Cargo One Part 1

Ernest Teucher did not begin designing the company's first commercial freight vehicle inside a quiet drafting studio surrounded by slide rules and vellum paper.

He began by stalking a horse-drawn beer wagon through the cobblestone streets of northern Helmarte.

Hollen, sitting in the passenger seat of Ernest's personal black Model One, was rapidly losing whatever remained of his legendary mechanical patience.

"How long are we going to crawl behind this mountain of barrels, Ernest?" Hollen grunted, shifting his bulk on the leather seat.

Ernest kept the automobile cruising in second gear, holding a steady distance of forty feet behind the wagon's iron-banded rear wheels.

"Until it pulls into the brewery delivery yard," Ernest replied calmly.

"You know perfectly well where the Imperial Brewery is situated. We built their boiler house two years ago."

"I am aware of its geographic location."