Question for the board . . .

Chapter 6

Jamiet

Back in the village, Nara introduced Jamiet and Kano to the woodworker, Tumi, and his young apprentice, Koma. They were taken to the rudimentary workshop and, on the way, Tumi gave them the good news that they already had a stock of wood, having chopped down some trees in the winter for a shelter that had never been built.

Jamiet surveyed the workshop. It was typical of the region: a basic shelter with a large, well-worn log serving as a workbench. He saw a few leather hides hanging on one side and hoped there were more. He could see that Kano was glad to have a starting supply of wood, but Kano explained to Tumi that they also needed a supply of harder wood like camelthorn. Tumi and Koma exchanged a glance and Tumi said he knew where some of these trees were, not far away in the north.

Jamiet and Kano had learned from their travels that the tribes of this region already practised re-seeding when chopping down a tree. This helped them a lot, as the replanting of trees was a strict instruction from Ko. It was agreed that Kano, Tumi and Koma would go and inspect the camelthorn trees and collect some seeds so that they could be prepared for planting.

Jamiet, Nara and Biru returned to the chosen site. The diggers had already defined the perimeter of the well when the first stones arrived following the morning foraging. With Nara and Biru watching on, Jamiet placed the first stone, showing Khosi, Kau, Nxotso and Tshipu how to push it into the dirt at the barest of angles, tilting slightly inwards. There was already enough of a depression for the first course to be laid and all took turns to lay most of the remaining stones.

‘If it can roll or move, look for a smaller stone to add with it. It must be still. The stones that we lay below these ones must all be strong. Every one. These are the easy stones to place.’

Tshipu nodded in understanding.

Nara had a memory from her childhood of stones being laid at her grandmother's burial. She still recalled that solemn moment when she placed her stone. Those stones were for the dead, she thought. These stones are for the living.

Jamiet asked Khosi to dig down further and the strong young man quickly used his hardwood stick to clear space for the first stone of the second course.

Now Jamiet demonstrated how to move the earth from under the stone above and jam a new stone in beneath it, angling it slightly inwards and ensuring it took the weight of the stone above it.

‘The new stone carries the old one,’ he said.

Each got a turn to lay a second stone and Jamiet had to remind Nxotso to tilt the stone slightly inwards rather than outwards.

‘The stone must bow its head to the hole,’ he explained. Nxotso gave a click of understanding.

Some new stones arrived and were placed in a pile near the hole. Jamiet left the diggers to their work and he, Nara and Biru went to find Kxolilo the leatherworker.

Kxolilo was almost as old as Jaro. He was the village leatherworker and Kari, his daughter, was his apprentice. Jamiet could see by the way Nara introduced Kari to him that they were good friends. He liked her immediately.

Jamiet described the leather bucket he had in mind and asked Kxolilo if he had enough leather to make as many buckets as there were days between moons. Kxolilo looked confused and it was Kari who replied that they might have enough, but would have to be very careful not to waste. While Jamiet, Kxolilo and Kari spoke about the shape of the leather bucket, what stitching would be required and what rawhide they had available, Nara’s cousin Neri came up and spoke to her. Nara excused herself, saying she wanted to go check on Aunt Sesi, who had been too weak to leave her bed that morning.

Jamiet spent the rest of the afternoon going through the leather and rawhide requirements with Kxolilo and Kari while Biru watched, taking it all in. Jamiet liked Biru. He didn’t speak much but watched everything intently. Nara made a good choice, thought Jamiet.

He was a bit worried by the supply of leather, knowing that there wouldn’t be time to hunt a new animal for leather and knowing the tribe had nothing to trade – other than knowledge, he thought.

He was also worried about Sesi’s health. He wanted to give her a nut, but he knew he’d be breaking very strict rules regarding intervention. He’d be taken off all missions, immediately. He’d be disgraced and demoted. But a single nut that wouldn’t be missed could be the difference between success and failure of the mission, he thought, struggling to justify breaking such a strict rule. If Sesi had to die, he reasoned, the entire mission would be delayed while they mourned. That’s it! he thought. That’s exactly what I’ll say if for any reason I ever have to explain it. He clicked to himself what he hoped sounded like a combination of resolve and anticipation. He was going to do it; and nobody need know.

That evening after the meal, Jamiet and Kano sat by the fire with Nxao, Jaro and some of the other men, drinking a bark-infused tea that Jamiet found too bitter for his taste, but which Kano seemed to enjoy. One of the men was recounting his tracking experiences of the day and the others were listening. Jamiet found himself sneaking glances at Nara.

She and Kari were chatting together on the other side of the fire, preparing the seeds that would be planted tomorrow. The seeds would soak in hot water and then have their shells scuffed and nicked without damaging the seed inside. They had to work carefully, but Jamiet noticed how they giggled occasionally and whenever they did, Nara’s eyes turned in his direction.

—

The next morning, Jamiet’s first waking thought was the promise he’d made to himself the day before. He went to his pouch, took out a nut and looked at it. He had never broken protocol so blatantly or with such premeditation before. He felt his pulse quicken and he hesitated. If Ko found out …

He made his decision. He took the nut and went to find Nara so he could ask her permission to see Sesi. He and Kano called them ‘nuts’ because they were disguised as nuts, the same shape and size of a mongongo nut and similar in colour, but they were actually concentrated nutrition tablets that provided a full and balanced meal.

Jamiet found Nara waiting for him at the workshop. Kano, Tumi, Koma and a few of the men had taken saws, axes and the prepared seeds and set off to the camelthorn trees in the north, accompanied by Neri and Sanu, who would plant the seeds.

Nara was alone. Jamiet asked her how Sesi was and then, after she just shrugged, he asked if he could give Sesi a nut to eat that might make her feel stronger.

‘What kind of nut is this?’ asked Nara suspiciously. ‘Let me see it.’

He gave it to her. She looked at it and sniffed it.

‘She will give thanks,’ she replied, giving it back to Jamiet, ‘but it looks to me like my Aunt Sesi needs more than just a nut. She does not eat her food but gives it to the children instead. That’s why she’s dying.’

‘Then there’s no harm trying,’ said Jamiet, before adding, ‘Please don’t tell Kano, because he likes these nuts a lot and he’ll be angry with me for giving it away.’

Nara’s eyebrow arched.

‘And why would I tell Kano?’ she asked.

Jamiet looked down and avoided her eyes. Nara walked with him to Sesi’s hut, went inside and then reappeared, summoning him inside.

Sesi was almost skeletal; other than her distended stomach. She was awake, though, and asked Jamiet his business, but in a friendly manner.

Jamiet clicked a greeting, which brought a smile to Sesi’s face. He said, ‘I wanted to give you this nut to eat, Mama. Kano and I found them some days ago and they gave us strength. I still have one and wanted you to have it.’

‘That is very thoughtful of you,’ said Sesi. ‘I thank you, but I don’t like nuts. Rather give it to my grandson, Qama. He loves nothing more than nuts.’

Nara was behind me and she made two very sharp clicks. Sesi put out her hand and Jamiet gave her the nut. She inspected it and then tried to nibble on it.

‘You have to put it all into your mouth, Mama, and then chew,’ Jamiet said.

Nara gave another loud click and Sesi obediently ate the nut.

‘Rest, Mama,’ said Jamiet, feeling a sense of both relief and foreboding. ‘I hope you feel better soon.’

She thanked him and settled back on her mat as Nara and Jamiet left.

Chapter 7

Nara

On the walk to the hole I noticed that the route had already become a well-trodden path. I turned to Jamiet, walking behind me, and told him that I could spend only the morning with him that day, as I had to prepare for the raindance I would perform later that evening. Jamiet grinned and said he was looking forward to it, whereupon I told him in no uncertain terms that the raindance was for my people only and he was not invited, nor was Kano.

He stopped. I could see he was taken aback, but I sensed he understood this was important to me. He held his tongue, clicking instead that he understood. I smiled, as I often did when Jamiet clicked.

‘You are not permitted to watch,’ I said firmly, and Jamiet clicked again in disappointment, knowing it would make me smile, and it did. We walked on.

We spent the morning at the hole, where Khosi and the other diggers were making good progress and the pile of smooth stones next to the well was getting larger.

Jamiet inspected the stones that had been placed for the second and third courses and pronounced himself satisfied, except for a pair of stones that he ordered to be replaced, as the larger stone was too reliant on the second, smaller one that had been placed next to it.

‘Use smaller stones only when the shape demands it,’ Jamiet said.

Jamiet took a turn at digging and laid his stone with the help of Tshipu once he’d cleared the space. I noticed that when he took his turn, he sang, as Khosi and the other diggers sang while they worked. He had a nice singing voice.

The four well-diggers had established a good routine where the digger took his soil away in a woven basket, then took a rest and drank before rejoining the group to help with the selecting, lifting and placing of stones until it was his turn to dig again.

Biru joined Jamiet in taking a few turns while Kau and Nxotso rested.

The sun was above us when a messenger arrived to tell us that Kano and Tumi had chopped down two camelthorn trees and needed help hauling the wood back to the village. Jamiet and Biru volunteered immediately and left the diggers to their work. I took the opportunity to excuse myself and walked back to the village to prepare for the raindance that would take place after the evening meal.

On the walk back, I thought about how disappointed Aunt Sesi would be to miss the raindance. She was very proud of me, I knew, and the raindance was her favourite ritual, but she was still too weak to leave her mat. I kept an eye out for any berries or bush onions I could take home for her. There were a few ghaap bushes on the walk, but the berries were still green. I was nearly home when I spotted some yellow berries just off the path. They were not completely ripe; they were still yellow rather than the orange colour we preferred, but I picked them anyway.

When I arrived back at the village, I collected a handful of cool wood ash from the previous night’s fire and went to my hut and undressed. I used my smooth bathing stone to remove what sweat, dirt and old ochre I could. I then used some of the fine riversand I kept in a basket and rubbed it over my entire body to remove the rest of the old ochre. I dusted the sand off before rubbing the wood ash over my body to absorb the oils and sweat. Only then did I use a bit of water from my gourd, using a few handfuls to wipe myself clean.

I rested while my skin dried, thinking about Jamiet’s reaction when I told him he couldn’t watch me dance. I knew I was being self-conscious and a little mean, and a small part of me hoped he would disobey my instruction and watch from a distance.

Once my skin was dry, I carefully applied new ochre. I normally only wore red ochre on my body, but for the raindance I added some yellow ochre bands across my cheekbones and then across my shoulders, breasts and thighs in a swirling pattern, like water. I applied some of the darker red ochre around my eyes, on my nipples, and then rubbed the remainder around my private parts. I was ready except for the white dots that Kari would paint for me along my spine and my ribs.

As if reading my thoughts, Kari arrived, pushing past the reeds into my hut and exclaiming how beautiful I looked. I smiled as I put my leather skirt back on. It was what I needed to hear. I complimented her too; she had also applied new ochre and looked lovely. Kari spent the next hour dotting my spine and ribs with a white paste made from a mixture of ash and calcrete, while trying and failing to get me to talk about my feelings for Jamiet. We laughed a lot. I realised it was the first time in weeks I’d felt so relaxed and, well, normal, which in itself was unusual. I usually got anxious and nervous before a raindance.

Kari put her finger in the last of the white paste and dotted the final spot at the base of my spine. The white paste felt somehow cooler than the warm ochre. We were finished. She surveyed me with satisfaction, asking if I regretted banning Jamiet from the raindance. I gave a short, certain click.

I knew Aunt Sesi would want to see how I looked, even if she couldn’t attend. It was also a habit of ours to eat the evening meal together in Aunt Sesi’s hut rather than in the eating place on the occasion of a raindance. I thanked Kari and told her I’d see her later. She left. I put on my kaross, took the berries, went to the fire to get two portions of the evening meal, which was roasted tubers and bush onions, and then went to Aunt Sesi’s hut.

To my amazement, Aunt Sesi was sitting up and dressed for going out. She looked much better than she had this morning.

‘What are you doing dressed to go outside?’ I asked.

She clicked a sound of exasperation, as if I should know better. ‘I wouldn’t miss your raindance, my dear. You look beautiful.’

‘But are you feeling strong enough?’ I asked.

‘I think so,’ she replied. ‘I feel stronger. The only strange thing is that I passed more than I took in, but I feel much better, thank you.’

I was astonished. She still looked impossibly thin and frail, but there was a light in her eye and a bearing in her posture that I hadn’t seen for some time. I was determined to find out more about these nuts and where Jamiet had found them.

We ate. Aunt Sesi seemed to be enjoying her food for once and she was delighted with the berries. I suspected Qama would get at least half of them, but said nothing. It was so good to see Aunt Sesi more like her old self again.

That's about a third of the story, I told you it wasn't long.

If anyone expresses an interest, I'll continue.

Within the current understanding of physics, travelling faster than the speed of light is not merely technologically difficult — it is mathematically incompatible with the structure of space-time as described by modern physics.

500 years ago it was ridiculous to suggest that humans will be able to fly some day...their understanding of physics at the time did not support such nonsense.

500 years ago it was ridiculous to suggest that humans will be able to fly some day...their understanding of physics at the time did not support such nonsense.

Yep, exactly why I mentioned earlier about looking at what we have done in just the last 150 years alone... regarding flight ....

Can you imagine the Wright brothers looking at what speed the F15 or stealth bombers can perform these days .... or humans flying around with a jet pack.

Now let's add only another 150 years from here, and just imagine how far more advanced we will be.

Just look at the cellphone bricks from 25 years ago ..... till today..... the advancement is just phenomenal.

What about the dial up internet at 125kb/s..... to the 1TB download speeds today.

Remember the batteries in our Walkman.... and how long they lasted .... and putting them on the roof for a few hours to try and get a bit more life out of them....compared to the Lithium rechargable batteries we live with today

We are advancing at a rapid rate .... so who knows what speed we could achieve through space in 300 years from now.

No requests for the next chapters?

Is there anyone who'd read a Kindle version rather than on a message board because I'm feeling very deflated right now. Not even a single taker.

Apologies , Rooi.

I missed this.

Will read it and get back to you.

I don't have a kindle

I’ve been reading it Rooinek. It’s very evocative. Even a girl like me who has never been to Africa can get immersed in it all.

I’ll read it on here or buy it from Amazon……your choice :)

Thanks becs. I appreciate it. Here are the next few chapters:

Chapter 8

Jamiet

Jamiet and nearly all the men of the village, along with many of the women, were hauling tree trunks and branches back to the workshop. Two large camelthorn trees had been felled, and people split up into groups to carry or drag the heavy wood back to the village. It was hard work. Jamiet noticed how heavily Kano was breathing, but Kano would be enjoying it. He was an athlete who might even qualify for the 800 m heats at the Games next year. This exercise would help his stamina no end.

Jamiet was near the front of the procession with Kano, Biru and several of the younger, stronger men, carrying the main trunk of the larger tree. Neri, Sanu and three other women walked ahead of them, carrying one of the main branches. Behind them, Tumi moved between the groups, calling encouragement and keeping the rhythm. Everyone sang as they marched, often out of breath but never without cadence or communal spirit.

Kano shifted his grip and nodded to the left. ‘Look,’ he said quietly.

Jamiet glanced where Kano was looking and saw them moving through the grass a short distance away from the path — tall, grey, deliberate. There were three of them. Like us, they were working as a team. The secretary birds were spread in a line, their long legs lifting and placing with care, their heads tilted occasionally as if listening to the ground itself.

One stopped, looked at us and stamped. A few black feathers stood proud at the back of its head. It stamped again.

Someone behind us gave a low click. The singing didn’t stop, but it softened for a moment, as if the birds had earned their attention without asking for it.

The bird rejoined the others and they resumed their patrol, unhurried. When they slipped away into the grass, the voices rose again, stronger, and the procession pressed on.

They arrived at the village before sunset, placing the trunks and branches in an enormous pile next to the workshop.

That evening at the meal, Jamiet sensed a feeling of renewed camaraderie among the villagers. They were proud of what they’d done today, and so they should be, thought Jamiet. They’d probably carried or dragged more wood in one day than ever before. At the gathering, Jamiet searched for Nara in vain. He guessed she was preparing for the raindance.

It was a lively meal that evening, with a lot of laughter and much recounting of branches and trunks that seemed to double in weight and size with each re-telling. There was also an undercurrent of excitement for the raindance to come.

After the meal, Kano pronounced himself exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep. Jamiet left with Kano, but before they got to their hut, he told Kano that he was going to spend some time at the workshop, sorting the wood and checking the quality of the hides.

Alone at the workshop, Jamiet sorted a few branches into sizes for appearance’s sake, but he was really listening for the sounds of the raindance to start. He couldn’t see the main gathering area from the workshop, but he could see the glow of the fire, and he could hear the expectant murmuring.

A short while later, he heard hands begin to clap in rhythm and he heard the men start to hum. The raindance was beginning.

Jamiet moved closer, keeping a hut between himself and the fire until he could peer past the hut and see the performance. He’d known, at the time of making this promise to Nara, that he was going to break it.

The villagers had formed a circle around the fire. All were standing except Jaro and could that be Sesi? wondered Jamiet in astonishment. Yes, it was Sesi, seated next to Jaro. She was swaying to the rhythm and clapping softly. Jamiet grinned.

The men stood in the outer ring, clapping softly while humming. In front of them, the women clapped and danced in place. Kari, Neri, Qara and two other young women formed the inner ring in front of the clapping women, dancing in a circle around Nara, who stood in the centre, right next to the fire.

Nara’s body shone in the firelight as she danced. She had removed all her beads and all her thongs and was wearing nothing but her short hide skirt and her yellow ochre swirls. She danced slowly at first, her feet striking the ground deliberately and kicking up dust. Her movements became that of an eland, to denote strength; then she gyrated, twisting and turning her body like a snake to honour water below the ground. She ended the sequence by dancing with short, quick movements to imitate insects, which were the first to emerge after rain.

Kari and the other dancers increased their tempo. The clapping and the humming grew louder. Now Nara began to breathe more heavily as she stamped the ground harder, her spine arched and she began to shake, slowly at first.

Jamiet stared.

Nara’s shaking increased and then slowed again. She began to sing, not using words but making sounds of water, birds and wind. She sang alone as the villagers continued to clap and hum. There were no drums or other instruments, Jamiet noticed; Nara’s body was the instrument.

Jamiet suddenly went cold as he felt Nara’s eyes on him. He knew it was impossible for her to see him in the darkness outside the ring of light, but he felt for a moment that she was staring straight at him. He crept back to the workshop, almost guiltily, before silently returning to his hut, where Kano was snoring gently.

He tried to sleep, but his mind was filled with images of Nara’s body arching and gyrating as it moved to the rhythm of his heartbeat. The attraction wasn't just physical. Nara represented the very thing that his culture had lost and was attempting to preserve, authenticity. Only that same authenticity was being preserved in an artificial manner. That was the part Jamiet wrestled with. That was what caused his unease.

Chapter 9

Nara

Over the next days, the villagers adapted to their new routine. Biru, Khosi, Kau, Nxotso, Tshipu and I were the only villagers who dedicated our time to the well-building project, but all the other villagers had made changes to their own routines to help.

Kxolilo and Kari cut and stitched leather buckets and prepared rawhide so that it wouldn’t stretch or harden, while Tumi and Koma helped Kano to cut, carve and smooth the wood.

When people went out to forage, they looked not only for food like melons, berries, roots and tubers, but for stones as well. If trackers found no tracks that morning, then they’d gather and carry stones instead of hunting, or even take turns with the digging.

For Biru and myself, a typical morning would start with us accompanying Jamiet on a visit to the well. The pile of stones next to the well continued to grow slightly, but it wasn’t the best measure for progress, as stones were constantly being used and new ones brought.

The progress of the digging was much more easily measurable. First we could see the diggers’ whole bodies as they worked, then we could only see them from their knees up, then from their waists, then we could only see heads and shoulders, and now we had to stand over the well to see how far below us their heads were.

Every morning, Jamiet went down the well at some stage, not only to take a turn digging but to inspect the stones. It was so deep now that he had started taking a small firebrand down so he could see that the courses were being laid correctly.

I noticed how attentive all the diggers were when Jamiet was taking a turn to dig. His expression when he returned to the surface showed if he was pleased or troubled, and he was nearly always pleased, leading to smiles of relief.

Jamiet had also explained to the diggers that a second, much shallower hole now needed to be dug next to the well which would form the basin from which people would draw the water. The basin would be lined with smaller stones using the same principles. The diggers, who grew bored between their turns, were pleased to have more work and set about this new task immediately.

I found myself liking Jamiet more as I got to know him better. He always explained things patiently and he was encouraging. His confidence rubbed off on everyone and, for me anyway, the well was no longer just a distant dream or a wish; it was a reality and I was starting to believe we were going to get this done.

Something else had changed, though. I felt Jamiet’s eyes on me more often; he held my gaze longer when he spoke to me and he smiled at me more. I found myself liking the attention and I smiled back at him without embarrassment. We talked more often when we were alone, not just about the well, but about the things we liked or disliked, and we shared jokes about people or events.

Afternoons were usually spent at the workshop. We’d spend some time with the leatherworkers and then either Jamiet or Kano would use sticks to show me, Biru, and sometimes Tumi and Koma, the design of the frame, the wind shaft, the driveshaft or the other components. Today, Jamiet dug a small hole so that Kano could demonstrate the underground structure, and then Jamiet showed us, using knotted pieces of grass, how the rawhide rope would be rotated on two wheels, one at the top and one at the bottom.

I had seen Kano, Tumi and Koma working on various pieces of wood over time, but it was only when some of the elements were completed that I got to appreciate their efforts. Kano’s woodwork was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The surfaces were so smooth and the edges were amazingly precise. I rubbed a piece of wood that Kano had prepared with my finger and it felt like polished stone. I rubbed a piece of Tumi’s wood with the same finger and got a splinter. I tried to pull it out carefully, but it broke and a piece remained inside. I sucked on it, but to no avail.

Evenings were spent around the fire, eating and discussing the day’s work. There was a day when the hunters killed a steenbok and the tribe ate meat for two evenings in a row. I ate with Kari or my cousins most evenings. After the meal, Aunt Sesi would prepare four mugs of tea, and Kari, Neri, Qara and I would carry them to Nxao, Jaro, Jamiet and Kano, who generally sat together on the other side of the fire. It became a ritual that we eachgave the mug to the same person every evening. I gave to Jaro and it was Qara who gave to Jamiet. But he and I always got a chance to greet one another every evening and exchange a smile or a few words.

Then, after everyone had left, we started sitting together around the fire. Just the two of us, sometimes talking and often sitting in comfortable silence.

I suspected it was becoming obvious to everyone how much I liked Jamiet, but I was beyond caring.

Chapter 10

Jamiet

The next morning, they visited the well as they usually did. The basin was nearly completed. Smooth stones lined the shallow cavity, just deep enough for gourds to scoop water without the risk of falling in. Jamiet complimented the men on their work.

He then showed Nara and Biru how the buckets would tip water into the wooden trough when they reached the top of their cycle and how the trough would direct the water to the basin. Biru and Nara both showed they understood.

The sun wasn't yet above them, but it was a hot day. They decided to go back to the village and rest before spending the afternoon at the workshop.

On their return, Biru went to find some of his friends while Jamiet and Nara went to the hut to rest.

They sat on the mat and just enjoyed the shade for a while.

Jamiet turned to Nara. Her brow was furrowed. ‘You look troubled,’ he said.

‘I worry about finding water,’ she replied, ‘they have dug so deep and still nothing. If the hole is dry I will have failed you and all of my people.’

Jamiet couldn't help himself. He knew it was against all the mission rules, but he reached out for Nara's hand and she allowed him to take it, giving his a small squeeze. He reassured her, reminding her how skilled she was and how wise she was in water matters.

They sat holding hands and talking for some time before Nara released her grip, smiled at Jamiet and said, ‘It's not that I do not want to hold your hand, but I got a splinter two days ago in the wood workshop and it still has not come out. I need to find a thorn or something to get it out before it starts to swell, let me go and find one.’

Jamiet smiled back. ‘Of course,’ he said, as Nara got up.

Jamiet was thinking about Ko's inflexible rules for engaging with the locals, knowing that he had overstepped that boundary even before he had held her hand. His thoughts drifted to the mission. The digging was going well, the basin was almost finished and Kano had finished the frame, the wind shaft, the driveshaft and the pulley wheels. They had all the rawhide required and it was just the leather stocks that concerned him. If we are short of leather, Jamiet thought , I'd rather make smaller buckets than fewer. He knew he'd have to monitor the leather situation closely, perhaps even consult Ko if necessary.

‘What is this?’ asked Nara, behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

Jamiet turned and saw she was holding the bearing ring. His heart raced.

‘It's nothing, just an ornament,’ said Jamiet, getting up to try and take it from her but she wouldn't let him.

‘Nothing?’ she said, still gazing at it. To his horror, Jamiet saw that she was not staring at it in curiosity, but in awe.

He froze. A feeling of dread filled his stomach. This could have consequences not just for this mission, but for the bigger mission. And it would be all his fault.

‘It's beautiful’, she gasped, ‘it's so … perfect. What is it?’

Jamiet didn't answer. Nara saw the alarm in his eyes.

She stared at him intently. She looked at the ring then looked back at him again. Her eyebrow arched. ‘You are Longborn!’ she said, her eyes widening as she said it.

Jamiet wanted to ask her what she knew of the Longborn but he didn't. He just stood there, his hand still held out expectantly.

‘What is it?’, asked Nara again, giving the bearing ring back to him.

Jamiet took it, holding her eye. He felt as if she was seeing beyond the careful facade that he always wore.

‘It's called a bearing ring,’ he said eventually. ‘It is for the wind pump. We use it to make the wind shaft spin better.’

‘So you are Longborn,’ exclaimed Nara. ‘You are not like us. You do not belong to this land. You belong to something that stands apart and watches.’

‘That does not make me your enemy.’

‘But it makes you dangerous.’

Jamiet swallowed.

‘How did you come here?’ she asked.

Jamiet knew there was no point or reason in lying.

‘We came on a thing called a hoverdrone. It runs while we stand. It is hidden some distance away,’ he replied.

‘Why do you not get thirsty and hungry like we do?’ was Nara's next question.

‘We have food and water that is very small. Look’ He went to his pouch, opened the double casing – where the bearing ring should have been, he cursed himself – and took out a hydrotab and a nut, which he showed her. ‘This tablet here becomes water once it is inside you and this one,’ he showed her the nut, ‘you have seen before. This one has the nourishment of a whole meal.’

‘Is that what you gave to Aunt Sesi?’ asked Nara.

‘Yes,’ replied Jamiet.

‘Where do you come from?’ asked Nara.

Jamiet sighed. He looked down at the ground for a long time, before raising his eyes back to Nara.

‘That is a long story and I will tell you, I promise,’ he said, ‘but right now I need to speak with Kano. I cannot stress this enough, but it is very important that you don't tell anyone that we are Longborn. You will be putting their lives in danger if you tell them.’

She remained silent, gazing at Jamiet as if she were piercing into his soul. Her eyebrow arched, He knew the silence was about to be broken.

‘Does that mean my life is already in danger because I know?’ she eventually asked, maintaining a level gaze.

It was his turn to be silent for a time.

‘Maybe. I don't know yet,’ he eventually replied. ‘Wait here, I'll be back soon.’

Jamiet got up and left to go find Kano, still cursing himself for his carelessness as he hurried away.

Chapter 11

Kano

Kano watched Tumi shaping the piece of wood that would form one of the wind-struts. His work had improved under Kano’s tutelage.

But carpentry was not on Kano's mind. He was thinking about life on the other side of the fence and specifically, the holiday that he and Lena would go on when this mission was finished. For every two days in the field, Ko gave them a day’s holiday. That was the rule. By Kano’s calculations, he would have over four months’ leave. He and Lena could go on the trip to India to see Bengal tigers, as he’d always wanted to do, and they would still have time to visit the islands off Thailand so she could have the beach holiday he knew she wanted.

Kano was also thinking about the Games that would take place next year. He had a chance of qualifying for the 800 m, which would mean he would represent sub-Saharan Africa. It was his …

Jamiet interrupted Kano’s thoughts as he came into the workshop. Something was wrong.

‘What is it?’ Kano asked.

Jamiet was pale. He didn’t answer, but motioned with his head towards Tumi.

Kano asked Tumi to go and sharpen the bone awl. When he’d left, Kano turned back to Jamiet.

‘Jamiet? What’s wrong? What’s happened?’

‘She knows,’ said Jamiet. ‘Nara. She knows we’re Longborn.’

‘What?’ asked Kano in disbelief. ‘How does she know? Did you tell her?’

‘She saw the bearing ring, Kano,’ said Jamiet, looking shamefaced. ‘It’s my fault. I had it in my regular pouch because I was going to install it today, and she saw it. She knows we’re Longborn.’

Oh, for Sai's sake, Jamiet, thought Kano. What have you done now? The fool has gone and compromised the mission. A delay could mean I'll miss the qualification heats; and I’d have to change my vacation plans.

‘And what was she doing looking in your pouch?’ he asked.

‘We were resting in our hut. She needed a thorn to remove a splinter. She looked in my pouch.’

Kano's expression was angry. ‘You idiot, Jamiet, do you know what this could mean? The ring should have been in the hidden pocket. Do you know what Ko is going to tell you to do? I think you do.’

‘Yes, but I can’t. I really like her, Kano. You have to help me here,’ said Jamiet.

‘I also like Nara, but get a grip, man. We’re doing important work here. How many times has Ko told us not to get close to anyone while we’re in the field?’

‘Many times,’ said Jamiet.

He’s gone and fallen in love with her, that’s what’s happened, thought Kano. Why can’t the fool find himself a girl like Lena? Sai knows I’ve tried. Lena’s friend Kaylin was pretty and Jamiet knew she liked him. He and Lena had both told him.Why couldn’t he fall in love with Kaylin, or at least one of his own people? Why does he need to pull a stunt like this while on a mission? We’re in the field for Sai’s sake.

Kano didn’t say any of that to Jamiet. Instead he said, ‘We need to tell Ko. It’s as simple as that. We need to go right now to the hoverdrone, establish a link, and tell Ko what has happened.’

Jamiet nodded and said, ‘We can go now, just give me a minute to tell Nara that we’re going for a few hours and to tell her not to tell anyone else.’

The fool! thought Kano again, as Jamiet darted away. If Ko demands termination, then he’s bloody well doing it, not me. He should probably do it now before she blurts it out to the whole tribe.

Jamiet was back two minutes later.

‘We can go,’ he panted.

Kano asked, ‘Where did you tell her we were going?’

‘I told her the truth,’ said Jamiet.

‘Wonderful,’ said Kano, ‘if Ko had any doubts before, then this will settle them.’

They did not exchange another word as they walked the few kilometres to the cloaked hoverdrone, but Kano did look behind him a few times.

They arrived at the hiding place. Kano located the hoverdrone, looked around, and then uncloaked it. He accessed the control panel and then turned to Jamiet and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this; we have no satellite signal. Now, of all times.’

‘What?’ exclaimed Jamiet. ‘Has that ever happened before?’

‘Yes,’ replied Kano, ‘not to me, but to agents I’ve worked with. Do you know Ashiek from the Steppes clan?’

Jamiet shook his head.

Kano continued, ‘It happened to him many years ago. He told me about it. He said it took a few days to get the satellite back up.’

Kano thought for a while, weighing up his options. Jamiet seemed lost in thought and was just staring back towards the village.

After a while, Kano said, ‘Listen, Jamiet, this is what is going to happen. I am going to take the hoverdrone to higher ground to find signal while you get the well finished. I have plenty of hydrocaps and nuts. I might be two or three days, but I won’t be longer than that. I’ll come back here if I don’t find signal. All my woodwork is done except for the central hub block and the sail arms. The hub block is complete, but still needs drilling through. Tumi can finish all that if you just supervise him.’

Jamiet nodded. It was against protocol for agents to split up like this, and he was a bit surprised to see Kano defying policy so openly and willingly, but this was not a normal situation.

‘And, Jamiet,’ added Kano, ‘we both know what Ko is going to instruct us to do, so if an opportunity comes your way, take it. You know what I’m talking about.’

Jamiet looked horrified.

‘An opportunity?’ he asked. ‘No, Kano, I am not going to terminate Nara, and neither are you.’

Kano gave Jamiet a long, hard stare as he mounted the hoverdrone.

‘I’m not going to have this conversation now,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be dark soon and I’ll leave then. You need to get back to the village and make some excuse for my absence. I’ll be back in three days or less. Go now.’

Jamiet turned and set off for the village. Kano watched him, feeling little sympathy for his friend.

Chapter 12

Nara

I had never felt so confused.

I knew Jamiet was in a lot of trouble because of me, but I didn’t know how I had caused it.

Where had he gone? When would he return?

He’d already told me things I didn’t understand, and I had so many more questions.

But the single most confusing thing for me was that I had fallen in love.

With a Longborn.

I did not really know what a Longborn was or was not, but I knew Jamiet was kind, intelligent and brave. That was enough for me.

It was dark when Jamiet finally returned to the village, alone, and made his way quietly to where I was waiting in the hut.

The sight of him loosened something tight inside my chest and before I could stop myself, I was walking toward him. There were still a few villagers sitting around the fire, so I steered Jamiet into the hut.

As soon as we were alone, we embraced. Jamiet held me for a long time without saying anything. His strong arms made me feel safe.

I said, ‘I am so glad to see you. I have so many questions. Where is Kano?’

‘Kano is on an errand,’ said Jamiet, his voice low, careful. ‘I promised I would answer your questions and I will,’ he continued, ‘but first, I’d like you to come with me to the workshop so I can place the bearing ring. I want you to know where it is, and it must never be discovered by anyone else. Will you come with me? We must be quiet.’

Before agreeing, I asked him what other strange and alien things they had brought with them.

Jamiet showed me inside his pouch, where a layer of the skin could be peeled back to reveal a hidden section. He showed me more of the small food and water, some pellets that he said could make fire in an instant, a small sharp-looking blade that could fold in half, a sharp-looking needle and some thread that looked like the silk of a spider, which Jamiet said was thinner than hair, but stronger than sinew.

I gazed at these things in great wonder, wanting to feel and touch them, but resisting the urge.

‘That’s all,’ said Jamiet, ‘those are my secrets. We carry these things to help us mend and build, not to rule. Kano has a folding blade like mine, and the teeth on one of Kano’s saws look like stones, but they’re not, they are made from something even harder than iron. Oh, and there is the hoverdrone we came on that helps us travel quickly. We also use the hoverdrone to speak to people who are far away, but when we went to it earlier, it would not speak. Kano has taken it now.’

‘To do what?’ I asked, wondering if I wanted to know the answer.

‘To ask Ko what to do,’ said Jamiet. ‘Ko instructs us. It was Ko who sent us here to do this work.’ I knew he was being completely truthful with me now, perhaps for the first time.

‘Is it this Ko who might order you to kill me?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ replied Jamiet, ‘but I won’t harm you. And neither will Kano. I promise.’

He took me in his arms again and we kissed. The kiss was careful at first — as though we were both learning the shape of something fragile — and then it wasn’t careful at all.

I felt a longing that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I knew Jamiet felt it too, but he pulled back, looking at me with sad eyes.

‘I love you, Nara,’ he said, his forehead resting against mine, ‘but I cannot share your bed. To do so would break a sacred law among my people. I really want to. I want to far more than I should.’

I believed him, but before I could reply, Jamiet pressed a finger gently to my lips.

‘Speak later,’ he said. ‘Come with me now. I want you to see where I install this ring. Only you will know this secret. Come, we must be very quiet.’

He led me out of the hut and we made our way quietly to the workshop. Thankfully, we walked away from the evening fire where I could still hear some voices. The only other sounds were the soft calls of a dove and the occasional wailing of a hungry child.

It was dark inside the workshop, but I could see where Jamiet was pointing — to the place where the wind shaft passed through the main frame. In the darkness, Jamiet carefully slid the wind shaft out sideways. He took the bearing ring and placed it in the bore of the frame. I noticed how perfectly it fitted and I knew that Kano had carved the space for it to sit. Jamiet slid the wind shaft back through the centre of the ring. It was completely hidden. When he was done, he gave one of the wind shaft struts a gentle push and it spun silently. It continued to spin. I gazed in wonder as it slowed, but still continued spinning. I knew then that this tiny ring would change the land for us.

When we returned to the hut, it was my turn to press my finger to Jamiet’s lips.

‘You said I could speak later,’ I whispered to him. ‘I will speak now. I understand that I may not bear your child. But you should understand that I cannot have a child.’

We kissed again. Then we made love. Tenderly at first, and then with urgency.

Chapter 13

Jamiet

It was still dark when Jamiet woke. He felt the warmth of Nara behind him and turned to look at her. She was already awake, watching him sleep. She smiled when he looked at her.

‘Tell me about the Longborn,’ she said.

Jamiet settled more comfortably. They had some time before their morning rounds.

‘You were right,’ he began. ‘We are Longborn, but that word is only a shadow of what we really are. To understand the Longborn, you need to understand not what has happened before, but what will happen in the future … what is yet to come.’

He stroked her cheek gently, seeing the puzzled look on her face.

‘Don’t worry,’ he added. ‘It’s very hard to understand. I’m not even sure it’s possible for anyone to explain, but I’m going to try.’

Nara leaned closer, waiting.

Jamiet took a deep breath. ‘The people of the Earth will start making many different types of tools; tools to plough the land, farm it, cook food, make clothes, carry people from one place to another and many other things. These tools, we Longborn call them machines, do much of the work that people do now, just like the pump we’re building.’

He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. ‘But unlike the pump, these machines did not use the wind. They burned things to make them work. They burned wood, they burned hard black stones called coal and they burned oil from under the ground. Burning these fuels gave power to the machines. But it also poisoned the air. Not right away, but slowly, over many years.’

Nara’s brow furrowed. ‘But how can you know this will all come about if it hasn’t happened yet?’

Jamiet smiled. She always asked the uncomfortable questions. ‘I will explain. It will fall into place. But maybe we should continue this story later. We need to do our rounds, and you should get back to your hut before people notice.’

She sat up. ‘Aunt Sesi already knows how much I like you, so do Kari and Qara and Neri. They all like you too. But Aunt Sesi has told me to be careful because you will leave once the well is built.’

Jamiet said nothing. She was right. He would have to leave. How was he going to walk away from this intriguing, sensual woman? He hadn’t thought about that yet, but he knew it was inevitable.

Nara broke his thoughts with a quick hug, friendly, rather than romantic, and slipped quietly out of the hut, a soft click signalling ‘later’.

That morning, as usual, they visited the well. Tshipu was digging and called out for a stone that Kau carried down to him. His voice echoed from deep within the well. Jamiet saw Nara’s concern; they were now at the depth where water was usually found.

A little later, Biru took a turn at digging, leaving Nara and Jamiet alone.

‘Continue your story,’ she urged.

Jamiet nodded. ‘I told you how man poisoned the air without knowing he was doing it.’

Nara stopped him. ‘Yes, I thought about that. Was it the smoke from the burning that was harmful to the sky?’

‘Yes,’ said Jamiet. ‘That is exactly right.’ He went on, ‘But the men who did the early damage did not know how much damage they were doing. According to my father and grandfather,’ he said, ‘there was a time when people knew the damage they were doing and burned fuels anyway. Greedy and selfish men who ignored the warnings and passed up the chance to heal the air and the Earth. Those are the generations my people despise most.’

Nara shook her head slowly. The lack of respect for nature was incomprehensible to her.

Jamiet pressed on. ‘Then, around the same time, man built a new kind of tool. A tool that would do his thinking for him.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Nara said. ‘What happens if he doesn’t think anymore? Does he die?’

‘No,’ Jamiet replied. ‘Man still thinks, but the tool becomes an advisor. An advisor that he listens to more and more. Until the advisor starts making all the important decisions and man only needs to think of things like pleasure, recreation and travel.’

‘And love? Family?’ she asked.

‘Of course. Those remain important to us. We are Longborn, but we are still human.’

Just then, Biru returned. He asked Jamiet how the lower wheel would be placed and Jamiet explained how they would use the weight of the stones to hold it in place. Biru nodded and for a while he and Nara sat quietly, watching the men dig.

The sun was high in the sky. Jamiet went to the diggers to give them more words of encouragement and then they walked back to the village. Biru was keen to join his friends so he ran ahead.

Jamiet continued his story. Nara slowed her pace so that she could hear better.

‘The thinking tool continued to gain wisdom until its knowledge surpassed that of man,’ he said. ‘A time came when men no longer understood how things worked. Much like you struggling to understand what a machine is now.’

Nara clicked understanding and agreement. Jamiet continued, ‘At that point, they started calling it Sai. People deferred to Sai, worshipped it, prayed to it as a god.’

Nara frowned. ‘Like a great spirit?’

‘Exactly,’ he said, ‘Sai became the great spirit that people listened to. Sai grew very wise,’ Jamiet went on, ‘it gave them all the knowledge they needed, powerful medicine and it healed diseases so that they lived longer. But it also warned that the Earth was becoming a desert because of what man had done to the air, water and land. Deserts grew bigger and forests grew smaller until people had to move to the far north and south of the planet where the heat was bearable.’

He saw Nara was struggling. The concepts of a globe and polar regions were too abstract, so he moved on.

‘For many years, Sai searched for a solution, but the damage was done. Then, Sai found a different solution. Sai could not stop the deserts spreading but instead, found a way for my ancestors to travel back in time, to a world with clean air and plentiful trees. That time we returned to is now — or should I say, a hundred years ago, when my grandparents arrived.’

Nara’s eyes widened.

‘I don’t understand how it happened either,’ Jamiet admitted. ‘I have as much understanding of this as you do. It was called ‘space-folding’. Sai gathered the remaining people of Earth onto enormous ships, along with all the supplies and tools they would need. They sailed to a remote part of the ocean, where the folding happened. After a massive storm, the ships sailed to different parts of the world, arriving at their destinations a thousand years in the past.’

‘Houses that floated,’ whispered Nara, recalling the legends.

Jamiet nodded. ‘Wherever they landed, they befriended the local people and provided knowledge and tools, in return for which, the people helped them to build the fence protecting the trees. Once the fence was complete, we Longborn moved to the other side, where we still live today, until the mission is complete.’

‘What mission?’ she asked.

‘To protect the trees,’ he said. ‘Enough trees and plants heal the air. We also guide humanity toward clean energy, like wind and sun, so mankind does not repeat the same mistakes.’

They approached the village. Nara asked, ‘Did Sai travel with you?’

‘No. He sacrificed himself. Knowing his vast knowledge would create an imbalance in the world if he returned, he sent a primitive version of himself to guide us. We call that Ko. Not as wise as Sai, not a god, but much wiser than you or I. Like Sai, Ko’s purpose is to serve mankind.’

He could see that she was struggling to process what he had told her and suggested they go do their afternoon visit to the workshop.

Nara was quiet on the short walk and rather subdued as they did their rounds.

Later that evening, after the meal, Nara and Jamiet sat alone around the fire, watching the last embers glow.

‘I'm not sure I understand how you went from one time to another,’ said Nara.

‘I did not travel through time,’ Jamiet reminded her, ‘I was born here, the same as you. This time, the fence, my work as an agent, it's all I've ever known. It was my grandparents who travelled through time.’

Nara was not sure she understood any of it but then, Jamiet said, ‘Think of it as you returning to a time before your great-grandmother was born.’

Nara nodded, stunned. She could barely breathe at the enormity of his words, but she understood.

‘Everything I told you,’ he continued, ‘about mankind destroying the forests, burning fuels and turning the planet to desert, that history was changed forever the moment Sai sent my people back in time. We are the now. You and I. The past remains the past and the future is as uncertain for me as it is for you. Except that we know the Longborn will die out one day, along with Ko. But the fence will remain, and mankind can have a better future as long as he respects nature.’

Nara’s eyes filled with tears.

Jamiet held her. She had taken in too much information at once, but he'd had no choice. She had to know the truth.

He held her as she sobbed.

That's about 2 thirds now. I'll post the remainder soon, feedback or not.

Sorry if I'm sounding a bit needy here. I'm not normally a needy person but I would appreciate any sincere feedback, not sugar-coated.

Okay, all done.

Thanks for sharing it, Rooinuts.

Philosophical Issue:

I'm a little confused, though it'll probably be explained later on, about how helping them with a well fits into the larger picture. There is mention of the idea that the Longborn have lost their connection to the earth, and so they are attempting to preserve cultures/races that still have and respect that connection. But helping them build a well that lasts and works is a jump forward in technology. So, in some sense, isn't that a push in the direction they are attempting to avoid? If it’s an attempt to move back to nature and to natural solutions, then would natural selection taking its course not be the path that Ko would be the most strict about?

Then there is also the bearing. It will be placed within a wooden structure. Over time, would the wooden components degrade and need replacing, with the bearing then being discovered by whoever has to make the repairs? Nara instantly made the connection with the Longborn when she saw the bearing; wouldn’t others do the same? I understand that the bearing is used as the catalyst for the reveal, but it stood out to me as both an introduction of technology into a society where connection to natural ways is meant to be preserved, and also a mechanism by which Longborn involvement would inevitably be discovered.

Depth:

There is a lot here. You go through everything pretty quickly, and I feel you could expand a lot more. I understand that it was a conscious choice on your part, but as a reader I’m left feeling like I want to know a lot more about both cultures in the story. The focus is very heavily on the drought at the beginning, and there are some descriptions that provide detail on the culture, but not enough to really get me into it. As it stands, I am picturing Bushman-type people. So, I’d have perhaps wanted a much longer narrative on a hunting trip, maybe how their huts are constructed, or some unrelated event or crisis in the village that sheds more light on the culture.

In terms of the Longborn, and maybe that is coming at some point later on, some scenes from their side of the fence, and a more detailed description of them and their culture, would also be nice. Honestly, I’d have gone with something where J and K are preparing to go on the mission, though that would probably detract from the bearing-related reveal and Jamiet’s explanation of things to her after. Perhaps an analepsis at this exact point in the story that goes back to before they left for the mission and tracks them for a bit, showing their lives, their technology, how they prepare for the mission, and some interaction with Ko - i'd defos add interaction with Ko and maybe we'll get to see that now as Kano travels to higher ground for a satellite linkup. But i defos think that Ko reminding them of the do's and don't prior to departing would highlight the severity of the predicament Jamiet is in.

There are two bits that i would defos look at...

1) The village agreeing to dig the well, gather lining stones, and the overall excitement struck me as premature. Perhaps spend more time building trust, or have some way of justifying such a quick agreement. Perhaps have them arrive at the village with more water than the story currently says they have, or maybe make it something to do with the taste of the water. It just seems strange that the village would so easily agree to undertake such a large task based on a promise from two strangers.

2) Jamiet seems to instinctively understand what each movement is meant to represent. That felt a little out of place to me, since it would require him to interpret her movements perfectly and then correctly connect them to a specific symbolism. Perhaps he has seen a Raindance before and is already familiar with the symbolism? Otherwise, it might work better for him to simply note that she makes a movement that resembles a buck, or a snake, and so on, without linking it directly to symbolism. The fact that he fully understands the Raindance and all its elements feels like something that needs a bit more explanation.

That's all i have for now. I enjoyed it and will for sure read the rest when you post it.

Note, I'm not trying to unnecessarily poke holes in what was overall a fun read. It's just that i value honest feedback in what i do and it annoys me when i ask for feedback and i get back "That's great, well done," because i wasn't asking for praise i was asking for feedback. People are generally afraid to be honest.

So, I hope you'll appreciate my honesty.

Thank ButtPlug, much appreciated. I'll go back to your points once I've pasted the whole book.

Chapter 14

Nara

I woke.

Alone.

I remembered weeping.

I did not understand anything about these machines as Jamiet called them. I could not imagine a machine cooking food or washing clothes, let alone a machine that could think or become a great spirit.

I did not understand why so many of the things we rely on had to be burned, or how that poisoned the air.

I did not understand how people could have so little respect for nature.

All of that left me feeling cold and confused and I did not want to think about it or remember anything that Jamiet had told me.

But I did understand that trees were important and I could somewhat grasp the ‘going back in time’ part; not how they did it, but what it meant.

Last night, Jamiet had asked me to imagine a time before my ancestors were born. That is something I have already imagined, wondering what their lives were like, whether rain was common in those times and whether ostriches and eland were plentiful then.

I have wished I could go back in time and do things differently. Often. I wished Toma had not died from the hunting wound. I remembered how I had wished then that I could start that fateful day again and this time, hold Toma in my arms for longer so that he might have left later, and how things could have been different.

I have wished many times that I could have behaved better or differently, only to chide myself for dwelling on regrets.

Somehow, Jamiet's people did what we could only dream of doing. What we could only wish.

Now their children and descendants lived among us. Behind the fence that protects the trees. With medicine to make them live long and tools beyond our understanding.

But what I understood more clearly than anything else was how different I was from Jamiet. Too different. As much as I loved him, as much as it saddened me, we could never be together, even if we wanted to.

I resolved there and then to get over myself and to focus on getting the well finished. aAt least until Kano returned with the verdict on whether I live or die, I thought with a wry smile.

I left the hut and went to find Jamiet for the morning rounds, humming a rainsong as I walked, but with a lump in my throat and a longing to go back in time to the moment before I had started asking so many questions.

Jamiet hurried toward me as soon as he saw me. I gave him a smile and a polite nod that I hoped conveyed that everything was fine. That my head was not still spinning as if it had a bearing ring inside it and my heart was not breaking. Then I walked past him to greet Kari and the others. Later, when I caught Jamiet's eye, I saw both hurt and understanding. He did not hold my gaze.

We walked to the well in silence. I saw Biru grab his bow and nock an arrow, but the hare he had seen was too fast and disappeared. He clicked his disappointment and I smiled.

Jamiet asked me what the click meant and I translated. ‘He said he would have chased and hunted that hare if we did not have more important things to do.’

Jamiet smiled too.

At the well, Jamiet did his daily inspection and pronounced himself satisfied, praising the diggers and encouraging them to keep at it.

I could see that Khosi and the other diggers were tired and growing frustrated, but Jamiet's words invigorated them and they returned to work.

We walked back to the village. I tried to think only of the rawhide rope that needed to be knotted and the buckets that still had to be stitched. Whenever my thoughts drifted to matters like burning stones or deserts or a great spirit made by men, I instead thought of the one thing I dreaded: that the land I had chosen was barren. I had failed everyone.

Jamiet had taken on much more responsibility with the woodwork since Kano's departure and he left me and Biru with Kari and Kxolilo while he went to supervise Tumi and Koma completing the wind-struts, the sticks that held the reeds that caught the wind.

I worked quietly, applying resin to the inside of the last of the leather buckets that Kari had stitched. Kari sensed it was not the time for gossip and left me to my thoughts. My thoughts right then were that we needed Kano back to finish the frame, but what if he returned with instructions to end my life. Those were my thoughts when the cry went up.

We all stopped. It was not a cry, it was a whoop, and it was coming from the well. It was an exuberant, joyous whoop!

We knew. We ran.

I ran the fastest. I was the first to see Kau, Nxotso and Tshipu dancing around the well with delight and I was the first to see Khosi standing with his chest above the rim of the well, a wide smile on his face and with his arm held aloft, dripping with mud that turned to water as it trickled down his shoulder.

Chapter 15

Kano

The biotracking display glowed in the dusk as Kano guided the hoverdrone towards Nxao's village.

He'd finally found signal after two nights of travelling to every hill and highland in the area, only to find out later that it would have made no difference at all where he was, the satellite itself was out for a few days and it had nothing to do with his location.

When he did eventually get signal, Kano connected to Ko, gave it an update on events and told Ko of the rainbringer's discovery.

To Kano's relief, Ko did not remonstrate him for breaking protocol when he split up with Jamiet. Instead, Ko commended him on his judgment given the situation. It asked Kano a few questions about Nara and then, after Kano replied as best he could, Ko explained exactly what would happen next. Kano was to return to the village, give Jamiet a COMstone and an instruction for him to connect to Ko immediately. Then Kano and Jamiet would install and commission the pump, before moving on to the last village and completing the mission.

Ko also gave Kano permission to connect to his family and to Lena for an hour before he left. Kano had connected to his parents, said hello to both of them and promised he'd see them in a few weeks’ time. Then he'd connected to Lena and they'd spent the next 55 minutes catching up and planning the trips they were going take when he returned.

-

Kano brought the hoverdrone to a stop and cloaked it in the same place as before. Then he slept. When the sun rose, he ate a nut, swallowed a hydrotab and set off for the village.

The land, dusty and resilient, stretched before him as he walked what was becoming a familiar path. For the first time on the mission, Kano saw not just a project location, but a place. He knew the history of his forebears. He knew that the land south of where he walked now, called the Cape Winelands by his ancestors, had been the last garden of the Earth. It was the last place where natural foods like wheat, barley, grapes, apples and pears were grown. His grandparents used to speak fondly of the difference in taste between natural food produced in the Winelands compared to the genetically modified food produced in Greenland or Novaya Zemlya. Kano wondered what the Winelands looked like now and if he'd ever get a chance to visit them.

The sound of beating wings made Kano look up, to see a bateleur eagle as it landed on the branch of a nearby tree. He held his breath. It was beautiful. The bateleur looked straight at him and Kano stared in wonder at its red face, a shade of red so deep and lustrous that only nature could produce it.

Kano admired the eagle for some time. It wasn't bothered by him as it looked all around, listening for the slightest sound. When it eventually flew off, Kano watched it fly and then soar, envied its freedom.

He walked on.

Chapter 16

Jamiet

The water had risen slowly throughout the day and eventually settled about half way up the well. The celebrations continued through the afternoon and into the night.

The meal that evening was made up almost entirely of whatever dried meat, nuts, eggs, honey or other food that people had kept for a special occasion. It was a boisterous affair, with lots of laughing, clapping and singing.

After they had eaten, they danced. The children played and laughed, delighted to be allowed up this late. Some of the older children joined the adults in dancing and singing.

Nara's relief was obvious and Jamiet could see how much she was enjoying all the congratulations she was receiving. He wanted to talk to her, to know how she was coping, but he stayed in the background. It was Nara's moment and he didn't want to spoil it for her. She would come to him if she wanted to.

It was Nxao who came to join him at the fire, clapping him on the back before sitting down next to him.

‘Young man,’ he said, with a twinkle in his eye that Jamiet hadn't seen before, ‘tonight you and I will drink honey water together.’

Jamiet knew from his training what an honour this was and he thanked Nxao profusely, but his thanks were waved away. It was Sesi who brought the cups of honey water. Seeing her looking so spritely gladdened Jamiet's heart. He knew how much her appetite had improved since he gave her the nut. Whatever mistakes he'd made on this mission, that was not one of them. He stood as she passed him the cup, which was against tradition but justified in this case. Jamiet bent and gently embraced Sesi. She beamed as the people around them clapped and cheered. He looked for Nara and saw her grinning at him.

For the first time that day, she held his eye, her grin fading to a faint smile. That was the moment Jamiet knew Nara was going to be alright. He had wanted to talk to her, to help her find some kind of coping mechanism for the information overload he'd given her, but the look in Nara's eyes in that moment made him realise she was already coping; and she would cope just fine without him.

-

The next morning Jamiet was awakened with news that a traveller was approaching. He ran to the viewing spot and was joined by Nara and others. Even from a distance he could see it was Kano. He and Nara walked a short distance away from the other villagers and watched Kano approach.

When he was within a hundred metres of them, Kano stopped, making a motion with his arm to join him. Jamiet knew Kano was calling him alone. He turned to Nara, promising her again that no harm would come to her and then he walked to join Kano. Looking back, he saw Nara's arms were folded in defiance and her body language appeared to him like that of a cornered honey badger. As he walked across the sand to join Kano, hee wondered how much protecting she'd need..

Kano smiled and Jamiet felt the tension drain from his body.

‘You are very lucky,’ said Kano. ‘Here,’ he said, holding out his hand and giving Jamiet the COMstone, ‘take this and go connect to Ko. I have some woodwork to finish.’

That was all he said. He started walking towards the waiting villagers.

‘We hit water,’ said Jamiet, as Kano passed him.

Kano stopped and then turned with a grin. He turned back and walked on.

Jamiet went to find a spot in the shade and sat down. He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as he gathered his thoughts and his resolve. Then he placed his thumbprint over the COMstone and connected to Ko.

‘Hello Jamiet,’ said Ko, ‘update me on the progress of the pump.’

Jamiet started by giving Ko the news that they had struck water. He went on to explain how he'd been forced to make smaller buckets than usual due to the limited leather stocks, but would make sure that the leatherworkers knew to make larger replacements when they got the opportunity. He updated Ko on the status of the various wood components since Kano's departure and then he gave Ko specific information on things like the depth of the well, the distance to the village, the height of the water in the well and the length of the rawhide rope.

‘You have done very well, Jamiet, not just in this village, but in all the others before. Kano tells me you are troubled by a revelation to the rainbringer,’ said Ko, ‘What have you told her?’

Jamiet told Ko everything he had told Nara. He told Ko of his carelessness at not using the hidden pouch. He told Ko everything except for the nut he had given to Sesi and night he'd spent with Nara, hoping fervently that Ko wouldn't know he was holding something back.

When Jamiet was finished Ko replied, ‘I will tell you what I told Kano. This does not affect the mission. Nothing changes. San knowledge is oral, not written. If Nara does speak about this, it will become yet another legend of the Longborn. No more.’

Jamiet sighed in relief. Ko continued, ‘Now I will tell you what I did not say to Kano. You broke protocol by getting too involved personally. It is something we will work together to improve. The pain you feel when you leave this woman will be your first lesson. Understand that Nara's love and respect for nature is exactly what we are trying to foster. The life of such a person was never in danger. I give you no instructions what to say to her now, I trust your judgement. Go now and finish. You and Kano have one more village to visit before you come home for a well-earned vacation. We will speak then.’

Ko disconnected.

Jamiet headed back to the village, feeling both elation and sadness.

Chapter 17

Nara

I watched the two men exchange words and I saw Kano give something to Jamiet. Kano returned alone. He walked to within a few paces of me and stopped. His eyes locked with mine. We held one another's gaze, neither one of us giving anything away with words, expression or posture. We both looked away at the same time. We had an understanding.

He paused and then looked back at me and smiled. ‘I believe we found water?’

I smiled back, nodding.

‘Then my return is a timeous one,’ he said. ‘Now let's put the frame on top of that well.’

He walked up to me and gave me a hug. It was the last thing I was expecting him to do. He told me that Jamiet would not be very long and then he walked to the workshop with the urgency of someone who had a lot of catching up to do.

I waited for Jamiet. I knew what he was doing and I knew it was very important for him. I hoped it was less important for me. A dung beetle caught my attention. I watched it rolling its ball, admiring the precision of its hind legs as it guided the ball over the sand and the stones. The beetle stopped and stood on the ball momentarily to get its bearings, then carried on pushing its prize. I watched it until it eventually disappeared into the grass, marvelling at how nothing was wasted, not even dung.

When Jamiet was finished, he got up and walked towards me as Kano had. The villagers behind me had greeted Kano on his return and although they stayed to watch me, they understood well enough to keep their distance.

Jamiet walked up to me and stopped, holding my eyes as he spoke.

‘There are no consequences to your discovery that we are Longborn. Not for you anyway and the consequences for me will be very mild. Much milder than I expected.’

I nodded, feeling relieved. It was not the same relief I'd felt when Khosi had struck water, but it was relief nonetheless, and more for Jamiet than for myself.

Jamiet went on, ‘What we did,’ he paused, seemingly looking for the right words. I hushed him gently.

‘What we did was good,’ I said, unfolding my arms as I spoke ‘but it is done, my Longborn lover.’

I could see that deep emotion was running through him as he replied, ‘I want you to know that I would have been more than just a lover to you if things were different.’

‘I know,’ I said, ‘it will be a very lucky girl who wins your heart.’

We looked at one another in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I wanted to give him one more embrace, but I resisted. We turned and walked back to the workshop together in silence. We had a very busy day ahead of us.

Chapter 18

Jamiet

The entire village was in a state of excitement. Some had already made the walk to the well, carrying gourds and ostrich shells in hope more than expectation. Some stayed to help carry wooden parts like the trough, uprights, cross-beams and the wind-struts. Kano and Tumi carried the long driveshafts between them and Jamiet could see how carefully they moved. Koma carried the upper wheel and Jamiet carried the heavier lower wheel while Biru carried the wind shaft.

Nara and Kari stayed at the workshop, knotting the rawhide rope to the buckets at the intervals that Jamiet had instructed. The two of them would join the rest of the villagers later while Jamiet and Kano did the assembly.

It was a slow and careful walk without incident and they arrived to an expectant crowd who had gathered around the well. Jamiet explained to everyone that their work would take most of the day, but no-one left.

Jamiet and Kano carried the lower wheel down the well and then Jamiet and Biru spent much of the morning taking turns to work at the bottom, while Kano, Tumi and Koma fastened beams and crossbeams with sinew and rawhide.

The sun was abovehead when Nara and Kari arrived with the completed bucket chain. There were some gasps from the watching audience. For many days, the whole village had watched Nara and Kari stitching leather buckets and treating them with resin to stiffen them, but the sight of the buckets all tied together to the rawhide rope sent a new wave of chattering through the gathering. The onlookers had been humming and singing softly for most of the morning, and some gentle clapping started as Nara and Kari laid out the rope for Jamiet to inspect.

Jamiet gave praise to Kari and Kxolilo for their excellent work and both beamed with pride.

Jamiet then took Nara down the well to show her the lower wheel and how it had been placed into a wooden cradle which was wedged into the lower stones. Nara turned the wheel and Jamiet saw her surprise at how easily it moved. In the light of the firebrand, Jamiet could see her looking at him quizzically. She clicked gently and for once, Jamiet understood what she was asking. He shook his head. No, he hadn't used Longborn magic. Nara looked delighted at his understanding.

Back above the ground there was growing excitement as the frame was completed and the wind wheel was mounted. It was not a windy day but there was a gentle breeze blowing steadily. It was enough to make the reed-blades on the wind-wheel turn in the wind, but Biru held them still, while Jamiet and Kano connected the bucket rope. Jamiet disappeared into the well while Kano connected the rope to the upper wheel.

The watching crowd saw Jamiet surface and talk to Kano. Kano then went down for what seemed like an age. He came up eventually and spoke again to Jamiet. Jamiet could feel the eyes of Nara and the whole tribe on him as they waited patiently, most still humming or singing softly. Jamiet climbed down again and then called for the driveshaft.

The driveshaft was long and they risked putting too much stress on the wood if they tried to lower it in a single piece. So, Tumi and Koma carefully carried only the bottom half to the well and lifted it upright before passing it to Kano who partially lowered it to Jamiet in the well, but kept some above ground. When Tumi and Koma brought the top half this was also lifted into an upright position and passed to Kano who lashed the two parts together with more rawhide and sinew. Only when he was satisfied, was the entire shaft lowered down to Jamiet who connected it to the lower wheel.

It was late afternoon when Jamiet finally surfaced for the last time. He placed the wide part of the trough under the upper wheel and stood back. He and Kano exchanged a glance and then Jamiet turned to Biru and told him to let the wind turn the reeds.

There was no more humming, singing or clapping. It was silent except for the chirping of a cricket and the harsh cawing of a crow.

Biru released the wind-wheel and stood back.

There was a soft wooden creaking from the frame and the drivetrain began to turn with a slight groan at first, then silently. Everyone watched in wonder as the wind made the rope turn and the buckets began to move. The first bucket that reached the water did so with a slap followed by a noise like a small gulp, and then the first full bucket was lifted up and toward the upper wheel, shiny, wet and full just as the second empty bucket hit the water with the same slap and a gulp.

All eyes were on the first bucket at is reached the upper wheel, flattened out as it passed over the top and released its water with a soft slap and a sigh of the leather relaxing as the weight lifted. The water splashed down into the trough and trickled into the basin.

There were several gasps. Then the second bucket did the exact same thing, then the third.

The chattering grew louder until it turned into shouts of joy as people understood that it was the wind drawing the water from the land.

It was the repetition that entranced the people. Jamiet had seen it many times before. The villagers could not take their eyes off the buckets and clapped each time the water was released. The water in the basin was still too shallow for a gourd, but it was rising quickly. People were patient as the basin slowly filled, appreciating the certainty of the next bucket – as long as the wind blew. A few times during the evening the wind dropped below a level that would turn the reed-blades and the buckets stood still. Jamiet was pleased to notice that no-one worried, they understood what made the buckets fill and simply waited for the wind to pick up again. Which it did.

‘When the wind sleeps, the well will sleep. It will not take more from the land than the land can bear,’ said Jamiet, raising his voice to be heard above the joyous din.

He looked for Nara and saw she was watching him. She gave him the merest nod and turned her attention back to Kari.

-

That evening, the celebrations of the night before were repeated. It was another joyous occasion tempered by the fact that Jamiet and Kano would leave before dusk the next day. After the meal, Khosi stood up and spoke the praises of Jamiet before Tumi stood up and did the same for Kano. Jamiet felt touched and he saw that Kano was also showing more emotion than he normally did.

Jamiet and Kano retired to their hut after the meal and slept, even though the clapping and singing went long into the night.

The next morning, Jamiet, Nara and Biru walked to the well as had become their habit. The basin was overflowing and all three of them took the opportunity to fill their gourds. It was a day of occasional gusts of wind rather than the steady breeze of the day before, but many villagers came to draw water during the day and no-one had to wait very long.

Jamiet knew that ongoing maintenance was going to be less of an issue with this village than it had been with some other villages before. Nara and Biru had more knowledge of the mechanism, and understood the concept better, than any of the people they'd left responsible for maintenance before. But he still spent time during the day with Nara, Biru and Kari making sure they knew what to check on a regular basis and how to fix or replace different parts. Kano did the same with Tumi and Koma.

As the afternoon shadows lengthened, the villagers started approaching Jamiet and Kano to pay their respects and bid their farewells. So many people had brought them gifts like dried meat, boiled eggs and tsamma melons that they had to stop accepting them.

Jaro and Kxolilo bade their farewells. Khosi gripped Jamiet’s forearm, pulled him in once so their shoulders touched, then let go. The other diggers, Kau, Nxotso and Tshipu, did likewise. Nxao followed, addressing Jamiet and Kano together in a loud voice so he could be heard, giving thanks for the gift they were leaving them.

Sesi's daughters Neri and Qara said their goodbyes with a gentle touch to Jamiet's arm and then Sesi came forward. Jamiet bent to embrace her and Sesi whispered, ‘Thank you. Not just for the well, but for taking the sadness from Nara's eyes.’ Jamiet gave a low click that he hoped conveyed respect and thanks. Sesi smiled. She knew.

When Jamiet said goodbye to Kari, he reminded her that they needed some spare buckets. Then he asked Kari to keep an eye on Nara. Kari held his gaze and promised that she would.

As the last people headed to the fire, Jamiet and Kano were left with only Nara and Biru, who walked with them to the edge of the village. Biru gave both Kano and Jamiet a firm shoulder hold and stepped back. Kano embraced Nara and began walking. Jamiet and Nara faced each other. Jamiet began to speak but Nara silenced him with a gentle click. ‘There is nothing to say, except I will always remember you, Longborn.’

She leaned forward, and gave him an embrace and let her hand linger on his arm a moment too long. Long enough to bring a tear to his eye. She tried to stop her own eyes filling with tears and looked away. He clicked goodbye. Nara smiled.

Jamiet turned and hurried to catch up with Kano. When he turned and looked back, Nara and Biru both waved.

Kano turned to Jamiet as they walked. ‘Eight down, one to go,’ he said.

Jamiet clicked, in humorous agreement, he hoped.

Chapter 19

Nara

I had taken to visiting the well before sunrise most mornings, especially if the wind had blown during the night. I hated the idea of water being wasted so I would take my gourd and my calabash with me and draw water before the basin overflowed.

That morning, I filled my calabash and sat. It was still dark, but for the occasional firefly. I listened to the sounds of the pump. The wooden thrum as the wind turned the wheel, the sound of the buckets slapping the water, the clack-clack-clack sound that the knots of the rope made as they went over the upper wheel. The pump speaks quietly, I thought, the way something does when it expects to be listened to.

I noticed how many more bird calls I could hear. It had not taken the birds long to discover the new source of water and the sound of coos, tweets, chirrups and caws was a welcome one.

To my great surprise, Aunt Sesi arrived at the well with her gourd and her calabash. She greeted me and then used her gourd to fill her calabash as I had done. I watched her knowing that any offer of help would be refused. I could see how old and unused Aunt Sesi's calabash was. None of us had used our calabashes in ages. When she was finished, Aunt Sesi came to sit with me and held my hand. I leaned my head into her bony shoulder and we sat in silence for a while.

‘The wind still draws the water,’ said Aunt Sesi, ‘the gift remains.’

‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘the gift, but not the giver.’

Aunt Sesi watched the motion of the buckets for what seemed like an age. The first light of the sun was just touching the dark sky in the east.

Then she said, ‘The giver had the look of those who are not finished with their work. I believe he has more places to go and more gifts to give.’

I turned to look at her. ‘Yes, that is what they said they do, they travel and help people.’

‘Like the Longborn’ said Aunt Sesi, still staring straight ahead.

I froze.

Aunt Sesi turned her old, clear eyes on me. ‘You saw it in him, did you not?’, she asked.

‘Yes,’ I whispered back, ‘but … how …?’

She smiled. ‘It was just a hunch at first. The way they walked; not like men fleeing the harsh land, but like men measuring it. Then there was the food that is not food’ she touched her stomach, ‘and Kano's woodwork. And, of course, there is this’ and she pointed to the wind pump. The sun had not risen yet, but the light was enough to see the reed-blades spinning and the rope turning.

‘You never said anything,’ I said, still holding her hand and giving it a small squeeze to let her know I was not blaming her.

‘To say it aloud would have put a weight on you, or on them,’ she replied, adding ‘and I could not be certain. I waited and watched to see whether you also saw it, and you did.’

It was Aunt Sesi's turn to give my hand a squeeze. I shed a tear, not of sadness, but of release. I no longer felt as alone as I had before.

The sun crept over the horizon. Villagers began arriving to draw water. Aunt Sesi and I walked back to the village in silence, both lost in our thoughts, thinking about our chapter in the very long story of the Longborn.

-

I went foraging that morning, spending some time with Sanu and Neri. We found tsamma melons and bush onions. Even more exciting was the news on our return to the village that Kau had flushed a korhaan out of the bushes and Biru had brought it down with an arrow.

That afternoon, when I had finished my chores, I went home to wash. Now that water was no longer scarce, I enjoyed washing a lot more and I used a whole gourd of water.

The meal that evening was eaten in our familiar silence and everyone enjoyed the korhaan. Aunt Sesi had stopped sneaking food to Qama, not because she did not want to, but because Neri had forbidden Qama from taking it and he was old enough to understand; telling on Aunt Sesi to the amusement of everyone whenever she tried to push anything into his hand. I caught her eye. She smiled at me.

That evening, it was my and Kari's turn to sweep the ground after the meal. We sang softly as we swept, a song that we both knew and liked. Just then, we heard a sound we had not heard for a very long time. Some of the younger children would never have heard it in their lives before. It was the rumbling of thunder. I looked up into the sky and noticed for the first time that something was obscuring the stars.

It started to rain.

The End

ButtPlug, I do get what you're saying about wanting to know more about the Longborn, their tech and their side of the story. You're not the first to say this and I'll give you the same reply I gave to the others: Now that I've created this world I'm going to make this a series and I will be drip-feeding the Longborn side throughout. I don't want to give it all up right away.

Yes, I did think the villagers might need more convincing but my feeling was to leave them to think about it and hoping the reader assumes they weighed up the pros and cons and decided they didn't have a lot to lose. Remember, Kano was left in the village and might have helped persuade them.

Yes, Jamiet would have seen a Raindance before. Remember, he and Kano had travelled through several villages already and in all cases worked with the village Rainbringers.

Just want to tell you how much I value this feedback. I feel like I don't just have a reader but a collaborator. I promise you any further feedback will be sincerely appreciated.

I just read your novella in one sitting Rondha. Very enjoyable with some strong character development of villagers. The descriptions of village life and the connection with nature, are really impressive.

The revelation scene with Jamie and Nara was always going to be hard to convey, but I liked the low key way you handled it. My reservations are mainly about the character of the longborn. Having gone through a massive shift they sound awfully like today’s humans….worrying about their vacations. They probably need to be given some post apocalypse character traits.

And the last scene with the rain coming, will be seen as too similar to the incredibly well known last scene in Dune.

So moving in parts, beautifully developed village imagery and a few things that could possibly be done a little differently, but not things that compromise the characters as developed.

Moffie, your encouraging and positive feedback is sincerely appreciated.

The Longborn character is very much shaped by Sai and to a lesser extent by Ko.

This story (series) makes a very big assumption . . . and that is that when General AI evolves into Super AI, that AI (Sai) has a built in primary function which is to serve mankind. AI is consistently benevolent throughout the series as Ko project-manages Sai's far-seeing plan.

Thank you again for your kind words.

I'm about a third of the way through the second book in the series. There is quite a lot more Longborn POV.

The fence encloses the world's great forests, as well as the world's major coal, gas and oil reserves.

It is very important to note that the coal reserves of North East England (Newcastle) and South Wales (the Rhonddha valley) are two parts of Britain contained inside the fence. This is because the mining and use of coal from those two very specific areas on the world map are what precipitated and enabled the Industrial Revolution. Yes there are other important coal reserves specifically in China and North America but they had almost zero impact on Industrialization other than to perpetuate it years later.

Most of the Longborn POV will come from the main (and recurring) character, a 14 year old recently orphaned Longborn boy who Ko is going to send to be raised by a couple in the real-time world and who will raise him to maturity from where he will become on of Ko's most important "deep agents".

This will come out in subsequent books but there are three types of Longborn agents:

a) Resource agents. When the Longborn land (in the year 1312) and get the locals to help them build the fence, they have to relocate everyone living inside the fenced area. These people help to build the fence, are made aware how important it is to maintain the fence and then, when the fence is completed they build villages which are exactly where Sai determines based on the location, depth and quality of it's natural resources which Sai will obviously know to an unimagineable extent. Resource agents interact to a very small extent with these "relocated" people - who form a buffer on the earth's geopolitical map between Longborn and "real-time" - in terms of dispensing knowledge and inventions at the optimum rate to mine and use the natural resources to support their super-tech.

b) Field agents. Agents like Jamiet and Kano sent on missions to create an awareness or dependency on non-fossil fuel energy.

c) Deep agents. The rare and almost mythical agents of Ko who influence world politics and ensure the completion of project plan milestones. Always think of Ko as a genius project manager who understands people.

Anyway, that's just background for the bigger picture.

I am quite ambitious about this and the fact that it's readable and even enjoyable to some is inspiring me to get it done.

Like I said earlier, I expect brutally honest feedback on a forum like this and to have lifelong "enemies" like ButtPlug and Moffie giving me such encoraging feedback is honestly beyond my wildest dreams.

If I can get feedback like that from two people I've pretended to detest for so long, well . . . I'm on a good trajectory here is all I can say.

Rooinek, I read the first part you posted here, and this is a nice book...well written and enjoyable to read.

I also like Nara, especially how she reads nature to find where the water is.

For example: checking animal tracks that converge leads to water; tracks that fan out lead away from water. Birds that fly low and straight at dusk, means water is nearby.

Is a Rainblade a Bushman knife? I will read the second part that you posted, and I’m sure it will be just as enjoyable. Well done.

chuMp, a "rainblade" is something I made up, as is a "rainbringer" and a "raindance". I'm sure there were equivalents but those are all made up.

Thank you for your kind words.

Happened upon some word game chat and wanted to share a couple i cycle through when not on Duolingo kidding myself i can learn another language.

I also enjoy the wordle and NYconnections so Conexo (https://conexo.ws/en/)

and Septle.com are my next go to..

Then challenge yourself with Gauntletle

Repeatle / Waffle / Weaver / Diffle and Cladder will get your thinking cap on

Phrazle Wordle - guess the common phrase

Word Blitz /Trivia Crack / words with friends on Facebook

And Heardledecades .com - guess the song for that nostalgia hit

But i believe the best daily exercise i do for my noisy brain is the 10kms recommended to me by my Dogtor..who also advises me to walk slowly and sniff incessantly.

Howzit Card?

C'est possible ;-)

Maybe not, but the name fits and there's something in the writing...

;-)

All done.

Pretty surprised by how chilled KO was with everything.

For sure not what is going to happen, but KO was so understanding that I fear it's taken a "most efficient" route to solution. By that I mean telling Jamiet what he needs to hear to finish the mission...only to be liquidised when he gets back to base and Nara to be taken out by drone that looks like a bee. Even though your spoiler(not happy about that by the way but understand that you have to respond to feedback) does make Ko out to be benevolent, I'm still seeing liquidation in Jamiet's future. Not really but Ko calmness did instil some measure of anxiety. I'm not sure if that was intentional. Don't tell me haha

Of course, the average reader wouldn't have access to the author. So in terms of the building the well, I would be left understanding that the well's purpose is to cover the most basic of needs while not providing so much assistance that it nudges the tribe in a direction counter to Ko's ultimate objective. Job done, in that regard.

However, I'm left wondering about the cargo cult phenomenon. These guys turn up, assist the villagers in creating what is to them a technological marvel, and then vanish just as quickly as they appeared. Now the villagers are left with a super helpful technology and memories of the people that brought it to them. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a nagging feeling that the overall impact of that would be larger than first assumed.

As an avid sci-fi fan, I know you have spent as much, or probably more time than me, thinking about the concept of time travel and its permeations...timelines, etc. Like M J Fox's character starting to fade away in Back To The Future as his mom started falling in love with him instead of his dad - to this day still a favourite of mine. So, I'm interested to know if you've developed a timeline other than the Longborn are now in "this" time? I'd be terrified to involve time travel because it can get so dang messy. But you did present the time travel as a singular event. A neat way to do it, but is the door open to the appearance of "time agents" coming back to correct things?

Ultimately, as you can tell from my feedback, the questions i'm left with are good ones. As I mentioned above, most readers don't have access to the author and, had I picked this up off the shelf and read it, there is no way I wouldn't want to read the second book and see if my questions are answered. So, good job!

Plum, your questions are good ones.

Yes, Ko sends Longborn agents on missions to encourage the use of wind, sun and water rather than burning fossil fuels.

[Series Spoiler Alert]

In this universe, man will need to find those solutions because he's not going to have access to those resources. The fence encloses not just the great forests, jungles and plains, it also encloses the world's major coal, oil and gas reserves.

[End Alert]

It's all part of Sai's plan. Ko is just the project manager.

There won't be future instances of time travel. Sai self-destructs after the last humans leave/die and that tech dies with him.

Sacrifice.

Are there other cultures that will try to derail Ko's plan?

I'm imagining some kind of game theory type of situation. Since you can't enclose all the fossil fuel reserves, some cultures might discover them despite Ko's best efforts.

They'd have an unfair advantage over the groups that Ko wants to "preserve".

The industrial revolution was initially partly fuelled by locally mined coal deposits. That being the case, one could imagine a group or groups, obviously not privy to the concepts of global warming, ozone depletion or acidification of the oceans, that would fight their corner because they are only looking at the immediate benefits of fossil fuel use.

The Chinese, for example, were well aware of the concepts of temperature/pressure, heat rising, etc. Incredibly, they started using natural gas over 2000 years ago for industrial processes. WTF, I know!?

In that type of scenario, there are only two solutions I can think of. One is to actively suppress the use of fossil fuels wherever it pops up or to ensure that clean energy technology is always more efficient than burning fossil fuels - but that would require a lot of intervention and straight handing down of technology to tribes like Nara's.

I'll keep adding things to think about they come to me.

I know this is a lot later than I originally said but here's my book on Amazon (with a few editing changes from the original I posted here):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GS3MXKYN

Ignore the age14-18, I'm trying to fix that but takes a day or two to update. Should be for ages 18+.

I Like the big bearing and, off course, the well...well done!

Based on the pacing of the book, i had a thought.

I'm sure it would be possible for AI to depict some of the scenes and make videos out of them.

Have you looked into that Rooi?

Since you're retired and all...you have time haha

Wish i had the time because I'm aching to take on a project like this. Anyhoos, here an AI short film. The quality is crazy considering it costs almost nothing to make.

Plum, feel free to experiment.

When I said years ago that AI will take nearly all jobs, that includes things like actors and writers.

For me, I'll never (intentionally) watch AI movies or read AI books. I use AI a lot but there's a line I can't cross. When it comes to the arts and entertainment, I'm interested in what other human beings have to say, not a robot.