Chapter 5
Jake's Discovery
I should have joined them sooner, once I had decided I liked their actions. I knew they were low tech, I knew they did not understand the forest. They also did not understand the difference between concealment and cover, and were unaware that hiding behind a bush is no protection against infrared detection and lasers. I will add this guilt to other burdens I already carry.
An hour after they left camp they came to what had once been a broad road, capable of handling a half dozen or more vehicles next to each other. The two horsemen met them here and directed them up the road and against a cliff only a mile or two away. A large lake was beyond the road and a plains opened up in the distance behind them when they turned.
The joy and eagerness of the morning is turning into grim smiles and nervous laughter, and finally failing into silence. Their military arrangements are automatic, but there is a measured resolve in their steps, not the caution they had displayed yesterday. They seem to expect no opposition to their steady advance.
They had only gone a hundred yards, when drawing up to a hill, they separate into platoons of six or seven warriors and spread out facing the lake. At this point the lake is perhaps a half mile away.
I loose sight of them as I climb a hill to observe their actions. Once established I can only see three platoons advancing, a group of four, surgeons perhaps, that stand atop the hill, and a solitary figure advancing up a smaller road toward a small concrete building. Beyond I see another, larger, concrete structure.
I forsake my hiding place and hurry toward the four on the hill with my arms out spread to show I carry no weapons. The four notice me, but quickly look back to the lonely man advancing up the side road.
“Please call him back,” I say “There may be traps he will not understand.”
They shake their heads and ignore me. One finally says “We have no choice, our village is beset by larger tribes, we will offer our families and lives here as servants if they will protect us. We were chosen to return to the widows and orphans if our army's attempt fails.”
I stammer and then reply, “let my tribe help you, we can accept hard workers as equals and offer protection.”
“It has been decided.” he says and turns away, ignoring all else.
The leader stops at the small bunker or guard post, looks in, and proceeds ahead. Twenty yards further he stops, I'm sure his arms are weary from holding them above his head. He then takes two more steps before some form of energy weapon emits a purple beam from the ground and he is cut in half. The platoons rush forward, moving from bush to tree on what must have once been a pasture. None of them make more than a dozen steps before they also are bisected.
We are exposed on the hill, but nothing happens to us, except overwhelming shock at the slaughter.
“Why do they not shoot at us?” one of the four cries out, looking like he is ready to run and join his former friends.
“There is no they,” I respond. “A prior sick civilization set a trap that endures long after they perished.” To myself I think How is it still powered?
The two horsemen have arrived. “Then we must return to our village and declare any survivors as slaves to the first tribe to attack us.”
“Not so,” I say. “My people will have a place for all of you.”
I open my pack and pour out all my rations, “Sit until you feel like eating, then eat as much as you need. I will go to the first blockhouse and see if my knowledge of technology can solve this puzzle.”
In their shocked state they listen to this stranger and sink to the ground. I can but hope they will stay. I must discover how to disarm this deathtrap, or how to use it. Before I leave I tell the horsemen to eat and then travel to the Walking Bear site and send help to me here. I give them a note for Jane suggesting she also dispatch someone to our home with the news. I tell the horsemen to then go to their village and bring all their families to Walking Bear. They can start the construction of a new home.
Chapter 6
Jane Takes Charge
We take up our arranged defensive positions when the lookout reports two horsemen cantering up the road toward us. A brief worry for Jake panics me, but in a second my training takes over. Reality first, worries are usually wrong. The horsemen are real.
There story is entwined with emotion and hard to decipher, but this much is clear: Jake needs our help. His message is clear, “Change is upon us, if we fear it instead of embrace it we will be too late. Come now.”
While somewhat annoyed at taking orders from a child the horsemen see the sense in my commands. One heads to their home village, the other rides to Jake with the answer that we will leave at tomorrow dawn. The horseman sent to Jake is to return and help guide us to the death trap. Finally he will be free to do as he wishes. They obey.
As Jake suggested I send a courier to Hidden Valley, noting he did not mention that name in the dispatch. I also leave two skilled builders behind to continue our work and to train the villagers if they arrive. I'm sure we have techniques and tools that have not survived elsewhere. Willing workers are important, workers willing to learn how to work independently will be valuable.
I've set our order of travel, looking to defense, but also with an eye to haste. I know Jake is cautious, but he will not rest while a lethal threat exists. I'm sure he will take risks he considers calculated, but he fails to calculate how valuable his existence is to everyone's future. Perhaps no one is irreplaceable, but a dreamer that executes many dreams is incredibly rare. We as a culture need him. I need him.
Next year I will be wiser, there is so much I have yet to learn. Even more important I need to dream, do, and accomplish so that my life will be as valuable as I hope it to be. Please God, keep Jake safe.
We arrive early on the second day, Jake is not only alive, he has grand news. I'll let him share it.
Chapter 7
Jake Finds Hidden Treasures
I approach the guard house carefully, although I expect the sinister defense system is there only to stop intruders that penetrate past some long vanished perimeter fence.
The inside of the guard house is a shambles. Long ago drawers were dumped and furniture sliced open and made available to rodents for nesting material. I despair of finding anything useful in the deep debris piles haunting the corners of the room. I'm wrong. Scattered throughout the rat droppings and bird bones are plastic cards with clips. Few are untasted or pierced with tooth marks, they must not be appetizing. They still exist.
There had been a computer system here once, but I doubt if the remaining shattered pieces have any value. Any written procedures are long gone, not even a moldy residue can be found that resembles paper. I must proceed on my best guess.
I will start with the assumption that the defense system is intelligent. I can see deer moving around unmolested beyond where humans were cut down. An artificial intelligence recognition program that sorts beasts from humans will likely also discriminate between labeled friend and unannounced intruders. At least I hope so. If I'm wrong all I'll leave is a two part body to decompose, I would rather live.
Taking the best of the visitor tags I've found, I clip it to my jerkin and walk toward the inner building. I hear alarmed shouts from the hill behind me but ignore them. I must go now while my confidence and courage are high. How can I ask someone else to take this risk?
The walk takes far longer than I'd anticipated. I've licked my lips, shaken, and all but whistled as I walk past the graveyard of brave but unlearned men. There are bleached bones here also, this defense post has killed many times before. I tell myself I'll be the first to enter the main building since the place was abandoned. There is a weather worn sign painted into some stucco covering the entrance wall, a mural of wheat fields with the words SEED STORE prominent above it. The paint must have been mixed with still wet stucco to have lasted this long.
I'm noticing everything. My mouth is dry. I'm no longer shaking, but I'm still tensed awaiting
the pendulum slicer to descend. This is ridiculous, I almost break out running for the front door. Instead I force myself to slowly walk for the three lifetimes it takes to reach it. The door is off the hinges, the interior is disheveled. This is not a human search and destroy. This was done by time and nature. Drawers have not been removed, although some appear to have fallen open when glues failed to hold them together.
I approach double steel doors, pushing my way through the piles of leaves and rotten whatevers. I'm not sure what I expect or even why the doors seem enticing. This just seems like the right thing to do. The doors slide open, the interior is unblemished except by age. It seems the AI that could distinguish human targets outside and ignore deer, has refused entry to animals inside and was waiting patiently for me. There are more doors leaving this new room, but despite my lust for knowledge I must return to the hill. Those that saw me enter might assume it is now safe for them.
This building must be carefully examined by techs. We want to learn it's secrets, delve into any undisturbed records.
This will be fun.
Chapter 8
Something New From Something old
When we arrive I find an exultant Jake. His first order of business it to dispatch the horseman and the four village survivors to return to Walking Bear and meet their families.
We have our crew, all except two that are conversant with tech, build us a temporary village on the hill. All are issued visitor cards as we are not enough to defend our camp. If a potential enemy is sighted, all will don their badges and retreat to the main building.
Jake is thrilled with a novelty described by a wall display -- this complex is powered by a reactor. Uranium was widely used for energy generation before the dieoff because it could be easily converted to weapons. Jake says this complex is powered by thorium rather than uranium which makes it much safer. The display explains to visiting VIPs that thorium was used as a comfort for national leaders. As I read the display I'm told when their private resort was built into this survivalist command center safety was a top priority. We must have entered through a reserved portal and a larger, better defensed entrance might be up the road at the cliff face. More exploring will be needed.
The thorium reactor we have is supposed to be self feeding and regulating, and from indications it's running at the lowest possible fraction of its capabilities. We'll have the power we need to start a large technology school, right here.
Some doors open for us, some don't. We find some VIP stickers that get us through doors the visitor badges didn't. One of the member of our team finds a small room with a great treasure, a badge making machine. Now we can get “Top Security Clearance” badges that open almost all doors – we are confident we will continue to learn.
One interesting find is a security video room. The cameras no longer function, but there is an override switch for the defense system. It takes two to emergency stop the killing, one to restart it, but it is a control that makes life far more comfortable. I guess when the building was abandoned they thought they would be returning.
With mild protests I agree with Jake that I should return to The Haven. I have missed my family and my computers. The hardest part is there are many computers here, but we have yet to determine how to access them. That will have to wait. A team of technicians is on their way, they will start the slow business of cataloging discoveries while being compensated by researching new wonders. There are maps that indicate another facility, much larger, that extends beneath the ground and into the cliff face.
That will have to wait for discovery.
Jake will go to meet David and his scavenging village. He will go in style. There is a motor pool here, many of the vehicles are missing, but Jake has found a four wheel drive pickup that will run on bio-fuels. His greatest worry was tires as these trucks had rested on their rims for decades; but we found racks of new tires in a parts warehouse that have never touched the ground. One of our original crew, Bill, has restored the pickup to running condition and has almost finished an armored van. As I prepare to leave for home they are debating which vehicle to take on their scouting trip -- we do not have enough people here to take both.
Jake has said he would like to name the school after Leonardo da Vinci, the early hacker. He is open to suggestions though. I think simple Hacker School will be enough. It will be exciting to see if this is yet another dream that Jake makes happen.
Hacker School – sounds like fun.
Act II
Scavengers - David
Dearest Jenifer,
We're doing well.
We've been attacked twice by anti-scavengers. We've found our weapons scare these Amer away; they are less aggressive than others we've met. They certainly aren't like the ones that besieged us last summer. Jimmy picked up a small wound from a projectile, but he's fine otherwise. I've decided to send him and Jason home with this note, we may be here longer than we thought.
We are hidden just outside the city near a mining area called The Dump. There are many small claims in the area, but the residents are peaceful and have been supportive of our excursions into the city. We've had many successful trades where both parties believe they won. Small animals abound and there are wild fruit trees and herbs; we're eating well.
I'm glad I brought young David, his thirst for knowledge makes him a tireless tech-scout. The greatest problem is stopping him from entering dangerous ruins. He says “If everyone else is scared to enter, there may be books or electronics inside.”
We have found three books, all novels, good for pleasure and insight. No tech or how-to books yet, but we still hope. The survival of these three inspires confidence. David has found some electronics he thinks may be repaired and even improved. He can probably do it. Once he's twelve and an adult, I'll ask him to write more how-to books.
Send Jason back to us with a wagon, some of these towers may have libraries with real print books or other treasures. If Jimmy heals well, let him return too, otherwise send one or two others. Let's stay with the late teens; although I would hate to lose our elders. Teenagers like Jimmy have so much experience, and so few years left to contribute.
The route we traveled was fairly safe, no settlements and just a few poorly armed bandits. The Amer seem content with limiting access to the dead city, it's a big one. Some dwellings may be unsearched since the Chaos. So far offices have been bare.
I miss you, and all those with me want their love mentioned to their families. If we don't return, know we died trying to find a route to a safer future. We tried to save a wounded Amer, and all he could talk about was how his big king was going to get us for the sacrilege of entering the city before the landing of the Air Forcefull One. I have never understood the religious references of the Amer, I wonder if they do. Funny, we found out that's his leader's title, “Big King.” The Amer died quickly from small wounds, maybe he poisoned himself.
Your Loving Father, Joseph
Dear Jenifer,
The wagon is returning full; mostly of dried foodstuffs and some reading material we found in a medical building. There are many periodicals, and happily a few ancient medical texts. Their ways are strange, but experimenting with their procedures may extend our average life spans into the twenties. Hope can be cruel, but dreams inspire.
Tell the people to start considering a move. I've met an interesting old man at The Dump. He's not a local but claims to have traveled here from a great distance. He also claims to be almost thirty, and yet his health is good. I would dismiss his stories but he actually drives a fuel powered vehicle like we've seen in pictures. It looks like a box, has some external armor and holds up to six men and much equipment. Despite my warnings David has spent a great deal of time with this man and his friend. He seems to be learning, and his eyes shine when he talks of their marvels. Dave says he's talked by satellite with another member of their tribe.
Jake, a tribal leader, says they have a safe haven, and a treasure trove of untouched electronics. David is pleadin
g with me to journey to their home. It will take at least two days in the vehicle they call a van. I'll go with them. It seems worth the risk. We may be killed or made slaves, but Jake seems a sincere man. He is obviously impressed with David, as are we all. I hope we may negotiate a more secure home for our families. Jake claims to be descended from Knowledge Keepers, and there is an eldritch air about him.
The rest of the men here will continue the tech-search while we are gone. If we return successful from Walking Bear (the name of a new city), we will come home and perhaps have everyone travel with us to a new home.
In love and with dreams, your loving father.
Joseph.
Dear Jenifer,
Jake told the truth, although what he has to offer is technologically strange. Tell everyone they are welcome to journey with us, although it will take weeks or more with wagons. I hope all will desire to go, but this is too big a decision to allow anyone to decide for another.
Some great news. In a well scavenged college neighborhood that had once been wealthy we found a previously overlooked feature of the houses that is yielding marvelous finds. All houses in this development have underground storage called studios or libraries situated beneath small servant or slave quarters.
These slaves must have been so poor the did not have computers. Books! Many of the underground areas have books and working spaces called hobby rooms. We have already found a complete set of handyman books, and even a few splendid tomes labeled “How Things Work.” David is torn between searching for more treasure and spending the rest of his life absorbing what we've already found. There may be hundreds more books.
We are loading much of this into Jake's van, it will take him several trips to move it. His van has huge fuel tanks and runs on plant oils, I'd never heard of such a thing. He can even have men rendering more oils as he travels. Our remaining team will try to find and prepare to load more books and electronics when we return.