that day, but felt no responses from his touches. “Well, fifty down, more than a hundred thousand to go.”
Jake thought about it and realized that it would take more than two thousand days to touch every female in the colony. He had to find a way to speed up the process. A young man came up with a water jug, “Would you like some water?”
“Yes, I would.” Jake took a deep drink, and watched as the young man moved down the long lines offering water to the hot workers. Jake noticed that as the young man handed each person a cup he made contact with their hand. He went up to the young man and said, “Do we need help taking water to our friends?”
The young man looked thankful, “I can use all the help I can get. This is the hardest job and no one really wants this backbreaking work.”
“Where do I go to get the jugs?”
“See Miley at the well right over there.”
The young man pointed and Jake saw a woman filling jugs as they were brought to the well about two hundred yards away. Jake nodded, picked up his tools and walked to the well. The woman saw him coming and stood to greet him, “Is something wrong?”
“No, Miley, I just want to help deliver water.”
Miley was about twenty one years old and a beautiful young woman. She furrowed her brow and wondered if this man was sick. No one volunteered for water duty. She decided in less than a second that she was not going to look a gift drang in the mouth. “Pick up one of the jugs over there, along with some cup, s and I’ll fill it for you.”
Jake set his tools down and did as she instructed. The jug was heavy, but it got lighter as Jake began delivering water to the workers. By the end of the day he had touched more than two hundred more females. He knew that it would take more than a thousand days to touch them all, but surely he would encounter his initiator before he had to go through everyone.
Jake finally arrived home and fell on his bed. He was exhausted, but feeling better than he had since the melding with his armor. The community was preparing the evening meal and he had missed the morning breakfast, so he was famished. He got up and washed his face in the basin and changed clothes. He walked out to the community square and sat down in a group waiting their turn to eat. He looked around and managed to touch ten more females as he moved through the group. He looked across the square and saw the young woman who had asked him about his residence that morning. She saw him looking at her, and she stood and came over then sat down beside him.
“Hi, my name is Kathea.”
“Hello, my name is Jake.”
Kathea looked at him and smiled, “I noticed this morning that you touched me on my shoulder.” Jake saw trouble coming. “I also noticed that you touched quite a few of my sisters during your water delivery. Why are you doing that?”
Suddenly, everything started moving in slow motion. It actually appeared that all movement had come to a halt. Jake realized that the stress of the moment had activated his psychic talent. He had time to think so he started running several explanations through his mind. He rejected three quickly because he knew there were too many holes in them. Then he knew what to say and everything started moving again. “I’m surprised you noticed me doing that; were you watching me?”
Kathea lowered her eyes and nodded, “It’s unusual for a man your age not to be mated to a female. I noticed you were living alone.”
Jake looked down and said, “I’d rather not discuss why I’m alone, but I will tell you why I touched you today.” Kathea looked up. “My father told me when I was very young just before he left with the Keepers that if I touched a female she would have good luck.”
Kathea said, “Really?”
“Yes, really. He also said that if I could touch every female in our colony it would bring good luck to the colony. I didn’t believe him, but after I moved here I remembered what he said and I thought it wouldn’t do any harm to try.”
Kathea smiled, “Well, I can tell you that you brought me good luck today.”
Jake gave a start, and noticed it was time to get in line so he helped Kathea up and started moving toward the serving line, “Why do you say that?”
Kathea pulled a string out from her dress and showed Jake a small metal ring on it. “The string broke and I lost my ring out in the field twenty rotations ago. Today I was digging, and there it was! Your Father was right, Jake.”
Jake shook his head and said, “I don’t know about that, Kathea. I was just doing it on a whim.”
Kathea smiled, then reached up and kissed him on the cheek, “Well I believe it, Jake; thank you for touching me. This ring is the only thing remaining from my ancestors since the time of the Seniors. It is the most precious thing I own.”
Jake smiled and went through the line and filled up his plate. Kathea went back across to where she was sitting previously. Jake noticed her talking to some women around her and pointing toward Jake. “Oh boy! What have I done?” Jake sat and ate his meal. Then he took his plate, put it in the tub, washed it, and stacked it in the wooden cabinet built for their storage.
He sat back down. One of the older males stood and said loudly to the gathered community, “We once lived in paradise. There was delicious food for all, everyone lived long, long lives, everyone loved each other, and there were magic machines that did everything needed. We flew with the angels and talked to the Seniors. There was freedom and joy for every person. Some day the Seniors are coming again, and we must remember them until they arrive. We must never allow our children to forget who we are. Always tell the story at this time every day.”
The crowd stood and said, “Glory to the Seniors,” and began moving toward their homes.
“Seniors? I wonder what that is.” He was exhausted. He waved to Kathea and started back to his residence. He looked next to the bed against the wall and saw a small piece of paper. He unfolded it and read, “There have been six births. Expect a visit soon.” He tore the note up and buried the pieces in a flowerpot on his porch. He was worried about the creatures coming, but was too tired to fight his fatigue. He fell asleep instantly.
Cynthia sat and watched her display as Junior sent his scans. “He’s not making much progress, is he?”
“I don’t know, Cynthia. He actually touched more than two hundred today.”
“I know, but at that rate it’s going to take three years to touch them all.”
“Probabilities are he won’t have to touch them all.”
“We can only hope. What have you discovered about that structure the creatures built?”
“It extends out from the building more than ten miles underground. I can’t determine how deep it goes without an active scan. I estimate there are thousands of the creatures living there.”
Cynthia shook her head, “The brutality of these creatures is shocking. Those colonists are nothing more than intelligent livestock.”
Junior gave an audible sigh, “The sheer scope of their farming is staggering. Unlike normal farming where livestock must be looked after and cared for; these creatures can ignore the colonists and just harvest at their leisure. Edison was right; these creatures are much more efficient than the Spiders.”
“I’m growing to hate these creatures.”
“It’s easy to do, Cynthia.”
Chapter Eight
J ake heard the bell at day break and he turned over and saw light coming through his window. He had overslept again and missed the morning meal. He got dressed and stepped out of his door to find a plate of food on his porch. Had to be Kathea; no one else had spoken to him. He looked around and saw mass movement toward the fields. He quickly ate the meal and grabbed his tools. He stopped at the well and saw Miley passing out the jugs. “Need some help?”
She turned around and saw Jake. She smiled and said, “You can leave those tools at home as long as you work on the water detail. Here’s a jug; go fill it and start on the southern field.”
