Phase Two

Emily struggled with her personal life for the next few months, strengthening muscles wasted over a month of inactivity was in many ways like being a newborn infant once again, only with much more weight to push around and a mind as sharp as ever. The business elite and heads of various interested groups of the city sat around the large conference table. Emily who still walked with a cane for balance and Teslaimia walked into the room taking seats at the head of the table. All the others had been waiting for several minutes. Emily opened the folder that had already been placed in front of her and cleared her throat speaking up softly, "Gentlemen, ladies, I proud to say that Phase one is now complete, and it was completed under budget and ahead of schedule." She clapped her hands which caused everyone else to join in many smiles were seen and many of the participants shook the hands of each other. She tapped on the folder and said, "Today I'd like to talk about Phase two."

Mr. Duke raised his hand, "Lady Connaissance, no one in this room doubts the importance of the Airship fleet now. I was wondering, will there be any other benefit to having the Airship port other than having a place for them to repair?"

"Excellent Question Mr. Duke, I'd like my chief inventor to explain it. If you will Mr. Murray?" She smiled and motioned a hand at him.

He nodded and stood up, handing out a few pages of notes, "Thank you Lady Connaissance, Mr. Duke, to answer your question shortly. Yes! The Long answer here is that it will act just as a seaport acts. We will bring passengers and cargo into the city via the Airship port. It will also act partially as a military base as well." Mr. Murray looked around the room and then said, "Each of your businesses, should you desire will be able to build your own ships, unarmed of course, in order to build your own trade routes. Your flight crews may be hired from the military men who wish to leave at the end of their service, or come to our Future Art of War Company crew school which will be offered at the Connaissance University."

Mr. Murray looked around as the various business leaders looked like they were ready to buy even now, "We do have an issue though that I feel must be addressed. We have discovered a fatal flaw in our Airship design. The flying ships are more susceptible to weather than we ever imagined. The CCAS Zealous reported that wind and lightning are the two largest concerns, but also, cold weather and hot weather change the lift of the gas used by our ships enough that it can be considered unflyable at certain times of the year."

Emily frowned and then asked, "Mr. Murray, I have a question about cargo and passengers from neighboring countries. During our maiden voyage on the Zealous, I very nearly broke my ankle trying to use the basket. It sways around like a pendulum. Are we going to be able to truly offer these services in the other places without them having their own Airship ports?"

Mr. Murray smiled at her and then nodded, "This is indeed the problem we are faced with. On that front, we have been assured by both the Holy Chadtom Empire and the Kingdom of Fursia, that they have already begun construction on their Airship ports. in exchange for commercial Airships of their own. Just to be clear, these will be strictly commercial vehicles not equipped with our weapons systems." He looked around the table and then added, "The Airship ports will also be smaller than our military airships, meaning we won't be able to have any military ship larger than our Destroyer use them."

Emily nodded and then asked, "Have they been warned of the risks associated with operating the Airships in certain weather?"

Mr. Murray nodded and added, "Not only have we discussed the negatives, but we also explained that these airships are problematic to fly. However, it is undeniable that these ships make the journey between our three countries a matter of a day instead of months. None of us are willing to not make this gamble."

Emily nodded, "What about King Andrew? Is he interested in building an Airship port in the Windsor Kingdom?"

Mr. Murray shook his head, "No, he believes that the Windsor Kingdom must still maintain a relationship with the Church so he banned the Airships from entering his Airspace."

Emily nodded and said, "That's fine, I understand my uncle's stance on this, the Windsor Kingdom population are mainly believers in the Church of the Risen Son. Even if the Church does not attack them militarily they can still do great harm economically in his Kingdom. Make sure you make that clear to the Holy Chadtom Empire and the Kingdom of Fursia. We are respecting the Windsor Kingdom's airspace."

Mr. Murray smiled and nodded at her and then brought up a large chart, "Phase two is going to be the single most expensive investment in the City of Connaissance. The Airship port is something that previously has not existed here on Hanston We have made small scale models and tested it to the best of our ability but certain aspects of the Airship port may made need some actual use to figure out. Just as with the Zealous, with a single real-world use, many important things are discovered. First of all, we know for sure that each arriving ship is going to need coal and water. We'll be using a combination of the Duhan Lift and conveyor technology to deliver this, also, our new electric pump created for use with the Rhinoceros will be used to bring water up to the Airships. That brings me to the next issue, water. We are using freshwater too fast. We are going to find ourselves having to ration water within two years at the current usage rate, and as we add more airships that usage rate will be going up."

Emily's eye got wide, "Do you already have some options?"

Mr. Murray nodded, "We are already adding this project to our Phase two operation and it is the reason our costs are skyrocketing for this project. We call it the Connaissance City Reservoir. What we are doing is putting a dam made from Pillson Concrete and steel on a section of the Red Cold River in a deep narrow ravine that feeds into the Muliwai. We'll use this dam to hold enough water to satisfy the City's needs for at least the next 100 years assuming we see an increase in usage at the current rate."

Emily nodded, "How long until completion for the dam?"

"If we divert manpower from Phase two, we can have it done in one year. If we keep Phase two on track and hire workers from outside of the City, two years."

Emily looked around the room and asked, "Gentlemen, should we keep the project on pace or divert some manpower for the Reservoir?"

Mr. Duke spoke up, "Lady Connaissance, we can hire from the unemployed here in the city and should be able to support both projects. Additionally, we suggest using criminal labor on the dam project as well in order to cut costs. Looking at the figures, the Dam project could go as high as nineteen million Sprite. Thanks to Mr. Murray negotiating a deal for the Airship ports in the Holy Chadtom Empire and Fursia, we are actually going to be well under budget once again for the actual Airship port construction here in the Connaissance."

Emily smiled and said, "Let's go with that plan."

*****

A rough wooden wagon with a cage on the back slowly made its way down the road. As it came to a wide road the Driver brought the wagon to a halt. The driver climbed down and opened the back and reaching in to help the single man in the back of the wagon. The haggard one arm man slowly made his way to the ground, his eyes looked lifeless as the Driver handed him a bag with food and water. The Driver took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow, "If you travel to the north, you'll find the free city of Connaissance. They are hiring workers right now, and even someone like you might find an opportunity there. If you head to the south, you will find the Windsor Kingdom. There you will need to beg for the mercy of the Church to allow you to survive on Alms. A one-armed man doesn't stand much chance of living a life of more than a beggar there I am afraid. He held out his left hand."

The haggard one-armed man reached out his only hand, his left hand, and returned the handshake. He sighed and said in a hoarse raspy voice, "Thank you, brother. For everything, you have done for me. I was a dead man without you."

The wagon driver nodded and said, "We are all his chosen, brother. In the Lord's name, I pray that you will find a life worth living once again."

The haggard one-armed man waved goodbye and started heading north. He stopped and asked, "Brother Tim, why do you stay in that heathen Empire?"

The wagon driver shrugged and said, "I met a woman." He looked up into the sky and said, "Brother Roger, I know I shouldn't ask you this but how did you lose your arm?"

The haggard one-armed man laughed and shook his head, "You may not believe this, but I also met a woman."

Tim the wagon driver laughed and then said, "I hope she was beautiful at least?"

Roger smiled and looked at Tim, "One of the two most beautiful women I have ever seen. She had a friend with her who might just be the most beautiful in the world."

Tim nodded and said, "That's why the Lord warns us about women." he chuckled.

Roger looked down and said, "No, it wasn't like that. No, I was in the wrong and I knew it, but sometimes you just follow your orders and trust in the Lord, am I right?"

Tim nodded and said, "You have that right brother. Mr. Colton, I think you still have it in you to do some good in your life, trust in the Lord and yesterday's failures can be tomorrow's blessing."

Roger Colton lifted his hand in the air and waved as he walked to the north once again.

*****

Captain Alexander walked along the top of the wall looking out to the south. Recently he had been staying down at the first wall at the foot of the mountain. Ever since the day, he walked into Emily's room to ask Teslaimia out on a date and found her conscious and staring at him. He felt a pang of deep guilt that had caused him to hide from her and stay at the post furthest away from her and Teslaimia. He never quite knew what their relationship was, but he knew that inviting Teslaimia out for lunch was a betrayal of that relationship. It was his own fault for never having asked Emily for more of a relationship, he was afraid that by asking her he would destroy his friendship with her, but then, in the end, he did it anyway and in such a foolish manner. With her best friend of all people.

Captain Alexander looked at a group of people coming through the gate who were clearly looking for work. One of them was a scarred up man who walked with a slight limp and only had one arm. Captain Alexander pointed to the man and signaled for him to be brought to his office. He leisurely walked down the long steps and made his way over to the office. He walked in and sat down, closing some of his files.

A soldier brought the man in as Captain Alexander smiled and asked, "What brings you to the free city of Connaissance?"

The man sighed and said, "Look, I don't want any trouble, I just need work."

Captain Alexander smiled and asked, "Oh? What kind of work do you do?"

The man rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I used to be a soldier..." He looked at where his right arm used to be, "Not much work for a one-armed soldier so I thought I would see if I could find something else."

Captain Alexander nodded his head and asked, "Calling a Knight of Cambria a soldier is a little insulting isn't it?"

The man sat up straight, "You knew?"

Captain Alexander shook his head, "Just a hunch, saw the tattoo on your arm. and you have the look of a knight about you." He tapped his finger on the desk, "Since you are this broke, I am guessing you were serving under one of the Church's companies. You don't need to answer that. I have no use for a one-armed Knight on the front lines. I sure do have a use for a Knight in my training program. Are you interested in teaching?"

He looked shocked as he looked at Captain Alexander, "You'd hire me knowing who I am? Aren't you afraid I am a spy?"

Captain Alexander chuckled, "Spy? We have hundreds of those here, what's one more? What I don't have is a knight commander with enough real battlefield experience to teach my recruits how to be soldiers. You, my friend, look exactly like what I need in my camp. Let me ask again, you interested in being a Knight once more, not just in name but in rank and pay?"

He started to tear up as he looked at Captain Alexander, "You'll let me be a knight, a real Knight, even with just one arm?"

Captain Alexander nodded and started to write up a contract, "What's your name, your real name please?"

He stammered a bit and said, "Roger Colton. Sir Roger Colton."

Captain Alexander nodded and asked, "Can you write, or were you right-handed?"

He wiped his eyes and said, "I was right-handed, but I can try to write, please. I want this very much."

Captain Alexander turned the document around and said, "Roger, once you sign this... You'll be in service to the City of Connaissance. Your past is your past. We will expect you to maintain the dignity and honor of a Knight of the Connaissance Defense Force. That means following your oath of Chivalry once more. I know the Church is lax about that, but here in my barracks, we follow it to the letter. Am I clear?"

He kneeled down and looked Captain Alexander in the eye and said in his most confident tone, "I swear to follow my oath and defend the City of Connaissance with my life."