1633:The Danish Scheme by Eric Flint

heated. While you get everyone unloaded, I’ll roust out my assistants. We will get the fires going here to warm up the living area.”
    Bamberg whispered to Karl, “See me in the morning; I’ll have something extra for your help, Sergeant.”
    “Thank you, sir. My men will appreciate it.”

Chapter 10
    Over the next few days, the miners and their families settled into their new quarters. The trip from Bremen had been difficult due to the weather, but uneventful. All had experience working in the iron mines of the Upper Palatinate. Leopold Cavriani had found them and convinced them to join the expedition on a shares basis. Sir Thomas and the Abrabanels were extremely pleased with the skills Cavriani had listed for the recruits in the correspondence the miners brought with them.
    Adolphus arranged for the Company’s leaders to meet with the miners at the warehouse. Seating was crowded, but everyone had a place and the room soon grew warm. Sir Thomas called for silence. “The main goal of this initial expedition will be to start a colony in the south end of Hudson’s Bay, with a layover station in Newfoundland. The colony in Hudson’s Bay will initially serve as a fur trading post and provide a base for expeditions to locate and start mining operations for nickel and gold deposits. Herr Diedermann, your group of four families will be part of that effort. Your families will be housed at the fort, while your advance parties work at locating the deposits and start the initial site preparation. Yours will eventually be the largest operation but will take some time to develop.
    “Herr Steinbrecher, your group will be able to start iron mining near the layover station in Newfoundland. There was a previous English expedition that located iron ore deposits on an island in the harbor we plan to use. Your group will develop that deposit. It has the potential to be the largest iron mine in the known world.” He paused to let the information sink in. “Now that you’ve heard what’s planned, are you still interested?”
    The only sound in the room was from the logs popping in the fire. Diedermann and Steinbrecher turned to their groups to find out their thoughts. The discussion became quite animated for a time.
    Steinbrecher’s group finished first. “We agree, but have some questions and suggestions. You mentioned a previous expedition. Will there be any problem from that and did they leave anything there?”
    Sir Thomas smiled. “My father was an investor with that group. All they did was identify the iron deposit. We’ve confirmed from another source that the size of the deposit is much larger than they originally thought. Nothing was done at the site itself.”
    “In that case, how many foresters do you have on the expedition? We will need some lumber for housing and a lot of timbers for the mine. Also, at least two pairs of oxen for hauling.”
    Sir Thomas and Saul looked to Reuben, who was shuffling through his papers.
    “Aha!” Reuben brightened as he found what he was looking for. “We have seven families of foresters amongst the refugees with seventeen adult males. Will that be enough?”
    “That should be adequate. You have yourselves a mine crew.”
    Diedermann’s group was still vehemently discussing their options. At first, Sir Thomas appeared concerned with the level of apparent disagreement. As he concentrated on the exchange, he realized he could resolve the issue easily. “Herr Diedermann, if I might interrupt for a moment. We realize your group is mostly experienced with mining coal. Your concerns on whether those skills can be used in locating nickel and gold deposits are valid, since you don’t know the source of our information. You will not be concerned with trying to find the deposits. We have maps and pictures from Grantville’s library, and an engineer who is familiar with prospecting. Once the sites are located and marked, you will be responsible for opening the site. We will send for a