Ryo arrives in Wongpo. The exhibitors prepare for the coming show.
Chapter 37.
Wongpo
Ryo looked at the city and said, “This is a dead place.”
“This explains why we stopped getting caravans from there,” Aron said. “I wonder what happened to the place.”
Ryo spotted some riders riding toward them and said, “Perhaps they can tell us.”
The riders rode up and the apparent leader called out, “Who are you?!”
“I am Ryo Silver and this is Ryo Silver. Who are you?”
“I am Teldurk Horsechaser. We have been watching you from afar for the last two days. What do you want here?”
“What happened here?”
“The city was what they call Scourged twelve years or so ago. The effect killed everyone in the city and left poison that killed for a long time after.”
“Who did such a thing?”
“That is a long story, but the short answer is that it was done at the behest of those that call themselves the new gods. We can explain better at the new town at the mine. Why did you come?”
“Ten of the young folk from our village disappeared one day. Some said they were taken by one of the new gods, Lady Jastira, who has had her hand over the village for as long as it has existed.”
“I would not know of such things, but we can talk to the people at the mine and they can send messages about your missing folk.”
“We will follow you.”
Ryo and Aron followed Horsechaser to a place of wonders. The town was full of two and three story buildings made seemingly with iron as well as wood and a white brick. All of the buildings had glass in the windows. Strange wagons moved about on various errands and a pair of giant iron things scooped up the earth and placed it in very large wagons that when full, went off to empty their loads.
Horsechaser pulled up in front of one building as with a cloud of white and gray smoke and a loud hoot, yet another machine, towing a line of wagons, rolled down a road seemingly made of thin strips of iron. As they dismounted, Horsechaser said, “Here is the office and store.”
“Store?”
“If you have coin or things to sell, you can trade there. Here is where they can send messages to Golden Hill and beyond about your missing folk.”
“Where do those wagons go?”
“To Golden Hill and then to the Mortal Kingdoms and beyond. I haven’t traveled on the train as yet. Now that you are dealt with, I will bid you good day.”
Tying their horses where they could reach the water trough, Ryo and Aron went through the door into the building. The lady behind the desk said, “You are new here. What can I do for you folk?”
“We came from our village because my daughter and nine others suddenly disappeared. We were wondering if they came here or if there has been word of them.”
“Is there any special circumstances behind the disappearance?”
“It was said by some that Lady Jastira took them for a task.”
“The kids haven’t appeared here. Is the Lady Jastira one of the new gods?”
“She claimed to be. Some of us never quite believed that. We had not seen her for a very long time and most assumed that she had gone to the fire.”
“That isn’t the case, unfortunately. See those stairs over there? Go up and through the door at the top. Tell Karal that Moria sent you and tell him your story. We received a message asking to look out for folk looking for some missing kids.”
“What happened to them?”
“The message didn’t say. Go ahead on upstairs.”
Ryo and Aron climbed the stairs and went through the door the man at the desk said, “What can I do for you?”
“The lady downstairs said that Moria sent us. We are looking for some young folk that disappeared from our village.”
“I am Karal Benning, the Umevan manager here in Wongpo. Moria has probably told you about the message that was sent out. The message didn’t have any details and I haven’t received the latest moon’s report, so I don’t have anything more than that. On the other hand, we were told to be on the lookout for people looking for missing kids. All we know is that some kids appeared at an Umevan family wedding in the Empire and there could have been serious consequences. How many went missing?”
“Ten. All between sixteen and eighteen. At first we thought that they had gone to the lake, but they were not there and haven’t been seen since they disappeared. Some say that Lady Jastira took them for a task.”
“The kids haven’t appeared here. Is the Lady Jastira one of the new gods?”
“She claimed to be. Some of us never quite believed that. We had not seen her for a very long time and most assumed that she had gone to the fire.”
“Unfortunately she and her friends packed themselves up in stasis boxes while their relatives and proxies did things like Scourge the city here.”
“We saw that. Why would they do something like that?”
“To test their devise and cover up their activities in a rather dramatic fashion.”
“Killing the city. We saw that it was dead.”
“Yes. That was not the only Scourge devise that they used. Some more were set off in the Junglelands surrounding their secret base, in five cities in the Mortal Kingdoms and some other locations.”
“That is terrible,” Aron said.
“Yes it was. One of the locations was a city called Luggergate in my home country. I was lucky and my cousins evacuated. Many of my friends were not so lucky.”
“To get to back to the issue, would it be a good idea to go to Golden Hill on those wagons?”
“The railroad? You could be there in a day if you take the evening train. They may have more information there. From the sounds of it, your missing kids sound like the kids in the message. The message said to look out for people looking for missing kids. It would probably be a good idea to go on. We here are out of the middle of things here.”
Ryo turned to Aron and said, “Aron, you return to the village. I will go to Golden Hill, see what I can discover and return.”
“There will be some concern if you do not return.”
“I know, but there are large questions here.”
“Some folk will not like the answers.”
Ryo sighed. “I think that the lady has betrayed us. If she was in any way responsible for what happened here, she is unworthy of our trust. I think that I owe it to the village to discover the truth and what has gone on in the world.”
“I will take your horse and return to the village.”
“There is a stable where we can leave it. I will need it on the way back. I have coin for that.”
Chapter 38.
Chatsrey
The Crystal Hall teemed with teams of people making final preparations of the various presentation and exhibits. Mike said, as he led his brother and the others through the crowds, “Most outfits want at least a presence here. There’s quite bit of business going on outside the forum.”
“That’s why you took a hotel space.”
“Mother is in town. Can you imagine bringing business to the house?”
“Not really. I see your point. Why is mother here?”
“She has her friends and if anything else is going on, that’s not her problem.”
Denny laughed. “She hasn’t changed.”
“There’s HH and Vince. HH must have pushed to get Vince in a suit.”
“Why?”
“Vince likes the road and owns a truck. He had some things happen and was a bit of a hero, since he helped nab some people burning trucks on Route 18 and then got the word out about the insurrection and helped set up the people that messed the mound up. Let’s talk to them.”
HH grinned as Mike and Denny walked over. “I got Vince out of the cab for this.”
“It wasn’t you, dad. Somebody thought that I would be good on the board of the Independent Truckers and since Gertald was out of the country, I’m here for this. Who is this, Mike?”
Mike laughed. “Not Mr. Harper?”
“The boys at the Independent Truckers wouldn’t like it if I threw misters at big shots. So I can’t do that anymore.”
“This is my brother Denny. He’s Gertald’s boss and brought him down.”
“Good. That doesn’t get me off the hook, though.”
“I understand that you did some good things at the turn of the year,” Denny said.
“I made some phone calls and told some people what might be coming at them. There may have been some late gas deliveries and people calling in some trouble. After the idiots torched my truck, they deserved it.”
“Why was your truck torched?”
“The Teamsters were playing games to help their Democracy buddies. Gertag and I got them straight and the Teamsters were forced to make restitution, so I have a new truck. The downside is that made me some sort of hero and I was stuck in a suit.”
“I’ll tell Gertald that talking to you would be a good thing.”
“We can do that later. I need to make sure that things are good here.”
Vince walked off and HH laughed. “I’ve been trying for a long time to put Vince in a suit and he did it to himself.”
“How did that happen?”
“He was stuck behind one of Colonel Shieldbasher’s columns, called that in, had me tell our stations in the area to call in the insurrection’s movements and when he realized that they would probably be coming in the other direction, went to the independent gas people and other operators and warned them to get their trucks out of the path of the army. That helped cause a lot of trouble for the insurrection.”
“Making him a bit of a hero as well.”
“That it did. He made a lot of friends between Ironton and Cleadsgate. That was one reason that the Independent Truckers put him on the board.”
Denny laughed. “The Harper curse caught up with him, then.”
“That it did.”
Jorge walked past the heavy into the room and said, “We should be careful about these. Somebody might get ideas.”
“Congress is not in session,” Bob said. “Everything thing we are doing is perfectly legitimate in any case and some people raised some concerns. Borug and Garad got something that we think that you will like, the list of the schools sending kids.”
“Good. That isn’t really my concern, but some of my people will want to play.”
“We also have Gertald and Gertag,” Baltrag said. “If the club steps the least bit out of line, Gertald will boot them out and hand the kids to Onia.”
Jorge laughed. “That will fix them.”
Itham looked over the Crystal Hall and grinned. The stage was set and the Jastirians had the advantage. They had their arguments prepared and even better, the influence that would turn the arguments into policy. The Society had had some setbacks, but the course was forward. The upstarts and their allies would be put in their places and the natural order restored. If that did not happen during this Administration, then when the voters threw the Dragonkin out and voted properly. Thornean looked around and said, “Things look well. I would have expected differently after the last year.”
“There were some setbacks, yes. The fact that the stolen election was allowed to stand is problematical. That was Bradal’s task and he failed. He is gone and we must move forward.”
“That we must. Is the place set for the meeting tomorrow?”
“It is. We must join the others.”
Filvender had a small shrine in his office and he started his mornings with a short thanks to Zaxdon before starting in on reviewing the accounts, something that he had done every morning for a long time before starting work at the forge, even if he did not manage things directly. He turned from the shrine and was confronted by another presence. “You have returned, god.”
“I have. You know that an engagement is coming.”
“The economics conference. I have prepared my arguments.”
“Your foes have a divine connection as well. They have ties to Jastira.”
“That isn’t that much of a surprise. The stories of the spoiled princess were told to me by my nana when I was an elfling.”
“Do you know of the Jastirians?”
“Very little. They are a rumored secret society, but mostly rumors. They are supposed to run the world, or at least some wild conspiracy believers think that they do. It isn’t certain that they are real.”
“They are. I can share some things and you can speak with some others you know and discover more about them. I know that you know the value of information.”
“That I do.”
Adiun looked at Gunag and Shelara and said, “Wyrran and Tarranth sent you? So what is it you want?”
“The entertainers in the Lower City in the Empire wear collars that have buttons that engage suppressors to put misbehaving customers out. I was hoping that you had something that could be adapted for the economics conference. ”
“The installation of the suppressors in the Empire was one of the things done before the family was exiled. The collars were arranged later, by the Lions and smuggled in, but the problem here is that the mana doesn’t exist to drive the suppressors and the installation would take time.”
“I was thinking that microportals could be tied in when Shelara mentioned the problem,” Gunag said. “If the girl trips a microportal, help could be sent. I was thinking about some possibilities on the way down when we discussed the issues. Shelara and some other ladies have been looking at options and they have been talking to Charlie Beinan and Ayen Nerihorn about this. We talked about the lack of mana and ways around it on the way down.”
Adiun brushed his chin. “That has possibilities. Mr. Ironhead, this is a bit far from fusors.”
“Fusors are my cousin’s toy. I’m stuck into making the economics thing trouble free and I remember the last time. So does my dad, which is why he called me down. I used microportals to help recover the fusor that some people made off with and Shelara had told me about the button. I also know about the collars that people like Richard Harper wear.”
“The collars won’t be that big a problem. The good news is that we are flush with material from ancient Imperial devises right now, thanks to you and Tarranth, the plant in Fayspire could do the work and we have the microportals and the rest available. Who will pay for the work?”
“I spoke with Lady Orizana,” Shelara said. “If we can come up with something that works, she is willing to fund the work. The Lions, the Committee and the Shieldbashers will also buy in.”
“How did you manage that?”
“I had a letter from Lady Nightmantle in Empire and Lady Orizana spoke had me speak to some ladies at dinner yesterday.”
“I suspect that Gunag could cover the contract in any case.”
“He could, but it wasn’t necessary.”
“Gunag, apparently you were taken to the Community and escaped after destroying the fusors that the new gods had taken there. One of them was the fusor that you and your cousin showed us. Was that the fusor you used microportals to recover?”
Gunag grinned. “No it was not. I destroyed that fusor as part of my escape from the Community. My cousin had a deal with a certain pirate to buy his parts from Racketgarde. The pirate did not make a pickup on his last voyage and the parts were still there, so my cousin arranged to have them shipped, on an Umevan ship. As result of my actions at the Community, the new gods were looking for a fusor, apparently had a spy in Desert Howl and knew that Umevan was shipping a fusor. They had some pirates from someplace and pirated the ship, but missed the fusor that we had shipped and didn’t know about the fact that I had placed microportals in my shipment. So the ship and the cargo were recovered.”
Adiuin laughed. “Let me look at your proposal and see if we can make this work.”
Filvendor grinned as Renynn came into the room. “Good, you got my message.”
“What do you want, grandfather? It must involve the radio program, since Gelart is here.”
“Could you take the next program?”
“Who is the other side?”
Stringcutter grinned. “Jon Cutter.”
“What is the issue?”
“The Occupation Safety Act.”
“Is that coming up again? Congress isn’t even in session. Is it really fair to ask me to make arguments about something that I may be voting on?”
“I want you to use your experience in the Empire as your arguments.”
“Grandfather, you have always forbidden family from using “Issues” as a platform.”
“That is true. On the other hand, you can speak to the issues and as a Congressman, you have legitimate standing on the issue.”
Renynn thought about it and then grinned. “I do, but I can do better. What if we got somebody who can speak to the issues at hand based on experience?”
“Who?”
“Horal Blademaker.”
“Who is he?”
“Somebody I found in the Empire. Or rather, he came to me. He was House Qinvaris’s forgemaster until Jerry purchased him.”
“Purchased him?” Stringcutter asked. “Is Blademaker a slave?”
Renynn laughed. “Yes. That doesn’t change the fact that he came to the House and me, asking for the job. He was also worth every penny, especially with his wife. In any case, he can speak to the issues, since he has been working at a forge for his entire life and training and managing smiths as well.”
Filvendor grinned. “I think that I want him here. I haven’t been looking at the folk at the estate and the House as much as I should.”
“Will he be able to stand up to Cutter?” Stringcutter asked. “Cutter is a college graduate from Beltain.”
Renynn laughed. “This is the man who came to the House mostly because he didn’t want his wife and Eletha Harper arguing all the time and managed to make that happen in spite of being a slave. The only problem I have with bringing them down is that Mrs. Harper is already here.”
“They are adversaries?” Filvendor asked.
“Not at all. At least not when they find a focus and they will not like the economics club, at all.”
“I like it,” Stringcutter said. “The sophisticated and erudite against the experienced.”
“So do I,” Filvendor said.
“Now dad has the hard part.”
“What is that?”
“Getting Horal and Careea here.”
“Why?”
“There are rumors that Immigration is pushing for emancipation in Ishendell and I don’t think that Horal wants to be emancipated and get more responsibility. Dan can handle that in any case.”
The Arts Mechanical 