"Finally," said Matthew, closing his door behind him and sitting in his chair. He spread out the papers, looking for anything that seemed like an invoice or a receipt, and turned to Gregory's notes again.
Our one hope of finding fuel is trade. Finding fuel directly has been extremely difficult, as none of the other cities appear interested in a direct trade of any of any of our goods for fuel, at an acceptable price, in any case. However, there are cities which don't have reactors. These cities are our most promising trading partners, as we can sell them solar panels and get other goods from them.
However, unsurprisingly, there are problems. These cities tend to be the gathered remnants of the unprepared people, and they lack our tradition of clear communication and our sense of mission. They frequently try to cheat us, agreeing to one set of terms but then insisting on older terms we never agreed to. We have rejected their merchandise on many occasions for poor quality.
Distance is another large issue, as most of these cities are far away, requiring our helicopter to fly for most of a day to reach them. The transportation costs eat quickly into the value of the merchandise itself. Gems, fine jewelery, and furs are relatively transportable, but lead and raw uranium ore are difficult.
It has also been difficult to find out what precisely the cities that have fuel want in return for it. [name] has a processing facility that can accept the raw ore, but they return very little fuel for large quantities of ore. Other cities are balancing their needs - or perhaps just their leaders' needs - against a fixed and limited supply of fuel.
Despite these problems, some of the trades have worked well, especially for minerals. Unfortunately, there is no sign yet of our being able to trade these minerals for fuel, and our two attempts to do so both ended in situations where our pilots felt it more appropriate to depart the area than to stay and attempt to trade.
Matthew sat back, and looked over the invoices. Three the claims about undelivered goods were from nearby cities, but many were from cities he'd never heard of. Gregory had clearly expanded the web of cities he was willing to trade with, but it didn't seem likely that these places would be interested in dealing fairly.
***
"I'm sorry to hear that, Jacob. I'm glad you'll still be with us, though."
"Thanks, Abner. It seems that I'm supposed to stay right here for a while."
"Well, there's a lot to do right here."
"I'm not sure they want me doing anything for now."
"That has to be frustrating," replied Abner. "You've never been one to sit longer than it takes to eat."
"I have a lot to learn, apparently," said Jacob, sitting back in his bed and reaching for the Bible on his nightstand.
***
Helena escorted the troop of guards in their red uniforms through the barn, taking them from the elevator to their space in the corner by way of the raiders' main living area. The raiders quieted briefly as the group passed, but not for long, returning quickly to their Bible verses. It seemed to be Jethro's turn:
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.' And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."
"That's different," muttered Caleb. "I haven't heard anything from the Gospels before."
Another voice rang out shortly afterward.
"How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary."
The guards reached their corner, and Helena showed them where to rest while waiting for a duty that would hopefully never call. The farmers had set up tables, chairs, and benches, with warm drinks and plates of food. The guards had brought books and games, and set about getting comfortable even as the voice continued.
"She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies."
Miriam came around the corner, welcoming the guards.
"Is there any way to quiet the raiders?" asked Helena. "We can watch for disturbances on the monitors, and this noise is troubling."
"I don't think we can," replied Miriam. "We can't get them to stop reading, and if we block the passageway so you can't hear them, we've both blocked your way in and made it harder for you to hear if there's a problem."
"We'll have to play music then, I suppose, though probably everyone wants something different."
"Our musicians have left the city," said Miriam.
"Not that," said Helena. "We have recorded music we can play."
"You're welcome to play recorder if you want," replied Miriam. "I think our guards will like it, and the raiders can't really complain."
"I don't think they'll hear any of our music," said Helena.
Miriam turned to leave. In the passage back to the barn, she ran into Caleb, who'd come to find her.
"Miriam, we need to talk, now," said Caleb. "The raiders aren't just reading random verses at us."
They walked past the raiders and over to the library.
"They read the end of Matthew as the city guards came through," said Caleb. "I think it's the first time I've heard them read anything New Testament outside of Revelation, and I don't think it's a coincidence."
"I thought I heard Lamentations," said Miriam.
"Yes, they started into that right after the bit of Matthew. But when I heard 'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,' it was pretty clear something was up."
"Has anything else changed?"
"Not yet," said Caleb, "but I wish we'd been subtler about bringing in the extra guards."
"Maybe the 'all nations' bit was just a sign that they knew there was more than just us here."
"Possibly, but there have always been the two city guards."
"If they're looking for converts, I doubt the city guards will be very interested in the Bible, given past experience. Helena was hoping to drown out the sound with music of some kind."
"That would probably be a good idea. They're far enough away from the yelling that they can probably drown it out. It's making me fairly crazy in the barn. Prison isn't slowing these guys down at all."
"Hang in there, Caleb. Anything new from your readers?"
"No, it's been quiet. I still need to talk with Isaac about the last conversations he had with Jethro, but he's arranging food for tonight. No one else had much luck with these guys, though I don't think Isaac's enjoying the experience."
"Is anyone?" asked Miriam.
"No, not exactly. Isaac seemed pretty frustrated with them, though."
© 2004 Simon St.Laurent.
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