"By the way, André, how many do you plan to recruit?" Grace asked something that had slipped past her.
"Twelve thousand recruits. The structure will be the same as the land army. I plan to form a marine division: three brigades of 4,000 men, ten regiments of one thousand men." André briefly explained the structure of the navy.
"Then I will speak with Grandfather Gregorio. And since you can organize so many people, many ships will be needed for all of them." Grace asked again.
"Don't worry about that. Of the Napoléon series I plan to build nine for now. You should know that around one thousand men will be needed to sail one." What André said made sense; in the history of the French, the crew of the Napoléon was 910 men.
"Wow! I knew those ships were enormous. One thousand crew members—this is incredible!" Grace was full of admiration for André, but suddenly she realized something. "But André, I still believe twelve thousand are too many. Nine ships are not enough."
André suddenly smiled.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I believe you look a lot like Sofía. It seems you only act in front of her to appear like an older sister, hehehehehehe." André took the opportunity to tease her.
"You know Sofía. You know I have to put shackles on her so she isn't a troublemaker. And you didn't resolve my concern." Then Grace returned to her serious and elegant face.
"Hehehe, do you think the navy only spends its time sailing? I need to establish bases on the coasts of the viscounty. This forms a vital part of the navy I will create." André smiled again, but he did not forget to explain.
"I see. Another doubt of mine: how do you control them when you are far away in Solomon City? You have to know that everyone is new and the organization will be chaotic. I don't believe you plan to settle in Sun City." Grace asked again; it seemed André was in some kind of examination.
"Don't worry. I already selected talents while the army training was being carried out. All of them are absolutely loyal to me. Within a few days they will arrive to begin the navy training." André had everything covered; his plans had been made in detail in Solomon City.
"I see that you have everything well planned, so I don't have to worry. And what about the Demologos series—how many do you plan to build?" Another question from Grace.
"For now six. Two will be sent to the Liberty Empire to carry our products. I believe that in the future there will be hundreds of cargo ships heading there." André gave a conservative figure so as not to frighten Grace. With the cargo ships a maritime commerce era would soon open and most of the merchants would open themselves to the sea, to reach more distant places where they could sell their products better.
"Wow, hundreds! Maybe I won't live to see this. I'm going to write down your words in a diary so that the people in the future see that you had so much vision of the development that would take place." Grace did not doubt André's words, without knowing that what he said now would be in the history books hundreds of years later.
"You should claim authorship of those words," André joked.
"Hehehe, I should do it. This should be my payment for helping you so much without a salary." Grace answered with another joke.
Both smiled tacitly. Then Grace spoke again:
"And what about the other four ships?"
"Two will travel through all the kingdoms of the region, and for the other two I have a mission of the utmost importance."
What André said surprised Grace. It should be known that the two missions André mentioned at that moment would have a direct influence on the future of the viscounty, greatly increasing her curiosity about what mission those two ships had.
"What mission are you referring to? I don't see anything more important than opening a direct commerce line with the Liberty Empire." There came Grace's question again.
"The Demologos I and II will be sent to the other end of the ocean. I am certain that in this world there exist other continents apart from ours." What André said surprised Grace again in more than one way.
"How is it possible that you send them to their death! They will fall as soon as they reach the end of the ocean. And if they encounter death… you must know that this is not a legend. It was in the records of the emperor of the world in antiquity. I myself read its copy in the central library of Green City." After saying this, Grace's face turned pale with fear.
"You don't have to worry that they will fall, because that is impossible. Look." Then André took an apple from the fruit bowl, put it in the air, then released it and said: "Upon putting this apple in the air, why does it have to fall?"
"Because nothing holds it up, so it will fall to the floor." Grace seemed to have answered an obvious question.
"Of course not. Who says that things have to fall downward? In this world there exists a fundamental force that binds us all and everything to this earth. I call it gravity."
"Gravity?" Grace still did not seem to understand.
"Gravity is an invisible force that manages to attract an object that has mass together with another. In this case, the earth is a gravitational nucleus that attracts toward its base all the elements that are within its gravitational zone."
"Let's go outside." André stood up and went out to the garden followed by Grace.
"Look toward the sun. Why does it always remain in the sky if all things have to fall without anything holding them up? Likewise the moons at night: they are far enough so that they do not fall and close enough so that they do not move away. Thus you can see them every night." André gave her an explanation as simple as possible, so that Grace could understand.
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