Chapter 19

Leaving them to it was fine with me. The gloves were mostly for them anyway, now at least, and I'd never been much at sewing. I went to find Denac and his charges.

The girl's idea about poles for my hut wasn't a bad one, but there was something else I wanted first. I'd brought my Boy Scout compass and entrenching tool; Denac, Chalti, the prisoners, and I were about to start searching for iron.

"Do you think they will be more cooperative this morning Denac?" I asked, when I reached them.

"Yes, they seem to have had a change in attitude. If they backslide we may have to find out which one is causing it and get rid of him too. Sooner or later all those that are left will have good manners," Denac said.

"I think we should take them to the burned out section and let them look for parts of the star that fell," I said, and we headed that way.

Our work crew was amazed when they found out what we wanted to do, and after I explained that there was something useful buried from the impact they seemed nearly thrilled to be looking for it.

"No matter how small or trivial any rock you find near the crater seems, bring it to me. The compass will let us know whether or not it is valuable," I said.

Right away we had to make half of them back off so there would be room to work. I handed one of them the entrenching tool and set him to digging. The others we let work were to take away the refuse he developed and then those that weren't working would go through it, looking for rocks to test.

It was nearly twenty minutes before they came to me with a rock that was from the meteorite. I was almost positive from the way it looked, but sure enough, when I held it against the compass the needle swung directly to it. We called for a break and I let every one of them see the demonstration.

It was barely the size of my fist and was obviously iron, or so I thought. Of course I'd never seen an iron meteorite, or any other type for that matter. I at least knew that many meteorites contained iron of some sort. I was working on a hunch that I might be able to make something useful out of whatever we found.

Within two hours I knew that a fix of some sort was in. The others didn't realize it, but when they found a large specimen after digging down about eight feet, and reported that it was too heavy to lift, I went to take a look. It was a plant.

There was no doubt it had fallen from the sky, but it hadn't come from outer space, or at least it hadn't come via the normal route of a meteor. It was a damned anvil. It wasn't what you'd normally think of as an anvil but that's what it was for. It had the general size of a normal anvil but had been disguised to make it appear more natural looking.

It was basically a big glob with a suspiciously flat top and bottom, and an almost perfect horn. These were the main features of any anvil and the rest of it was just a big blob that got wider toward the flat bottom to form a suitable base. I figured it was as close to normal looking as it could be made and still function.

It suited me fine. It would work and it beat the hell out of trying to make one, or make do with something else. Now if we could just find the handy dandy supply of metal I needed. I hated the thought of trying to actually cobble up the method for making steel.

More digging found several oddly convenient samples of what I needed. I even thought about continuing to search and dig to see if we were going to run into a coal seam, but I decided that it wasn't necessary. I hadn't figured out a way to make bricks yet, and especially a way to make firebrick that would be able to withstand the type of heat I'd need to do any serious blacksmith work.

After they knew the anvil had to come out they finished digging around it and did the deed. It probably weighed a hundred pounds more than it needed to, but that wouldn't hurt anything, except where moving it from place to place was involved.

The anvil and the smaller iron pieces we kept finding were going to be useful, someday, but other things needed to be made first. A bellows came to mind, but I thought it would be easy. A way to carry the damned anvil, and the iron stock they were finding seemed a more immediate need.

Even though we'd just settled in here, there was nothing to say we wouldn't be moving on soon. This camp was in a good location, but it was temporary. I had a feeling that the nomadic nature of their lives would have to end for any real progress toward civilization to get started.

Think about it. Nothing of real lasting value could be accumulated if the Calak was going to continue to move around. Their current lifestyle involved moving to a new place, setting up shop, and then staying until they had fouled their nest sufficiently to make moving on necessary.

They didn't even build privies. Like wild bears, they shit in the woods. Sooner or later they would be walking around stepping in shit. That was not a healthy way to conduct life, even though it was natural, to a certain extent.

It wasn't natural in another way. This was a large Calak and therefore they developed a lot of shit. No doubt that was a vote in favor of having smaller Calaks. With fewer members they would create less of a mess where they made their camps. They would also be less of a strain on their local environment. Building shitters wouldn't cure the pressure on the local wildlife, but it would make things more pleasant and it was mandatory for more permanent settlements.

Leaving the compass to Denac, I walked back toward camp, wondering if the technology of outhouses would be my next otherworldly revelation to my Calak. Even if it was going to be it would have to wait.

As I got to camp, Caltort was spreading the word that he'd seen Matatu and the others approaching. The welcoming committee was just starting to gather, and it included almost everyone. What the hell, I joined in.

Zakat couldn't be kept on his pallet for it either. No matter how Caloe and Darita scolded, he was determined to meet Matatu on his feet. He even seemed much healthier than he had any right to be, but I thought the excitement was doing a good bit of it, and his male posturing was helping with the rest.

At any rate, when the new women walked into camp behind Matatu, Zakat and his condition was basically forgotten. Caloe, Shata, and all the rest of the Calak's women descended on their new sisters and the party was on.

For probably an hour there was nothing but old home week going on among the women. They greeted and exchanged names and then they moved over toward the back side of camp and had a conference where no men were welcome, or even permitted.

For my part, I was thankful. At last Shata and Caloe would get the details they wanted and I wouldn't have to provide them. It wasn't that I didn't want to explain the details to them; I didn't know the details. That hadn't spared me the third degree, but now I wouldn't be needed for enlightenment and it made me happy.

Our noon meal was only about an hour and a half late. With the first blush of the news over, all the women, even the new arrivals, went to work and had the food ready in nearly no time. When my mates brought me my share it was evident that they were very happy about the new arrivals.

"You have risen even higher in the women's estimation," Shaeta said, as she and Katia came to join me.

"Oh. What have I done now?" I asked.

"You saved those women, and you rid this world of Kaglao. The women told us that your estimation of him was correct. He was charismatic toward the young men he gathered and he had no interest in teaching them how to live correctly," Katia said.

That statement was slightly repugnant to me at face value but I changed my mind almost at once. Living correctly had an odd and ominous ring to someone from twenty-first century America where personal freedom was the mantra. It took me only a minute or two to realize that we had personal freedom here too, but that we couldn't be nearly as tolerant toward the ones who's personal freedom didn't include working for a living.

There was no room for a welfare state in this time and place. Not so fast though, there was some room. Men or women who were injured or sick were taken care of, our Zakat being a recent example. He could not fend for himself at the moment, and he was being tended to by the Calak, even though he was not producing.

Of course there was the expectation that he would return to productivity, or at least the hope, but that wasn't the whole of it. There weren't examples in this Calak at this time, but I had observed other Calaks who tended to members who were very old and even some who were obviously injured beyond returning to work. Of course the best medical care they had was also available to all. So it was a sort of welfare state, or more correctly, a type of socialism or communism.

At least I hadn't been dropped into some olden days farce of democracy, which was a badly flawed system from its inception. For a second I wondered how things would have turned out if Kaglao and his group had entered a mythical democratic Calak and hung around for the next election. Then I flashed on a runt like W running for Zakat and nearly spit out my food when I burst out laughing.

"What is funny," Katia asked.

"Nothing from this world my mate. It was a thought from my last one," I said, admitting it.

"Was it a wonderful place?" Shaeta asked.

"Some things were wonderful, but mostly it had been completely ruined by the time I was born. There were so many people that even the air was fouled. We had wonderful inventions, but more people than the world could support," I said.

"How many people?" Katia asked.

Somehow they knew about what I thought of as Arabic numbers, a little at least. They could all count to a hundred, and even though I was sure they could go farther if they needed to, they didn't need to. I tried to think of a way I could explain it to them, and couldn't. Then I gave it a shot.

"If you started counting them, you would not finish before more were born and had reached four or five years old," I said, not knowing if I was correct in my figures but understanding that it would at least give them some idea. It did, but they couldn't believe it.