There were also twenty lordlings, fourteen staff members, ten merchants, and eight artisans and smiths in the group. The merchants and artisans were independent. They found lodging in the capital and were on their own to find permanent lodging and work from there, though she intended to keep tabs on them.
The staff members were absorbed by the castle staff. She could use them; she could use thrice that number. The lordlings were a different problem.
It was too late in the year to let them try to reopen abandoned holdings. There had been no food or harvest in some areas, and many of the old forts had been abandoned. They also had no retinue to speak of; many came with their personal belongings and an expectation that she would provide the rest. It hadn't taken her long to dissuade them of that notion. She was aware that she hadn't made friends in that, but for the moment, she had other concerns.
What he wished to do was to attach some of them to some of the existing lords. Let them take up the holdings of a lesser lord in the spring and then over time they would become a part of the society.
But, such things were for the future. For the moment, she had to house them or they had to find lodging in the capital.
~~~^~~~
Augustus couldn't help but grin a bit over the treasure of the walkie talkies. They had been built purely of native materials too. He only had a few, so he kept one as a spare and kept another with the guards detailed to the princess. He had another, Legatus Tycho had another, and one was with the reserve fast action team.
He had them practice with them and then set up a routine. It took a bit of practice to use them; they had to wind a knob around and around that turned a flywheel that turned a small alternator. That provided the power for them to talk for a brief moment. A crystal within had a slight charge so if someone called the speaker would make a noise and they could wind the knob to power the thing to hear the message.
It was big, far bigger than the ones the Terrans had brought with them, but it had been made on his world out of materials on their world. It was a wonder, though it was short-ranged.
He knew something else about them, that the technical smiths knew what the Terrans had so they would not settle with these for long. Which meant he'd have even better things in the future.
~~~^~~~
Eudoxia was surprised when Destrius met her to receive their shipment of medical supplies and texts from the convoy. He seemed eager as she was.
When they and their assistants got them to the medicus school, they eagerly but carefully unpacked the contents. She was impressed with the tools and herbs. There were big posters for their classrooms, gory, but she understood them.
They tended to shock and intrigue Decius. The poster of the cross section of the heart, how it worked, and what could damage it made him murmur thoughtfully for a long time.
There was even a plastic skeleton for them to use to teach basic anatomy and a note from Cecily that a brochure of models would be available next annus .
"More?" Decius asked in wonder. He held up a tool and examined it. "I don't even know what this does!"
"It is a tool for surgery," Eudoxia explained with a smile. "And we'll have plenty of time to learn it all over the winter. By the time spring comes you will be ready and eager for more."
Decius stared at her and then chuckled. "By the time spring comes, my mind will be so full it will begin leaking out of my ears!"
She smiled indulgently. "Well, we can put stoppers in and then keep filling," she teased.
He chuckled.
Chapter 12
Tacitus was happy at the arrival of the latest convoy. He put the new additional personnel to work right away. He was building up a small but solid cadre of technicians, both those from the Imperium and native students. Some of the natives he had promised a chance at going to the Imperium university in time.
He knew it would take time, but with persistence and investment in time and materials, he was certain they would be able to transform Duluth.
One of the first things he did after the carts and wagons were unloaded was do an inventory. He had a master manifest and they checked it carefully. Only then did he set up a plan to get to work.
He was grateful that Max had deferred to his judgment on planning; after all, he was the one in the capital not the master engineer. Tacitus did consult the manuals carefully though for changes and quizzed the new technicians about changes over an evening meal.
In the morning, they set out to work on their first project, setting up three new wind turbines to add additional power to the castle and hopefully his workshops in one of the buildings nearby. He set one pair of techs to work with a draft of native workmen to run the power lines while the others worked on the turbines or did a more in-depth survey of the castle.
~~~^~~~
Barron Farragut heard about the combine as word spread. He wanted to ride out but could not; he was too busy overseeing the last autumnus harvest on his own lands.
The new tools that the Terrans had introduced allowed them to pick more of the fruit from the trees and harvest from the fields and gardens. It was backbreaking work. He made it clear to his smiths that he wanted to make more improvements come spring.
They picked everything, even some of the unripen fruit and food. These he stored in a special storehouse as an experiment. If the Terrans were right, adding some apples and other simple things would make them ripen when he wished. His steward was interested in putting the idea to the test.
~~~^~~~
Once his new tech smiths were busy on various projects, Tacitus checked on the newly renovated mills in the capital. The first was making nails; they were taking wire and using water driven machinery to cut it to length and fold one end. The cut end was cut in a diamond shape for the point. The folded end was then stamped by a press to form the head.
The nails were then fired briefly in a forge and then quenched in a vat of oil. The merchant who was running the mill had the process down now; it only took a handful of people to do the work. They were turning out more nails in a hora than a single smith could do in a hafta , something that some people were coming to greatly appreciate.
Even though they were still having problems getting a steady supply of wire. He shook his head. Logistics as Max called it was the bain of his existence.
That and an inept but eager apprentice who over-tightened bolts he thought as he examined a piece. The apprentice had thought that tighter was better to the point of snapping the head of the bolt off. No doubt there were other problems.
"Okay, so, let's see …," he had to consult a manual on how to drill and tap the bolt stem and then get it out. It was a lengthy process—one he had the student do so the lad would learn not to be so careless in the future.
Once that was done, he went across the street to check on the mills there. The water wheels were handy. Getting the local smiths to see them as useful had been tricky but now they were all eager for their own powered hammers, forges, and other machinery. The problem was no one had the money to invest in such contraptions. They remained stories and images to some that he passed around during beer sessions at the local pub.
Well, not for much longer. They were putting the finishing touches on a second wheel. It drove a series of belts to power a shaft attached to the ceiling. By shifting belts around and onto pulleys they could operate various machinery.
He had taken a few smiths through on a tour, as well as some merchants. They had been intrigued but cautious about it.
The wire problem came back to his head again as he left the team working on debugging the device. Metals were in short supply since many of the mines had shut down and a lot of the metal had been taken by the army in their bid to arm before invading the Imperium. And, of course that metal had not been returned.
Problems, always problems, he thought with a mental sigh.
He checked on the workman and technical smiths working on roofing and other projects. He saw that as more important than plumbing the castle, but
the princeps had other ideas. He'd been annoyed at her, thinking it had been for her comfort, but no, she had wanted it to demonstrate to the dominus and domina during the next Thing .
Well, this latest delivery had come with a dedicated plumber, a steam boiler, and copper pipe and tubes. They had lead for the soldering of the joints. He was unsure about pressure, and unsure about some of the little things Max had sent along.
The plumber was hard at work with a team though; he checked in with him. "We're only doing a few rooms. They'll have to share. We don't have the material to do them all," Kanus warned.
"Understood," Tacitus said with a nod. "You have running water?"
"Aye. The return lines are a pain though. They are bigger than the clean lines."
Tacitus frowned and then shrugged. "Can you run them to the nearest cultus ?" The castle was even cruder when it came to waste relief than the Imperium. The cultus holes were sometimes on the battlements facing the river side. The wood seats were old and worn, those that were still there. Some had been torn apart.
"I can see about that," Kanus said carefully. "I thought we were not to drop it into the river?"
"They can have it one way or another, not both. Not when time is of the essence. You have the materials?"
"We brought plastic pipe with us. It will work."
"Good. Let me know if there are other problems," Tacitus said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, I will. But I want this done too, I think the Terran ones in the Imperium spoiled me," the plumber said wryly.
That made Tacitus chuckle.
As he walked back through the castle, he noted some of the other minor but important changes. Like the caulking of the windows, the strips to help cut down drafts around windows and doors, and the new insulation. They didn't have a lot, so they worked on concentrating it on where it would be the most effective, usually the common areas. Just cleaning out some of the old straw that had been packed down by the annus and inhabited by rats and pests was vital. Some places were moldy, others dry and brittle and easily dangerous in a fire.
He shivered slightly. He remembered the fire at the castle in the Imperium; he fully intended to introduce firefighting equipment as soon as possible.
~~~^~~~
Zara personally oversaw the installation of a colored glass window in her suite. She had ordered several; one was being repaired. The other was in the Magnus , the great hall. Her imps were not happy about being caged during the installation. She put them in another room so they would not be shocked by the intruders and the noises they made.
The colored glass window was in the room she had designated as her bathroom. She had commissioned a claw foot tub but it had yet to be made. Instead, she had a temporary wooden one in place. Similar ones had been installed for the use of the dominus and domina when they arrived for the next Thing .
She knew that Tacitus was gratefully relieved for all the Terran-inspired things, including the two wagons filled with coils of wire.
They included a new lightning rod and copper cables and a new radio antenna farm. Tacitus couldn't get them up on the roof fast enough for her taste it seemed.
There had been discrepancies with the manifest, however. An entire page was missing and a few things had been blotted out. She had radioed the capital and received a verbal copy of the real manifest. A simple comparison showed her suspicions were right. She brought them to the attention of the wagon master, one of Bernardus' students who had been embarrassed. The missing items “turned up” with his deep apologies shortly after she'd had a pointed discussion with him on the subject.
She theorized that he had wanted to keep them for himself for trade. She radioed her sister who instantly had the wagon master removed from command and dismissed from her service. He kept profusely apologizing and stating it was a misunderstanding. She made it clear to him that he could save his excuses and leave before she had him charged.
He got out of the castle “while the getting was good” as Eugene would say. She had no idea where he went in Duluth, nor did she care.
A look around the castle and capital told her that things were progressing steadily … if not as quickly as she'd liked. The food situation was no longer dire, but she wasn't thrilled about it either. She wished for more depth to her supplies, but for the moment, they should be okay.
She did need to work on that, and the next spring intended to turn more Terran technology loose on the farming issue. With the machinery to offset her manpower problem, it should balance things out. At least, she hoped so at any rate.
They were force multipliers as Max called them. Tacitus had reported that the local smiths were now turning out new ploughs for the spring. They had the designs down, though only a few had been made due to the shortage of metal. That and most people were still preparing for the coming long winter.
Trying to get their minds around the changes was touch and go. Not just with them but with the lordlings the dominus in the Imperium were sending to her.
Dealing with their expectations and arrogance was a pain. They threatened to undo her work in welding the Duluthians to her cause at every turn. Trying to get them to temper their expectations and ambitions … she shook her head in annoyance.
The latest batch had been warned of the marriage contract and seemed actually eager for it. Some were truly not that outstanding specimens, so she wasn't surprised they hadn't drawn arranged marriages in the Imperium. Others were too young, too eager to just become a dominus in their own right, taking over someone's ancestral property because the Imperium had won and their parents had sent them there so they would not bother the next in line at home.
She could see that, understand it. But the politics … she rubbed her brow, aware that she was giving herself a headache. It was troubling.
Since they had arrived so late, most would have to be housed in the castle at her expense. None had much money to invest, and none had a retinue to do the work. What did they expect, for her to give them some of her own? Her soldiers to protect them when their sharp tongues pissed off a clansman? She shook her head.
She had already had to deal with a few lordlings who had returned bitterly disappointed by the sheer work of restoring their assigned domains. Some had been given castles and buildings in disrepair. They hadn't been able to rally the few rusticus that were assigned to their lands. Two had said that the rusticus who had been attached to their lands had abandoned their holdings shortly after meeting them.
She had a feeling they'd demanded more than the clans had been willing to give and they had left. She was actually surprised they hadn't gotten themselves killed. It would have been easy for a clansman to say they had tripped and fallen or had been killed by a beast or not even shown up. She'd heard of stories in whispers at home.
Well, if she was going to have to put up with them, she was going to put them to work. Like it or not they would find a way to earn their keep even if it was guarding a door, overseeing a project, or in school. She might even have them shoveling snow if they truly displeased her!
She snorted. Apparently, a few were still stuck on the mating thing. Some of them seemed to be looking forward to it. She had heard at dinner that some thought that the local women were available since their men folk had went off to war and died. She knew of some of the rusticus women—big, broad, and strong. Farmers used to running a farm and strong. She was pretty sure the dominus to be were in for a rude awakening.
She had sternly warned them that any coupling had better be consensual or she'd have a man's balls or even his head. She hoped it didn't complicate matters with relations in the Imperium. But she fully intended to enforce the law.
~~~^~~~
Augustus dealt with new soldiers, sorting them out quickly. He was allowed to keep half from the convoy. He by rights should be keeping an eye on the politics of Duluth to identify possible traitors but he was pulled in too many other directions. He had to train the men to protect the princess and castle as well as ov
ersee the men guarding others of importance and detachments in the city and surrounding area. He had only so many Imperium personnel to integrate and train while also taking on a handful of natives that he felt he could trust.
That meant he was grateful for the extra support and heartily glad for the extra weapons and gunpowder. He even got the princess to give permission to finally set up a firing range to train with the weapons. Each miles was limited to two shots per week though. It wasn't a matter of the rounds; those could be salvaged. It was still the powder that was the primary concern.
~~~^~~~
Eudoxia made a house call to the nearby farms. She wanted to start a clinic as Doctor Carter had in the Imperium capital, but that was for the winter or next year. For the time being, she had to ride out with a guard and apprentice to visit the locals who needed a medicus.
For the student, it was an opportunity to learn the trade. For her it was just more work, though it was somewhat rewarding.
Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2) Page 17
