Page 46 of The Champion
“There are no more than three countries in the world so it’s impossible for them to be together if they’re not living in one of them,” Shiva said emphatically.
“No, it’s not.” Shelly spread her arms again. “They could live here.”
“Be serious, honey,” Marco said.
“Was there a timeline on the psychic’s predictions? You just told us that Thor negotiated the takeover of some areas in the southern part of Europe. There may be three civilized countries at the moment, but in time we could easily see more develop.”
“Yeah, but that’s decades away. He’s in love and they want to be together now.”
Shelly tapped her chin and was quiet for a long moment. It was clear she was thinking hard, and we all stood waiting for her to say something genius.
“If we can get the technology to work faster to speed up the cleaning process, we wouldn’t be talking decades. Victor had some great ideas as to how we can harvest the fungi and use it to fuel drones or powerplants. That would come in handy for the first settlers, but the question is what is the right approach? We have time now to establish a plan of action in an area not too remote from civilization. Is your friend resourceful?”
“Very.”
“Is he handy?”
I frowned. “You mean with tools and stuff?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.”
“Does he know how to survive in nature?”
“Maybe on a theoretical level.”
“He’s an Nman, of course he knows how to survive in nature,” Marco said.
“I’m thinking the couple could become part of or even run the test group that works to set standards for settlers in Europe.”
In my ears, Shelly’s words sounded like they had an echo. There was another way for Victor and me to be together.
Albert lifted on his toes and asked with eagerness in his tone. “Can I be among the first settlers?”
“You can’t settle down in the wilderness of Europe when you still have an education to finish,” Marco reminded his son.
“Sure, I can. I can do remote learning and I can use my degree in biology while I finish my degree in anthropology. This is perfect for me.”
Shelly nodded. “Settlers would need training and we’ll need to develop strategies for them to be self-sufficient. If we start out small in a safe area like this one, we could have the first settlers in a village by the end of the summer.”
I gaped. “You’re joking, Shelly. We’re in August.”
Marco laughed. “Shelly thinks anything is possible.”
“Fine. Then by Christmas,” Shelly corrected herself.
“Will you do it, Shiva?” Ada asked him in a silky tone. “Will you be among the first settlers?”
“That depends on whether or not Freya is doing it.” The poor girl’s face fell when he winked at me.
“It would be better if we aim for spring,” Albert rationalized. “That way we can grow food from the beginning.”
“How would we get people to settle down in a no man’s land?” I asked, but that comment made the young man scoff.
“I wouldn’t worry about that. You have people in France living underground. Getting a plot of land and a place bigger than a shoebox would be a dream to them. And then there’s all the NoMo kids like me and Ada who don’t feel like we belong anywhere. I’d love to grow roots in a place where I can be part of the group of the first settlers.”
“If Albert and Shiva are going, I want to go too,” Ada declared.
