Here's today's chapter. I know it might feel like not much happens here, but we're moving forward. I had to stop because the next section is going to be 3k words or more, and I didn't want to have a 5k+ word chapter here.

Thanks!

Plum

36 – Room to Grow

When they reached the top of the cliffside trail, Andy and the others spent some time filling Tucker, Violet, and Bea in on what was going on with the Dondalli and what had happened with the Gavax Collective. Omar came along about halfway through, when Andy was talking about how he’d promised to send some folks over to help the Children get started. He’d mentioned Lydia and maybe another crafter or two, and Omar suggested sending a contingent of the teenagers who mostly made up the Mesquite Mesa Militia.

It was an impromptu meeting, held near the gate, but it dragged on longer than Andy had anticipated. Bernice came along and said she’d love to accompany the “Gavax Team,” and that opened the floodgates. Before long, Violet had her notepad out and was sketching out a plan—who would go, what they would bring, and what their goals would be when they got there.

At first, Andy wanted to put it off; they’d just gotten back, after all, but the more he thought about it, the more urgent he realized the whole situation was. It was critical that the Children of Gavax get a good start, especially when they shared so many hostile neighbors with Mesquite Mesa. With that thought, he stayed patient, and once everyone had settled on a plan, he volunteered to open a passage for the team in the morning.

Omar left to select some Militia members, and the others went to inform the rest of the team and, in Bernice’s and Violet’s case, pack their things. Denise left with Bea, intent on a long, hot bath, and Lucy and Andy were left standing by the gate.

“Want to go to the System Node?” Lucy asked.

Andy shrugged. “Guess we might as well. At least I can confirm we have five points and see if our options have changed at all.”

As they walked down the central lane and passed by the watchtower, Lucy gestured to it and said, “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“What?”

“The tower. I think it was selfish to ask to move into it.”

Andy glanced at her, wondering if she were being serious, and it seemed to him she was. “I don’t think that.”

“Well, I don’t think I had purely selfish ideas. I thought, you know, with my bow, it would be good to be close to the tower if we got attacked. The thing is, I’ve been gone a lot since then, and meanwhile, the Militia members who stand watch up there have to go through my living quarters to get up there, and—” She shrugged. “It just feels weird. Like, I think whoever’s in charge of the Militia should live there. You know, someone who’s always here.”

Andy frowned, nodding. “Who even is in charge?”

Lucy laughed. “Other than you? I don’t know. Omar, I guess.”

Andy chuckled, shrugging. “Yeah, I guess that’s true, but I don’t think Omar wants to run things all the time. I’m going to talk to him about appointing someone. Are you serious about the tower?”

“Yes! I’m going to talk to Tucker about getting one of the rooms in that apartment building thingy they’re making.”

Andy looked to his left, though he couldn’t see through the mesquites to where the building in question was. “I think he described it as townhomes. He did talk about an inn down by the trailhead, but nothing’s happened yet.”

“Townhome, then,” Lucy said, waving a hand. “Whatever. I mean, I just want my own space for when you’re tired of me.”

Andy laughed, nudging her shoulder with his elbow. “More like when you’re tired of me.” She smiled at him but didn’t argue, and he put his arm over her shoulders while they continued walking. “You know, I think it’s probably a good idea. Mostly because when I stay over, it’s annoying when the Militia members change shifts.”

“True!”

Some kids ran by, giggling, and it was clear the two in the back were trying to catch the one leading the pack. Andy wondered if they were just playing tag or if new, more interesting games had come into being thanks to magic and the apocalypse. “I think that was Liam.”

“The boy from the school?” Lucy nodded. “Yeah, it was.”

“He’s grown! Guess it’s Bernice’s cooking.”

“Bernice isn’t the half of it. There’s always something good to eat in the square.” Lucy squeezed his arm. “Speaking of which, I could eat.”

“Boons first.” Andy led the way to the underground, pausing to chat with the two men on guard outside—Hector Alvarez and Greg Sumner. They were playing dominoes, and Andy couldn’t blame them; the underground had been quiet since they’d wiped out the vermin, and there were guards stationed down below, too.

In the big storage cavern, they walked over to the System Node, and Andy was surprised to see that someone had built an adobe block wall around it. It was only about five feet tall—a pony wall, he thought it was called. Inside the wall, though, were several wooden benches, almost like someone had decided the node’s space needed some delineation.

“This is new,” Lucy remarked as they walked through the only gap in the wall.

“Yeah. Probably smart, though; the wall’s just high enough to block the node from view. I guess, if someone had to defend it, the wall is better than nothing, too.”

“You think it was Tucker?”

Andy nodded. “That would be my bet.” He approached the node, stretched out his hand and rested his palm on its surface. It felt like it was charged with static energy, tingling under his skin. “Let’s see what’s new.” With that, he pulled up the Settlement Menu:

Settlement Menu:

Settlement Name: Mesquite MesaLeader: Andy WestSuccessor: Violet RuizActive Effects: --Settlement Level: 7

Allied Settlements:

·       Santa Rita Dondalli Clan

·       Gavax Collective – Subject

Total Citizens: 1,298

Boons:

·       System Node

·       Freshwater Spring

·       Natural Bulwark

·       Forager’s Bounty

·       Settlement Alliance Link

·       Whisperwood Grove

·       Deep Veins

·       Fisher’s Bounty

·       System Trade Beacon

·       Mother Tree Sanctuary

·       Deeproot Expansion

·       Hearthflame Ember

Boon Points: 5

Boons Available:

·       System Trade Beacon Upgrade

·       Settlement Domain Expansion (2 Boon Points)

·       Natural Bulwark Upgrade (Requires Settlement Domain Expansion)

·       Basic Citadel (Requires Settlement Domain Expansion)

·       Deepwater Port

·       Skywatch Roost

“Oh, shit,” Andy said, glancing at Lucy.

“What?”

“Well, first of all, we jumped to level seven, and I’m pretty sure that’s because it’s counting the Children of Gavax as citizens.”

“Oh? Really?”

Andy nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. They’re a ‘subject’ settlement, so they’re, like, under our umbrella.”

“That’s…” Lucy shrugged. “Good, I guess.”

“Also,” Andy said, “I almost forgot about the Settlement Alliance Link—we should be able to communicate with them through this node.”

“Oh! The Dondalli too?”

Andy shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’re allies, but they aren’t one of our subject settlements. Still, we should be able to send messages to the Gavax node. That’ll make it easier to keep in touch with whoever we send over. Anyway, that wasn’t what got me excited… Hang on while I try to read more about some new options, then I’ll tell you about them.” Andy refocused on the Settlement Menu and focused on the first of the new options:

System Trade Beacon Upgrade: Gain access to limited auction listings from local System-governed worlds. As your settlement levels, its access will expand.

“Okay, that’s crazy…” Andy took a minute to explain what he’d read.

“So, we could shop for things from other worlds?”

“And maybe list our own things. I guess?”

Lucy nodded, pursing her lips in thought. After a moment, she asked, “What else?”

“Right.” Andy looked at the next option:

Settlement Domain Expansion: Expand the area of influence of your System Node by a factor of four. This means that your settlement will effectively grow into the surrounding environment, though improvements will not be automatic—defensive measures and structures will remain in the original area unless you purchase System upgrades.

When Andy explained that one, Lucy’s eyebrows shot up. “That means it’s basically doubling the diameter—I mean, if you look at our settlement as a circle.”

“Yeah, I guess so, but that’s just the start.” Andy read the descriptions of the next two boons and then described them to Lucy:

Natural Bulwark Upgrade: With an expanded settlement domain, much of your territory will initially lack defensive upgrades. This boon seeks to remedy that by installing a new perimeter defensive construction.

Basic Citadel: Using spatial magic, the System will expand the central area of your settlement and install a defensive fortification suitable for the defense of your populace in a crisis. Moreover, the citadel will offer housing for soldiers and the household of the settlement’s leader.

After he finished describing the new options to Lucy, she stared at him for a moment with wide eyes. After failing to say anything, she turned and walked in a small circle, then came back to him. “Why can’t things ever be easy? I thought with five points, we’d be set—just buy everything. Now the System is throwing two-point options and prerequisites at us?”

Andy chuckled, nodding. “I know, right?”

“Well, we want to expand, don’t we? Of course, we probably want the new bulwark options, and then there’s the darn castle!”

“Well, citadel,” Andy corrected. “I know that can basically be a castle, but it might not be much at the ‘basic’ level.”

“Still, with us surrounded by hostile neighbors or, at least, neutral ones who might become hostile, I think it would be nice to have something like that.”

Andy wanted to agree with her, but he’d caught himself imagining living in the citadel, and was afraid he was being selfish. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t argue that he should be the one to live there, but he figured he’d let the council debate if they thought a citadel was something they wanted—a safe haven during times of war. “I mean, we have the underground, too.”

“Sure,” Lucy replied, “but what if the threat is coming from there? What if the threat is coming from many directions?”

“Okay,” Andy replied, “that’s a hell of a good point. Well, one thing is for sure: I don’t want to sit on these Boon Points—not with the Night Kingdom out there. Let’s call a council meeting.” He glanced toward the tunnel exit. “It’s not too late, is it?”

“What? No! I haven’t even had dinner. If anyone’s already asleep, you should wake them up. Besides—” She giggled and grabbed his wrist, tugging him toward the exit. “—don’t you want to have your council meeting before Vince gets back?”

As they walked, Andy mentally went over the council members who were still present. “Actually, yeah, we need to do this tonight—Violet and Lydia are going to the Gavax Collective tomorrow. Right now, it’s just Vince and Madi missing, and I don’t think Madi will argue with whatever we decide.” As they climbed the long, sloping ramp to the exit, he glanced at Lucy. “Do you?”

She shook her head. “No. She’s surprised me by how mature she’s become. I think that Druid class is doing something to her.”

“Really?”

Lucy tilted her head, thinking, and then said, “It’s like she’s wiser than she should be. I guess she’s been through a lot, too, so maybe that’s it.”

“Maybe a combination of things. Nobody’s made it this far without seeing some stuff.”

Lucy didn’t respond, but she took his hand in hers as they walked.

Outside, it didn’t take long to track down James and Lydia; they were at the forges. Tucker and Violet were easy, too—both at home, and they were neighbors. Andy knew Bea and Denise would be at the Waterhouse, so he told everyone to gather there; they’d use the fountain courtyard as a meeting space.

Andy and Lucy ended up walking to the meeting with Eduardo, Violet, and Tucker, and the older folks chatted nonstop. Lucy fielded most of their questions, making it easy for Andy to do some thinking. He already knew what he wanted to purchase with the Boon Points, but he felt like going through the motions of democracy—listening to the opinions of people he respected—was probably the smart move. He’d made plenty of mistakes in his life, after all.

At the moment, he was leaning toward basically buying all the new upgrades—the enhanced Trade Beacon, the Domain Expansion, the upgraded Natural Bulwark, and the Citadel. It would drain their Boon Points, but it would also make their settlement bigger and stronger.

The settlement menu said they had 1,298 citizens, but that included the Gavax—their “subject” settlement. Still, they were growing, and as more refugees from conflicts in the Tucson Basin found their way to the mesa—something he was sure was going to happen—Andy thought it would be wise to expand and strengthen their defenses.

Lucy was thinking along the same lines as she spoke to the others, “…and if the Gavax need shelter? Or if the underground gets overrun again? I really think the citadel would be a good idea.”

“Well, I know I’m not on the council,” Eduardo said, walking hand-in-hand with Violet, “but I agree with you on that point. The underground is a great place to shelter from outside threats and natural phenomena, but it has too many entry points to feel truly secure.”

“I mean,” Andy said, playing devil’s advocate against his own desires, “we can shore up those other entries. We can make it secure.”

“Can we, though?” Eduardo pressed. “Consider the ever-expanding mine, Andy. Consider the underground river network.” He held up his hand, ducking his head. “I’m just giving you some food for thought. I’ll stay out of it now.”

Andy shook his head. “No, Eddie. Since Madi and Vince aren’t present, I’ll have you and Lucy sit in on the discussion. I value your advice.” He paused as they moved out from under the canopy of mesquites and approached the fountain garden outside the Waterhouse. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Honestly, unless one of you has a really strong argument against my decision, this meeting is more about how we can prepare the populace for the changes—I think they’re going to be…earthshaking.”