The dwarves and everyone else in Rum Bottle Bay was preparing for a party. Chief Engineer Milo had announced that they needed the input of the one person who had the clearest vision of what Project: Better Bear needed to accomplish. While the Engineers were experts on the mechanical systems and the Scavengers were experts on guns, cannons, and weapons of destruction, only Ursula knew what was needed to make a bear happy. How to go about finding out what she wanted was made difficult by her current limitations and that only Amarella spoke bear fluently and had some way of communicating. Milo had wondered about her methods and she was happy to explain.

"It's something all Bee Keepers learn to do. We need to communicate with our bees and bees have seventeen languages, counting the twelve dance languages, and over two-thousand dialects depending on their hive's lineage and what flowers they tend. Flowers talk constantly, more than mushrooms, and they and the bees are total gossips. Half the time my bees claim to be out in the fields pollinating, they are really just catching up on the latest news. Keeping up with all those languages is good training for young Bee Keepers who will be out in the wilds talking to bears, badgers, urvarks, and trash pandas. It helps that honey is great for expanding the brain and opening up communication channels. Bears teach their young the telepathic bee languages early on, since it lets them communicate over a longer range than normal bear talk. It gives bears, bees, and keepers a common root language to start from."

"So, bees are telepathic and bears learn that too?"

"Of course! Many of the Deep Down races use their brains not their mouths to talk. You should start practicing your telepathy! If you learn even basic bee talk it will make visiting one of the Honey Festivals so much more fun for you. All the Hives bring their best honey, candles, mead, and other trade goods to trade. Festivals are set up in giant Portabella groves with little globes full of fireflies hanging from the caps. The bears and badgers bring barrels of pickled cave fish, crocks of jam, spice cakes and candied ants. And so much more. There are even magical weapons and armor from the dead cities. Mercenary companies of honey badgers are always poking into those places and looting stuff to sell to other races. They don't need the old elvish weapons, and spend all the money on snacks. I love the Honey Festivals. They're several days of snacks, games, and trading things around. Ursula went to one ages ago when she was younger, but after she got rebuilt, no one took her again. They were always busy fighting and didn't have time for snacks and games."

Milo's brains had begun working overtime, with new information to process, and then had an idea. "It sounds like we need to have our own festival then."

It took no effort at all to convince everyone of the idea. Milo described it as a chance for the teams to show off their work, bear related or anything else, and the crews to have a full day off of fun, games, drinking, gambling, drinking and telling somewhat true stories about their adventures. Messages were sent up, down, and sideways. Chef Bleusnout closed the former gambling hall for two days as he and most of his staff loaded up and headed to Rum Bottle Bay, along with select captains and their crews who were part of circle of ships that knew of its existence and had been invited.

A group of curious ratkin from Limburger Hollow arrived by fast rail car. Professor Arloth was delighted to see his wife had come for a visit and to see what all the fuss was about. He was thrilled to escort her through the Outpost and then down to Rum Bottle Bay, all the while telling her about what he was learning, and his designs for new Storm Mana generators. She nodded politely, enjoying the feverish gleam in his eyes. It was one of the things that had attracted her to him long ago. For her part, she was intrigued by an open courtyard surrounded by four bars. She was instantly interested in an activity held there, as she heard talk about the weekly 'Friday Night Fights'.

Along with Cremona were two brave Scout Masters, eager to see new places and find new ways to get in trouble. They were delighted at the opportunities that Rum Bottle Bay and its people offered. And as they followed along behind the two professors, they witnessed Professor Cremona paying her entry fee and signing up for the next round of pit fights. She was keeping her voice low, and her eyes wide. The two scavengers that took her money grinned and put her in the bottom tier of the bracket.

"I say, brother, what do you think the odds are on an unknown female ratkin in the next round? A bookish type that teaches classes at a fine school?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we need to find out. After all, we have a reputation to uphold of wide-eyed country bumpkins with too much cash in their pockets."

"Well, we certainly won't win by putting any money on her, but I think we owe the hollow our support, even if it costs us our not-so-hard earned money. And I'm sure they will be happy to take our money."

"True, and if we lose, there are more players in Shadowport standing too near to a roof's edge that will help us recoup our losses."

The odds-makers were indeed delighted to see the two confused ratkin who needed the concept of betting explained to them, and who decided to each put a bag of gold coins and small gems on the fights.

"Who shall we bet on, brother? They all have such fearsome names."

"I don't know, brother, they all sound the same to me. Maybe we should put our money on Professor Cremona? She'll be happy that someone bet on her, and she might give us a passing grade in knitting class."

"True, our mittens were a bit lopsided. And who knows? She might win!"

"And then we'd be rich and could buy better mittens."

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

They walked off, discussing mittens, food, and their decision to tie someone named Petey into his bed before they'd left the hollow. The two Scavenger's rolled their eyes, but the gold made them happy.

Master Clawhammer stayed to keep the forges at Cracked Rock hot along with a skeleton crew, but encouraged the rest of his workers to visit the Engineering Outpost and visit the new area under construction. Seeing the works of the dwarves had been eye opening to him. When he'd first seen the huge forges in Cracked Rock and complex rail systems in the mines, he'd wondered how any place could need so much metal. Now he understood and was quite satisfied to be part of the many ongoing projects. His work and that of the ratkin working the forges and mining the ore would make the Hollow stronger and richer in so many ways. Already, the better tools he was forging and sending home were helping to alleviate the housing shortage and open up new caverns. The guards were strutting around in new, shiny armor and halberds and the citizen's militia each had an armor stand in their home. They might never need the armor and weapons, but if they spiders returned, they would be ready.

From below in the city of the Collective came a dozen Myconians led by sometimes-speaker Grothmar. The Collective was eager to assess their new trading partners and allies, and Grothmar was their official ambassador. What he learned would be communicated to them as soon as he returned to caverns. As soon as they set up their stands with an amazing array of different types of Fungus, they drew a crowd of interested ratkin, including Chef Bleusnout who made copious notes on the use and effects of each type, then purchased enough to fill a small wagon. He went back to his own stand where he began to cook them up using different cooking methods and spices. The scent of his new dish, 'Extreme Shroom Medley sauteed in Mole Butter Sauce' began drawing a line of hungry customers. Grothmar and his fellow Myconians traded a large box of more mushrooms for a large bowl that they sat around, inhaling the scent, and discussing the ramifications of learning new knowledge in interesting ways.

There was no official start to the festival, with drinking beginning as soon as the first decorations began to go up. The center area was mainly designs and parts for Project: Better Bear. Ursula walked along slowly using a primitive version of her chassis that Milo had assembled for her use. At each area he would explain the ideas and she would see the prototypes of a piece of machinery that might be used to build her new body. To the horror of one group of dwarves, she wasn't interested in their "Broadside Bear." It was a slow, armored bear with four large cannons mounted on the body, two to either side, and a twin pintle-mounted rivet gun up top. Ursula looked at it, growled something Milo didn't understand, and walked on.

He looked at Amarella, "Too many cannons?"

"You could say that. She doesn't want to be a weapon that sits around, waiting to be fired. She wants to be a bear."

The next display was more interesting. It was just a bear's head, hooked to some machinery. The two junior engineers, Chisel and Pipewrench had chosen to focus on something they hadn't seen anyone else working on. "Step right up, folks. What's a bear without some noise? Listen to this voice box!" He pushed a button and the head came to life, the mouth opening, eyes turning red, and a very realistic sound of a bear roaring at an enemy echoed across the cavern.

Ursula nodded her head and Amarella clapped. "She likes it. That was very nice. But she wants to know it it makes other noises?"

The two dwarves grinned, "Oh, you bet! We found a nest of cave bears and spent some time learning to make some of their noises. And that roar was only at 6 on the dial. It goes all the way to 11."

Pipewrench rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to not tell them about turning things to 11 until after we're further into our spiel." He showed Amarella he controls. "See? Each of these buttons goes to a different noise. We can adjust the pitch to the customer's liking, and she'll have all these controls available to her. Can even do some at the same time to make new noises."

That was all the Bee Girl and the Bear needed to hear to begin asking for different combinations of noises, with Ursula asking for more and more complex combinations. Eventually, they came up with a very complex request using seven different noises in a particular pattern with the sound increasing in volume. Once it was all set up, she made one more grunt. "Oh, and turn it to thirteen."

Pipewrench looked at Chisel with alarm. "That's pretty loud, ma'am, and I'm not sure the macro-woofer can take the strain. But, how did you know we could crank it to Thirteen?"

Ursula grunted twice and Amarella translated for her. "She says she's been around enough dwarves to know you always have a way to make a bigger boom or louder noise. If you claim you can take it to eleven, she's sure you can take it thirteen or higher. Let's hear it."

Hesitantly, they set up the sound sequence, pushed a button, and covered their ears. The head began with a low growl that echoed in their bones, turning into a rising roar that screamed with malice and anger. It got louder and louder until something broke and the head exploded. Two stalactites shattered and crashed to the floor of the cave, one harmlessly and the other hit a half-empty beer barrel, throwing suds in every direction. A few dwarves came running from all around with weapons drawn, while others were in full flight mode from whatever horrible creature had made that screech. The common story later would be. "I was running to find my big gun". The Myconians watched the new behavior, happy to be viewing yet another example of Dwarven culture.

Ursula nodded. Amarella gave a thumbs up. Milo said, "Perfect! Welcome to the team."