*****Audio File***** "Chapter 34 - Blue-prints - Audio File" [The White Raven, Chapter 34, Blue-prints] [House Robin, Province Sparrow, Planet Darai] Robbyn crawled through the rafters checking each joist, connection, electrical wire, and water pipe. He dropped a plumb line to ensure each wall lined up correctly. The walls were plumbed when they were put up, this was just a final check to make sure each roof truss was right - he knew they were. “Let’s go, Rob, we’re loading up.” “Coming, I want to check the gas lines again real quick.” Robbyn crawled down from the attic and walked through the house carefully looking for any splotches, spills, or missed spots the painters might have over-looked. The house was beautiful in it’s simplicity, no gimmicks, or gaudy decorations, just good solid construction - this house would last for hundreds of years, maybe more. The oldest structure House Robin had built was in Hawk Province and dated over twelve-hundred years old - a water mill still in operation. Despite House Robin’s reputation for sound construction, they remained a Minor House, not even having a Province of their own. The House rented a district on the south side of Sparrow City, just several warehouses and equipment yards, and five blocks of old row houses for their people. House Robin had a population of just under five-hundred, and all related in some way - brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and so on. Robbyn often joked that he had forty-three sets of grandparents. Satisfied with the newly built house, Robbyn pulled the front door shut and walked out to the small convoy of construction equipment preparing to depart. “Where to now, Pops?” asks Robbyn. “We’ve got a warehouse to put up in Clapper Province.” “Oh, that’s a big contract,” says Robbyn. “We’ll need to call in more crews, but how did we get that contract?.” “House Rook isn’t taking any contracts right now, they’re expecting a very big contract on Struthio, so we got this one.” “Okay, I think we have two crews just finishing up in Grackle Province, and another crew in Falcon Province,” says Robbyn checking his old beat-up tablet. “I’ll tell everyone to meet at that old Diner on the Clapper border.” “I’ve already done that,” says Lord Robin lifting the last toolbox into the old truck. “You won’t be going with us.” “You got a contract bid you want me to go work on?” asks Robbyn. “Yes, son,” says Lord Robin. “You’re going to Struthio.” Robbyn lifts his construction hat back and tips his head to the side. “Pops, are you serious, we can’t afford that.” “We can’t afford not to,” says Lord Robin. “There hasn’t been a new House Palace built in over two-hundred years, we have to try.” “Ah, that’s the contract the Rook’s are expecting,” says Robbyn nodding his head. “We can’t out-bid them.” “Your Aunt Tule’s step-sister, Mae, in Hawk Province, sent her a letter,” says Lord Robin. “You know the Rooks are part of House Raven, well, apparently the Ravens did something to make the new Struthian House angry. They might be willing to at least listen to an alternate bid.” “Is there anyone the Ravens haven’t made mad?” asks Robbyn. “When do I leave?” “Your Uncle Carl is waiting to take you to the airport,” replies Lord Robin. “Okay, let me grab a few things from the trailer. “Rob,” says Lord Robin putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “We could really use this contract, but be careful, there are some rumors that this new House is really just another murderous faction of Raven House.” “Don’t worry, Pops, I’ll be careful.” ***** [Eagle Province, Eagle-Falcon Municipal Airport, Planet Darai] Raen walked along the airport terminal watching all the excitement. Six-hundred arriving orphans was a big event, though only four-hundred would be coming to House Eagle, the Struthians were adopting an amazing two-hundred orphans. The airport wasn’t finished yet, construction was still going on behind false plywood walls, but for the most part… and Raen thought it excessive. When would he ever use fifty gates? Well, maybe today, but not for incoming aircraft. The Tarlock Family groups were waiting at each gate. Three gates were actually in service for aircraft. The incoming orphans would be coming in at Gate A-2, and already had their assignments of which gate their Family Group was waiting. The new orphans would be permitted to leisurely walk to their new Family Group, taking as much time as they needed to watch the Eagles, or say teary goodbyes to their friends. The Eagle Hatchlings would not be permitted to cross that invisible line that separated the Gates from the wide corridor. That had been First Tarlock Blaze’s idea, he had come to personally take charge of the potential chaos. Each new orphan had to make a conscious decision to step across that invisible line and join their new families. The idea was to give the new orphans the sense of free-will and a definitive choice to accept their new lives. The eagle hatchlings were permitted to cheer from inside each Gates waiting area, or hold up welcome signs and coax and beckon to the new orphans, but they couldn’t go into the corridor. Not even the Eagle adults would be permitted in the corridor, it was exclusively to represent the new orphans old lives, and they had to make the choice to leave it behind. First Tarlock Blaze thought it would bypass the months and months it would normally take to start building trust. Raen wasn’t so sure, he had been raised in the Raven Temple and was used to a much more militant regiment - you were assigned your mate, your room, your classes, and sometimes even your alliance. You just dealt with whatever fate the Goddess handed you. The Tarlocks stood patiently inside each waiting area with their hatchlings running around in circles playing, or watching construction crews out the windows. The hatchlings on the side where the planes would be landing would have the best view. Raen found Gate Four where the adults would be waiting. The rest of the Moeth Alliance not on the Cattle Drive was already there taking advantage of the wait to relax and talk among themselves. “Where’s Doctor Mergan?” asks Raen taking a seat next to Moeth and Gini. “She flew over to the Struthio Medical Center Hatchery yesterday,” replies Gini. “Is there a problem?” “Maybe, but she should talk to you about it,” says Gini. “Can I have a clue?” Gini rubs the back of her neck and shrugs. “It might not mean anything, but we don’t have any eggs left in the Hatchery.” “The twenty-six eggs we came with have all hatched?” asks Raen. “Yes, and they are all healthy little hatchlings,” says Gini. “But, we’ve been here eight months and nobody has dropped a single egg.” “That does seem odd,” says Raen. “Maybe it’s this heat or something, I’m sure the Doctor will get to the bottom of it.” “I don’t know, but nobody has had a heat cycle either.” Cheering rose from the hatchlings as a small plane landed, but it was only a few normal passengers arriving and the hatchlings settled back down. The plane was too small to pull up to a gate and the passengers had to walk across the tarmac and up the stairs to the terminal. Raen recognized two Grackles, a Swan, a young plainly dressed Daraian male wearing a House Emblem he didn't know, and… a very large Gunslinger Sparrow, perhaps the largest Sparrow Raen had ever seen. Vas got up to greet the new arrivals, talked with them for a few minutes and motioned Raen over. The Grackles and the Swan bowed, greeted Raen and continued on towards the front of the terminal where a shuttle truck would take them into town. Raen glared at the Gunslinger. “This is Constable Grant, the new Constable the Commonwealth Senate is forcing us to take,” says Vas. Raen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I see you had the sense to drop the title, Sheriff, in favor of a Daraian law enforcement title,” says Raen. “It would also be wise to chose a Daraian uniform instead of that Gunslinger uniform.” “I appreciate the suggestion, my lord,” says Grant. “But no, I will maintain my proper uniform.” “Where’s your team?” asks Raen. “They were killed during the Kitsune invasion of Cyness Minor,” replies Grant. “I never joined another team, that’s why I was chosen to come here.” “We have bad history with the Gunslingers,” says Raen. “I am aware of the warrant on Lady Moeth,” replies Grant. “But, there is no extradition treaty with Lord Cyness, his planet is not part of the Tri-Alliance.” “Where’s your Dart ship,” says Raen rubbing the bridge of his nose. He didn't need this aggravation, it was only fortunate Moeth wasn't here. “There is one on order from House Sparrow,” says Grant. “It will be shipped when it is ready.” “Fine, just stay out of my way, Gunslinger,” growls Raen. “I am also a Daraian,” says Grant. “More like a traitor,” says Raen turning away in disgust. “Vas, just deal with this, drown him in the ocean if you like.” “I’m sure he didn’t mean that,” says Vas lying after Raen walks away. “Oh, he meant it,” says Grant. “And from the set of your eyes you would obey if you thought you could get away with it, but I didn’t expect to win a popularity contest. If you’ll excuse me, General, I’d like to get settled in.” Raen already knew why the Commonwealth Senate had to send a Gunslinger. House Eagle was to be the receiving point for several Galaxy Ships, and that put House Eagle under the jurisdiction of the Gunslingers - but it was a bitter pill to swallow. Four-hundred thirty sets of hatchling’s eyes glared silently as the Gunslinger walked the terminal corridor, then the first hatchling threw a crumpled up paper at the Gunslinger, and the rest followed. A hail of crumpled paper, shoes, gum, spit, and a few sling-shot rounds pelted the Gunslinger. The Tarlocks’ roared at the hatchlings to stop, but not even they could staunch the deep hatred pouring from the hatchlings at the Gunslinger. The Gunslinger continued to attempt to walk past the onslaught, but a well placed rock from a sling-shot brought the Gunslinger to his knees. The wound probably would need medical attention, but he would get none, not from the eagles. First Tarlock Blaze’s eyes were red with anger as he screamed for Raen to stop the attack. Raen made no indication he intended to do anything until Blaze threatened to withdraw all the Demonians from Eagle Province. Raen stood, walked out to the corridor and raised his hands. “STOP!” shouted Raen. The hatchlings took a few moments to obey, but the onslaught ended. “I want the names of everyone that threw something at the Constable,” shouts Raen and waited for an answer he knew wouldn’t come. Raen turned back to Blaze. “Sorry, looks like nobody saw anything.” Blaze foamed at the mouth, his tail whipping dangerously in every direction. Master Savage, head of the Demonian Iron Works, approached. Master Savage and the other Demonians from the Foundry and Shipyards had come to consider adopting hatchlings. Master Savage’s tail whipped out and wrapped around the First Tarlock’s tail and pulled him in until Master Savage was holding Blaze’s Horns in a tight grip. “Calm down, son,” says Master Savage. “Did you see what they did!” shouts Blaze. “Yes, I saw, and it is unacceptable,” says Master Savage. “But it was only a matter of time before we saw the underside of their feathers.” Lady Swan watched from the adults waiting area, now she knew what Raen’s weakness was - Gunslingers, and a deep unreasonable hatred of them. She wasn’t sure this was a weakness she could exploit though, hatred of Gunslingers was common and ran deep in Ravens. But, it was oddly pleasant to know that Raen wasn’t as perfect as the legends portrayed him. “What do you suppose would have happened if the Senate were to have sent a Kitsune Magistrate to the Demonian Camp?” Master Savage asks Blaze, still holding the young Tarlock. “I’ll tell you what we would do, it wouldn’t have been a fairly mild attack by children. Prince Vengeance would have slowly ripped his arms and legs off and scattered his body parts in the desert to be eaten by wild dogs - so don’t be a self-righteous hypocrite.” “This can’t happen again,” says Blaze trying to break free of the older Demonians hold. “No, it can’t,” agrees Master Savage. “Raen, you have conducted yourself honorably up until now, and this incident is not a deal breaker, but I need your word there will be no further attacks against that Gunslinger.” Master Savage releases Blaze. Raen nods. “You have my word, there will be no further attacks against that Gunslinger.” ***** [Eagle Province, Eagle-Falcon Municipal Airport, Gate A-4, Planet Darai] Robbyn stared in horror at the scene that unfolded in front of him. The Gunslinger had seemed nice enough on the plane, he had even given up his seat to allow Robbyn the window seat. Robbyn had no experience with Gunslingers, but he couldn’t imagine anyone deserving such a violent response. Robbyn looked back at the stairs down to the tarmac, and considered just running back to the plane and going home. Pops was right, these were just murderous Ravens. “Well, what do you want?” Robbyn turned back and found Lord Raen’s General standing in front of him… Vas… yes, that was his name General Vas. Robbyn had studied the images of the ruling members of House Eagle before arriving. “I… I… umm… I…” “Find your tongue boy,” says General Vas. “I’m Prince Robbyn of House Robin.” “I didn’t ask who you were, I asked what you want,” says General Vas. “And titles don’t mean a whole lot here, we’re already tripping all over princes, can’t walk down the street without running into one.” Robbyn knew that was true, being a prince on Darai didn’t mean much more than you were probably a trusted son to carry out the orders of the Lord of a House. “I’ve come to bid on the contract to build the House Palace.” “Never heard of House Robin.” The General looks back over his shoulder. “Hey Raen, have we given the contract to build the Palace to the Rooks yet?” “No, and I don’t want to hear any more about that damn frivolous palace, I’m so tired of Lord Rook bugging me about it. I need houses and commercial buildings,” replies Lord Raen. “Want to hire a construction crew?” asks General Vas. Lord Raen turns away from the two Demonians and walks over to his General. Robbyn's internal sense of self-preservation screams to run away, but he stands his ground, maybe for no other reason than he can see the plane he came on leaving. “You look a bit young to be a construction foreman,” says Lord Raen. “Pops is… I mean Lord Robin is the foreman,” replies Robbyn. “But I’ve run a crew on a few houses.” “I have everyone housed in a warehouse right now,” says Lord Raen. “Some tell me I should build cabins, some say houses, some say a frontier tent city. I think I need commercial buildings more than anything. Goddess knows the damn Rooks aren’t helping, they only want to build a ridiculous palace. I hope that’s not the only thing you want. Anyway, I don’t have time right now to discuss this. Give me a presentation in the morning and we’ll see. Vas, find him a place to stay for the night.” Lord Raen walks away to deal with other concerns and Robbyn looks at the General. “Head into town,” says General Vas. “Go to the Seamstress shop, she’ll rent you a room for the night.” The General turns and follows Lord Raen, leaving Robbyn speechless. This wasn’t how things were done. They were supposed to give him the rules for the bidding, then he would prepare construction plans, cost analysis, permit requirements, and then he would have to wait for the sealed bids to be reviewed. But then again, he had just watched a law enforcement officer assaulted and nobody had been arrested. These people didn’t seem to have any rules. Maybe it was that easy. Lord Raen said the Rooks didn’t want to build anything except a palace. Was it possible he could get a contract for his House to build an entire city? Robbyn nearly ran the length of the airport corridor between the bloodthirsty and dangerous hatchlings. The shuttle truck had already left and Robbyn decided to walk. Half-way to the town he stopped at a spot in the road and looked around at the surrounding desert, then walked off the road and into the bush, something looked odd. Two-hundred feet off the road he jumped down into a wadi and followed that towards the town, coming out behind the Eagle Mercantile. Robbyn wasn't interested in the town yet, but continued walking in a straight line across the street, around the Willow General Store, and towards the cliff. Robbyn knelt at the edge of the cliff and then lay down and inspected the rock face below him before standing back up. Robbyn spent the rest of the day walking around the town and explored out to the Apple orchard. The town was abandoned at first, everyone being at the airport, but several hours later people started returning to town and Robbyn talked with them. The Grackle Vid-Station was the only communication center in town and he placed a call back to Pops for advice. He spent the night in the spare room at the Seamstress’s shop, drawing maps, diagrams, building designs, and preparing a cost analysis. ***** [Eagle Province, Second floor of the Eagle Mercantile, Planet Darai] “Lord Rook, I don’t want to discuss the palace,” says Raen. “I have more immediate needs.” “Time is of an essence,” says Lord Rook. “A palace can serve as offices, guest quarters, and much more, it will put you on the map. Just give me the money and I can start ordering the material, you don’t even have to start building until you’re ready.” Raen’s office was above the Eagle Mercantile, and usually a place of quiet retreat, but Lord Rook had been relentless. “Lord Rook, I was under the impression you wanted the contract to build the waterworks,” says Raen. “But you haven’t presented any plans for that yet, or offered to build any of the housing or commercial buildings - and I don’t even see foundation survey markers for this palace you want to build, or plans.” Raen was tired of repeating himself over and over. Lord Rook was only here out of respect for his daughter, Gini. A knock on the door interrupted the meeting and Vas poked his head in. “That Robbyn fella is here,” says Vas. “Thank the Goddess, send him in,” replies Raen. The young Robin was carrying an armful of drawings and looked like he wanted to turn and run. “Well, about time, some blueprints to look at,” says Raen. “Lord Rook has forgotten how to draw, what do you got?” Robbyn dumped the drawings on Raen’s desk, a few of the rolled-up parchments rolled off onto the floor. Raen could see the young man was nervous about something. Robbyn unrolled a large drawing on the desk and used several rocks Raen had from a mineral survey to hold the edges down. “Sir, this is a drawing of your town and the surrounding area,” says Robbyn nervously. “Okay, so what do I build first?” asks Raen looking over the map curiously. “You don’t, sir,” says Robbyn. “This town will be gone by spring.” “Excuse me?” says Raen looking up at the nervous young man. “You built your town on a flood plain,” explains Robynn. “It’s going to start raining in two months, the only thing that will be left is the airport. It will be an island in the middle of a lake, the rest of the town is going to be at the bottom of the cliff.” “That’s complete nonsense,” says Lord Rook. “No, sir,” says Robbyn. “I missed the shuttle yesterday and had to walk to town, that’s when I saw it.” “House Robin is known for such cheap antics,” says Lord Rook. “Throw this idiot out.” “No, it's true,” says Robbyn handing Raen a stack of paper. “I ordered a twenty-year meteorology report from the Grackles. Those usually take a few weeks to prepare, but someone had already ordered one three months ago, so they gave me a copy.” Raen glances through the reports and then turns his head to Lord Rook - Raen’s eyes tightened with anger. “You knew about this,” says Raen. “That’s why you haven’t brought any construction crews, you’ve been stalling. I had hoped for Gini’s sake our two Houses could work together. Who ordered you to keep this secret, Lady Raven?” “It’s already too late, your little traitorous town is gone,” says Rook. “You shouldn’t have defied House Raven, traitor.” “Vas, escort Lord Rook and his people to the airport,” orders Raen. “Make sure they get on a plane.” Vas already has his Talon dagger out. Robbyn backs away into a corner, and Lord Rook holds his hands up. “I have diplomatic immunity,” says Lord Rook. “If anything happens to me, you’ll face murder charges.” Raen shakes his head. “I won’t kill Gini’s father, but she’ll never want to see you again after this. Get out of my Province.” Vas escorts Lord Rook out the door. Raen turns his attention back to Robbyn. “Come on out of the corner, nobody is going to harm you. Now, can we save the town?” “Yes, sir,” says Robbyn approaching the desk. “If you give me the contract to build your city, and someday your palace, I can have the bulldozers here next week.” Robbyn points at the map. “We can build levies here and here, and then a canal here to re-route the water. They won’t be perfect, but we can improve them next year.” “What are you going to do with the flood water?” asks Raen. “That will work to your advantage,” says Robbyn. “At the same time we build the levies, we will build a reservoir here and you can use it to irrigate farms.” Robbyn points at the map where he plans to put the reservoir. “Okay, you have the exclusive contract to build, minus specialized buildings other Houses may require to bring industry into the Province,” says Raen. “But, you can always bid for those contracts, and I would suspect being the only construction company in town, that would save them money over bringing in their own crews like the Swans had to do for the Theater.” “Yes, sir!” says Robbyn. “Oh, and you need to move your apple orchard. That creek next to it is going to turn into a raging river, you’ll lose your trees.” “I’ll have them moved,” says Raen. Robbyn collects his drawings and Raen leans back in his chair, closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose. The problems just never stop, the hatchlings are going to have a fit when they find out they have to move the orchard.