Chapter 18 #2
I took a moment to drink some water, adding some moisture to my parched throat as I tried to mentally prepare myself for the call. I wanted to sound calm, collected, not like I’d just been crying. I needed to be professional.
I scrolled to Anna’s number in the address book, and, after giving myself another few seconds, pressed dial.
I clenched my teeth, pressing the phone back to my ear and hoping it wasn’t too early. I couldn’t stand to wait.
To my surprise, she picked up after two rings. “Hello?” came the familiar voice. It was a little muffled, as though her mouth was half full.
“Hey, Anna,” I said, a surge of hopefulness rushing through me. “This is Tani. Tani Lockwood. I hope I’m not disturbing you?”
“Oh, Tani, hi,” she said, sounding pleasantly surprised. “I’m just having breakfast, but it’s okay. How are you doing?”
I inhaled. “Um, not great to be honest. Well, I mean I’m okay but I’ve got a big problem involving my parents.
As you know, they’ve been staying on the islet while their broken bones heal, and until I hit the minimum balance needed to bring them over to my island.
But a few days ago, they contracted a serious fever from one of the other patients and I’m…
I’m worried. I-I was wondering if there’s any way I could get them transferred over to the hospital on Founders’ Isle.
” I glanced quickly down at my ring and brought up my account balance.
“I’ve got just under 2,000 coins in my account.
Would that be enough? I could pay the hospital directly. ”
There was a long pause, in which Anna stopped chewing.
“Hmmm,” she said after a moment. “I doubt it. If this is an unknown virus then it will require the attention of Beauchamp Hospital’s seniormost medics and specialized treatment.
Neither of which are cheap. And the hospital won’t admit them unless you can prove you have the funds for a potentially lengthy treatment. ”
My grip tightened around the phone, my palms growing sweaty. “What… What kind of money are we talking about here?”
“I doubt the hospital would take them in unless you can show your account has at least 5,000 coins. The treatment could turn out to be less—it just depends—but the hospital needs to be confident that you have the funds to pay, whatever the outcome.”
I exhaled. 5,000 coins. That was over double the amount I currently had and even if by a miracle I did manage to scrape it together quickly, by the sounds of it, their treatment was going to wipe out all the coins I’d earned so far, setting me back weeks.
But, of course, that didn’t matter. The stupid coins were imaginary anyway. Yes, it would take me longer to get us living together again, but right now, the only thing that mattered was my parents getting better.
“Okay,” I said. “5,000 coins. Do you have any suggestions for how I can get that together extremely quickly? You said I could call you for career advice, and to be honest, this is a moment when I’m pretty desperate for it.
I must get my parents the best treatment possible, as soon as possible.
I’m worried what even another day will do to them where they currently are. ”
I heard a soft slurp on the other end of the line, and then Anna’s mouth returned to the speaker. “You know,” she said, her tone suddenly thoughtful, “it’s actually interesting that you’ve called me about this now, because I’ve recently started looking to take on a mentee.”
I frowned. “Mentee?”
“Yes, mentee. As you know, we’re scaling our outreach efforts, which means we also need to expand our workforce in the outreach department.
One of my numerous responsibilities is recruitment, and I’ve decided to start taking on protégés every once in a while, to personally train up and help fast-track their career.
We lack qualified personnel for managerial roles, in particular, skilled officers to plan, lead and organize expeditions, and so forth.
And while we used to always fill those roles with founders, as we expand the program more and more, we’ve been on the lookout for fresh blood recently.
Settler blood in particular,” she added.
“Oh, I see,” I replied, absorbing her words. “Why’s that?”
“Well, for one thing, it should be a rewarding job for settlers, helping others just as they were helped. Also, you are Fairlanders just like us, and it’s important to have a mix of settlers and founders in leadership positions, for the sake of equality and balance.
Especially when it comes to the outreach department.
One of the obvious advantages you have there is a natural empathy to new settlers—you can make them feel at ease in a way we can’t.
If they feel they’re dealing with people who were in their exact same position not long ago, it makes it simpler for them to trust us and integrate more smoothly into our society.
“You see, when we go out on missions, trust is especially important, as we often don’t have a lot of time to hang around and answer questions, especially where nomads are involved.”
I nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. So, are you saying I could become your mentee and get a steady, higher-level job? What kind of money would I earn, and how quickly?”
“Well, there are several stages to this. I first need to decide if I want you as my mentee.” She gave a good-natured laugh.
“I’d be investing time and energy, so I’m rather picky about who I take on.
And then, in order for me to help promote you to a steady, higher paying job, you’d need to complete a formal induction process before you can officially begin work.
All that said, I do understand you need these coins as soon as possible.
So, assuming you pass my pre-screening, let’s say I’ll help you make up the balance quickly. ”
“Oh, um, okay… How quickly?”
She sighed. “I understand the rush. So how about this: You come up to Founders’ Fortress now to meet me, and we’ll see if we can’t get this process rolling.
My schedule is flexible over the next couple of weeks, and I have a good feeling about you, Tani.
You’re already standing out as a driven, hardworking individual, so I think there’s a fair chance this might work out for the both of us. ”
“Oh,” I said, taken aback. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Type ‘Founders Fortress, Gate 14’ into your tablet, follow the directions, and then when you arrive at the gate, ask one of the concierges to take you to Level 7, Chamber 30. I’ll meet you down there.”
“Ah, sure,” I said, immediately jumping to my feet.
I hadn’t expected the ball to get rolling so quickly, to be honest, as I knew she was a busy woman—I hadn’t even been sure I’d be able to get hold of her this morning—but I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
“Thanks Anna. I’ll make my way there as fast as I can. ”
“Sure thing, see you soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some cheese waffles to finish.” She chuckled then cut the call.
I disconnected, too, then shoved the phone into my pocket and hurried to get ready to leave.
Grabbing my tablet and backpack, I input the address and dashed out of the house.
A shuttle wasn’t waiting, so I ran over the bridge, then raced the rest of the way to Mowlbury Dock, where, according to the tablet, I could get a connection that would take me directly to the fortress.