Chapter Eight
A day later, Sapphire had finished the program and gotten the results. Making the bead would take a lot of amber, and they wanted to make at least two- use one and one for backup.
The BFFL had another conference, and Sapphire and Amethyst volunteered to write the proposal. Amethyst helped balance the report, which would be heavily scientific and beyond the general government official had it been left to just Sapphire.
They took a Saturday to write it, and then contacted Mr. Trollobite for a meeting.
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Sapphire and Ruby sat in a conference room in the Trollzopolis Government Building talking to their liaison, Mr. Trollobite. The room was nicely appointed and had a table with six chairs. They had been told it was set aside specifically for meetings with the Ancients, and used for nothing else. This surprised both girls, and showed them again just how important they were.
The middle-aged troll was lavender-haired, and wore a tie to match. He very much resembled his father, and even sounded somewhat like him.
"Nice to see you all again," he said. "I understand you have a way of helping with the comet crisis?"
They explained their idea, and he listened carefully. He didn't know much about magic, but he trusted the Ancients.
"I think this is a great idea!" he told them, "I've been kept up to date on meetings about the crisis, and so far this is the best."
Ruby grinned, but held her peace.
"I'll pass this along to the Comet Committee, and get back to you as soon as I can," he said.
"Comet Committee? What's that?" asked Sapphire.
"The Emergency Agency has set up a committee just to deal with the comet. They have a lot of power and leeway to getting things ordered and done," he explained.
"I see. I've contacted Trollington Industries, and they are willing to provide the necessary equipment," said Sapphire, "I've given Alabaster the specs and he's assembling materials to build the cauldron,"
"Supply sources for the ingredients have been contacted, and all have promised to put aside an order for us," said Ruby.
"That will save a lot of time," nodded Trollobite.
"All I need is the go-ahead," said Ruby. "Getting the amber is going to be a problem, though. Production can't be rushed, and the Amber Society is reluctant to use the reserves."
Trollobite looked at her. "Reluctant? Why? This is the possible end of civilization we're looking at! Any and every resource should be made available."
"They are thinking long-term," Ruby explained, "If the disaster is stopped, spell bead production will be slowed or stopped until the amber can be replaced. But if it does happen, it will be best if there were a lot of beads handy, along with the ability to make more. Especially like ones for curing wounds."
"Hmmm..." said the liaison, thoughtfully.
"Once they explained, I agreed with their reasons," said Ruby. "But amber is already being put aside."
"I agree as well," put in the blue-haired troll. "People will need help if things go wrong."
"I'm really worried about how to activate the bead when it gets there," said Ruby, "I've been studying Obsidian's records, but haven't found any way to do so."
"Amethyst and I have written out the problems clearly in the report," said Sapphire. "That's the major one, of course."
"Very thorough," the older troll replied. "You make a good showing as the Ancients."
Both girls blushed at the unexpected compliment.
"I'll see to it this gets to the Committee as soon as possible," he added. He took the papers and put them in a folder, then looked at them.
"If there's nothing else concerning the comet, I do have another matter," he said.
"Sure," nodded Ruby.
"The phone company wanted to know how the tPhone prototypes you were given are doing," he said.
Ruby pulled hers out. "I love it," she said with a grin.
"Me too," agreed Sapphire. "The apps I downloaded make it as useful as a notebook, except the keyboard is too small to use for an extended period."
"And that's understandable. I'll pass that along as well," Trollobite said.
And with that, the meeting ended.
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It was six days later when Ruby was contacted by Mr. Trollobite, who wanted another conference. They were also told to give the go signal for making the spell beads.
Once in the conference room, Mr. Trollobite wasted no time.
"As I said, the Committee has given the go ahead for making the beads," he told the girls.
There was mingled relief and relaxation around the room.
"We told the people we needed to right after you called," said Ruby, "And so far no problems except getting enough amber, and that will be done in another five or six days. I'd say the beads will be ready within ten days."
"I'll tell the Committee," promised Trollobite.
"So they've figured out what to do?" asked Amethyst.
"Well, they have a proposed solution for the activation problem," he grinned. "Any of you have a problem with heights?"
"Not really," said Amethyst. "What do you mean?"
"Since you have to be fairly close to a spell bead to activate it, the only way for this to work is for you to deliver it to the comet yourselves," he explained.
That took all of ten seconds to sink in.
"You... want us to go there?" said Sapphire, stunned.
"That's right," Trollobite said, "The Committee feels that using the Magic of the Five to make the portal big enough is the only way. And you five are the only trolls who can activate the bead from a safe distance."
"I don't get it," said Topaz, looking around, "Where are we going?"
"Outer space," replied Onyx, "Into the vast reaches of unknown black emptiness where no troll has gone before." She grinned. "Sounds like my kind of place."
"Outer space?" said Topaz, "You mean, up there?" She pointed up.
"That's right, Tope," nodded Sapphire.
The blond ditz thought for a few seconds. "I've never been there before. What kind of accessories will I need? And if it's all black, anything I've got will go with it."
"Ah..." said Trollobite, at a loss for what to say.
"Maybe I'd better get some new outfits anyway," mused Topaz, "I want to look my best."
"Topaz," said Ruby, "This is space. There won't be anyone else there."
"Oh," said the amber-eyed troll, disappointed.
"I was told to tell you you'll need some training on the equipment first," said Trollobite, "The head of the space agency will call you with details in the next few days."
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The new Ancients met at the mall food court later that afternoon to discuss plans and scheduling.
"I need to supervise making the beads, so I can't go to the space center until after. But if the rest of you want to go earlier, don't let me stop you," said Ruby.
"Not a chance," said Onyx, "We stick together."
"Yeah, I want everybody with me," said Topaz.
"I'm helping Alabaster with making the cauldron," said sapphire, "So I can't go either.
"I'm with the others," added Amethyst, "Unless there's a good reason, we'll all go after the beads are made."
"what are you grinning about?" Onyx asked Sapphire.
"We're going into space! Isn't that enough?" said the blue-haired troll.
Onyx rolled her eyes. "It's going to be dangerous, and there are a lot of ways things can go wrong."
"Yeah..." agreed Sapphire, the stars in her eyes obvious to all, "But we're going into SPACE!"
"It might be fun," put in Topaz.
"Nothing wrong with that, as long as we take care of the job," said Amethyst.
"Oh, we will," said Ruby, looking smug, "We're the Ancients. We can do anything."
Onyx shook her head. 'Just like Ruby to call down fate on us,' she thought.