The Free Trader of Warren Deep (Free Trader Series Book 1) (16 page)

50 – Dinner Awaits

“Master Aadi. You had the plan last time. What do you suggest we do?”

‘I suggest we not get killed! I’ve never seen the like of what awaits us.’

“And you still don’t feel anything?” Braden asked G-War.

‘The small boars, yes. They are barely functioning animals. I suspect they will taste good.’

“I think Aadi and I will lead the way, G. You bring up the rear. Skirill, can you find a place to perch without being seen so you can watch us?”

‘Yes,’
was Skirill’s simple answer. That was all Braden needed. His trust in his companions was implicit. If they needed help, the Hawkoid would be there. G-War made sure that they were all connected via mindlink. Communication between the companions was instantaneous.

“Thanks Ess. We’ll tie the horses to the first tree we come to and then bring them when the way is clear. Master Aadi, shall we?” Braden crooked his arm as if offering to take a lady dancing. The Tortoid looked at it briefly, blinked twice, and swam forward.

They entered the oasis without being challenged by any of the mini Mirror Beasts or the boar pack. With the horses secured behind them, they moved forward. Braden had his hand on the hilt of his long knife still in his belt. The Rico Bow rested easily across his back. The Tortoid floated at Braden’s shoulder, swimming slowly, keeping pace with the wary human. The ‘cat padded effortlessly behind them by a few strides, staying to the shadows and the cover the bushes provided.

The small boars, which Braden recognized as wild javelina ran around them, but never too close. They seemed disinterested in the companions. Many of the javelina were malformed; all of them were smaller than those from Warren Deep. He realized two things about them. They had no fear of him and they were vegetarians.

‘Let’s check the buildings first to see if there are any people,’
Braden told his companions with his thought voice.

As Aadi and Braden walked from the cover of the trees to the open area in front, a mini Mirror Beast popped out from the underbrush at their side and came straight for them. The Tortoid instantly unleashed his focused thunderclap. Braden was happy not to be the target this time, but it still took him unaware. He clasped his hands over his ears, too late as he made to jump aside.

He expected the blast would be reflected and that he’d be hit a second time. But this creature did not have the abilities of his larger brother. It popped its seams, two of its four arms were ripped off, and it toppled sideways to the ground.

All of this in less than a heartbeat. Braden was still trying to get his hands over his ears when the attack was finished.

Braden shook his head to clear it. “Master Aadi. I’m not sure that thing has any weapons.”

‘My apologies young human. It surprised me.’
He floated down close to the wreckage on the ground.
‘My, my. Isn’t that strange. It seems to be made of material like your knife.’

Braden looked to see if any other attackers lurked nearby, but there wasn’t anything or anyone besides the javelina, playing and eating in the underbrush.

Braden examined the pieces of the mini Mirror Beast without touching any of it. Using his knife, he levered the body of the thing until it flipped over. It was roughly the shape of a small tree trunk. Round. Flat on the top and bottom. The bottom plate had fallen off. Inside was a great number of small metal parts, a black and waxy box, some thin green pieces, and many, many thin colored strings. These were bundled as they connected one thing to another, their tendrils ending in gold, touched everything inside.

He reached into it and touched the various parts and pieces. “This is all man-made! These strings are gold, silver, and copper with a thin layer of something to protect them. This is amazing!” His voice changed to a whisper. “Old Tech.” With this, Braden had now seen more Old Tech than any other human in Warren Deep. He was the only one to see functioning Old Tech.

But they had accidentally killed it. He continued his inspection of the detail within. He knew there was no way he could put it back together and make it function again.

‘Master Human…’
prompted the Tortoid. Braden looked up and saw another one of the creatures, this one boxy, shorter, with four arms. It was standing right next to him. Braden fell over and scooted away, holding his knife in front of him, pointed at the newcomer.

This mini Mirror Beast was only interested in its companion. Using its arms with various devices attached at the ends, it collected up the entirety of the broken Beast. With a final brush of the dirt, it rolled away, its friend piled into a cart behind it. They disappeared into a shed-like structure near the end of a long building.

Braden had never encountered a facility like this. He needed to take better stock of his surroundings before they took another step into it. These man-made creatures scared him because he didn’t understand them. He hadn’t tried to talk with them, but he needed to. They needed information that they could only learn by getting answers to their many questions.

“Next time, we talk first and blast second.”

‘Hungry,’
popped into Braden’s mind. He looked back to see the ‘cat crouched, ready to pounce.

“G! Not now, by all that’s holy! We already killed one creature. How many more before they all turn on us? I’m not sure we can win that fight my friend,” Braden said firmly.

‘Let’s go, then. Dinner awaits,’
the ‘cat responded without humor.

51 – Repair Shed

Braden decided to follow the boxy beast to the shed. As he approached, the door opened by sliding upwards into the roof. He jumped aside, expecting someone or something to emerge. The door promptly slid back down.

He stepped from his cover toward the door. It opened again. He jumped aside. It closed.

‘This is rather fun, don’t you think?’
The Tortoid offered.

Braden hung his head and laughed silently to himself. How did he get here? He not only had a ‘cat that constantly questioned his intelligence, he now had a Tortoid giving him grief. He looked at Aadi and shook his head. The Tortoid blinked once, floating serenely to the side.

“Be my guest, Master Tortoid,” Braden said. Aadi swam toward the door, but it remained closed. He floated left and right in front of it. No change.

‘Sorry. It seems to like you better.’

‘There’s no accounting for taste,’
the ‘cat chimed in.
‘Like one of these tasty morsels running around. Can it stop goofing around, please? Hungry.’

Braden stood before the door. It opened and stayed open as he stood there. It seemed dark inside, but his eyes quickly adjusted. It was a work area, but nothing like he’d ever seen before. The bench was low and in the middle of the room. On it, all the parts of the blasted beast were arranged. A mechanical device was overhead, working itself along a beam. Other smaller devices were arranged around and on the table. They appeared to be working to put the mini Mirror Beast back together. Sparks flew here and there, but Braden couldn’t see a forge of any sort.

Along the inside walls were bits and pieces of various metals, bands of the coated copper, silver, and gold, and a wide variety of parts and pieces. It was an Old Tech repair shop. The tech repaired other tech.
And that’s why the ancients aren’t here anymore,
he thought. If he had nothing to do, he would wither and die. The ancients built these magnificent creatures and then the humans themselves no longer mattered.

That’s what Braden supposed anyway. Maybe he would find out some turn, but not if he couldn’t talk with these things.

He went inside the room, filled to bursting with Old Tech. “Oh wondrous creatures from the before time, incredible Old Tech creations, I am Braden, Free Trader of Warren Deep.” He bowed as he finished, watching for any sign that the metal creatures had heard and would talk with him.

Nothing.

The door finally closed as Braden moved to look more closely at the materials along the sides. Aadi was still outside. Braden started to panic and rushed back at the door.

It promptly opened. Aadi looked at him with his expressionless face.
‘Yes?’

“Nothing.” He quickly replied. “I’m not sure they can talk with me. C’mon in Master Aadi and see for yourself.”

‘Thank you, but no. I’m perfectly fine right here. I shall await your return.’

Braden looked at him. A single blink as the Tortoid hovered motionless outside the door. Braden went back inside, the door slid down behind him. He looked around to make sure that nothing had changed, that nothing was coming after him now that he was alone.

Nothing did.

While digging in a box, he found a small round device with two arrows. The numbers one through twelve were inscribed on the outside. It had a metal band shaped for a person’s wrist. He put this in his belt pouch. He looked up to see if anything cared. The small Bots continued repairing the mini Beast.

“What are you?” He asked, knowing he would get no reply.

He went back outside, walking briskly past the Tortoid. “Let’s check out the building. There’s no one in here.”

52 – A Venison Meat Pie, Please

Starting with the first door they came to, Braden pushed on the door, but it was closed. There was no handle, only a small panel to the right of the door frame. It looked to be shaped for his hand, so he put his hand on it. It flashed red. The door remained closed. He tried it again with the same result. He tried the remaining five doors in the building and received the same result. Each panel flashed the color red beneath his hand.

He tried looking in through the windows between each of the doors. Although the windows were large, he couldn’t see inside. They were glass, but black and opaque. Even with his nose against them and his hands cupped around his eyes, he couldn’t see in. He expected that he could break the glass, but he didn’t want to do that yet.

He thought no one cared that they had damaged one of the Old Tech devices. But he didn’t want to push his luck. It wasn’t his intent to destroy the oasis. First and foremost, he wanted his party to be safe. They hadn’t found anything so far that was a threat. He wanted answers from these Old Tech creatures.

Another small building stood beyond the building with the dark windows and closed doors. This had a single door, of a type like the shed. Larger, clear windows took up much of the wall space. He looked in to see various overstuffed chairs, a strange desk area, and a table with Old Tech devices on it.

He boldly walked up to the door, and it promptly opened. Cool air welcomed him. It was like a gentle breeze that came off the mountains. He hadn’t felt air this cool since before they entered the Great Desert. It felt good against his face. Aadi blinking rapidly, backed away from the cold air.

Braden went inside. He ran his hand over the materials of the chairs and the couch. He looked around the room. It reminded him of the hotels in the bigger cities where he had often traded. But this was an Old Tech version. He looked around in awe. At the table, a flat pane of glass was held upright by a clever black metal stand. He had no idea what it did.

He continued to a high desk, enclosed in a U shape facing toward him. When he stood in the middle, the desk was chest high on three sides.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before him. It looked like a reflection in a pool of water. He knew it wasn’t flesh and blood like him, but it was still real. And it talked.

“Welcome to Oasis Zero One,” a pleasant female voice sounded from what seemed like all around him. “We do not have you in our records, for some reason, but if you would like, we will add you, and then you can be checked in and given your room. Would you like to be added to our records at this time?”

Braden was wary. Last time he simply agreed to one of the Old Tech creations’ requests, he lost the ability to learn from it.

“What lies to the south of here?” He asked.

“The desertscape of Devaney’s Barren covers the next seventy-five kilometers to the south. Does that answer your question?”

From his conversation with the Mirror Beast, he knew that this was about eighty-six thousand strides, two to three turns of travel with fresh horses, or only part of one daylight’s flight for the Hawkoid.

“What’s beyond the desertscape?”

“The Plains of Propiscius lie beyond the desertscape,” the pleasant voice responded.

“How far from there to where we can find an outpost of the ancients?”

“I don’t understand your question. Do you wish to be added to our records?”

Braden felt the ‘cat’s impatience in his mind. Aadi floated outside. He was on edge. The Tortoid was uncomfortable around the Old Tech.

“Are the javelina outside pets or creatures that you take care of?”

“Javelina. The small pig-like creatures. Wait, please.” The lady’s reflected face smiled at Braden. “Those creatures are new additions since Oasis Zero One was built. Would you like us to clear them away for you?”

“No need…” Before Braden could finish his sentence, the image of G-War’s claws digging into the neck of a javelina flashed into his mind. A brief struggle and then the Golden Warrior purred his delight as he feasted heartily on his fresh kill. “Where were we? Oh yes, we are looking for Old Tech, but it appears like we’ve found it. I am willing to trade for Old Tech that we can take with us. Are there any weapons here?”

“I’m sorry. There is no trade here. Oasis Zero One is a rest stop as people travel through Devaney’s Barren. We provide food, water, and a place to rest, before travelers continue on their journey. We have no weapons here. Would you like to be added to our records now?”

“Yes, yes, go ahead. No wait!” Braden forgot himself.

“You are now added to our records as Caretaker Braden. You have been assigned Room A, the first door on your right. It is coded to your handprint. Thank you and please enjoy your stay.” The reflection vanished.

“Crap!” Braden shouted. He stepped out of the area in front of the desk. Then stepped back in.

“How may I help you Caretaker Braden?” The woman’s reflection returned with a welcoming smile.

“Thank the ‘cats in heaven! I’m so glad you returned. I thought I’d lost you. You can call me just Braden.” He didn’t know why the Old Tech had given him the title of Caretaker. There were too many other questions to bother with this one.

“I am here twenty-fours a day and my purpose is to ensure you have a pleasant stay. I will always answer when you call. How may I be of service?” She was so pleasant and Braden felt relieved. He expected that he would spend a great deal of time asking questions.

In his mind, he saw Skirill’s view of a small Javelina running across an opening. The Hawkoid dove on it with a vengeance, snapping the thing’s neck as he hit it. The Hawkoid lifted it into the air as he flew away toward his perch.

“You said that food and water were available. Can you tell me where, please?”

“Yes, it is my pleasure. A fabricator is in your room. It will respond to your voice commands.”

“A fabricator. Sounds great. What is it and how does it work?”

“It converts provided base nutritional packs, both solid and liquid into food and drink items of your choice. The menu is rather substantial as this is a fully functioning rest area.”

“Thank you. I expect that I’ll return shortly. I have more questions.” Braden headed outside, where it seemed much warmer than before. How did they keep that building cool?

Aadi swam along beside him as he approached the first door of the long building. He put his hand on the panel and it flashed green. The door slid open. He looked inside. There was a bed the likes of which only the richest people in Warren Deep enjoyed. He saw a table with chairs, a couch and another large panel of glass. He’d have to ask the reflection at the desk what the panels were for. There was a box above a small counter. There was a metal sink with a metal pipe above it. A door led to a small room at the side. It had a white throne like you’d find in an outhouse. There was more, all shiny white, like the finest pottery. He wasn’t sure where to start, but he had to start somewhere.

“Oh fabricator, I would like some water please.” He looked around to see what would respond.

The box above the counter hummed and there was a beep. He could see a glass inside. He could not see a handle. “How do I get you out of there?” He ran his hands around the box, down the sides and across the front. A depression moved slightly as he brushed it. He pushed in and the box popped open. The front of it was the door.

He reached in and took out the glass with the cool water. He tasted it tentatively. It was water. It tasted good. He felt like a rich man drinking water out of the glass.

“Oh fabricator, I would like a fire roasted venison meat pie, please.”

“Your request is not a menu option. Please select again.”

“Who doesn’t know about venison meat pies? One of the finest delicacies anywhere! Tell me, Mr. Fabricator, what kind of meat do you have?”

“I have a wide variety of beef, chicken, pork, and fish dishes. May I recommend a beef pot pie?”

“Sure. I’ll take that.”

A few heartbeats of humming later and the ding signaling that the food was ready. He looked at a steaming creation in a decorative bowl. He pushed in the depression, opened the door, and took out his lunch.

Braden needed his spoon, which was back in a blanket pack. He hadn’t needed it for weeks. The horses. He needed to turn them loose to drink and eat. He left his lunch on the counter, and raced outside. He and Aadi left to find the rest of their party. They needed to set up for a short stay. He needed to discuss things with Aadi, Skirill, and G-War.

And get a spoon. The beef pot pie smelled good.