MENTAL ESSENCE
PAGE 117
   "Many have ideas.  Many want power.  Many bad.  Few good," she said.
   "Some beings need more help than others.  Everyone will need to employ patients.  Plus, everyone needs to understand rebuilding will take a long time," Trent stated.
   "Where to start?" asked Mrs. Klin.
   "Communications.  You will need to establish a firm base of communication.  Print form will be the best.  In the meantime, word of mouth.  Are there engineers within your group?" asked Trent.
   She had a blank look on her face.
   "Where are there printed papers?  Records, old books or pictures?" Trent asked.
   Mrs. Klin explained to Trent where to find the library, newspaper and City Hall.         
   "I will see what can be salvaged.  In the mean time you should do the best you can to make a list of your members and their capabilities," suggested Trent.
    Trent found the library, but it had long sense collapsed.  The newspaper had faired even less well.  City Hall was crumbling, but it did have occupants. 
   "Excuse me, could you tell me where to find the public records," Trent asked a woman leaning out of a door way not far from the main entrance.
   She looked around and laughed, "You there be?  None.  All used for other things long ago.  If be any some place, Bogle knows.  He there," said the woman pointing to a hallway.
   "Is your name Bogle," Trent asked an elderly man hunched over a broken glob of Heptom.
   "I be.  You want?" Bogle asked.
   Trent explained his quest, and Bogle directed him to a building called the Commerce Center.  He also said he was interested in working this Mrs. Klin.
   There were several gang members entering the building when Trent arrived.
   "OM, is there a reason to invoke an encounter with these guys?" Trent asked.
   "There is a vault four stories down.  It seems to have been damaged, but not breached.  The damage was caused by explosives in an attempted to break in, not the nuclear war.  The ceiling in front of the vault is collapsed, which is probably why attempts to continue to break into it have been discontinued.  There are documents, precious metals an gems within the vault.  The precise condition of the documents is beyond my sensor's capabilities do to the protective thickness of the vaults walls, and the a very small background radiation I presume is from the last war," OM thought.
   "How many gang members are there? asked Trent.
   "Fourteen.  The other beings are forced to be here," replied OM.
   "Stop their hearts, and give all others stomach cramps which intensify as they draw closer to the building.  I want to talk with those here against their will, so leave them unharmed for the moment," ordered Trent.
   The beings outside of the building held their stomachs and moved away.  Those who were there against their will walked around in dazed disbelief.
   "What has happened?" ask a tall blond-haired female.
   "You are free.  These gang guys will never hurt anyone again," Trent stated.
   Soon the others had gathered in the rotunda.  It was obvious why they had been held against their will. 
   "Excuse me ladies, you may go to your homes.  No one can force you to do anything," Trent explained.
   "We no longer have homes.  These Kluaff's burned our school and killed our families.  We were passing knowledge," she said as she collapsed to the floor crying.
    The others gathered around her.  They were also crying.
   "There are other gang members heading in your direction," OM thought.
   "As you identify these gang types, stop their hearts when their demise will not place innocents in harm's way," thought Trent as he walked to the doorway and stood watching the crowd form a kind of ring around the Commerce Center.
   "I have an interesting discovery. Are you in a position to receive optical transmission?" OM thought.
   "At your leisure," Trent replied.
   "This is in gray scale.  Notice the lighter gray swaths.  The cause is from an accelerated magnetic beam coupled with an oscillating neutron beam.  The purpose of which can only be to sterilize as is common practice everywhere in the alliance, only there it is used to kill pathogens in hospitals.  The point being is the only way to confine the accelerated magnetic beam and oscillating neutron beam is to us an apparatus made primarily of gravitirium," OM stated.
   "And this means..." thought Trent.
   "The apparatus that did this damage would have had to of used technology similar to that of the Ree.  Certainly a few billion years beyond these beings' capability.  In short, their last war had off world participants," thought OM.
   "That explains why some buildings crumble and others do not.  As soon as this planet is on the way to rebuilding, we will look into the beings with the gravitirium capabilities.  For the moment I will excavate the chamber in this building containing records.  Make a map of the other chambers or vaults containing records.  Plus, a map showing possible land suitable for farming, a map locating electrical generation materials and one for printing equipment," Trent ordered. 
   Trent pondered for a moment about the humor in giving himself orders.  Then he turned to females crying in the rotunda, "Why not turn this place into your new school?" they still to upset reply.
   "Well, something to think about.  If you would like to try, I will have it protected just for you.  I will be excavating downstairs," said Trent.
   Trent made his way through the debris surrounding the vault and tore the door away.  The paper records were in fragile but useable condition.  The film recordings were too far gone to be use.  The precious metals were of small quantity.
   "Your name?" asked one of the ladies who had ventured down stairs to talk with Trent.
   Trent turned around and answered, "Trent.  And your name?"
   "Selli Lowm.  How can you protect us here?" she asked.
   "My technology is advanced enough to do that.  If you want to give it a try there is enough gold in those green boxes to keep it running for a long time.  You could start by familiarizing yourselves with these documents to see if any of them are relevant to restarting your civilization," replied Trent.