II
Though the watch on her wrist showed that noon had only just passed, Ana was already tired.
And the day hadn't started off well. First she'd had a big argument with Dijana at the bar over some trifle, an argument that didn't even end fairly, because she was called away to resolve a growing quarrel between two clans of girls over sanitary pads and the rights to their distribution.
Then she'd had to help Irena on the floor with allocating duties in the warehouse, because, after the inventory was finished, people had to be convinced that the shelter needed warehousemen, and no one wanted to do that very boring job.
There she'd used a very clear argument that, if they refused to work in the warehouse under the very expert and fair management of Irena, they could go work on building the farms, which required willing and strong hands unafraid of calluses.
And she was right. Young people are graced with enthusiasm and will and, above all, a large quantity of ideals, but when someone mentions hard work, most of that enthusiasm and vigor deflates, because young people are also graced with laziness.
Everyone always preferred the boredom and stagnation of a safe, easy job to the uncertainty and hard work of construction.
After that, her tirade about the importance of every job was interrupted by a message that her presence was required in the kitchen, where she spent the next half hour resolving a problem of poor communication in supplying the kitchen staff.
Mirela had a rather sharp stance on the disobedience of the deliverers, and Ana had to use all her diplomatic skills in calming passions and resolving the dispute.
After that, she had to obtain permits and priorities for those same deliverers to use the elevator, because people had to eat on time.
And the kitchen had to be supplied on time.
That in turn caused a problem with the construction team, so she had to strike some deal with Ivan, since giving priority to kitchen deliveries extended the deadlines on building the farms.
And there was only one elevator. Although Ivan showed complete willingness to cooperate, the construction itself suffered because of the kitchen deliveries.
Only a fraction of the material could be carried up the steep staircase.
Ana was impressed by the amount of finished work on the farm construction.
Ivan and Denis had completely surprised her with their expertise and efficiency on the project.
The first few basins were already set up.
Wooden fences, made from pallet remnants, marked the boundaries of each bed.
Each basin of soil was efficiently fenced with blue construction sheeting, and the beds of laid soil were bordered by passages an arm's width wide that covered the whole field of the planting bed.
This allowed the person in charge of maintaining the young plants access to even the farthest piece of arable soil.
Above each bed of arable soil sat rubber or plastic pipes hung from metal supports tactically placed along the stone ceiling of the cave.
The idea was to bring water through the pipes with pumps; the pipes had holes every twenty centimeters or so above the beds of soil, thus enabling irrigation.
The whole system also had valves set at the beginning that would determine the amount of water released into the irrigation system.
That idea was proposed and carried out by Ivan after Nika's instruction that some varieties of vegetables require more water, while others need only occasional drops to be irrigated.
A bigger problem was posed by the zone intended for growing mushrooms, which required a completely different approach.
There Ivan had built enormous plastic boxes on aluminum supports he'd taken from the warehouse.
Mushrooms required steam and high air humidity, which they tried to achieve by setting up plastic walls.
Furthermore, heaters had to be placed at tactical spots, because, according to the instructions, mushrooms required a certain temperature to grow and yield the best crop.
Since the temperature in the cave was 16 degrees, the heaters had to raise the temperature to the ideal 20 degrees Celsius.
Denis had been dealing with the heaters all morning and was just finishing the job when Ana joined the crew at the growing farm site.
All that remained was to produce a fine water mist inside the chambers to create ideal conditions for mushroom growth.
That was achieved by setting up one pipe that would every so often release a few drops onto one of the heaters, thus adding a certain percentage of water vapor to the rooms.
Nika had approved the proposed idea, and all that remained was to put it all into practice, and that couldn't be done at that moment because the elevators were occupied.
Regardless, the amount of work was evidently high.
People were still stretching plastic underlays, placing and arranging compost; everywhere came the drone of drills boring holes in the rock for the supports.
Otherwise the whole cave was very well lit, because the first thing Denis had done was to light the construction space.
Halogen lamps and ancient floodlights taken out of who knows where were used.
And cables — yes, cables were everywhere, and Ana literally tripped several times as she walked through the cave.
Denis guaranteed that everything would be tidied up once the ultraviolet lamps were installed, and that project was still in its infancy and under construction somewhere in another part of the shelter.
Apart from those brief stoppages, the farms were progressing nicely.
A well-separated zone for mushrooms could be made out, a few basins with beds of compost that only awaited planting, and everything was neatly arranged so you could move quite nicely down the aisles between the beds without disturbing the workers on the farms.
Ana was very pleased and emphasized that to Ivan, who accompanied her during her inspection.
"Really, this looks beyond all expectations," Ana praised.
"Just to get the lamps and we're ready for seeds." Ivan pointed at the finished beds.
"Yes, I think one team of people is dealing with that by the kitchen, but we have a holdup," Ana replied pensively.
"People have to eat, especially ours — they work like slaves."
"I've noticed, and the results show. But you know privileges can't be handed out. Everyone works and everyone is hungry." Ana looked at him, bending down and scooping a bit of dark compost into her hands, which she then scattered over the bed.
"That's clear to me," replied Ivan, who was watching her. "And they're resting during these stoppages anyway." He smiled at Ana, who was standing up and shaking the compost off her fingers.
"Everything will be resolved." Ana hated herself, because she sounded like the filthiest politician. Empty promises to the working people, but she knew the kitchen deliveries wouldn't last long. "Anyway, I should check how it's going with the lamps."
Ivan immediately brightened. "If the lamps arrive, we're able to plant the first beds as early as today."
Ana looked at him calmly and nodded. "Then we'd better see where it's stuck," she replied, and headed off, leaping over cables toward the laboratory entrance.
Ivan followed her with his eyes, then nodded something to himself and headed toward the stream, because some crowd and a problem that probably only he could solve were forming around the pumps.
Entering the laboratory, Ana, as usual, stopped to orient herself.
Though the room was large, the masses of devices and machines created an impression of fullness.
Luckily, everything was nicely marked with large signs and wide passages between the devices, so the relatively dense flow of people ran without problems.
One girl, nearest the entrance, lifted her gaze from the papers she'd been studying and approached Ana in greeting.
"Hi, can I help you with anything?" she asked, fixing a smile on her face, but Ana saw the nervousness.
"Not really, I'm just passing through," Ana replied calmly.
"Ah, good, a lot of people just pass through the lab today," the girl complained.
"What do you mean?" Ana looked at her.
The girl headed toward a table where a set-down pile of papers awaited her. Along the way she said:
"Oh, today's a madhouse, and I got stuck being the gatekeeper," she replied, taking the papers.
"Sorry, but you lost me again. Gatekeeper?" Ana was confused.
"Oh yeah," the girl looked away and began studying the papers, "we always have gatekeepers at the entrances to turn away curious people."
She now looked at Ana. "You know, people find it interesting to see the lab, but they don't understand that things here require a certain cleanliness and a 'hands to yourself' policy."
"And people keep coming to you?" Ana asked her.
"You'd be surprised. Most, instead of turning left at the corridor junction, just barge straight ahead and through the door, because the fastest way to the kitchen is through the lab."
The girl pointed to the opposite part of the laboratory, where a young man was just turning away a little group of people who were obviously amused by it. "See?"
"Uh-huh, and from this side?" Ana was curious.
"It's better here. The farm crew knows it's no good to keep passing through the lab and bringing in dirt. Actually, you're the first today who came from that side and interrupted my studying." The girl pointed at the papers and smiled awkwardly.
"Oh, I didn't know. Sorry," Ana apologized.
"Oh, it's nothing, actually the break was welcome. I have so much to learn."
"What's that?" Ana nodded curiously toward the papers.
The girl looked at the papers in her hands and sighed heavily.
"Instructions for the analyzers." She looked at Ana, who just looked at her blankly.
Then she explained: "A materials analyzer. It's used in geology."
She pointed at an elongated machine with a large box on the front, on which a few little lights glowed.
"You put samples of soil or rock inside, and by radiation you examine what percentages of minerals and other substances are in the sample."