Evacuation

by Sherry Foster

  “Not really. I say we first decide what areas we will each concentrate on before we leave. It would a waste of our time to all be brainstorming the same thing. And divided up we will not know what the others are coming up with so best figure out where to concentrate our energy before we leave.” Darian had a strong aversion to pointless administration activities and had long ago demonstrated an excellent ability to delegate.

  Trista looked over at Kervin and nodding told him, “I actually agree with Darian. If we decide what areas we want to concentrate on we will not come back later and all have the same things on the table for discussion.”

  Sarian laughed, “Leave the council to us. We know all the current members, and, like we told you, arguments just do not happen around Darian. They will leave and discuss it, brainstorm, get their questions straight, and then they will come back and ask, believe or not in an orderly fashion.”

  “I can not believe I am going to say this, but we will leave dealing with the council to you. Figure out what you plan to tell them and we can discuss it when we meet back here later. My group or Trista’s may have ideas to add to what you come up with. So, any ideas how you want to divide this work up, I really am getting hungry.” Kervin could feel his stomach rumbling in hunger.

  “Well, I think we should take a segment of our population and concentrate on that. For instance, one of our groups needs to concentrate on how we will get the farmers moved, crops, livestock, stored food. We have no problem with food storage since any trained adult can weave a cold storage box with their ice but we need to figure out how we will arrange cold storage for the Lyriants who follow. We have to figure out how to get material and builders through first. Guards for the people we send over since it looks like we can not know what they will find on the other side. Shop keepers and fishermen and boats need to be considered.” When Darian came to a stop everyone was nodding in understanding of his proposal.

  For the next hour the twelve brainstormed, trying to come up with every segment of the population they could think of and dividing up the task of figuring out the plans. At the end of the hour everyone was glad Darian had vetoed Kervin’s idea of separating and brainstorming and then meeting. No one had realized how much time it would have taken if everyone was potentially coming up with the same ideas. At the end of the hour the general agreement was the task ahead was impossible but they were going to succeed no matter what. The alternative was, according to the massive dragon, death.

  Chapter 16

  Sarian was the one to suggest brainstorming at the mountain cabin. The others could find no fault with the suggestion. They would have peace and quiet at the cabin, the cabin was fully stocked so they could brainstorm while they fixed something to eat and continue brainstorming all the way through the next meal. With the amount of planning attempts that had been made lately, their families never knew when they would be home and when they would be in meetings so it was doubtful anyone would be looking for them.

  Darian even pointed out if they stayed around Central, or went to any of their houses someone could over hear them and that would cause a panic. “And even though we are going to cause a panic no matter what when the news gets out, there is no sense in me having to deal with a bunch of panicked people before we even have a plan.”

  Sarian shook his head, “So considerate of you to think of everyone else and their well being.”

  Darian, recognizing the sarcasm just shrugged his shoulders “Oh I am sorry, did you want to deal with panicked people? We can fly the dragons over Central again.” Eyes wide he continued “How are we going to get Tresimiaset into Central without causing mass hysteria? Everyone may be afraid of our dragons, but at least they are familiar with ours.”

  The men stepped to the cabin and continued the conversation without pause. “We could move her in at night.” Kane suggested.

  Darian looked at him, “Seriously? She is multi colored, massive, and she glows. How do you expect to hide that?”

  Patro looked at him in confusion for a moment before realization struck, “No Darian, she does not glow. Not to anyone but you, Trista and Kervin. To us she is just, colorful, and you can’t see colors at night. Everything is black and white, I think moving her at night is probably best. Of course, she has to agree, I can’t see how we could move her if she did not agree. But, have any of you considered we may need her to convince the people to move?”

  The men stopped talking as they walked into the cabin. Each man thinking about how to convince the people to move. The four men were lost in their thoughts. As they made their way to the kitchen, they each started grabbing various items. At times like this the bond between the men, fractured though it was, worked for them. They did not have to ask each other what to fix, each man had automatically grabbed the necessary items to fix a full meal. Working together the men soon had the meal started and soon after they were taking their plates to the balcony to eat. At first the men ate in silence but soon Darian broke the silence, the men were not pleased with what he had to say.

  “Really, we don’t have to convince them to move. They move or we move them.” Darian saw the others about to say something but he held up his hand, “Hold on, hear me out. Just, wait. I know I have some faults, I know that we have an unusual bond, I also realize none of you understand how real logic works, if you did you would not always question mine.” He stopped to glare at Kane who had just opened his mouth, “I said hear me out. Most of our people live in cities and towns. They know the planet has suffered, they do not understand the extent of the damage. And it is no use telling them to take a trip to the country. They don’t know what it looked like before so they will see nothing wrong. The crops still grow, but pitifully, the rivers still run, not always on the course they were before. The herd beast still have range, the farmers just lose more every season. But you can not, you will not convince the people who do not see this on a regular basis that within a few years the climate will have changed so much we will have no crops and no herd beast. We will starve but you will not convince the people who do not provide the food that we have a problem. Not in the couple of months we have to get them moving. We have to find a way to convince them you say? How much time do you give for us to convince them? We have less than ten months to get everyone and everything off this planet. We can not and will not sit through endless meetings begging our people to let us save them. We will send builders through, we will send material through, we will send our Elite through and they will build communal buildings to get us started. We will send trained people through the portals as soon as Tresimiaset finds the best place to settle a large community. It will happen, everyone has to move so move they will. They can move willingly or not, I don’t care. What we need to plan is not how to tell the people, we need to plan which people to tell. Shadows, my food is cold now.”

  Kane snorted, “You can not tell some and not tell others. You can be so smart sometimes then say something to idiotic.”

  “Hold on, Darian has a good point there,” Patro’s eyes widened as all three men turned to look at him, Sarian and Kane in disbelief, Darian with a smirk, he plowed ahead with his reasoning, “Think about it. If we tell everyone at once, we will have mass panic on our hands. We will not be able to get anything done. Everyone will be demanding answers, answers and more answers. How much do we know about this new planet? Nothing! Well, we know, or at least, we have Tresimiaset’s assurance that if the portal opens, it always opens to a world our people can live on. Not necessarily safely, but we can live there. Now, what do you propose we tell people? By the way, we are moving, pack your bags, yep, go right through the portal. Nope, sorry, no idea what the other side looks like. We need to select a few to start the move. We need to send the other two Lyra, the Elite, and the common soldiers through. All the common soldiers, honestly we don’t need them here, war or no war, as long as we have the barrier up no one can pass anyway. Then I suggest we send a couple of builders and a few small herds through. The soldiers can protect th
e herds and the builders, hmmm, probably need to send a herd hand through also, some feed for the herds.” He stopped talking to gather his thoughts.

  By the time he paused the other men were nodding, Kane though had a question, “Why send the other two Lyra? We will need them here to reassure the people and help on this side.”

  “Well,” Patro stopped and thought a moment longer, “They have dragons, dragons can fly, they are powerful, they can protect themselves, they know better than anyone, or as well as anyone could, what to look for as far as land to farm and settle herds to graze. We have to assume that the herds will be able to graze, otherwise, well, we just do not grow enough food anymore the feed the herds until we can grow the grass they eat. They can step from place to place without tiring, unlike anyone else we send over. Even the Elites tire if the distance if too far, too often, or over vast amounts of water.”

  Darian interrupted, “Tresimiaset will be flying over, setting portals, I think she would know better than all of us where to put the portals for the various things we will need.”

  “That may be true, but she will be exploring as she goes, she will not have time to be flying back to secure an area, or helping our people settle in, we need the other two Lyra on the other side of the portal. Remember, they can just cross back over as long as Malory stays on this side as the anchor. If we really need them we can call them home.” Before Patro could continue Darian interrupted.

  “I agree it is a good idea, how do you propose we call them, they could be anywhere on the planet and we are not connected to any of them, we can not trace the threads to them.”

  Sarian snorted, “The dragons of course. All we need is one dragon to call to them. They are connected to each other, they can talk to each other anywhere on this planet so if they can not talk once they cross over, we just send one of ours across to call them, and then they come right back. We were suppose to be concentrating on the plans we need to move the herdsmen and farmers but I think this plan will be better than trying to send them across alone with just Tresimiaset on the other side. Let me take care of my plate and I will be back to take notes. We may actually have a plan after all. The others may not like it, Trista is planning on how to move the fishermen, and Kervin on how to move the tradesmen but really, once we have their ideas, we just have to shape them.”

  The men cleaned up and returned to the balcony to make a detailed plan on how to move the planet, one section at a time.

  Several hours, several arguments, and one meal later, the men had a working plan. They could not command the other two Lyra but they hoped the two would see the wisdom of the plan. Without the two Lyra being on the other planet no one would know what the locations looked like where Tresimiaset opened the portals. Soldiers would have to be the first through the portals to secure the areas. Those would be followed by builders and material. Based on the areas found, herdsmen and herds would go through next along with farmers. They needed to start the food supply on the other planet before anything else was done. It would not do to move people if they had nothing to eat. The storehouses were becoming lean, the food supply had to come first. The trade ships, which in the past, came twice a year at minimum were coming only once a year now. The trading was scarce with the food production down so low across the planet. The next trading vessels were not expected for months. Darian could step to his Ship of the Line, all the men could, but no one could step to a ship, a normal everyday ship, it took a special ship, bound by blood to the men, to be able to step. Without knowing where the trade ships were, no one could make plans with or for the trade ships. It was everyone’s hope the trade ships would come sooner than expected.

  The men, having worked out the best plan they could based on the information they had straightened up the cabin and prepared to step back to Central to meet with the other two Lyra.

  Kane, wise to the ways of Darian, made one last request before they left, “Darian, please, for the love of Shadows, please let Patro be the one to talk to the other two Lyra about stepping across as soon as Tresimiaset anchors the other side. Or Sarian, he would be a good choice, you are not a good choice. You rub people the wrong way, you know you do. Remember that pesky little war we have going on?”

  With a snarl Darian told him. “That war is not my fault. I was an invited guest in Crisnos’ home. Invited guest, what part of that do you have a problem with?”

  The other three men just shook their heads. Sarian, weariness heavy in his voice, told them, “Let’s just go. We will be here all night if the two of you get started again. It was your fault Darian, everyone knows it was your fault except you. You will keep your mouth shut about Trista and Kervin going to the other planet or so help me I will throw you off a balcony myself. Or through the portal before Tresimiaset anchors it. You will be stuck there until it is anchored. We will let Patro broach the subject, he had to best idea of how it should be handled.” Having had his say Sarian stepped back to the meeting room at Central, stepping out of the void moments ahead of Trista and her Lyra.

  Chapter 17

  Trista and Kervin and the others looked as weary as Darian and his Lyra. Weariness had to be set aside for the future of the people Patro thought as he marshaled his arguments. Everyone had agreed his plan sounded good, but no one could predict how the others would feel about the plan. Patro had suggested wording the problem in such as way that the other two Lyra made the mental connection and volunteered to go to the other planet to help settle everyone as they came over. They all had households capable of taking care of packing for them. It was not like any of the Lyra would personally be packing their households up to move anyway. They would be too busy with everything else to stop and pack anything. As the men and women of the three Lyra settled around the table they spread their notes out in front of them.

  Kervin was the first to speak, “We have figured out a plan to move the trades people but, we do not know how much food they would need. We think the first people across should be the soldiers to secure the areas and builders to start building. Until we have the food issue worked out the rest of the plans we made just are not feasible. We did decide to get a working number of sites and then how many people will be transitioning to each site and divide the food stores up based on population. Which led us to deciding the first people we need to contact will have to be the granaries and other storehouses. We have to have an accurate account of all food available, for the entire population. We think it would be best to allow the merchants to retain the food they have, so they have a system to start with on the other side. We do not believe this information should be given out to the people all at once. The only problem is, how will we make portals and hide said portals at the same time. Once the portals start popping up in all the towns the news will travel like a wildfire and then we will have panic in the streets.”

  Trista was nodding along with others by the time Kervin finished talking, “That makes sense. We did not focus on food for the fishermen beyond the basic foods they carry with them for longer trips. We decided the best idea would be to fully stock the ships we can get across with food stores. They fishermen can supplement the food stores with fish. We did encounter a small problem when we were hashing out plans for the fishermen. We have no idea if the planet has water to fish. If it does, can we eat the fish, can they catch enough to make fishing a viable occupation. So many variables. Since the portals will stretch once you get something started, it may take a village to move some of them, but every small boat will be sent through portals. If it can be lifted and carried through a portal, it will go. Villages can be set up near water, just like they are here, with every boat the fishing village has going through the portal, they should, we hope, be able to continue fishing. They may have to sleep rough for awhile, but this was the best idea. Possibly build small granaries at each village. If we can thread our magic from the water, like we do here, it will be nothing for our ice walkers to work with the villagers to create a granary and ice house. We hope to find fruit on the other
side also. That will go a long way. We would like to propose something to the group.” Trista looked around at the others, her Lyra nodding their heads in encouragement. “We think we should be one of the first to cross over, with our Elite to help secure the fishing villages, we believe we can get a village up and functioning in a short amount of time before moving to the next area. Kervin suggested sending soldiers across, and I think if we are going to do that, we should station soldiers at each village to help keep it secure until we know more of the planet. We think the fishermen should be the first across. The can start building up a reserve of fish in the ice houses to help with the food stores.”

  When Trista finished talking she sat back in her chair. Patro noticed his Lyra looking at him, which made the others in the room look at him. Straightening in his chair he cleared his throat. “Well, that helps with our proposal. We were going to ask if both of your Lyra,” motioning to Trista and Kervin, “Would be willing to cross over first. We think it is more important to establish the area we will settle on the other side first. To do that we need the areas secure. Which is why we agree the soldiers should also be the first through the portals. We did worry about the portals being seen by everyone, which is where we came up with our next idea. Since we all have dragons, we can fly from area to area on the other side. Tresimiaset will be setting portals in the best places, but, we need to get those areas secure. If you, Trista, are willing to go over and secure fishing villages, we need Kervin and his group to go over and secure farming and grazing areas. We need to get the food production going on the other side before we do anything else. So we propose Kervin and his Lyra map out grazing areas and secure them, and farm areas, and likewise secure them. As soon as a farm or grazing area is secure, we send the farmer or herdsman over, with builders to begin farming and raising more herds.”