Treasure of the forest

A Starshatter story

It didn't take long to discover what had actually happened here.

The Handyman spent more than half-hour, his upper torso inside a medical lab module Yoshi 500. Designed by Nikon, this intended for off-world colonies and small starships lab was definitely capable of making most simple medication. Provided it was kept in good condition, and one had all the necessary crafting ingredients.

Mako pulled out the CPU and sighed – it was fried by a low-yield EMP warhead. These were dropped all over the planet and designed to detonate with delayed “fuses”, effectively putting a stopper to any retaliatory strikes or recovery efforts. Thugs were cowardly and the alien pirates who intended to plunder Earth, they wished very much that nobody would follow them.

Their wish was denied and enraged beyond Terrans followed, eager to free all those who were kidnapped. Millions of humans were taken, the pirates' intent to sell them on the slave markets. Everything which could fly, allied alien starships included, took part in the chase. The cocksure parasites had never before seen, heard of, nor felt such a rage!

These would-be conquerors quickly learned that there was no mercy for their misbegotten kind, when the Terran began to kill.

The Handyman's mind ached and his ears rang with the roar of gunfire, the hiss of flesh-melting beams, and the rumble of massive explosions. Then... then came the vivid sights of ruined buildings and the bloodied faces, their eyes looking at him, their lips moving. This time, Mako was unable to hear what they were saying and perhaps, this was for the best.

Focusing on the here and now, his hasty breathing slowed down and he touched his drenched in cold sweat face. He straightened himself out as much he could, before crawling out of the machine, chip in hand.

“Kaneda-san, here is the culprit.” - Said Mako and showed the village doctor what was wrong with his medlab.

“Oh, that is bad... quite bad!” - Mumbled the troubled doctor and examined the fused processor, fixing his glasses as he did.

“I don't suppose you have a spare.” - Asked a rhetorical question the Handyman with a sad smile.

“No, the medlab itself cost me an arm and a leg!”

“Don't worry doctor, if your Yoshi can be repaired, I can fix it. Anyways,” - Mako sat on the nearby folding chair to rest his feet - “do you know of another way to help the villagers?”

“I mean, it is not an overly hefty amount of fusion radiation everyone was exposed to, but even this could be beyond my means to cure without the Yoshi.” - Complained the concerned doctor, a young man in his thirties, and scratched his stubby nose.

Kaneda-san winced for a couple of seconds as if he got bit or someone stepped on his toe. He blinked, looking at Mako's hand scanner and then one of the big books laying on his desk.

“Let me check something here. This is part a farmer's almanac, part a list of natural remedies from 1912, titled 'The Wonderful Forests Of Imperial Japan.'” - He mumbled and with haste flipped page after page, all of which were covered in colorful hand-drawn illustrations and walls of text.

“Paper needs no electricity.” - Grinned the Handyman and instantly regretted saying this since there wasn't a ready way to recharge his scanner's batteries.

They were at eleven percent charge!

“Kaneda-san, I gotta ask, why isn't here any portable generator or something similar laying around? I did see power lines, but if this is what I think it is, your village's old transformer should be fused too.”

The doctor stopped flipping pages, shrugged and pointed out the obvious:

“The solars some people were trying out around the 50s came out to be nigh useless. Too much resources and energy wasted to make them and not nearly enough energy in return. We had a dependable, clean coal plant on the other side of that mountain. Gave more than enough power to fuel all villages in the area and when they switched it to burning syntholene, it became the dream of any environmentalist.”

“Trash into fuel.” - Mumbled Mako and the doctor nodded vigorously, before flipping more pages, still looking for what he knew was in his book.

“Everything was working so smoothly, that even those of us who assumed something catastrophic might happen, eventually gave out being preppers. You won't find any solars or a portable generator forgotten in someone's barn, for that matter. Not that we could use the latter, even if we had them.”

“No syntho. I saw the sign up there on your vending machine road stop.”

“You are going to ask if we get visitors.” - Mentioned Kaneda-san, as he examined one page in greater detail before flipping it with a bit of a frown.

“Let me guess... they either keep on traveling or don't stop for long.” - Elaborated the Handyman, trying to calculate how many miles he could squeeze out of his bike with what's left in the tank.

“Yes, those who roam the countryside are few in between and nearly all of them ride on motor vehicles.”

“No syntyho, no visitors...”

“Actually, you are the first person to come down the mountain since last winter.”

Kaneda-san blinked a couple of times, fixed his glasses and victoriously cheered:

“Yes, I found it! Look,” - he pointed Mako a magnificent illustration of some weird-looking and rather small black mushroom, gasping - “isn't it beautiful?”

“What kind of mushroom are we looking for, doctor?”

“Thesaurus Silvarum, also known as the Forest Treasure or how farmers call it - the black chest. For some time this mushroom was used in various cancer remedies and treatments for patients with memory loss. Ointment made with dried black chest is reportedly great help for rheumatism.”

“It supposedly boosts the immune system, but is quite rare.” - Read Mako, following the text with his gloved finger - “Usually found in remote mountainous areas, moist caves, and especially places with radioa...”

The Handyman stopped and now it was his turn to gasp.

Thanks to the scanner, he already knew what were the radiation levels and where most of the radiation was still coming from. Mako could disassemble the Nikon-made scanner and use its CPU to make the medlab operational. It wouldn't be the best option and even if it worked, that'd be quite the wonky, buggy machine.

“There,” - said the Handyman and used a pencil to circle one spot on the local area map, both of which which he produced from his pocket - “according to my scanner readings, this is where those mushrooms should grow and in abundance.”

“Looks fairly close, Mako-san! I and a couple of neighbors can go pick the forest treasure. A few bags should be enough for the initial doses of the medication!”

The doctor's enthusiasm quickly waned, after one look at his inoperable medlab.

Indeed, the electrical trouble was their biggest problem yet. Even if Mako managed to repair Yoshi, they still needed power to make it run and not for five minutes, but days.

“Where is the nearest village? If I remove my sidecar, the bike may have enough syntho to reach it.”

“Tamana springs is the closest village.” - Began the doctor and sadness dripped from every word that followed:

“We did trade quite a lot with them before the invasion since they grew excellent Napa cabbage. Our pork and their veggies made for a most delicious combination. Plus, it is or rather was a famous Onsen destination. Their hot spring attracted a lot of tourists, and some came here to visit. We offered farming tourism and at one time our mascot became pretty famous. I am not sure you will have enough fuel to get there though.”

“Can't I just walk there?”

“We had a tunnel dug straight through the mountain, but it is full of rubble and debris now. The only other way is to circle around. That would take you about two weeks, a hard trek through barely used dirt roads. Without people to maintain them they are all overgrown, fully reclaimed by the forest. While we aren't exactly dying, the sickest children and the elderly, they definitely won't last more than a month...”

The two men sat in silence, each drowning in his own thoughts.

Mako carefully analyzed everything he learned and his machinist mind feverishly worked on solutions. Power was essential if the doctor was to fashion a remedy from these black mushrooms. The Handyman automatically assumed himself able to fix Yoshi 500 - it was only a matter of time. Plus, that CPU strangely reminded him of the chip inside his hand scanner.

After all, the two devices were both manufactured by Nikon.

“No portable generators you say?” - Said with a confident grin the Handyman and stood up.

The doctor nodded.

“Then I will fashion something from that Kubota tractor rusting in missus Nara's yard.”

“But we have no syntho!”

“You have plenty of water and wood, dear doctor.” - Mako patted his work attire, stretched his limbs and cracked his fingers, before stating:

“When I am finished, your village will have a not-so-clean, but effective steam powerplant. Now,” - he pointed at the beautiful illustration - “I think you have mushrooms to pick.”

Not waiting for another minute, Kaneda-san grabbed the map which Mako gave him, a big leather satchel, tucked 'The Wonderful Forests Of Imperial Japan' in it, and ran.

Mako removed the batteries from his scanner, smiled at the brand new device and before disassembling it, uttered:

“Thank you for your short, but important life-saving service, little friend. Now your brain will help save these people and keep them healthy.”

He held the chip with his gloved hand and before crawling inside the medlab, Mako bowed at it.

“Youshi, accept the spirit of this little ancestor of yours.” - With reverence said he and reached for his tools.

There was always a lot of work to be done and one's time was never enough. All one could do was to fix as many troubles as humanly possible and let the Universe worry about everything else.

***

“The New is not necessarily better, just as the Old isn't always useless.”

The Handyman stood before one of the simplest, yet efficiently working power generators. He fashioned it from the parts of an old Kubota tractor, two electric water pumps, and a sturdy boiler. Hissing and puffing, the steam engine powered a few wheels with dynamos connected to them. Again, those were taken from other tractors, just like the their accumulators and all the cabling, Mako needed.

It was not an easy thing, disassembling multiple vehicles, all of which parked across the village. Carrying and then modifying the parts, all cabling, and the big boiler was a feat of strength and endurance. He had to heat and then hammer a number of metal plates and pipes into shape too. This required a lot fuel and Mako put his axe into work, felling a number of old trees in the vicinity.

When the village's mechanic felt better after taking Kaneda-san's mushroom remedy, he immediately joined the Handyman. With him giving instructions and more villagers up on their feet, it took only a week to connect everything to this jerry-rigged power plant. Of course, he had to work even more, in order to fix all their home appliances.

Everything that Mako did here left him with a profound sense of satisfaction. Architects and construction engineers restored big cities and guys like him – tiny villages. One was not more important than the other since the city could not survive without the countryside.

Clapping and singing, a number of villagers used the steam engine's fire to barbecue pork. Big earthen pots full of mushroom rices and other veggies, happily steamed nearby. Dishes made with dried meats, picked fruits and vegetables leftover from the winter, soon introduced themselves too.

Of course, a feast like this was not complete without beer and liters of the local sake. Someone, it may have been the doctor, pulled a case of imported Bulgarian wine from their cellar and the celebratory cheer rapidly intensified.

Though there was some radiation still lingering around, with their bodies reinforced by Kaneda-san's new anti-rad medication, people felt safe. Mako too, felt empowered and even the usual for him spring sniffles visited him again, not.

Tomorrow, he'd pick his backpack and, generously supplied with provisions, begin the arduous trek to Tamana springs. His bike was a road king, not a forest one, and he could not risk damaging the valuable machine. With the state that these dirt roads were in, and he made sure to check, it was way safer to go on foot.

He had another and specialized map of the wooded areas, which one of the local Samurai clans printed for their retainers. It came with extra data, like geological, botanical, and even the migratory paths of wild animals. People warned him that there were bears and being that time of the year, these overgrown tree climbing, honey eating dogs had the nasty habit of attacking anyone.

His hands twitched the very second he thought of using a rifle again and Mako reached for his food. Better to stop thinking about this and enjoy the moment. Eat, drink, and be merry, happy of his life-saving work. Mako picked a piece of marinated, barbecued pork, smothered in hot sauce with his chopsticks.

Chewing the juicy goodness, he said to himself that truly, the morning was wiser than the evening and reached for a beer.

***

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The Handyman episode 1