[LTC - H15 - Pam'ba - WW] The Path of Water LTC: Floating House on Pam'ba

Previously

The village was desolate, the gates thrown open. Settlers lay prone on the walkways between the few buildings, a few houses, a granary, and a tool shop. Some were visible dead, Dorn knew the dead from living. Some were coughing and groaning where they lay, too weak to move. Dorn checked the first building. It was a rice granary. Two settlers lay dead, their eyes bloodshot. They had struggled for a bag of rice in their death throws. The rest of the building was empty. They had no food. It was as Dorn feared. He exited the building, going to check the building across, but movement from one of the prone figures caught the corner of his eye. He ran over to the villager, an elderly Neimodian.

„What happened here!?“ 

The villager simply coughed and made a few inaudible croaks. They exhibited the same signs as the two in the granary: bloodshot eyes and weakness. Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anything out of the villager, Dorn hoisted them up by the shoulders and drug them into the nearest building. As he opened the door, a voice inside screamed. A woman was curled up in the corner, unlike the other villagers, her eyes weren’t bloodshot. The room was humid, well the entire marsh was, but this was different. Dorn laid the prone villager on the floormat. He wrapped him in a cloak that he found hanging on the wall opposite the woman. Once he’d attended to the elderly Neimoidian, he looked around the room and could see the source of the extra steam: a pot of rice cooking. She had food. 

„How do you have food?“ She said nothing in reply other than a whimper. 
„Tell me!“ 
„It’s all I have sir, please,“ she begged. Dorn sighed, and he knelt in front of the woman. 
„I’m not here to take your food. I just noticed the granary is empty. And there’s dead and dying all round.“ 
„Y-you aren’t,“ she stammered. 
„No,“ Dorn replied, firmly. 
„But I need to know what happened here. Your leader, Jebro, asked for my aide some weeks ago, I need to know where he is.“
„He - he‘s gone. He went with my uncle Tiwat to find salt flats. “I thought everyone was dead, that I was the last one. I haven’t been out in many days.“ 
„I think there’s some hope,” Dorn said. “This villager I found was still alive, barely. Can I take some food to give him?“ 
She nodded. 
“His name is Rinjo.”
Dorn took a bowl next to the pot and ladled rice into it. He then took the bowl and attempted to feed the prone villager. He wasn’t sure if food was what he needed, but it was the best he could think of. After a few attempts of trying to get the villager, Dorn shoved the spoon of rice into the villagers mouth and massaged the jaw to make them swallow and not choke. He repeated this a few times. Then he took another bowl and a fresh spoon. There was barely any rice left in the pot. This he gave to the woman. 
„Eat, you must be hungry.“ 
She took it without a word, and began to eat slowly at first, but then she took whole handfuls and inhaled it to finish the bowl. Once she finished, she looked up at Dorn. 
“How did you know? About Jebro and our village?”
“I’m a freedom fighter with the confederacy. I met Jebro on Batuu. Finding your village was not an easy matter, but I wish to help you and Rinjo. We have supplies in a ship orbiting.”
Rinjo stirred, coughing, at the mention. 
„It began…“ he croaked before coughing. Dorn suddenly moved towards them and leaned in close to listen. 
„Three weeks ago…“ 
Cough!
Cough!
„Meru and Tiwat found it. The mine. A great pit, hidden in the bowels of the jungle. Impossible to see from the mountains.“ The prone villager pointed at the woman huddled in the corner.
„A mine?“ Dorn said, anger in his voice. „I thought they made sure the settlement was as far from the phosphate mines as possible?!“ 
„They did check thoroughly, identifying dozens. But, the miners were too smart with this one,“ the woman grumbled. 
„How did you?“ 
„Algae in the river. It grew uncontrollably. The fish began to die. Then, the rice plants. I followed it upstream until I hit the jungle. Then, a pit. Great smoke emitted from it but it was covered better than most. Machines and dirt had been thrown in to hide it.“ 
Dorn bit his lip. This was bad. The villagers couldn’t stay here. “You can’t stay here.”
“What?!” Meru said angrily. 
“Well, how will we get supplies here? It was difficult to walk here,” Dorn interjected.
“My uncle believes that we can fix this. They are out there finding a solution!”
“What solution?”
“They believe that if they can increase the salts in the river and additionally plant more, then the effects of the phosphate leaking from the mines into the river can be mitigated. They’re looking for salt and seeds.”

“I see,” Dorn responded. He admitted that he didn’t understand the natural scientific explanation for all this, but he accepted that it was logical. He was only a warrior and knew only about fighting. But if Meru and her uncle were right, then the village could be saved. “We must find them and aide them.”

“If you need a boat, I have one to spare,” Meru offered. “I can guide you. We can find Uncle Tiwat and Jebro.”
„Excuse me for a moment,“ Dorn said, as he exited the building. He pulled out his comlink. „Makedaa, Dosha, do you copy? I’ve found the village. I’ve identified two villagers, Jebro and another villager named Tiwat are missing.“ 
Static. A moment later, Dosha responded. 
„Roger that, we found a pit in the jungle. Could be the source?“ 
„Based on the information Meru and Rinjo have provided, it is most possible. How long will it take you to get here, we need those supplies. Might need to see if the foundation can get some scientists from the new republic to analyze.“ 
„Several hours,” Dosha replied. “There’s rough terrain. Would be nice to have a boat.“ 
„That will be arranged."
Dorn stepped back into the house. “Before we leave, we must secure the other living villagers and quickly bury the dead.”
“I understand,” Meru replied. Dorn helped her up and they searched the village together. They found two other villagers who although they looked exhausted were less affected than the others. Together they took all of the living villagers and laid them inside houses, giving them cloaks, what food was around, and clean water. The dead they buried in a nearby bog. After that, Meru prepared the boat, a long thin craft with the middle section covered and room for sitting or storing goods. She agreed to help him find Makedaa and Dosha first so that they could organize a supply drop. Then, they would need to find Jebro and Uncle Tiwat. Meru pushed off the pier where all of the village's boats were kept.
“Do you remember the way to the mines?”
“Yes,” Meru responded. She seemed less tired and more confident.
“Do you think your uncle and Jebro would have remained close to the river?”
“Yes, uncle and Jebro left on a boat two weeks ago.”
They were well clear of the pier and gracefully gliding over the water in the bay towards the river delta.
“Then that is some hope yet.”