The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1) (26 page)

He couldn’t wait to show Ava.

Ava awoke in an unfamiliar room; after a moment she had her bearings and recalled the unbelievable experience from the day before. She had slept well, she sat up and stretched. The sun was at near mid-morning for the season as light filtered through the white semi-transparent curtains behind the open drapes. Next to the bed there was a fresh set of slacks, a blouse and small clothes folded neatly on a chair. 

Deciding that she probably should get up and get going lest her hosts think her lazy, s
he got up and padded down the hall to the wash room doing what she could to straighten her hair with only a borrowed brush and a comb at her disposal.  Once she was dressed she put her laundry into a convenient hamper near the dresser and found her way to the kitchen where Laura was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of tea as she worked on her sewing hemming a dress.

“Good morning sweetie, did you sleep well?” asked Laura with a smile.

“Yes, thank you - and thank you for setting out the clothes.”

“They
were just some extra things I had lying around; of course I had to take them in bit; it was an easy thing to do.  I hope I got the measurements right.”

“They fit
perfectly; you must have been up all night.”

“Nonsense it only took a moment, Soaris had all of my things brought here
after he rescued me and I’ve set up a shop in one of the spare rooms.  It was but a few minutes work; no bother at all. Can I get you some tea?  I also have roasters if you prefer.”

“Tea would be perfect, thank you. 
‘Roasters’ is a little bit too bitter for me unless I load it with cream and sugar.  I rarely drink it unless its winter.”

“Soaris loves the stuff
but I prefer tea also; it must be a man thing,” she laughed “Shane always drank water, milk, or juice. On occasion he would have tea but usually only when he was not feeling well. I never knew him to be a ‘roasters’ drinker.  “I’m sure that he probably picked it up in college.”

“I never saw him touch it either, seems he always was drinking juice or water whenever we ate together,” responded Ava as she tried to recall if she had ever notice
d him drinking the hot bitter beverage.  “Maybe it was because he was in training for the ball team.”

Ava yawned and stretched,
“I’m sorry I slept so late I’m usually a morning person.”

“Think nothing of it Soaris told me that the island that you were on is several hours different on the clock; if you understand how that works.  In other words it’s about quarter to seven in the morning there but it’s nearly noon here.
According to Soaris, Yllyan is almost twenty-three hundred milos east of Jehhet.  That’s probably why no one has bothered anyone out here.

“What does everyone do out here?” queried Ava as she accepted a cup of tea from Laura, “thank you
.” she added.

“Pretty much what we did back home; I sew, Yvette and Rober’ next door have started a grocery business, granted they don’t have much to sell yet.  A lot of families are farming outside of town in the river bottoms
, there are some that are trying to domesticate as many of the wild cattle, pigs, sheep and goats running around the hills and valleys, and we have a few magetechs that are going through the city trying to identify what artifacts they can and help people figure out how to make their lives the most comfortable. 

The city is already equipped with working indoor plumbing systems and every home has hot and cold water;
it’s really quite nice.  Most of us have clothes to wear but not a lot of variety.  One of the magetechs found a building that has a few artifacts that are used in textile manufacture so we have been able to produce a couple of types of cloth; but so far they haven’t gotten beyond two or three cotton weaves.  I’ve been pretty busy with what they have provided.

As far as economy goes we haven’t really gotten one… we have no outside trade and no one wants to use the crown currency here so everyone has kind of chipped in and barters for now.
  No one charges Soaris me for anything as they all see this city is his; Soaris’ doesn’t charge them anything so they won’t let us pay anything either.”

“What about you Ava, I know that you have only been here
a short while but do you have any Ideas what you want to do?”

“
I was hoping that I could look around the city a little bit and perhaps do some research.  Are there any libraries in town?” asked Ava.

“None that I know of
, you will want to speak with Edward Montfer; he seems to be the one heading up the magetechs.  If anyone has found anything relating to a library it would be him.  After lunch we can take a walk to Collet Avenue where all the big square buildings are and see if we can find him or one of the other MT’s.”

“MT?” queried Ava.

Laura laughed her infectious laugh and said, “Something I picked up from Shane; I shorten everything.  MT’s is short for magetechs.”

Ava laughed, “That makes sense
to me.”

That afternoon Laura and Ava walked a few blocks toward the station and past it towards a more commercial area.  The streets were paved
with a concrete appearing substance and were quite wide but no wagons were anywhere to be seen.  Soon they stopped in front of a two story square shaped building with large windows surrounding it on all sides.  Laura led the way in through the entry way and stopped at a large desk near a set of wide stairs that led up to the second floor.

“Hello Anne,” greeted Laura to a pert young girl of nineteen or twenty serving as a receptionist.  “This is Ava; a friend of my son Shane.  We’re looking for Edward.  Is he in the area?”

“Hi Mrs. Chason, hello Ava it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the young lady returned.  “He is upstairs in the third office on the left side of the staircase, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you dropped in.”

“Thank you,” both Ava and Laura responded and they headed up the stairs.

Knocking on the frame of the open door Laura poked her head into the entryway.  “Edward, are you in?”

“Laura,” greeted a man in his forties who immediately stood and walked around his desk to gre
et the two women.  “How are you today?  It’s a pleasure having you drop by.”  Seeing Ava he gave a polite nod. “And who is your lovely companion?”

Laura got to the point.  “Edward, we are sorry to interrupt
, I know how busy you are, and it shouldn’t take but a moment. 

I would like to introduce Ava Desmond,
Ava is an advance student from Wonstrowd and has joined the ranks of our little group of escapees from the crown and is a dear friend to Soaris and I. I would appreciate it if you or one of those in your group could answer a few of her questions.”

“Absolutely, it would be no trouble at all.”

Ava, dear, I need to get back to my shop I have no end of work to do.  I’ll leave you in Edward’s capable hands.  I was planning dinner around six if you are late don’t worry, I’ll save a plate for you,”

“Thank you Laura you are the best,” Ava gave her a quick kiss on
each cheek.  “I’ll see you this evening.”

“She’s quite the lady,” stated the mage
tech as he returned to his desk.  “Ever since Soaris brought her here she has been the catalyst that has kept everyone going and her attitude is contagious.  We’ve all been more productive because of her leadership and example.  She is one of the hardest working people I’ve had the pleasure to meet and there isn’t anyone she hasn’t helped.”

Edward gestured to an empty chair opposite him at the wide desk as he took his seat.  “Wonstrowd, eh, I graduated there
; class of thirty-seven.  Any chance you caught the score of the championship?  The last I heard we made it to the playoffs but my life changed and suddenly I found myself here and out of communication; but that’s a story for another time,” his voice trailed off.

“I don’t
know,” Ava answered dejectedly, “the game was yesterday afternoon.  The last I saw of the game it was halftime and the Wizards were up by five but the Lions had a one goal lead.  Shane, my boyfriend, and Laura’s son, who plays receiver had made some terrific plays in the first half but that’s all I know of the game.  There was some trouble at the archeological dig where I was when Soaris pulled me out.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see the second half.”

“Well,” the man paused optimistically, “I’d like to think we won.”

“I’ll ask Soaris next time I see him, if you don’t see him first,” promised Ava.

“You didn’t come to see me to discuss warball, so I apologize for the distraction.  What can I help you with young lady?”

“As Laura mentioned I am an advance student in glyphs and magetech but I still have another year before graduation so I don’t claim to be an expert.  I also have been on an artifact history and archeology track.  The thing is, I as student member of the advanced studies group I had the opportunity to lead a number of research studies as well as work on quite a few new glyph translations at the university and several archaeological digs.  In all of my experience this town is the most pristine and intact Elios created city that I have ever seen; probably that anyone has ever seen.  While I would love to delve into the glyphs and artifacts, I’m sure you and others are already well into that. What I would like to do is visit any library or learning center you may have happened onto.  I’m hoping to uncover any information I can regarding the infrastructure that the Elios set up and to find out how it was maintained and or created.”

“You are most observant and perceptive for someone so young,” Edward complimented her.  “
The groups of magetechs that have escaped to Yllyan have done as you have surmised we have been concentrating on understanding all the hundreds of new artifacts that we have discovered; unfortunately most are not activated and we don’t have access to an activator.  As to your second question we haven’t found anything that I would call a learning center but there is a peculiar building a few blocks west of here that may have been either a library or some sort of record keeping facility.  The glyphs all indicate that it was used for information of some sort but none of us have spent more than a cursory look at it. 

When
we found it we discovered that it was sealed and none of us could figure out how to access it.  I would be happy to have someone show where it is and so that you can study it.  Un fortunately I need to remain here; I have several projects going on that need my attention.  Not the least of which is this little pain that I’m trying to figure out.”  He pointed to an artifact on his desk and a pile of notes. “I’m trying to understand how to set up and access the visi-screen network so that we can find out what is going on in the rest of the world”

“I’ll tell you what
,” promised Ava, “you show me this sealed building and I’ll help you with the visi-screen access.  I set the one up in the dig I just left.  Communications artifacts were one of the labs I had my first year."

“That would be splendid,” Edward beamed.  “To be honest
most of us are all pretty much second rate when it comes to a lot of the newer or more technical artifacts.  Most of us are basic industrial, appliance, and maintenance types. We are quick learners though,” he added.

Edward took Ava to
the office next door.  “Stephan, I’d like to introduce you to Ava Desmond.  She is a history archeology student in her final year at Wonstrowd; she is the latest addition that Soaris has added to our little group of transplants.  Miss Desmond is interested in taking a look at the building down the way with the stone windows and doors.  Do you have time to walk her down there and show her where it is?”

“Certainly,” said a thirty something man with an agreeable smile.  “It wouldn’t be any trouble at all.”  He stood and held out a hand.  It’s a delight to meet you Ava.  “It’s not often we have such attractive visitors.”

“Thank you,” Ava said as she returned the handshake.  “I can’t wait to see all of the discoveries that you’ve made.” 

A short walk later
Stephan and Ava were soon at the building.

“Thank you for showing me how to find the building,” Ava said graciously.  “I think I can find my way back.”

“You’re certain you’ll be ok?” asked politely