chorused their agreement. While the others argued the finer points of thieving, Sandy questioned Nan a little deeper on the supply of materials from the Great Light, and when it might be expected.
‘There’s no set time,’ he replied, ‘it just comes whenever the Greater Powers decide to give us something.’
‘And that’s only their rubbish.’ Sandy added. ‘Lets face it, they’ve never given you anything in working order, have they?’
‘No, that’s true, but it’s a test for us to make something useful from what they have graciously given us.’
‘Face facts,’ said Sandy, ‘they’re only giving us their junk, and they’re probably glad to get rid of it.’
‘Anyway, I’m not happy about raiding other groups for materials, can’t we have a look at Ben’s supplies, there might well be enough bits and pieces to make the tube.’
‘I don’t think it’s up to you to decide if we raid the others,’ said Nan, feeling his authority was slipping again, ‘it’s been going on for as long as I can remember, and it’s part of our life.’
‘That doesn’t make it right. Surely the more we raid them, the more they’ll raid us, so who wins in the end? And what about casualties in the meantime? I would have thought your life here was tough enough, without adding unnecessary punch-ups with your neighbours to it.’ Sandy was losing patience with the older man and his bizarre ritualistic beliefs.
Ben saved the day by coming over to them, and suggesting they visit his store to see if there was anything which would meet their needs, as he was not too sure what they wanted.
On the way, Sandy asked about the gas lights, and how they were fuelled, but Nan did not seem conversant with the operation, and suggested he ask Ben when they had sorted out the pipe requirements.
The materials store was a positive gold mine of bits and pieces, and Sandy earmarked those items he thought necessary for the water condenser.
Nan suggested they visit Mop’s kitchen to get a better idea of what had to be done, and Sandy took a long metal bar and a lump of some hard material he found at the bottom of a pile of odd chunky shaped pieces of metal, to make the break through hole.
Luckily, Mop was off doing something else when they arrived, and Sandy got to work right away with Ben, taking it in turns to hold the metal rod, while the other hit it with the hard mystery lump. Just before they broke through the intervening wall of rock, they made a useful discovery.
Ben had insisted he do the major part of the hammering, and getting a bit tired, his aim faltered. The hammer lump only grazed the metal bar instead of hitting it squarely, and the subsequent shower of sparks caught them all by surprise.
Ben dropped the lump, Sandy dropped the bar, and Nan was already in the cave opening, ready to flee even further if the need arose.
When they realized that none of them had caught fire, and it seemed safe to pick up their tools again, Sandy suggested they try to duplicate the fireworks display.
Leaving the lump on the ground, as it seemed most likely that was where the stream of sparks were coming from, Sandy swung the bar, just grazing the lump of mystery material. This time they were ready for the sparks, and were not disappointed at the display.
‘You have made fire,’ exclaimed Nan, ‘so now we won’t have to trade for it when our lights go out.’
‘Making a shower of sparks is one thing, getting it to set fire to something is another matter.’ Sandy said gently, not wanting to down Nan’s new found enthusiasm. ‘I expect we’ll find a way to do it though.’
The breakthrough to the next cave soon followed, and it was now just a matter of fabricating a length of pipe to transfer some of the steam into the chilly chamber to generate a new supply of water.
‘The end which goes into Mop’s cooking cavity will have to be made such that we can swing it out when she wants to cook,’ Nan remarked, ‘and we’ll
‘There’s no set time,’ he replied, ‘it just comes whenever the Greater Powers decide to give us something.’
‘And that’s only their rubbish.’ Sandy added. ‘Lets face it, they’ve never given you anything in working order, have they?’
‘No, that’s true, but it’s a test for us to make something useful from what they have graciously given us.’
‘Face facts,’ said Sandy, ‘they’re only giving us their junk, and they’re probably glad to get rid of it.’
‘Anyway, I’m not happy about raiding other groups for materials, can’t we have a look at Ben’s supplies, there might well be enough bits and pieces to make the tube.’
‘I don’t think it’s up to you to decide if we raid the others,’ said Nan, feeling his authority was slipping again, ‘it’s been going on for as long as I can remember, and it’s part of our life.’
‘That doesn’t make it right. Surely the more we raid them, the more they’ll raid us, so who wins in the end? And what about casualties in the meantime? I would have thought your life here was tough enough, without adding unnecessary punch-ups with your neighbours to it.’ Sandy was losing patience with the older man and his bizarre ritualistic beliefs.
Ben saved the day by coming over to them, and suggesting they visit his store to see if there was anything which would meet their needs, as he was not too sure what they wanted.
On the way, Sandy asked about the gas lights, and how they were fuelled, but Nan did not seem conversant with the operation, and suggested he ask Ben when they had sorted out the pipe requirements.
The materials store was a positive gold mine of bits and pieces, and Sandy earmarked those items he thought necessary for the water condenser.
Nan suggested they visit Mop’s kitchen to get a better idea of what had to be done, and Sandy took a long metal bar and a lump of some hard material he found at the bottom of a pile of odd chunky shaped pieces of metal, to make the break through hole.
Luckily, Mop was off doing something else when they arrived, and Sandy got to work right away with Ben, taking it in turns to hold the metal rod, while the other hit it with the hard mystery lump. Just before they broke through the intervening wall of rock, they made a useful discovery.
Ben had insisted he do the major part of the hammering, and getting a bit tired, his aim faltered. The hammer lump only grazed the metal bar instead of hitting it squarely, and the subsequent shower of sparks caught them all by surprise.
Ben dropped the lump, Sandy dropped the bar, and Nan was already in the cave opening, ready to flee even further if the need arose.
When they realized that none of them had caught fire, and it seemed safe to pick up their tools again, Sandy suggested they try to duplicate the fireworks display.
Leaving the lump on the ground, as it seemed most likely that was where the stream of sparks were coming from, Sandy swung the bar, just grazing the lump of mystery material. This time they were ready for the sparks, and were not disappointed at the display.
‘You have made fire,’ exclaimed Nan, ‘so now we won’t have to trade for it when our lights go out.’
‘Making a shower of sparks is one thing, getting it to set fire to something is another matter.’ Sandy said gently, not wanting to down Nan’s new found enthusiasm. ‘I expect we’ll find a way to do it though.’
The breakthrough to the next cave soon followed, and it was now just a matter of fabricating a length of pipe to transfer some of the steam into the chilly chamber to generate a new supply of water.
‘The end which goes into Mop’s cooking cavity will have to be made such that we can swing it out when she wants to cook,’ Nan remarked, ‘and we’ll
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