Storm Chaser: Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The wait was long and when she finished adding notes to her log book, Elena switched to working on her proposals. There were actually three she had to write. One for an alliance with Riko, one for Council approval and a final one if she planned to get the Librarians involved. Elena mentally weighed the pros and cons of involving the librarians. The biggest con she found was that she didn’t know them well enough to know what working with them entailed. She knew they settled disputes and were looking for a place to set up a permanent berth.

Elena understood they collected knowledge but had never really given them that much thought. On the pro side however was the balance they might bring to her alliance with Riko. The alliance would allow Elena to take most of the risks while Riko committed some of her more established resources and received compensation. Elena had the feeling Riko would be pushing for as high a profit margin as possible. With the librarians taking up residence on the planet, the dynamic would shift somewhat and it would no longer be about making fast cash.

“It would be about creating something sustainable,” Elena tapped her pencil on the page and looked out of the window. The captain’s quarters didn’t offer as broad a view as the pilot house but it was wide enough to still see the land. As she watched a brown sea bird dove into the waves and carted off a glistening prize. She thought of all the things a permanent community would need. Clean water and a ready food supply topped the list.

“Shelter isn’t too far behind,” she mused. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Thinking ahead was fine but until she had details it was simple musing. “And who would have thought I’d be musing about the basic necessities?” She realized from the angle of light that the trio would be back soon and she closed her notebook and returned to the deck. As she turned her eyes towards the pier she saw the party making its way back towards the dinghy.

“Looks like they found some things to bring back,” Benjamin said. He stepped from the door of the galley and was wiping something yellow off his hands and onto the apron. The breeze carried the scent of curry.

“Looks like,” she said turning back to the party. They were slowly climbing down into the boat. The steep steps were more difficult to descend than ascend. In addition to the sea slick steps, each member seemed rather heavily laden. She remembered Mateo adding several empty bags to the dinghy’s load. They now appeared to be full.

When they reached the side of the ship, Elena lowered the hooks. Mateo fastened one to the bow while Andre clipped one to the stern. They signaled the all clear and Elena turned on the winch. The small boat lifted out of the water and returned to its holding cradle. Its passengers exited, hauling their treasures to the deck. Elena noticed the wide grins and excitement and wondered if Christopher Columbus’ crew once wore identical expressions.

“So did you find anything?” She asked in her most innocent voice. Behind her Benjamin chuckled. Mateo frowned.

“We found a lot smarty pants,” he told her. He grinned, his frown forgotten. “You have to see this.” One by one sample jars and containers were pulled from the bags. Some contained dirt and water, others various plant samples, and while useful many of them were not that exciting. Mateo rolled a small log from one of the bags.

“This was from one of the downed trees,” he explained. “Looked like wind damage. Check out the grain.” Elena dutifully looked at the wood. She saw the densely packed rings, smiled and handed it back. Mateo sighed. “It’s dense old growth,” he explained. “The kind that is really good for building channel riders.” Comprehension dawned.

“Oh,” she said viewing the log with more respect. Excitement glowed on Mateo’s face. Kiera was not too far behind in the excitement department.

“I’m so used to dealing with just layers of pollen samples,” She said as she delicately transferred some of her plant samples from the bag to the deck. Each one had been carefully dug up, the roots still encased in dirt. Dirt was embedded in Kiera’s finger nails and she had a dark smudge across one cheek. Some of her long hair had pulled loose from her ponytail and danced in the breeze. All three of them looked tired and sweaty as well as excited.

“How far did you guys go?” she asked.

“Not too far,” Andre replied as the other two continued to extract their samples. “We mostly stuck to the coast line. We did find the start of an old road.” He moved to stand next to Elena and turned on his camera. Benjamin moved to Elena’s other side and looked over her shoulder as Andre began to flip through his photos. “See here is the road.He pointed to a flat spot. It was very near the edge of the pier.

“The pier goes all the way to shore,” Kiera said. You can see various locations along it where it looks as though ships could tie up. My guess is the smaller ones were tied up closer to shore.”

“Makes sense,” Elena said as Kiera pulled a small flowering vine from the bag. “You would want a road from port to market.” The scent of the flower was almost citrus crisp with sweet undertones. “Nice,” Elena said sniffing approvingly.

“Yeah I figure if nothing else you could make perfume from it,” Kiera said. “Besides it’s pretty.”

“The road seems to lead to a clump of buildings. We’re going to look into it tomorrow.”

“And look at these,” Mateo held out his hand which contained a couple of stones that gleamed a deep blue. Even if they ended up not being good for jewelry Elena estimated that there were probably craftsmen and artisans who could make use of them. One by one treasures were brought to light, conversations crossing and bisecting as the excitement bubbled. Even after the samples were stowed and dinner was served the excitement continued.

“So you are heading down the main road tomorrow?” Elena asked as the plates were passed.

“That seems to be the plan,” Mateo answered, taking a scoop of rice from the large bowl.

“Could you look at the buildings for me? See if the larger ones are still intact enough to be of use?”

“Sure,” Mateo said, he paused and looked at her with speculation. “Of use for what?” He looked at her over his plate and smiled. “You have a plan cooking. I can smell it.”

“You smell the curried lamb,” Elena told him.

“No way, I know that look from when we were kids. You have a trick up your sleeve.”

“Possibly,” she answered.

“Spill,” Mateo said.

“This stays between us.” She said to the table at large.

“Who am I going to tell?” Kiera asked. “I mention anything about this trip and they’ll lock me away.”

“I’m good at keeping quiet,” Benjamin said. Elena nodded.

“All right. Last time I was on the Docking Facility I was approached by the Librarians.” Mateo and Benjamin stared at her, their food forgotten while Kiera looked puzzled.

“Did you have an overdue book?” She asked.

“The Librarians are a very powerful group,” Benjamin explained. “They usually keep to themselves unless they are needed to settle a dispute.”

“Oh,” Kiera said. Elena could tell that she still wasn’t sure what that meant but she figured Benjamin’s explanation would suffice.

“And they approached you,” Mateo prompted her.

“Yes,” she replied. “They are looking for a secure location to use as a permanent archives.” She took a sip of her water. “I gathered they would need a lot of space. Should some of the larger buildings prove usable…” She let the thought trail off. Mateo and Benjamin stared at her for a moment. She put her glass down and picked her fork back up. She scooped up some rice and lamb and took a bite.

“Well,” Mateo said. He blinked hard. “Well,” he repeated.

“How do you think Riko will take that?” Benjamin asked.

“I don’t know,” Elena replied. “I know that when I go before the Council for official title I have to give the council something. Usually it would be a percentage of the profits.”

“Which Riko will make certain come from your part of the equation,” Mateo said, somewhat recovered.

“True,” Elena agreed. “I was hoping that instead I could offer to grant permanent berth to the Librarians as my kick back to the council.” Elena smiled. “I mean as my proper contribution back to the Guild as a whole for being allowed the privilege of passage, of course.”

“Smart,” Benjamin said thoughtfully. “Very smart. Riko would bulldoze in and take what she could as quickly as possible. The Librarians won’t. They will want to study the archaeological evidence and add it to their knowledge base.”

“And if they are looking for a home they won’t want it trashed.” Mateo added.

“And they are powerful enough to give even Riko pause,” Elena said. The two men nodded.

“They sound like an interesting group,” Kiera said.

“I don’t know too much about them to be honest,” Elena said. “I just know they are powerful, secretive, and collect knowledge.”

“Isn’t that enough?” Mateo said.

“I hope so,” Elena answered. “I am putting together an offer for them. “If you find any buildings this trip that you think might be suitable I’ll have to take a quick look.”

“That’s sort of dangerous,” Mateo said. “If anything happens to you we are all sort of stuck here.”

“I know,” Elena said. “Which is why I’m not going on any of the other exploratory trips. But if I am to speak with the Librarians then I have to be able to say that I saw the place I am talking about with my own eyes instead of just in a photo or report.”

“I still don’t think that is wise,” Mateo said.

“”Maybe not,” Benjamin added. “But necessary.”

“I know,” Mateo conceded.

“I’ll be careful,” Elena told him. “I don’t want anyone stranded with no way home. Especially since I would have to be killed for that to happen.” She paused and took another bite. “So,” she continued after swallowing. “You’ll keep an eye out for potentially useful buildings?”

“Yeah,” Mateo told her while the others nodded in agreement. “Along with potential hazards.”

“Fair enough,” Elena agreed.