#38: Coffeeee

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Just before sunrise , two days later, the command group gathered at the wall to welcome in the new day.

They had Coffee.

Morning coffee was becoming a morning ritual. This was a good time to generally chew the fat, brief everyone on current events and plan the day. Lamar froze with a coffee cup part way to his mouth. He stared open mouthed as Bergelmir , escorted by two nervous human soldiers with drawn guns, approached the wall.

“May I have a cup of coffee”

... the Troll asked. His voice was contra-bass but it was easily understandable.

“Certainly “ said the Captain…”Sergeant see to it that this man has cup of coffee. It looks like he’ll need a big one.”

To the Trolls escort he said” Thank you for your help guys, we can handle it from here on out, you are dismissed.” The men holstered their weapons reluctantly, and left.

Almost immediately someone handed the Troll a bowl of coffee. There was no cup large enough so his coffee was in a soup bowl.

“Careful there Berg” said the Captain. “It’s hot”

The Troll raised the bowl of coffee to his lips...then just held it. He took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and sniffed. He just sat there….pure Bliss. He’d never dreamed of anything like it.

“Wake up and smell the coffee…..huh... Berg?” asked the Captain taking a drink from his own mug.

The huge Troll observed the Captain then copied him. He took a sip of coffee…..and visibly relaxed.

So did everyone else.

---

Hours later all the Trolls were standing in one line. The larger male soldiers available for duty were standing in another line...two by two, they would sit down beside each other with a space between. Berantah would roll her machine into that space and hook them up. It took a little while until the partial transfusion was complete. The machine checked for and prevented any potential hazards from imperiling the soldiers. Shortly, and it was done, and they got up and each went a different direction. Each found a bed or a place to sleep. Lamar tried to transfuse blood twice but Berantah almost beat him up. Once per day she said.

Nothing much got done that day. The sounds of snoring soldiers reverberated across the camp. The kindred stood watch alone. The civilians were mystified.

---

The next day before dawn the command group, as they were beginning to think of themselves, met again. Trolls were included this time. When the group split up after several gallons of coffee each went to a separate tasks. This time they began to seriously build.

Captain Lamar had stated the objective. First Sgt. Halsey had given orders. The Platoon sergeants assigned teams. The bears and Trolls and most of the men began to dig again, and move more dirt. Teams went into the forest for wood. Trees were removed. They were building another wall behind the one that they'd already built. High velocity bullets put a whole new slant on things. They built several walls actually, some were double log palisades with dirt between them. They build many kinds of traps and deadfalls, they built hideaways, tunnels, boltholes and getaway trenches. They got really sneaky and nasty. They would be opposing a force several times greater in number than they were. They were maximizing home team advantage.
After they built something it was tested, then sometimes rebuilt or improved on. They began to train.

Force multiplication was their only hope.

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While the construction was in progress a small group of the strongest fastest dragons departed. They were returning to the Ark temporarily. They could fly past the edge of the world and go directly to the Ark which, oddly enough, was on a cliff directly opposite the skyfort but a long, long way away. The whole way was across the trackless abyss. Only the dragon’s built in navigation would prevent them from getting lost. The Griffin lacked that ability.. ..or the non stop endurance.

That distance, straight across was perhaps a tenth that of the very circuitous overland route. What had taken the foraging party weeks and months to traverse overland while hunting meat could be done in hours by a strong, fast flier.
There were very few adults still on the ARK. Most were caretakers for the hundreds of children but a very few of the ancients remained. The very, very old were comparatively frail and feeble physically and had not been allowed to go with the expeditionary force. Most had protested vigorously but the Elders would not allow them to go.
The castaways on the SkyFort desperately needed their wisdom, even if neither group was aware the other existed. A few of the Kindred Children had come to the realization though and thus, several young, racing Dragons fought the wind as they inspired each other to greater speeds….they raced to inform their WiseKin of the impending calamity.

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At the SkyFort everyone communicated effortlessly. No one stopped to think that the language lessons had gone amazingly, impossibly well. Everyone could communicate with everyone else as if they had been born speaking each other’s languages. This was so impossible that it was stupid, but no one considered it consciously any longer.

They just talked.

Next Episode
#39: Ooops.…
Previous Episode
#37:Approached the Trolls…
First Episode
# 1 : In the beginning…

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