two separate steps, so the excavators can be used for any digging or earth moving really. I was thinking of making a more controllable compression unit so that the soil could be used to make other things, tables, chairs, beds and the like. Even wash tubs, cisterns and pipes for water, its water proof, so it will work. I created the original process for sewers that won’t break down for a long time.”
At least three of the people stared at him and stopped speaking; at first he figured it was because he was too young and unknown to be bothered listening too or something but then one of them started nodding.
“Yes…” It was a long drawn out word from a large man with a halo of white hair around a bald pate who looked like he hadn’t shaved in at least two days.
“If we can really do all that, then… It would work. We could have a training base up in weeks instead of half a year or more. How soon can we get these tools in place? How much will it cost?”
“Um,” Tor said, feeling brilliant as he tried not to stammer in front of all these intimidating people. “Well, how many units are needed? That’s probably the real issue here. The rest can be taken care of as we go. Technically the price is set by Sorvee House for the earth movers. No one holds the compressors yet. I’m keeping those back for Sorvee, if they prove out with the other unit.”
Several of the people shuffled papers. They weren’t all men, three women sat around the table as well, all dressed in flying clothes, so Countesses probably if it really was as hard as all that to get a hold of a flying rig. That made some sense, they probably all were Counts, Countesses, or some kind of high councilor. Tor noticed that Smythe was there too, but wearing simple black clothing, rather than his personal cream and yellow uniform. The man nodded to him, but didn’t do so much as frown, more focused on the people around him it looked like to Tor.
Fine with him, these giants could take the attack next time while he led the retreat. He could spend some time practicing his battle cry for it, like some of the royal combat giants had done at school when they were goofing off.
It was one of the women that spoke, which didn’t surprise Tor that much. That she was one of the younger ones did, a little. Not that he cared personally, but he thought that the Counts would. Apparently not. They all went silent for a minute while she spoke, which they hadn’t been for anyone else so far, including the Prince.
“We have two thousand men ready to deploy for flight training as soon as possible, but the flying devices are coming in slower than projected, we only have half of those already with another two hundred coming before the end of the next month. Realistically speaking, if we have one of these units for excavating for every fifty men in the first group, which should be about eleven hundred strong, including support staff and trainers, that should be sufficient for our needs at that location. So… Twenty-two, plus an equal number of those other devices that turn dirt into rock.”
Tor looked down at the table. They had that few flying rigs? The military was getting most of them! Shouldn’t they have at least a hundred times that? No wonder they were freaking out about him wanting to shut down the production even for a few months. Well, maybe he could help fix that then. Why hadn’t anyone mention it to him before?
“Um, well, I can have that made up… by tomorrow afternoon, if I can get some gear brought in? I kind of came into town today to do some shopping, but then heard about all this and came here instead, I need food and some bedding, pillows, that kind of thing, it will make mass copy work a lot easier.” This next month would suck if he wasn’t very careful. Tor plunged ahead anyway. There was a war and his kingdom needed everyone to do what they could, even nobodies like him.
“Then it will take most of the next month to get another thousand flying rigs together. I mean, that’s if I have to do the shields too? I’m guessing those haven’t been coming in any faster?” He looked at Richard who gave him a shocked look, and shook his head no.
Of course not.
Was Debri house just stockpiling them to keep the price up or was that really the best that they could do? If it was, no wonder field devices always cost so much. He’d kind of wondered at that before himself. It wasn’t easy work for him, especially the builds, but it didn’t seem like anything that should cost hundreds of golds per unit either. But maybe it really was? The thought was a bit scary, to tell the truth.
The room had gone silent for some reason, except for Rolph who looked at him and smiled.
“What all do you need to get this done?”
It wasn’t a lot, just food, some soft things that would get him off the ground and maybe someone to make sure he had water and food and, if possible, a latrine dug. He could do it himself, he’d been planning to when he got back actually, put in a whole building for the purpose. He’d have liked to have something more proper, but he didn’t know how to put together a septic system or a sewer.
Count Thomson stood up suddenly.
“I’ll take care of the supplies. Copper for templates too? That seems more efficient than silver. We should send out a group with him, call his new house the primary location and get the first sectioned trained to use the new devices as fast as they come out. Do we have anyone that has experience with the new excavating devices yet? Other than Tor, he’s… going to be busy.” The voice was deep, possibly deeper than it had been before if that was possible.
For once Tor had an answer even though the question was unexpected.
“Yes. They’re using them in Galasia to rebuild their sewer system. They should have people that have almost daily practice with them. Get with, ah, let’s see, Baron… I want to say second or third, Ferdinand Gala? He should know who to go to, at least I handed the gear I made for them directly over to him.”
They decided to send a group of people back with him, which, oddly enough, included Rolph since he insisted and, as he pointed out, already knew the job of caring for a working Tor. It meant that Tor had to sit down and make up a batch of cargo floats without using a template first, just to move all the supplies and gear they needed. It worked, but took an extra hour at least. The fields were a bear to make at the best of times, and having to work from memory didn’t help at all. Actually, it kind of surprised him that he managed it, all that practice copying seemed to have a real pay off in this case.
Three hours later they were all landing at the little place Tor had started the day before. It didn’t, he knew, look like much. But it was water tight and sturdy, and while the color was an almost black, the man in charge, a captain in this new flying service, said that white wash was cheap enough and painting made a decent punishment detail.
“Or training, if people are flying while trying to paint with a brush. Hitting the roof and what not. Really it’s the same kind of coordination you need to target with a weapon while hovering.” He pantomimed the needed technique holding both hands out and pretending to paint the air.
This got a laugh, but no one doubted that it would be interesting to try. Possibly deadly, but the flyers corps wasn’t meant to be a bunch of wimps, worried about little things like death overly.
Tor did the first two batches of excavators before dinner, which was mildly warmed bread and cheese with some dried fruit. No one but Tor and one other man could really cook, and even warming something over a fire was pretty much out, because there was so little fuel to be found. So they’d need to make ovens too. Well, it was doable. He’d just work that in between the flying rigs, the shields and the rivers and extra powerful excavators for Afrak. No problem.
Sleep was a sign of weakness anyway, right?
Chapter eleven
The next several weeks passed in a blur of work. Most days he only even walked outside for a few minutes a day, for fun, and about an hour of slow running in a big circle around the compound that sprung up almost without him knowing about it. His little shack had been dwarfed instantly, a structure nearly ten times the size being put up the next day as a practice barracks. Then a shower and bath house, which Rolph shamelessly stole all the remaining water heaters for and some of the longer range pumps, to water could be taken directly from the stream out back.
Tor explained what they needed for an oven, and given the ease of building and the desire to keep practicing, a structure was built that probably would make good in-roads to feeding those two thousand people at the real
