Quinn
Once I finished my dinner, I excused myself and headed up to the conference room on the fifth floor of the administration building to get things ready for the meeting.
"Well, Vicky," I said. "Let's get things started."
Indeed, was Vicky's replied, and half an hour later, I had some prototypes of the new gadgets done, just in time as everyone started turning up and taking their seats around the table.
The members were Aldric, as the lord of the land; Uncle Colt, dubbed the second lord of the land; Sir Theo Wakefield, head captain of Norsewood warriors; Connor Carter, captain of the northern station; Elio Carter, second captain of Norsewood; Vincent Taylor, third captain of Norsewood; Allan Wakefield, head of business and finance; Jacob Morton, head of administration; Gladys Burton, head of the kitchen; Nellie White, head of housekeeping; Mabel Garwood, head of the textile department; Robert Lamont, head of the woodwork department; Darell Henley, head of the blacksmith department; Kent Ingram, head of the agriculture department; Spencer Dunn, head of the stables; Grayson Kerr, head of maintenance and groundskeeping; and Chris Orson, head of the watchtower and security. Also attending were Derek Porter, head of Carnfell Village; Gordon Barlow, head of Dunwich Village; Craig Fulton, head of Kearville Village; and Collin Linton, head of Lumwick Village. Of course, there were the other Templetons, too, such as Mark, general manager of Norsewood; Miles, second in charge of business and finance; Caine, second in charge of administration; and Eden, Sara, Frances, and the Fairchilds—Elizabeth, Maria, and Liam.
I noticed that everyone's eyes were on the prototype sitting on the table. I was sure they were intrigued as to what those gadgets were.
Clearing my throat, I said, "I'm sorry to spring up the meeting so suddenly like this, but I think it's urgent."
"There's no need to be sorry, lassie," Uncle Colt said. "I'll attend every meeting you spring up, even if it's sudden. I'm sure it's important."
Robert nodded. "Indeed."
I said, "Thank you, Uncle Colt. So, on to the topic then. This morning, I heard for the first time that in years past, when soldiers go out to survey the land in winter, the inexperienced ones go missing due to the hazard and when they are found a few days later, it's too late. This, to me, brings up problems that need solutions. Lives are important and need saving no matter what. Hence, we need to come up with safety protocols. Back in my homeland, when soldiers go out on a mission, they are tracked using technology, so when anyone goes missing, he is easily found. I think we need something like that here, too."
"How do we do that, my lady?" Elio asked.
I said, "Back in my homeland, we have a tracker. This tracker pings back to headquarters and tells the operators where exactly the soldiers are. The soldiers also have what is call a radio or a walkie-talkie, a communication device. For normal citizens, we have what is called a cell phone, and we can use that to contact people when we need help."
"This communication device sounds like telepathy," Theo said.
Connor nodded. "Only high priests and those with high-tier magic can use something like that."
Telepathy, eh? It seemed some could use that here. Although this communication and tracking device I had created used telepathy magic, too, according to Vicky.
I picked up a small gadget, an earpiece, and said, "This is a new device I've created. With this, those going out on a mission can be tracked as well as communicate."
"How does that work, my lady?" Darell asked.
I said, "It's easy. You simply place it in your ear like this." I demonstrated by placing one into mine and secured the handle over the top of the ear, much like the secret service version back home, except for this one was wireless. "To talk, simply lightly touch on the earpiece like this." I did a tap on the gadget. "And then talk. When you finish talking, you shut it off again by doing another tap. Although you shut it off, you can still hear instructions from headquarters when instructions need to be given out."
Aldric said, "How about testing it?"
Vincent said, "I'd like to see how it works as well."
I said, "Then please, take an earpiece and we'll test it out."
"I'll be the soldier on a mission," Vincent said. He picked up an earpiece and then walked out the door.
Meanwhile, everyone took one as well and placed it in their ears.
Allan said, "What's a headquarters?"
I said, "It's the hub of where the administration and operation takes place so to speak. For example, at the moment Norsewood Lodge is considered our headquarters, or HQ, because this is where we do managerial and administrations. Once we set up a proper one, then that will be our new HQ."
"I see," Allan said.
Mark said, "Tracker. How do we see it?"
"Ah, that," I said, picking up the tablet sitting on the table and showing them the screen. Against the black gritted backdrop, there were flashing red dots of light. A bunch of them were huddled close together while one was moving away.
"Oh my," Eden said. "Is that supposed to be us and that..." She pointed to the one moving. "Vincent?"
I nodded. "That's right. The earpiece tracks the wearer. Currently, we did not input our names onto the earpieces, but when soldiers use it on a mission, they will have their names or rather, code names, on it, and the people at HQ will know who it is and where exactly he is at. Currently also, we have no map, hence, the black screen."
"There are maps of Athol," Jacob said. "Unfortunately, we do not have one. But I doubt it'd be of any use in this case."
I said, "That comes to my next—"
"Hello? Hello?" Vincent's voice came loud and clear into my earpiece. "Can anyone hear me?"
There was gasping and sucking in of breaths. Everyone was stunned at just how very clear they could hear Vincent's voice.
Aldric tapped on his earpiece and then said, "We can hear you, Vincent."
"Holy heaven!" Vincent's voice came again. "Aldric! I can hear you."
Aldric said, "It appears you're pretty far away from the meeting room."
"Yes, I am," Vincent said. "I'm at the playground with the children."
"All the way there?" Mabel said.
"All right, the test works," Vincent said. "I'm coming back up."
Connor said, "If this works, then not only sending soldiers out to survey the land, but subjugating monsters and even in battles and wars, we can communicate and the flow of information..."
"Means a higher chance at winning," Aldric said.
Theo said, "What about sending help? If a soldier is down and he requests help through the earpiece, we can track him, but how do we find him? Do we follow the flashing dots until we're close?"
I said, "Yes, which is why we need a detailed map." I picked up a little gadget in the shape of a bird. "This is a drone. It has a camera and will record the land when it flies."
"Oh my," Nellie said. "How very nifty."
"Much like the surveillance cameras at the watchtower and around the lodge buildings?" Chris asked.
I nodded. "Like that, but with a much higher definition. What the drones record will automatically be stored in Vicky's database where she will form a map. This, however, will need work with Norsewood people to identify areas and locations. For example, if the lodge appears in the map, then we'll have to mark it as Norsewood Lodge. Identifying and marking locations will be especially easy when locating a lost soldier or citizen. We'll know exactly where they are and can head straight there without time wasted."
Mark said, "Uncle Colt and I and most of the elders know Norsewood well, so we'll be the ones to identify the locations and name them."
"That sounds good," I said.
"Will this drone bird be flying over the villages as well, my lady?" Derek asked. "I personally would like to see what the terrain of Carnfell looks like. It'd be especially useful when it comes to working on the land."
"Yes, me, too," Gordon said. "I'd like to see what the terrain of Dunwich Village looks like."
I nodded. "Yes, the drones will fly and cover all of Norsewood, and possibly beyond as well."
"Then perhaps we should add St. Kilda into the project?" Allan said. "Since that is the region recently gifted to Aldric by King Henry as part of his reward after toppling the Tasal army."
I raised my brows. So that rumored land given to Aldric as a gift was called St. Kilda, eh?
I asked, "What is St. Kilda like?"
Mark said, "It's a low marshland located west of Norsewood. It's a coastal area."
"Marshland? As in wetland?" I asked.
Mark nodded. "Aye, wetland. Aldric and I have been there several times as youth. Nothing grows there."
I smiled. "It's a wetland, Mark. Isn't most of Norsewood closer to the alp wetland?"
He widened his eyes and then gasped. "Rice cultivation!"
"Bingo!" I said.
Allan chuckled, and I could imagine more gold coin signs appearing in his eyes. He said, "Then adding St. Kilda to the mapping project is a must."
Uncle Colt burst out laughing. When he managed to stop, he said, "I can just imagine that lout king of ours blowing his top when he finally realizes he's given Aldric what he and every one of his bootlickers considered useless land that doesn't turn out to be useless after all."
"Coast. Coast." I repeated to myself in thoughts. "There's... beaches?"
Aldric said, "Beaches and inlets."
Mark said, "But don't get your hopes up where fishing is concerned. Sea monsters roam that part due to its proximity to the Blackfield Sea."
"Ah, I see," I said. Which explained why the land had not been claimed by any lord and left to rot until now that it was finally given to Aldric. So, King Henry, in his damn opinion, had gifted Aldric a useless lot of land, as Uncle Colt said. Not a prosperous one like he'd gift to dastard Bedford and other nobles who kissed his ass to please him if they were to accomplish something momentous like Aldric. Ah, I understood now that my husband was not liked by this king at all, and instantly, I hated the pig.
Beaches, eh? I grinned, my eyes twinkling with excitement. I heard that in the warmer seasons, especially summer, Norsewood and the surrounding area, which meant St. Kilda, would be damn hot as compared to the other regions in Athol, a phenomenon nobody understood why. If Aldric and the soldiers were able to cleanse the area—as in annihilate those sea monsters, much like he did with those monsters invading Norsewood land—thus rendering the beaches and surrounding areas safe, why then a beach vacation would be on the horizon. Furthermore, a fishing business would be possible, too, and we could have all sorts of seafood added to our already vast menu, thus improving the Norsewood people's diet, and hence, health.
Uncle Colt said, "I think the sooner we get this drone out and the mapping done, the better since our mission is to rebuild the towns before the next winter hits."
Everyone nodded in agreement at that.
Chris said, "I'm wondering if sending the surveillance drone off daily, especially to the border near Blackfield, is a good idea."
Aldric nodded. "It'd be an excellent routine and we can gauge the monsters' movements, especially during the night, too, to monitor the night trolls. As for the other monsters, they are usually very active during the warmer seasons."
Connor said, "I think that's a very good idea. Oftentimes, they attack without us knowing, because there are no communications between soldiers sent out to survey the border and those protecting the border, and soldiers ended up dying needlessly."
"Then I'll create more drones," I said. "And what's a night troll?"
Theo said, "They are trolls that hunt at night. They are notoriously dangerous, more so compared to a normal troll since we as humans can't see at night whereas they can."
I nodded in understanding and said, "Then I'll add in night vision ability, infrared light, and image sensors to the drones. I think having night vision goggles for the soldiers is also a good idea, so I'll create that, too, while we're at it." Turning to Uncle Colt, I asked, "When will you start mapping out Norsewood, Uncle Colt?"
He said, "The earlier the better."
I said, "Please make sure it's a clear day as fog or a snowstorm or any sort of clouds can distort the image needed to create the map."
"Then I'll make sure to do it on a day with a clear sky, lassie," he said.
I nodded and then said, "Now, on to the next topic."
The door opened, and Vincent came strolling in, asking, "So what did I miss?"
A series of chuckles rang out around the table, and Theo said, "A fair bit."