Defying Gravity

Chapter Two: A Few Minor Adjustments

Prime Minister Welsi sat in his office, at his desk, staring down at the parchment in front of him. He was a little annoyed that his inkwell was empty, but managed to procure a new one from inside his desk, and a new feather quill in his favourite color; green. Green like the trees, and the grass, like this new world they had sailed away to and arrived upon at last.

Well old world. Ursalia. It seemed as if everything was going mostly as planned for them. Though they were a little worried about how the locals here would welcome them, it turned out that they greatly outnumbered the Ursalians by a great catch; two hundred New Gumbreans against nineteen Ursalians. Six Glen Gummis and twelve Barbics, plus one reclusive bear who didn't lay any claim to any clan, and one old Knight who swore himself to be the last of the original citizens of Ursalia. He was at least a hundred years old and not a threat to anyone. Not a large number of people to have to contend with, and despite the differences in their language and dialect, it wouldn't be too hard for them to integrate with the rest of them.

It was easy as pie. No fuss no muss. These locals had been disconnected from Gummi ways and culture for nearly five hundred years. They would flower under the guidance of the New Gumbreans. It was a good thing there were so few of them, really.

Which bothered Welsi slightly. The Great Gummis had not left small groups of bears behind them to look after this world. They had left whole clans and warrens full of Gummis.

Where are all the Gummi bears? We should have come home to a full city of Ursalians!

Instead the city was old, crumbling, and bereft of all but this small rag tag band of peasant bears and one old Knight who could barely remember the wars that had driven his people away from the city. Had the Human-Gummi wars here really gone that badly for them?

And how hopeful they were! How excited! Their need for closure of the gap of Gummi history sparkled within their very eyes. How gratefully the wizard Zummi had welcomed them as the Great Gummis, as if the Great Gummis had been worshipped with religious reverence for all these hundreds of years. And probably had been, if their records book was any clue. The Great Book of Gummi they had called it. Only one of the many books of lore their ancestors had left behind, but was well guarded by them with almost fervent piety. They were that desperate for knowledge of how to survive in their lawless and chaotic world.

Well, Welsi would look after them. Gummis would flourish in the Old World once more. And it would be easy enough for them to adapt.

Why look at Zummi, he's been positively ecstatic about the large catalogue of books now for him to study. And it'll be easy enough for Sir Thornberry to adapt to duty on the guard with the other Knights. Why we can get him armed out and decked out as a local police; Vigo says there's still some fight left in the old snapper! And if what Chummi told me was correct, the Glen Gummis will just have the time of their lives.

It seemed to be true so far. Already Tulli was touting the praises of his newest apprentice, delighted to have a new person with as much artistic enthusiasm as him. But the artist bear, Gusto, was something of a sore thorn in Welsi's side. A mystery that wouldn't quite let itself be revealed. He had seen the artistic creations of Gusto spread throughout the entire city, painted onto the old walls of rooms, hanging from the mainly travelled corridors and hallways of Ursalia right next to the old dusty canvases of ancient Gummi art, and what Welsi had seen had struck him hard.

Gusto had a very similar artistic style to the New Gumbreans. His modernistic creations were almost on par with the likes of San Gurri, and Da Yinno, his style was very much a composition of Modernism and Realism. It was if the bear was trapped in time between two worlds, his art had all the flavours of the future in them, but there were clearly human influences upon his work. Was he related somehow to the New Gumbreans? Had their people somehow at some point crossed back over to the Old World without his knowing it? Or was his work more significant than even that? His own wife, their only Seer, had been horrified to see some of these the paintings. She had broken into tears in pure recognition of them.

"Am I no longer alone in this world? Is there another Seer here for me to confide in? Is this the future he is painting, that I have Seen with my own eyes?"

Poor Molsi. So alone in the universe. So desperate for others like herself, the ones who could truly see into the future, and hold the high magic tomes of the ancients like recipe books for their own creation. Wizards and scholars were one thing, but Seers were another matter altogether. Her talent had set her apart from the rest of New Gumbrea. It had left her alone.

Which is probably how these simple Ursalians are feeling right about now, Welsi decided at once, making some more notes on his parchment. No laws, no order, perhaps only one bear of each craft altogether, having to do the multiple tasks that usually would have been accorded to an entire hoard of bears! All of them eager. All of them ready to be a part of our world.

Except the Barbics. Barbics, according to Gummi history, had thousands of years of culture and traditions that were seperate from New Gumbrean, and even Old Gummi, traditions. If they truly decided to stay in Ursalia with the rest of them, then there would take some work for them to adapt. It wouldn't be pretty.

For one, they were totally unprepared for the tough endurance and pure talent of the Knighted guards. Barbics were hunter gatherers, warriors yes, but they used simple spears and weapons, much like the human natives of New Gumbrea had. They had some experience in fighting with humans, and had strong survival skills. But the New Gumbrean soldiers were blooded for open warfare. They had been the ones confronted with the menace of the Spanish invasion. They had been fighting with Native humans for hundreds of years over territories and forest space. They were armed to the teeth; their aim was deadly and their timing precise. Would the Barbics be able to integrate into the guard?

Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong...we need to give them duties more suited to their skills. They're naturally tough, survivalists at heart. Why not put them with the hunters and fishers? Why, they've domesticated the local animals here very well on their own, and in such a small band too. They could surely handle hunting down food, and acting as bodyguards for the fishers on the rivers. The shepherds around here aren't going to give us trouble. My biggest problem will be finding work and distractions for the Knights!

Welsi smiled and wrote another sentence onto the parchment before him. It played out like a well timed rune notation. Every letter was in its place on the page, neat and orderly.

The female bear, Ursa, is probably going to be the hardest to adapt to the change. She is used to being a leader. She is tough. And now she will have to follow the lead of others. But perhaps there is a way. She certainly acts very similar to the other women on the guard, tough and strong and ready to face any challenge. If she made enough friends here to show off to, if we found her a husband amongst the common folk to keep her entertained...Ah I have it! That cub of hers! A key to a woman's heart is through her children, and I'm sure Barbics are not going to be the exception to the rule.

The children would be the easiest to adapt to the New Gumbrean settlers. They wanted new friends to play with. They wanted role models to look up to besides their parents. They wanted people who appreciated their presence, who they could feel useful to. And the boy, what was his name? Buddi? He was something of a musician, outside of being thrust into a warrior's role by his guardian. But he wasn't well read, most of the Barbics were illiterate, and making very small effort to learn anything at all.

We'll put the boy in school lessons, and on one of the sports teams. She'll see him so happy to be learning so much, enjoying his life so much, that she'll want to stick around for his sake, if anything. No, the Barbics will stay here, even if they retain most of their old traditions. They're tough, but they aren't the trouble makers they would like to think themselves. They will be just as easy to control as the rest of them, given the right influences.

Welsi resigned himself to finishing the sentence he was writing, and rolled up the parchment. All set for now. He had his plans, and everything was in order.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. It was councillor Sesil, who had a strangely amused look on his face.

"Prime Minister? We've finished bringing the last of the supplies to the city."

"Excellent! Any luck with finding a proper place to harbour the boats?"

"No problem at all," the councillor laughed. "That young sailor bear, I think his name is Tummi, was more than happy to show us the Gummi safe causeways and rivers. We found an old cavern in a mountain pass where they can easily be stowed. His knowledge of the waterways will come in handy for the fishermen. I went ahead and put him on fishing detail, I hope you don't mind."

"Ah, I hadn't thought about where to place him! Yes, good idea. I think we're getting settled in quite nicely. Start giving the orders to the builders to start building then. We'll need a barracks and to restore the old living quarters. The Ursalians will show you around. Have their carpenter, Gruffi, show you the work they've been doing to restore the place. Pretty impressive techniques, for simple homegrown carpentry. He has a bit of experience with ancient Gummi technology at least."

"It'll be modern technology that'll be the problem. Finding sources for the supplies we need in this area..."

"I'm sure everyone will adjust fine..." Welsi said. "Well, you'd better get started!"

Sesil left, and Welsi put his quill pen back into its holder.

It makes me want to laugh... he thought, and did indeed chuckled. Far too easy. Far too easy...

-seperator-

Gruffi stared down at the blueprint in front of him in complexity. His workshop was now overrun by many busily working, hammering, carpenters, who were all happily laughing away, busy with unpacking their inventions and beginning to build furniture for the residences. They had just gotten their orders to build a barracks and already they were in the process of building a mechanical crane of sort that would help them clear away the remains of the old barracks. The chief architect had handed Gruffi a blueprint for a steam powered shovel, which was much different than the crank and pulley shovel that Gruffi was used to building with.

"This is your first learning project. If you can build something like this, then you can build anything in our library."

It seemed almost too simple to figure out how to build it. The blueprints made everything so much easier to go on. Lengths, weight and wood grain were all accounted for, just the way the Ancient Gummis made their blueprints, with some adjustments here and there to certain math concepts which Gruffi could tell were simply a matter of time perfecting the craft.

But some of the parts involved using metal gears, and that had confused him. That was when one of the carpenters, Sera, had pulled him aside to talk about mining and welding techniques. And that was when his education in New Gumbrean technology began.

"So for this part," Gruffi heard himself saying, poking the blueprint with his finger. "I'll need a disc, five inches long, with struts...Hm."

"Well, start with welding a smaller two inch disk on either side of it. Use the steam drill then and a one inch bit to make a hole in the center.to start. There are your struts."

"Sounds about right to me."

Gruffi had to admit it. These folks were pretty handy with tools. It was like a dream come true. For once he wasn't the only person with a wrench and a hammer in his hand. And now he had steam powered drills, a motorised saw, and even more tools of the trade at his personal disposal.

Could things be any easier?

-seperator-

Grammi was in paradise, and Grubbi seemed to be sharing her sentiments. The New Gumbrean cooks were the most skilled and knowledgeable chefs she had ever encountered before and she was just itching to try out their recipes. Oh she had been a little offended when they had taken over her kitchen, replacing all her well worn tools with their high grade polished supplies.

But she had to admit; the new pots and pans were glorious. For example, one of her pots had a loose handle which she never seemed able to get gruffi to fix. The New Gumbreans had pots with handles that screwed on, could be replaced easily and were made of solid steel and well seasoned copper, which would probably last for ages longer than her old cast iron pans. They cooked just beautifully and she didn't have to worry about burning her hands again; the handles were insulated in a layer of wood and quite cool to the touch. She would never have to bug Gruffi about her pots and pans again.

And the exchange of ideas had been equally shared. It wasn't as if the New Gumbreans had shoved her aside. Rather, there was an exchanging of information. For five hundred years the New Gumbreans had lived across the sea. Now they needed the help of Grammi and Grubbi to teach them the proper cooking of local fruits and vegetables, how to make use of the local herbs and spices, and what new vegetables and foods they could use in their own recipes to replace ingredients they were lacking. Cooking skills would be exchanged for sure; the Head chef Merribell was just itching to try a hand at baking Grammi's blackberry pie.

Food, it seemed, was a language that anybody could understand. It was just that easy.