Ecurben had asked his Community Council to come up with names for their settlement. Everyone had an idea, and their list soon had eight choices. The council finally decided to have everyone in the community pick the three they preferred. Then, they would have everyone vote to select the name. Esojon, the old Mamlaka, had proposed this two-step process to get more support for the final choice.
After the council meeting, Ecurben met with his two scientists, Retlawon and Noirami. The patrols were off looking for minerals they could use. But he wanted their help beyond the lab.
“Retlawon, Anything new to report?”
“We briefed the patrol and checked out a few more food samples,” he answered.
“How hard is it to produce gunpowder for our rifles?”
Noirami replied. “We’ve never done that. It will take experimentation. I’ll work on it and see what's required.”
“Did The Planners send any chemicals that would be useful? I am concerned we will run out of ammunition for the rifles used to hunt game.”
“They sent some reagents, but not large quantities. The most straightforward formulation for gunpower requires charcoal, and we can make that here. This simple powder isn’t the smokeless kind used in the ammunition brought from Tridon.”
“Can you instruct a small group on making charcoal? Then we would have a supply when we need it. “
“Well,” Noirami paused. “I will need to work out the process first.”
“Then do that and then get a small group trained. Look at other things that small groups can do. What about equipment?’
”We only have equipment for testing small samples,” Retlawon explained.
“Look into what we will need for large batches,” Ecurben directed. He wanted them to think about production on the scale needed by the community.”
After Ecurben left, Retlawon mumbled, “I’m not a chemical engineer.”
“I’ll test out the process for good quality charcoal. That will give a group something to do,” Noirami offered. He understood how critical basic chemistry was to the future of their community.
Ecurben left the scientists for one of his frequent walks. He felt he had been too hard on the scientists. But, they had to recognize that the community needed more than their lab work. He hoped one of the patrols would bring back information on the natives living near them.
Walking down Forrest Way, he tried to look like he was going somewhere even though he wasn’t. Friends would greet him, and he would smile and make some innocuous remark or wave. But it didn’t stop his mind from wrestling with questions that bothered him. What troubled him the most was their need to be less dependent on what they brought from Tridon. Their technical capability was barely more than that of a hunter-gatherer society. Their technological advantage was almost entirely in devices brought from Tridon.
Then, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his communicator. The “down-river” patrol had returned. He set off to learn what they had found.
Ecurben met them on the outskirts of the village. Treveon was the leader of this group. He had a low-key personality, and his facial expression was always the same.
“Treveon, How did it go?”
“We went much farther than any previous expedition. The men were great despite some long days. Three days downstream, our river bends, and we decided to follow the Jua rising-setting line. After another two days, we came to rugged hills that lined an even wider river,” Treveon said, still breathing hard.
“Catch your breath. Is that the farthest we’ve gone in that direction?”
“Yes. But that's not all. From the crest of one of the hills, we could see a large community of natives. The settlement was on a flat area near the river. We counted at least twenty dwellings made of bent sticks woven together. They ringed an open area. Their houses are covered with bundles of thatch. Fires inside many shelters sent ribbons of smoke rising through holes in the thatch.”
“How many do you estimate live there?”
“There were many outside, maybe forty or fifty. Some were moving inside the shelters, and some were coming out. So overall, there must be at least 100 counting children,” Treveon said, looking to his men for confirmation. Several heads nodded.
“Did they see you?” Ecurban asked nervously.
“No. We were up high and using our binoculars. We were extremely cautious.”
“Any weapons?”
“We didn’t see any rifles. We saw bows and arrows stacked alongside several of the thatched huts. Some of the men had an ax on their belt.”
“They seem primitive, living off the land,” Ecurben remarked.
“That was our impression. There were frames drying animal hides stretched taut. And we could see animals tied to a rope between two posts on the village's far side. None of us had seen any animal like them. They don’t have horns but have long-flowing tails. And they look more like muscular deer. They didn’t seem wild.”
“Any luck finding samples for our scientists?”
“We brought backpacks filled with samples. After finding the village, we headed along the hills on this side of the big river. There were places where rocky faces were exposed. We found rocks that had fallen off the face scattered on the ground. We traveled another day along the river bluffs. There were valleys between the hills with creeks flowing to the river. We took samples from the creeks, too.”
“How did you return?”
“We had mapped our way. So, we used that to plot a course on an angle back to our river. That saved us two days. We saw herds of T^Nesiwa with many calves and crossed several other small rivers. There is a species of smaller bird that lives mainly on the ground. They were everywhere. Wildflowers are abundant, and the trees have new leaves.”
“Good job, everyone. You’ll keep the scientists busy, “ Ecurben said, proud of these rugged men. He was relieved by the report on the native village. They didn’t appear to be a severe threat. Their map of Wenobek was expanding.
Walking back, he spotted Curiden and someone he didn’t know walking toward him. As the two men approached, they gave the customary arm across-the-chest greeting.
“Curiden! I just met with your down-river patrol. They had a lot to report. Good men!”
“Glad to hear it went well. I wanted you to meet Ebaggon. He's a woodworker and has made many things – even a boat,” Curiden said.
“You made a boat? Tell me about it.”
“Back on Tridon, a wealthy Rabizut wanted a boat. He had a sketch from a book. So I made it for him but had to change the design to make it more stable,” Ebaggon said softly. He was older than most, in his mid-forties, and uncomfortable talking to the community leader.
“Could you make us a boat? Something large enough to hold two men.”
“Yes, but I’d need help cutting the wood. Unfortunately, I don’t have many tools here.”
“Will get you some help. I want it for use on our river and the lake not far upstream. It's for fishing. It will need some way to propel it and attach a rope.”
“I can do that, sir.”
“Good. I’ll talk to Odraciron about tools, and Curiden will recruit someone to help you. Let us know if you need anything else.”
“Will do. Now I need to meet with the men who just returned,” Curiden said smartly. He wanted to hear about their experience directly.