Momentis
Part III: Beyond the Wall

New Friendships
by Philippe de la Matraque

The vessels themselves were magnificent, tall ships like those she'd seen in movies and picture books. But they were worn and crowded. Aranea thought she saw more than fifty on each deck. There was hardly any space where there wasn't a person. And every person was waving.

Ignis was on the phone with Dustin, who was using Morse code to find which ship had a representative who could speak with them. And who could climb aboard her airship. Aranea sincerely hoped it wouldn't be someone on, say, the third ship from the left. She wanted an outer ship with plenty of space on the side. Finally a person was chosen and Ignis hung up.

One of the ships moved forward while the rest dropped anchor where they were. Aranea directed her ship to descend to just above the water's surface. Fortunately, the waves were low right now. She opened the ship and lowered the ramp next to that front ship. Her men helped an older woman onboard. She was thin, somewhat gaunt in fact, but moved with relative ease. Her hair was just starting to gray. She had a kind face and intelligent eyes.

"I'm Kala Fen Doret," the woman said, by introduction. "Representative of the last bastion of Tenebrae."

Ignis stepped toward her an offered his hand. As they shook, he introduced himself. "Ignis Scientia, representing Lestallum and its Outposts, last bastion of humanity in Lucis. This is Commodore Aranea Highwind, formerly of the Empire."

"I remember," Kala said. "But I also remember her support for the refugees in later days. There's no more empire. No more Tenebrae. We're all just humanity now, aren't we?"

"I sincerely hope we will remain that," Ignis told her, "even after the return of the sun."

"You believe the sun will rise?" Her manner didn't make her seem disbelieving.

But Ignis was not taken aback. "I know it will. The True King, Noctis Lucis Caelem, will make sure it does."

"He lives then?" she said, somewhat shocked. "I'd assumed his death is what brought on the darkness. He's in Lestallum, then?"

"No," Ignis replied. "He's away, preparing himself for the battle against Ardyn Izunia, the Accursed. The sun will return after that battle. But that is still some time off. We have to decide how we will all survive—and maybe even thrive—in these years of darkness."

Kala still seemed uncertain. "Mr. Scientia here," Aranea said, "is one of the king's retainers."

That seemed to satisfy her. "Lestallum's power plant has made survival possible for you as these ships have done for us. Up to now. We can't continue on the sea."

"I understand," Ignis stated. "And yet we cannot absorb all of you in Lestallum. We don't have adequate housing, nor the food to feed you. But I'm hoping you and I can work out a mutually beneficial compromise. Do you know the demographics of your people?"

"It's a mix," Kala admitted. "We have families and individuals. Some were professionals, some ordinary workers. Some already had sailing experience, though we've all had to learn. We have fish and fishermen. Some could remain on these ships. Some would even prefer it. No daemons on the seas. They could offer you fish if you could offer fruits and vegetables in exchange."

Ignis smiled. "Precisely my thinking. We have year-round farming, some livestock but mostly fruit, vegetables, and grains. We have factories making necessities, like light bulbs, toiletries, furniture and the like. We have some housing now. We could manage more if we repaired and renovated a section of the city we have yet to secure. But that will take some time. Can your people fight or build?"

"Some can fight," Kala admitted. "Some learned before they boarded. Some after, though we lost some of those in our last search party. As for building, we've had to learn to be good with our hands to keep these ships afloat. Some have proved skilled in carpentry, others in mechanics. All have learned to be hard-working."

"How many could remain on the ships?"

"The necessary crew would be twenty-five adults. So three hundred."

"And you're running shifts of fifty, three a day, hot-swapping?" Ignis asked. Before she answered, he went on. "What if you could keep just fifty on board each ship, hot-swapping just two shifts of twenty-five? That could mean nearly half stay on board."

"It would certainly be more comfortable than now, though not ideal," Kala admitted. "Could more leave the ships when you have that sector secured?"

"If we have the space, they would certainly be welcome," Ignis stated. "Presently, we could do some shifting and take in six hundred. This will probably not be popular with the general public. They've gotten used to being more comfortable though we're still fairly overcrowded already. We've sort of moved beyond base survival however. This level of crowding could set us back. We have outposts that could take a few people, one family each. Two here in Cape Caem. There's a sizeable house here. The lighthouse keeps the grounds fairly safe. With some battery operated lamps, the garden might actually be useful."

"Those on the ships provide fish then, and those on land provide produce."

"And other supplies," Ignis offered. "It wouldn't be 'us' and 'them', 'you' and 'us.' We'd all work together for the survival of the community. "We'd all be 'we' and 'us.'"

"So you'd put us to work in Lestallum or those outposts."

"As equals. Just as everyone there already works. We have a system to find useful positions for all skills and skill levels. We educate our children and make interns of teenagers so they can learn a profession. We have farmers, food service workers, scientists, engineers, doctors, historians, a veterinarian, a library, hunters and fighters. There's somewhere for everyone."

Kala furrowed her eyebrows. "Just how many people do you have?"

Ignis smiled lightly. "Just under fifty thousand."

Kala's eyes went wide. Aranea herself was somewhat impressed with that number. She hadn't realized. "Fifty thousand," Kala repeated. "That's astonishing!"

"We've done well," Ignis admitted. "Shall we join forces?"

"We'll need time to sort our people," Kala said. "But yes. I think humanity's chances just went up."

"We brought you all some citrus fruits and fresh water in the meantime," Ignis said. He motioned toward the back of the ship where there we boxes of fruit and bottles of water. Aranea wondered if Kala even realized he was blind. He gave nothing away. "We require time as well, to reorganize our housing arrangements."

"And we have fish we can offer you," Kala said. "Maybe that can soften the blow to your grumpy populace. I'd love to say they can have a fish each but we don't have fifty thousand fish."

"We're fairly decent at sharing," Ignis replied.

"My men can handle the swap of goods," Aranea offered. "Oh, and let your people know, I do have reprogrammed MTs in my army. They fight daemons and rogue Imperials. It wouldn't be good if your fighters destroyed them."

"You reprogrammed MTs?" Kala asked, smiling.

"We have a very talented hacker," Ignis admitted. "We also have vehicles with enhanced headlights. Your people will not be harassed on the roads."

They agreed to meet again in two days. Aranea had her ship descend again. Her men escorted Kala back to her ship. They carried the fruit and water over and brought back tubs of dried fish. The other eleven fish drew up even with the front one and small boats ferried supplies between them.

"I may never get this smell out of my ship," Aranea teased.

"I'm either going to be haled a hero or run out of town," Ignis quipped.

Aranea put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, if they do run you out, I'll take ya in."