly what I am looking for.”

“What do you think is the issue?” Asked Sean.

“I gathered from the last agent that if they show someone a property with a known major problem, they are legally liable for the consequences even if they fully inform the client. None of the farms appealed to me. Something is missing. The established farms are too expensive; the new ones don’t meet the grandparents’ demanding requirements. I can’t give them or my parents the job because I must be the one to select the farm,” said Horti. “I resorted to seeing a Dinnion lawyer, Queen Basarab suggested. On her suggestion, I will try a different approach today.”

“You will give them a legal indemnity?”

“No, that doesn’t work,” said Horti. “I’ll tell you if the lawyer’s suggestion helps.”

“Miss Maguire, you want me to show you some farms you should not purchase?”

“Yes, I want to understand what makes farms unsuitable. A farm is a huge purchase. We need to understand what makes farms undesirable, and I must understand what led them to fail,” said Horti.

“That lets me off the hook. Can you put that in writing?”

“I will ask my lawyer to draft the request and send it to you before we meet.”

“Now that I think about it, it is an excellent idea. I could give you a seminar on farm failures and how they evolved. I have heard them all,” said the agent. “You are taking a wise approach.”

“Perhaps as we look at the farms, you can tell me why they failed, I want to buy a farm, so I also need to see the good ones, not only the problem ones,” said Horti. “I am interested in some of the more unusual problems and pedestrian problems.”

“Send me the document, and I will call you after I go through it,” said the agent.

“My lawyer is delighted with your document. He told me as you are not from the regency, he understands why you are being so careful. My lawyer also likes the mention your lawyer made not to hold us liable if you make a reckless choice and buy one of the ones I advise against. He said it protects us if you make a poor impulsive decision. I listed the undesirable unsaleable farms and sent them to you and your lawyer so you know which ones they are, so there is no scope for a misunderstanding later.

The agent met Horti in his office the next day.

“In this area, there is one very successful farm. That is one of the positive ones. There are two near it. One had a mysterious gruesome murder, and the other had not been farmed for centuries. No reason was given,” said Horti.

The agent gave Horti a presentation he had prepared to explain the differences between the successful farms in the area. Horti found it enlightening and found what she sought. He then took her to the nearest excellent farm and the two nearby farms with disastrous histories.

Horti found him knowledgeable and an excellent ethical agent. She didn’t feel pressured by his gentle approach. “Horti, the good farm is an excellent choice. The other two should be just as good, but no one will go anywhere near those farms.”

“Let me try to understand the possible link between the disasters on both farms. The farmers and their husbands bought the two farms next to each other some time ago. The farmers reported strange sightings of figures involved in rituals. Both farms specialized in growing fish. One night the farmers and their husbands disappeared. Six months later, the farmers went crazy on the other farm and attacked each other. Six months ago, passers-by saw shadowy figures performing a ritual. There is a previous history that is also not reassuring. The police found bodies cut up on this farm and the next-door farm a hundred years ago,” said Horti. “Where are the fish tanks?”

“No one ever found fish tanks on either farm even though we know the farmers supplied fish from both farms,” said the agent. “The good farm is a prize as it has caverns below the main farm and has access to a deep lake and several cisterns. You get twice the land for a single price.”

“How do they price the non-functioning farms?” Horti asked.

“When farms fail under terrible circumstances, we can only sell them for the license cost. The good farm is of great value because it is near the other two, but people hear the stories about the other two and are scared the curse of the other two farms will extend to their farm,” said Horti. “These two farms lowered the values in the whole area. That is terrible.”

“Yes, it is terrible. I haven’t been able to sell the good farm for a century. The equipment has depreciated to nothing,” said the agent.

“On the other two farms, what happened to the equipment?” Horti asked.

“We never found any equipment,” said the agent. “The people around here think evil spirits stole it.”

“Did the police ever discover anything?” Horti asked.

“No, they even put two experienced officers on each farm for two weeks to see if they observed anything unusual. Something or somebody killed them both and tortured them. Then whatever it was burned them alive. Secret holo-cams saw nothing but mysterious footprints that appeared out of nowhere.”

“So, people, that is the story of our future farms. The good one has dirty equipment and a shed filled with AIs. They all look old and in poor condition,” said Horti. “One of the haunted farms feels like the one,” said Horti. “Any opinions?”

Aubrey smiled. “The Naturalistas are there at night and come and go cloaked. They don’t want anyone near them. We will find plenty of equipment underground. They are probably also growing foodstuffs for themselves. I would support buying them all. Then we find out what is happening, tell Queen Basarab what we suspect, and let the military sort out our problem. For less than one-third of a farm, we buy three farms that will be great in the long term.”

The others laughed.

“Do we buy them first or tell the Queen first,” said Grandpa Chuck. “If we buy them, the remaining Naturalistas will find out and go for us. If we tell the Queen first, they will clear out the Naturalistas and the parasite-infested fish. The value could skyrocket.”

“I thought of all of that,” said Horti. “I had the lawyer set up a corporation based in Etarsaway that leads nowhere. The Naturalista can’t link it to us. If they investigate, they will think it has something to do with the dead Colonel. The Naturalistas can’t be sure she is dead; Orma Chatzke ensured that. She suggested this strategy after chatting with Basarab. Philippa will keep an eye on the company until we get going. The Uzliumbax intelligence is watching for any inquiries as they know only the Naturalista will search for the owners.”

“Put in the offers to pay the government for the arrears on the haunted one through the company and give the agent a lowball offer on the so-called good one through our other company. Start at one-third of what he asked. You know what to do,” said Millie.

“This armor is difficult to put on,” said Aubrey. “We should have taken up the offer of armor dressers.”

“They would take up half your room and raise all kinds of questions,” said Charlie. “Get with the plan, stop whining, and follow the instructions. It isn’t that bad.”

“Everyone must dress and fly from this farmhouse. I assume the Naturalista are careful and keep an eye on their neighbors. We are new purchasers, so they want to know if we could be a threat. That is why the bugs gave us the counter-surveillance equipment,” said Heather.

“Craig, is the holo-cam working?” Heather asked.

Craig nodded. “I checked it outside. It can see well in the dark, and the telephoto lens is magnificent even at night.”

“Sammy, did you check the probes?” Heather asked.

Sammy nodded. “Yup!”

“Do you have your survey equipment, Sean and Harry? Can you fly with it?” Heather asked.

“Yes, it is working. We will get it done as quickly as we can. We can operate the navigation stuff to map a grid,” said Sean.

“I am ready to cover you guys while you do your thing,” said Horti.

“Put on your armor cloaking and start your armor. Horti, please add a magic cloak,” Heather requested. “I am switching off the lights.”

They walked up the stairs of the farm next to the haunted farms. Heather opened the door. The group walked out of the basement into the passage of the large old farmhouse and then out of the back door.

Sean and Harry took off. They climbed silently into the night until they reached several meters below the cavern’s roof.”

‘The bugs are ingenious,’ said Craig moving to telepathy. ‘I wondered how we would hover for half the night above the haunted farm—using a piton into the cavern’s roof with a hook for these hammocks works like a charm. We are comfortable and just where we need to be. How do I adjust the winches to raise and lower us?’

‘I liked the antigravity packs better,’ said Aubrey as Heather showed Craig how to operate the winch.

‘These devices work fine; they are small and light. We don’t need to carry huge transdim packs and look suspicious walking to the portal at the university and again from the portal here. The armor breaks down into small pieces; we can use the small packs that most young people lug around. We can’t leave the equipment here. The antigravity devices are just too bulky. The rope, hooks, and piton stuff hardly take up any room. We have enough hooks to shift from piton to piton. We know where the entrances are from last night. We are in a perfect position,’ said Heather. ‘Horti, you take the first shift. I’ll take the second and wake you if I see something promising. Remember, use the Azloc telepathic channel after you wake.’