Subject: Grail: "Life on Kerestia"-`Agrilon'

<<Kerestia- Bartercity Agrilon- Midday>> Bregoro shouldered through the heavy press of Kerestians in thesunken amphitheatre. If he had collapsed from exhaustion, he would not

have been able to even fall, so tightly packed were they. Occasionally,

he would be forced to stop and rest, so difficult was the struggle.

The sun was high overhead, but it granted very little in the way of

warmth. Bregoros sisters husband, Migato, had told him that it would be

less than two decades before the entire surface of Kerestia was covered

by the ice. Even now, only the planets equator was free of the ice, but

temperatures were still at 25% of what they had been ten years ago,

before Desoranar destroyed itself.

By the time Bregoro felt strong enough to continue his struggle

toward the front of the crowd, the sun had already slid past its apex

and disappeared behind the tall spires of Agrilon. The city was built on

an island in the center of Kerestias equatorial river. It was an ancient

city that had been forced to grow when the red sun collapsed. And when

it could no longer grow out, it grew up. Agrilon looked like spiked

teeth jutting from the jaw of an icy maw. It was ugly. He hated it. And

paradoxically, why he was here.

He had finally managed to break through to the front of all those

who came here to trade. Trade was the only commerce left on Kerestia.

And as resources were rapidly consumed, or claimed by the ice, trading

became more fierce. And more selfish. Some, like his sister Slora and

her husband, chose to eek out the remainder of their existence in the

Wastes. Slora had become a good Finder and had given him many valuable

things to trade. But the ice was claiming everything. And the things

Slora found these days, almost no one knew how to use. Or fix.

Everything was breaking down.

Bregoro stood silently while trading raged around him. And when the

symbolic gong finally sounded, indicating a finalized transaction, he

shouted over the din. "I have a litre of uncontaminated blood to offer

in trade!"

At the sound of the word `blood', most became silent, the silence

radiating outward as all listened. The Bartermaster indicated Bregoro to

two Chotel. The simian-like thugs mercilessly kicked and shoved the

smaller Kerestians out of the way and grabbed Bregoro, dragging him up

onto the amphitheatres stage.

If Bregoro had shouted `blood for trade' in the middle of another

transaction, that other transaction would have been immediately

forgotten. Blood was the one commodity that all desired. Five years ago,

blood was the one thing you could always sell to insure you were given

ration promisories. But, as the years became worse and worse, the

Kerestians had taken to abusing recreational narcotics to escape their

fear, and clean blood was becoming more and more rare.

And the wealthy members of Agrilons citizenry were the worst

narcotics abusers of all, keeping themselves in a perpetual fugue of

delirium. Subsequently, they required transfusions of clean blood on a

very regular basis. They intended to remain stoned, right up until the

end.

Now, standing up on the stage between the two foreign Chotel,

Bregoro was confronted by the cruel-looking Bartermaster. The Master

looked at Bregoro and asked, "What do you wish to acquire in trade?"

Bregoro winced in pain as a female cut his finger to take a sample

of his blood. She smeared it on a piece of flat glass and used a small

dropper to drip a clear blue solution onto the green drop. If the blood

turned orange, it would indicate narcotics contamination. The blood

remained green. Even the crowd wanted to know the results.

And Bregoro knew the chances he was taking by exposing himself to

the test in public. Now, all looked at him like he was a walking rations

promisory. He was a Clean. His blood was barter. They would kill him for

it. But, Bregoro planned ahead.

"I want a dilithium power converter and a blaster.", he told the

Bartermaster. If it had been a reasonable or unreasonable request, the

Bartermaster would not have flinched. It was up to the public to

determine the value. They would either trade, or not.

"I need a dilithium power converter. In trade, the Lords of Agrilon

offer two weeks rations."

Bregoro was no longer required for the bartering process. Of only

two things he was certain. He WOULD get his power converter and blaster,

and the Bartermaster WOULD get his blood for the absolute best price

possible. Bregoro realized that someone was going to be cheated for his

blood, but he didn't care.

He was led to the physician who would take his blood. It was the

same female who had administered the test. She was unattractive and

obviously had prescribed for herself very powerful narcotics. Her eyes

were focused a million miles away.

And as his blood was leeched into a container whose volume was one

litre exactly, Bregoro hoped that the power converter would allow him to

finally get Migatos Airwing to function. Because, if he could repair the

ancient starcraft, the three of them, Migato, Slora, and himself, could

finally leave Kerestia. Maybe even make it as far as Shandara.

If not... well... they only had another decade or so to mourn their