CHAPTER 8
The first area Byron and I visited was where the power was generated. Byron said there were pipes that extended eight miles into the ground below the settlement. These pipes were filled with water. The water was heated until the water was turned to steam. This steam was directed to steam engine powered generators that produced electricity. As the steam condensed back into water it was returned to the pipe system. Byron said it was called a closed system and required very little additional water to remain full of water. Byron told me that the power they generated allowed them to operate the lighting and various pieces of machinery throughout the settlement.
We also visited the engineering facilities. While inside the engineering area, Byron handed me a machine that was a little less than two feet long and looked like something of the ancients.
One of the engineers took the machine and pointing it at a target several meters away. He fired a thunderous two or three second burst that ripped the silhouette of a man in half. This is the gun our engineers have developed. It was chosen based on our records of an ancient weapon called an "Uzi". This design was selected because of its simplicity and it is easy to manufacture.
Although we currently have a sufficient quantity of these weapons the raw materials for the manufacture of ammunition is getting scarce.
"Is this the gun that the General is making?" I asked.
"Oh, no," Byron said.
"The guns he has are called hand cannons. Although it fires almost anything you pack into the barrel. It is slow to reload and has very poor accuracy. The quality of the gunpowder recipe he has is also very poor. The variations in burn rate will cause misfires and bursting cannons. All in all, I think the most damage might be to their warriors using the hand cannons," said Byron.
As Byron and I walked back to the quarters that Sari, Nate, and I had been assigned, I asked, "How many people are living in this settlement now?"
"The committee will discuss that with you tomorrow," Byron said.
This evasive answer caused me some curiosity after the openness of showing me the machines that Byron had displayed.
Byron and I arrived back at my quarters and he said goodnight. I entered the quarters and Sari and Nate were there waiting for me.
"The healing ability of these people is amazing and they can make most of their own herbs. They have healing balms that will prevent most infections. They can make broken bones heal straight. Mothers rarely die at child birth and 9 of 10 babies live to adulthood," Sari said.
"They grow food without soil or sun light. Since they grow them inside, very little is lost to predators, pest, drought, frost, or hailstorms. A farmer in this settlement has no need to cultivate or toil in the dirt," Nate said.
I told them about the machines I had seen as well. Maybe tomorrow we will get more information and a better understanding of what they want from us. Why were we brought inside and shown these marvels after they have maintained their existence a secret for so long? I told them about Byron’s statement that the committee had things to discuss with us in the morning too.
Sari said that when she had asked to see the babies, she had been told that the committee would talk to us about them.
Although we had so many unanswered questions, our exhausted bodies were the cause of us falling fast to sleep after just a few minutes of lying in the darkened room.
The next morning the three of us were awake for several hours before a light breakfast of fruit and the green paste was brought to us. After breakfast we were escorted back to the room where the committee was waiting for us.
"Remy, if we may address you by your given name?" The man in the center asked.
I nodded and said, "Yes."
"Well then Remy, I understand you were shown around our settlement last night. What do you think of our settlement?" One of the robed men asked.
"This settlement is amazing and unlike any I have seen. There is one thing bothering me though. I was shown a weapon called an Uzi. If you possess other machines like this gun, how were the generals' men able to raid and capture Byron?" I asked.
"Originally, we had large stock piles of materials. Over the last 300 years we have used up most of them and in some cases all of the materials that were stored here.
While we have the technical expertise and the ability to produce things like the Uzi’s, we still lack the raw materials needed. So, now we have to make expeditions to the surface to replenish some raw materials. But in all of these cases the raids are performed and our people disappear into the fields without being traced back to this location.
We needed the general to believe he had captured Byron. Byron's task was to determine the capabilities of the topside settlers. We wanted to know if they, given the aid of Byron's knowledge, were capable of smelting iron.
We found that raw materials were readily obtainable for producing gunpowder, iron casting and the cementation of steel. You rescued him before we could locate his exact position and execute our own rescue. Raids to assure genetic variation have been our primary focus for the last 150 years, not operating as rescue parties," the man in the center said.
He could tell from my expression that I didn’t understand his last statement.
"In your settlements brothers and sisters don’t pair is that right?" he asked.
"No. It is forbidden everywhere I have traveled," I said.
"Matches between different settlements are often encouraged, correct?" he asked. I nodded in agreement.
"We are hidden and totally isolated here. We have detailed lineage records on all of our residents. So every 15 years or so we must sometimes kidnap children to get that variety," he said.
Finally, I understood. "You raid to steal children?" I asked.
"Yes, if they are young enough to remember nothing of their outside life. They are brought inside and raised by a family here as their own. The life we offer them is better than they would have outside. They are educated and treated as if they were born here," he said.
This facility can only comfortably support 200 people and even with ideal gender distribution. One hundred pairs aren't sufficient to guarantee idyllic genetic diversity.
"Is that the reason we were brought inside?" I asked.
"No...No, you were brought so that we could make you an offer," he said.
"What offer?" I asked.
"We feel that establishing a topside settlement outside would be an advantage for us. We would like your assistance in this task," he said.
"How could we be of help to you? And what would be the benefit for us?" I asked.
"Most of our residents suffer a form of agoraphobia. We have such a fear of the total openness of the above ground that we are unable to function outside. The few like Byron who aren't afflicted with this sickness are assigned the task of traders or of working as exterior guardians. But even most of them lack the weapons skills of warriors and wouldn't be able to pass freely undetected with locals.
There are materials that we will require and manpower as well. You will need to gather a workforce that stays unaware of our existence. We can provide limited protection with the Uzi’s and other weapons that will assure your safety from groups like the generals' army.
When the settlement is built, it will offer safety and refuge to all who decide to stay within its boundaries. We will be able to mix freely with the inhabitants ending our need to gather fresh genetic stock through raiding.
You can run the settlement as you wish. As long as it is understood, no one can know of our underground facilities existence. We can remain separate without maintaining total isolation while providing the topside settlement with the training and expertise required in building a settlement more advanced than any that currently exist.
We can give Healer training far in advance of any possessed by anyone outside this settlement," the same speaker continued.
I looked across the table and then I said, "I need to go up to the surface and discuss this with Cain. Sari, Nate and I
will go up to the surface and discuss this with Cain and Saam. I will return when we have made a decision."
"Byron may accompany you to answer any questions the others may have," he said. The robed men stood up as a group and filed out of the room leaving us with Byron.
"We can go up to the surface when you are ready," Byron said.