Olan Thorensen - Cast Under an Alien Sun

Thus did Yozef achieve his first income on Anyar. The flow of krun was slow at first, with St. Sidryn’s ordering the first bottles. To celebrate that first purchase, Yozef took Carnigan, Cadwulf Beynom, Filtin, and all of his workers to the Snarling Graeko the same night and put the entire purchase price back into the local economy.

Once more he was coinless, though only for a sixday, before an order for two bottles of ether came from the abbey in Clengoth, the district center. Within another sixday, four more orders arrived. As word spread, more orders arrived from more distant abbeys in Keelan, from neighboring Mittack and Gwillamer Provinces, and later from more distant clans. Yozef was at a loss how to fill orders from other provinces, until approached by a traveling trader from Orosz Province. The trader had connections to other traders and proposed he could provide a distribution network for the ether. Yozef consulted Cadwulf and the abbot before accepting the trader’s proposal, with relief to be shed of that one task.

At the same time, a second source of income developed. The local brewer, Lunwyn Galfor, produced a crude whiskey from wheat, helped by the escaped Preddi slave whose previous owner had produced alcoholic drinks in Preddi City. Wheat seed was germinated to release enzymes that broke down starch, a natural process that allowed the seedling to access energy stored as starch. By the brewer’s steeping the grain as mash for two to three days, the enzymes turned much of the starch into small sugars that could be fermented to produce ethanol. The brewer used a crude copper pot-still to batch distill to produce a liquid that was 25–30 percent ethanol. Based on Yozef’s success with ether distillation, the brewer sought Yozef’s help in developing a second distillation to increase the ethanol content of his drinks to 40–45 percent, comparable to Earth whiskeys. Yozef’s help garnered him a 10 percent share of the profits from whiskey sales within Keelan and exported to other provinces. Although his percentage share was less than with ether, and the price of ethanol per volume was much less than ether, the total volume of sales soon surpassed ether by orders of magnitude. Within two months, Yozef found himself with bags of coins in drawers and under his bed in the abbey room where he still slept.

It was time to find a way to handle the coinage. He procrastinated for several sixdays until he came back to his room one evening to find that a drawer bottom had split under the weight of bags and coins scattered across the floor.

By this time, the number of workers in ether and ethanol production had stabilized at five, and he used profits from ether and whiskey to start development of other products. He was faced with a steady flow of income, increased numbers of workers, and more complex dealings with tradesmen, and keeping it all in order had become a limiting factor in his daily life. Something had to be done.

Though the regular Caedelli lessons with Selmar Beynom had ended months previously, Cadwulf Beynom, the eldest son of Sistian and Diera, had found so many reasons to be around that Yozef suspected the abbot had asked his son to keep an eye on the stranger. Whether to help him or to protect others, Yozef didn’t know, although it could be both. The genial Cadwulf was a true convert to the new knowledge Yozef was doling out to the islanders, and whatever the initial impetus of their companionship, it developed into a genuine friendship. The solution came to Yozef’s financial organization, or lack thereof, when he complained to Cadwulf as the two were eating the morning meal at the abbey dining hall.

“I’m supposed to be meeting with Pollar Penwick in Abersford today to check out the latest batch of soap.” Yozef had been working with a local tradesman who made several products, including soap and candles. “We’ve several new products coming along, but the number of workers I have to keep track of and the coins coming in and going out are taking up time I need to be in the shops and talking with workers and tradesmen.”

Cadwulf chewed on a bread bite as he eyed his strange friend. “I can see where that can be a problem, since you’re involved in so many different trades. Maybe I can help. I do much of the accounts for the abbey, and yours can’t be any more complicated. Let me have a try at organizing your records.” Cadwulf’s eyes narrowed at Yozef. “You do keep records?”

“Well,” hawed Yozef, “at first I just gave the workers their pay weekly and coins to buy supplies when needed. As it got more complicated, I wrote things down on paper. I thought I’d organize when I got the chance, which hasn’t happened.”

Cadwulf shook his head. “For someone so educated and with so much new knowledge, you can be addled at times.”

Yozef bit back the retort “YOU try to get dumped on another planet and see how you manage it!” He didn’t utter those words; instead, he forced a smile. “You’re right,” he said and meant it, berating himself for getting so disorganized.

“Don’t let it worry you,” laughed Cadwulf, slapping Yozef on the back. “Considering your circumstance, a little addling is understandable. Why don’t you go over the details with me, and I’ll see if I can organize it all for you?”

“With pleasure. How about right now?”

“I thought you had a meeting with Penwick in Abersford?”

“Shit! That’s right. I forgot.”

“Addled, as I said.”

“How about a couple of hours before evening meal? In my room? That’s where I keep most papers.”

They met that afternoon, and by mealtime, Cadwulf was Yozef’s accountant. In addition, the young Beynom was appalled at the drawers of coins.

“Yozef, you really do need a keeper.”

Red-faced, Yozef spluttered, “Well, hell, where am I supposed to keep it all? It’s coming in faster than I can pay workers and start up new trades, and I’m not spending much on myself.”

“Well, you have to do something . The abbey is normally safe, but having this much coin sitting in drawers is asking for someone to be tempted beyond his ability to resist. There was a robbery in Abersford last sixday, so it can happen here.”

“Then where can I put the coin?” Yozef groused. “There are no banks here.”

“Banks?”

“I don’t know the Caedelli word, but a place to put coin where it’ll be safe, which also lends money. A bank.”

Cadwulf rubbed a chin just showing the beginnings of a beard. “Bank? We don’t have a . . . bank.”

“Then where do people keep their coin, and how does someone borrow money?”

“They keep it anywhere they feel is safe. Most people don’t have much coin. What they have, they carry or keep where they live, hidden if there’s enough to worry about theft. They can also pay tradesmen for future work or purchases, and then the coin is the tradesman’s problem. As for borrowing money, you do it from relatives, friends, or tradesmen. Loans are private affairs arranged between individuals, whether they be related or unrelated to each other. Whatever the terms of the loan are by mutual agreement, including what, if any, interest will be added to the loan, and schedules of repayment. Such transactions are registered with the district for mutual protection, especially if the loan’s not between relatives or close friends.”

Cadwulf paused, giving Yozef a thoughtful look. “To be fair, I suppose I have to acknowledge your circumstance isn’t normal. The flow of coin to you has happened so suddenly. Still, something needs to be done.”

Thus was born the First Bank of Abersford, or B of A, as Yozef couldn’t resist referring to it. Cadwulf had jokingly suggested First Bank of Yozef. A structure was built into a rock face jutting from the ground just outside the village and in full view of both the village and the abbey. Coinage was stored in a vault carved out of the rock, with frontage and offices merging into the rock face. Coinage flow increased, as did the number of employees, starting with Cadwulf alone and rising to three assistants within a year.