Lana woke up before the sun was fully up, she could see a glimmer on the horizon. This place sure is beautiful. She went back in and built the second orphanage building. She noticed Shalt had put all the furniture for the orphanage aside. He heard her get up and followed her out. She went to the command post and bought 10 cookbooks of various things: meals, deserts, baked goods. She bought playground equipment for two of the three orphanage buildings. Shalt was very busy moving the equipment to the area. She also bought picnic tables to have around the main orphanage building. The orphanage and market would be built today.
As she finished her shopping and bringing in all her packages, she received a message from Blip. Alex had given her the price for her things so she transferred 100,000 to Blip. It was more than Alex asked for but she knew he was going to as easy on her as possible. He wanted to make sure the cost was fully covered.
She was really hungry and was beginning to smell this really wonderful scent in the air. To the travelers' center is what it was saying to her! Most were already there. Apparently, the reason Shalt was able to move so fast at moving the packages to the orphanage was people were taking them from him and they had formed a kind of chain to get it moved faster. Lana delivered the cookbooks to the cooks who were delighted.
Lana turned as Dilly entered, "Dilly! I need to know what you need to make clothing in terms of space."
"I'm making things in my room right now but have no place to sell yet."
Lana nodded, "I need to build a market building but needed to know what you want your space to look like. I was thinking just make empty rooms then people could furnish as needed based on needs."
"Being single, I can use that small second bedroom or the kitchen table but then I must eat here even if I want to cook for myself."
"So you need a space dedicated to do your work, teach your apprentice and have a bit of a store front."
Dilly nodded.
"I'll try to have it done today."
After breakfast, Lana built the last building for the orphanage. The teams put in the picnic tables before going below. Lana received another message which was what she was looking for. She went to the command post and gave the list to Crystal. "I'm trying to find out if there are any parents out there for these kids. I know some got through the teleporter. Can I get you to contact all these places and see if the parents are at any of these locations?"
Still needing to rest, Lana helped the girls move the orphans into their new home. They just went into the middle building. For now they would have their own room. Each room had a bunk bed, two wardrobes, two arm chairs and a table between them with a light-crystal lamp on it. It wasn't huge but it was better than what Lana had growing up. They each had a spare set of sheets. There were four bathrooms on the second floor as well as the first floor of the other two. The main one they were in had a nursery, 2 rooms for the workers, a kitchen, bathroom and a dining room on the first floor. Each bathroom also had a laundry machine in it. For now, classes would be done in the dining room. Lana needed to buy course materials still. She chuckled when Nina reminded her. Shalt was still furnishing this building and had the next to do as well. Lana went and got the course materials. She sure was glad Logan gave her some help! She brought those to the kids and Nina so she could get started. She helped Shalt get the buildings done by lunch. The orphanage was now done. After lunch, she built the market and bought the tables. There were 6 stores on each floor and two bathrooms. Each store got a table for 8 to work at but she didn't want to buy anything else until the stores were manned. Lana was tired but was now able to take a break. She was getting ready to go below and check on the progress when Crystal told her she found the parents of three siblings.
They were, of course, on a Graylash planet. It was a medium sized faction. The parents worked in the market and had been injured and carried through the teleporter. They were healed but had sustained serious injuries. One had woken early that morning and the other just an hour before Crystal contacted the base. The Graylash would not allow them to stay because they needed to go on quests once a week, had no money and no gear. Members of the faction were willing to help them out but the parents didn't want to go on quests. They were merchants. They enjoyed running their stall and had done so before selling equipment made by a forger in the Eagles.
Lana called the faction to discuss things with them. She needed to know if they were willing to transfer these people to her. They said they were but someone would need to pay their medical bills. Lana sighed. We are in civil war and there is no charity. Maybe we deserve what's coming to us.
Lana informed Shalt they needed to head out again. Putting the tables in the market area was a done deal. The toilets were not installed yet but there was only one person there. Retrieving the couple was easy. The faction made Lana pay them 1,000 credits to cover the couple's care. On the way back, Lana discussed their future.
"They told me you were merchants for the Eagles. Did you sell your own wares?"
The male named Hans said they sold the wares of an armorer. Lana informed them she didn't' have one of those, not even a forge. The couple looked at each other. The mother, Kris asked, "What are we going to sell? They told us our children are with you? Is that correct?"
Lana nodded, "Right now, they are in an orphanage. I didn't tell them I was coming to get you. We are a new faction. I would suggest sell something you can make yourself. When I was in school, I ran a stall selling the food I grew plus baked goods."
The two looked at each other, "Well, there are some things the kids really like that I make. Do you have a confectioner?"
Lana grinned, "sounds like I do now. I do get 10% of the earnings of the merchants. You can also sell your wares in the online market. I only pay 10 credits a day but food and housing are provided. I bought a bunch of clothing for the former Eagles people and there is plenty left that you can go through and see what fits. As for your business, I'll buy you want you need to start up and you can pay me back a little over time. I know I don't pay much and you need to be able to purchase your ingredients. Dilly was lucky and I was already planning to pull her out so she had almost everything with her."
They landed at dinner time and quickly put their information into the system. She sent a message to Blip to have Dennis approve their transfer. They chose to live in 5D. She brought the couple into the travelers' center and a 2-, 6-, and 8-year old jumped up and ran over. Lana smiled.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce Kris and Hans. They will be running a confectioner's stall." After dinner she walked them to the market building. "Choose a room and get me a list of what you need. Clothes and things are on the second floor of the travelers' center as well. Select a few things. I'm still trying to find people so I don't want it all gone just yet."
"Thank you for this," Kris said as they first went to retrieve their kids and their belongings from the orphanage.