Chapter 18

Charles shouted to the runners, "WE DIDN'T WANT TO DO THAT, BUT YOU FORCED THE ISSUE. SEND ONE PERSON TO US TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION. YOU HAVE SEEN THAT WE CAN KILL AT A DISTANCE, SO DON'T TRY TO FIGHT US!"

A man looked around at the other runners and started walking toward the miners. He got about 20 feet away, and Charles ordered him to halt and explain what they wanted.

"You are desecrating our sacred place! How dare you go into the Navel of the World? We do not allow anyone to enter the pit except especially exalted shamans and their acolytes."

Charles thought fast and said, "You have no right to keep us out. We are on a mission to pick up the lint from the Navel of the World and to carry it off for disposal. It is our sacred duty to cleanse the Navel of the World of all of the foreign matter that we can find. We have been at this task for years. Why have we never seen you before now?"

"You lie! We are the only ones with the authority from the high council to enter that sacred place, and you are ordered to leave, immediately!"

"You had better leave us alone, or we will drive our magic chariots to your home and destroy you with thunder and lightning." Charles always carried many little trinkets around in his shoulder bag and pockets; in this case he pulled a small firecracker and his fire starter from his pocket. He pointed to one side and said, "Look over there and I will give you a small sample of our power over thunder and lightning." Charles lit the firecracker and tossed it to the place that he had pointed. A few seconds later, there was a flash and a loud BANG as the firecracker went off.

The local was astonished and fell to his knees. "Oh, great shaman, don't kill all of us with your thunder and lightning! We did not know of your favor from the Spirits of the World."

"Rise, stranger, and depart in peace. Henceforth, do not disturb us on our sacred mission to cleanse the Navel of the World. Tell all of your people of our mission and that we will be back many times as we are commanded by the Spirits of the World. Take that charmed spear with you that we used to kill the blasphemer who would have attacked us. Show it to your high council as a token of our power."

The man jumped up and ran back to his fellows. There was a spirited conversation which ended with the man who had talked to Charles hitting another man in the face with his open hand. They picked up the dead man and trotted off toward a range of hills in the distance.

The miners gathered around Charles to congratulate him on how well he handled the confrontation. There was also talk of the wonderful story they would have to tell when they returned to Doug's Town. Despite the good cheer, they all realized how close they had come to getting involved in a religious war over a ridiculous superstition. They all commented on how glad they were that they did not have such silly superstitions, knock on wood.

A short time later, the first dog cart showed up with a load of iron to be transferred to the wagons. Charles didn't know how much iron they could load into the wagon, they would have to find out by experiment. All he knew at the moment was that they would be able to haul a lot more than could be pulled by a camel.

It took two weeks to mine a full load of iron. Charles insisted that they not overload the tractors, reminding them that they had to leave room in the wagons for themselves, the dogs, and the dog carts. They had over five tons of iron by the time they had as much loaded as Charles thought was safe, so they started their trip back home.

They still had plenty of fuel when they reached the first cache, but they took the cached fuel with them, anyway, just in case they ran into an emergency. Charles estimated that they were getting around 25 miles to the gallon, even with the heavy load, so they had plenty of fuel for the trip. They also picked up the second cache and were able to return home with plenty of fuel as a safety margin.

The tractors had performed admirably, so there was no further reason for Charles to make any more trips with this set of tractors. Tractors were still being produced; Doug wanted at least 20 for use by the traders. Travel was only going to become more difficult as the cold weather worsened, so he wanted backup units to use if rescue attempts became necessary. With this many tractors, they could send at least two with each expedition and greatly increase the safety margin.

Charles also suggested that every trader carry along several firecrackers, just in case he had to make a point like Charles had done at the meteor crater. It was amazing what some noise and a flash of light could do to impress people who had never seen it before. A firecracker could also serve to remind people of the power of the bigger bombs Doug's People had, if they had already seen one of them go off, but needed a reminder.

Copper Man left with four tractors, two new ones and two originals, and eight wagons, though he did not know if there was that much copper ready to be hauled back to Doug's Town. He would stay longer if he could get enough to make the wait worth while. Copper is not as dense as iron, so they could pile it higher in the wagons, but Charles warned Copper Man to be careful not to overload the wagons or the tractor in his zeal to return with as much copper as he could.

Copper Man had a crew of 12, including two guards. The hunters who were not needed to hunt because of the domestication of the camels had become guards. Their skills transferred directly, so this worked out well for both sides, the men and their employers. Besides, the guards might have a chance to hunt while they were camped, thereby supplementing their diet with fresh meat.

Copper Man's expedition dropped off the caches of fuel and made it to the copper people in four days. Their trip was expedited because there were not as many rivers and streams to cross as there had been a few years before. The cold weather was tying up the water and keeping it from flowing as freely as it had previously. This was apparent in the reduced quantity of grass they encountered along the way. Copper Man was glad that they did not have to worry about feeding draft camels, because that could have become a problem.

They arrived at the copper site and found a dismal scene. There was not much copper ready for shipment because the people had other things to worry about. They had been attacked by a band of roving people from up north who had been driven from their homes by the cold weather. They had lived far enough north that the snow had never melted, so the animals had left to move south. The copper people had tried to help by feeding the elderly and the children, but they did not have enough surplus food to feed all of the rovers.

Those people had attacked and stolen almost all of the food that the copper people had been able to stockpile. Unless something was done, they were going to starve when the winter weather returned, even though the fighting had reduced their total population to less than half of its number of only a few months before. It looked to Copper Man that there was only one solution: the standing invitation for these people to move to Doug's Town was still in force, so he proposed to load up every person they could and dash for Doug's Town. He planned to return immediately to pick up those that he could not take in the first load. He had eight wagons, so he thought he could take 100 people in the first load and come back for the rest, plus any possessions that the rovers had not stolen. They would worry about the copper later.

The copper people were already hungry, so they loaded up 100 people, mostly women and children and left for Doug's Town that same day. By pushing as hard as they could, they were able to reach home base in three and one-half days. The people of Doug's Town were surprised to see so many guests, but were able to accommodate them in one of the new chambers. It was apparent to Doug that these people were there to stay for the duration of the ice age, so permanent apartments were needed. Construction started the next morning as Copper Man was leaving to return to the site of the copper village.