Bill is invited to Crowburg.
Chapter 82.
Ironton
An exhausted Bill left the clean room, took the hood of the suit off, looked at Jorge and Gordon who were waiting outside and said, “What do you want?”
“Gordon wants to know when you will need investors.”
“Gordon, you can talk to my brother. He has finished his Service, so he can handle that part of things without dragging my dad in. That’s why I’m working in the shop.”
“How are things going?”
“We’re getting caught up on the kits, so that is better than it was. We haven’t released a catalog as yet, but that is a project for next year. My publisher has sold a lot of the books, but that has slowed down because the people buying the books can’t get the kits to play with. I’ve told the staff to tell people sending orders in that no new orders will be filled until the end of Hlyda next year or the current orders are filled, whichever comes first. So I hope that I have some breathing room.”
“Have you decided on a site for your next plant?”
“Not yet. Do you have an idea?”
“Crowburg.”
Bill looked at the pair and said, “Why?”
“There are some advantages,” Gordon said. “Crowburg is a port, for instance. It also has a lot of people with the kind of experience you will need. I have a prospectus, but the best way would be to check the city out.”
“That may not be a bad idea. I’ll have to go and see, but land here in the city is expensive and I have to compete with Ironaxe, Jorge’s family and Beinans for the same people. There’s a beach in Crowburg, isn’t there? A bower as well.”
“Yes, why?”
“If I want Rod and some others in my family to help out or invest, having a place where they can live is important. In my family that means a beach or a bower. That may be what makes the decision for me. We’ll have to plan a trip at the beginning of the break.”
“Your family is seafolk.”
“Yes they are. I was thinking of a plant in Desert Howl, but some of the same problems here are there and the available pool of people I could recruit from is smaller and possibly family or friends. I have a feeling that I may need to grow fast and I won’t be able to do that in Desert Howl.”
Gordon grinned. “I think that you will like what you find.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“My father and what he did to the city. I’ve been going back there for some time now and I have come to like the place. It has a future, unlike some places. At least the air isn’t stifling like some places.”
Bill laughed. “Let’s make a date. If I like the city I will consider it. Let me bring Moonshine down when we take a look.”
“Do that.”
The Arts Mechanical 