Krissa growled in frustration.
"No, no. You can't do it like that, the whole damn thing's going to fall over. Here, get out of the way..." She sighed, watching as they scattered, lowering their eyes and hunching over in an attempt not to be singled out. Old habits, learned the hard way, from too many males who thought women were cattle to be directed, not listened to.
"It's all right. Come here. You were doing all right, it just needs a little adjustment..."
They slowly returned, curiosity reluctantly replacing fear on their faces. Shivers passed through them as she lifted the crossbeam in one hand, holding it in place and balancing the strut against it. It had taken three of them to move the beam in here. Some of them stared in open wonder at her strength, or muttered and made signs to avert evil. She had tried to explain the truth, that it was just exercise and willpower, but no one wanted to hear about power gained through hard work and patience. In any event, they still paid close attention as she finished the frame for the new windmill.
"Now, if you'll just nail that in place...someone? I can't hold this all day, you know."
Later, she scolded herself for her impatience with these...sheep. They had come a long way, overcoming social stigma to come and live in the "witch" village of free women. No matter how hard ATHENA worked to overcome superstition and sexism, mankind seemed determined to forget all the advances of the previous centuries. The human race was scattered too far and too thin to allow for the kind of communication that was needed. Colonies left to themselves almost inevitably degenerated to a few towns here and there, living in barbarism and ignorance. It was a struggle that never ended, never even seemed to make headway.
There was just no way to change human nature. Even in ATHENA and the relatively new Modernization Work Force of which she was now a member, efforts were made in vain to prevent such stratification. Everyone "enlightened" came to refer to the techless as "sheep", no matter how many social engineering classes warned of the inevitable results. Her own firsthand lesson in the dangers of that kind of thinking could be quickly forgotten in her impatience at these pitiful folk and their amazing ability to forget everything you taught them about self-reliance.
Still, they had one advantage. ATHENA was a library of information, mountains of knowledge of technology preserved for the day when it would be needed again. The physical fitness techniques she had learned there were enough to make her seem supernatural to these techless. She took care to hide her truly unusual abilities, the regenerative effects of the "blood transfusion" Old Red had given her over two decades ago. She had not aged a day in appearance since that time.
Sometimes, she thought, it's as though I truly became a vampire after all...
She bent over, shaking her head. There would be time for philosophy later. Right now, she had lumber to haul, metal to grind, wires to weave and wind...
"You just wait, Sophie", she said to her new "apprentice", a hard-working and intelligent young girl. Like I used to be. "You wait and see what 'electricity' can do for you and your family."
Sophie looked at her, bright eyed, and she wondered if that was what humans had always looked like to their gods. Or sheep looking at their shepherds.