Chapter 31

New characters appearing in this chapter and the next:

Gwyneth O'Leary

Doctor, OB/GYN, Irish, 5'-3" tall, 108 pounds, 34B-23-35, 28 years old, long red hair, gray eyes, some freckles

Gwyn and Glanda

Mike and Gretchen's Daughters, born 6 November 2051, both have dark Auburn hair and gray eyes

Sererena and Saraid

Pat and Petra's Daughters, born on 6 November 2051, both have red hair and green eyes

Early on Monday morning both of our Grandmothers and our Moms came to visit us. We all wound up in the large parlor at Pat's house.

"We need to talk to you and your Wives, but particularly your Wives, about their health," Grandmother Katie started once we were all seated.

"Health... !?" I started.

"We are all healthy!" Clare told her in a knowing voice.

"Yes, I'm sure that you are, Dear," Grandmother Margie told her. "But you should still see a gynecologist. Gretchen and Petra especially need to see an OB/GYN."

"What are those?" Shannon asked not understanding.

"They are female health doctors," my Mom told her.

"Female... ??" Sheena asked.

"Baby Doctors," Aunt Sara told all six women.

"Oh, mid-wives!"" several of the girls responded.

"These Doctors are a little more specialized than mid-wives, but you have the right idea," Grandmother Margie told the women with a smile.

"We aren't due yet," Petra said after absorbing all of this.

"I know, Dear, but an OB/GYN can keep an eye on you for any trouble. She will check your health and the babies' health. She can even take pictures of the babies while they are still in your belly. They will also make arrangements for the delivery and for a room at the hospital," Grandmother Margie explained to them.

"We won't have our babies at home!?" Gretchen asked in shock.

"No Dear. Women here go to the hospital to have their babies. They have a special section just for the birth and for caring for newborns. Women are usually there for about three days after the birth before they go home with their babies," Grandmother Katie explained very patiently.

"Will we be alone among strangers?" Petra asked in fright.

"Oh no, Dear. We will all visit you, and Mike and Pat can stay with you most of the time. Even your Co-wives could stay with you," Aunt Sara informed her Daughter-in-Law. Both pregnant women seemed relieved at this news.

"We'll call our personal OB/GYN to arrange appointments for all of you. We have dealt with this particular group of Doctors for a long time now, and they understand about the different arrangements in our family," Grandmother Katie told us.

"We won't be here from the 25th through the 27th at least," I told her then.

"Where are you going?" my Mom asked.

"We're taking Uncle Frank to the Other Reality to introduce mechanical printing there. Grandfather Michael requested it," I told her.

"Are all of your Wives going?" Aunt Sara asked.

"No, only Shannon and Sheena will be going with us," Pat told his Mother.

"That's all right. It usually takes a week or more to get an appointment. We'll be sure to get one for after you return," Grandmother Katie assured us. They all hugged our Wives then before returning to their regular pursuits. There was still a lot of food to be canned or frozen even though the harvest had settled down by now. Our Moms needed to return to the University for the classes that they taught there.

Pat and I left our Wives in the kitchen following this meeting. They were doing their own canning and freezing of what they had grown in their garden this summer. Gretchen and Petra had been surprised at the size and diversity of their personal garden.

Pat and I went to the printing plant with our PDUs. We downloaded the pictures that we had taken of Uncle Frank's printing press and shop onto one of the computers, and then spent some time getting the composition just right for what we wanted to show. Finally we printed thirty full color copies of each picture, and bound them together into spiral wire-bound books with a nice cover that we had created.

"These ought to get their attention," Pat told me, as we boxed them up.

We also collected some commercially printed magazines, newspapers, and a few books to take with us. To round out our part of the presentation, we took copies of several of the books on Magic that we print. We also took copies of printed pages just as they come from the press, as well as those that had been folded and trimmed forming what are called signatures to show them how we formed the pages into books.

On Friday morning, the 25th, we were up early and we prepared to leave for the Otherworld. I had spent the night keeping Clare and Gretchen well satisfied, as we wouldn't be seeing them for three days if things went as expected. They, as well as Cathleen and Petra, were all weepy as Shannon, Sheena, Pat and I prepared to leave. We all assured them with hugs and kisses that we would be back as soon as possible before transferring to our Grandparents' house to use the portal there.

Uncle Frank was waiting for us at his shop. He and his two gnomes were ready to leave. He had books, paper, and other equipment ready to go.

"I guess we're ready to go," he said looking around the shop to see if he had forgotten anything. We added our boxes of materials to his and the four of us surrounded them and the supplies. We used the transfer spell to take us to the Grove where we cast the spell to transfer us to Grandfather Michael's palace in the Other Reality. On adding the accumulated Magic to the complicated glyph we had drawn in the air while chanting the spell, we all vanished from the Otherworld.

We instantly appeared in the Reception Hall of the Grand Master's Palace in Frankfurt. Everyone present there was startled, as they usually were by our appearances.

"Welcome, Grandsons," Michael O'Neill, Grand Master of the Union, said after we had appeared. "We were wondering when you would appear." It was immediately obvious who the 'WE' that he was referring to were, as there were two dozen plus men in various styles of clothing present in the Reception Hall. Since they obviously weren't his advisers, who were over to the right of the throne, we assumed that these were the people that he had invited for our presentation.

"Good morning, Grandfather," we all answered bowing to him.

"This is our Uncle Frank and his assistants," I continued. "We will be ready to begin shortly if you will tell us where to set up our displays."

"I see that you have brought quite a bit of material with you. I have had the banquet hall set up as a classroom. I'm sure that you will find it more than adequate for your requirements," he told us with a smile. Pat and I prepared to move everything to the banquet hall, but we were interrupted by one of the visiting Wizards, who had an objection.

"Is it really necessary to have those two subhumans at this meeting, Grand Master!?" he demanded loudly. Uncle Frank was instantly pissed at these words. Fortunately, Pat and I had schooled him in how to address our Grandfather, the Grand Master.

"Grand Master!" Uncle Frank began in a loud voice after a quick bow, "my two assistants are an integral part of my presentation. We will depart rather than leave them out. If the 'Gentleman' objects to their presence, he is welcome to leave."

"Well said, Uncle Frank!" Grandfather Michael remarked. "Anyone who objects is welcome to leave, but will not be allowed to participate in this venture for the next ten years," he finished, sternly. There were many raised eyebrows at this announcement, and a few quick discussions, but no one left.

"If you will give us a short time to get set up, we'll be ready to begin in about ten minutes or so," I told them before we all vanished and reappeared in the banquet hall with all of our material.

The banquet hall had been slightly rearranged for our presentation. There was a group of tables with chairs for those attending to sit at. Across the front of the room and down both sides were tables covered with cloths where we could set out the various displays that we had brought. The remaining equipment was kept behind the front tables ready to be used in the demonstration, but out of the way. We had things set up in short order, and were ready to begin when Grandfather led his advisers and the guests into the banquet hall.

"Good morning Grand Master, Masters and Gentlemen," was how Uncle Frank began his presentation. "We will begin this discussion of mechanical printing with a review of book creation as it is currently done here, and then I will go on to describe how books are turned out in the Reality of Less Magic."

Uncle Frank went on to review how they worked and asked for estimates of the time needed to copy and bind a book locally. He was surprised with the estimates given by several people. He then held up one of his large printed books, and asked how long it would require to copy it here. Several men came forward to inspect the book, its paper, and binding. After a short discussion, they reached a conclusion.

"It would require a Master Copyist and two journeymen a year to copy a book that size, but ours would be much more elegant with hand colored large block letters at the top of each page," their spokesman stated.

"Thank you, Gentlemen," Uncle Frank said and then brought out another book of similar size for them to look at. "Is this more like what you would produce?" he asked. The men again inspected the book carefully before answering.

"Yes, this is much closer to what we would produce," their spokesman said after consulting with the others.

"The first plainer book took six weeks for my assistants and myself to print, but in that six week period we printed ONE HUNDRED OF THESE BOOKS!" Uncle Frank told the startled participants of the conference as he held the book aloft. He didn't give them time to object, however.

"This second fancier book also took about six weeks to print using two presses. It took a further three weeks to complete coloring the fancy block lettering at the top of each page. Again this was for one hundred books," Uncle Frank finished holding up the second book to the looks of the absolutely dumbfounded participants.

"Grand Master!" one of the Senior Wizards called. "Can this possibly be true? Can books actually be produced that quickly, and if so who would there be to purchase them?"

"They can definitely be created that fast even on the type of press that this Gentleman is using, and his is one of more early type of presses. There are presses in the other Reality that can turn out huge, to us unimaginable, quantities of books, magazines, and news papers very quickly," Grandfather Michael assured them.

At this time, our Wives, Pat, and I handed out the copies of the booklet on Uncle Frank's press that we had prepared. There weren't enough for everyone to get one, as there were more people present that we had anticipated, but there were several copies for each table. The participants were shocked that everything was in lifelike color, and that all of the copies were exactly alike.

"My Cousin and I prepared these handouts ourselves. It took us less than six hours to prepare, print, and bind these thirty copies of the handout, and we are not professional printers although we have run the presses that our family uses to produce books on Magic. Those presses can print sheets of eight book pages at the rate of 6,000 sheets an hour. Ours are not the largest or the fastest presses available, but they have served us well for years," Pat told them. The shock on their faces had to be seen to be believed.

"But books are expensive. Who would have the money to purchase all of these books that you can print?" an older man asked from the side of the room.

"That is the whole point of mechanical printing," Uncle Frank answered taking over the lecture again. "Because the books can be printed quickly, the cost of each book is lower. For example, if it takes three people six weeks say to produce one hundred books, the cost is spread across the hundred books. Each book can be priced significantly lower. At the lower price, more people can afford to buy them, and they will sell quickly."

"It isn't just books on Magic that can be printed," he continued. "I'm sure that each Guild has instructions for their students as well as for their Master Craftsmen and others. Smaller books can be printed quickly and cheaply so that each student or member of the Guild can have one. The same is true for law books, and for the distribution of news.

"The quantity of any item printed can be varied to suit the number required by the user. Of course, it is cheaper to print larger quantities of something than a smaller quantity, as there is a certain set up time required for any job," Uncle Frank told them.

The presentation continued for the entire three days allotted. After the first day, many of the Senior Wizards didn't return, as they weren't interested in the nuts and bolts of how it was done. Knowing that it was possible was enough for many of them.

The men who would actually be involved in the book printing trade were there as early as possible each day, and stayed until we were all worn out. They had myriad questions on everything to do with printing: presses, type, paper, ink, procedures, everything. They were especially excited that things could be printed in any language that had an alphabet.

The gnomes were especially busy. The wood worker covered press construction to several small classes using our printouts to explain things and show them the details.

The printer gnome covered type casting and mold making for those who would be involved in that activity. Many were shocked at the needed precision for the type molds, but were sure that they could accomplish it - somehow.

Uncle Frank and the rest of us talked about printing in general and explained things as best we could. We helped demonstrate the proofing press to numerous small groups so each person could see how it worked. Pat and I spent some time explaining four-color printing also, but doubted that they would be capable of that for a very long time.

At the close of the meetings on Sunday evening, there was a dinner for those who had participated. Our Uncles, Seamus and Sean had been in and out of the classes over the three days, and our four Cousins, their Wives, attended the dinner with them. We had time to speak to them privately at the conclusion of the dinner.

"God Mike, women have no rights at all here, but we are working on changing that," Amber told all of us, as our Wives weren't about to leave us alone with them.