Chapter 58

I noticed the new passage at the back of the cave when I got up again and headed for it. It was surprising since it was nearly a hundred feet in length and it made three right-angle turns on itself as I went down it. Once I was in the new area I knew what all the meandering of the tunnel was for. It was to hide the light from the chamber and no doubt would help muffle the sound.

I was stunned at the size of the new chamber. I had thought it was going to be a small area mostly for storage. It wasn't. It was probably two hundred yards wide and four hundred yards deep. There was a large storage area against the back wall and all of our new weapons and ammunition were stored there. It looked like an afterthought compared to the rest of the place.

The new chamber was a fully equipped indoor shooting and archery range. There were forty stations for firearms and forty for archery. They were all fully equipped. Each firearm station had a mat for prone, kneeling, and sitting positions and a clear place for standing.

There were sandbags for use in prone shooting and adjustable rest for all the others. There was a shooting bench behind each station complete with sandbags, machine rest, and spotting scope. Each station had an electric target trolley that could run the targets out for three hundred yard practice and any distance in between.

The archery stations weren't quite as complex, but there was nothing else I could think of that would have been useful for them. They all had trolleys too and I saw there were arrow saving backstops on each target frame. There was a nice big table beside each station to hold any accessories which might be needed.

There were also several rows of movie theater type seating behind the firing line, as if Argent expected me to have a cheering crowd to watch the practice. I went over to sit in one of these seats and was just thinking how comfortable they were when I suddenly drifted off to sleep and was then dreaming of a space ship.

"What do you think of it John?" Argent asked.

"I think it is the most well equipped indoor shooting facility I have ever seen, or heard of."

"We did try to do a thorough job. We couldn't help overhearing your conversation with the shaman about keeping everyone busy this winter, and while we were at it we decided to make this facility big enough for everyone to use during the cold months.

"You haven't seen it yet, but we have quietly opened an entrance tunnel from the canyon so that you will not have to get all the additional traffic through your home. It is not open to the canyon yet but it can be opened at any time," he told me, proudly.

"You have done a wonderful job Argent and I also need to thank you for providing new clothes for Ladeliea. It was a stroke of genius on your part to give her clothes that appeared to be from the skin of a different animal."

"We felt it would not be right for her to have clothes that looked exactly like those of your mates. If you do find it necessary to kill the shaman and take her as a mate we will change them of course," he told me.

"I don't think it will come to that. Remember, he will be traveling and away at night many times."

"Yes, we had not considered it. We are also considering clothes for Danlo's mates. Will that be acceptable?" he asked.

"They have a fairly rigid pecking order and I'm afraid that would be premature. You may have to furnish clothes for many of the others before you get down to Danlo's mates. In fact they aren't even mated yet."

"Maybe we should wait until the trousers have been worn by your mates for awhile. That would give us a better idea of how they will be received," he said.

"I think you're getting the idea now. I would like to compliment your designer on the work he has done so far."

"He is so excited about all this. It is really his particular forte. He will be stamping his little feet over the delay for outfitting the other women though."

I nearly laughed out loud over that, even though I was dreaming. Argent's comment hadn't carried the least connotation of disapproval, but it did go right to the heart of things. I guess sexual orientations carried some stereotypes which were founded in fact and actually universal.

It did make me wonder how a person who probably wasn't even interested in the females of his own race or species could do such a wonderful job of designing sexy clothing for females of a completely different one.

"John we never listen to your thoughts even though it is possible for us, but since the recent unpleasantness we have paid very careful attention to any sign we might get from observing you.

"When you were at the other camp and talking with the shaman about the devil and things you would have your people doing during the winter we noticed you seemed to be lost in a thought of your own for a moment and then you seemed to let it drift away. Do you remember what it was?" he asked.

"In fact I do and I have not given up on it yet. I was trying to decide if I could fit a sawmill and associated equipment into my freight."

"That is tremendous! Do you know how to operate a sawmill and how to harvest the correct trees for lumber?" Argent asked, and his voice was dripping excitement.

"Hell Argent, I thought you checked me out before you gave me this job. My daddy worked in and around sawmills all his life. I was born in a shotgun house at a sawmill and until I was ten I didn't know there was anyplace to shop besides the commissary - the company store. I worked at that same sawmill myself after I was old enough and I've been paid in brozine more times than I care to remember."

"I have never heard of brozine John, what is it?" Argent asked.

"Company money, scrip. Sawmills routinely paid with brozine and it was only accepted for payment at the company's commissary. They paid their workers with brozine since cash was hard to come by many times. Haven't you ever heard the line from that song? Owed my soul to the company store. No matter what you owed the company store you paid it in brozine."

"A very interesting detail John, but how does that translate to your knowledge of sawmills?" he asked.

"Because I learned that interesting detail while living at a sawmill and working at one. We were discussing whether I knew how to operate a sawmill."

"Yes and it will be wonderful if you can build one, but aren't they tremendously large?" He wanted to know.

"They can be or they can be very small. That is what I was considering. If I can get it straight in my mind and with your ability to provide light weight machinery I might be able to put up a little sawmill in one of the large caves we aren't really using.

"The trouble is it will also take other equipment for harvesting and hauling the saw logs. The timber can't be had in a lightweight model."

"I see the problem there. Can it even be harvested with only livestock power?" Argent asked.

"It was for centuries before the steam engine was invented. I will have to think about it some more."