Destiny's Road

"What have you got for breakfast?"

"We don't have flour yet. Cold chicken? Tea?"

They turned that down. One man said, "You should open for breakfast too. They come to Swan Lake to fish, you know, and this is the only way in. Cook their fish for them in the evening."

Amnon stayed. Jemmy took the rest to the lake. Behind him he sensed frantic action held leashed.

At the shore they separated. The inlet to Swan Lake was easy to wade. Jemmy tried to keep an eye on the little group on the far shore, but they weren't spending all their time fishing. They let a little tent inflate and spent some of their time in there. They went exploring through the trees.

Earthlife bushes and grass and trees. Earthlife fish. Before noon the felons had caught two dozen fish of three varieties, none of which Jemmy recognized. It made sense to go home then, and they did.

Jemmy dreaded that Andrew would see what he saw: four teens on foot who might have disappeared anywhere between here and the City, with clothes on their backs in current styles and money in their pockets. But he couldn't stay to protect them.

They returned to a great light.

Above the restaurant's roof a flame rose and fluttered in the shape of a Swan.

Jemmy was relieved to see Andrew gri

"I don't know. Wi

"Shouldn't we turn it off? Or are we open?"

"We're open. Let's see, we'll keep that room locked, and clean up the

roof so we get more power. All the lights are way too dim. But you, Jemmy, you get a pit fire going. When those kids come back we want to cook their fish for them. And show somebody how to clean fish! Henry!"

The visitors stayed for di

Jemmy was a chef on display, with a Road accent, self-consciously not a Spiral Town accent, and, "My merchant father picked me up from the dairy when I was a little boy.

What the Swan lacked became much clearer. Bread, potatoes, lettuce. They'd have asked for a room until Barda told them there weren't any working toilets. Then they opted for their tent by the lake.

Then they tried to pay the chef.

"You pay Barda. She prefers to keep track." Jemmy sneaked a peek at Destiny Town money before they turned away. It was a hologram imposed onto thin paper.

Barda took their money. They climbed uphill with Swanlight behind them. And Barda gave him an intensive course in how to identify, count, and change money before she let him go to bed.

26

The Last Climb

We were chosen for genetic disparity. Now our numbers are down by one third and we're scattered from Base One to the Winds! How are we going to avoid gene drift?

-Grigori Dudayev, senior M. D.

Next morning was a bleery-eyed scramble. They didn't have to look like a restaurant as long as they didn't look like a prison camp! Four visitors would be returning through here....ny minute now...

They appeared near noon. They'd stayed to fish up a breakfast. Jemmy guessed right: he had coals going, and he'd saved a dozen of Wi

The fishers wanted tea, and were mildly put off because it was herb tea, licorice picked from the spice patch. There was, of course, no bread. Admitting that was embarrassing.

After they were gone Rafik told Barda, "You could have charged them more."

"They'll talk. We want customers," Barda said. "What is an i

Jemmy asked Rafik, "How much whole-wheat flour would that buy?"

"Sack and a half. Last night's take would buy five or six. But we could have charged more," Rafik said, and Andrew's face was growing red with his laughter.

It was a trivial sum, of course. Barda's list had grown:

one full set 0f decent clothing 600

poured stone, 10 to

glass panes 700

flour 100

silverware 200-1000

paint 500

chairs up to 2000

tables up to 4000

soap 100

curtains 500-1000

advertising ???

napkins, ~l00 (logo?) 200

washer 5000

cookware:

stew pots 50

teapot 20

butcher's table! 1500 or make one

tea

guide spot and power account 8850

line wire 4000

When Jemmy went to fetch wood for the pit, Andrew was there. "I found grain," he said.

"What, you mean before we crossed the last ridge?"

"Well, yes, in that last valley, but not where you were. We followed you on the ridge. Just before the sun came up I was looking back. It was all yellow. Earthlife yellow. It's not far from the Swan. I can show you."

"What kind of grain?"

"Two or three kinds. I went back to check, day before yesterday. Grain. Why would the settlers bring anything that looks that much like wheat and isn't?"

Jemmy thought it over while he and Andrew collected deadwood. They'd been here nine days, and they hadn't had to chop down trees for firewood, but the day would come.

He said, "Then all we need is a mill."

"I'll show you next time I go out, you want to come." Andrew moved off, dragging a log.

There was just too much wrong with that.

Grain: right. Barda's daddy, or his daddy or his, would have planted wheat and rye around the Swan. But it was a great find. Why wasn't Andrew taking the credit in his usual booming voice? Or demanding some favor in return? And when had he had the chance to check it out?

He found Willametta on the hill above the Swan. "Willya? Did you see any grain hereabouts before you got to the i

Willametta looked around. Her windbreaker had become a bag for onions and mushrooms. "I didn't."

"Did Andrew?"

"No. Why?"

"Any idea where Duncan's got to?"

She'd seen his worry. "It's all going fine, isn't it? Why are you turning weird now? I haven't seen Duncan Nick since breakfast."

"Maybe I started weird. How would you like to go to Destiny Town?"

"What?"

"Somebody has to buy stuff. It sure isn't me, not with this accent!"

She smiled. "I guess I could stay out of trouble. Do I look like a living woman now?"

"Close. Let's test that." He took the bag she'd made of her windbreaker and set it down.

"Jeremy, Destiny people won't see this much of me."

"Speaking for the felons assembled, we're relieved to hear it."

Conversation deteriorated.

Wi

Too many of them had spent too much of the day arguing possibilities. Nevertheless the arguments had culled Barda's list into what they needed most that cost least. By the red light of evening's coals it had all evolved into a plan.

Someone was going to have to go into town.

At some point that person had become Andrew.

He was going alone. "You were right, Jeremy. One of us is just ski

"Our bones aren't showing through so much now," Jemmy agreed. "You can pass. Most of us could."

"But not you. You'd make a mistake."

"Not Barda either. Barda, the places that sell supplies for an i