Book 7 of The traveler.

by Robin Miller

  I said, "yes, despite their natural abilities they were deliberately not showing off. I think we should get them a pair of scooters for themselves."

  Kitty, "just don't bother getting me one, you’ll be lucky to even get me on the back of yours."

  I said, "no shame in wanting to keep your feet on the ground."

  Owsee came out just then and said, "yeah, but they are sure a lot of fun." I said, "I didn't hear your land."

  Owsee, "I hired a pilot so as to free up my time, and got dropped off at my bank hours ago. Nice container of gold you dropped off, is that all you dug or half?" I said, "half, I turn the rest into flakes to use on the floor of my clubs. I’ll need a lot more before I'm done."

  Owsee, "dig up all you want, just as long as I get half."

  I said, "yes, it is too good of a deal for me not to find a little time to do some digging, when I can find the time."

  We went inside and I made myself a two-step, a drink kitty invented. It had spice dew, bud liquor, fire-powder and rum in it. She called it a two-step because if you drink it too fast you only got two steps. I drank it slow, with ice in it. Owsee was in the mood for a cold beer, and kitty was waitinguntil supper was started. Tonight she was trying something a little different, baked beans, scallop potatoes and breaded baked fish stuffed with cheese. We were also having some kind of white sprouts that were like asparagus, and rather good. All in all a rich meal, more like my chef at the club would make. Most of the time we tried to keep it simple, because if we ate like this all the time I would have take up jogging, another thing I have no time for. I asked the twins what they were studying, and they said they heard a story today that may have had a tie to the first settlers, and they were trying to find more like it.

  I said, “we should also look at stories from other races about the settlers of this planet. There must've been some early trade among the nearby planets.” Kitten said, “looking for a story from another planet that is hundreds of years old, may be near a thousand, will be like looking for a speck of gold in a beach of sand.”

  I said, "hey, if it was easy we would already know."

  I then went out to the porch and started to write about my day. Today was not a big day for getting things done, but I enjoyed it. I tried to describe the day in the most interesting way I could, even though there was still not much to write about. Owsee came out and said, "so how was the grand opening of story land Park? I meant drop-in but got busy."

  I said, "lots of people. I think there was near a thousand at the start of the day. We had seats for half of them, the rest had to wait their turn or pull up a seat on the grass."

  Owsee, "well, sitting on the grass is the traditional way to listen to a storyteller, but I would not pass up a seat."

  I said, "after I gave Kitty a tour of the park, in the afternoon, we found a pair of seats and listen to the storyteller for more than an hour before coming home." Owsee, "and you still had time for a game of sky tag."

  I said, "got to squeeze in a bit of pure fun from time to time. Don't want the Twins to think life is nothing but work."

  Owsee, "yes, there must always be some kind of reward for one’s hard work, and it helps us deal with doing things we may not want to."

  I said, "well so far I have been trying to show them how hard others work, so they will not take them for granted."

  Owsee, "and when do you plan to teach them the value of having a credit or two?"

  I said, "as soon as they start asking for things they don't need."

  Kitty came out with a glass of wine and asked Owseewhat he did today. Owsee, "I spent some of my day with my mining crew and taking loads of crystals to the space station, then there was some things I needed to do at my port, and the last part of the afternoon I was working at my bank in town. All in all a good day for catching up on things. How were sales at the shop today?" Kitty, "not bad, one of the farmers that sold his crystals to you came in with his wife, and spent just over 800 credits."

  Owsee, "that's a good sale."

  Kitty, "yes, it was the major purchase of the day. Old by the way, a number of dealers would like to buy some tie dye and camouflage hats from us, if we can sell them at a good price."

  I said, "that could come right from our hat & dye factory. You can call them and see what the numbers will be, I don't want to give them more work if we don't make a good profit."

  I let my pipe as Kitty said, "we are already doing some T-shirts and pans, we should be able to make the hats cheap enough."

  Then she went inside to check on dinner. Owsee, "I thought you were already selling camouflage and tie dye hats."

  I said, "to a degree yes, but now her dealers are looking for a wholesale price because they can get them from other places as well."

  Owsee, "yes, you only have the market in Stardust and lightning crystals, everything else is a matter of supply and demand. Talking about demand, when will your next book come out?"

  I said, "I'm getting close, another 40 pages or so a day. It should be ready in a few days."

  Owsee, "looking for just the right way to end it no doubt."

  I said, "of course, I'm always looking for just the right ending."

  Kitty turned the radio that was inside on, and we listened to the news while waiting for supper. Newsy always had something new to report, and he made it interesting. He said the space station had got a new shipment of ammunition and was ready for anything again, and that there were no local reports of any one finding M.E.R.S. today. He said there was still lots of room for anyone that wants to go to farming school, and that the government was still trying to figure out how to keep farmers from giving up in less than five years. He talked about the new clubs and hotels I was building, as well as how well opening-day was at story land Park. He fit a lot of news into his half-hour report, and by the time the news was over supper was ready. Everything was very good, and could have been a meal in itself. I told her I had not seen baked beans on the dinner menu at the club, and would have to ask my chef to add it. She asked if the club made scallop potatoes or stuffed fish.

  I said, “the scallop potatoes are on the menu, but the fish is not stuffed, that could be something new for the club.”

  Kitty, "well if you're looking for the recipe for baked beans you're out of luck." Owsee, "that's the deal the women of this town have, never to share their recipes with men, it's a women's only club."

  I said, "I understand, and if my chef can't figure out how to make baked beans he is not much of a chef."

  Owsee, "my father made some good baked beans, but he would start with dried beans and soak them in sea water overnight. Then boil them for hours before baking them."

  I said, "yes it's a lot of work that way, and fresh beans seem to do just as well, when you can find them that it is."

  Kitty, "just one of the advantages of having a garden."

  I said, "we should expand the garden a bit for a new crop of beans." Owsee, "due to the trade with other worlds, we have 47 kinds of beans you could plant. Each one just a little different, some evenI have not tried." I said, "well we can start with what we know and work our way through the rest all in good time."

  Owsee, "yes, otherwise you would have to put in a garden bigger than Goo da wa and Grippers both together."

  I said, "I'm not ready to devote that much time to it, what with having to save the planet every other week or so."

  Owsee, "it's not easy growing your own food, and trying to make a living at it is even harder. That's why I left the planet after my father died."

  I said, "you told me once you had two other brothers, that left to find new stories and become storytellers."

  Owsee, "yes, a few years before my father died they also died, I don't like to talk about it."

  I said, "I understand, I lost everyone myself, one by one until there was no reason to even stay on Earth. But I was not looking for new stories, I was just looking for a reason to be alive. Thanks to you and Kitty I think I have found what I was looking
for."

  Owsee, "I said to myself, “this is a man of courage,” the first time I met you, when you landed on that moon I was working on, in that old solar sail ship. I knew you and Kitty would be good together, I’m just glad itworked out for the two of you." Kitty, "now we just need to find someone for you."

  Owsee, "I'm so busy these days I don’t have time for myself, let alone a woman, but don't get me wrong I'm still looking."

  Kitty, "if you find the right woman you will find the time."

  During the rest of supper we were mainly silent as we ate our food, as it was all very good. We had ice cream for dessert, then I went out to the porch for a smoke. Owsee and Kitty join me, and we opened a bottle of wine, then drank a toast to the winemaker. The night sky was full of sparks from falling debris, and it was a site that we would probably see you for weeks. Reminding us of the great battle in space.

  Owsee said, "I hope we never see another war like the last one. We will never be able to come up with another 10,000 ships to sacrifice."

  I said, "yeah, at least the swarm gave us a target big enough to shoot at, let's hope the next war finds us ready."

  Kitty, "do you think there will be another one?"

  I said, "there is still something out there that may be dangerous to us, I don't know what or when yet, but we need to keep our guard up."

  Owsee, "let me guess, you have been talking to thatinformation seller, that now works on station E3."

  I said, "he’s not cheap, but he's good."

  Owsee, "so even he don't know who or what it will be next?"

  I said, "oh I'm sure he has some idea, but he’s not telling yet."

  Owsee, "he knows but he is not telling? Well that's no help."

  I said, "he said once he would tell me when the time was right."

  Owsee, "oh that will be nice of him, but how do we prepare for war with someone or something we know nothing about?"

  I said, "how does one prepare to be a parent? We just do the best we can, and hope it all works out."

  Owsee, "too bad we can't just have your ship look into his mind for a few minutes."

  I said, "that would be helpful, but she can only read the mind of the person she has linked with for life."

  Owsee, "well whoever it is, he must still have a use for them or he would called you already, he’s playing both sides."

  I said, "yes, but even he knows he will need to tell me one day. I can only hope he will tell us if we need more ships."

  Kitty, "well there must be more to it than money, or he would of asked for payment already. Maybe he’s still gathering information."

  I said, "yes, he may have an informant deep undercover."

  Owsee, "well we have already had the swarm, that wanted to eat us, and the robots that wanted to eat our metal, what's next? Maybe someone wants our crystals or water."

  I said, "both are well guarded, I don't see how anyone could get away with much. It’s easier to trade with us than to make war. We have become too important to both the CM and the Plexons to take us all on. Remember what I did to the CM fleet all by myself."

  Kitty, "unless it’s someone you can't see."

  Owsee, "oh well now that would be just great, an invisible enemy. We may as well wish to pick a fight with the techno sages."

  I said, "let's not drive ourselves crazy over something we can do nothing about tonight. There is always going to be something to worry about, let's have another bottle of wine and forget we care."

  Owsee, "you're right, and I'll get the wine, that is at least something I can do." As Owsee went to get the wine Kitty said to me, "doyou really think the next war may be over water?"

  I said, "I don't know, it’s getting harder to find water planet that aren’t well protected, but as long as they are not invisible I’m not worry."

  I relit my pipe and tried to look not worried, but I was, and knew there was not much I could do about it. Owsee soon came back out with two bottles of wine in hand, saying he didn't want to make another trip and that the bottles were small. He was right about the bottles, three good glasses was all you could get from one. Owsee then said, "by the way, now that all the radio stations are ready, when are we going to train new announcers for them?"

  I said, "you know that slip my mind yesterday. I'll e-mail the employment office right now, before I forget again. That way we will have announcers for the stations on the ground, and announcers to back them up on the space station at night. So I went inside and sent the message that I needed 19 people for my stations, and another 19 as front desk workers. I listed the locations of the radio station and said, if an opening is filled work on space station will become available. I said for them to meet me in the garden behind my club, in the central city at noon. When I went back out to the porch I said, "there now, that is done, come tomorrow noon I will be interviewing 38 new people for jobs at our radio stations."

  Owsee, "38? How did 19 become 38?"

  I said, "we need people for the front desk as well. So there will be someone to talk to customers when they come in."

  Owsee, "and how much will we be paying all these people?"

  I said, "just five credits per hour, 10 hour days."

  Owsee, "five is good, I like five per hour."

  I said, "well it's not hard work, and they will be easy to replace if they don't work out."

  Kitty, "are you going to keep the announcers on the station there, or give them a shot at a ground job?"

  I said, "I was thinking of giving them a shot at the ground jobs, but it may be better to keep them where they are, I'm not sure."

  Owsee, "I don't think being on the ground is a better job."

  Kitty said, "unless you don't like to be in space."

  I said, "I would like to reward my people on the space station by giving them the choice, but they are all locals. They would have a long commute or have to move."

  Owsee, "yes, it sounds like it's best to leave things as they are."

  I said, "well at any rate, I'll still need them to train with the announcers on the station for a day or two, before I leave them all alone at the new stations. But the secretaries can start right away. If they can sit in a chair, smile and take messages, they’re more than half way to doing the job."

  Owsee, "and how do we get new customers to pay for advertisement on the radio? With all these employees we got overhead to think about." I said, "we can have a new customer special, low rates for the first week. Just so they can see how well the radio can work for them. Once we get more customers than we can handle we raise the rates until it balances out."

  Owsee, "we don't even have the announcers in place yet and he is already planned on more than we can handle."

  Kitty, "well if how well the hat and scarf sales have done is any indication of his advertising skills, I would say he knows what he is doing."

  I said, "how many scarves did you send out today?"

  Kitty, "47 full orders and a few refills, that's 47 times 10 different colors times 50 in a tube, times 10 credits per scarf."

  Owsee, "that's what, 235,000?"

  Kitty, "not counting the refills or the hats."

  Owsee, "how many hats did the factory sell?"

  Kitty, "32 orders of 100 each."

  Owsee, “that's another 32,000 credits, yes I’m sold that you know your advertising."

  I said, "it's really nothing more than starting with a good product and telling everyone about it, and now that we have radio we have the best way to tell people."

  Owsee, "this is why I went in on the idea of radio with him. He knows what he is doing and how to make it work."

  I said, "the free world wide advertising of your bank must already be starting to pay off."

  Owsee, "indeed it is. I have more loans to review than I have time for, all people wanting a lone against the mining rights on their land. So far I think I have a list so large it will take a month to review."

  I said, "well then we need to drop your advertising until you get
caught up." Owsee, "that's not a bad idea, I'll get the word to our announcers tomorrow." I said, "you know, with all these new radio stations, I think I need to train someone as our chief of advertising time. To get back to all those customers I don't have time for."