Princess Rescue Inc (110 page)

He
nodded. “And justice as well,” he grimaced. “I'd suggest the local lord set up
a sheriff and a roving judge with roving marshals in each area right off.”

“Ah.
Yes, I'll bring that to their attention later,” she frowned. He came behind her
and rubbed her shoulders. She dropped her head and sighed in contentment.

“Rough
day?” he asked softly.

“No,
the usual, I just hate the thought of my people preying on the innocent like
that.”

“Me
too,” he rumbled a sigh. “It's how the world works though.” He grimaced.

Max
grimaced at the din as the door opened. “Please tell me they have ear
protection,” he half yelled.

“WHAT?”
the foreman yelled back.

Max
sighed. “Later,” he said waving. Belts were running everywhere. They ran from
pulleys attached to drive shafts running the length of the building. The
leather belts ran to pulleys behind each machine.

“Must
be a bitch to splice those if one gets broke,” he said. He shook his head. He
watched as a teenager used a pole to knock a spinning pulley off a gear on the
drive shaft. It came off and then slowly spun to a halt.

“Well,
least you don't have to shut the entire line down.” He nodded in approval. They
had really taken the concept of mechanization up from the simple water gears
they had been using before. This was one of the factories that didn't have
electric power or motors. It ran on water power, but like all the other factories
they would be shut down once the river froze.

One
man nearby was using a lathe to carve a table leg. Another woman beside him had
one almost complete. She was using a piece of what looked like sand paper to
sand it smooth. A young black girl further along was wiping stain on her
spinning piece. He was glad to see that they had not only adapted to the
techniques but also changed their clothing. No one wore loose fitting clothing
and all wore improvised goggles and leather aprons. The aprons were covered in
wood shavings though.

“Neat,”
Max said nodding. “Still need ear protection though. And better eye glasses. I
guess safety is an issue?” he asked turning to the foreman.

The
foreman grimaced and waved his hands, he couldn't hear. Max grimaced and waved
to the doors.

Outside
he sighed as the doors closed. “It's an infernal racket isn't it?” the foreman
asked, rubbing his ears then clearing his nose on a handkerchief.

“That
it is. Look, the docs sent me over to give you a hand on safety. From the looks
of things we're going to need to make some changes.”

“Ah?”
the foreman asked warily.

“Well,
this plan was only temporary, till we get the power grid up and sorted out. But
Doc's right, the noise is a problem, let alone safety. She said you sent her a
couple of people that were hurt?” Max asked. Sue had called him in after
getting a couple of people in all torn up. One was a kid and that had pissed
Sue off.

The
foreman grimaced. “The belt broke,” he replied looking angry. “There wasn't
anything to do.”

Max
nodded. He'd heard that happened. “Ah. Well, we can see if we can prevent it,
or if not shield against it.”

“Shield?”
the foreman looked surprised.

“Yeah,
we can cage the belt so if it breaks it'll be contained.” Max used his meaty
hands to show them wrapping around an object. “That way if it goes off...”

“It
won’t lash out,” the foreman finished face clearing. “But to get the wheels on
and off...”

“Right
well, we'll have to work out a compromise. But we can work on the ear
protection.”

“Eh?”
the foreman said, pulling cotton out of his ears. He blew his nose again.
“Sorry, didn't hear you.”

“Okay...”
Max said laughing. “Looks like you're smarter then you look.”

“Well
why'd ya think I wasn't?” the foreman waved to the doors. “A man can get deaf
real quick in there. All my people have cotton.”

“Okay,”
Max said holding his hands up. “Good. Good. One less thing to worry about then.
But we can do a safety seminar.”

“What
for?” the foreman asked. “It'll take time...”

Max
nodded. “Yeah but how long does it take to train someone from scratch to
replace someone injured or killed?” Max asked doggedly.

“Well...”
the foreman said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

Max
nodded again, this time with a tight lipped smile. “Right. A lot longer than it
takes for a couple of hours to get people to become more aware of their
surroundings and to take steps to keep themselves from getting hurt. Shields
too. That may keep hands and feet out of areas. That kid lost his arm you
know.”

The
foreman winced. “Okay, we'll try it your way.”

“Right,
I've got a syllabus here with me. We can start with simple things, like making
sure clothing and hair is not hanging to keep them from being caught.”

The
foreman grimaced. “Ah. Yes, we've had a few injured that way. Good point,” the
foreman nodded, starting to warm to the idea. “I have them wearing gaijin style
clothing now, no laces or other things.”

“Right,
common sense. Now...”

  <==={}------------>

Perry
looked at the wagon train of coal coming in and shook his head at the soot
covered men and women around it. “Isn't there anything else they can use? That
shit's bad for you.” He shook his head and sighed.

“Do
you want to go play with the
basilisks
to get a load of lumber out?”
Ryans asked.

Perry
frowned. “Ah...”

Ryans
snorted. “Thought not. And there are a lot of people.” He waved to the crowd.
Men and women were either unloading or standing in line to get a bucket load or
arguing over the price. “And a long, long winter. During the spring and summer
the coal mines supply the blacksmiths and foundries. Then they switch in the
late summer to supply the people. There's never enough though since they can't
dig in the winter.” He grimaced. “We can't get the natural gas up this year and
even if we did it wouldn't make a dent right now either. Don't get me started
on that lamp oil they use. Wanda's still pitching fits over it and her lab.”

“Ah.
So what do the poor sods in the country burn?”

“Exactly,”
Ryans replied smiling.

“Huh?”
Perry said turning in confusion.

“Sod.
They burn dried peat sod. Or dried dung. Or bundles of compressed grasses and
leaves. Or that lamp oil stuff, um Phoenix oil. Whatever they can get their
hands on, even bales of cotton or dried soiled hay. Since they run to an open
floor plan with only a few window in a tiny building, it seems to work.”

“Or
not, but I get the picture,” Perry sighed, running a hand through his hair. He
was going to need a trim soon.

“Yeah
it's a problem. One we've yet to solve. Natural gas and electric will help, but
it'll be years before they make a difference,” Ryans sighed. Every time he
thought they were making progress it only took looking at the little guy to see
it wasn't fast enough. Some things were filtering down to them but the rich
were getting the first pickings since they were funding everything or had the
money to buy it. A few of the lords and merchants were getting wise; they were
buying up surplus and then selling it at a markup. He didn't care about the
luxury items but it annoyed him when they started buying up futures in caulk
and coal. That the serfs could use or needed.

“Yeah.
Well, I'd put in a call for more irons in the fire too.”

“Such
as?” Ryans asked curious.

“Such
as, oh, insulation. Better building materials. Better buildings for that
matter. Most are hovels. And don't get me started on hygiene,” Perry said in
disgust. Getting the soldiers sorted out on hygiene had been a chore. Getting
the barracks insulated now that winter was approaching was a pain. At least
they had a lot of soldiers with some construction skills to help out.

“If
you want to go out in ten feet of snow to take a dump all the power to you,”
Ryans said smiling. “Drop your drawers in the nearest snow bank and you're
liable to freeze your ass off.”

Perry
wrinkled his nose. “Cute.”

“Yeah
it is. But it's true,” Ryans waved. “Bed pans and indoor plumbing obviously.
We're working on it. It takes time. Rome wasn't built in a day you know. We
can't change this society over night.” He was just glad they had two functional
bathrooms in the castle now. Even if they were in constant use. Max had a
potter switching to making porcelain sinks, toilets, and tubs but it wouldn't
make much of a difference for people now. A few but not many, He for one hated
sitting on the toilet seats they currently had. The first time he had he'd got
a splinter in a rather tender unmentionable place.

“Right.
Still sucks though,” Perry said shaking his head and walking off.

  <==={}------------>

Ryans
took in the grim faced cavalry saddling up in front of the stables a few hours
later. He turned to Perry. “Something I should know?”

“Raid
on a village in county Firth,” Perry said looking around.

“Ah.
Okay. And this is the reaction force? How'd we get the intel?” Ryans asked
watching a man adjust his girth strap.

“A
royal mail rider was going though the village on their delivery route and was
nearly killed. The girl was uninjured but her mount took a couple of cross bow
bolts to the rear. She got it to the next village and sent a bird back,” Perry
said. He waved to indicate the bird house.

Ryans
turned to look. A man was standing outside the coops, dressed in robes that
were liberally splashed with bird droppings. “Bird man of Alcatraz,” he
muttered watching the man use a finger to pet a pterosaur on his arm. The four
winged thing seemed to coo, bobbing its hooked bill back and forth and then
fluttering its wings. Its wicked clawed rear legs gripped the man's glove
tightly.

“They
aren't very bright, but they can carry short messages to their roosting
places,” Perry explained. “We overlooked them because they can't carry much and
can get taken out by
wyverns
and other predators pretty easily. Less
than half ever make it to their intended destination.”

“Ah.
Yeah, there's that,” Ryans nodded. He for one had overlooked them because they
could be intercepted. “I take it the raiders are still out there? In Firth?”

“No,
I sent Lewis out to scout ahead; she picked up their trail and radioed back.
We're going to cut them off at the pass,” Perry smiled pulling himself up onto
a mount. The beast snorted, blowing snot on the cobble stones then grunted
irritably.

“See
you in a week. Ha!” Perry said turning the beast and riding to the entrance.

“Good
luck!” Ryans called waving.

  <==={}------------>

Ginger
sighed as she watched the people below. She was leaning on the parapet,
enjoying the afternoon breeze. “Bored Sergeant Lewis?” A familiar contralto
voice said behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see princess Diedra
smiling at her.

“Not
really, well, a little.” She grimaced. “Lieutenant Perry has me on leave for
the next two days since I did all that flying time finding the raiders. The
problem is I don't know what to do with myself. It's not like I can go out and
rent a movie or go to a concert. I'd go shopping but I'm not into the stuff
your people are into.” She grimaced. “Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that.”
She shrugged. She wished she could have been in on that but she'd been forced
to watch as Perry took the raiders down. He was on his way to the nearest lord
with them now.

The
princess nodded, coming over to stand next to her. “Concert?” she asked,
feeling the breeze on her face. She smiled, eyes closed.

“Anyone
tell you that you look like Britney Spears?” Ginger asked looking at her
profile.

“I've
heard that before,” the princess smiled. “Is she royalty?”

“No,
but she's treated like it. She's an entertainer.” Ginger shrugged. “Singer,
actress, dancer.”

“One
of those?” Deidra asked sounding offended. She remembered a video Paterson had
showed her once before. “I thought she was a royal from your country!” she
said. Ginger chuckled.

“No,
we, that is, most of us are from a democracy. The United States, we don't have
royalty, though we've got our share of celebrities who are treated as such.
Some because they're in politics, some because they're rich and famous, some
because they're great business men, and some just because.” She shrugged.

“And
this woman is one of those?” Deidra sniffed.

“You
could say that. She's a hotty. Like you,” Ginger smiled.

“Ah,”
Deidra blushed a little looking away. One of the guards chuckled softly. She
gave him a mock reproving look then went back to looking at the people below.

“You
said you'd go shopping... For what?” she asked after a moment.