Date: 2014-01-02T08:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Steampunk; Young Adult; Science Fiction; Adventure; Fiction; Childrens; Middle Grade; Science Fiction Fantasy; Magic
Description: When Emilie and Daniel arrive in Silk Harbor, Professor Abindon, an old colleague of the Marlendes, warns them that she’s observed something strange and potentially deadly in the sky, a disruption in an upper air aether current. But as the Marlendes investigate further, they realize it’s a ship from another aetheric plane. It may be just a friendly explorer, or something far more sinister, but they will have to take an airship into the dangerous air currents to find out.Emilie joins the expedition and finds herself deep in personal entanglements, with an angry uncle, an interfering brother, an
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Rights: World

Martha Wells

EMILIE AND THE SKY WORLD

To the Fort Worth, Texas, Public Library System: you helped me survive long enough to grow up.

CHAPTER ONE

Emilie took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Twilight had fallen, and the quiet street smelled strongly of dinner. Karthea’s house, like all the others, had a chunky stone façade and wood-framed windows with cheerful curtains and potted flowers on the stoop. The gas lamp on the corner had already been lit, glowing bright in the failing daylight.

There was no answer immediately and Emilie began to wonder if Karthea had closed the school temporarily and gone on some journey. If so, it was less of a disaster than it would have been a fortnight ago. Emilie had money enough for a room at an inn or boarding house, but it would be disappointing not to see her cousin. And wandering through town looking for a suitable place to stay was considerably less daunting than it had been a fortnight ago as well, especially considering that she had company.

“Maybe she didn’t get my letter or the package I sent,” Emilie told Daniel, who stood patiently beside her. “Though I’m not arriving when I said I would.”

“I think I hear someone inside,” Daniel said. “It’s nearly time for dinner, maybe she’s just busy with–”

The door flung open, and Karthea stood there, wearing an apron and holding a partially peeled beet. “Emilie, you’re days late! I was so worried!” Her eyes fell on Daniel, and she frowned in confusion. “Where have you been?”

“Karthea,” Emilie said, smiling. “I have had an adventure!”

Karthea’s eyes widened, then narrowed. She grabbed Emilie’s arm and dragged her inside. To Daniel, she said, “Excuse us, please,” and shut the door.

They stood in a dim hall, lit by a gas sconce and from brighter lights in the room at the far end. Emilie could hear the voices of young girls somewhere nearby, and a clatter of dishes. It smelled homey and comfortable, of books, dust, boiling beets from the kitchen. She took a deep breath. She had meant this place to be her refuge; it felt better to be coming to it as a guest.

Karthea still held her arm, and was trying unsuccessfully to look intimidating. Karthea was mostly Southern Menaen like Emilie, with warm brown skin and dark eyes. She and Emilie looked a little alike in the face, though Karthea was taller and myopic and always wore eyeglasses. She had inherited their side of the family’s somewhat unmanageable hair, and hers was just as frizzy and curling as Emilie’s, in the process of escaping from the band she had tried to use to confine it. “Are you eloping?” Karthea demanded.

It was so unexpected, Emilie laughed. “Of course not!”

It was the laugh that convinced Karthea; Emilie saw the relief and chagrin in her expression. Karthea said, “Oh. But who’s that young man?”

“He’s Daniel, one of Dr Marlende’s students. He needs a place here in town to stay while we’re waiting for the doctor and Miss Marlende to get back from Meneport. I thought you would know of a boarding house.”

“But who are the Marlendes?”

Emilie lifted her brows. “So can Daniel come in?”

“Oh. Oh!” Flustered, Karthea pulled open the door. “I’m so sorry. Please do come in.”

Daniel stepped inside, smiling diffidently, trying to look harmless. He was only a few years older than Emilie, and Southern Menaen as well, with brown skin and curly dark hair. He had replaced his cracked spectacles with a spare pair kept on Dr Marlende’s airship, and looked much more respectable than when Emilie had first met him in a cell in the sea people’s fortress. Emilie said, “Daniel, this is my cousin Karthea.”

“How do you do?” Karthea frowned again, but this time in concern. She nodded toward the sling Daniel wore. “Your poor arm. What happened?”

“He was shot in the shoulder,” Emilie said. At Karthea’s horrified expression, she explained, “It’s part of the adventure. And it’s a long story, so we should sit down.”

The house was in the middle of dinner preparations for Karthea, the six girl boarders, and the Therisons, the older couple who helped with the cooking and housework. Emilie and Daniel ended up at the long table in the kitchen, while the others helped finish peeling the beets and cutting the other vegetables for the cold salad. A loaf of round bread from the baker sat warming on the stove, with a pot of sliced beef and gravy. Emilie had eaten lunch aboard the ship before she had left, but her stomach was grumbling at the savory odors. Karthea and Mrs Therison were good cooks, and it had been a while since any of her meals had included fresh vegetables.

Mrs Therison gave Emilie and Daniel tea, and the girl boarders sat in rapt silence while Emilie told the story.

She glossed over her reasons for leaving home, making it sound like she had simply been on her way to visit Karthea when things had gone wrong. Karthea knew the truth, but Emilie didn’t want to talk about it to the Therisons or Daniel. Especially Daniel. She also found herself glossing over the more dangerous parts of her adventure. She didn’t want to talk about how frightened she had been, and she knew she couldn’t describe what had happened to the people who had died, unless she wanted to break down and cry. And talking about what she had done suddenly seemed like boasting, which was terribly inappropriate, considering all the brave things everyone else had done. So she concentrated on the beautiful things they had seen, and the friends they had made, and the exciting discoveries.

To her surprise, Daniel followed her lead when he spoke. Maybe she shouldn’t be surprised; these were people she knew and he didn’t, so it was natural that he should take his cue from her in what to say and what to leave out. But Emilie still wasn’t used to people trusting her judgment in anything, so it was somewhat diverting.

The story was so wild Karthea and the others might have thought Emilie was mad. Emilie knew she didn’t look like she had been on an adventure, except for the bruises; before she had left the ship, Mrs Verison had run out and bought her this new set of clothes, a skirt, shirtwaist, jacket, cap, and a set of walking boots, so she probably looked more like she had been out shopping. But everyone in town had seen the Sovereign and the airship arrive. Daniel’s wound also helped. And Daniel finished with “Some of this will be in the newspapers tomorrow. We saw journalists talking to Lord Engal on the dock.”

“Journalists?” Karthea exchanged a startled look with Mrs Therison. “Emilie, will your name be in the newspaper?”

Emilie nodded, then shrugged, then nodded again. “Maybe. Probably. They took down everyone’s name, I think.”

With all the talking and questions, dinner went late. After they were finished, everyone helped clean up, and then the students were sent off to the parlor with teacakes left over from lunch for their dessert. Karthea told Emilie that the girls were supposed to study in the evening but there was also a good deal of novel-reading and playing the piano. The other students lived in their own homes in town, and only came in during the day for their classes.

Mrs Therison was finishing up the last of the dishes and Mr Therison had taken Daniel to their cottage, which was across the yard from the back of the larger house. The Therisons had a spare room in their attic, kept for their son on his visits home, and they were going to lend it to Daniel for the night. Karthea led Emilie to her own parlor, a small room attached to her bedroom.

It was cozy, with a couple of overstuffed armchairs that had somewhat worn upholstery, bookshelves stuffed with novels, poetry, history books, and battered old schoolbooks. It was mercifully free of tattered lace table covers and arm covers, which Emilie’s aunt draped over everything and which did nothing but get caught on clothes and fingernails. Karthea’s knickknacks were all old university awards and plaques, gifts from former students, and her grandmother’s silver tea service which took pride of place on the tiled fireplace mantel.

Emilie moved some books out of an armchair so she could sit down, and sank gratefully into the soft cushions. It had been a long day, and she had eaten too much of the excellent dinner.

Karthea sat down opposite her and flopped back in her own chair. “So, you’re really taking this job with the Marlendes?”

“Yes, I’m going to be Miss Marlende’s assistant. Like a secretary, but I’m not really sure what secretaries do, besides use typewriting machines, and I don’t know how to do that.” Emilie supposed she could learn. If they were going to be in Meneport for any length of time, there should be a place where she could go for instruction. It couldn’t be any harder than learning how to sail a small boat, and she had learned that quickly enough.

Karthea looked a little worried. “Didn’t you want to work here and go to the school?”

Emilie almost said, But this would be a real job, and stopped herself just in time. It wasn’t that she thought teaching or cleaning up after other people’s children weren’t real jobs. As far as the actual labor went, a job mucking stables would probably be easier than teaching at a school. What she really meant was This is a job I earned for myself and that my cousin didn’t hand me on a silver plate. She said, “I know, and I’m sorry. I hope it won’t leave you short-handed. But… I think I’m better suited to a job with the Marlendes.”

“Will you be at their home? Or do they keep offices? I mean…” Karthea fiddled with the loose threads on the chair arm, frowning. “You wouldn’t be in the airship, would you? The next time they go off to explore something?”

“Probably all three,” Emilie said. She thought she knew what Karthea was thinking. “I believe they travel a great deal.”

“But it’s dangerous travel.” Karthea leaned forward, watching Emilie with concern. “You were almost killed. What if it happens again?”

Emilie was glad she had glossed over those bits. But even without every frightening detail, it had still been obvious that the trip had been fraught with peril. She said, “I’m counting on it happening again.” At Karthea’s aghast expression, she hastily shook her head. “I don’t mean that. I didn’t like almost being killed, and it was so terrible when other people were killed. I won’t ever forget it and I hope it never happens again, but… I can’t let the other part go.” She wasn’t certain she was explaining it well. “The part with exploring strange places, and meeting wonderful people, and learning new things. That’s what I want to do.”

Karthea sat back, thinking it over. “I do understand. It’s an incredible opportunity, and I know you never really wanted to be a teacher. It was just a way to get out of your uncle’s house. I always thought you would be so much better off if you could take university courses, instead of just working in a shop or taking care of some family’s children.” She sighed. “But I just worry about you, flying around in an airship with people who get shot at regularly.”

“I’m worried about me, too, but I think it’s worth it.” Emilie really wasn’t keen on being shot at. It took the fun right out of exploring and meeting new people. She admitted, “And I really don’t know what I’ll be doing. We didn’t have much time to discuss it. I may end up sitting around in a dusty library helping sort papers and books, or something.”

Karthea brightened at that thought. “You can always come back here if you change your mind. Though I suppose working for the Marlendes in Meneport means that it will be harder for your uncle and aunt to cause you trouble.”

Meneport might be closer to her uncle’s house, but while Emilie wouldn’t put it past him to send a solicitor to Karthea demanding she throw Emilie out, she didn’t think he would do it to the Marlendes. Uncle Yeric was a bully at heart, and Emilie felt bullies were always afraid to bite people who might just bite them back.

Emilie also noted that Karthea hadn’t made any suggestion that the Marlendes’ level of respectability should be examined before Emilie accepted the position. That was one of the reasons she liked Karthea. “I suppose they’ll know where I am, once they read the newspapers.”

Karthea groaned. “Oh, the newspapers. The town news always gets passed along to Meneport, so any articles written about it here will show up in all the nearby towns and villages. I just hope your uncle doesn’t write to me when he sees it.”

“You could throw the letter in the bin,” Emilie suggested. Karthea wasn’t rich, but she had been independent for years. And if something ever happened to the school, she had other family to go to while she found a way to get back on her feet. If Karthea did need help, Emilie’s uncle would provide nothing but censure anyway, and Emilie didn’t see why Karthea should give him the satisfaction of shouting at her in a letter about something she had had no control over. “Problem solved.”

Karthea raised her brows in surprise, then slowly smiled. “Problem solved.”

Emilie couldn’t help checking the clock during breakfast, which was tea, fresh bread from the bakery down the street, butter, and sausage. Mrs Therison apologized for the lack of eggs, explaining that the hens hadn’t been laying well and she was saving what they had to make a pastry crust for dinner tonight. Emilie and Daniel assured her it was far better than anything they had had on board ship, and this was true.

Apparently everyone else had been checking the clock as well, because when it struck the hour, Mr Therison, without being prompted, announced his intention of going to fetch the newspapers.

Karthea shooed the boarders into their parlor to get ready for their first lesson and to wait for the other girls who lived outside the school to arrive. Emilie helped Mrs Therison clean up the dishes. Daniel tried to pitch in as well, but since he was under doctor’s orders not to strain his injured shoulder by moving his arm, they didn’t let him do much more than hand them towels at strategic moments.

Finally, the kitchen door opened and Mr Therison stepped in, waving the folded newspaper. “Here it is! It’s on the front page.” He spread the paper on the kitchen table as they all gathered around.

Emilie scanned the article, searching for her name, not sure whether she was hoping to see it or not. If it wasn’t there, nothing would have changed, but if it was, her uncle would know exactly what she had been doing. She thought about her brave words to Karthea and grimaced in annoyance at herself. You’re going to have to take your own advice. Not so easy to do as to say, is it?

The article quoted Lord Engal the most, and didn’t go into much detail about the Hollow World, concentrating more on the treachery and machinations of Lord Ivers, and the rescue of Dr Marlende.

Then she saw it and her heart started to pound. Karthea spotted it a moment later and read aloud, “‘…Lord Engal said that essential to the survival of the ship was the quick thinking of Dr Marlende’s daughter, Miss Vale Marlende, and her assistant, Miss Emilie Esperton, both of whom bravely held off Lord Ivers. Miss Esperton joined the ship’s crew in Meneport, and is an accomplished young scholar of aetheric philosophy.’” She looked up and met Emilie’s gaze. “Well, there it is. Your uncle will see this as soon as the news reaches Meneport and goes out with all the village papers. If he doesn’t see the article, someone is bound to point it out to him.”

Baffled, Emilie said, “Why did they say I was a scholar of aetheric philosophy?”

“They had to say something about you,” Daniel explained. “They always say something like that about the women, like the way they described Miss Marlende as ‘a lovely lady much sought after by Meneport hostesses for musical evenings and card parties’ when she hasn’t gone to any silly society events for years. But if they said you were a stowaway or made it sound like you were an adventuress, Lord Engal would sue them. He’s sued the newspapers all the time for things like that. Sometimes on behalf of people he doesn’t even know. So they just made up something that made sense and that wouldn’t make him angry.”

“Oh.” Emilie looked over the article again, this time with a little less trepidation. “They didn’t mention you. Oh, wait, you’re listed here on Dr Marlende’s crew. But they didn’t say anything about the other things you did.”

Daniel snorted. “I’m glad of that. I can live without reading ‘Mr Daniel Allwight fell down and bled on the deck while his companions fought bravely.’”

Once everyone had had their fill of the article, Karthea carried it off to read to the boarder girls and to get ready to start the day’s classes. Mr Therison went to work in the back garden and Mrs Therison left to do the shopping. Emilie was left in the kitchen and wasn’t sure what to do with herself. This was the first free time she had had in what felt like ages, but the article had unnerved her a little, and she didn’t feel like just sitting and reading in the parlor or the garden.

Daniel was still lingering over his last cup of morning tea, so she asked him, “Were you going to visit your professor today?”

“Yes, I was.” He hesitated. “Uh, would you like to go along?”

“To meet your professor?” Emilie hoped the desire to not sit around the house while Karthea was busy hadn’t somehow been written all over her face.

Daniel explained, “She isn’t really a professor, because she went to university before they gave degrees to women. But she writes a great deal and is very important in aetheric circles, and Dr Marlende got her advice on some of his work.” Suddenly a little shy, he added, “I thought you might want to meet her.”

“I do want to meet her,” Emilie said. She sounded like a very interesting person.

“Good.” Daniel smiled. “I thought she could be an inspiration to you, since you want to work with the Marlendes. And you know, she could help you if you ever decide to go to the university.”

Professor Abindon lived farther down in the town, closer to the port, and so they had to walk back down the hill and wend their way through streets with shops and townhouses. There were a lot of people out now, doing early-morning shopping or heading to work in cargo and shipping offices down near the port. It wasn’t as busy as Meneport, but the people were the usual mix of brown-skinned and dark-haired Southern Menaen and fair-skinned and light-haired Northern Menaen, and every variation in between. Not much different from Emilie’s village. She found she preferred Meneport’s excitement and bustling atmosphere, though she could see why people liked to live here.

Emilie couldn’t help thinking about what Daniel had said. She had never considered the idea of going to the university before, it not being something her family would have encouraged. She wasn’t sure she wanted to consider it now, though she had always liked learning new things. She wasn’t sure she wanted to take on the work of a university student, particularly as it would surely mean curtailing her duties as Miss Marlende’s assistant. Even if she could afford the tuition and living expenses, which she couldn’t, she wasn’t sure they would let her in. She didn’t think her village school would compare well to a school like Karthea’s, or Shipands Academy, and surely she would need more basic instruction before going on to advanced classes.

Daniel found the right street, which curved away from the shops and up a hill. There were three-story townhouses along here, crowded together with no front gardens, their stones weathered with age. The carvings of ships and fanciful fish and sea serpents above the windows and pediments suggested they had originally been ship captains’ or cargo merchants’ homes. It was too quiet for Emilie to tell who lived there now, though some of the houses had signs indicating there were rooms to let. Professor Abindon’s didn’t have a sign, and while it was as old as the others and a little crumbly on the edges, its stoop was recently washed and the windows on the upper floors were open to catch the sea breeze.

“I normally send a wire or letter when I visit,” Daniel was saying as they climbed the steps to the door. “But of course this time I didn’t have an opportunity. I hope she’s home.”

Daniel knocked on the door. A housekeeper in a somewhat floury apron opened it, and the first indication that Professor Abindon didn’t keep a terribly formal household was when the housekeeper exclaimed, “Why, it’s Daniel!” She turned to shout down the hallway, “Professor, Daniel is here!”

“Well, tell him to come in!” a voice shouted back, but the housekeeper was already ushering them into the front hall.

It was small and a bit dark but smelled of beeswax polish and bread-baking. Before they had a chance to move, a tall figure burst out of a door down the hallway. It exclaimed, “Daniel, why hasn’t Marlende or Vale answered my wires? What the hell is wrong with them?”

“Uh,” Daniel began, and the housekeeper gave him a gentle prod down the hall. Emilie followed, now certain this visit was going to be even more interesting than she had thought. Daniel said, “They’ve been away. Very far away. They just arrived back in Silk Harbor yesterday, but they meant to leave last night before dark.”

“They were here?” Daylight fell through the open doorway, illuminating a tall woman with silver-gray hair that was as wild as Emilie’s on a bad day. Some of it was confined in a band, but the rest had escaped to hang in frizzy locks around her face. She was strikingly beautiful, with a mix of Southern and Northern Menaen descent in her features and her light brown coloring. “Why didn’t they… What were they doing here?”

“Didn’t you see the newspapers this morning?”

“I don’t read the newspapers; it’s a lot of gossip and idiocy. Why was Marlende in the newspapers?” She frowned at Emilie, though more in confusion than disapproval. “Who are you?”

“I’m Emilie Esperton, Miss Marlende’s assistant,” Emilie said, but Professor Abindon was already dragging Daniel into the parlor.

It was a more of a study, Emilie saw immediately, with tall windows facing the house’s tiny overgrown back garden letting in morning light. The walls were lined with shelves crammed with books and papers. More books and papers and writing materials covered the desk and the library table, but a small sofa and two armchairs were free of clutter. Flustered, Daniel said, “We went to the Hollow World, Professor; we used the aetheric currents.” He dropped down into a chair and Emilie took the other. “It worked just like you and Dr Marlende thought, but we had mechanical trouble and couldn’t return. Miss Marlende had to go to Lord Engal to get help–”

“Engal! Vale went to Engal? Was she out of her mind?” Professor Abindon waved her hands. “Why didn’t she come to me?”

Daniel opened his mouth but no words came out. Professor Abindon shook her head sharply. “I’m sorry, I don’t intend to drag you into the middle of this. Just go on.”

Emilie wondered what “this” was, but she thought Daniel needed help and she dove in. “Yes, we should tell it from the beginning. Daniel, start from when you and the others took the airship to the Hollow World.”

Daniel took a deep breath and launched into the story, telling it as briefly as he could, given Professor Abindon’s impatient expression. As he spoke, Emilie watched the professor’s face. She was older than she had looked at first, though the lines around her eyes and mouth were slight. And she looked vaguely familiar, as though she resembled someone Emilie knew, though she couldn’t think who it would be.

When he got to Emilie’s part of the story, Professor Abindon considered her, her expression skeptical. “How do we know you aren’t working for Ivers?”

“I distracted him while Miss Marlende shot him,” Emilie said.

“And me,” Daniel added ruefully, indicating his arm. “I was in the way.”

“Hmm,” the professor said, but didn’t comment further.

When they were done, Professor Abindon said, “At least Marlende had a good excuse for not answering my wires, but this doesn’t change the situation.”

“What situation?” Daniel asked. “What was so urgent?”

Professor Abindon started to speak, then hesitated, eyeing Emilie thoughtfully. She still doesn’t trust me, Emilie thought, which she supposed was fair. Fair, but not pleasant. Though she was burning with curiosity, Emilie said, “I can walk back to my cousin’s house.”

As she started to stand, the professor gestured impatiently. “Don’t go. If you work for Vale… I trust her judgment. Come upstairs, I’ll show you both.”

They followed Professor Abindon up the narrow stairs to the second floor, then kept following her up a still narrower set of stairs to the third, then up again to what should have been a small attic. Emilie followed the others through the door at the top of the stairs and saw why the professor had chosen this house.

The room had once been made into an artist’s studio, with one whole side of the pitched roof turned into windows, which could be unlatched and propped open with metal poles. Another set of large windows looked down into the back garden, so the room was full of light. A tiny spiral stair led up to a trapdoor in the roof, which Emilie bet opened into a small railed platform atop the house. She had seen them on many of the houses in Silk Landing and knew they were common for sea captains’ and ship owners’ homes. But Professor Abindon wasn’t using this room for artistic endeavors or to watch the ships come into port.

A large gleaming brass telescope stood on a stand beneath the slanted windows, pointed toward the sky. Emilie had seen drawings of big stargazing telescopes before, but never one in person. This one had extra parts, wheels and platter-like contraptions, mounted above the eyepiece, as if for fine-tuning the view. A big table in the center of the room was spread with maps and drawing paper. Pencils and inkstands and broken pen nibs were scattered around instruments that looked like they were for navigation. Emilie thought she recognized a sextant, from the same book with the drawings of telescopes, but the rest were a mystery.

Professor Abindon went immediately to the telescope and looked through the eyepiece. She straightened up and carefully adjusted some knobs. She beckoned Daniel over. “Look here.”

Emilie hadn’t thought there was much point to using telescopes in the daylight. But Daniel didn’t object, going immediately to peer through the eyepiece. He said, “What am I looking at, Professor?”

“Nothing, yet.” Professor Abindon took one of the plates attached to the telescope and turned it upright. Emilie saw the silvery stuff running through glass insets on the metal plate and realized it was a device for viewing aether. An aetheric telescope? she wondered, taking an involuntary step forward. She had known there were aether currents in the air, just like there were in the sea, but she hadn’t thought about what the devices for detecting them might look like. And did the aetheric streams in the air lead to another world, like the aetheric streams in the seas? Emilie’s heart started to pound in excitement.

Suddenly the professor’s claim of something urgent to show to Dr Marlende began to seem far more worrisome.

The professor slid the plate into a slot in the telescope, made another adjustment, and Daniel gasped. “How long has it been there?”

The professor’s voice was grim. “I first noticed it twenty-two days ago. It was much smaller then.” She pushed her hair back from her face in an exasperated gesture. “I should have gone to Meneport then, instead of just sending a wire. But it’s been getting steadily larger. I kept expecting it to stop.”

Daniel straightened up and motioned Emilie over. She hurried forward and leaned down to the eyepiece, trying to look as if she knew what she was doing. Fortunately, it was fairly straightforward, and she found the right angle to see through the glass lens without much trouble.

She saw intense blue sky, and in the center, a ring of brilliant colors – reds, greens, deeper blues than the sky – with a silver-white spiral woven through it. A description of it would have sounded like something rather beautiful, rather like the description of lines of dark storm clouds against the sky sounded like something beautiful until the hail and wind started. Emilie stood up and stared at the professor. “It looks like a hole.”

“That’s because it is a hole,” the professor said, “It’s an opening in an aetheric stream.”

“But why would that happen?” Emilie said. She wasn’t sure if that was a stupid question or not, but the hole didn’t look like something that was supposed to happen. It looked wrong, strange, threatening.

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Daniel said, leaning down for another look through the eyepiece.

“Yes,” Professor Abindon said, “There are a number of possible reasons I can think of, none of them good. But the one I’m rather afraid of is that it’s opening because something is making it open. Something is out there, pushing its way through to our world.”

CHAPTER TWO

Late that afternoon, Emilie, Daniel, and Professor Abindon boarded the fast steamer for Meneport. Daniel thought they would arrive perhaps half a day behind the Marlendes.

In a highly agitated conversation that morning, Daniel had convinced the professor that they could reach the Marlendes more quickly by going directly to Meneport themselves. Daniel had pointed out that the Marlendes were likely to spend all day today at the shipyards with the damaged airship. And Emilie had thought, though she didn’t say it aloud, that if Miss Marlende had been ignoring the professor’s wires, she wasn’t likely to bring them immediately to her father’s attention once they reached their home again. Obviously, there was some sort of disagreement or sore point between Professor Abindon and Miss Marlende.

Emilie had suggested that they could send a wire directly to Lord Engal, who was likely to have secretaries and so on who would bring it quickly to his attention.

Professor Abindon had glared at her. “You want us to send a wire to Lord Engal to tell him to tell Marlende to read his mail?”

“Yes,” Emilie had replied. “Why not?” Emilie was torn between the feeling that she should be showing more respect for the professor, and the feeling that she wasn’t particularly in the mood to be spoken sharply to for what was a perfectly valid idea. It made her miss Rani more than she already did.

“Hmm,” the professor had said, eyeing her again.

But in the end, they had decided it was best to deliver the news in person, not least because then they would also be able to deliver the extensive notes and drawings that the professor had made, chronicling the aetheric disruption’s first appearance and progress. “Aetheric disruption” was what the professor had told Emilie to call it after Emilie had referred to it as a sky hole. Apparently, that sounded rude, though Emilie hadn’t figured out why yet.

Emilie and Daniel had gone to Karthea’s house to pack their belongings. Emilie hadn’t explained to Karthea about the aetheric disruption, mainly because every explanation she rehearsed as they walked back to the house had sounded alarmist at best. The professor wasn’t even sure it was something they needed to worry about yet, though she seemed to feel that worrying about it was the best course. So Emilie had just said that the professor needed to speak to Dr Marlende urgently and had missed him when he was in town, and that they were going to escort her to Meneport, and that Emilie would write as soon as she had a chance.

By the time they reached the port to meet the professor, Daniel had had the idea to send a wire directly to the office of the docks where the Marlendes would take the airship. It might not be delivered before they arrived, but it was worth a try, and they were sure to reach Dr Marlende more quickly if he knew they were coming.

While Daniel was busy, Emilie took the money he had given her and purchased three passages on the steamer, something she had never done before. She considered it her first act as Miss Marlende’s assistant that didn’t involve being shot at.

This was a fast steamer, and they should arrive at Meneport sometime late that night, so they hadn’t bothered with a cabin. On the second deck of the steamer, there was a large glassed-in space with upholstered benches for seating. Daniel was ensconced on one with their bags, reading though one of the notebooks Professor Abindon had brought.

Emilie was too restless to sit down and went out on deck to stand at the railing. They were leaving the harbor, the cliffs turned golden by the afternoon sun. The wind was cool and refreshing, the sky blue and dotted with white clouds. Emilie leaned on the railing and watched the coast go by, feeling the now-familiar chug of the engines through the deck boards. There were gray stone houses in the little pockets of green fields in between the cliffs, with narrow sandy beaches at their feet. Sailing boats and a small tug clung close to the shore, avoiding the path of the larger steamer.

Professor Abindon moved up to stand at the railing beside her. After a moment, the professor said, “Daniel looks tired.”

“He hasn’t had much time to recover,” Emilie said, and realized neither had she. Only a few days ago, they had been fighting for their lives, and now they were eating dinner with Karthea and buying steamer passages and worrying about what the newspapers printed about them. Even with the aetheric disruption to be concerned about, it didn’t seem real.

“I suppose…” The professor’s gloved hands tightened on the railing. She seemed to change her mind about what she had intended to say. “Vale was well when you left her?”

“Yes, very well. Oh, she was tired. So was Dr Marlende.” Emilie realized then what the professor wanted to ask. She was upset when she found out that Miss Marlende hadn’t answered any of her wires. And Miss Marlende must not have bothered to open any of them, or she would have surely taken a moment to reply. The professor and Miss Marlende must have quarreled about something fairly serious. Emilie tried to explain her position without implying that she suspected there had been an argument. “I wasn’t her assistant until after we got to Silk Harbor. I mean, I wasn’t there when she and Kenar were trying to find a way to get to the aetheric stream, when they went to Lord Engal for help. So… I really don’t know anything about that.” She winced, having the feeling she had just made the whole thing all that much more awkward.

From the disgruntled expression on the professor’s face, she apparently agreed. Professor Abindon said, under her breath, “Well, we’ll see when we get there.”

They arrived late that night. Emilie had gone inside to doze on one of the hard benches, but woke in time to watch from the deck as the ship approached the port.

Mist drifted across the water, but she could see the gas and electric lights of the city sparking in the darkness like low-lying stars, hinting at the shapes of buildings and the presence of streets. She hadn’t seen this before, the Sovereign’s departure having been far too abrupt to enjoy the view.

Closer, misty lights marked ships floating at anchor, or sitting at their docks, passenger steamships and cargo vessels, and a few big sailing ships that were probably yachts belonging to nobles or other rich families. Some of the docks were dark, but some were brightly lit as ships were loaded with cargo or supplies or allowed passengers to board for an early morning sailing. The dock the steamer was headed for was brightly lit by gas lamps, with some figures standing around it, waiting for the ship to arrive.

Emilie smothered a yawn. She was a little hungry, too. The steamer’s steward hadn’t served an actual dinner, and the sandwiches and tea provided hadn’t been nearly as filling as last night’s meal.

Daniel and the professor arrived then, carrying their bags. Like Daniel and Emilie, the professor hadn’t brought much more than an overnight bag, though in Emilie and Daniel’s case, this was because they didn’t have many belongings with them. Everything Emilie hadn’t left behind at her uncle’s house was in the post, on its way to Karthea.

As the ship closed in on the dock, it slowed down and its engines changed in pitch. It wasn’t big enough to need a tug to push it in, though the process of edging up to the dock seemed tricky. There was a stir of activity on the lowest deck, and someone called out to the shoremen.

“There’s a coach,” Daniel said suddenly. He pointed to the stretch of roadway between the docks and the cargo offices. A few small one-horse cabs waited there for the arriving passengers, and among them was a larger coach-and-four. “Maybe they did get my wire… Yes, that’s Lord Engal’s crest on the door, I’m sure of it!”

Professor Abindon muttered, “Oh, joy.”

Emilie, caught by surprise, snorted with amusement, then turned it into a cough.

The ship came to rest against the dock, and after a little delay, the passengers began to disembark. Emilie, Daniel, and the professor followed the others down the gangway to the dock. Professor Abindon took the lead, striding through the sleepy, milling crowd to the end of the dock.

The liveried driver stood at the lead horses’ heads, and Emilie expected him to step forward to greet them. But the coach door swung open and a tall figure stepped out. It was Lord Engal himself. He was Southern Menaen, with brown skin and dark eyes contrasting against his gray hair and beard, and despite being a noble, he was burly and strong, built like one of the shoremen unloading cargo.

He said, “Miss Emilie, Daniel, I’m glad your ship arrived on… Good God, you didn’t say she was coming.”

“I’m just as pleased to see you, Engal,” the professor said, her tone grim. “Now let’s get on with this. Where’s Marlende?”

“He’s at the airship dock,” Lord Engal said, and stepped warily back, holding the coach door open for the professor. Another coachman swung down from the box to take their bags and hand them up to be stowed on top.

Emilie climbed into the coach after Professor Abindon and sat next to her on the soft leather seat. She could tell the coach was nicer than any she had ever been in before, though it was hard to see the interior with only the light from the dockside to illuminate it. The inside walls were padded with dark, rich fabric, and it smelled of sandalwood.

Lord Engal climbed in after Daniel and tapped his cane on the roof to signal the coachman to go. He said, “What’s this about an aetheric disruption?”

Daniel drew breath to speak but the professor said first, “I prefer to wait until we meet with Marlende. I don’t want to have to go over it all twice.” Then she ruined it by adding, “If you don’t understand it, then he can explain it to you.”

It was so rude, Emilie had to bite her tongue. Lord Engal could be annoying, but all he had done was ask a simple question, even if it didn’t have a simple answer. It was a little easier to understand now why Miss Marlende hadn’t answered the professor’s wires.

Lord Engal sighed and said, “I see. Thank you for excusing my no doubt abysmal ignorance.”

Emilie spent most of the short trip looking out the window, watching the dark warehouses and shipping offices go by. She recognized the long-necked shape of the big steam crane, like a monster rising out of the mist, that she had passed when she had been looking for the Merry Bell’s slip. That helped her orient herself.

The coach turned up a broad street leading away from the port. Infrequent gas streetlamps lit the signs above doorways, and most of the buildings seemed to be small manufactories or ship chandlers. Then the coach turned off to stop at a large metal gate in a wall. A moment later, a man with a lantern swung the gate open, and they rolled forward into Dr Marlende’s airship yard.

From the coach window, all Emilie could see were a couple of metal-roofed sheds, lit by electric lamps mounted on tall posts. Dr Marlende had obviously had the yard fitted with all the latest scientific devices, including electric light.

Lord Engal pushed the door open and swung out before his servant could get off the box, and held it open as they climbed out. As Emilie stepped down, she saw what the electric lights were illuminating.

In the middle of the walled yard, towering over them, the giant silver shape of an airship hung about twenty feet above the ground. Its nose was securely held in a big cone-shaped stand, and lines and heavy cables anchored it to the ground. The wooden cabin, with the narrow metal walkway around the outside, was tucked up under the gray swell of the balloon. Emilie could tell immediately that this wasn’t the airship that they had returned in from the Hollow World; it showed no signs of damage, for one thing. For another, she was fairly certain it was much bigger, its cabin nearly twice as long and with at least two levels to it.

Then she spotted their airship, lying some distance past this one, its balloon partially deflated and the triangular supports that held the insides rigid showing through the fabric. Emilie knew that the airship’s balloon wasn’t just a big bag filled with gas, but a cover over lots of smaller bags, held in place with very light metal supports. Watching Lord Ivers’ airship burn had been very instructive in teaching her airship anatomy. The battered cabin sat beside it, no longer connected to the upper structure. Men in work clothes were climbing all over it, taking it apart and carrying the pieces into a larger metal shed.

Lord Engal strode off across the yard and Emilie and Daniel hurried after him. The professor followed as well, but at her own pace.

They reached the shed and Lord Engal flung open the wooden door and shouted, “Marlende, they’re here!”

Dr Marlende, wearing a long coat dotted with oil stains and heavy protective gloves, stood beside a table spread with plans. Turning toward them, he said, “Thank you, Lord Engal, but I assure you that there is nothing wrong with my hearing and shouting is not…” He froze for a moment. “Abindon. I didn’t realize–”

“That I was coming, yes, I know.” The professor’s voice was dry. “Is Vale here? I’d rather not go over this twice.”

Dr Marlende cleared his throat, regaining his composure. He was a tall, fair-skinned, weathered Northern Menaen man, with shaggy gray hair and a beard that was still somewhat out of control. “She’s dismantling the steering control column in the airship.”

“I’ll get her,” Emilie said, and bolted before anyone could argue.

She crossed the open yard to the airship and climbed the stepladder up to the cabin doorway. An electric light on a heavy cable hung from the ceiling, and the floor was covered with broken glass and more oil stains. Emilie picked her way across the floor to the open door into the cockpit.

She saw Miss Marlende’s boots first, as the rest of her was tucked under the control panel, working on the pillar that held up the steering mechanism. “Miss Marlende?”

“Emilie?” Miss Marlende pushed herself out from under the panel and sat up. “Father said you and Daniel were coming back tonight, that there was some emergency. Is everything all right?”

Emilie crouched on the floor so they were eye level. “Yes, we’re fine, but there was a scientific discovery, about an aetheric stream, and… Professor Abindon is here.”

Miss Marlende didn’t look as shocked as the others, but she frowned. “Abindon?” she demanded. “What is she doing here?”

“It was her discovery. She tried to send Dr Marlende some wires about it, but it was after he left on the expedition, when you and Kenar were trying to find a way to help him and all the others, and you didn’t get them.”

Miss Marlende pulled her heavy gloves off and pushed her hair out of her face. She normally wore it in a tight bun behind her head, but it had come loose and, from the dark spots on the blond strands, gotten into the oil. She looked frustrated and upset more than angry. “Damn it. I did get them, but I didn’t open them. I thought they were about… Oh, never mind. Was it terribly urgent?”

“Sort of. I don’t think it was at first, but it kept getting worse. I thought…” Emilie hesitated, then finished. “If she really thought it was that urgent, she could have come here herself to make someone listen to her.”

“Well, yes, that’s what a rational person would have done,” Miss Marlende said, then made a sharp gesture. “I shouldn’t judge her, I suppose. It’s a very complicated situation. And I’ve done my share of complicating it, so I can’t complain.” She caught the railing along the control board and pulled herself upright.

Emilie pushed to her feet. “Was she your teacher? I mean, your professor at university?”

“No. She’s… a relation,” Miss Marlende said, and stepped past Emilie out of the cockpit.

Emilie followed, thinking that one over. It certainly explained a lot, if the professor wasn’t just an irascible colleague, but a relation. She knew how much trouble relations could be.

When they reached the shed, the table had been cleared of airship plans, and Professor Abindon’s drawings and notes were laid out in their place.

The professor looked up as they came in. Her expression was as closed and hard to read as Miss Marlende’s. She said, “Vale.”

Miss Marlende said, “Professor Abindon.”

The professor’s lips tightened, as if the greeting had been other than bland and polite. But she indicated the drawings. “I’ve been trying to bring this to your attention. I understand you were occupied.”

It was all very uncomfortable.

It was a relief when Lord Engal, already engrossed in the notes, said, “Dear God, Marlende. Is this what I think it is?”

“An aetheric disruption, obviously,” Dr Marlende said, passing a page of notes to Miss Marlende. “But what could be causing it?” He eyed the professor. “Your last observation was yesterday?”

The professor was watching Miss Marlende for her reaction. “Yes, before Daniel suggested we should come here. What do you think, Vale?”

There were lines in Miss Marlende’s brow, but this time they were from concentration. “We need a better aetheric scope.” She turned to Lord Engal. “Do you think you could get us into the Philosophical Society?”

“It’s after midnight,” Daniel said. “No one will be there to let us in. We could make an appointment in the morning…”

Dr Marlende scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’m sure I could open the lock on the front entrance. Emilie, see if someone can find my small pocket toolcase…”

“Father…” Miss Marlende began. “Breaking into the building isn’t–”

“Commendable resolve but unnecessary.” Lord Engal tugged his pocketwatch out and checked the time. “I can send someone to get the director to meet us there and let us in. He enjoys noble patronage and late parties, so I doubt he will mind.”

The professor gave him a skeptical look. “Surely you don’t care if he minds? As long as the person inconvenienced isn’t you–”

“We all sacrifice in the name of Philosophy,” Lord Engal said, and strode off, calling for his servants.

Less than an hour later, Emilie was in the Marlendes’ coach, with Dr and Miss Marlende, following Lord Engal’s equipage down a wide gaslit street. The Marlendes’ coach was battered, the upholstery well-worn cloth, and the coachman was one of Dr Marlende’s airship mechanics.

Dr Marlende had one of Professor Abindon’s notebooks, holding it up to the window and trying to angle it so the intermittent gaslight fell on the pages. He said to Miss Marlende, “Even if you had opened her wires, there wasn’t anything you could have done about it except to observe the situation while it developed, an activity which she was already engaged in.”

Miss Marlende kept her gaze on the window. “That’s not an excuse.”

“It is an excuse,” Dr Marlende said mildly.

Emilie had her face almost plastered to the window on her side, trying to catch glimpses of the stone façades and pillared porticos of the buildings. She knew most of them were very fine houses, the family seats of various noble families. She had seen the houses of the wealthy gentry who lived near their village, and even gone to parties in some of them, but they were nothing compared to this. She couldn’t quite believe people actually lived in these houses, or how much money they must have. It seems such a waste, she thought. At least Lord Engal spent some of his money on experiments and expeditions and, apparently, suing newspapers on behalf of strangers.

Ahead, Lord Engal’s coach swung into the carriage circle in front of yet another imposing building, with columns two stories high fronting a wide portico with steps leading up to the entrance. Gas lamps on stands of twisted wrought iron lit the walk in front of it.

As they climbed out of the coaches, Emilie saw two men waiting by the carved wooden doors, one in Lord Engal’s livery and the other in a slightly disheveled suit, as if he had donned it hastily. The doors were carved with figures of old sailing ships and views of Meneport Harbor. Not what Emilie had been expecting for the Philosophical Society, but maybe the place had been purchased or donated, and not specifically built.

“Lord Engal,” the disheveled man began, “surely you realize the aetheric telescope can also be used in daylight–”

“Of course we realize that, Elathorn,” Lord Engal said. “But we need to look through the damn thing now. Be a good fellow and unlock the doors.”

Mr Elathorn sighed with weary resignation, took out a large key ring, and unlocked the heavy wooden door. It opened into a dark foyer, illumined only by what little light fell through the doorway.

Mr Elathorn stepped inside and Emilie followed with the others, bumping into Miss Marlende in the process. She could feel a tile floor under her shoes, and the walls were covered with more heavy carving, though she couldn’t tell what the subject was. Mr Elathorn unlocked the inner doors with a different key and pushed them open. Emilie peered into the darkness. She had the impression the doors had opened into a large hall; something in the faintly cool air seemed to suggest a large space, but she couldn’t see a thing.

She thought they might have to light lamps if the gas was turned off for the night, but Mr Elathorn turned to the wall of the foyer and unlocked a small cabinet set into it, fumbling in the dark. Lord Engal helpfully struck a match, holding it up so Elathorn could see.

“Thank you, my lord,” Elathorn muttered. The cabinet was full of small metal levers. Elathorn pushed two down and then pushed a switch.

Clicks and a buzz echoed through the space, then electric lights flickered into blazing life all through the hall. Emilie smiled in delight. This is more like it.

The grand entrance hall was huge, with a massive polished stone staircase at the far end. The walls were lined with exhibits, some in glass cases and some free-standing. Light gleamed off all sorts of engines and devices, with glass bulbs, brass and silver tubes, switches, levers, and dials. There were glass cases with maps, models of steamships and airships. The electric lights on the walls were in large bronze sconces, with milky glass shielding the glowing bulbs. There were also lights set directly into the walls, between where the wooden paneling ended and the plaster facing began.

Lord Engal said, “That’s all, Elathorn. Go home and get some sleep,” and he, Dr Marlende, and Professor Abindon headed for the stairs.

Mr Elathorn sighed again and said, “I’ll wait down here,” and turned to shut and lock the outer doors.

“Our apologies, Mr Elathorn, and thank you for coming out here so late,” Miss Marlende said, as she, Daniel, and Emilie hurried after the others.

Emilie craned her neck to see as many of the exhibits as she could as they crossed the hall. Daniel noticed and said, “We’ll have to come back on a day when it’s open for viewing.”

“Emilie should have more than enough chances to see it all,” Miss Marlende said. “We’ll be planning a whole lecture series on the expedition.” She nodded toward the doors in the wall past the stairs. “The main assembly hall is there, and there are smaller meeting rooms and lecture halls on the upper floors. This was a shipping magnate’s mansion when it was first built. He bequeathed it to the Society more than fifty years ago, and it’s been modified a great deal since then.”

They started up the stairs, and continued up and up. On the third floor, they turned off through a wide hallway lined with more doors, where they had to stop along the way and look for more switches to turn on the electric lights. After several twists and turns, they went through a door into another much smaller and more utilitarian stairwell.

The lights were less frequent here, the walls plain plaster and the wooden treads of the stairs not nearly as finely grained; this must have been a stair to the servants’ quarters, back when the house had been a wealthy man’s home.

They reached a door at the top of the stairs, and Lord Engal selected another key off the ring to unlock it. Emilie followed the others in, staring as the electric lights popped into life. They were in a large square turret, possibly toward the back of the big house, though when they had been out on the street, Emilie had been too busy looking at the front entrance to glance up.

In the middle of the room was an aetheric scope that made the professor’s look like a toy or a small-scale model. The whole was mounted on a large circular platform, and the scope itself was as big as a cannon. It pointed up toward the peaked roof, which had been replaced by glass panels. Several silver plates stood out from the base of the scope at various angles, designed to show patterns in aether.

The others immediately closed in around the telescope, Dr Marlende and the professor in the lead. Emilie found a chair near the wall and sat down. There wasn’t anything she could do to help with this part, and she was starting to realize just how tired she was. She wished she had been able to sleep more on the boat.

After a short flurry of adjustments with everyone but Emilie weighing in with a conflicting opinion, the telescope was positioned and the aetheric plates moved in front of the lens. Dr Marlende peered through the eyepiece. “Yes, there we are. I–” He stopped abruptly.

Emilie found herself holding her breath. Everyone waited in silence, though Daniel stirred uneasily, Lord Engal’s left eyelid started to twitch, and Miss Marlende’s grip on the platform’s railing made her knuckles go white. Finally, Professor Abindon said, “For God’s sake, Marlende, what do you see?”

Dr Marlende straightened up, his expression deeply worried. Emilie felt a sinking sensation. She hadn’t seen him look this worried when they were trying to escape to the airship while being shot at by angry merpeople. He ignored Lord Engal’s impatient throat-clearing noise and gestured Professor Abindon forward. He said, “I’d rather not say until I get another opinion.”

Frowning, the professor stepped up and bent down to the eyepiece. “Another opinion on what? I–”

It was her turn to freeze. After a moment, she stood up and said, “It’s a vessel.”

Dr Marlende let his breath out in a sharp sigh, as if he had been holding it. “I concur.”

Daniel’s expression was somewhere between horrified and incredulous. “What kind of vessel? An airship?”

“Something like,” Dr Marlende said. “The shape is similar.”

“A vessel?” Lord Engal burst out. “But how? Even if such a craft launched into the aetheric stream from the other side of the world, we would have seen it making its way up–”

No, Emilie thought, her heart pounding, that’s not what he means.

“That’s not what they mean,” Miss Marlende interrupted. “It’s a vessel, but it came from the other end of the aetheric stream.”

“The other end,” Lord Engal repeated. “But that’s… not impossible, I suppose.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Miss Marlende said.

Emilie couldn’t contain herself. “So it’s people from another aetheric plane, coming to discover us, like Dr Marlende discovered the Hollow World?”

“Yes,” Dr Marlende said. “They could be very much like us. Or very different indeed.”

CHAPTER THREE

The next several hours passed in a whirlwind of activity. Lord Engal rushed off to find the nearest telegraph office and send a flurry of wires. Miss Marlende and Daniel followed to make sure he sent wires to everyone Dr Marlende and Professor Abindon thought should be notified too. Emilie, wide awake now, took notes for them as they made further observations with the telescope, writing down directions and rows of numbers. After a short time, more people started to arrive, men and quite a number of women, all natural philosophers, aetheric scholars, or engineers.

They entered the chamber, often disheveled and in one case still wearing a dressing gown, looked into the telescope, and then retired to join one of the many groups having low-voiced, worried conversations.

At first Emilie’s head was almost spinning. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to run into the street yelling a warning, or hide under the bench. Were they actually being invaded? Please let it be a friendly explorer. Invasions were something that happened in books, to made-up countries. The last invasion she had read about in the history books had happened to a small country called Tuthari, far to the east. A fleet of pirates had invaded their archipelago, and had been driven off by their ships and the other traders that had been in port at the time, including two Menaen steamers.

The idea of an invasion by strange people in airships was terrifying. It certainly put the whole “Uncle Yeric seeing your name in the newspapers” episode into perspective. Emilie began to look fondly back on the time when that was all she had to worry about.

She reminded herself not to panic yet. There’s plenty of time to panic later, she thought.

As the sky past the big windows started to lighten, a man in a very sober suit came in to speak quietly to Dr Marlende and Professor Abindon. Emilie was close enough to hear him say, “Lord Engal has called a meeting of the Society in the main lecture hall. He wanted you to go over your findings briefly, if you could.” He added, “Dr Amalus, advisor to the Ministry and the Ruling Council, is in attendance. He expects to give a report to them based on, well, your report to him.”

Dr Marlende and Professor Abindon exchanged a dark look. She said, “Isn’t this premature?”

“That rather depends, doesn’t it?” Dr Marlende answered grimly.

She took a deep breath. “Yes, of course.”

They started downstairs, most of the others present following them. Emilie found her way through the crowd and trailed behind Miss Marlende. At the bottom of the stairs, Daniel fetched up beside them. There were still more people down here, milling around, though most had taken more care with their dress than the earlier arrivals.

Emilie thought Miss Marlende would follow Dr Marlende and the professor into the lecture hall, but instead she took Emilie’s sleeve and directed them both toward the open front doors. Daniel followed them.

As they stepped outside, the cool pre-dawn air was like a welcome dash of cold water. A coach with the Ministry’s crest emblazoned on the door was just drawing up in front of the building. Miss Marlende watched it thoughtfully, and said, “Let’s take a break, shall we?”

They ended up in a bakery down a nearby side street, open earlier than anything else so it could supply fresh bread to the other eating establishments. It had tables in its back courtyard and also served tea. With a napkin full of breakfast rolls and a big mug of tea in her stomach, Emilie started to feel less confused and panicky. Maybe I’m not terrified, maybe I’m just hungry, she thought. Or maybe she had just had a little time to get used to the whole idea. Around a mouthful of roll, she asked Miss Marlende, “Why aren’t you at the meeting?”

Miss Marlende stirred her tea, her brow set in a worried frown. “I know what they’re going to say.”

Daniel held his tea under his nose as if it were smelling salts and he was trying to revive himself. The steam made his eyeglasses cloud over. “Dr Marlende thinks we should go up for a better look?”

Miss Marlende nodded. “It’s the only thing we can do, at this point.”

“Up in an airship?” Emilie asked, then realized what a stupid question it was. No, up in a tugboat, Emilie, what do you think? But the others were so tired, all they did was nod soberly. “Have you ever done it before? I mean, in an aetheric current, not just the air.”

“Yes, we’ve explored two of the major aether currents above Menea,” Miss Marlende explained. “Father became more interested in the belowsea currents because the signs that they led to another aetheric plane were so intriguing. We didn’t see any such signs in the air currents. As far as I know, no one ever has.” She took a long drink of her tea. “Perhaps we just didn’t look hard enough.”

Daniel shook his head. “There isn’t as much interest in airship travel in general. It’s very dangerous. There have been at least two air-current expeditions that ended in disaster. One crashed and one was never seen again.”

The bad storms that plagued the seas along the best trade routes were dangerous for airships. Ships navigating via surface aether currents had always been safer and more efficient, so airships weren’t popular, even for relatively safe travel between the mainland and the coastal islands. They had been mostly used as pleasure craft over land. Emilie said, “So no one really knows what’s in the aetheric currents up there. I suppose because we can see the sky, we just assumed there’s nothing past it.” She followed that thought for a moment. “Just like everyone in the Hollow World assumed there was nothing above them.”

Daniel cleared his throat. “Isn’t there an old, discredited theory that the world is a series of concentric circles?”

Emilie had seen some mention of that in a book somewhere but hadn’t paid it much attention. She had been mostly reading for the adventure stories of exploration, not the speculation on aetheric structures. But she remembered the picture that had accompanied it, all different circles, stretching out into infinity. Their world, this world, had been labeled the “surface world” and had been shown on top. “This means that theory is right, but we aren’t the surface world,” Emilie said. “We’re not on top; we’re just one of the circles.”

“Yes, it’s been a theory for a long time,” Miss Marlende admitted. She sipped her tea and added, “Apparently, it’s on its way to becoming a fact.”

They started back to the Philosophical Society, and as they turned a corner to the street, Emilie saw a small crowd milling in front of the building. Some of them were clutching notebooks and pencils and were probably journalists, others just looked like confused passersby who had seen something was happening and had stopped to find out what it was. A few early peddlers had gathered on the outskirts, and a vegetable cart on its way to the open market had stopped along the curb and appeared to be trying to take advantage of the unexpected crowd.

As they approached the building, a man suddenly turned toward them out of the fringe of the crowd and rushed toward Miss Marlende.

His face was tight with fury and Emilie reacted before she quite knew what she was doing. As Daniel stepped in front of Miss Marlende, Emilie dodged sideways toward the vegetable cart and snatched up a hard-shelled melon. She braced to throw it at the man’s head.

“Stop!” Miss Marlende held up her hands. “It’s all right, Emilie, Daniel.”

The man jerked to a halt in front of Miss Marlende and demanded, “Is it true?”

Miss Marlende gently pushed Daniel aside and said, “It is, but it isn’t them. It’s a strange craft.”

Emilie set the melon back on the cart with an apologetic nod to the startled vendor. Her reflexes seemed to be still tuned to the Hollow World, and at some point, snatching up a weapon had become more natural to her than screaming or running.

Emilie had time to notice that the man really didn’t look much like a ruffian at all. Though, of course, neither had Lord Ivers. He was young, maybe no more than twenty-five or so. His clothes were well-tailored and his tightly curled hair was carefully cut, but there was something about him which suggested that he wasn’t well. His light brown skin was a little dull, his coat and jacket hanging on knobby shoulders as if he was normally slim but had also lost weight.

The man glanced at Emilie and Daniel with an impatient grimace, then faced Miss Marlende again. “Are you going up?”

Miss Marlende said, “Probably.”

He nodded sharply with a brief expression of relief. “You’ll look for them.”

“Mr Deverrin…” Miss Marlende’s face was a mix of frustration and pity. “They are all dead. Surely you must know that.”

He set his jaw stubbornly. “And you and I both know that means nothing. Especially after the trip you’ve just returned from.”

Miss Marlende said, patiently, “Even if they were in a current that… led somewhere, there is little chance that after all this time–”

“Little chance is not no chance.” He turned away abruptly and strode toward the crowd, shouldering through it.

Miss Marlende let her breath out and rubbed her forehead. “That was unpleasant.”

Emilie demanded, “Who was that?”

“Anton Deverrin. His father, Dr Deverrin, led the second airship aether-current expedition, the one that Daniel mentioned. The one that was never seen again.” Miss Marlende shook her head. “It was last year. There was a sudden storm, with a great disturbance in the aether, the day after they launched. There was no sign of the airship after that. There were twelve people aboard, including Anton’s brother, sister, and two cousins, as well as his father. His mother and the other members of the family threw all their efforts and their family fortune into searching for them. It ruined them, eventually. They wanted my father to mount an expedition in search of them, but…”

Emilie winced. She could glimpse the scene beyond Miss Marlende’s brief description: the grief and hope and desperation of a family suddenly ripped apart. No wonder the young man still looked ill. “But Dr Marlende thought they were dead.”

“Yes,” Miss Marlende admitted. “We – and everyone else – thought the airship must have been torn apart over the sea. Lord Engal and some of the other explorers with steamers searched the area for survivors for days afterward, but they never even found a sign of any debris.”

Emilie hesitated. “But now…”

Daniel’s thoughts must have been moving along the same line. He said, “Maybe we were all wrong.”

“Yes. In light of this new information, we could have been.” Miss Marlende bit her lip. “But it’s been more than a year. I don’t want to get his hopes up. Even if they were trapped somewhere, they may have died by now.”

“Maybe they were lucky,” Emilie said. “Maybe they found nice people like the Cirathi who helped them.”

Miss Marlende gave her a sad and somewhat ironic smile. “You usually aren’t such an optimist, Emilie.”

“Well, I’m trying to be better at it.” Emilie agreed, though, there was no use getting the poor man’s hopes up. A year was a long time to spend trapped or adventuring in aether currents without getting killed. Their trip to the Hollow World had proved that.

Daniel didn’t look optimistic. “But if the air currents are like the sea currents, we still couldn’t find them unless we knew where they left their current.” He looked toward the crowd the young man had disappeared into. “I agree, we certainly can’t make him any promises.”

Emilie realized they had all made a rather important assumption. “So we’re going up in an air aether current to look at the strange craft, then?”

“I would say there is an excellent chance of it,” Miss Marlende said.

The meeting was finished by the time they entered the Society building. Coaches were starting to leave, tangling with the early morning traffic of omnibuses and delivery carts. They found Dr Marlende and Professor Abindon in the hall with Lord Engal, all surrounded by a small crowd of Society members and other people still discussing the strange object and its implications. Emilie thought the mood was a little less tense. Maybe confronting the problem and discussing it had helped. And if Miss Marlende was right, now they had a plan. Or at least a plan to get more information.

Miss Marlende elbowed her way through the crowd to Dr Marlende’s side, waited until the man he was speaking to took his leave, and then said, “We’re going up in the airship, then?”

“Yes,” he told her. “It’s fortunate the larger craft is airworthy and can be made ready in a short time. If we don’t get some idea of what this thing is soon, there could be a panic when the word spreads.”

Miss Marlende jerked her head toward the crowd. “And with this lot, the word will definitely spread.”

Dr Marlende turned toward the door. “It was necessary to inform them.” As Professor Abindon caught up with them, he continued, “Many of them have small scopes and would start to make their own observations. The professor here is an expert at aetheric interpretation, but the anomaly is growing large enough that amateurs will be able to see it soon.”

Professor Abindon snorted. “If you hadn’t gone haring off into the subsurface world and gotten stuck, we would have been able to start sooner.”

Emilie had noted that natural philosophers seemed big on saying “I told you so.” She didn’t think it was very helpful in a crisis.

Dr Marlende gave Abindon a look, but said only, “And I would know a good deal less about the practical difficulties of aether current travel.” He told Miss Marlende, “Besides, we had to assemble the Society. We may need their help.”

Miss Marlende’s expression bordered on the bitter. “They weren’t a great deal of help when Kenar and I desperately needed it.”

“Did they all support Lord Ivers?” Emilie asked. The inner workings of the Philosophical Society seemed a lot more exciting than she had previously thought.

Miss Marlende said, “Many of them thought that it would have been impossible to retrace Father’s route, even though Kenar himself was proof that it was possible. The ones that didn’t had no real resources to offer.”

Like poor Mr Deverrin, Emilie thought. But at least in his case, the storm had given everyone good reason to think that his family was dead.

Professor Abindon said, “I wish you had come to me. I’m also lacking in those sorts of resources, but at least I could have…” She sounded hesitant, which seemed very uncharacteristic of her. “Helped somehow.”

“I didn’t think you’d care,” Miss Marlende said, her voice quite cool.

Emilie saw Daniel wince. Fortunately, at that moment, Lord Engal caught up with them. He said, “I’ve sent for the coaches. I presume we’re going back to the airyard immediately?”

Dr Marlende looked both relieved and exasperated. “I assumed you would stay here and coordinate with the Society.”

Lord Engal seemed to find this an astonishing assumption on Dr Marlende’s part. “Of course not. That’s what Elathorn is for. If he isn’t for things like that, then there’s no point in having him.”

“I’m sure he would disagree,” Miss Marlende said.

“I don’t care if he agrees.” As they came out of the big double doors into the morning sun, Lord Engal jammed his hat on his head. “This is going to be a historic encounter and I’m certainly not missing it.”

Once they reached the airyard, the rest of the day became a blur of activity. The larger airship that was docked there was technically airworthy, but it had to be completely checked over and prepared for aetheric travel. And the air-producing equipment, similar to what had been used on the Sovereign, needed to be installed in it and brought up to working order. Apparently, the air got thinner the higher up you went, and the aether current would be taking them very high. They would need the protective shield spell and the devices for making breathable air, just as the Sovereign had in its voyage through the sea bottom to the Hollow World.

Except it’s not really the Hollow World, Emilie reminded herself. It’s just the next step down. The way they were the next step down for whoever was coming in from above them.

Emilie was introduced to a dozen or so men and a few young women, some of whom worked as Dr Marlende’s mechanics and engineers, and others who were students of aetheric principles. The mechanics and engineers accepted her matter-of-factly, possibly because she was with Miss Marlende and had been on the Sovereign. The students stared jealously, probably for exactly the same reasons. She was very relieved to find Seth, Cobbier, and Mikel there. They had been with Dr Marlende on the Hollow World expedition, and she had helped rescue them. They greeted her like an old comrade. When she had first seen them, they had all been quite dirty and scruffy, having been held prisoner for some time. Now they all looked like what they were: advanced scholars of aetheric engineering and philosophy. She wished Charter was here too, but he had been badly wounded in their escape and had been sent home to recuperate.

Once everyone had gathered in the big work shed, Dr Marlende climbed atop a table and said, “I believe you’ve all had a chance to hear what we’re about to do and why. We’ll leave as soon as we prepare the airship. I’ve done some calculations, and the optimum moment to enter the West-Median aether current is this afternoon shortly after the fourth hour.” He glanced around at the group. “I know many of you had volunteered, but we will be taking only a limited crew, comprised of Miss Marlende, Professor Abindon, Daniel, Mikel, Seth, and Cobbier.” Behind him, Lord Engal made a throat-clearing noise. Dr Marlende added, “And Lord Engal.”

Emilie felt her heart sink. But then, she had only been on an airship once, and she knew very little about making aetheric observations or navigating aether currents. And everyone who had been chosen had far more practical experience than she did. You would think the others would all realize this as well, but she still heard a good bit of disappointed muttering from the ones who hadn’t been chosen. Emilie thought if she could manage not to stamp her feet and mutter, the others could as well. Dr Marlende continued. “Now, I appreciate your efforts to work as quickly as possible so that we may launch on time!”

Emilie followed Miss Marlende and was immediately put to work checking supplies and making sure everything on Dr Marlende, Lord Engal, and Professor Abindon’s lists was brought aboard. This sounded easy until they kept changing the lists, and things had to be moved around, checked for their weight, moved around again, and in some cases taken off the airship because they were too heavy or were taking up room that was needed by something more vital. That meant a lot of writing, crossing things off, asking for clarification, and listening to debates about who got to keep what.

She did have a chance to walk around the airship’s gondola, which was nearly twice as large as the one that had been taken to the Hollow World. It had two levels, a lower one with the control and steering cabin, a central living cabin whose crew facilities were mainly cabinets for storage and bench seats, and then the rooms toward the back that held the fuel tanks, the engines, and the various aetheric apparatuses it needed to travel the air currents. It also held a small water closet, though from what Emilie understood, no water was involved. The second floor held three large rooms with big glass ports in the walls, all meant to hold telescopes and aetheric devices, and provide room for philosophical observations and experiments.

On one of her errands, Emilie stood there for a moment and looked out over the view, which at the moment was just of the airyard and the rooftops of the buildings beyond it. Not this time, she thought. But maybe the next.

Half daydreaming about the possibilities, she went down the little spiral stairs into the main cabin. Dr Marlende was there, checking the contents of one of the cabinets, and there were muted banging and some loud voices from the engine compartments. She went out the doorway and down the gallery stairs, then ran across the gravel yard and into the open doorway of the work shed.

Miss Marlende stood at the chart table, making notes from one of Professor Abindon’s drawings. Before Emilie could give her the checked-off list from upstairs, one of the students stepped into the doorway behind her to say, “Miss Emilie? There’s two men here to see you.”

“I don’t know any men,” Emilie said, startled. She amended, “That is, I don’t know any men who aren’t here. Not in this city.”

Miss Marlende glanced up. “Is it a journalist?”

The student seemed startled. “Maybe, I didn’t think–”

A figure pushed past him into the room, and the bottom dropped out of Emilie’s stomach. She gasped in horror. “Uncle Yeric! What are you doing here?”

It was her uncle, not a terrible hallucination. He was a gray-haired, stocky man, his brown skin marked by deep-set lines caused by years of judgmental frowns. He was wearing a very carefully tailored town suit and didn’t look as if he had ridden all night in a coach. She wondered if he had been here in the city already, when the newspaper had pointed him to her location.

As if he had caught Emilie knee-deep in the pond looking for tadpoles, as if there was no one else in earshot, he said, “You’ve caused a great deal of upset and difficulty, young lady. I hope you’re satisfied with it! Now come along away from here.”

Emilie’s pulse pounded and her face flushed from heat. She was shocked to realize it was from fury, not fear. Well, there was a little bit of fear. Maybe more than a little bit. But it was mostly fury. She said, “How did you find me?”

He seemed taken aback she hadn’t followed his orders immediately, then his glare deepened. “I’ve been searching the town for you since you left, of course. Until I saw that disgraceful mention of you in the newspaper. Now come with me!”

“No.” It felt very good to say no to Uncle Yeric. “I work here. As the newspaper said, I’m Miss Marlende’s assistant.”

Uncle Yeric’s lip curled. “Don’t spout that nonsense at me. Get your things and come with me at once. We’re leaving the city immediately.”

“I will not.” Emilie felt her hands curl into fists. Be an adult, she reminded herself, not a child. “I told you, I work here. And you’re interrupting the preparations for an important expedition–”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” He stepped forward, but Miss Marlende stepped forward, too.

Her voice hard, she said, “She is stating the facts, sir. I have hired her to be my secretary and personal assistant, and we are in the middle of some very important preparations.”

“Secretary!” Uncle Yeric glared. “I don’t know what your game is, young woman, but you have no right to play it with my niece. I assure you, she is not some unprotected young unfortunate whom you can do with as you will!”

“What?” Emilie was strangled speechless with outrage. “You… You were the one who said I was a–”

Uncle Yeric’s face darkened even further and he cut her off. “Emilie, stop this nonsense at once and come away–”

Teeth gritted, Miss Marlende said, “Sir, I assure you we are perfectly respectable scholars here, and my father–”

“You will surrender my niece at–”

The door across the room slammed open and Professor Abindon stood there. She started forward. Her face and voice so cold that icy waves practically radiated off her, she said, “This is private property. Leave it immediately or I shall have a constable summoned.”

Uncle Yeric stepped back and Professor Abindon stepped forward. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again and said, “And who may you be, madam?”

“I am Professor Abindon of the Menaen Mainland University.” She kept walking toward him, and he kept backing away. “I am Miss Marlende’s mother, and I deeply, deeply resent the implications you have made about her. Leave at once, and you may wait for my solicitor to bring an accusation of abuse of character against you.”

Professor Abindon is Miss Marlende’s mother, Emilie thought, stunned. Estranged mother. Then That explains a lot. The awkwardness between Abindon and Dr Marlende. The reason why Miss Marlende had ignored Professor Abindon’s wires. She must have thought it was some continuation of a former argument, or an attempt to interfere in her life.

Professor Abindon had backed Uncle Yeric up into the outer doorway and his choices now were either to turn and leave, or to tumble down onto the gravel yard. Or he could start physically fighting with Professor Abindon, which would probably also result in a tumble down onto the gravel yard. He sputtered and said, “This isn’t… I’ll be back with a constable!”

As he retreated, Professor Abindon called after him, “Do that. It will be convenient when I have you taken in charge for trespassing!” She turned away, dusting her hands off. “Is that loud, tiresome person really your uncle?”

“Yes.” Emilie took a deep breath.

Lord Engal came out of the back room, clutching a rolled-up sheath of papers. “What in the blazes was all that noise? Was it a journalist? Get his name and I’ll summon my solicitor.”

“No, it wasn’t a journalist.” Miss Marlende cut him off impatiently. “Emilie, are you all right?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t, but she didn’t have time to be upset now. “I didn’t think he’d come to Meneport after me. I thought they would assume I was hiding in the neighborhood. I thought at worst they would write to Silk Harbor, to bother my cousin.” Someone must have seen her making her way along the road, and told Uncle Yeric. She remembered the student had said there were two men, and she stepped to the doorway to look out. The sight made her set her jaw. Uncle Yeric stood in the yard with her younger brother Efrain. Traitor, she thought. Coming here to help Uncle Yeric carry her away like a prisoner. I don’t like him anymore either, but I wouldn’t turn on him like this. Emilie had always gotten on with her brothers, up until Erin, the oldest, had left to join the navy. After that, the two youngest had seemed to blame Emilie for the fact that he had taken her into his confidence before he left. They had sided with Uncle Yeric in every argument and seemed to completely take on his opinion of Emilie, even though they had to know better. “One of my brothers is with him.”

Miss Marlende stepped to her side to look, too. Emilie saw Uncle Yeric stomp away, leaving Efrain standing in the yard. Emilie said, “He must be going for a constable.” The professor’s bluff hadn’t worked. She turned to Miss Marlende. “I’ll have to leave before you all do. Sneak away and hide until you get back. Otherwise, when the airship takes off, they’ll drag me home. They’ll tell the constable I’m a vagrant, or morally compromised, or something.” Emilie bit her lip and made herself take a deep breath. After all, she wasn’t friendless and moneyless anymore. She hadn’t spent any of the pay Miss Marlende had given her in Silk Harbor, and she had more than enough for several days of food and lodging. Though she would need a good suggestion of where she could hide. Uncle Yeric might search for her in hotels or boarding houses, but there must be a lot of them in the city.

“Morally compromised?” the professor said, startled. “By us? I may have to bring an action against that man.”

Lord Engal told her, “You may use one of my solicitors.”

Ignoring them, Miss Marlende asked Emilie, “Is he your legal guardian?”

“He was, but when my oldest brother turned nineteen, it switched to him.” Emilie had known that Erin had been designated to be their guardian at his majority, since the time she had been old enough to ask about her parents’ death and see the papers they had left behind. She had even daydreamed that Erin would get a position somewhere in another town, and she and her other two brothers would live with him in a little cottage. Her aunt and uncle hadn’t been nearly so bad back then, but Emilie had still known things would be better if it had just been the four of them. And surely Erin would want to go somewhere to make his own life. Well, Erin had, but he had done it more than a year before his majority, when he had run away to join the navy. But it didn’t matter where he was; he had turned nineteen several months ago and was still Emilie’s legal guardian now. “Uncle Yeric still acts as if he is, but he has no legal right. However, my brother’s in the navy, I don’t know where, and there’s no one to defend me.”

“Is this recorded somewhere?” Miss Marlende asked.

“In the village hall at home.” Emilie thought that perhaps Lord Engal’s natural inclination was right, that maybe there was a legal solution. “I need a solicitor, I think. How much do they cost?”

Miss Marlende started to speak, stopped, frowned, and turned to Lord Engal. “Where’s your wife?”

Lord Engal was taken aback, but replied, “She’s at our country home with the children. She took them out of town when Ivers started shooting at me. She should be back by tomorrow morning.” He followed Miss Marlende’s reasoning and added, “You want someone to take charge of the girl so her family can’t remove her without the older brother’s consent? Your instincts were quite correct; my wife is obstinate and determined and would have made an excellent ally. But since she is unavailable, perhaps Professor Abindon–”

“No, you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Professor Abindon interrupted. She grimaced in frustration and said, “Why not simply bring the girl with us? There’s room, and if she doesn’t lose her head–”

“Emilie doesn’t lose her head,” Miss Marlende cut in, her voice so acid, even Professor Abindon stopped talking. Miss Marlende turned to Emilie. “Would you do that, Emilie? Come with us?”

Combined relief and excitement made Emilie’s knees weak, and she lost what little control she had over her mouth. “Yes, of course! I wanted to come all along, but I didn’t want to make trouble by insisting… I mean, asking.”

“That would be a first,” Lord Engal put in.

Professor Abindon glared at him, apparently just on principle, then said, “Well, that’s settled.”

Lord Engal turned away. “Good. Now if we can get back to work without any more interference from overbearing relatives…”

Emilie looked out the doorway again. It struck her suddenly how embarrassing it was for Uncle Yeric to show up like this, throwing accusations around and disrupting everything. Efrain was still standing there, looking around a little nervously. Uncle Yeric hadn’t returned yet. Emilie had the sudden urge to tell Efrain off. She said, “I’m going to tell him there’s no point in standing around out there.”

“Careful,” Miss Marlende said, watching her worriedly.

Emilie stepped out and strode across the yard toward Efrain. He was younger than her by only a year and a month, and they had the same brown skin and brown eyes, though she didn’t think they had ever looked much alike in the face. She had always looked more like their younger brother, Emery. Efrain was a few fingerwidths taller than her, and his dark hair was cropped close to the scalp. He was dressed very correctly in his best town suit. He saw her and came forward to meet her. “Emilie–”

She said abruptly, “I’ll be on the airship when it leaves, so when Uncle Yeric returns tell him he can’t kidnap me.”

Efrain stared at her. “Going on the airship… What do you mean?”

“What does it sound like I mean? This is part of my job as Miss Marlende’s personal assistant. Don’t play ignorant; I know you saw the newspaper story.”

“I didn’t believe it was true!” Efrain was still staring at her as if she was mad. “Why would they want you?”

Emilie felt her lips form a sneer. She said, sweetly, “Perhaps they’ve taken leave of their senses. After all, I’m obviously completely worthless to anyone.”

Efrain winced and shook his head slightly. “That isn’t what I… How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know. As long as it takes. Probably a week or more.” Dr Marlende had said he had thought it would only take a few days at most, but Emilie hoped Uncle Yeric would be too cheap to pay for a hotel if he thought it would be several days, and would give up and leave the city.

“But what for?” Efrain glared suspiciously toward the crew who were still loading supplies. “What will they make you do?”

“Make me do?” Emilie had been angry before, stomach-churningly and hand-tremblingly angry. Now she felt as if the top of her head had opened up to let the steam out. “You mean sexually?”

“Emilie!” Efrain actually took a step back in horror.

Emilie took a step forward, pushing him to retreat farther, a tactic she had picked up from watching Miss Marlende and Rani and now Professor Abindon, a tactic that she hadn’t realized she knew until now. “That is what you mean, isn’t it? That there’s no possible reason in the world that anyone would want my assistance. That as a useless, pathetic little girl I couldn’t take notes or carry things or learn to sail a boat or use a wireless or pilot an airship or be anything except a whore, that’s it, correct?”

Efrain’s mouth hung open but he couldn’t appear to talk right now.

Emilie laughed at him. The phrase about some people being able to ladle it out but not take it came to mind. “You’re just like Uncle Yeric. Go home and tell each other how right you were about me.”

She turned away and started toward the airship’s stairs. Daniel stood on the gallery and had obviously heard the argument. He was facing the other way, shoulders stiff with embarrassment. She heard footsteps crunch on the gravel right before Efrain grabbed her arm. Prepared, she spun and twisted out of his grip so fast he almost fell. Breathing hard, she didn’t run. If he wanted a fight, he was going to get one. He was stronger now than he had been when they were children, but Emilie didn’t intend to restrain herself in the matter of eye-gouging, nose-breaking, and throat-punching.

Efrain’s expression was too complicated to read. He said, “What do you mean, ‘You’re just like Uncle Yeric’?”

“Go ask him.” Emilie turned away again and reached the stairs, and started up.

She paused on the gallery, taking a deep breath, trying to regain her composure before she went inside. This journey was important and she couldn’t let her idiotic family disrupt the preparations any more than they already had. Uncle Yeric had already made her look like a helpless fool in front of everyone. She would have to make that up by being as competent as possible on the trip.

Daniel glanced warily at her, then frowned toward Efrain. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” She saw he was cradling his bad arm, and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Huh?” Still staring toward Efrain, he blinked in confusion, then realized she was asking about his injury. He slipped his arm out of the sling and stretched it cautiously. “Oh, yes, I’m fine. Just a little sore from sitting up on the boat all night.”

They stood there a moment. Emilie gritted her teeth. “Is he still there?”

Watching Efrain, Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Yes, he’s just standing there.”

Emilie swore, too in need of venting to worry about shocking Daniel. She stepped over the seal and through the doorway, and hurried down the narrow passage past the engine compartments toward the hold. As she passed the small chamber where the air-producing apparatus had been installed, the heavy odor of wet plants and earth filled her lungs.

In the hold, one of the women students was there, checking off the supplies on a sheaf of notepaper. Emilie took it away from her and sent her out rather precipitously, starting on it herself. She finished the list, found three items that were missing, and sent another student to collect them and to get her bag of belongings from the workroom. Then Cobbier came in to ask her how much she weighed so they could adjust the airship’s ballast. This necessitated some changes in the list, and she rechecked the final version again just to be sure. As she was marking off the last item, Seth poked his head in and said, “Are we all finished back here?”

Then he looked at her more closely. “Are you all right?” He was the youngest of the Marlendes’ three crew members, tall and slim, with very dark skin and short curly hair. He was a year behind Daniel at the university, though he was studying engineering and not aetheric sorcery.

“Yes, I’m fine; I’m just making certain we’ve got everything.” Emilie didn’t know what disaster might fall if they had missed some key item, but she really didn’t think they had. She followed Seth forward toward the main cabin. The air compartment smelled even more fragrant, and the big turbines that powered the airship’s engine hummed quietly.

Miss Marlende was in the main cabin and the door was open into the control cabin. It was almost as big as the main cabin, with the triangular glass port in front, and an array of controls with leather seats placed in front of them. Dr Marlende was at the controls, with Lord Engal and Professor Abindon standing beside him. Daniel was seated at the wireless station. Or at least, it looked much like the wireless station from the other, smaller airship.

Excitement washed away the lingering sour anger the confrontations had left behind, and Emilie tried not to bounce. They were really going! At some more quiet moment, Emilie was going to have to ask Miss Marlende what all the control stations did. If someone shouted at her to do something in an emergency, she wanted to have some idea of what to do and where to do it.

Emilie remembered Professor Abindon and Miss Marlende’s relationship, and wondered how awkward things might be between them on the trip. She had been so occupied with her own problems, she hadn’t even thought about their situation. She couldn’t tell if the atmosphere was tense and strained, but it seemed like it should be.

Seth told Miss Marlende, “We’re ready to lift off.”

“Very good.” She checked the watch pinned to her vest. “Right on time. Everyone get to their station and we’ll go.” She stepped through the doorway into the control cabin.

Emilie went to the nearest port. The students and some of the ground-crew men had formed a human barrier in front of the ship, holding back several people who might be journalists and a number of others who seemed as if they had just come to watch the airship take off. Then she spotted Uncle Yeric, standing with a uniformed constable. Uncle Yeric was gesturing angrily, and the constable just looked confused. She didn’t see Efrain, but there were enough people milling around that he might just be hidden in the crowd.

She felt the deck underfoot shudder and saw one of the anchor ropes swing loose. The other ground crew must be releasing the anchors. Mikel and Cobbier appeared on the gallery, hastily reeling in the loose lines, and the airship shivered again. The deck pushed on Emilie’s feet and she felt that wavery sensation in the pit of her stomach that meant they were moving upward. She took hold of the railing, but the airship’s movement was so smooth, she didn’t really need to steady herself.

The airship lifted high enough that she could see over the city to the port, the ships at dock, the ones steaming out to sea, sunlight sparkling on the water. The view had been her favorite part of riding on the other airship, and this was the first time she had been in one flying over a city. Looking down on the streets and the slate and wood rooftops from above was fascinating. She could see people looking up as the airship rose, pointing it out to others. I wonder if they know why we’re going yet, she thought. Probably not. It wouldn’t be in the papers until tomorrow. She hoped there wouldn’t be a panic before they got back with more information about exactly what the strange craft was. She also hoped there wouldn’t be a panic after they got back.

The buildings grew smaller and the airship began to move out over the sea. Watching the ships cut through the water, spotting tiny islands and rocks, kept her so occupied, Emilie almost didn’t hear the sudden commotion from the control cabin.

Cobbier and Mikel came inside, letting in a rush of cool air tainted with woodsmoke. As they shot the bolts in the cabin door, Seth hurried past and scrambled up the spiral stair to the second level. Miss Marlende stepped into the main cabin and her expression was highly irritated. “What’s wrong?” Emilie asked.

“We heard footsteps up on the second level,” Miss Marlende said, her voice grim. “It must be one of those damned journalists.”

Daniel stepped in from the control cabin. He was pointing up and started to speak, then stopped as he saw everyone already staring at the ceiling.

Emilie realized she could hear creaking metal as feet crossed the level above. She just hadn’t noticed it, assuming any noise was natural to the airship. With all the confusion, and the students and ground crew going back and forth, it must have been just possible to slip aboard the airship. She asked, “Will he write about us? I know the newspapers were probably going to anyway, but–” Her voice strangled in her throat when a young man clattered down the steps, prodded by Seth.

It was Efrain.

CHAPTER FOUR

Emilie stared. “You…” she began, and couldn’t seem to get any further.

Miss Marlende clapped a hand over her eyes. “Oh, for the…”

Seth stepped off the stairs, watching Efrain warily. “Emilie, you know this kid?”

Apparently seeing that Emilie’s jaw was locked with rage, Daniel answered, “He’s her brother.” He added grimly, “He came to the airyard with another relative who was trying to force her to leave.”

Cobbier eyed Efrain without favor. He was an older man, short and stocky, with sparse hair and dark brown skin and a normally good-humored expression. He had been with Dr Marlende the longest. “This isn’t a joke, son. This is an important job we’re doing, and we don’t have time for shenanigans.”

Efrain lifted his chin stubbornly. “You have my sister onboard. I’m couldn’t leave her here unchaperoned.”

The rage obstruction in Emilie’s throat finally gave way at that. She said, in a particularly acid tone she hadn’t known she possessed, “Unchaperoned? Miss Marlende is right here, with her mother, Professor Abindon. I am better chaperoned than I ever was at home.”

From Efrain’s expression, she might have punched him in the stomach. He said, “Oh. Uncle Yeric didn’t mention that.”

“Of course he didn’t, because he’s a horse’s ass. And these are all respectable men, not the sort of people you and Uncle Yeric evidently keep company with.”

Efrain glared. “That’s ridiculous! And it’s not what I–”

Miss Marlende began, “Emilie! And young man, you–”

“How is the fuel mix working?” Lord Engal strode in. “Are you taking notes? Who is checking the gauges?” He looked around at them all. “Well? What’s the…” He noticed Efrain and frowned. “He’s new. Are you new? Who are you? Is Dr Marlende raiding the primary schools for students now?”

Efrain opened his mouth but couldn’t seem to answer. Seth said, “He’s Emilie’s brother, my lord. He stowed away without her knowledge.”

Lord Engal stared for a moment, then shook his head in exasperation. He turned to Emilie. “So it runs in the family, does it?”

“Apparently,” she admitted grudgingly. “I won’t do it again now that I know what it’s like from the other end.”

Lord Engal didn’t appear to know how to respond to that. He finally said, “Well, see that you don’t.” He turned and walked back out of the cabin.

Efrain watched him go, bewildered. “So… he’s not going to do anything about me?”

“He’s not in charge of this expedition. My father, Dr Marlende is,” Miss Marlende explained. She sighed. “And it’s not as if there’s anything we can do with you.”

“We could toss him off the ship,” Emilie said darkly. “That’s what Lord Engal wanted to do to me aboard the Sovereign.”

Lord Engal strode back in. “I never said that, you ungrateful child. We are a civilized society; we do not throw people out of moving vehicles of any sort.” He eyed Efrain without favor. “You’ll just have to find something useful to do while you’re here.” He turned and went out again.

Efrain lifted his chin, apparently emboldened by the fact that no one was shouting at him. “You could take me and Emilie back to the ground.”

That was the last straw on an already badly strained donkey’s back, as far as Emilie was concerned. She took what she was fairly certain was a menacing step forward. “I wasn’t joking about throwing him off the ship. He’s endangering the whole expedition.”

Efrain glared at her. “You wouldn’t.”

Miss Marlende caught the collar of Emilie’s jacket and pulled her back. “She might if suitably provoked, but I’m afraid I’ll have to forbid it. And we can’t take you back. We have to enter the aether current at the correct time or we won’t end up anywhere near where we want to go. We have no leisure to wait another day for the right moment again.” She added, “I’d better go inform my father about our new passenger. Considering that he thought a journalist had managed to sneak aboard, he’ll probably be relieved, but the trim will still have to be adjusted. Please endeavor to be civil to each other,” she added, with a stern look at Emilie.

Miss Marlende went into the control cabin and closed the door. Emilie swore, not entirely under her breath. On her first real day on the job, she was not making a good impression, and it was all her stupid family’s fault.

Daniel cleared his throat, sounding uncomfortable. “Well, we’d better get back to work.”

The others seemed to remember at the same moment that this wasn’t a spectator event. They all headed toward different parts of the ship, Cobbier and Mikel going up to the second level, while Seth and Daniel went through the passage to the engine compartments.

Since they were giving her the opportunity for a private conversation, Emilie took advantage of it. “You’re getting me into trouble with my employers,” she hissed. “Why couldn’t you stay at home and feel self-satisfied there? Why did you have to come here and try to ruin my new life?”

“We didn’t know you had a new life!” Efrain glared back at her. “We thought you were in trouble…” He waved his hands hastily. “And I don’t mean that kind of trouble! We thought you’d be lost in the city, with no money.”

“You thought I was a fool.” Emilie had no intention of mentioning it was her money problem that had led to her meeting Miss Marlende and Lord Engal. “I was going to cousin Karthea’s; I was going to help her with her school. Then I decided to do this, instead.” She folded her arms. “And don’t pretend Uncle Yeric was concerned for me. He thinks I ran off to the big city to become a prostitute.”

“He does not! Stop saying that!” Efrain looked around to make sure no one had heard, but the rest of the crew was staying as far away as possible from them without actually leaving the airship. “You’re crazy. Why would he think that–”

“Because our mother is an actress, and he thinks all actresses are secretly prostitutes, no matter how many plays they’re in.” It struck her as horribly unfair, that while her uncle had never gotten along perfectly with their older brother Erin, he had clearly not had the same problems with her younger brothers and had certainly never seemed to see them as just marking time until they could embark on careers in some criminal enterprise. Deliberately provoking, she added, “They do have boy prostitutes, you know, so I’m surprised he didn’t accuse you of wanting to be one, too.”

Efrain hesitated, mutinous and obviously confused as to what he wanted to argue about first. She expected him to attempt to deny the existence of boy prostitutes but instead he said flatly, “That’s crazy. Uncle Yeric didn’t accuse you of that.”

Being called a liar didn’t improve Emilie’s temper any. “He did. At tea, in front of Aunt Helena, Porcia, Mr Herinbogel, Mrs Rymple, and Mrs Fennan. It was humiliating.” It had been more than humiliating; it had been a terrible shock. Emilie had thought she had lived with people who knew her, even if they didn’t always seem to like her much. To be so completely misunderstood had been like suddenly discovering that she had been living with strangers.

And the more time she had to think about her feelings, the more Uncle Yeric’s opinion of her seemed to put her off men entirely. Human men, at least. She wouldn’t mind meeting a nice Cirathi man, like a younger version of Kenar, but that wasn’t likely to happen.

Maybe the detail, or her tone, was convincing. Efrain’s expression was less disbelieving. “But…”

“All I wanted was to go off to Karthea’s school, to help her with it and maybe take lessons. She had written to me about it before. It wouldn’t even have cost him anything, just the passage on a steamer, and it’s not very expensive.” She folded her arms. “If you don’t believe me, you can write to Karthea and ask her yourself. I had my things sent to her from home, and I stayed in Silk Harbor at her house the night before last. Daniel was with me. He stayed in the housekeepers’ cottage. I was going to visit her there for a few days, then we found out about this” – she waved an arm around, taking in the airship and the aetheric disturbance they were heading toward – “and we had to come back to Meneport with Professor Abindon.”

“Oh.” Efrain seemed taken aback, possibly at all the witnesses to her actions and behavior that Emilie could bring to bear if necessary. “I thought… I thought you were trying to find Erin, that you might think he was in Meneport.”

Emilie felt her lip curl. Anyone with any sense knew that naval ships spent months at sea, traveling around protecting merchant and passenger ships and ports from pirates and raiders. The only address Emilie had for Erin was the general one for the naval shipyard, but it took ages for letters to the ships to be forwarded from there. “You thought I’d just come to the docks and perhaps run up and down them crying, shocked that his ship wasn’t here? Besides, he doesn’t care about us. He left us all behind, and if we all died tomorrow he wouldn’t shed a tear.” She stopped, a little shocked. She hadn’t meant to say the last part; it had come out all on its own, a fear that had been buried in the back of her mind since Erin had left.

Efrain stepped back and pressed his lips together. He said, “You left just like he did. You don’t care about us, either.” He turned away, going back toward the rear compartments.

“You stopped caring about me first,” Emilie retorted to his retreating back. It was a cruel parting shot, and she knew she had gone too far.

Emilie went into the control cabin and shut the door behind her. She was still angry, and in that unsettled way when you knew the argument was more your fault than anyone else’s. Miss Marlende was at the controls, and Dr Marlende and Lord Engal were occupied with the aether navigation. It was mounted on a pedestal between the two control stations, and looked very like the one Emilie had seen used on the Sovereign. It had a flat silver plate etched around with the symbols and degrees of the compass directions. Two silver rings could be rotated around it, to help determine longitude and latitude. On a shallow dish on the plate itself, there was a liquid silvery substance that looked like mercury but was actually drops of clarified, stable aether. It rolled around when the plate was turned and rotated, and pointed the way toward aether currents in the air and water.

Lord Engal and Dr Marlende were making minute adjustments to it, probably trying to pinpoint the best location to enter this aether current. Dr Marlende was saying, “I wish Deverrin had spoken directly to me. I feel I owe him an apology. If I had known then what I know now, I would have gone up after them.”

Lord Engal said, “But any aetheric traces of the Deverrin airship’s passage would have been scattered by the lightning of the storm.” He adjusted the plate again. “Even if they did enter another aetheric plane, we wouldn’t have been able to track them. And if they haven’t managed to make their own way back by now, they must be dead.”

Dr Marlende adjusted the plate back where it had been before, and made a hmph noise.

The professor was seated at the other control station, taking notes or writing down her own observations. She said, dryly, “Even you can’t work miracles, Marlende.”

Emilie let her breath out, not sure whether she felt relieved or even more awkward that no one wanted to shout at her about Efrain. They’re busy with things that are far more important than your stupid family, she reminded herself. She just hoped Efrain didn’t cause any more trouble.

Finally, Dr Marlende checked another instrument on the control board and said, “Yes, that’s it! Just there.”

Lord Engal stepped back, rubbing his hands together briskly. “Good. Interesting that the current hasn’t been disturbed by the object… or craft, or whatever it is.”

“It hasn’t disrupted it yet.” Dr Marlende picked up a speaking tube. “Seth, please confirm that our recycling apparatus is producing air.”

Seth’s voice came over the tube, tinny and small. “Yes, Doctor, it’s working well.”

“Very good. Prepare for entry into the aetheric current.”

Emilie’s first inkling that taking an airship into an aetheric current might be somewhat different from taking a steamship into one was when Miss Marlende turned to her and said, “Strap into a seat, Emilie. It can get a little rough.”

Emilie took one of the padded chairs at the back of the compartment that weren’t near any of the equipment the others might need. The worn leather seat had been designed for a bigger person, and she fumbled to get the straps adjusted. As she did, Miss Marlende spoke over the speaking tube, asking the others in the back to confirm that they were all strapped in. Daniel answered for himself and Efrain. Emilie, who had just been recovering from the whole argument, felt her face heat with embarrassment again. It was good of Daniel to take charge of her brother, but she just hoped Efrain wasn’t saying anything horrible about her. All these people knew her – had known her – as Emilie the Adventurous Stowaway; she wasn’t happy that Efrain might paint a different, considerably more pathetic picture of her. You shouldn’t have told him what Uncle Yeric said to you, she thought. Idiot. She already knew she had talked far too much and said things she regretted. She was beginning to think opening her mouth at all had been a bad mistake.

Once everyone had strapped in, Dr Marlende put his hands flat on the control board and closed his eyes. Emilie knew he must be invoking the protective spell, and looked out the port in time to see it shimmer into existence, rising up like a crystalline curtain being gently draped over the airship. It was necessary to protect the craft from the pressures of the aether current, and to keep the air inside once they had gone up so far that there would be hardly any outside.

Dr Marlende took hold of the wheel. Miss Marlende, her eyes on one of the dials on the panel, said, “On my mark… Mark.”

Dr Marlende turned the wheel and the airship twisted. Or at least Emilie’s stomach twisted.

The deck underfoot trembled, then the ship started to move upward, faster than it had before.

Emilie sat back in her seat and felt her heart thump nervously. Miss Marlende and Lord Engal checked their straps, and Emilie tightened hers. Dr Marlende’s expression was rapt with concentration. Miss Marlende adjusted the controls carefully. The light outside dimmed and shimmered, and the push of the deck against Emilie’s feet grew harder until her whole body squished down with the force of it.

The ship jerked, wrenched sideways as if a giant hand had snatched it out of the air. The straps bit into Emilie’s chest and waist as she jerked forward. Everything rumbled and shook. Emilie’s ears popped and she gasped in a breath, and wriggled back to ease the pressure of the straps against her waist. From across the cabin, Lord Engal grunted in pain and muttered, “I’ve always hated that part.”

Emilie was rather glad she hadn’t known about it; tensing up in anticipation would have made it far worse. The deck still pressed up against her feet and she knew the ship was being carried along in the powerful aetheric current. Cautiously, she stretched up and looked out the port.

Through the misty surface of the spell bubble, she could see blue sky stream past, streaked with white that might be clouds. She blinked and squinted. No, it wasn’t sky, or not exactly. Or not the right sky. In the distance, there was purple-tinted indigo darkness, like a thunderstorm rising on the horizon. Except it wasn’t the horizon, because she couldn’t see land below them anywhere. “Is it always like this?” She hadn’t realized she had spoken aloud until she heard the words.

“Like what?” Miss Marlende asked, starting to unbuckle her straps. “Oh, you mean the colors? Yes, this is perfectly normal. And you can get up now. We should be stable for the next three hours.”

Emilie unbuckled herself and carefully eased to her feet. The feel of the deck pushing upward was disconcerting, and not at all like the way it had felt aboard the Sovereign, when the steamship had been traveling through the sea-bottom aether current. “What should I do? Is there any work you need help with?”

“Not right now.” Miss Marlende stretched and yawned. She looked at the professor, who was still writing in her notebook as if nothing had happened, and shook her head wryly. “Just get some rest.”

Emilie’s first impulse was to go see if Efrain was all right, and she grimaced at herself. After a moment of struggling with her conscience, she went to look for him.

She found him in the back compartments with Seth and Cobbier, listening to a detailed explanation of how the engines worked, and apparently, infuriatingly, no worse the wear for the startling experience of entering an aether current for the first time. Emilie would have liked to listen to the explanation too but didn’t want to look as if she was waiting on Efrain’s convenience, so she left the compartment.

Emilie walked around a little and found Daniel and Mikel on the second level making sure their various telescopes and aetheric observers had made it through the bumpy transition all right. Mikel was another student, but an older one, and like Seth he was also an engineer. He was lean and rawboned, with brown skin and lighter Northern Menaen hair. His face was weathered from spending a great deal of time at sea when he was younger, and it made him look older than he was. He told her, “Take a look at the view; it’s best from up here.”

She paused to look out at the aether current through the big observation windows. There were mists and eddies of other colors in the darkness, violet with a hint of red, swirls of silver trickling over them like whitecaps on waves. It was like watching clouds; you could make fanciful shapes out of them if you… Emilie stared, blinked hard, and stared again. That wasn’t just a shape. She pointed. “Uh, Daniel, Mikel…”

Lifting over a bank of violet streaked darkness was a wing, a giant wing, curving and pointed at the end, made of the same darkness as everything else but Emilie could see the etched lines of scales. Daniel stepped up beside her, leaned forward so his nose almost touched the glass. From behind them, Mikel said, “It’s an aether ghost. You see them occasionally in the air currents. We saw some on Dr Marlende’s last trip up here.”

“How do you know…” Emilie began, meaning to ask how one knew this was a ghost and not an actual enormous flying creature. But the wing dissolved into mist, fading away into the darkness. “Oh.”

“I suppose they’re in the sea aether currents, too,” Daniel said, staring intently after the wing. “We just can’t see them.”

“But what are they? Where do they come from? Are they really ghosts?” Emilie scanned the moving colors, hoping for another glimpse.

“We don’t know, really,” Mikel said. “The theory is that the current passes things and carries their images along with it for a while.”

The world was a stranger place than Emilie had realized. After a time, Daniel and Mikel went back down to the main cabin to get some sleep, but she stared for a long time, looking for more ghosts. Then her eyes started to hurt and she realized she was drifting off. She managed to use the waterless WC without incident, and took the opportunity to find her bag and change out of her skirt and into the clean but somewhat battered pair of bloomers that had survived her trip to the Hollow World. Both Miss Marlende and Professor Abindon were also wearing bloomers, much more practical for climbing around the airship. Then she went back to the control cabin again so she could sit and look out the big port. She fell asleep still watching for more aether ghosts.

They had to strap in again to exit the aether current. Miss Marlende said it wasn’t usually as rough as entering it, but they had never come this far up before, so they had better be cautious. Emilie completely agreed with that sentiment. With the others, she took her seat and got her straps tightened. Lord Engal was the last to get situated, muttering to himself as he buckled in.

“Are you ready?” Dr Marlende asked irritably. “The aether current won’t wait for us.”

“Yes, yes, go ahead, I’m ready.” Lord Engal yanked on the last strap.

Emilie thought it was nervousness on both their parts. Everyone was on edge, watching the controls with worried concentration. Miss Marlende made some careful adjustments to the dials, then nodded to Dr Marlende. He flicked a switch, then turned the wheel slightly.

For a moment there was nothing, except the sky outside the port began to darken. The sensation of rushing movement and constant pressure began to ease and then stopped altogether; Emilie had gotten used enough to it that it felt odd to be without. The cessation of it was so gentle, it came as a complete shock when the airship shuddered violently and jerked sideways.

Emilie clutched the arms of her chair, glad she hadn’t been expecting that one, either. The airship shook once, hard, and then went still.

“There we are,” Dr Marlende said, sounding satisfied. “A successful journey.” Emilie was glad he was so much better at traveling through aether currents than Dr Barshion and Lord Engal.

The others began to unbuckle their straps and stand. Daniel poked his head in through the doorway, and Emilie heard movement and Cobbier’s voice from the main cabin. She looked out the side port and saw the colors had changed to a very deep blue that shaded to black as she craned her neck to look up. She couldn’t see clouds, or stars, or anything below them. That was disconcerting. The spell bubble was just a faint shimmer now, nearly transparent, and it felt like little protection between the airship and all that immensity of sky and empty space.

Lord Engal stared through the front port and said, “And there it is.”

Emilie hastily unstrapped and climbed out of her seat. She stepped up beside Miss Marlende and the professor to see the shape of the strange craft was just becoming visible in the upper portion of the forward port. At first it looked small, then she realized those little round dots along the hull must be windows. She blinked and suddenly saw it in the right perspective: the strange craft was huge.

It had three long cylindrical hulls, all of dull but silvery metal, like pewter. One hull was in the center, with the two others attached on either side. Above them were three enormous sails, square but curved on top, like shovels slanted backward, which gave the whole craft a sense of forward motion, even though Emilie thought it must be standing still. It was like a very odd sailing ship. There were no open decks or promenades, and the little windows seemed to be the only way to see in or out.

Beside her, Daniel gasped in amazement. Professor Abindon lifted a small telescope to study it more closely.

Lord Engal whistled in appreciation. “That is a fine sight.”

“The sails are fascinating,” the Professor said softly. “Can it possibly use them to sail the aether current?”

“It must,” Dr Marlende murmured, his expression rapt. “Surely they aren’t decorative.”

“How does it land?” Emilie asked. She didn’t see any sort of landing apparatus, though she supposed the rounded hulls could float in water. “Or is it meant to stay in the air?”

“Or something far stranger.” Miss Marlende’s expression was simultaneously intrigued and fascinated and worried. “We don’t know anything about the place where it comes from. It could be… completely different.”

“How different?” Emilie asked, then realized it was a question without any sensible answer. If the ship had never been meant to land, and the sails looked so delicate… “Like a world that might be made all out of aether? But what would the people be like?”

“A good question,” Dr Marlende said, his voice turning grim.

Emilie felt a chill settle in her stomach. Looking at the beautifully strange vessel, she had forgotten for a moment that it would be piloted by somebody. Hopefully, they would be like the Cirathi, friendly explorers not so different from themselves. Hopefully.

“I don’t see any lights,” Miss Marlende said, “Can any of you?”

“Lights in the portholes, you mean? No.” Professor Abindon adjusted her telescope. “Its position hasn’t changed since we launched, either.”

“Really?” Dr Marlende turned to her. “But your record of its earlier progress showed that it was moving at a steady rate.”

“It was, but it’s stopped. It hasn’t moved at all since our last observation, late last night.” She lowered her telescope. “Perhaps it somehow detected when we entered the current and paused to wait?”

Dr Marlende’s brow furrowed. “Hmm.”

Lord Engal absently scratched his beard. “How odd. If they had stopped to wait for our arrival, you would think they would have spotted us by now and tried to signal.”

Emilie glanced at Daniel. Keeping her voice low, because she wasn’t certain if it was a silly observation or not, she said, “Maybe they’re so different, they don’t have signals.”

“If they’re that different, I don’t know how we’re going to talk to them,” he murmured back.

“Yes, communicating may be a significant problem,” Lord Engal agreed, though Emilie had thought he was too distracted to listen to them. “It’s too bad the sea-kingdom people were too involved in their own hostile interactions for any meaningful exchanges of ideas. The translation spells they used might have come in quite handy now.”

Miss Marlende eyed Lord Engal. “I thought our goal as decided by the Society was only to observe the object up close and ascertain whether it was really a foreign craft.”

“We’ve done that,” Lord Engal pointed out. “Our next goal as decided by the Society would obviously be to attempt to contact it and ask it what it wants. There’s no point in returning to report when we’ll only have to turn around and come back.”

“Yes.” Miss Marlende looked toward the silent craft again. “I’d rather hoped to see some sort of friendly crew waving at us, which would have rendered the whole point moot.”

“As did I.” Dr Marlende turned to Daniel. “We’ll try signaling them. Daniel, tell Cobbier to ready the signal lamp.”

Professor Abindon snorted. “I don’t suppose they’ll know International Lamp Code.”

Dr Marlende said, rather tightly, “No, Professor, but I hope they’ll see it blinking at them and interpret it as an attempt to greet them.”

Professor Abindon sighed. “I wasn’t criticizing you. It’s the only course open to us at the moment.”

Emilie followed Daniel back through the main cabin. She wondered if signaling was a good idea. What if the strange vessel thought they were attacking it? She pushed the thought away, recognizing it as another symptom of panic. The others were right; all they could do was try to contact the strangers the way they would anyone else, and hope for the best.

They were in a situation where anything they might do, any choice they made, could turn out to be horribly wrong. She should be used to that from the trip to the Hollow World, but apparently it was a sensation that one couldn’t get accustomed to.

They found Cobbier with Seth and Mikel and Efrain in the room adjacent to the engine and air-processing room. It was lined with cabinets and had two more padded chairs with safety straps. They were all glued to the large port, Efrain as well. As they stepped in, Efrain turned to stare at her, his eyes huge. “It’s really a ship from another world!”

“We know,” Emilie snapped, conveniently forgetting her own awe of a few moments ago. “We’re going to try to signal it.”

“With the lamp?” Cobbier asked. Then added, “That’s our only choice, I guess. It’s not as if we can use the flags up here.” He crossed the room to one of the storage cabinets and started to rummage in it.

“But…” Efrain stared at the ship again. “What if it does something?”

“It has to know we’re here,” Daniel said, before Emilie could snap again. “The way these aether currents work, it would have seen us coming from a long distance. Just like we could see it. If it was going to… do something, it would have done it by now.”

Efrain didn’t look much reassured. Cobbier lifted out the lamp, a big metal cylinder with glass slats on both ends and a hand crank. As he carried it to the port, Seth unrolled a cable from the engine room doorway. Emilie knew the lamp ran on electricity, and that to make it blink you used the crank to open and close the slats. They attached the lamp to a half-circle metal brace that was set up in front of the port, fastened it down, and connected it to the generator with the cable. The cylinder hummed and crackled as the bulbs inside it warmed. Daniel used the speaking tube in the wall to call the control room. “We’re ready, Dr Marlende.”

The tinny reply came over the tube. “Very good. Signal at will.”

Cobbier looked at Daniel. “What should we say?”

“Uh…” Daniel bit his lip. Emilie thought it was rather a big responsibility to have, to be the one to decide what their first message would be to this potential new friend that they all hoped very much did not become a new enemy. She was rather glad she wasn’t the one deciding it. Finally, he said, “Just the standard greeting to an unknown ship.” He glanced worriedly at Seth and Mikel. “Does that sound right to you?”

Mikel shrugged. Seth admitted, “I don’t know what else we’d say.”

Cobbier moved the crank and the cylinder clacked as he sent the coded signal. With the others, Emilie watched the strange ship, her heart thumping in anticipation.

But the ship just floated there silently.

“Keep trying,” Daniel said softly.

There was a quiet step behind them. Emilie looked back as Miss Marlende stepped into the compartment. Emilie said, “It doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Maybe they aren’t looking at us,” Efrain said.

Emilie gave him a withering look. “There’s a strange airship in the same aether current. What else would they be looking at?”

Efrain glared back at her, but didn’t argue. As the light clacked and hissed with heat, Miss Marlende folded her arms, regarding the ship. She said, “I’m beginning to wonder if something’s happened to them.”

Emilie had to admit that the ship’s lack of activity did make you consider that possibility. Several different scenarios came to mind, mostly from the Lord Rohiro novels and from histories of exploration she had read. “There could have been illness aboard, or food that went bad, or pirates… No, I suppose not pirates.”

“We hope not pirates,” Daniel said. “I don’t want to see what sort of pirates would be traveling aether currents from another world.” Cobbier nodded fervently.

Emilie found the idea intriguing, but she would much rather read it in a book or watch it in a play, and not experience it in real life.

“But some sort of disaster befalling the crew doesn’t explain why the ship is still here.” Miss Marlende shook her head. “Without anyone to guide it, it should have started to drift by now. It would eventually fall out of the current and be destroyed. Something must be holding it in place.”

Mikel seemed intrigued by the thought. “Maybe it has mechanisms aboard that we just haven’t thought of yet, that keep it on course even though the crew isn’t there to tend them.”

Emilie was watching Miss Marlende’s expression now. “We’re going aboard it, aren’t we? If they won’t answer us… there’s no choice, really, is there?”

The others all looked grim, except Efrain, whose expression was incredulous. He said, “‘We?’” When the others just looked at him, he cleared his throat and said, “Shouldn’t we let someone official do that?”

Miss Marlende lifted a brow at him. “Just who do you think we are, young man? Tourists?”

Efrain fumbled for an answer, and Emilie set her jaw. She said, “Anyway. Dr Marlende will want to board it, won’t he? And Lord Engal.” She would be rather surprised if Lord Engal didn’t demand to be part of the boarding party.

“Yes.” Miss Marlende let out her breath. She looked weary and worried. “I don’t like the idea, but… We have to find out who sent this ship, and it would be helpful to know why it seems to be uninhabited.”

“If it is uninhabited,” Daniel said quietly.

Miss Marlende acknowledged that with a nod. “Well, I’m fairly certain it wasn’t uninhabited when it started out.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Just to be certain they had tried every option, Dr Marlende also had Daniel use the wireless to try to signal the strange ship they had dubbed the aether-sailer. As Daniel tapped the code onto the machine’s plate, it sounded hollow and echoing, as if the signals were going out into the vast empty air with no one to receive them. At least, that was how Emilie’s imagination saw it. After many repetitions of the message, there was still no answer. After that, Dr Marlende decided to keep signaling the ship with the lamp, at least for the next hour, to give the aether-sailer plenty of time to respond. But in the meantime, he began to work on the spell that would be needed to board the aether-sailer from the airship.

“We’ll have to get as near as possible,” he said, leaning on the railing in the main cabin to look thoughtfully toward their goal. Seth was at the wheel in the control cabin, listening to the wireless just in case, with Cobbier still manning the signal light. “I’ll construct a variation on the protective spell that encloses the airship. It will have much the same function but on a smaller scale. Once it’s active, we’ll be able to pass through the protective barrier and, hopefully, into the other ship.”

“If we can find an entrance somewhere,” the Professor said.

Dr Marlende said, “Yes, we’ll have to locate one first before we attempt the crossing, since we have no portable version of the air-producing apparatus, and our time will be limited.”

Miss Marlende lifted her brows. “You mean it will be like walking inside a giant soap bubble. When the air runs out, you could asphyxiate.”

“Well, in a word, yes,” Dr Marlende admitted.

“What if the aether-sailer has no air aboard it?”

Dr Marlende shrugged. “Then we’ll have to turn around and come back, and think of something else?”

Miss Marlende did not appear to think this a very good plan. Emilie was doubtful of it as well, but had no idea what to suggest in its place.

“Not an ideal solution,” Lord Engal agreed. He rubbed his hands together briskly, obviously more than ready to begin. “But I don’t see that we have a choice.”

Daniel and Professor Abindon and Mikel all nodded, though the professor looked grim. Efrain just watched incredulously, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Emilie just hoped he didn’t say anything stupid and embarrass her again.

The hour went by slowly while Dr Marlende made his preparations. Emilie spent the time ignoring Efrain and getting a quick tutorial in how to signal for help in lamp and wireless code from Daniel. Or at least, she tried to ignore Efrain. He came into the compartment where the signal lamp was mounted, where Emilie and Daniel sat at a little table that folded down from the wall. Daniel had marked the codes on paper and Emilie was tapping them out by knocking on the table. Cobbier was still working the signal lamp, though Daniel was due to take over for him in a few minutes.

Efrain stood there a moment at Emilie’s elbow, looming in annoying younger-brother fashion, then said, “Can I talk to you?”

Emilie didn’t look up. “No, I’m busy. I need to learn this.”

Efrain hovered for a time, then finally left.

Emilie saw Daniel’s expression and heard him draw breath to speak. She said, “No, I have no intention of making up with him, so I’m a terrible, mean person.”

“I think you’re a very upset person,” Daniel said. He glanced up at her. “Has he really been awful to you?”

Emilie started to say yes, then thought it over. Daniel deserved a better answer. A more honest answer. “He probably doesn’t think he has.”

“I’m not giving you advice.” Daniel held up his hands, as if to ward off any accusation of giving advice. “But what we’re doing is not safe, and… It’s just a good idea not to leave things in a way you might regret later.”

“I know,” Emilie grumbled. She really did know. But it felt like the hardest thing in the world.

The first thing they had to figure out was how they were going to get aboard. From this angle, the only openings in the aether-sailer were the window portals, and those appeared to be covered with glass or some other transparent material. They needed to find some sort of hatch.

By stopping and starting the engine, and turning the aether rudder at the stern of the airship, Dr Marlende maneuvered around and brought the airship closer to the aether-sailer. Watching from the port in the control cabin, Emilie held her breath, but the other ship still didn’t seem to notice they were there. The airship dropped slowly, the curved wall of the far larger aether-sailer looming over it. This close Emilie could see scratches and pits in the dull silver metal, as if the ship had been struck by wind-blown debris, or had spent years traveling in heavy weather. “It’s old, isn’t it?” Emilie said aloud. For some reason, that seemed strange, as if part of her had assumed the aether-sailer had sprung into being just before the professor had detected it. “Do you think it’s been traveling for a very long time?”

It was the professor who answered, watching the view out the port with her arms folded. “It’s a possibility. We’ve assumed that the concentric world theory is correct, and this ship is a visitor from the world just above ours. But if it’s designed for long aether-current voyages, it could have traveled through many such levels to get here.”

That was rather encouraging, Emilie thought, as the airship followed the curve of the lowest hull. Pirates or other people who wanted to cause trouble would surely stick to targets close to home. The only people who would have reason to travel through many different worlds were explorers and philosophers. You hope, she told herself. It didn’t explain why the aether-sailer seemed to be ignoring them.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything at all down here,” Lord Engal said from the other port. He sounded disappointed. “Perhaps… Wait. There, toward the middle. There’s a round shadow.”

Miss Marlende, manning her side of the control board, stood up from her seat to look. “Move forward, Father. About ten degrees.”

Emilie leaned against the port and craned her neck. All she could see was more curving pitted metal; the strange light filtering through the aether current reflected off it in shafts of blue. The airship nudged forward and she saw what Lord Engal meant. Toward the center of the hull was a round depression, gently curving up.

As they drew closer, she saw it must be some sort of docking platform. It was a bell shape hollowed out of the bottom of the hull, with a platform half-circling it. Emilie couldn’t imagine what sort of craft it was meant for, except that whatever it was must be round. The airship angled around and she spotted the circular shape of a door, just above the platform. It was closed, but it was there, and it was the only door-like thing they had seen so far.

Miss Marlende said, “Hmm. I don’t suppose we’re far enough up in the current to roll the airship sideways.”

“No, unfortunately, we must stay on this level.” Dr Marlende picked up the speaking tube. “Seth, find the grappling gear and bring it up to the main cabin, if you would be so kind.”

The protective spell around the airship extended out over the gallery that ran along the main cabin, so though it was more exposed, it was just as safe as the cabin interior. It was purely Emilie’s nerves that made it seem like a bad idea to open the door and step out on it.

But that was what Dr Marlende did when Seth brought in a rolled-up bundle of ropes. Seth deposited the bundle on the deck and went back for more, and Dr Marlende moved to the railing and peered upward. Lord Engal and the professor joined him. Miss Marlende was still in the control cabin, keeping the airship in place. Taking a deep breath, Emilie stepped out after them.

It shouldn’t be that different from looking out the ports, but it was. The view of the space around them was vast and forever, the shadings of blue more vivid and alive. It was as if there was no world below them, nothing existing in all this emptiness but the fragile construction of metal and cloth that their lives depended on. Emilie was suddenly aware that she couldn’t let go of the door frame.

Dr Marlende, Lord Engal, and Professor Abindon were all looking up as if they were on a balcony in Meneport, contemplating the stars. Lord Engal said, “It’s rather a bad angle, with the balloon in the way. But it can’t be helped. You don’t think the aether current’s natural buoyance will interfere with the grappling launcher?”

“Natural buoyance?” Emilie wondered.

“The current makes things float,” Professor Abindon explained.

Dr Marlende said, “There will be some interference. But the grappling launcher should be powerful enough to get the hook to the platform.”

“You’re both mad,” Professor Abindon said, but added thoughtfully, “It should work, however.”

Emilie made herself look up, and almost ducked in involuntary reaction. The aether-sailer filled the sky above them, the great long curved shapes of the triple hull as big as mountains from this angle. The bell-shaped depression with its half-circle of platform and tantalizing door looked terribly far away.

Daniel stuck his head out the cabin door and she jumped a little. He said, “All the way up there? Huh,” and stepped back in.

Emilie ducked in after him and saw him crouching on the floor with a spring-loaded device used to shoot a grappling hook attached to a line. It was useful for attaching ropes to objects at a distance, so an airship could be tied off to them if they were solid enough, or to attach lines and draw up a rope ladder.

Daniel, Cobbier, Mikel, Seth, Dr Marlende, and Lord Engal all began to lay out the various ropes and hooks they would need, something that took up most of the main cabin and the balcony. Emilie retreated up the stairs to the upper cabin to watch from there, where she was out of the way.

She had only been there a few moments when Efrain came up the stairs. Emilie grimaced, aware she had allowed herself to be trapped into a private conversation. She said, hoping against hope, “The water closet is back there.”

Efrain ignored that. He said, “Seth told me what you did.”

Emilie was instantly suspicious. “What did I do?”

“How you rescued them from the cell when they were held prisoner by the sea people.” He paused for a moment and seemed somewhat bemused, as if he couldn’t believe he was saying those words to his despised and useless older sister. Emilie had to admit it did sound rather unlikely, though it was true. He continued. “It was… I just… Weren’t you afraid?”

That wasn’t what Emilie had expected him to ask. She hesitated, tempted to say she had never been afraid, that she had sailed through the whole experience without a qualm, even when people were trying to kill her. Efrain would never have believed her if she had told him about it, but he had believed Seth, even though he was a total stranger. A strange man who is a crew member on an airship Efrain stowed away on has more credibility than me. But she thought of poor Beinar and suddenly couldn’t lie about it. “I was very afraid. But there was no one else. Rani had just been captured, Miss Marlende was being held prisoner by Lord Ivers, I wasn’t sure where Lord Engal and the others were, even if I could have gotten to them.” Even remembering it was making her insides curl up. She had been afraid, but it was the feeling of being completely alone that she remembered the most. “But I was more afraid to just stay where I was, so I had to keep going forward.”

Efrain bit his lip, obviously conflicted. “It’s like I don’t know you,” he said finally.

“You don’t,” Emilie said, and it startled her to realize just how much she resented it. It almost put what Uncle Yeric had said to her in the shade. “You stopped knowing me when Erin left. I went away and you pretended there was a useless, stupid girl in my place, who said stupid things and was easy to ignore. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Efrain shook his head, confused and mulish. “That’s not what… You were… You changed!”

If that was all he had to answer her with, Emilie didn’t care to continue the conversation. She retorted, “I didn’t change. I was always the same. But it’s not nice, having someone who knows you suddenly un-know you.”

Emilie turned away, took three long strides toward the stairs, and almost ran into Professor Abindon. The professor’s expression might have been mistaken for her not uncommon angry frown, but this close up, Emilie could see it was really consternation, as if she had just heard something that had startled or upset her. Before Emilie could speak, the Professor said, “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to overhear.”

“It’s all right,” Emilie said hastily, and waved her hands, trying to indicate that the interconnected compartments of the airship made privacy almost impossible. “Can’t be helped, here, I mean.” Then she fled before it got any worse.

It was Cobbier who fired the hook-launcher up toward the platform. The hook skittered across the metal and caught on the far edge. Everyone ducked a little, waiting tensely. Emilie saw she wasn’t the only one who had thought that appearing to shoot something at a strange ship could possibly be problematic. But there was no reaction, and after a few moments, everyone breathed again.

Cobbier detached the line from the launcher and leaned on it, testing the hold. The hook didn’t move. “It’s holding.”

“Good.” Dr Marlende shed his coat and absently held it out. Emilie hastily stepped forward and took it, glad to feel a little useful. He continued, “I’ll go up first and secure the ladder, then come back and extend the spell to cover the rest of you.”

Miss Marlende said, “Have you tested the smaller protective spell?”

Dr Marlende smiled at her, pulling on a pair of leather gloves. “This will be the test.”

Miss Marlende drew a sharp breath, and didn’t look especially happy with that answer. Professor Abindon sighed wearily and rubbed her forehead. Emilie could see that being married to Dr Marlende might prove to be a little too much on a daily basis. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising that the professor had decided to give it up.

Dr Marlende started to climb, wrapping the line around his legs and shinnying up it like a long pole. Cobbier reached for the end, but Lord Engal got it first, leaning on it and holding it taut so the doctor could climb more easily.

It was a long way, and he had to climb past the bulk of the balloon, near enough that he could have stretched out and touched it. As he reached the top of the shimmering curtain of the protective spell, Emilie held her breath. But as he climbed past the faint wavering light, a globe of it detached like a droplet from a dipper of water and clung to him as he continued up.

“Ah, it worked just as expected,” Lord Engal said, sounding pleased. Cobbier wiped sweat off his brow and exchanged a relieved look with Mikel.

The Professor muttered, “I wonder at the man’s sanity, but he is competent.”

Emilie realized she was holding her breath only when it abruptly ran out, and she choked a bit and coughed. Miss Marlende put an arm around her and squeezed her shoulder.

Everyone sighed with relief when Dr Marlende reached the platform and scrambled up onto it. Lord Engal and Cobbier hurried to attach the rope ladder to the line, and Dr Marlende drew it up until he could hook the end to the platform. Then he turned toward the door.

“What the–” Lord Engal was outraged. “He’s supposed to wait for us!”

“Quiet,” Miss Marlende and the Professor both snapped. Miss Marlende added, “He has to check the air supply. Otherwise, there’s no use in the rest of you going up there.”

It was too far away to see what Dr Marlende was doing in any kind of detail, but Emilie could make out that he was searching all around the doorframe. Finally, he turned and crouched down, swinging onto the ladder with practiced ease and starting down. Emilie found herself wiping sweat off her forehead. And we haven’t even gotten to the really scary part yet, she told herself.

Miss Marlende turned to her and said, “Start bringing out the packs, please, Emilie. I want to have this over with as soon as possible.”

Emilie nodded, and hurried back into the main cabin.

From the control cabin, Daniel called, “Is everything all right? We can’t see a thing from here!”

She looked to see both Daniel and Seth staring worriedly from their seats at the control console. Efrain peered around the door at her. She called back, “It’s fine! So far. I’m getting the packs.”

She slung two over her shoulders and picked up the other two, then stepped out onto the gallery just as Dr Marlende climbed down the last rung of the ladder onto the deck.

“What did you discover?” Lord Engal demanded.

Dr Marlende rubbed his hands together briskly. “I found the catch to the door and was able to open it slightly. No one seemed to be immediately visible. I was also able to determine that the air inside is breathable.”

“Good,” Lord Engal said, somewhat mollified. He slung the pack Emilie handed him across his back. “That will make this much easier. If the crew is merely incapacitated inside somewhere, we can more easily come to their aid. If the crew has had some misadventure and is dead, it will probably take some time to try to determine how to land the ship.”

“Land it?” The Professor raised her brows. “You’re planning to keep it?”

“If we can find no sign of the crew, what else are we to do?” Lord Engal waved upward at the bulk of the aether-sailer. “We can’t leave it up here! Some brute like Ivers could come and steal it.”

“We could leave it up here,” Miss Marlende countered. She looked up again at the bulk of the craft looming over them. Her brows drew together in concern. “But perhaps it wouldn’t be ideal. If it really has stopped moving, it could disrupt the aether current even further.”

“When I finish my calculations, we’ll know,” the Professor said, somewhat darkly.

They watched while Dr Marlende, Lord Engal, Cobbier, and Mikel got their packs on and readied themselves for the climb. Miss Marlende said, “Just be careful.”

Dr Marlende kissed her cheek. “If all goes well, we’ll report within the hour.”

“If all goes well?” Miss Marlende repeated.

“Well, the crew may in fact be alive and aboard and studiously ignoring our attempts to contact them, and may order us – or chase us – off the vessel as soon as they lay eyes on us,” Dr Marlende said. “But somehow, I doubt it.”

Emilie did, too. There was something ominous about the giant aether-sailer’s silence.

Dr Marlende started up the ladder first, followed by Lord Engal, Mikel, and then Cobbier. Emilie and the others watched until they reached the platform and one by one disappeared through the door.

“Are any of them armed?” Professor Abindon asked.

“My father and Lord Engal are, as am I,” Miss Marlende said. “Though it’s more because of the trouble with Lord Ivers than anything we expected to encounter out here.”

“Hmm,” Professor Abindon said, and stepped back into the airship. It was not a very reassuring “hmm”, Emilie thought.

They waited.

At first, Emilie was tense and jittery with excitement, and she knew she wasn’t the only one. They took turns as lookout on the gallery, keeping watch in case the exploring party returned or tried to signal them earlier than the one-hour mark. Emilie took her turn, though she hated standing out there alone. There was just something daunting about that much empty space, with only the thin barrier of the spell between them and it. It helped to keep the door open and listen to the others talking and moving around inside.

After about an hour, Efrain, who was taking a turn at watch, called out excitedly. Emilie, Miss Marlende, and the professor hurried outside. Emilie looked up to see that Cobbier stood on the aether-sailer’s platform. He waved to them and attached something to a line that ran parallel to the rope ladder, then pulled on the line to send it down to them.

As it drew closer, Emilie saw it was a metal tube, meant to hold a written message. She tried not to bounce with impatience. We’re about to get answers to all our questions! Miss Marlende snatched the tube off the line as soon as it dropped within reach, wrenched off the cap, and pulled out a rolled-up square of notepaper. Emilie thought, Uh, that looks a little small to have all the answers on it.

Miss Marlende read aloud, “No sign of any crew aboard. Continuing the search.” She crumpled the paper, staring incredulously up at the aether-sailer. “That’s all? After an hour? You have to be joking.”

Up on the platform, Cobbier waved again and went back through the open door, vanishing into the ship.

Everyone stared up in frustration and disappointment. Professor Abindon swore. “That man.”

Miss Marlende’s glance at her was annoyed and a little defensive. “It’s Lord Engal’s handwriting.”

“If your father had meant him to add more, he would have dictated it in exactly…” She registered Miss Marlende’s expression and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

Miss Marlende pressed her lips together, smoothed the note, and tucked it into a pocket. “Never mind. At least we know they’re all right.”

Emilie let her breath out, controlling her own dissatisfaction at the lack of information in the note. Maybe all the answers was a little bit much to expect, she thought. She stepped back inside to go to the control cabin and tell Daniel what the note had said. He also stared incredulously and said, “That’s it?”

Emilie nodded. “If you had been able to go with them, would you have written more?”

Irritated at the implied accusation, Daniel said, “Of course!” As she continued to regard him, he added, “Well, probably I would have. Maybe they haven’t discovered anything else.”

Emilie grudgingly admitted that was possibly true and went back to the main cabin to start waiting again.

The wait continued for the next hourly report. Emilie had spent the time looking over the wireless manual and memorizing some of the basic codes. It was very dry reading, though, and after a time, she drifted off. She woke abruptly when the bench seat shook violently and the book slid off her lap. She sat up, suddenly wide awake.

Seth, out in the gallery on watch, was now braced in the open doorway. Efrain stared at her from the opposite bench seat. “Was that normal?” he asked her.

“No. At least, I don’t think so.” Emilie pushed to her feet, keeping hold of a support post, but the deck had stopped shivering.

“It wasn’t normal,” Seth confirmed. Still holding onto the door frame, he stepped cautiously out to look up at the aether-sailer. “Can’t see anything out here that might have caused it.”

Professor Abindon clattered hurriedly down the stairs from the upper cabin. “Did something hit us?” she demanded.

“We don’t know; we can’t see anything,” Emilie told her. She had rather been hoping the professor knew.

She followed the professor into the control cabin, Efrain trailing behind them. Miss Marlende had taken over for Daniel at the controls, and he was standing now looking over her shoulder as she checked various dials and adjusted levers. She glanced up, frowning. “Before you ask, I don’t know. It must have been a fluctuation in the current. If something had hit the balloon, we would have heard the impact.”

Daniel was nodding. “It felt like something just grabbed the whole ship and shook us. That had to be the current.”

The professor checked the aether-navigator, then compared it to a long list of figures in her notebook. “The current has shifted three degrees.”

“It can’t have.” Miss Marlende glanced over her shoulder. “Are you certain?”

“Yes.” The Professor’s face was grim. “I’ve been checking our position frequently. Something is disrupting the current.”

Miss Marlende turned back to the controls, and said, “They must have felt that aboard the aether-sailer. Hopefully, Father will make a more complete report this time.”

When the time came, Emilie and Daniel went out onto the gallery to wait with Seth. The professor followed them, and Efrain came to stand in the doorway. They waited expectantly, staring up at the aether-sailer.

After a time, Professor Abindon checked her pocket watch and snorted with exasperation. “Of course he’s late.”

But Seth was frowning. He said, “He wouldn’t miss a report.”

Daniel looked concerned, too. The Professor conceded, “Well, the craft is large, and they may be at some distance from the door by this point.”

Daniel bit his lip. “They may not want to split up, either.”

Emilie felt a sinking sensation. No one is coming, she thought. She didn’t know how she knew. There was just a sense of emptiness and silence and… It’s like how you’re expecting the post to come, but it doesn’t, and you just know there was a problem with the wagon, and even if they fix it, they won’t send it out this late.

They waited, but no one opened the door.

CHAPTER SIX

After three hours had passed, Miss Marlende said, “We’ll have to go after them.”

Daniel nodded. “I’ll go, with Seth. I can do the protective spell. Dr Marlende showed me how he constructed it. We’ll need–”

“Daniel, you can’t climb that ladder, not with your shoulder,” Miss Marlende interrupted impatiently. “If you tear that wound open, you could lose control of the spell, and you and whoever was with you would die in a very unpleasant fashion.” Daniel drew breath to argue, and she added, “Do not attempt to cross words with me.”

Daniel hesitated for a long moment, then let the breath out, words unspoken. His expression was torn between frustration and grim anger. He knows she’s right, Emilie thought. At least he was sensible enough to acknowledge it. He said, “But who will go?”

“I will,” Miss Marlende said.

“But the spell–”

“The professor can do it.” Miss Marlende’s gaze met the professor’s.

Professor Abindon lifted her brows, then said, “I can. I will.”

“But can you climb the ladder, Professor?” Daniel asked. “It’s such a long way–”

She gave him a withering look. “Please. I’m not decrepit. I’ve climbed the lighthouse at Silk Harbor every week for the past two years, to adjust their aether weather-scope. And the current’s buoyance means we won’t weigh as much while we’re climbing.”

Miss Marlende nodded firmly, though Emilie read the relief in the set of her shoulders. She hadn’t been entirely certain the professor would agree to go. She said, “Very well. Seth, you’ll remain here also.”

Seth stared in astonishment. He had clearly been counting himself as a member of the party. “But Miss Marlende, you can’t go alone, just you and the Professor…”

Miss Marlende fixed him with a steely gaze. “Neither Efrain nor Emilie can pilot the airship, and Daniel will need a relief pilot. We may be gone for some time, and we can’t risk the airship changing position and breaking the lines to the aether-sailer.” He started to speak and she interrupted. “Are you going to present a relevant argument or are you going to make an emotional appeal?”

“But…” Seth deflated. “Just the two of you… It’s not…”

“Safe?” Professor Abindon’s mouth twisted in ironic comment.

Emilie took a deep breath. She felt a flood of fear and was surprised to note that it didn’t seem to be any easier to get used to, having felt it so much in the Hollow World. But it subsided and she said, “I’ll go with you.”

“Emilie.” Miss Marlende rubbed her eyes, for a moment betraying just how tired she was. “There is no reason for you to risk yourself–”

Emilie said, “Are you making a relevant argument or an emotional appeal?”

Miss Marlende froze and stared at her. Emilie figured either this would work, or she would be fired on the spot.

The professor gave Emilie an appraising look. “I like this girl.”

Miss Marlende glared at her mother, then at Emilie again. Daniel’s expression was hard to read; possibly he wanted to object, possibly he felt that adding more members to the party was only sensible. Miss Marlende appeared to wrestle with similar thoughts, then finally said, “Very well. You may come along.”

Emilie breathed out, mostly in relief that Miss Marlende wasn’t going to dismiss her from her assistant position. “Thank you. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Then Efrain said, “I’m going, too.”

Miss Marlende said, “Oh, please.”

Efrain lifted his chin. “You can’t stop me.”

Miss Marlende regarded him. Her eyes narrowed.

Seth told him, grimly, “She could stop you.”

Daniel seconded, “Oh yes, yes, she could.”

Efrain looked from one to the other, then at Miss Marlende. His eyes widened a bit as he saw they were serious. He quite obviously decided to take a different tack. He said, “Please. I can’t let my sister go without me. And there’s nothing useful I can do here. I’d be a waste of… of air. With you, I can carry things, and guard your back. I know how to shoot a pistol.”

“You know how to shoot a duck-hunting gun,” Emilie interposed. “It’s not the same thing at all.”

Before Efrain could retort, Professor Abindon said, “A little brute strength might come in handy, depending on what we find.”

She meant come in handy if they had to help injured men back to the airship. Emilie bit her lip and decided to stop talking. Miss Marlende met the professor’s gaze again and seemed to draw the same conclusion as Emilie. She said to Efrain, “You must obey my and Professor Abindon’s orders exactly. And if I ask Emilie to tell you to do something, you must do it at once, with no argument. Can you swear to me that you will do that?”

Efrain’s expression was serious. “I swear it. On my mother’s grave.”

Emilie felt her jaw tighten. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to object to. Having become an ally of Uncle Yeric, Efrain hadn’t actually given up any right to their mother’s memory. But she felt like he had.

Miss Marlende nodded. “Very well. Let’s get ready.”

They hastily assembled supplies. Emilie had a pack that contained, among other things, a hand-cranked battery lamp, a coil of very strong line, matches, a water bottle, packages of lifeboat rations, a notebook and pencils, and a first-aid kit. She put on her jacket in case it was cold aboard the aether-sailer, shouldered the pack, and was ready to go.

Miss Marlende finished with her own pack and asked the professor, “Do you have everything you need?”

Professor Abindon said, rather grimly, “We’ll find out, won’t we?”

The professor went first so she could do the protection bubble spell, then Miss Marlende, then Emilie and lastly Efrain. Efrain had a pack too, and had exchanged his good town shoes for an extra pair of Seth’s work boots, which had been left in a supply locker aboard the airship from some earlier trip. Efrain was lucky he had big feet for his age.

Emilie had climbed a very long ladder down into a very dark hole, but this was worse. At least in the dark hole, she had suspected that the fall would be enough to kill her painfully but she hadn’t known it for certain. Here, she knew it for certain.

As she started up the rope ladder, she thought suddenly of climbing the ladder up to the other airship, with the angry sea people shooting at them, and what had happened to poor Beinar. It made her stomach lurch, and she had to take a deep breath and force her hand to reach for the next rung. Once she got past that moment, it wasn’t so bad. She concentrated on the movements of Miss Marlende’s boots and trousers above her, and tried not to think about anything else.

Emilie wasn’t aware of the protective spell until she realized the balloon was no longer in the peripheral vision of her right eye, and the shimmer of the barrier was suddenly within arm’s reach. It had formed around her as she had climbed out of the range of the airship’s spell, without her noticing. And oddly, she did feel lighter, as if she didn’t weigh as much. That must be the aether current’s buoyance. She still didn’t succumb to the temptation to look down.

Finally, Miss Marlende stopped, then moved forward again, and Emilie heard her say, “Emilie, do you need a hand?” Her voice sounded hollow and distant, an effect of the separate spells.

Emilie made herself lift her head and her neck bones creaked. She had been staring so fixedly at one spot that her shoulders had gone stiff. “I’m all right.”

But it was still a relief when Miss Marlende’s firm hand grabbed her pack strap and guided her as she scrambled up onto the platform. Emilie couldn’t really feel it through the protective spell; she knew there was hard metal under her hands, but it felt curiously neutral, neither hot nor cold. She pushed to her feet and moved over a few steps to give Efrain room. She was breathing hard and the back of her head hurt, probably from tensing her muscles so much.

As Efrain scrambled up onto the platform, she heard a muted thunk behind her. She turned and saw Professor Abindon had already opened the door of the ship. Emilie stepped to her side to peer in.

It was dim but not completely dark. The walls were a bronze color, and the golden, diffuse light seemed to come from chased metal strands embedded in the curved ceiling. They looked like a container of molten metal had fallen and splashed, then hardened into strings of rivulets. Emilie found herself exchanging a look with the professor.

Miss Marlende stepped past them and into the aether-sailer. The professor moved after her, and Emilie followed.

The corridor was a good ten feet wide, at least, and the ceiling was well above their heads. It made sense for a ship this big to have room to spare. Efrain hesitated in the doorway, then stepped through.

The floor had little ridges in it, possibly meant for traction in rough weather. The walls were textured too, with raised ridges that formed abstract patterns. Emilie looked up and down the corridor. It curved away behind them, following the shape of the hull; ahead of them, it went some distance and then dead-ended into a little circular chamber. “I guess they didn’t go that way,” she said. Her voice came out as a whisper, and she cleared her throat.

“But they did.” Miss Marlende moved to the wall, pointing to an arrow hastily drawn with light-colored chalk. “This is Father’s mark.”

“Well, I certainly hope it’s not anyone else’s mark,” Professor Abindon said. “One party of explorers lost in this ship is enough.”

Miss Marlende’s jaw clenched, and for a moment, Emilie could see the tendons in her neck. She thought the professor was just being sarcastic out of nerves, and not meaning to aim it at anyone in particular. But it was always easier to see that sort of thing when you were standing outside looking on, than when you were one of the people involved.

Miss Marlende said, “It looks safe at the moment, but take care where you step. Don’t touch anything.” She pulled the outer door closed, then moved down the corridor, and they all followed her.

The arrows continued down the corridor, and there were no other doors or cross corridors. Emilie thought the little circular chamber ahead must be some sort of optical illusion, like when straight lines looked wavy, or when you frightened yourself by mistaking the shadows at the bottom of curtain folds for feet.

But as they reached it, it was still a round chamber, the ceiling open to a shaft that stretched up into the ship. The second to last arrow pointed toward it, and the last pointed up into the shaft.

Miss Marlende stepped into the chamber, her brow furrowed in thought. Emilie leaned in and looked up. The walls of the shaft were a bronze color, lit with alternating bands of golden light, the wavy texture on them making the light bend as it reflected. She could see another chalk arrow about fifteen feet up. The arrows are a trick? she thought, and felt a cold chill settle in her stomach. Maybe someone… something… had captured the others and taken their chalk to trap–

Then Miss Marlende reached out to touch the wall. She snatched her hand back, startled. The professor asked, “What is it?”

“I think…” Miss Marlende lifted her leg and placed her foot on the wall. And then she was walking up it.

Emilie blinked, floored. Or maybe they actually did go this way. She hadn’t quite seen how the transition was accomplished. Still walking, Miss Marlende said, “Come on, this way!”

Emilie stepped forward and put her boot on the wall. It was suddenly like walking down a steep slope as her momentum pulled her forward, and the next thing she knew, the wall was the floor, and she put one foot in front of the other and kept going. Behind her, she heard Professor Abindon say, “How odd.” And Efrain laughed with delight.

Emilie kept her eyes on Miss Marlende’s back, a little worried that if she looked around too much, it would break the spell and she would fall down the shaft. They passed two more chalk arrows, then Miss Marlende stopped, confronted by an arrow that curved into a loop. Emilie carefully turned her head, craning her neck to follow the direction it seemed to be indicating. There was an open circular doorway in the wall directly behind them. “That way?”

“It must be. Let’s see if this works…” Miss Marlende slid one foot to the side, moving cautiously, then took a full step. She turned and walked around the circular shaft toward the doorway. Watching her made Emilie dizzy. She managed to make herself turn and follow.

Miss Marlende reached the doorway and stepped down into it, and suddenly stood at a right angle to Emilie. Emilie lunged forward and stepped before she could change her mind, felt the pull of that strange momentum, then suddenly she bumped into Miss Marlende. Miss Marlende steadied her and drew her back a few steps to allow the professor and Efrain to follow.

They walked into a large open chamber that appeared to encompass two levels of the ship. A bronze metal gallery ran around the second level, with no railings. There were a large arched door directly across the room in the far wall and other doors opening off the second level. Emilie noticed the door in the left-hand-side gallery midway along looked as if it led to a much brighter room. Maybe they’re in there, maybe those are their lamps, she thought.

More arrows were marked on the lower level, leading them along to a half-circle shaft in the wall. Miss Marlende stepped into it and was immediately propelled upward onto the gallery. Emilie saw her stumble a bit as she exited, then Miss Marlende called, “Yes, it’s this way!”

They followed, all managing to reach the gallery without falling off. The next arrow was chalked on the wall, pointing to the lit doorway.

The light in the chamber was brighter because it had several of the curved windows in the far wall. There were tables on one side of the room, set with a lot of disks that looked somewhat like the instrument dials in the airship, only there were no glass covers and they didn’t show words and numbers, but tiny little folds of what might be paper. Looking into them was fascinating; they only got more elaborate the longer Emilie stared. She had to tear her gaze away.

Beside them were switches and levers and knobs, though they too were made of something that looked like paper, all twisted into elaborate folds. Emilie was afraid to touch any of them to make sure, for fear of breaking them or accidentally turning something on. There were chairs, or at least round contoured benches, and the dark material upholstering them was very soft. There was a doorway in the far wall, leading into another, similar room.

Emilie moved toward one of the windows and looked out, but they were high in the hull here and she could only see the far curve of the airship’s balloon. She turned back to look around the rest of the room again.

Professor Abindon picked up a piece of thin metal that was covered with more of the tiny elaborate paper folds, twisting around each other into patterns. Stepping up beside her to look, Emilie thought it must be art. But the professor said, “This could be writing.” The professor held it flat on one hand and touched it very gently. “Hmm. It’s tougher than it looks.”

Emilie touched it too, gently brushing her pinky finger across it. It did feel more like metal than paper, deceptively strong, so it could be touched and maybe even crushed, and still hold its shape. She said, “That’s why there’s more of this on the panels. Maybe it’s instructions for the switches and levers?”

“And this could be a control room,” Miss Marlende said, “But it’s odd that it’s not more toward the prow of the ship. Do not touch that, Efrain,” she added, and Efrain jerked his hand back from one of the levers. “We don’t know how it operates. If it’s like that lifting wall, it may only require a touch to do something quite dramatic.”

Efrain looked suitably sobered and took a step backward from the table for good measure.

Emilie swallowed her irritation and started to look for the next arrow. She found it by the door, pointing to the next chamber. “Here, Miss Marlende.”

Miss Marlende shook her head slightly, as if more than a little dazed at all these strange sights, and strode forward again. The next chamber was nearly identical to the first, except that it had big cabinets textured the same way the walls were. These seemed promising, but after a brief search they proved to contain nothing but sheets of the metal-paper writing. The next room, however, had something astonishing in it.

It was a big sphere, nearly three feet tall and about as wide. Apparently made all out of one long twist of the metal-paper, the folds extended deep into the sphere so it was almost like looking into the insides of a plant or a strange sea creature. It looked like art, but after the professor had speculated that the metal-paper folds were writing, Emilie wondered if this had some other purpose. Though if it is writing, I don’t see how they read the bottom without lying on the floor.

Then Miss Marlende said, “I wonder if they can’t see.” She stretched her hands out towards the globe but didn’t touch it. “If they don’t read this by looking at it but by touching it.”

“What about the windows?” the professor said. Her tone was deeply thoughtful, not argumentative. “If they are blind, they wouldn’t need them.”

Miss Marlende nodded. “True. Perhaps they need light, or can see light, but they need their hands to interpret things that are this detailed.”

Emilie thought of the textured handles and the metal-paper patches on the control boards. Were they instructions? Or were they dials like the ones on the airship, that showed what fuel was left and the air temperature and the compass directions? “Maybe this moves,” she said. “Like compass needles or gauges.”

“A possibility,” the professor acknowledged. “If true, then this object is…”

“A map,” Miss Marlende finished. “But a map of what?”

Efrain had gone to prowl around the other doorway, and now he said, “Miss? I can’t find any more arrows.”

“What?” Miss Marlende turned, frowning.

Emilie went to the doorway. “They probably just didn’t bother to leave any because this just leads to the next room–”

“It doesn’t.” Efrain stepped forward, making a gesture. Emilie reached him and saw he was right; this junction had a doorway into the next chamber and an opening into another corridor. “They could have gone either way, so there should be an arrow.”

Miss Marlende moved toward them. “Look carefully.” The professor came to search, too. The next chamber and the one after it were mostly empty, with chairs arranged for seating and some tables but no control panels or giant globes. They went some way down the corridor, far enough to find another walking shaft that must give access to the rest of the ship. But no arrows.

They came back to the room with the globe and stood and looked grimly at each other. “They were here and then they weren’t,” Professor Abindon said.

“It doesn’t look as if there was a fight. There’s no blood,” Emilie pointed out, trying to be encouraging. “And if someone had knocked into the globe, surely the ends of the metal-paper would be bent.” Efrain winced and the professor gave her an odd look, and Emilie realized that perhaps that hadn’t exactly been tactful. Emilie felt her cheeks flush, and she looked at Miss Marlende. “Sorry.”

Miss Marlende just said, “No, Emilie, don’t apologize. I appreciate your candor. And you’re right, there’s simply no sign of a struggle here. Not that we’ve seen any sign so far of anyone that they might have struggled with.”

“Yes, though it’s a large vessel, and we’ve seen little of it so far.” Professor Abindon tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If we’re being blunt, one or more crewmembers could have gone mad and killed the others, and still be hiding onboard.”

Emilie nodded. “Yes, that’s happened before, on the Thalandia, out of Isenland, twenty years ago.” There had been a chapter based on the incident in one of the Lord Rohiro novels, and Emilie had looked it up in a natural history book to see what had actually happened. She misread Efrain’s expression as baffled and explained. “They were caught in a surface aether current and couldn’t get out, and they think it did some odd things to the crew.”

Efrain said, “Why do you know these things?”

Emilie felt her cheeks heat again, this time from rage, but Miss Marlende said, “Young man, disparaging others’ perfectly reasonable contributions to the discussion is a waste of everyone’s time.” It sounded mild, but knowing Miss Marlende better, Emilie thought she was trying very hard to control her anger. She’s upset, she thought. She really expected to find them all wrapped up in searching or trying to figure out some strange device, so that they just forgot to check in.

“I wasn’t…” Efrain started to object, caught Miss Marlende’s expression, and subsided. “Sorry.”

The professor frowned at him and continued. “But the point that there is no sign of a struggle is still valid. There may be something in this room that they touched which drew them into another part of the ship. Like the walking shaft, but perhaps more abrupt. They may be lost or trapped somewhere aboard or otherwise unable to get back here. I suggest we search this room thoroughly, with a great deal of care.”

Miss Marlende directed them to each take a section, and Emilie ended up with the wall that held the windows. She thought it was an unlikely place for a device of any kind, but searched thoroughly anyway. She didn’t touch it, but stood as close as she could and made her eyes trace the textures of the wall, looking for hidden switches.

At the point where the patterns in the textures were making her dizzy, Emilie stepped away to let her eyes adjust. Miss Marlende and the professor were carefully searching the control boards on the far side of the room, and Efrain was doing the opposite wall, studying it with the frowning concentration of someone who had no idea what they were looking for. Emilie repressed the urge to sneer, knowing that none of them really knew what they were looking for. Not that Efrain would have resisted the urge to sneer at her–

The deck shivered underfoot. Just a brief, violent quiver, hard enough to make Emilie’s teeth rattle. She stepped away from the wall, though she hadn’t been near anything. The others turned, staring in alarm. “Did anyone touch anything?” Miss Marlende said.

Efrain shook his head and Professor Abindon held up empty hands. She said, “That wasn’t the ship, it was the aether current again. There’s been some disturbance…”

And then the globe moved. The whole surface of the metal-paper twitched, then shifted seamlessly into motion. The twists and folds flowed like fluid, then settled into new patterns.

After it was still, they slowly stepped toward it. Emilie leaned down to look closely. Some of the individual folds of metal-paper were still waving gently, as if moved by a soft breeze. In the next moment, they had all stopped. Miss Marlende said, “I think you’re right, Mother. It is a map.”

The professor nodded slowly. “But not of a surface world. I believe… It’s a map of aether currents. It moved when the current shifted.” She lifted her brows. “I just wish we could read it.”

Emilie didn’t think either one had noticed that Miss Marlende had called the professor Mother; both were too intent on solving the mystery. Emilie certainly didn’t intend to point it out.

“I wish we knew why the current shifted.” Miss Marlende said. “It happened before Father and the others went missing, and we think they were in this room.”

“Could it have done something to them?” Emilie eyed the globe warily. “It didn’t do anything to us.”

“We weren’t close to it, though,” Efrain pointed out. “We were all back around the walls. And we didn’t touch it.”

Miss Marlende’s mouth twisted ruefully. “True. I find it hard to believe Lord Engal or my father resisted the urge to touch this device.”

Emilie hated to admit that made sense. The professor’s thoughtful frown was hard to read. She started to speak, then a loud bang sounded from down the corridor. Everyone flinched and Emilie’s heart thumped. “Maybe we just didn’t search enough,” she blurted.

“Maybe.” Miss Marlende strode to the doorway and the junction with the corridor. Emilie followed with Efrain and Professor Abindon, feeling her nerves jump. The soft gold light in the corridor seemed dimmer than it had before, with more shadows and less illumination. She wanted to speculate but just managed to keep her mouth shut; they needed to hear anything that might be moving in this corridor. Maybe the first, more violent shift in the aether current had trapped Dr Marlende and the others somewhere in the ship, and the second had released them. Or maybe the ship’s crew was aboard, and just… Sleeping? she asked herself. In the water closet? Otherwise indisposed? The airship has been here for hours.

They came to the shaft without seeing anything that could have caused the noise. The shaft only led down, and Miss Marlende hesitated for just a moment before stepping into it. Emilie followed her, too occupied this time to notice the odd sensation of suddenly walking down a wall.

Miss Marlende headed toward the open doorway into what should be the next deck. As she neared it, she circled around the shaft so she could see out of it. Emilie followed her example, edging cautiously forward when Miss Marlende stopped at the opening to peer out.

Emilie leaned around her to look past her shoulder. She thought the person breathing right behind her ear was Professor Abindon.

Ahead was an open two-level chamber much like the one near the control room compartments. The shaft led into the second-level gallery, with nothing like a hand rail or balustrade, which looked down on a lower deck about twenty feet below. A few doorways and what must be another walking shaft were set into the walls. Emilie couldn’t see what was on the deck below. This was more proof that while the crew might read the metal-paper with their hands, they could certainly see to some extent. The galleries with no railings would be terribly dangerous for a person who was completely blind.

“Hmm,” Miss Marlende muttered under her breath. She started to step down to where the shaft would place her upright on the platform floor. Emilie leaned forward to follow when Miss Marlende froze.

A moment later, Emilie saw it too. Something, a dark shape, moved across the lower deck, just visible below the platform. The movement was halting, uncertain, as if they were watching the head and shoulders of someone who was feeling his way in the dark. Except Emilie rather thought the shape had too many shoulders.

Miss Marlende leaned forward to see better, and Emilie shifted for a better angle. The next instant, Emilie felt her feet jerked out from under her, and she suddenly slammed into Miss Marlende. They fell out of the shaft, landed with a thump, and stumbled on the platform.

The shape below vanished. Miss Marlende caught her balance and lunged forward to the edge of the platform. Emilie landed on her hands and knees and scrambled to look. The space below was empty, and Emilie could see a doorway in each wall. She hung out over the edge, trying to see under the platform, where the lower level stretched out a long distance back through the ship. She caught a glimpse of a moving shape, a strange outline against a gold-lit wall, and then heard the loud clang again. This time she could tell it was a metal door swinging shut.

The professor and Efrain landed behind them and Efrain flung himself down next to Emilie. He demanded, “What did you see?”

“It was something, someone.” Emilie looked at Miss Marlende and saw her own bafflement and consternation reflected in her expression. A member of the crew? But why only one? And why did he run? “What do we do?”

Miss Marlende’s expression hardened and she shoved to her feet. “Follow it.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Emilie looked wildly around. There were no stairs, no ladder, no immediate way down. “Oh, there!” The corner of the platform was supported by a pillar twisted into a spiral.

Miss Marlende ran for it, swung off the platform and climbed down the pillar. Emilie hurried after her. She made the scramble onto the pillar far less gracefully than Miss Marlende had, but once she had managed to grab it, the texture and the twists of the spiral provided hand- and footholds like a ladder. She dropped the last few feet and looked up to see a wide-eyed Efrain climbing down after her. The professor, still standing on the platform, waved her on. “Go, don’t wait for me!”

Emilie obeyed, darting after Miss Marlende, who was already pelting down the corridor.

Racing to catch up, Emilie knew this was probably the exact opposite of what they should be doing. Miss Marlende was obviously so worried for her father and the others that she had disregarded all caution. So Emilie would have to be cautious for her.

She caught up with Miss Marlende just as she ran under an archway and into a large, high-ceilinged chamber. They both slid to a halt, staring up.

The walls weren’t walls, but huge bronze ball-and-socket joints like giant metal knees, towering over them. Each was several feet wide, the beams they were attached to stretching high up to disappear into shafts on each side of the room. They were all still at the moment, though they clearly looked as if they were meant to move something heavy. Emilie kept her voice low. “What’s this?”

“It must be part of the mechanism that moves the sails,” Miss Marlende whispered back. She looked around again. “I’m sure I heard a door. There!”

She darted off toward a triangular door set in between two of the joint-gears in the far wall. Emilie hurried after her.

As they reached the door, Efrain and the professor caught up to them. The door was just a triangle of bronze, no handle, but with a medallion in the center carved in the shape of what looked like a bundle of snakes. Miss Marlende hesitated, then pushed against the medallion, and the door slid open.

They stepped into a room that must have been in the lower part of the aether-sailer. It was long and the far wall was dotted with the round windows.

And at the far end, a creature whirled around to confront them.

It was like a flower. Or maybe a whole bunch of flowers, attached to each other with fireflies and gossamer. There was a big round globe of them where the head should be and delicate fronds like lace lined with blossoms that gently waved in the still air. It lifted them like arms, except there were four of them instead of two.

Emilie supposed it might attack them, but it looked so delicate, that was hard to imagine. The legs, all four of them, were covered with blossoms, too, and didn’t look any sturdier than the rest of it. It must have run on those delicate limbs, but it was so light, it couldn’t need much effort to hold itself up. It was like confronting a large hyacinth.

“What is it?” Efrain whispered.

“No one knows,” Emilie said, more to get him to be quiet than anything else.

Miss Marlende held up her hands and said, “Hello. Is this your vessel?”

The head part seemed to study her, and it lifted its four arms to mimic her gesture. Miss Marlende pressed her lips together in frustration. “It doesn’t understand.” Professor Abindon gestured toward the strange being, and it turned to her and mimicked her motion. “Its language, its way of speaking, must be completely different from ours.”

“But what happened to the rest of the crew? And my father?” Miss Marlende said. The stranger waved its four arm blossoms in a swirling way, and she duplicated the motion.

“I suppose it could have attacked and killed them,” the Professor said dubiously, “But looking at it…”

“It doesn’t seem likely, does it?” Emilie said. “And it’s not attacking us.”

The stranger waved its blossoms again, and Emilie thought she read frustration in the gesture, as if it was just as annoyed at the language barrier as they were. Though maybe that was wishful thinking.

“We have to think of a way to communicate.” Miss Marlende pulled her pack around and dug through it.

The stranger watched her, the blossoms on its head area pointing toward her inquiringly. Emilie thought, It doesn’t seem afraid of us.

Miss Marlende pulled a notebook and pencil out of her pack, braced the notebook against her forearm, and began to sketch rapidly. Emilie stepped closer and watched her draw the rough outline of the aether-sailer, and the airship below it, with the ladder connecting the two. She turned the notebook to show the stranger, then pointed at all of them and herself, and then to the airship. “We came from here.” She pointed at the stranger. “Where did you come from?”

The stranger leaned toward the notebook, its lighted blossoms waving at the page as if studying it. Then a blossom reached out to the pencil and took it out of Miss Marlende’s hand. Emilie had to lean closer to see, but dozens of little feelers lining the stem of the blossom gripped the pencil just like fingers. The stranger moved the pencil over the paper, clearly trying to draw something.

Emilie shifted from foot to foot anxiously, then realized her balance felt so unsteady because the deck was trembling. “Do you feel that?” she said, just as Miss Marlende said, “The aether current is shifting again.”

The stranger dropped the pencil and waved its blossoms in agitation. Then it whirled away like a bundle of flowers caught in a windstorm. It bolted away up the corridor. Miss Marlende called out, “Wait!” Efrain started forward, meaning to run after it, and Emilie also started forward, meaning to run after him to make certain he didn’t do anything stupid like grab the stranger. But the trembling turned to shaking, and Emilie staggered sideways and bounced off the wall.

Miss Marlende and the professor both swayed, and Efrain grabbed the door frame to stay upright. He turned toward them, then gasped and pointed.

Emilie twisted around to look. The end of the corridor was blocked off by something, a white wall. No, it wasn’t a white wall, it was a storm, a roiling tempest, slamming down toward them. She yelled in alarm, and the next instant it hit them.

Emilie tumbled, fell, slammed into something hard. Her body stretched almost to the breaking point. It happened so fast, the flash of burning pain was over before she knew what had happened. She fell into something soft and collapsed.

Emilie groaned. Her face was smashed into something fragrant, like grass. Grass? On the aether-sailer? She felt limp and numb, as if her brain was awake but not the rest of her body. After a long moment, she realized the heavy thing on her head was her pack, one loop still wrapped around her arm. She shoved it away. That got her moving, but it took a huge effort to drag her arms underneath her and push herself up.

She lay on a bank of tall grass, dark green with violet-tinged tips. This is... not the aether-sailer. She lifted her head, focused her blurry eyes. She was in a clearing surrounded by trees with dark purple trunks and bushy green canopies. The knee-high grass brushed against her trousers.

The air was damp and warm, sweat already sticking her shirt to her back and chest. A breeze made the leaves rustle and she could smell green plants, wet earth.

She staggered to her feet, staring around. She had been on the aether-sailer with the others, and now she was somewhere else. Others... Where are the others?

Emilie’s heart pounded in alarm, as if it had awoken to the strangeness and the danger before her brain had. She took a deep breath and heard a hitch in her throat. She told herself, Don’t panic. You’ve been alone in strange places before.

Yes, but at least I knew where the Sovereign was, even if I couldn’t get to it. And I knew where I was and what had happened.

Except she thought she knew what had happened this time, too. The aether current had been shifting, just like it had before. The aether current did this. It grabbed me – us? – and brought us... here. The others had to be here, too.

She moved through the grass, searching for more fallen bodies, but she didn’t see anyone. They had to be here. It was odd enough for an aether current to slam through the aether-sailer and grab people and transport them without crushing them to death or asphyxiating them; it was too odd to contemplate the thought that it might have just grabbed her and left the others alone. Making herself think about whys and hows at least made the frightened hitch in her breathing smooth out.

There was no sign of anyone in the clearing. Emilie thrashed through the grass in case it was hiding an unconscious body, stopped when she realized it was no use; they just weren’t here. She looked around, made herself think. Past the trees, she could see the ground rose up into a hill. I need to get higher so I can see if they’re nearby.

She started through the trees, instinctively wary for snakes or biting insects. It was warm enough that you expected gnats or other little flying bugs, or grasshoppers fleeing from her boots swishing through the grass, but there was nothing. It was odd: even in Meneport, in the center of the city, there had been bugs.

She came out of the trees and concentrated on plowing her way up the hill, which was a little steeper than she had thought. At the top, she looked around.

And she thought, Uh-oh.

This was the strangest country, unlike anything in the Hollow World, unlike anything she had ever seen pictured or described in books.

She was surrounded by steep-sloped forested hills with the purple-green trees and grass. But beyond them were higher mountains, their shapes like nothing she had imagined a mountain might be before. Some were tall pillars, others were spirals. Some were pillars with plateaus balanced atop them, and some were like huge mushrooms. They were wreathed with clouds, and she could see the craggy shapes of rock, and different-colored swathes of trees or other vegetation, some green, some a dark blue, some red. But there were strange gaps between them. She could see the broken rock where sections had been torn from the ground. Did the aether do that?

Looking up, she realized she couldn’t see the sun. The light seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, evenly across the sky.

She looked around again, slowly, at the strange shapes of mountains, none of which looked as if they came from the same continent as these hills. Were the mountains even real? Maybe she was just seeing solid aether-ghosts. So does that mean I’m an aether-ghost, too? There didn’t seem any point in assuming that. If she had died and become an aether-ghost, there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

Except maybe have a good panic. She was probably overdue for a panic.

“Emilie!”

She spun around at the shout. It was Efrain, emerging from the trees at the bottom of the hill. He was disheveled and his pack was half off, but he was here. Her heart thumped with relief, and she waved and started down toward him. If she was a ghost, and she was beginning to doubt it, at least she wasn’t alone.

Efrain charged up toward her so she stopped to wait for him. He reached the top of the hill, breathing hard, and started to speak. Then he looked around.

Emilie gave him time to absorb it. Finally, he looked at her, wide-eyed, and bit his lip. She said, “If you start to cry, I will slap you.”

Efrain blinked, then glared at her, offended. “I wasn’t going to cry!”

“See that you don’t.” Emilie looked around again. “You didn’t see the others?”

“No. I thought I was alone.” His voice cracked a little and she gave him a warning glare. He glared back, snatched out his handkerchief and noisily blew his nose.

She said, “Well, we’re here. They have to be here, too. Where were you?”

“What? Oh, down there, just past those trees.” He felt his hair, and pulled a few twigs out. “I think I got dragged through one of them.”

“I was down there. I didn’t get dragged through a tree.” They had both ended up in different copses, but you could draw a straight line between them. Or a triangle, with the hill as the third point. That gave Emilie an idea.

Efrain was saying, “I’m sure only inferior people like me get dragged through trees…”

“Quiet! The current seemed to come toward us from the end of the corridor. You were standing beside me, just a couple of feet away.” Emilie frowned, trying to remember. “Miss Marlende and the Professor were in front of me, next to each other. The stranger, Hyacinth, was–”

Efrain lifted his brows. “You’re calling him Hyacinth?”

“What would you rather I call him? And we don’t even know if it’s a him! He might be a her, or a neither, or a both.”

“All right, fine, Hyacinth. He – or she or neither or both – was in front of the Professor and Miss Marlende, but over to the side of the corridor.” His brow furrowed. “Only, when we saw the current-thing coming, I think he moved closer to me. He was waving his arms, like… maybe he was trying to tell us to move?” Efrain looked around again, glumly. “I guess we should have listened.”

“I think it was too late by then.” Emilie took a deep breath. “But I think, based on where you ended up and where I ended up, we should look for the others that way.” She pointed to where a clump of tree-covered hills rose just past their two clumps. “I think we should walk that way, sort of at an angle.”

Efrain nodded. “All right.”

Emilie was a little startled by his ready agreement, but he had already started down the hill. She caught up with him in a couple of steps and they walked together, the grass swishing at their pants legs. Efrain said, “So… This is where Dr Marlende and Lord Engal and the other men went to? And the crew of the aether-sailer?”

“They must have,” Emilie said, but she was aware that was a big assumption. Maybe even bigger than the assumption that said that Miss Marlende and the professor and Hyacinth had been deposited in the trees in this direction and not just flung into empty space.

“And they haven’t come back.” Efrain’s expression was deeply worried. “Is there a way back?”

“I don’t know.” Emilie had been wondering about that herself. She was fairly certain if there was a way, it would require far more knowledge of aether currents than she had gleaned from the Lord Rohiro novels and from listening to the Marlendes’ and Lord Engal’s conversations. Neither she nor Efrain was a sorcerer or a natural philosopher, and she thought it would take both to get back to where they had started.

“But you know everything…” Efrain began, then looked at her. “I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant… You’ve done this before.”

Emilie swallowed her first knee-jerk acerbic comment. Maybe he really hadn’t meant it that way. “Yes, but I had help.”

Efrain pressed his lips together and didn’t say anything.

They reached the copse of trees and found the going far more difficult. The trees were tall, and the light beneath them was gloomy and tinged with violet. The ground was spongy with dark-colored moss which was soft enough, but it was growing over rocks and lumpy clumps of dirt. This hill was much steeper too, but at least the trees gave them something to steady themselves on. They struggled to the top of the hill and then had to be extra careful on the way down, their boots sliding through the moss and losing purchase on the rounded stone. Emilie managed it by half-sliding from tree to tree, and Efrain copied her. This would be a very bad time for a broken ankle for either of them.

They couldn’t see much of anything ahead except more trees, and Emilie started to call out for Miss Marlende and the professor. Efrain tugged on her sleeve. “Are you sure you should do that? What if there’s…”

“What?” Emilie asked. She dug her heels in on the next slope, half-sliding down and stopping herself on a tree at the bottom.

“I don’t know.” Efrain gestured in frustration and almost lost his grip on the tree he was using to keep from falling. “Aether monsters.”

Normally, Emilie would have scoffed. But after everything else she had seen, she supposed it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. “I just don’t know how we’re going to find them otherwise. Even if we’re right about where they landed, they probably started running around searching, just like we did.” Through the trees ahead she could see more light and thought they might be coming to the edge of a bluff.

“That’s true, but…”

“Wait. Be careful here; the ground’s all torn up.” The dirt and moss and rock were disturbed and the trees leaned forward, their roots half-ripped out of the ground. Emilie stepped carefully, trying not to put her weight on the unstable trunks. The ground did drop away ahead, and as she reached the edge, she saw “drop away” was exactly how to describe it.

There was a bowl-shaped section missing from the hilly forest, at least a hundred yards wide. Emilie looked down the rough side of the cliff to see clouds and, miles below, a misty dark-blue mottled area that might be distant land. Or it might be the colors of the aether current. It was like whatever had been here had just fallen away. It had left a few fragments behind, irregularly shaped chunks of rock and dirt, floating on thin air – or thin aether – in the empty space.

Emilie’s whole body prickled with unease, and the ground underfoot suddenly felt delicate and apt to dissolve at any moment. Efrain whistled in awe. “What happened?”

“The aether current. It took the land somewhere else, just like it did us.” It had to be.

“But it wasn’t our current. It happened a while ago. You can see how the trees roots are all dry. They’ve been out of the ground a while.” Efrain pointed along the side of the bluff.

“Oh. Well, that’s good.” It was good. It meant it might be a fluke that wouldn’t happen every time an aether current fluctuated. And maybe Efrain was good for something after all. “We’ll have to go back and around–”

Movement on one of the small fragment-islands stopped the words in her throat. What she had thought was a bundle of dead vegetation rippled and stood and turned to face them. It was Hyacinth, trapped on a chunk of rock and dirt barely ten feet wide. It was floating somewhere between fifteen to twenty yards from the bluff.

“Uh oh,” Efrain said, low-voiced.

Emilie felt a little sick. “The aether current must have dropped it there.” It meant they had veered a little off as they had made their way through the forest. Miss Marlende and the professor must be further to the left. She lifted her hand and waved.

Hyacinth lifted its four arms and waved back, then drooped again. After a moment, it sat back down.

Emilie clearly read dejection in the way those blossoms hung loose. “It’s stuck.”

“What do we do?” Efrain hesitated. “Do we have to leave it?”

“No.” The word was out before Emilie completely formed the thought. The idea of leaving it, or anyone, stuck out there to die was horrible. It could have easily been one of them.

She stepped back from the edge, looking up and down the bluff. They needed something to reach the floating fragment. “Didn’t you have rope in your pack?”

Efrain leaned on one of the trees to steady himself and pulled his pack around. He rooted through it and dug out a coil of climbing line. “We could tie a rock to the end and try to throw it, but Hyacinth would have to jump and we’ll have to pull it up, and it’ll hit the side of the cliff.”

That was true. Even if they tied their end of the rope to a tree, there was nothing to secure it to on the fragment. And that was if they could manage to throw the rope out far enough so Hyacinth could grab it. Efrain could throw further than Emilie, but she had never noticed him being particularly accurate.

The tree Efrain leaned against creaked alarmingly, a small avalanche of dirt and pebbles sliding down from around its roots. Emilie grabbed for his arm and they hastily scrambled back. A little unsteadily, he said, “These trees aren’t as stable as they look.”

“No. No, they aren’t.” It gave Emilie an idea. It was probably a bad idea but it was still worth trying. “Come on, this way.”

She led the way along the bluff’s edge, scrambling in the clumps of dirt and rock. She could see scooped-out scars in the edge where other trees must have finally pulled loose and fallen. After a short search and some wandering back and forth, she found a tree that seemed to be tall enough and that was leaning at the right angle. Efrain followed her, his expression reflecting increasing consternation as he realized what she was doing. He said, “It could crush him! Though I guess that’s better than starving to death.”

“Maybe it lives off sunlight, like a flower. It might be out there forever.” Emilie climbed carefully around the selected tree, examining the roots’ grip on the edge of the bluff. She pushed hard on the trunk and heard an encouraging crack underfoot. Efrain yelped and scrambled away, dragging on her pack strap.

“This one is perfect.” Emilie told Efrain, “Take the rope and tie the end to one of those trees upslope. Make sure it’s a good solid one.”

Efrain nodded sharply and started up the slope. Emilie felt a start of surprise that he was listening to her. It felt very odd to be doing something constructive with Efrain again. The last thing they had actually cooperated on was the aborted construction of a tree fort. It had been a deathtrap of a tree fort due to rotted lumber. She only hoped they were better at this.

Hyacinth had stood up again and appeared to be watching them. At least, when Emilie looked at it again, it waved its blossoms. She waved back, and pointed significantly at the tree, then toward the rock island. Hyacinth waved its blossoms again.

Efrain slid back down the slope, leaning his weight on the rope to test it. Emilie shrugged off her pack and hooked it over some tree roots upslope, and they tied two loops in the rope, one for each of them. The first set of loops didn’t allow for enough slack between them, but once they got that sorted, they were able to pull the loops over their heads and up under their arms. “Are you sure the rope is tied off securely?” Emilie asked.

“Of course I am!” Efrain bristled.

“We’re both going to die if it isn’t, so I won’t be around to say I told you so,” Emilie pointed out. Her heart was thumping a little at what they were about to do. It wasn’t so much that she was afraid of heights as she was terrified of falling from heights, having come very close to it a time or two.

Once they had the rope loops secured around them, they slid down to the base of the tree that clung insecurely to the edge of the cliff. It was a very tall tree but slender, and they sat in the tumbled dirt clods at its base and pushed with all their strength. The tree creaked and Emilie heard dirt and pebbles rattling below it, but it didn’t fall. “Use your legs,” Efrain advised, and they twisted around to push with their feet. Roots popped and tore, and Hyacinth must have figured out what they were doing, because it was now huddled on one side of the fragment, making itself as small as possible.

“It’s working,” Emilie said, breathing hard from the effort. “Just not as fast as I imagined.”

“Get closer, here, like this.” Efrain dug his way further into the roots. “And push up!”

“I think…” Emilie lost that thought when the tree jerked forward and started to fall, the roots tearing free in a shower of dirt and the edge of the bluff dissolving under them.

Emilie clawed frantically at the sliding dirt before the rope caught her. She banged into Efrain and they both dangled down the edge of the cliff. The rope was so tight under her arms it squeezed the air out of her lungs. Struggling to find a hand- or foothold in the bluff, she was barely aware that the tree was still held in place by its lower roots, that it hadn’t toppled all the way down, so the top of it must have hit the rock fragment as planned. But as Efrain tried to use the roots to drag them up, they tore out of his hands and the tree slipped down.

Then something wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her up, flinging her forward. She landed facefirst in loose dirt, Efrain landing heavily on top of her. She scrambled up, half dragging Efrain, until she felt rock and sparse grass.

She spit dirt out and pushed herself up enough to look around. Crouched next to them was Hyacinth, its blossoms shaking with agitation, or maybe reaction to their extremely close call. Efrain, still face down in the dirt next to her, groaned. “That hurt.”

Emilie twisted to look and saw the very top of the tree had struck the fragment and lay delicately poised there. That was close, she thought, her throat dry. It was lucky Hyacinth must be as light as a feather; a person of any weight whatsoever would never have been able to cross that tenuous bridge. And she and Efrain might not have been able to climb back up the cliff, might have strangled themselves in the too-tight rope, if Hyacinth hadn’t been strong enough to lift them. Then the last of the tree roots gave way with a crack and another chunk of the cliff went with it as the tree dropped away.

Hyacinth tugged at her arm again, urging her farther up the slope. Emilie grabbed the back of Efrain’s jacket and dragged him up. Once they were farther up on more solid ground, she and Efrain managed to struggle out of their rope loops. Efrain tried to brush the dirt off his shirt and pants without much success. He said, “I’d better go up and try to get the rope loose. We might need it again.”

“Cut the knot if you have to,” Emilie told him. She retrieved her pack and sat for a moment, contemplating Hyacinth. “Thank you,” she told it. Her upper arms and chest still hurt, she was fairly sure the bruises were going to be terrible, and breathing still felt like a luxury. But she was very glad they had taken the chance. Walking away with Hyacinth trapped on that fragment would have been impossible.

Hyacinth fluttered its blossoms inquiringly. The next step was obviously to figure out how to talk to it so they could make plans. It must know more about the situation here – wherever here was – than they did. And she couldn’t keep calling it Hyacinth. It needed a real name. “I’ve been calling you Hyacinth,” Emilie said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Hyacinth fluttered its blossoms again. If it could understand her, it didn’t appear to mind.

Efrain came back down the slope, moving slowly, coiling the rope up. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, “Before something else happens.”

Finding Hyacinth had told them that Emilie was right about where Miss Marlende and the professor must have ended up. She pushed to her feet. “We need to go back this way.” She turned to motion to Hyacinth to follow but it was already beside her, flowing easily over the rough ground.

Emilie and Efrain moved much more slowly, though the next set of hills wasn’t nearly so steep. It wasn’t so much from caution as from aches and pains and a growing tiredness. Emilie just didn’t think they were going to make it much further without a rest. Hyacinth didn’t seem tired, but its body seemed so light and it had four legs to walk on. They both had water bottles in their packs, but Emilie was relieved to encounter a stream flowing down one of the rocky slopes. It flowed down through the forest, narrow but fast-moving in a wide gravelly bed that ran to the edge of a bluff and dropped away. At least if they were stuck here for any length of time, they wouldn’t die of thirst.

They stopped to rest by the stream by common consent. Once they drank and refilled their bottles, and Hyacinth had drooped some blossoms in the water, they sat on the smooth rocks on one side and looked out over the valley. Efrain said, “It’s funny that there’s no insects. That doesn’t make sense.”

Emilie had noticed that, too. “Why doesn’t it make sense?”

“Because there are flowering plants. You can’t have flowers without insects and bees. Or, most of the time, anyway. The bees carry the pollen around from flower to flower, and if they didn’t, there wouldn’t be any flowers.”

Emilie frowned at him. It was more erudition than she had ever heard Efrain show on any subject that didn’t involve throwing balls and being contemptuous of sisters. “How do you know that?”

Efrain glared at the water and nudged pebbles around with his boot. “I read.”

“I’ve never seen you read.”

Efrain’s chin grew even more stubborn. “I don’t show you and Emery everything. I have secrets, too.” He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “Erin knew I read.”

Emilie eyed him. Regardless of that, he was right about the lack of insects. They were both sweating and even Hyacinth smelled more flowery; surely they should be attracting midges. There weren’t even any beetles or stinging bugs around the water.

Then she looked at the stream, at the wide channel and the narrow trickle of water. The stone she was sitting on was still damp. No insects, no birds, no sign of animals. She looked around at the hill and thought of the gap and the fragments where Hyacinth had been trapped, the strange mountains, so oddly shaped and so different from each other. “Uh-oh.”

Efrain, still frowning, stared. “What?”

Emilie hesitated. She was a little worried Efrain would panic, but… She had to say this to somebody, and Hyacinth wouldn’t understand the words and couldn’t answer in any way she understood. “I think… What if we weren’t brought here, to this place, by the aether current? What if the aether current brought all of this here? These hills, the ground, the mountains. That’s why it’s in clumps, like this, and why there was a section missing.”

Efrain’s eyes widened. Then he shook his head. “But there’s water here. This stream. Water has to come from somewhere. And the trees…”

Emilie grimaced. “The water is running out. This stream should be three times as wide. But the lake or spring or whatever that was brought here with it isn’t connected anymore, and it’s slowing down to a trickle.”

Efrain looked down, then pushed to his feet and looked up and down the stream. Emilie looked at Hyacinth. She thought she had figured out where its eyes were, buried among the blossoms roughly in the center of the area that was probably its head. There were several small round bumps there that she caught occasional glimpses of, and they were dark and shiny like eyes. Now they appeared to be regarding her soberly, or at least she thought so. I bet it came to the same conclusion, she thought. I bet that it knows what this place is, and what happened. It just can’t do anything about it.

Efrain said, unsteadily, “But… What… What do we do?”

Emilie pulled her pack strap over her shoulder again. She said, “We walk faster so we can find the others.”

Efrain rubbed his eyes but didn’t sniff. Hyacinth flowed to its feet. It looked from Emilie to Efrain and back. Then its blossoms rustled and it drew something out of them and held it out. Emilie stepped close to look.

It was a little ball of the metallic folded paper, just like they had seen on the ship. Emilie leaned closer. The tiny folds were moving, just a little. It looked like a miniature version of the globe they had seen in the control area… Emilie lifted her brows. “It’s your version of an aether-navigator, isn’t it? It moves when the currents move?”

Hyacinth waved its blossoms gently and tucked the little device away again.

“Can he get us back to the airship with it?” Efrain asked, suddenly hopeful again. “After we find all the others?”

“Not if it works like an aether-navigator. But it should be able to tell when the current changes again, and what direction it shifted to, and that sort of thing.” Emilie wondered if Hyacinth could understand something of what they said. Or maybe it was just much better at interpreting their expressions and actions and gleaning information from it than they were about it. She said, “We’re looking for our other two friends.” She gestured, and held up four fingers and then two, and tried to pantomime the absence of Miss Marlende and the professor. “We think they must be over that way. That’s why we’re going in this direction.” As she pointed, they all turned to look.

Three hills away, over the tops of the trees, a thin column of smoke was rising. Just enough for a small campfire. “A signal!” Efrain bounced happily, pointing. “They’re signaling us!”

“Of course they are,” Emilie said in relief.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It made sense, Emilie thought as they hurried through the forest. Miss Marlende and the professor must have decided to wait where they were and build a signal fire. On reflection, Emilie could see it was the most sensible course of action and that she and Efrain should have done it as well. But Miss Marlende must have looked for one from them, not seen it, and decided to do one of her own so they didn’t miss each other while running around through the woods and up and down hills. Maybe Dr Marlende and Lord Engal and Mikel and Cobbier had found them as well. With everyone putting their heads together, and Hyacinth’s device for showing the aether currents, they could find a way out of here.

That was what she was telling herself, anyway.

The slopes and bluffs allowed them views where they could spot the signal again and keep to the right direction. “It’s getting thinner,” Efrain pointed out after they had walked about an hour and were only one hill away.

Emilie shaded her eyes to look. The smoke column did look wispier. “Maybe it’s just the angle we’re at, or the wind.”

“Or they need to get more wood,” Efrain added practically, and they moved on again.

As they came down through the thick trees on the last part of the hill, Emilie tried hard to hear voices ahead. She supposed Miss Marlende and the professor could just be sitting around quietly resting, but it must mean the others hadn’t found them. She couldn’t imagine Lord Engal being in this situation and not talking about it.

She could think of a dozen reasons for it to be quiet, but it still filled her with dread. Something’s wrong.

They emerged from the trees above a clearing, studded with a few white boulders. Emilie saw the camp immediately. A spot among the boulders had been cleared roughly of grass, and a fire had been built. A heap of sticks had been piled nearby, ready to feed it, but the fire had almost burned out. There was no sign of anyone.

Emilie’s throat went tight. She hurried down the last slope and among the boulders, Efrain and Hyacinth following. The area around the dying fire showed no signs of a struggle or fight. The grass that hadn’t been pulled up to keep the fire from spreading was flattened a bit, as if two people had walked or sat on it. Then she saw a pack leaning against the base of one of the boulders, its white canvas blending into the gray-white stone. She ran over and snatched it up.

Efrain said, “Where are they?” He flung his arms out. “They aren’t here! It’s not fair; we thought they were here!”

Emilie, sitting on her heels to look through the pack, paused to stare at him incredulously. Efrain sniffed and rubbed his nose, and admitted miserably, “That didn’t sound so whiny inside my head.”

“I don’t know where they are,” Emilie said under her breath. In the top of the pack, she found the professor’s notebook. Everything else seemed as it should be. Her water bottle was still there, the packets of food, and a collection of items that were probably for magic, such as little bottles of minerals. There were also some instruments that might be for navigation or drawing that Emilie couldn’t identify. One she recognized from descriptions in the Lord Rohiro books and from glimpsing one on Dr Marlende’s work room bench. It was a combination clock and aether-compass, with a pocketwatch face on one side and the other a miniature aether-navigator with a tiny bit of aether in a glass bubble, floating a compass needle atop it.

She stood up and looked around again, then walked around the perimeter of the camp. Miss Marlende’s pack wasn’t here. “If they left on their own, they wouldn’t have left the professor’s pack here.”

Efrain looked around uneasily. “If they left on their own. You mean someone made them leave?”

Emilie couldn’t think of any other reason they would build a signal fire to draw them here and then go away, especially without the professor’s things. If Dr Marlende or any of the other men had found them and required help urgently, they could have torn a page out of the notebook and left a message to that effect. She realized she was pacing in a tight circle and made herself stop. “Someone else found them before we did. Someone made them run away or took them away.”

“What someone?” Efrain rubbed his eyes again, clearly fighting back tears. Hyacinth waved its arm blossoms in agitation. There was no telling if it understood just what had happened, but it clearly knew something was wrong. Efrain continued, “What do we do? How do we find them now?”

Emilie drew breath to snap at him, then let it out. Efrain might pretend to be a mature young man around Uncle Yeric, but he was a year younger than she was and he had never been through anything like this before. Standing there, she became aware of how much her feet ached from walking on sliding rocks, how dry her throat was. She should be hungry, but she just felt queasy. It had been a long time since either of them had slept, and the unchanging light of the aether had kept them from noticing. They would have dropped from exhaustion if they hadn’t been so afraid. None of that was going to help her find the others.

She said, “We need to rest first. Sit down and have some water and some food.”

“But…” Efrain hesitated. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “All right.”

Efrain sat down and opened his pack. Hyacinth settled next to him. Emilie sat across from them and thought about building up the fire again. No, if anyone we actually want to find could see it, they would be here by now. And more smoke might draw the attention of whoever had come after Miss Marlende and Professor Abindon.

Efrain took a drink from his water bottle and pulled out a wax-paper-wrapped sandwich packet. He handed a second one to Hyacinth. As Efrain ate, Hyacinth picked the sandwich apart with the delicate tips of its blossoms, examined it carefully, then handed it back. Efrain wrapped it up again and put it away. “I guess it does eat sun, like a plant.”

Emilie got her own bottle and food out and made herself drink and eat. It settled her stomach, and after a while, each bite seemed to make it a little easier to think. She needed to figure out how to find the others. She wished Rani was here. Rani had always known what to do and would surely know how to track people through this grass and dirt.

Emilie frowned as she finished off the last crust of her sandwich. Hunters in books were always looking for faint traces invisible to the naked eye. Maybe it wasn’t that complicated. Maybe she should just look and see if she could find anything and not write it off as a lost cause just because she wasn’t an expert hunter like Tagaff, the midshipman from Atalera in the Lord Rohiro books.

She tucked the wax paper back into her pack and got to her feet. “Stay here and rest. I’m going to look around.”

Efrain, drooping over his pack, started to struggle upright. “I’ll go with you!”

“No, I’m just going to be right around here. I’m looking for tracks and evidence. I don’t want you to step on it.” Emilie wasn’t sure what it was but she was pretty certain Efrain would step on it if given the opportunity, especially as tired as he was now.

Efrain sank back down and yawned. Emilie started to circle around the various boulders that surrounded the camp, carefully examining the grass and dirt between them. Hyacinth followed her, watching what she was doing with interest. The first time around, she didn’t see anything, then she turned back and did it again, circling out a little wider. Coming at the camp from the opposite direction, this time she saw a gouge in a patch of dirt between two clumps of grass. Emilie sat on her heels and considered it. Hyacinth crouched beside her. The mark looked too sharp and defined to have been made by an animal. Not that they had seen or heard any hint of animals, birds, or insects here. “I think this was made by someone’s heel,” she told Hyacinth.

It touched the gouge with a tentative blossom.

Emilie started to search the ground in a straight line out from the heel mark, heading toward the forest. Hyacinth had realized what she was looking for now, and lowered itself to within a foot or so of the ground, flowing gently back and forth over the grass, hardly disturbing it. It had gotten a bit ahead of Emilie, and she saw when it stopped abruptly and stood up again, waving its arms at her. She hurried forward.

They were about halfway to the trees on the far side of the clearing from where they had entered it. In an area of patchy grass and dirt, there was a blurred outline of a boot print. Emilie put her own foot beside it for comparison. It was two or three times the size of hers, too big to be a woman, even a tall woman like Professor Abindon.

Emilie’s heart started to pound. Up until this moment, she hadn’t really believed in the mysterious strangers who had made Miss Marlende and the professor leave their camp. She had theorized their existence, but there had been a lot of theorizing by her and everyone else since they had first seen the aether-sailer, and they didn’t know the truth of any of it. But here was proof.

It cut straight through the fog of exhaustion. “We have to get out of here,” she told Hyacinth. She shoved to her feet and strode back toward the camp to shake Efrain awake. Whoever had done this might come back.

Emilie made them walk several hundred yards into the forest, until she found a sheltered spot where they could rest. It was a little hollow shielded by another boulder, and Efrain folded up in it and went to sleep immediately. Emilie sat down beside him. She meant to stay awake and just rest her feet, but she woke abruptly, still half sitting up, her face propped on the professor’s pack. She sat up, groggy, rubbing her eyes. Efrain was still curled against the rock, snoring a little. A small pile of white vines was heaped nearby; after a moment, she realized it was how Hyacinth looked when it was asleep.

She squinted up at the tree canopy overhead. The light hadn’t changed at all. Or she had slept through a whole day… She dragged the pack open and got the portable aether-compass out. The clock on it showed that only a few hours had passed. She let her breath out in relief and shook Efrain’s foot.

He groaned. Hyacinth flinched, then popped upright, waving its arms wildly. “It’s all right,” Emilie told it. “You fell asleep.”

The blossoms’ wild motion slowed, and it sank down again and drooped. Emilie wondered what had happened to it, if the other flower people crew members were trapped here somewhere, too. If they were, surely it would be looking for them, not following us around. It was acting as if it was stuck and staying with them was its only option.

She wondered how long it had been trapped alone on the aether-sailer.

Efrain was sitting up and scrubbing his hands through his hair. Emilie told him, “Come on; we need to go.”

“Go where?” Efrain said, still groggy. “We don’t know how to find them.”

“We know they went in this direction.” Emilie stood, shouldering the professor’s pack along with her own. She had marked the direction on the aether-compass before they had left the clearing. Without a smoke beacon to follow, keeping to a straight course through the forest would have been difficult. At least this way they knew they were heading in the same direction that Miss Marlende and the professor had been taken away in, and not just going in circles.

After a few minutes of trudging after her, Efrain said, “Who could have taken them? If this place has been just put together from chunks of other places that got picked up in the aether currents like we think, there wouldn’t be any people still alive here. They would have run out of food and water pretty quickly. Unless a whole lake got taken with them.”

It showed the sleep had made Efrain’s brain start working again. That was a relief. “Unless they were taken recently, like we were.”

Efrain frowned down at his boots. “But you don’t think they’re friendly, because they didn’t let Miss Marlende leave us a note, and the professor left her pack behind.”

Emilie nodded. To give them both something else to think about, she said, “Maybe they’re pirates.” Pirate adventure stories had been Efrain’s favorite when he was younger. Emilie had thought that if there were really that many pirates, there wouldn’t be any shipping at all, since the stories implied hundreds more ships than the Menaen navy had ever needed. But then she remembered how much Efrain had changed in the past year. She didn’t even know if he still read those stories.

But Efrain said, with relish, “Or ghosts.”

“Ghost pirates,” Emilie suggested. Impulsively, she smiled at Efrain, and he smiled back. Hyacinth waved its blossoms at them, as if it felt it should participate but had no idea how.

Then Emilie blinked and looked back at the compass. It had been a long time since she and Efrain had smiled at each other.

Efrain seemed to realize it, too. He shifted his pack uncomfortably and didn’t say anything else.

They had only walked about half an hour according to the compass’ clock when Emilie started to glimpse something gray between the trees ahead. At first, she thought it was mist or a haze; as they drew closer, she realized she was looking at a cliff. She groaned under her breath. The ground had been relatively even through this part of the forest so far. She had climbed and slid down all the steep stony slopes she ever wanted to in this place.

But when they emerged from the trees it was clear this wasn’t just another rock formation. The cliff was only about twenty feet tall, but it was dark gray streaked with a glittering blue, with broken shards of blue crystal sticking out of it. The grassy ground of the forest floor came right up to it with no rocks or stones or anything, and some of the trees were uprooted and leaning against it. It looked like two different places.

“Oh,” Emilie said aloud. “Because it is two different places.”

Efrain nodded. “This part came from somewhere else, and it just got mushed together with the forest.” He looked up and down the cliff, though the trees crowding it made it hard to see very far. “They must have climbed it. We need to find where they went up.”

Emilie thought they must have climbed it, too. With the trees crowding so close, there just wasn’t much room along it, and the base of a cliff seemed an odd place to pick for a camp, anyway. And along the top, they might be able to find more tracks. She went to one of the uprooted trees that leaned against the cliff. “Let’s try to get up this way. It’ll be easier to see where they went from up top.”

She stepped on top of the trunk and awkwardly crab-crawled up the steep angle. The wood slipped under her feet, and the branches were all at the top. Then Hyacinth flowed past her, using all its limbs to rapidly scale the side of the trunk. Then it paused and extended an arm toward Emilie.

They could have it carry the rope up for them, but this was faster. Emilie stretched and grabbed the blossom-covered arm, and it hauled her easily up the trunk as if she weighed nothing. She let go when she reached the branches and could pull herself up and scramble onto the cliff top. Hyacinth made sure she didn’t fall and then went back for Efrain.

Emilie picked twigs and leaves out of her hair, looking around. The top of the cliff was rocky and flat, with blue crystal slabs sticking up from the mottled gray rock, and little veins of crystal between them, glittering like streams of water. It stretched out for a few hundred yards to a forest of light green ferny foliage, clearly completely different from the forest they had just crossed through. Rising up from the forest, perhaps no more than a mile or so away, was a great lumpy hill all of gray rock, hundreds of feet tall, almost big enough to be a small mountain. It was studded with pockets of foliage that must mark various clearings and folds that might lead into little valleys. It seemed to have been here for some time, because she could see streaky white grooves that might have been waterfalls at some point but were now dry.

Then a glint of metal caught her eye and Emilie stared. That can’t be right. She dropped the professor’s pack and hastily dug through it.

Efrain and Hyacinth stepped up beside her as she pulled the little telescope out. She straightened up and peered through it at the gleam of metal on the side of the stone slope, adjusting the lenses to bring it into focus. No, that’s what it is. Sticking out from the side of the hill, as if it had landed on a ledge concealed by the fold of rock, was the metal frame of an airship’s balloon.

Emilie wouldn’t have recognized it if she hadn’t seen the ruined skeleton of Lord Ivers’ airship, after Dr Marlende had burned it. It might be something else that just happened to look like an airship frame, but whatever it was, that was clearly the place they needed to go.

“What is it?” Efrain demanded.

“I think it’s a wrecked airship,” Emilie told him. A blossom arm snaked the telescope out of her hand before Efrain could grab it. Hyacinth jammed the end of the telescope somewhere into the region of what Emilie thought its lower chest was. It had it pointed at the airship frame, so Emilie assumed that was actually where its eyes were. Or at least some of its eyes.

“But how…” Efrain began. “It’s not our airship, is it?”

“No. No, it isn’t.” If it was a Menaen airship, there was only one that it could be. “Come on.” Emilie shouldered the professor’s pack again, tucking the telescope back under the flap as Hyacinth handed it back to her. “They might see us. We need to hurry.”

Emilie didn’t breathe easy until they reached the trees. They weren’t very tall, but she and Efrain were both short enough to walk under the ferny foliage without crouching down. It also provided some welcome shade, since she was sweating from the run across the crystal shard fields.

She wasn’t certain how they were going to get up the hill until they got to the base of it. From there, they could see the folds in the rock had formed natural ramps and pathways, much easier to climb than the steep, smooth slopes of stone. The hard part was trying to find a way up that would allow them to spy on the spot with the airship frame without walking directly up on it. After some fumbling on Emilie’s part and some bad advice on Efrain’s, Hyacinth took the lead, climbing rapidly ahead of them, then returning to show them the way it had found.

After a long scrambling climb with skinned knees and bruised knuckles, Hyacinth returned from one of its scouting forays and crouched in front of Emilie. It waved its blossoms and then gently touched her face.

“You want us to be quiet,” she whispered. She glanced back to make certain Efrain had heard, too.

It waved its blossoms again, but seemed satisfied and turned away, moving slowly so they could keep up with it.

It led them up a winding, narrow channel that might have been part of a watercourse at one time, now choked with dark green-gray weeds. They came to a spot where the side of the channel opened into a little cliff. Hyacinth stopped and pointed down. Emilie leaned past it to look and saw another dry water channel below this one, running parallel to it for a short stretch. But this one was carved into wide steps, the weeds cleared away.

Efrain squeezed in to look over her shoulder. They exchanged a grim look. We’re almost there, Emilie thought.

Hyacinth led them around a bulgy curve of rock, and then up the side and out of the channel onto a ridge. Looming above it, Emilie could see the top of the airship frame. Moving slowly and carefully, they flattened their bodies against the rock and climbed to the top of the ridge to look over.

Below was a steep-sided well in the side of the hill, which at one time might have been formed by water. It now held the cabin of an airship, still partially attached to the giant skeletal balloon frame and leaning at an angle. It was a large two-story cabin like the one on their airship, but it was battered and crushed along the bottom and had clearly been in a crash landing, perhaps even dragged over the stone of the hill. Shelters had been built into the side of the cliff with walls of piled rock, and roofs made of slender wooden poles, and there were also a rock fire pit and a square box made of slabs of stone that might be an oven.

And there were people. Menaen people, at least ten of them, dressed in ragged clothing, two carrying rifles… Efrain gripped Emilie’s wrist and drew in a sharp breath. She stretched to look and spotted them: sitting in a small group near the airship cabin were not only Miss Marlende and Professor Abindon, but Dr Marlende, Lord Engal, Cobbier, and Mikel.

They were sitting on the dusty ground, facing two strange people, a man and a woman, who were speaking earnestly to them. Emilie could see Lord Engal’s stiff posture, and the professor’s frown, and knew these weren’t friends.

She edged back, drawing Efrain with her, and Hyacinth followed them. Back in the shelter of the channel, keeping her voice to a bare whisper, she said, “We have to rescue them.”

“How do we know they’re captured?” Efrain asked. “Those are Menaens. They must be explorers who were trapped here, too.”

She shook her head. “Then why did Miss Marlende and the professor not leave us a note? Or say, ‘No, we can’t go yet; we have to wait for our friends Emilie and Efrain, who are here somewhere, too’? Why didn’t the professor take her pack? The ones who came for them didn’t see it where it was lying against the rock, and she left without it, so we could find it and know something was wrong.”

Efrain frowned. “But…”

“Lord Ivers and his men were explorers and Menaens and they almost killed us. The other Menaen explorers were the most dangerous people we met in the Hollow World. Without them, it wouldn’t have been nearly so bad.” She sat back. “Those people have to be the Deverrin expedition. They were lost last year sometime. Miss Marlende knew them. But why are they holding our people prisoner?” Could they think Dr Marlende was trying to steal their work? That didn’t make any sense, but it was the sort of nonsensical idea that explorers seemed to tend to.

Efrain didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”

“They have rifles.”

Efrain’s stubborn expression turned troubled. “Miss Marlende and some of the others had pistols…”

It didn’t change the point. “We had pistols because people like Lord Ivers keep coming after us. But the Deverrins are supposed to be friends of the Marlendes. Their brother, Mr Anton Deverrin, asked Miss Marlende to look for them.”

Efrain said, “Maybe someone was after them, like Lord Ivers was after Lord Engal, and they’re suspicious of everyone now.”

Emilie still rather resented it when Efrain said something smart, but there was no denying he had a point. “Maybe. But why would they think it was the Marlendes?”

Efrain lifted his brows. “Because it was?”

Emilie felt her cheeks flush, mostly with rage. Her first impulse was to punch Efrain in the face, or to tell him to take it back, or preferably both. But that was childish and she didn’t have time for it. “I need a plan. And I need to know more before I can make one.”

Ignoring Efrain’s “But what…” she climbed back up the rock to the vantage point for another look at the camp.

The young woman and the man had moved away from the Marlendes and were talking with the others now. The Marlende group was sitting where they had been before, still watched by the two men with rifles, talking quietly together.

She realized the Deverrin party wasn’t guarding their camp like people who expected intruders. There were no lookouts posted, no one watching the approaches to the hill. The elementary sort of thing one learned from playing play-fort as a child, or at least that was where Emilie had learned it. All their attention was on their prisoners, as if they were the only source of danger.

Maybe they were. Maybe the Deverrins had never seen any other people here, and thought the Marlende party was the only threat. If the situation was as tense as it looked, the Marlendes certainly wouldn’t have mentioned the fact that there were a couple of their party still missing.

Emilie needed to get closer to where the Marlendes were being held and maybe try to signal them if she could.

She climbed back down to where Hyacinth and Efrain were waiting. “I’m going around to the other side. There’s a fold of rock there I can use to get down near the airship. From there, I should be able to hear what they’re saying.”

Efrain glared at her. “You’ll get caught!”

“Quiet!” Emilie glared back. “I won’t get caught. I’ve done this sort of thing before.”

Hyacinth stirred uneasily, its blossoms pointed toward them like it was disturbed by their behavior and trying to understand what was wrong.

“Emilie…”

“Just be quiet and stay here!”

Efrain started to get up. “If you’re going to do this stupid thing, I’ll come with you.”

Emilie jaw hurt from gritting her teeth. “Stupid? All right, Efrain, you’re in charge. What do we do next? How are we going to free my friends? How are we going to get back to the airship? Hurry, before the aether current destroys it or snatches up Daniel and Seth and we’re stuck here until we die.”

Efrain stared at her, frustrated. “I don’t know.”

“Then sit here and be quiet.” Emilie hurried away, moving quickly and quietly on the stone. She didn’t look back.

It took Emilie a little time to get around to the airship and climb down that fold of rock. It was a good deal narrower than the one on the other side that Hyacinth had led them to, and it wasn’t nearly as good cover. She had to wriggle on her belly through the last section until she could finally hear voices.

Lord Engal was saying, “Believe me, my dear, we all understand your concern. We’ve just come back from an expedition where we were harassed unmercifully and nearly killed by Lord Ivers of the Philosophers’ Society. But I fail to see why you believe that we are a danger to you.”

At least she had been right about that. The Deverrin expedition was suspicious and frightened. But surely we can work that out, Emilie thought. Suspicion was one thing but everyone would want to work together to get out of here before the aether current ripped this place apart or decided to drop a mountain on top of them.

The young woman’s voice said, “My father will explain. I have no intention of being fooled by your false concern–”

“False concern?” Miss Marlende burst out. “I wish I’d never heard of any of you! You’re all as mad as mercury-sniffers.”

Dr Marlende broke in. “Miss Deverrin, you’ve been gone a year. If we had anything to do with it, why would we wait so long to come after you?”

“And why in the world would I participate in it?” Professor Abindon asked. “You, or at least your father, must know our history.”

Emilie was hoping she would elaborate, but Miss Deverrin said, “Perhaps you were duped.”

Her voice acid, the professor said, “Young lady, no one ‘dupes’ me.”

Someone called out and Emilie flinched, but Miss Deverrin said, “My father has returned.” It should have sounded overblown and self-important, but there was a faint quaver in her voice.

It gave Emilie pause. Maybe it did the others too, as no one said anything as Dr Deverrin’s footsteps sounded lightly on the packed dirt. The silence was so tense that when a mild voice tinged with a Menaen country accent spoke, Emilie flinched. He said, “Well, this is quite a surprise. But I suppose you meant to come after us eventually.”

Lord Engal said, “Deverrin, are you seriously suggesting that you believe we somehow sabotaged your expedition? Everyone believed your ship had broken up over the sea. No one had any notion that you were alive and trapped.”

“This is exactly what I expected you to say, of course.”

Professor Abindon said, “How exactly was this accomplished, by the way? I assure you, if Engal or Marlende could force an aether current to do their bidding, they would find better things to do with it than to attack the expedition of an inferior scholar.”

Lord Engal sighed. Miss Marlende said, “Perhaps not the best point to raise, at the moment, Mother.”

Dr Deverrin said, “And what say you, Dr Marlende? You’re being uncharacteristically quiet on this subject.”

Dr Marlende said, thoughtfully, “I say that you’re not Dr Deverrin.”

There was a moment of stunned silence. Or at least it was stunned on Emilie’s part. She frowned, baffled by what Dr Marlende might mean. That Dr Deverrin wasn’t behaving like himself? He couldn’t mean that that actually wasn’t Dr Deverrin! Some of these other people were members of the Deverrin family, and they were all known to the Marlende party. It didn’t make sense.

Dr Marlende continued. “I don’t know what you are. I find this a very curious circumstance, and not something I have ever encountered before. You have Deverrin’s face, and his body. But you do not have more than the most rudimentary elements of his mind.”

Someone made a choking noise, almost a sob. Emilie was certain it was Miss Deverrin. After that, the silence stretched again. Emilie’s skin prickled all over and her throat went dry. If someone accused me of not being me, I’d throw a fit. Or something. I wouldn’t just stand there. But Deverrin was just standing there.

Dr Marlende said, “And now you’re trying to exercise some sort of influence over my mind. Very odd. It might have worked, if I hadn’t already seen through your deception.”

Finally, Dr Deverrin said, “I see you’ve gone mad. Perhaps that’s why you attacked us.”

As if he hadn’t spoken, Dr Marlende said, “You see, Dr Deverrin and I were very close, intimate friends when we were young men. We went to university together. We learned philosophy and magic together. We performed spells in tandem. I can’t describe to you, whatever you are, how deep an aetheric bond that can form between individuals. Particularly individuals who already share a great deal of sympathetic connections. We were not as close after university, as he was called on to marry and continue the Deverrin line, which we both knew would eventually happen. So the bonds of that time may no longer be as immediate, but they still exist. I would know if Alaine Deverrin was standing in front of me. And he is not.”

“I see,” Dr Deverrin said, his tone unchanged. “It’s a rather ridiculous accusation, and there isn’t much I can say to it, is there? I assume you hope the rest of your party still on your airship will be able to carry out your plot against us?”

There was a moment’s pause. Dr Marlende said, “How did you know there are still crew on our airship? None of us mentioned it.”

Dr Deverrin just said, “Come away; this is pointless.”

Miss Deverrin said, “Yes, Father.”

Their footsteps crunched away across the dirt and gravel.

Lord Engal spoke first, “That wasn’t some sort of ruse? You really believe that isn’t Deverrin?”

“I wish it was a ruse,” Dr Marlende’s voice was grim. “I have no idea how this could have happened. It must be something that… attached itself to him after his airship entered the aether current.”

“There’s never been any hint of the possibility of something like this in all the years of study of the sea aether currents,” the professor said.

“But there has,” Miss Marlende said. “There have been instances of crewmen being driven mad by the sea aether currents.”

Lord Engal said, “Yes, but some of those men were recovered alive and examined carefully by physicians and aetheric sorcerers. Surely some evidence of this, whatever this is, would have been found.”

“I believe this is something native to the air currents,” Dr Marlende said. “And I think this creature knew about the crew left behind on our airship because it has some contact or connection with the aether-sailer. From the way Miss Deverrin spoke, he leaves the camp frequently, but she seems to have no idea why.”

A ghost pirate. Emilie would have to tell Efrain that they had been right.

Miss Marlende said, “That’s frightening. If he… it… does something to Daniel and Seth or damages the airship–”

The professor said, “Perhaps it, or something like it, is why the aether-sailer was abandoned. If we could speak to that member of the crew we encountered, so many questions might be answered.”

Yes, if we could speak to it, Emilie thought in frustration. She wondered how she was going to get all this information across to Hyacinth. It clearly understood their broad attempts to communicate things like “we’re going this way”, “we’re searching for others”, and “those people might hurt us”. But she didn’t think she had much chance of explaining this, and even if she somehow managed to, she had no chance of understanding its replies.

And if she couldn’t get close enough to speak to Miss Marlende and the others, she had to at least let them know she was here so they could form a plan. She was going to have to try to let them see her without letting anyone else see her.

She crawled along the ridge, heading for the airship frame. It took her what felt like forever to reach it, moving slowly and carefully, the rock scraping her knees and elbows. She squirmed around folds of rock, wriggled between narrow boulders. At the point where the rusted frame hung over her, she began to wonder if she hadn’t made a terrible decision. Or another terrible decision. The folds of rock were covered with gravel and stone chips, and it was like climbing over broken glass. And she had to creep along very slowly to keep from making noise. She knew she should just turn around and go back, but she had come too far and wasted too much time to stop now.

Finally she got to a spot where she could crane her neck and see through a gap between two girders in the frame. She could see the little group of prisoners sitting in front of the airship’s wrecked cabin. Some of the Deverrin crew sat nearby, gathered around a small campfire, their weapons in evidence, but the others were over by the stone shelters. Their attention was still on guarding their prisoners, not on anything or anyone who might come at them over the rocky ridge surrounding their camp.

Miss Marlende was seated with her legs folded and facing this way, though she wasn’t looking up toward Emilie’s position high in the ridge above the cabin. Emilie chewed on her lower lip, then decided to take a chance.

She pushed herself up slowly and cautiously, keeping an eye on the nearest Deverrins, the group sitting around the fire. Miss Marlende still wasn’t looking up. As Emilie drew her feet under her, she felt something shift under her heel. Gravel rattled, slid through a gap in the rocks and clattered down on the metal frame.

Emilie ducked and froze, cursing herself. The sinking sensation of having made a terrible mistake made her stomach want to turn. She wished she had listened to that feeling earlier. Someone yelled, “Up there!” and she heard footsteps crunch on the rock and gravel below.

Cursing herself again, Emilie scrambled further along the fold of rock, moving as fast and as quietly as she could. She came to a dead end, where she couldn’t go any further without climbing up the side of the rock and letting the whole camp see her. But it wasn’t as if they didn’t already know she was here. She gritted her teeth and started to stand, just hoping they didn’t shoot her.

Then someone called out, “There he is!”

Emilie stopped. He? The footsteps all sounded as if they were running away from her now. Oh, he didn’t! A shot went off and Emilie flinched. It echoed against the stone and her skin went cold.

But a few moments later, she heard Efrain’s voice, though she couldn’t distinguish the words. She scrambled quietly back down the fold to where she could get a view of the camp. Efrain was alive, being conducted down the stairs cut into the wall by one of the men. It must have been a warning shot. She leaned against the rock, dizzy with relief. The idiot must have deliberately shown himself, to distract from Emilie’s blunder. What did he think he was doing? Maybe he hadn’t thought anything; maybe he just hadn’t wanted her to be caught. At least Hyacinth hadn’t followed suit. If the Deverrins were this suspicious of the Marlendes, there was no telling how they would react to a flower person.

The man had Efrain by the arm and pulled him off the steps and into the center of the camp. Several of the Deverrins still stood guard over the Marlendes, their guns at ready, but most of them gathered around Efrain. Efrain looked at them all with the wide-eyed innocence that had been so infuriating when he had used it on Uncle Yeric while tattling on Emilie. He sniffed and rubbed at his nose, making himself look even younger than he already did.

Dr Deverrin strode forward. Emilie watched him nervously. This would have been anxious enough if it was just a somewhat paranoid Dr Deverrin in there, but if it was really some sort of aether-being…

Deverrin stared down at Efrain, who sniffed again, blissfully oblivious to the fact that he was facing something strange. Deverrin said, “There was another one, another young person. Where is she?”

Emilie froze. How did he know that? One of the others must have said something, but it was hard to imagine them being so foolish.

Efrain stared, then said, “She’s dead. We… I think the aether current dropped her too close to a cliff, and she fell, and she’s dead!” He choked and sobbed, scrubbing at his eyes to cover up the fact that he wasn’t tearing up. It was a tactic of his that she remembered well from the times when Efrain had claimed she had done something terrible to him. At last it was coming in handy.

Miss Deverrin put a hand to her mouth and the others shifted uncomfortably, looked to Dr Deverrin or at each other. “There was nothing that could be done,” Dr Deverrin said. Which there wasn’t, even if it had really happened, but one usually expressed sympathy first before one got around to the “oh, well, it was bound to happen” stage. At least in Emilie’s experience.

Lord Engal swore and turned to the others, and Emilie saw Mikel and Cobbier exchange a worried look. Dr Marlende squeezed Miss Marlende’s arm, both of them watching Efrain carefully. The professor turned her face away, shielding it from the guards, and said something quietly. They don’t believe it, Emilie thought. She just hoped Dr Deverrin did.

CHAPTER NINE

Emilie made her way back around to where she had originally left Efrain and Hyacinth. She was tired, covered with sweat and dust, scratched and scraped and bruised, and angry with herself. You really messed this one up, she thought grimly. In hindsight, her overconfidence seemed obvious; it was frustrating that she had been too blind to see it at the time. And what Dr Marlende had said made her wonder if he and Professor Abindon had fallen out because he had still been in love with Dr Deverrin, who had now been taken over and possibly killed by an aetheric monster, and that seemed so sad. She would rather they had broken up over a difference in opinion on philosophical theories, or because their personalities were so irritating to each other. Thinking about it, she couldn’t imagine the latter hadn’t been a factor.

When she reached the fold in the rock where she had left the others, at first Hyacinth seemed to be gone as well. That wasn’t encouraging. It might have had to withdraw, to keep any possible searchers from finding it. Or maybe it had just gotten fed up with her stupid decisions and had set off on its own.

She found their packs stuffed hastily under a clump of weeds. If the Deverrins had searched up here, they would have found them too, but at least Efrain had tried. She couldn’t carry all three, so she took the water flask, rations, and anything else that looked useful out of Efrain’s pack and put it into hers, then hid it more carefully. She started to stand, to shoulder her pack and the professor’s, when Hyacinth swarmed over the nearest rock and plopped itself in front of her.

Keeping her voice carefully hushed, she told it, “Efrain got caught, and it was my fault. He did it to save me. And Dr Deverrin isn’t Dr Deverrin, he’s something else, probably an aether monster pretending to be Dr Deverrin.”

It waved its arm blossoms in a beckoning motion, and turned away, heading back the way it had come. Emilie stared after it. It turned back, waved at her again, then returned, still waving. It seemed to be trying to point over the rocks, away from the camp.

“You want us to leave?” Emilie said. That seemed a little harsh, for it to want her to abandon Efrain. But maybe it was trying to show her something. “Do you want me to follow you?”

An arm wrapped around her wrist and tugged, trying to pull her away. “No, wait, I have to stay here and–” It stopped and waved at her urgently. It occurred to Emilie that the only other times Hyacinth had touched her was when it was trying to stop her from falling off a cliff or tree trunk. She took a deep breath. She had made a terrible mistake and gotten Efrain captured. It was time to at least listen to someone else. And maybe it had found something important while she was off spying and being an idiot. “All right, I’ll follow you.”

Hyacinth led her up and around the side of the hill, away from the camp. Emilie kept her grumble of frustration to herself.

They followed another fold of rock for a time, then Hyacinth motioned for her to duck down and did its “quiet, danger ahead” blossom wave. Emilie crouched down and watched her steps, avoiding the loose rock. She could see the top of the airship frame jutting over the rock now, and had some idea where they were going, just not why. Then they came out to a ledge where they could see roughly cut steps leading to a gap in the rock: the main entrance to the camp.

Hyacinth settled in, sinking down into a sprawl on the ledge that made it hard to distinguish from a clump of foliage. Emilie hunkered down and tried to follow suit.

They waited for a while, the stone grating on Emilie’s knees, until she began to get very thirsty. She was about to climb back down into cover so she could get her water flask out of her pack when she saw shadows moving in the gap that led into the camp. She froze and huddled down as far as she could.

It was Dr Deverrin who stepped out of the gap, followed by Miss Deverrin. Emilie could tell they were talking but couldn’t make out the words. Miss Deverrin seemed to be worried and Dr Deverrin was reassuring her. Then Dr Deverrin turned away and started down the steps.

Emilie watched with narrowed eyes. He did move awfully easily for an older man. She had been thinking of him as being under the control of some creature or being, something that was mentally affecting him. But maybe that wasn’t him at all, just something that had made itself look like him. She really wasn’t certain what was worse.

He made his way down the steps and into a ravine in the side of the hill, then followed it until he disappeared from view. Hyacinth flowed into motion, slipping back down the fold in the rock to follow. Emilie scrambled after it.

What followed was an exceedingly difficult exercise in climbing, crouching, and crab-walking up slopes, at least for Emilie. Hyacinth, with its light weight and extra limbs, was able to make it all look easy. Sweating and struggling to keep up, Emilie knew it was anything but.

Hyacinth kept darting ahead to watch the route Dr Deverrin took, then returning to lead Emilie. They went down and around the side of the hill, through several jumbles of boulders, across a dry riverbed, and then into a shallow canyon whose floor was studded with giant shards of the blue crystal. The ground was flatter and easier to walk on, but Emilie didn’t like the idea of what would happen if they stumbled and fell against a crystal; all those edges looked sharp.

Then Emilie spotted something ahead, a metal spire towering over the tall shards. She brushed Hyacinth’s blossoms to get its attention and pointed up at the spire. It froze for an instant, then began to move rapidly sideways, making its way toward the side of the canyon. They climbed the smooth, sloping stone wall and took cover behind some tumbled rock.

Ahead, at the far end of the canyon, they could see what the spire was attached to. It was a ship of some kind, an aether-ship. Hyacinth quivered all over with excitement.

The little ship was made of bright pewter-colored metal, with a rounded flat-roofed cabin studded by little windows. Standing above it was a metal sail, at least three times as large as the rest of the ship. The resemblance to the aether-sailer was hard to miss. “It’s your ship,” Emilie said to Hyacinth in a voiceless whisper. “A small version of the bigger one?” Then the obvious explanation struck her. “Oh… It’s a lifeboat. Or a launch?”

Dr Deverrin was just coming out from between the blue shards, making his way toward the little ship. He came up to a round opening at the back and climbed inside. Hyacinth made a noise she had hadn’t heard it make before, a sort of long hissing sound. She realized she hadn’t heard it make any sort of noise before and thought it must be in the grip of some extremely strong emotion. Emilie dug in her pack and pulled out the professor’s telescope, hoping to get a close look at Dr Deverrin’s expression when he left the ship.

After an interminable time, Deverrin finally emerged. Emilie focused the telescope on him, but his expression was completely blank. It was so blank, it was like looking at the face of a dead person laid out by the undertaker for the relatives to take their last look. It gave her a cold sensation in the pit of her stomach. It was just one more sign that Dr Marlende was right. And she wondered if the other members of Dr Deverrin’s party had any idea this ship was here.

She would bet they didn’t.

They watched Dr Deverrin walk back into the forest of blue shards, then sat quietly, giving him time to cross it. He appeared briefly at the far end, just before he disappeared around a fold of rock. They waited some more, for safety’s sake, then climbed down to the canyon floor.

This wasn’t something she and Hyacinth had to discuss; it was clear they were going to the little ship.

Hyacinth bolted for it. Emilie had to keep stopping and looking toward the top of the canyon, in case this was a trick by Dr Deverrin and he meant to double back and catch them. But there was no movement among the crystal shards.

The aether-ship sat at an angle against the side of the canyon, but it didn’t look as if it had crashed. It looked as if it had simply been deposited there. Maybe it had, by the aether current, just like the rest of them. Hyacinth went to the stern under the sail, where the round hatch was. The door stood partway open and it flowed inside without hesitation. Emilie followed.

There was no mistaking that this ship had been built by the same people as the big aether-sailer. The walls of the long cabin were the same bronze color, with the same sort of chased metal strands embedded in the curved ceiling, except these didn’t glow with light. Hyacinth went forward to the little round windows at the front, where there was a smaller version of the folded metal-paper globe, only about a foot across. In front of it was a panel with the same metal-paper controls as on the aether-sailer.

Hyacinth moved its blossoms over the panel, and light flickered in the metal strands in the ceiling. “It still works!” Emilie pointed upward. She had thought the little ship was a derelict. They might be able to use this to get everyone out of this place and back to the airship. A terrible thought hit her. Did Hyacinth mean to leave now? “Uh, it still works, and everything, but are you actually planning to leave, because I can’t go with you but if you would care to wait…”

She trailed off as Hyacinth wasn’t listening. It had opened a panel in the wall and drew out a handful of the metal-paper. It turned to hand it to Emilie. After a moment of hesitation, she held out her cupped hands and took it.

Hyacinth turned to the panel and took out another clump of metal-paper. This one it kept, balancing it in several of its front blossoms. Emilie felt her metal-paper warm slightly against her skin. She hoped Hyacinth wasn’t planning to leave and expecting her to help it pilot the ship. “What is this?”

The clump it was holding moved by itself as if in response, the metal-paper shifting into different patterns. It moved its blossoms over it again, then turned to face her expectantly. She stared back at it. It poked at the metal-paper clump in her hands and Emilie looked down at it.

In the center of the clump had formed words, words in Menaen. They said, It is a translator.

Emilie sat down heavily, her knees weak with reaction. Hyacinth hadn’t spoken aloud, or at least not in any way that she could hear. But this device would let them talk, and if they could talk, they could plan. She said, “That is a huge relief.”

It sat down too, dropping down onto the deck, most of its blossoms limp with weariness. For me, also.

So they talked. It was much easier than waving at each other. Its name and the name of the place it had come from didn’t translate into Menaen, but when she told it she had been calling it “Hyacinth”, it said it didn’t mind. She supposed the word didn’t translate, any more than its name for her did.

It had come with its people on the aether-sailer, to explore this new current they had discovered. From what it said about the aether currents, the whole system was far more complex than the concentric circles of worlds that the Philosophers’ Society had envisioned, but Emilie didn’t need to understand it to follow the story.

All had been going well aboard the aether-sailer when one of the crew members began to act oddly, injuring others, and then had sabotaged the ship. The ship had started to slow down, then finally became stuck in place in the aether current. They had quickly realized that some creature had actually taken over their friend’s mind, and caused him – or her, as the translator wasn’t clear on gender, but that wasn’t important, either – to behave this way.

“That’s what happened to Dr Deverrin, the man we followed here,” Emilie told it.

Yes, it told her, I suspected this when we viewed the camp. I knew this lifeboat was missing and the something something had disappeared. The creature must have destroyed it and then stolen the lifeboat and come here.

“Wait, that one didn’t translate. Destroyed the what?”

Hyacinth turned back to her. It was a mechanism, a device, for driving the creature out of a host. The something aboard our ship assembled it, to force the creature out of our friend. I had it with me, but when I woke after being incapacitated by the aether current, it was not there.

The flower people had used the device to force the aether creature out of their friend, but they hadn’t been able to repair their ship. The other crew members had taken the additional lifeboats and left, but Hyacinth had felt it was its duty to remain behind with this lifeboat, to make one more attempt to free the aether-sailer. But the aether current had started to behave erratically and had snatched the lifeboat away while Hyacinth was working on the aether-sailer. It had seen the airship arrive, and it had been afraid to answer their hails, thinking they had been the ones who sent the creature. It had spied on Dr Marlende’s party, and had just decided to try to contact them when the aether current had swept over the ship. Hyacinth had not been caught by the current but had been incapacitated by it, and had lain dormant for some time. It had just woken and heard movement on the ship again before it had run into her party. After a short time, it had become clear, even without being able to understand their speech, that they had not sent the creature and were just as much at the mercy of these erratic aether currents as it was.

Emilie nodded. “Do you think the creature is making the currents do all this? That it made them grab your ship and all of us?”

Yes. But how, or why, is unknown to me. Do you know what this place is?

“I was going to ask you that.” It wasn’t reassuring that Hyacinth didn’t know. “It looked to us as if the aether current picked up chunks of land and brought them here. Is there any reason why someone would make an aether current do that?”

It seems dangerous and unwieldy. But there must be some compelling reason to create this construction. It might be a natural phenomenon, but it is not one my civilization has ever encountered before.

“We’ve never seen anything like it, either.” She told it about the disappearance of the Deverrin party in their airship last year, and how they had been presumed dead, and how Professor Abindon had detected the aether-sailer and they had come up through the current to see what it was. “So the creature must have come here on the lifeboat after it sabotaged your ship and gotten control of Dr Deverrin the way it did your crew member.” But why was it doing this? Was it just collecting aether-ships and people, or did it have some sort of goal? “There’s one thing I don’t understand. It attacked your ship and sabotaged it so it would be trapped in place. Why?”

We talked much on this, before the others left. We think it must want something from our ship, or perhaps to use it to try to travel somewhere within the current. But this makes little sense in light of its later activities. It has succeeded in this; why is it still here?

“Yes, exactly. And does this little ship still work? I mean, if the creature wanted to use it to go somewhere, could it do it?” Could we do it? she wondered. Perhaps they could pick the others up and flee back to the airship or the aether-sailer.

Hyacinth’s blossoms shivered in agitation. The power is low, and the something is a little damaged, but flight is still possible. But I also wonder... Why did the creature come here at this moment?

Emilie felt a cold chill travel down her spine. “Oh. Maybe it was setting a trap for us. Maybe it realized we were watching it.”

They both turned to peer out the little windows. Nothing moved in the canyon, though there could be a dozen people hiding among the blue shards. Emilie forced down the fear and made herself think. She looked up at Hyacinth, though she didn’t know if it could really see her face, or if it did, if it could read her expression. “If you help me free my people from this creature, we’ll help you fix your aether-sailer so you can get it out of the current and take it home.”

Hyacinth waved its blossoms. This was what I hoped we could do.

Emilie nodded tightly. It was going to help her. That made her breathe a little easier. “I think… If we can get back to our airship, Daniel and Seth are there, and they can help us.”

Hyacinth considered briefly, its blossoms opening and closing, and Emilie realized she was asking it to extend them a great deal of trust, just on her word. But it said, We will do this. If we leave immediately, the creature will not be able to trap us, if that was its intention.

Hyacinth turned to the panel at the very front of the ship and ran its petals over the metal-paper control. Emilie felt a hum travel through the deck, and the bronze lights blinked and began to glow softly. There were no chairs to sit in, so she crouched down on the deck where she could peer out one of the lower windows and hold on to a rail built into the wall.

The deck pushed against her feet as the ship lifted off the ground. The blue shards dropped away below, and Emilie was glad to see they were moving away from the camp, so there was no chance of the Deverrins seeing it launch. If Dr Deverrin wasn’t lurking out there waiting to trap them, then the longer it took him to realize the ship was gone, the better.

The ship moved away from the canyon, out over a dry lake bed. Then it shuddered and Emilie fell back, sitting down hard. “What happened?” It occurred to her belatedly that Dr Deverrin’s trap might have involved a weapon that could shoot them out of the air.

Hyacinth didn’t answer, too occupied to look at the translator. The ship shuddered again, and the metal-paper controls and the globe were all flowing and changing like water. Another shudder, and Hyacinth waved its petals in agitation. Then the ship started to sink gently down toward the ground.

Once they had landed on the lumpy surface of the lake bed, Hyacinth turned to her and the translator said, Something is wrong. The ship will not enter the aether current. We cannot travel away from this place without making repairs to the aether navigation equipment. It drooped a little. It may take some time.

Emilie eased back into a sitting position and let go of her death grip on the railing. “Well, now we know why the creature didn’t use the ship to escape.” She let her breath out in frustration. “But we still don’t know why it left the camp and came to the ship. If it knew we were following it and it meant to trap us, it should have done it right away and not given us a chance to move the ship. It must have come here for another reason.”

Hyacinth pivoted, as if looking over the interior of the ship for anything that was different. Perhaps it has hidden something here. It got up and started to search, finding little cabinets in the walls to look through that Emilie hadn’t even seen were there. She followed it around, watching as it pulled various incomprehensible – at least to her – objects out and examined them. If this was a lifeboat, she supposed most of them must be supplies and survival gear for flower people. The paper started to move in her hands again and spelled out: There is nothing here that does not belong.

Emilie turned around again, looking over the ship. It didn’t seem disturbed, except by the search Hyacinth had just made. “So why did the creature come here in the first place and take over Dr Deverrin? I mean, here to all these jumbled-up pieces of land, this construction. If it wanted to fly away, it had the aether-sailer. I mean, yes, you said it sabotaged it, but then it should know how to fix it again, right?”

Hyacinth’s blossoms suddenly all opened. The metal-paper formed the words: You said the people in the camp had been here for some time?

“Around a year. That’s a long time,” she added, in case it didn’t translate. “Before your aether-sailer arrived.” She realized the problem. “But this construction must have been here for at least a year, because what was left of their airship crashed on it. So if the aether creature created this place, it could have taken over Dr Deverrin first. It could even have sabotaged the Deverrin airship, just like it did your aether-sailer.”

And it did not have access to this lifeboat until recently, so it could not have been traveling back and forth between here and the aether-sailer.

“It makes more sense if there’s two of them.” Emilie’s throat was suddenly dry. “If the creature that attacked your crew is still on the aether-sailer. If the creature who took over Dr Deverrin is a different one.”

If so... Perhaps the creature came to this ship to communicate with its companion. Hyacinth flowed toward the front, to crouch in front of the control panels again. Its petals moved over the metal-paper surfaces. After a moment, it swung back to face her. We are correct. The communications device has been used. It has contacted the aether-sailer. Hyacinth’s blossoms shivered. It must have been talking to someone.

Emilie nodded to herself, the cold feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. The creature had been there the whole time while they had been searching the aether-sailer. “These two creatures are planning something. They don’t just want to escape. If they did, Dr Deverrin would be trying to repair this ship, so he could get back to his friend on the aether-sailer and the two of them could leave.”

Hyacinth turned back to her. This ship has not been here until recently. Perhaps they have not been able to communicate before now.

Emilie sat down on the deck and thought hard. “I’m not sure we can count on that. The one that’s back in the aether-sailer isn’t inside a person anymore, right? They’re aether creatures, so they must be able to travel in the aether. Maybe it can still travel between here and the ship.” She shook her head in frustration. There was still so much they didn’t know. “I don’t think it matters what they’re planning so much, at least not at the moment. We just need to get my people and you and your ship, and this ship too, away from them.” She looked up. “The other Deverrins don’t seem to know that the creature is there at all. They think he’s just Dr Deverrin. But Dr Marlende – he’s the leader of our expedition – he knew right away it wasn’t Dr Deverrin.” It had to be very difficult to believe that a strange ghost-aether-creature had taken over your father or mentor. But still, with all this time to witness his odd behaviour… “Do the creatures confuse people, make them believe things? I’m trying to figure out why the other Deverrins haven’t noticed anything odd.”

Hyacinth thought that over, its blossoms opening and closing. I did not witness that. But perhaps it has a different effect on your people. I have noticed that we must perceive sound and light waves in very different ways.

“Yes, I noticed that, too. I think you can see with your hands, and we can’t do that at all, for example. Perhaps the ghost pirates can fool Menaens in a way they couldn’t fool you and your crew.”

Ghost pirates?

Emilie felt her cheeks flush. “Sorry, that was just a joke, between me and my brother Efrain – the one who just got caught so the Deverrins wouldn’t catch me. We thought something strange might be in the aether current, then we realized there were strange people here, and we called them ghost pirates.”

If the translation is correct, that seems to be an accurate name.

Emilie had to agree. Calling it the ghost pirate seemed terribly irreverent, but Emilie doubted she could explain that to Hyacinth without sounding foolish. “Well, yes, I suppose it is.”

Hyacinth’s leaves and blossoms quivered. We must try to force this ghost pirate from its new host. That will convince the rest of the host’s family/clan of the danger, and perhaps they will assist us as well.

First, they had to rescue the Marlendes. Once they were free, it would be much easier to rescue the Deverrins and deal with the ghost pirates. And then hopefully get out of here and back to the airship and the aether-sailer.

As Emilie thought about it, the rudiments of a plan started to come together. She said, “We have to lure the ghost pirate Dr Deverrin away from the camp again. You can fly this ship anywhere you want around here, just not back out to the aether current where we came from, not until it’s repaired?”

This construction is a mass of aether currents, knotted together. It is surprising only that it has not come apart yet. Its blossoms were all pointed at her now, which she assumed meant it was very interested in what she was saying. But yes, I can fly it within this construction, as long as the power lasts.

She held up the metal-paper translator. “Is this like a wireless telegraph? Can it work from a distance?”

Yes. Hyacinth’s blossoms waved in excitement. I think I see what you are thinking. We will need to move the ship back to the canyon.

CHAPTER TEN

This was going to be the scary part. Or at least, Emilie amended, one of the scary parts.

She felt very alone, walking back along the trail from the blue shard canyon to the Deverrin camp. She kept trying not to think too hard about exactly what she wanted to say, for fear of sounding as if she was repeating a school lesson by rote. She had left both the packs with Hyacinth in the little lifeboat, and stopped once along the way to smear dust on her face and her clothes, trying to make herself look pathetic and helpless. She didn’t want it to look as if she might be carrying something, since it would be a disaster if they searched her.

As she started up the crude steps to the camp’s entrance, she heard a shout from inside. She froze for an instant, fighting the urge to dive off the steps and run. You’re a little girl, she told herself, helpless. Just like you were before you realized that you weren’t. She rubbed a little dust in the corner of her eyes to make them water and kept climbing.

Two men appeared at the top, both young, around Daniel’s age, both with the darker skin and hair that meant their families had Southern Menaen roots like the Deverrins. Their clothes were ragged from hard use and their faces a little gaunt from rationing food, but other than that, they both looked like university students or young-men-about-town. Except that that one of them carried a rifle. They also seemed considerably startled to see Emilie.

“It’s a young girl,” one of them called out. The other asked her, “Who are you?”

Emilie sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, trying to project an image of youth and harmlessness. “I’m Emilie. I was with the Marlendes. I don’t know how I got here.”

One of them reached down to help her up the last few steps, and she walked through the stone gap into the camp with them.

The airship’s cabin and the skeletal remains of its balloon were on the left, looming over the stone hollow. The shelters and makeshift kitchen were built into the wall directly across from her. From here, she could see that the Deverrins had taken the big fuel tanks out of the airship and moved them into shelter on the far side of the camp. She wondered if they still held fuel, and then realized they must have been cleaned out and used to store water taken from the lakes and streams that were transported here.

The Marlendes, Lord Engal, Professor Abindon, Mikel, and Cobbier were still seated near the airship’s cabin, guarded by an older man with a rifle, and she was glad to see Efrain was with them. Hopefully, Efrain had had a chance to tell them that Hyacinth was helping them, which would make the rest of the plan go a bit more smoothly. When they saw Emilie, they all surged to their feet, staring.

Dr Deverrin came toward her, followed by Miss Deverrin. They were both tall and slender, though Dr Deverrin was several inches the taller. Miss Deverrin was lovely, even under all the dust and a year of what must be very difficult circumstances. Her brown eyes were clear and warm, her dark skin still unlined, and her curling dark hair tied back with a scarf. There was a definite resemblance in Dr Deverrin’s strong features. His hairline had receded and there was gray in his beard, but he was still a very handsome man. Except for something about his eyes.

Miss Marlende called out, “Emilie, are you all right?”

“Yes, Miss,” Emilie called back, and sniffled loudly.

Miss Marlende stared, as if startled by Emilie’s demeanor. Emilie just hoped she wouldn’t say anything that might make the Deverrins or the ghost pirate suspicious.

Miss Deverrin came forward. She knelt beside Emilie and clasped her hands. “Brendan, who is this?”

The young man who must be Brendan replied, “She said her name is Emilie, and that she was with them.”

Dr Deverrin glanced toward the Marlendes. “I see. Is that your brother? He said you were dead.”

Emilie sniffled again. “I suppose he thought I was. We were on the aether-sailer together and then we were here, and we got separated and I fell…” She looked up at Dr Deverrin, earnest and trembling. The trembling was from nerves and some fear, but she thought it just made her story seem more believable. “There was something there. A creature, on the aether-sailer. It followed us here and tried to kidnap me.”

At the words “creature on the aether-sailer”, an expression flicked through Dr Deverrin’s eyes that would have told Emilie that something was badly wrong, if she hadn’t known it already. He’s wondering if I mean the other ghost pirate.

The look was gone a heartbeat later when Miss Deverrin looked up at her father. “This is the ship the Marlendes spoke of? They said it was empty.”

“We thought it was.” Emilie drew a shuddering breath, as if she was trying to be brave. “But there was this creature on it. When we came here, I got separated from Efrain, and it was nearby, and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t talk to it.” She saw the professor and Miss Marlende exchange a look. “I didn’t know what it wanted.” She found herself almost enjoying the worry she must be causing Dr Deverrin, making him wonder how much she knew. She reminded herself not to get overconfident again.

Dr Deverrin said, “And what did this creature look like?”

“As if it was covered with flowers.” Dr Deverrin didn’t betray any open relief, but she thought the set of his shoulders relaxed just a bit. Emilie could see the Marlende party past him, and they looked more suspicious than the Deverrins. Cobbier kept glancing up at the rim of the canyon, as if he expected something to come at them over the top at any moment. Efrain just looked confused. He started to speak, but Miss Marlende squeezed his shoulder and whispered something to him. Emilie wiped her eyes to hide her reaction. She hoped Efrain was sensible enough to just keep quiet.

“Flowers?” Miss Deverrin said. “Surely you imagined–”

Dr Deverrin cut her off. “Where is it now?”

Trying to be as vague as possible yet still seem to be answering the question, Emilie said, “I’m not sure. We walked a long way. I saw the top of the airship.” She pointed toward the airship’s frame. She remembered she wasn’t supposed to know anything about the Deverrins. She had meant to work more questions in earlier. “I guess you crashed here, too?”

Miss Deverrin started to answer, but Dr Deverrin cut her off. “What happened then?”

“We went past this place, into this canyon where all the rock was blue. And there was another little ship there.”

That flicker went through Deverrin’s expression again. The other Deverrins looked startled. The young man Brendan said, “What sort of ship? An airship?”

“No, there was no balloon. It was like a little sailboat.” Emilie shrugged in what she hoped was convincing bewilderment. “It just let me go then. It went into the ship and ignored me. So I ran as fast as I could. I came back here because of the airship wreck. I thought there might be people here.”

Brendan and Miss Deverrin stared as if they didn’t know whether to believe her or not. Dr Deverrin lifted his head, as if listening. Then he focused on her. “Are you telling the truth?”

Emilie nodded. “Yes.” She seized on the point Miss Deverrin had clearly doubted, as if that was what Dr Deverrin was questioning. “There really was a flower creature, I swear. I know it sounds mad.”

There was a moment that seemed to stretch forever. Then he said, “Put her with the others. I need to leave.”

Emilie wiped at her eyes again to make certain she didn’t look relieved.

Miss Deverrin said, “But Father, we have to find out what…” She stared at him a moment, then blinked and looked away. “Yes, Father.”

Some of the men standing nearby shifted uneasily but didn’t object. Dr Deverrin strode away toward the camp’s entrance without another word. Miss Deverrin looked after him, her lips pressed together in frustration.

Brendan took Emilie’s arm and led her over to the Marlendes. She looked up at him; his expression was distracted, as if he was trying to remember something he had meant to say. That made a shiver run up her spine.

The ghost pirate must have an influence over all the Deverrin party, she thought. It didn’t seem to have an influence over her yet, and hopefully not the other Marlendes. Maybe there hadn’t been enough time for it to influence them.

Maybe it felt it needn’t bother.

Brendan pushed her gently toward the Marlendes. Emilie flung herself into Miss Marlende’s arms and sobbed into her shirtwaist. She looked back to make sure Brendan had retreated and the other guard was out of earshot, then whispered, “It’s all right; I have a plan.”

“You said she was quite capable, and I should have believed you,” the professor said dryly.

“It wasn’t fun growing up with her,” Efrain said, sounding sulky. “She’s a very good liar.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, you haven’t finished growing up, and there’s no point in pretending you have,” Emilie told him.

“It was a masterful performance,” Lord Engal said, his head turned away from any of the Deverrins who were still watching. “I thought you were actually weeping at one point.”

Emilie was flattered. “My mother was an actress,” she explained.

Dr Marlende said, “I don’t believe such talents are carried in the blood, my dear. You must take credit for it yourself. Tell us about your plan.”

“Yes,” Miss Marlende added, “I hope the bit about the ship was true.”

“It was. Efrain told you about Hyacinth?”

Miss Marlende nodded. “He did. It’s an ally?”

“Yes. I call it Hyacinth, because I can’t say its name.” She stepped away from Miss Marlende, drying her pretend-tears on the handkerchief Lord Engal handed her. “An aether creature came aboard the aether-sailer somehow and took over a member of their crew, and then sabotaged the ship. The other flower people all got away, but Hyacinth stayed to try to get the aether-sailer working again. We think Dr Deverrin is possessed by a similar aether creature, working with the one still on the aether-sailer. When Dr Deverrin left earlier, Hyacinth and I followed him to a little wrecked lifeboat that came from the aether-sailer.”

“How did it tell you this?” Efrain said. “I thought it couldn’t talk.”

“Of course it can talk,” Emilie hissed. “There’s a translator on the lifeboat.”

Miss Marlende and Dr Marlende exchanged a startled look, and Lord Engal said, “We’d barely got the hang of the idea that there was one aether being, and now you say there’s two?”

“Yes. It’s the only thing that makes sense. We think they’re talking to each other, that maybe the one on the aether-sailer was going back and forth between here and there on the aether current, but now they have the lifeboat and they’re using its wireless.”

“This lifeboat has a wireless?” Cobbier asked. “Can we–”

“It’s not at all like our wireless. Hyacinth didn’t know how to call our airship on it.” Emilie thought she had given Dr Deverrin enough time. “Are they still watching?”

Lord Engal looked around, as if taking stock of their situation. “Not closely. It depends on what you need to do.”

Emilie considered trying a faint, but she thought Miss Deverrin and some of the others might come running over. They all seemed awfully normal except for the control Dr Deverrin had over them. It was probably better to just try to be unobtrusive. She wiped her face with Lord Engal’s handkerchief, then leaned over and unlaced her boot. She whispered, “Warn me if they come this way.”

The metal-paper was wrapped around her ankle, beneath her sock. It had already given her a bit of a rash, rubbing against her skin, but as she carefully worked it loose, it moved in her hands. She curled the handkerchief around it to hide it, lifted it and said, “It worked. He’s coming your way.”

The answer was almost immediate. Success. I will be there.

Dr Marlende was trying to lean in to look without it being apparent that that was what he was doing. “Ingenious device.”

Mikel and Cobbier both edged closer, trying to get a better look at the translator without being obvious about it. Mikel said, “That’s the metallic paper from the aether-sailer. We wondered what it did.”

“So it’s like a wireless, but it can only call a similar device?” Cobbier asked.

“This one is a translator, really,” Emilie said. “But Hyacinth thought it would work over this distance. It’s powered by the aether current.”

“They’re coming back over here,” Efrain whispered.

Emilie looked up, holding the handkerchief against her chest. Miss Deverrin and Brendan were coming toward them. They stopped to speak to the guard with the gun, then came forward.

Miss Deverrin’s expression was harder and more decisive. She said to Emilie, “Was this story rehearsed?”

Emilie shook her head, wide-eyed, too startled to formulate a reply. Miss Marlende came to her rescue with a cold, “What story?”

“First, you accuse my father of being some sort of… Of not being himself. Then this young woman says that there is some sort of creature running around here that looks as if it’s covered with flowers–”

“Not a creature,” Lord Engal interrupted. “A member of the crew of the aether-sailer, left behind after the ship was abandoned. The aether-sailer that did not appear in this area of the current until less than forty days ago, that your father seemed to know all about–”

Brendan interrupted. “That would be impossible. He didn’t know about it.”

“What have you done since you’ve been here?” Miss Marlende gestured to the airship. “You must have had fuel left, and your wireless and other equipment. Did you try to send a message in the current? Construct some sort of signal buoy? Or even to repair your ship?”

“We could do nothing,” Miss Deverrin said, but she looked at the cabin of the wrecked airship as if she had forgotten it was there. As if she was shocked to see it.

Emilie looked at it too and saw there were dusty weeds around the doorway. She burst out, “Don’t any of you even go in it anymore? What if someone tried to call your wireless?”

Miss Deverrin swallowed hard and didn’t answer. Brendan looked away.

“Where did your father go?” Dr Marlende added, watching her carefully. “He leaves often, doesn’t he? Expeditions that have nothing to do with gathering food, or water, or wood. Does anyone ever go with him? Do you ask him where he goes?”

Miss Deverrin shook her head. Brendan said uncertainly, “He’s scouting.”

Lord Engal said, “I also have a large family, many associates, and more servants, and when we’re in town, I can’t go near the front door of our house without at least dozen people demanding to know what I’m about. Your father traipses off in the middle of this place, a howling wilderness of clapped-together bits of land from who knows where, and none of you thinks to object or even question him?”

Professor Abindon said, “You’re an intelligent woman. You know something is wrong.”

Miss Deverrin’s jaw set stubbornly. “There is nothing…” But she couldn’t seem to finish.

The professor frowned. “Nothing wrong? You can’t bring yourself to say it, can you?”

Emilie felt the metal-paper move in the handkerchief and looked down at it. It formed the words. I am near, be ready. “It’s almost here,” she said aloud.

Miss Deverrin stepped forward, her expression turning angry. “What is that? What are you hiding?”

Emilie skipped back, snatching it out of reach. “Don’t touch it. If you want it, you’ll have to have me shot in the head.”

Miss Deverrin stared, aghast, and Miss Marlende said, dryly, “Miss Deverrin, this is the real Emilie. I don’t believe you met earlier.”

Then Mikel, who had been watching the top of the canyon, said, “Is this our ride?”

The little aether ship floated up over the canyon wall, as light as a milkweed blossom, gleaming in the light. The Deverrins stared in shock, pointed, called out to each other. Miss Deverrin and Brendan and the other guard stared up at it too, but the two men were still holding their rifles. Emilie bit her lip, seeing the flaw in her plan. If the Deverrins shot at the ship, or shot at them while they were trying to get aboard, they could be in a lot of trouble.

But Miss Marlende flicked a look at Dr Marlende, and then stepped toward Brendan. “That’s the little ship Emilie saw, proof that she was telling the truth about everything. And proof that we’re telling you the truth about your father.”

Brendan shook his head, started to turn toward her. And Miss Marlende grabbed the barrel of his rifle. Surprised, he tried to wrench it away, but Dr Marlende surged forward and punched him across the jaw. Brendan let go of the gun and staggered back. Lord Engal grabbed Miss Deverrin by the arm. Cobbier and Mikel started toward the one remaining guard but he turned and leveled his rifle at them. Miss Marlende pointed Brendan’s rifle at Miss Deverrin and said, “Drop it. You’ve threatened us and held us prisoner, and I won’t hesitate to shoot.”

Miss Deverrin gasped, “No, don’t believe her. She wouldn’t…” But the man dropped his rifle. Cobbier hurried forward to grab it.

Miss Marlende said, “Get our things.” Mikel and Efrain hurried to get the packs that had been stacked against the rocks nearby.

The little ship hovered over the camp, and Emilie ran toward it. The dust swirling around her, she waved and motioned for it to land. It sank gently toward the ground.

“We seem to have a hostage,” Lord Engal said, pulling Miss Deverrin forward. In a lower voice, to Dr Marlende, he added, “I’ve never had a hostage before and I’m not certain what we do next.”

Brendan shoved to his feet and shouted, “Let her go! We won’t try to stop you.”

Miss Deverrin said stiffly, “If you mean us no harm as you claim, you should let me go.”

Dr Marlende hesitated, Brendan’s heartfelt appeal clearly having an effect on him. Emilie didn’t like it either, but now that they had Miss Deverrin, she was extremely reluctant to let her go. Miss Marlende said, “We should take her with us. Perhaps if she’s away from the creature’s influence long enough, she’ll come to her senses.”

“Odd, I was thinking the same thing about you!” Miss Deverrin snapped.

Professor Abindon said, “Vale, I believe you’re right. The girl is already a good deal more spirited. We should take her with us.”

The lifeboat touched the ground and bounced a little like it didn’t weigh anything. Emilie ran around to the hatch at the stern and pulled it open. “Hurry, everyone!”

Efrain climbed in first, then the professor and Lord Engal, pulling Miss Deverrin along with him. Cobbier and Dr Marlende hung back, pointing the rifles at the other Deverrins, as Miss Marlende and Mikel stepped in. Emilie followed them, backing in to give the others room to get aboard. Inside, everyone was crowded along the walls, staring at Hyacinth, who was crouched over the controls, its rear blossoms pointed toward them. Efrain had taken a position up next to it, looking out the front window.

Emilie said into the translator, “Everyone, this is Hyacinth. Its real name doesn’t translate to Menaen, and I don’t think our names translate to its language, so… it may be a bit confusing now there’s more than two of us.”

The translator formed the words, I will point at who I mean to speak to. Or perhaps we could assign you numbers.

“Now you’re teasing me,” she told it.

Dr Marlende called out to the Deverrins, “We will return for you all,as soon as we’re able!”

He and Mikel scrambled aboard, and Mikel handed the rifle off to Cobbier then pulled the door shut. Emilie told the translator. “That’s it! Please take off now.”

The ship’s deck swayed as it lifted up. Emilie glimpsed the top of the ridge, and felt the tightness in her chest unknot. We did it. Miss Deverrin folded her arms stubbornly, glaring at all of them. She said, “You’re common criminals.”

“Young lady, you were holding us prisoner,” Lord Engal said, exasperated. “You don’t get to call foul when we escape.”

Professor Abindon added, “And if you still believe our story is a lie, why is there an intelligent plant flying this craft?”

Miss Deverrin’s jaw set and she didn’t answer. Emilie could tell she was going to be a tough nut to crack. She could understand why: if Miss Deverrin admitted they were right about her father, she had to admit that she had been a fool who had been tricked by an alien creature. And she would also have to admit that her father might be dead. Or that he couldn’t be saved.

Then Efrain shouted, “He’s coming back! I see him!”

Emilie turned, squeezed in between Miss Marlende and the professor to look out the window. Dr Deverrin stood on the path up toward the camp entrance, just staring at the ship. His lack of reaction was chilling.

Everyone found a window, watching him. Sounding more curious than afraid, Cobbier said, “That’s just not normal. You think Deverrin is still in there at all?”

Dr Marlende shook his head. “I don’t know.” He looked toward Hyacinth. “Perhaps our new ally can help us find out.”

As the ship pulled away, Dr Deverrin disappeared behind the trees. Emilie felt the translator move in her hand. She looked down to see it read, Where should we go?

“Hyacinth wants to know where to land,” Emilie said. “We can’t take the ship out into the aether current yet. It needs to be repaired.”

Dr Marlende said, “Go back toward where we were first deposited in this world. It will be far enough away that Deverrin won’t easily find us, and perhaps the current will be easier to access from that point.”

Emilie consulted the translator and said, “It wants you to point out the direction, please.”

Dr Marlende did so, and they all swayed as the ship turned.

Hyacinth landed the lifeboat on a large flat spot on one of the hills near where they had first been deposited in the construction.

After a long talk with Hyacinth via the translation device, Dr Marlende, Professor Abindon, Lord Engal, Cobbier, and Mikel began to consult on a way to get the little ship to enter the aether current again.

Before they started to work, Lord Engal told Miss Marlende, “We’ll need to keep watch. Deverrin – or the creature, whatever it is – may try to come after us.”

Miss Marlende nodded. She was holding one of the rifles, looking over the hills and the purple-tinged forest. “He shouldn’t be able to tell what direction we fled in, but we don’t know what this creature’s abilities are.”

“Do you think he could tell when the aether current fluctuated and brought us here?” Emilie said. “Either that, or the creature aboard the aether-sailer called on the lifeboat’s wireless and told him.”

“Hmm,” Lord Engal said, “I suppose we won’t know until we can ask him,” and went back to join the others.

Once they helped Hyacinth repair the lifeboat, they would need to figure out what to do about the Deverrins and the other ghost pirate that they had speculated was still on the aether-sailer. Emilie was feeling a little overwhelmed.

She was so overwhelmed, she thought she was having a conversation with Miss Marlende, until she woke abruptly, lying in the grass, with her head pillowed on a pack. She sat up, looking around blearily.

Efrain lay nearby, curled around a pack and sound asleep, and Miss Marlende sat next to him, keeping watch with the rifle across her lap. Miss Deverrin sat a short distance away, her arms folded, grimly staring down the hill. Miss Marlende said, “You were exhausted, so I just let you sleep.”

The others were still gathered around the lifeboat. The hatch was open and she could see Lord Engal sitting with Hyacinth and talking on the translator, while Mikel and Cobbier had their packs open and strewn around, and were working on something that looked like a small portable wireless. Dr Marlende and the professor had their heads together, both writing in notebooks. They must be working out a spell. Emilie said, “Did he leave her because he was still in love with Dr Deverrin?” Then she realized she had said it out loud, and felt her cheeks flush.

Before the embarrassment set in too heavily, Miss Marlende sighed and said, “No, I think that was all over with long before they separated. I blamed my mother for it, for a long time. But watching them now… I think both of them just realized they didn’t want to be married. They were always very good colleagues; it had been so long since I’d seen them together, I’d forgotten about that. I suppose they thought that because they worked so well together, they should marry. But they fought so much.”

“Oh.” It must be odd, to watch that happen to your parents. Emilie’s parents had died so young; they were preserved as a perfect couple in her memory. She decided on the whole it was better to have imperfect but living parents, even if they were living in different towns.

She looked at Miss Deverrin’s stiff, angry back. What must it be like to see someone – something – else in your father’s body? “Hyacinth said the ghost pirate took over the body of his crewmate, but they made it leave. But Hyacinth also said it must be different for his people and us. Maybe we can still get it out of Dr Deverrin.”

Miss Deverrin didn’t react at all.

Miss Marlende said, “I hope so. I just wish we knew why the creature, or creatures, if you’re right about the second one aboard the aether-sailer, did this in the first place.”

Emilie agreed. So far, the ghost pirates had had the Deverrin airship, an aether-sailer, and an aether-sailer’s lifeboat, and done nothing with any of them. They had to be planning something. Emilie sighed in frustration, and looked toward Miss Deverrin. It might be helpful if Miss Deverrin could tell them about what Dr Deverrin had done since they had arrived here, when his behavior had changed, and if he had ever spoken of creatures living in the aether. “Do you think she’s listening to us?”

“Yes.” Miss Marlende frowned. “It’s a great deal to take in, in such a short time. But if she doesn’t listen to us, the rest of her party is doomed.”

Miss Deverrin flinched.

Dr Marlende called to them from over by the lifeboat. “My dears, we think we have it!”

Miss Marlende stood. “Emilie, wake Efrain, please. Miss Deverrin–”

The ground underfoot rippled. Emilie, caught as she was about to stand, thumped back to the ground. Efrain sat bolt upright. Miss Deverrin shoved to her feet and looked around wildly. “There!”

Emilie stepped back, wary that it might be a trick, then looked.

In the distance, a big dark shape dropped toward one of the rounded, oddly-formed mountains. It was like watching an airship land, but it was so far away, it had to be huge. It plummeted down toward the mountain and hit the slope. The ground shook, hard enough to rattle Emilie’s teeth.

Chunks of rock tumbled down the mountain, and an avalanche started as all the slopes below started to slide. The whole mountain shuddered and settled into a different shape.

Emilie’s throat was suddenly dry. “That’s right. They aren’t mountains. They’re piles of… pieces.” It was one thing to theorize about it, another to see it happen. She turned to look at Miss Marlende.

Dr Marlende stood next to her and Miss Deverrin. Efrain had run to the doorway of the lifeboat. He called out, “I think we should go inside!”

“Yes. Yes, we should,” Dr Marlende agreed. He stepped back to let Miss Deverrin and Miss Marlende go first, and motioned for Emilie to hurry.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Emilie stepped into the lifeboat. The panels at the front had been lifted off, and Hyacinth was crouched over the strange objects inside. Lord Engal, Cobbier, and Mikel had already carried all the packs and tools inside. Professor Abindon sat on the deck with her notebook in her lap. They all stared worriedly, including Hyacinth, who had all its blossoms extended. “What was that?” Lord Engal asked.

Dr Marlende said, “The current fluctuated and brought in another section of ground from somewhere. I suggest we make our departure as soon as possible.”

Miss Marlende said, “You’ve repaired the ship?”

Dr Marlende explained. “Hyacinth has been able to ascertain that the only function that is damaged is the mechanism that allows the lifeboat to enter the aether current. We can’t repair it with the tools and material available, but we can construct a spell to replace it. Fortunately, the aether-navigation device the ship uses is still functional. Once the lifeboat is in the current, we should be able to use its own navigation equipment to guide it back to the aether-sailer and our airship.”

Her voice cold, Miss Deverrin said, “And what will you do then?”

Professor Abindon turned to regard her. “Then we will find and confront the creature we believe is still aboard. Hopefully, at some point you will break free of this influence and help us try to rescue your father and the others in your expedition.”

Miss Deverrin grimaced and looked away for a long moment. She said finally, “Then… you don’t plan to kill my father?”

“Of course not.” Dr Marlende sighed, wearily frustrated. “My dear young lady, we are trying to help you.”

“How?”

Lord Engal gestured to Hyacinth. “Our friend here has described in detail the device one of its crew constructed to force the aether-creature from its first host. That device has undoubtedly been destroyed by the creature still aboard the ship, but we may have the materials aboard the airship to construct something similar.”

“Or at least,” the professor added, “use an aether-navigator to demonstrate that there is something very odd about your father.”

Miss Deverrin’s brow furrowed, and her expression was conflicted for a moment. Emilie seized on that. “Didn’t you have an aether-navigator on your airship? Did it do anything odd?” She remembered the disused condition of the airship’s cabin. It had been strange that the Deverrins hadn’t used the airship cabin as a shelter. Emilie had put it down to Dr Deverrin’s influence but hadn’t thought further than that. “You must have had an aether-navigator. And other equipment. What happened to it?”

Miss Deverrin shook her head. “It was broken in the crash.”

Miss Marlende’s voice was highly skeptical. “If the plate for your aether-navigator ‘broke’, I don’t see how the rest of the cabin survived intact.”

Emilie knew what she meant. The plates for aether-navigators were solid silver. And she knew from the Lord Rohiro books that they were relatively easy to assemble if you had a sorcerer who could manipulate aether. If something had happened to the one aboard the airship, Dr Deverrin should have been able to repair it or build another.

“He didn’t want any of you near it, did he?” Professor Abindon watched Miss Deverrin speculatively. “Tell me: your father was known as a sorcerer of great skill. Has he done any magic since you’re been here?”

“No, but…” Miss Deverrin shook her head. “This place affected him!” she burst out. “It affected us all. You can’t understand.”

Professor Abindon grimaced in irritation. “Talking to this woman is pointless. Are we ready to go?”

Cobbier picked up the translator and relayed the question. Hyacinth waved its blossoms in assent, and Cobbier said, “It says to close the door and hold on.”

Mikel pulled the hatch shut and they all found a place to brace themselves.

Emilie managed to get a spot close enough to see the translator, which Cobbier held. The lifeboat’s deck swayed as it lifted up, and Emilie breathed a sigh of relief. Then Mikel said, “Look. We had about another hour, if that.”

Emilie turned toward the nearest window, sharing it with Miss Marlende. “I don’t… There!”

Two hills away, in an area where the trees were sparse, several human figures were visible. They stopped as they saw the lifeboat, and Emilie was certain the one in the lead was Dr Deverrin. It sent a chill through her blood.

She turned away from the window to see Hyacinth’s blossoms lifted inquiringly.

“It was the Deverrins,” Emilie told the translator. Cobbier held it up so she could speak into it more easily. “They were coming this way. Somehow, they knew where we were.”

That is disturbing, Hyacinth replied. The ghost pirate must be very sensitive to the aether currents caught in this construct to detect our movements in that way.

Emilie read the answer aloud for the others, forgetting to change “ghost pirate” to something more dignified. “Ghost pirate?” Efrain said, grinning at her.

“If the name fits, call it,” Emilie said, embarrassed.

“Names aside,” Professor Abindon said into the translator, “guide us to the current, please.”

The ship lifted up and up, but there was no gradual darkening of the sky. The light was the same. “Is the light coming from the aether current itself?” Emilie asked softly. “We wondered when we got here.”

“Yes, it seems to be a side effect of whatever is attracting and holding these pieces of world in place.” The professor stared intently out the window, then looked back at the translator. “I’m not sure this is a mystery that we will ever solve.”

Unless we can get the ghost pirates to talk, Emilie thought. She had the feeling they knew everything about this place.

With the others, Emilie had been keeping an eye on the ball of metal-paper that functioned as the ship’s aether-navigator. Her gaze on the translator, the professor said, “Be ready. We’re nearly there, and the current is starting to fluctuate.”

Dr Marlende crouched near the little structure he and the others had assembled earlier. It was made mostly from silver wire, along with the disassembled parts of an aether-compass and a jar that had originally held pickled vegetables. “It’s to contain and amplify the spell,” Lord Engal told Emilie.

The professor read off the translator, “It says, ‘Be ready, be ready.’”

“Everyone hold on,” Cobbier said. “It’s going to be rough.”

Emilie wrapped her arm more firmly around the rail and looked to make sure Efrain had done the same. Miss Deverrin grudgingly gripped a rail.

The professor said, “Now!”

Dr Marlende touched the jar and Emilie thought she saw a faint shower of sparks. The lifeboat shuddered and jerked, and Emilie bumped against the wall despite her efforts to hold steady. Then it was as if a giant grabbed the lifeboat and shook it.

Emilie’s feet slipped out from under her but she held on, even when she slammed against the wall again. Someone fell into her and she grabbed hold of an arm with her free hand.

The shaking stopped abruptly. Emilie blinked, dazed. It was dark outside the lifeboat, the interior lit only by the bronze lights in the curved ceiling. The person who had fallen onto her was Efrain, and Miss Marlende had grabbed his other arm to steady him. Hyacinth had turned some of its blossoms into suction cups and had gripped the front panel.

Lord Engal muttered, “I hope we’ve done it.”

“I would think the ship would have fallen apart by now if we hadn’t,” Dr Marlende said, pushing to his feet. The pickling jar lay broken on the deck.

Everyone climbed to their feet, turning to look out the windows. Emilie made it first. Her heart leapt as she saw the darkness was the familiar dark purple cloudscape of the aether. She pressed her face to the window and could just see the tip of the aether-sailer’s sail. “We did it! It’s down there, below us!”

The lifeboat swept around, turning back toward the aether-sailer and giving them a better view. The airship was still connected by the lines and ladder. Daniel and Seth must be very worried by now. She wondered if Seth might have tried to go aboard the aether-sailer when they had failed to return. He could have, with Daniel to cast the protective spell over him.

“I hope Daniel and Seth are all right,” Miss Marlende said, her voice low.

Emilie turned to stare at her. She hadn’t thought of something using the connection to climb down to the airship. “The aether-creature…”

“Yes.” Miss Marlende’s expression was troubled. “We don’t know how it – or they – choose victims to attack. And it may have wanted to secure the airship.”

Emilie turned to look again. The lifeboat circled to the stern of the aether-sailer, and only the topside of the airship’s balloon was visible. She turned away in time to catch an expression of doubt and fear cross Miss Deverrin’s face. She can’t believe all this is acting for her benefit, just to fool her, Emilie thought. No one was that self-centered. They must be getting through to her, no matter how much the aether-creature had clouded her thinking.

The aether-sailer loomed over them, huge and shadowy in the half-light of the current. Its rounded stern had a dozen or more small doorways in it, each big enough for the lifeboat to pass through. One had been left open, and Hyacinth guided them toward it. “Marvelous,” Lord Engal said under his breath.

Emilie agreed. It was almost exciting enough to make you forget the huge ship was infested with a body-stealing aether-creature.

The ship wobbled a bit as it approached the doorway. A slithering thud just above her head made Emilie jump, but she realized just in time that it was the lifeboat’s sail folding down. The lifeboat slipped through the doorway and bumped gently to a halt inside.

The professor looked down at the translator and reported, “Hyacinth says to wait for the something to take effect so it will be safe to leave the ship.” She glanced up, craning her neck to see out the window. “I assume it means some sort of protective spell.”

Emilie pressed her face to the window again. The interior seemed dark, but after a moment, her eyes adjusted and she could see the bronze lights glowing down from a high ceiling. The ship rested against a dock in a long rounded room, with a door at the end. A large section of one wall was covered with the metal-paper, moving gently and reshaping itself.

“The outer door just closed,” Mikel reported from the stern window.

Hyacinth moved away from the panel. The professor translated, “It says, ‘All is well; open the hatch.’”

Mikel moved to unlatch the hatch and climbed out first. The dock was wide, and there was a window in the outer door looking out into the aether current. Emilie followed with the others, Cobbier and Lord Engal pausing to hand out the packs and their rifles. Professor Abindon passed the translator to Emilie, who asked Hyacinth, “Is there a portable version of this?”

Hyacinth emerged from the hatch, its part of the translator clutched in its blossoms. The aether-sailer will power this unit now. We must hurry to the work area.

Hyacinth went to the inner door and pressed a blossom against the wall next to it. The door popped open.

The corridor beyond was empty, leading a short distance into the ship before one side opened up to the giant metal levers they had seen before. It helped Emilie connect their current position to the parts of the ship they had briefly explored. They were on the other side of the left-hand wall of the large room they had chased Hyacinth through. Hyacinth extended its blossoms into the corridor for a moment, then cautiously moved out into it.

From behind her, Mikel said, “This thing can’t jump us if it’s not in a body. Can it?”

“Relay the question, please, Emilie,” Dr Marlende said.

Emilie did. Hyacinth replied, I thought it could not. But I fear it will have thought of some method. It has found ways to affect things inside the ship, the way it destroyed the device we used to drive it out of our companion.

“That’s not good,” Emilie said, and read its answer aloud. Miss Marlende muttered, “Lovely.”

They followed Hyacinth down the corridor, past the giant levers, and then through a junction and up one of the walking wall shafts to the upper levels. Hyacinth swarmed up the shaft effortlessly, and watching it do so made the design seem quite sensible.

Emilie glanced back at one point to see Miss Deverrin’s expression of wonder and consternation. She realized it had been some time since Miss Deverrin had accused them of lying and plotting against her father. Hopefully, all this was helping to knock her back to her senses. If they had her help, it would be easier to do something about the creature inside Dr Deverrin.

Hyacinth led them to the starboard side of the aether-sailer, to a set of rooms they hadn’t been to yet. It was a windowless interior space where the walls were lined with twisted spills of the metal-paper. There were bronze metal canisters stacked around and weird little instruments that must be tools. Hyacinth said through the translator, This is our workroom, where the device was originally constructed.

Everyone set their packs down on the floor and began to unload tools and books and other things. Emilie emptied out her pack, where she had stowed everything from Professor Abindon’s pack that had looked useful.

“Oh good, you found it,” the professor said, coming over to sort through the contents. She looked around thoughtfully. “We’ll need more materials and tools if we’re to recreate this device.”

“Yes.” Dr Marlende pulled his pack off his shoulder and began to unload it. “Cobbier and Mikel, I want you to take Emilie and Efrain back to the airship… No arguments,” he said, as Emilie drew breath to argue. “I’ll be sending you with a list of supplies that we need, as soon as I draw one up.”

Emilie folded her arms. It was annoying to be sent away, but she wasn’t going to follow Miss Deverrin’s example and cause trouble by resisting simple precautions. Efrain said, somewhat reluctantly, “We could stay and help guard you.”

“A kind offer, but not necessary.” Dr Marlende smiled and unfurled a leather roll of tools. “We don’t know how this creature chooses its victims, and if there is one still aboard this ship, we want to give it as few options as possible.”

“And Daniel and Seth need to be warned,” Cobbier pointed out. “They must be going out of their heads with worry by now.”

“What is the principle of this device?” Miss Marlende asked. “I missed that discussion.”

Through the translator, Hyacinth said, It is similar to your aether-navigator that was described to me, except that it identifies aether within living beings.

“I didn’t know people had aether inside them,” Emilie said.

“We don’t, as such,” Lord Engal told her, emptying his own pack of tools and some instruments she recognized as being for aether manipulation. “Though there are substances that seem to be similar that have yet to be truly understood. The presence of aether in a human – or apparently, in any living being – would be an indication that something odd was going on.”

Once the aether is identified, it can be forced out, Hyacinth explained. I will read off the plan to you. Hopefully, the translation device will be able to keep up.

Hyacinth went to one of the metal-paper spills in the wall and removed it, unfurling it out into a large ball. Emilie noticed it could do that while still holding the translator device in another set of blossoms. Miss Deverrin walked around the room, staring at all the strange devices. Emilie noticed Miss Marlende was keeping an eye on her, and was glad. They still had no real idea how cooperative Miss Deverrin meant to be. Or if she was still under the control of the aether-creature.

Professor Abindon turned suddenly, one hand lifted to her temple. “Did you feel that?”

Miss Marlende frowned. “What?”

“A pressure, as if the air was drawn out of the room for a moment.” The professor stared around in consternation. “None of you felt that?”

“No.” Lord Engal pushed to his feet, his brow furrowed. “Anyone else?”

Emilie shook her head. “Nothing. You think it’s a problem with the ship? Its protective spell?”

Mikel stepped to the doorway to look into the corridor. “It can’t be. We’d have felt it. And, you know, we’d be having trouble breathing.”

The others looked around warily. Hyacinth had gone still, blossoms lifted as if testing the air. Then Emilie saw that Miss Deverrin had pressed both her hands over her mouth, as if in shock. Emilie pointed at her. “She knows something!”

Miss Marlende stepped toward Miss Deverrin, caught her by the shoulders and held her firmly. She said, “Tell us. You must tell us.”

Miss Deverrin lowered her hands, and her expression was horrified. She said, “Just before our airship was torn out of the current, my father said he felt the same thing, that the pressure had dropped, but none of us felt anything…”

Miss Marlende stepped away from her and looked at Professor Abindon. “Are you all right? You don’t… feel anything else?”

Everyone stared at the professor, and Hyacinth pointed all its blossoms at her. She planted her hands on her hips and frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’ve been possessed by an aether-creature. Surely there would be some indication.”

That was when Emilie realized that Dr Marlende hadn’t said anything. He was still in the same position, kneeling on the floor over his roll of tools. Oh. Oh, no. Emilie said, “Miss Marlende…” and pointed.

Miss Marlende turned to look. Her face went still. “Father? Father, look at me.”

Dr Marlende didn’t respond. Then he suddenly jumped up and bolted for the door. Emilie yelped and jumped away, then realized she should be trying to trip or tackle him. That wasn’t Dr Marlende; it was a monster who was stealing Dr Marlende’s body. Lord Engal was the first to lunge forward. But before Dr Marlende could reach the doorway, Hyacinth pushed its blossoms against the wall and the door slammed shut. Dr Marlende turned, at bay, and the professor yelled, “Grab him now!”

Dr Marlende flung himself toward the pile of packs where one of the rifles lay. Emilie was closest and hurled herself on top of the weapon. She knew she couldn’t stop Dr Marlende herself and had no intention of trying to shoot him; she just meant to keep him from getting the gun until the others could tackle him.

He grabbed her shoulders to move her away and Emilie hung onto the rifle, jamming her hand in behind the trigger so it couldn’t go off accidentally. Lord Engal went flying past over her head, and an instant later, Dr Marlende lost his grip on her. She rolled away, still holding onto the gun. Lord Engal had landed on Dr Marlende and flattened him to the floor. Cobbier hurried to help and Mikel grabbed the other rifle.

Miss Marlende pulled Emilie to her feet and carefully pried the rifle out of her hands. She said, breathlessly, “Thank you, Emilie.”

Emilie looked up into her face and swallowed hard. Miss Marlende looked sick, as if she was about to faint or be very ill. Emilie knew she wouldn’t do either, but it was terrible to see her in this state and know what she must be feeling. “It’s going to be all right,” Emilie blurted.

Miss Marlende said, “Yes, of course,” and then unloaded the rifle, putting the bullets away in her pocket.

Miss Deverrin had put her back against the wall, a hand pressed against her chest. Her expression made Emilie think the woman was reliving some nightmare moment. Maybe it was a nightmare moment she had just remembered. Maybe whatever influence the creature had confused her mind with was finally broken.

Efrain stepped forward, trying to get a better look at Dr Marlende. “Is he all right?”

His voice tight from effort, Lord Engal said, “I believe so… He certainly isn’t making any effort to pretend to be Marlende.”

Professor Abindon said, “The creature must realize we were suspicious. And it must have known we were about to build the device.” She pulled a white canvas medical kit out of a pack and opened it. “Just hold on to him for a moment.”

“I’ll certainly try,” Lord Engal said grimly.

Miss Marlende shook her head helplessly. “Why him? Did it try to pick the leader of our party?”

The professor checked the vials of different drugs in the kit. “Where’s the translator?”

“I’ve got it!” Efrain hurried to pick it up where it had fallen on the deck. The metal-paper had unraveled when it hit the floor, but as Efrain gathered it up, it coiled back into shape.

“Ask Hyacinth if the member of its crew who was taken over was a sorcerer,” Professor Abindon said, her voice harsh with worry. To Miss Marlende she added, “Dr Deverrin was the only sorcerer aboard the Deverrin airship, so I suspect that’s an important factor as well.”

Efrain reported, “It says yes, the crew member who was taken over was an aether-manipulator.” He looked up. “I think that means the same thing as sorcerer.”

The professor nodded, her expression grim. “That would explain it. It tried both of us, and it must have gotten Marlende first. He was distracted, thinking about the device we were about to construct; that may have helped it. Ah, here it is.” She pulled a vial out of the padded pocket in the kit, then a hypodermic needle. “This creature must be attracted to those who have the most magical ability, or perhaps those who are the most experienced. Perhaps it’s incapable of taking over a person with little or no magical ability.”

As Professor Abindon began to prepare the hypodermic, Emilie felt her eyes get wide. She asked, “Are you going to drug him?”

“Yes, I am.”

Miss Marlende said, “Mother, is that wise? If he can resist the creature–”

“Deverrin wasn’t able to resist it, and neither was the sorcerer aboard this ship. I doubt your father will be able to.” The needle ready, she walked over to the struggling men. “I just don’t want this thing interfering with him while we build the device. And with your father incapacitated, I need Engal’s help. Someone’s going to have to do the scut work.”

“That’s very good of you to say, Professor,” Lord Engal managed, struggling to pin Dr Marlende down. “It’s always nice to be needed.”

“Wait.” Miss Marlende stopped Professor Abindon with a hand on her arm. She took the vial and the hypodermic out of the professor’s hands and checked both, then handed them back.

The professor lifted her eyebrows. “Really, Vale. This is too much. Your father and I had our difficulties, but I never wanted to murder him. And if I had, I certainly wouldn’t do it in front of my only child.”

Miss Marlende gave her a level look. “I wanted to make certain that the creature hadn’t possessed you and was somehow forcing him to behave this way.”

Professor Abindon’s expression cleared. “Oh, of course. Good thinking.”

Cobbier helped Lord Engal hold Dr Marlende’s arm down and pushed up his sleeve so the professor could give him the injection. Emilie found she really didn’t want to watch and went over to where Efrain sat beside Hyacinth.

Efrain held the translator and Hyacinth was crouched nearby, working with several different constructions of the metal-paper. Efrain was frowning, clearly frightened and upset. He kept glancing toward Dr Marlende and the others and then looking away. Emilie took the translator away from him. She needed something to do besides sit around and be worried.

Hyacinth said, This is disturbing. I am readying our materials so we can begin work as quickly as possible.

Dr Marlende’s struggles were starting to get weaker, and the professor said, “We’d better tie him up.”

Emilie winced. She asked Hyacinth, “Do you think the thing you’re building will work on us? The others didn’t seem to think so.”

I do not think it will work on beings so different, but it will be easier for me to explain how it works once it is assembled, so your matriarch will be able to construct her own device.

“Matriarch” was a good way to describe the professor, Emilie considered.

It seemed to take an inordinately long time, but finally Dr Marlende lay still.

“Let’s get started,” Lord Engal said, taking something out of his pack that looked like a disassembled aether-navigator. “Emilie, if you would translate, please. Ask our friend to explain the principles of its device.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

After a consultation with Hyacinth, Professor Abindon wrote up a list of items and sent Mikel and Emilie to the airship with it. Emilie felt bad that they hadn’t managed to send someone to Daniel and Seth before then to tell them they were all right, but helping Dr Marlende took priority.

As they prepared to leave, Mikel asked Miss Marlende, “Should we take Miss Deverrin with us and leave her aboard the airship?” He glanced toward where Miss Deverrin sat back against the wall, watching all the proceedings with an expression that was hard to read.

Miss Marlende shook her head. “They would still have to guard her, and I doubt either would have the… poor manners to do it effectively. They haven’t seen how far under that creature’s spell she was.” She added, “Here, I can keep an eye on her.”

The track back through the empty aether-sailer was more nerve-racking than Emilie would have expected. The silence was absolute, and shadows gathered in every corner. The place would be very different if it was still filled with flower people, going about their daily tasks. But now it felt haunted. It would have been much worse if they didn’t know that the aether-creature was in Dr Marlende.

As they walked down the long bronze-lit corridor to the nearest wall shaft, she said, “Does it feel like someone is watching us?”

Mikel shrugged, though he didn’t look terribly happy with the situation, either. “We’re in a ship from another world, Emilie. And an aether current might come along at any moment and sweep us off it. It would be odd if we didn’t feel that way.”

“Yes, but… We’ve been here a while now. We should be used to it.”

“I think you get used to things faster than other people,” Mikel told her. “It’s interfering with your perspective.”

That might be true. But Emilie thought it mainly meant that Mikel felt uneasy as well, though he seemed reluctant to admit it.

They reached the outer door and opened it carefully. Professor Abindon had renewed their protective spells, but it still took Emilie a bit of effort to step out onto the little gallery. The view of the aether current seemed even vaster than it had before.

Mikel checked the ladder, making certain it was firmly attached, and then started down. Emilie took a deep breath and climbed down after him. She didn’t look down, tracking her progress by the swell of the airship’s balloon.

She flinched when she heard a voice, but realized an instant later that it was Daniel, below them on the airship’s gallery. The wave of relief made something inside her chest unclench; she had been far more worried than she had realized.

She risked a look below and saw Mikel step off the ladder. Daniel stood on the platform, demanding, “What in the name of everything holy happened? Where are the others?”

As Emilie reached the deck, Mikel said, “It’s a long story, and we have to tell it quickly. Emilie, have you got the list?”

Her arms quivering a little from her death grip on the ladder, Emilie pulled the folded paper out of her jacket pocket. “Right here.” She told Daniel, “We have to hurry. Dr Marlende’s in trouble.”

Daniel was clearly baffled and impatient and a little angry, but his expression cleared and he turned to lead them into the ship.

Seth called plaintively from the control cabin, “What happened? We thought you were all dead!”

“I’ll tell you as soon as they tell me,” Daniel called back, as they hurried through to the hold. He grabbed a bag with a long shoulder strap and Emilie started down the list of supplies. Most of it was things like certain types of wire, a disassembled plate for an aether-navigator, several different types of lens, and some metallic powders and tools. She felt very glad she had been the one to help stow the supplies; knowing where everything was would make this a much quicker process. It was probably why Miss Marlende had sent her with Mikel.

As they found the materials stowed away in various boxes and containers, she and Mikel took turns telling Daniel the story. Daniel finally said, “But did these creatures cause the aetheric disruption that constructed that place you were trapped on?”

“Maybe,” Mikel said, tucking away the jars of metallic powder into the satchel. “If they did, we’ve got no idea why, and the one that got Dr Marlende didn’t seem inclined to conversation.”

With everything collected, they went back out to the main cabin. Emilie was glad there was no question of her remaining behind; for one thing, the two satchels of supplies would have been difficult for Mikel to manage alone on the ladder.

Daniel stepped out onto the platform with them. “Be careful,” he said. He rolled his shoulder and grimaced. “I wish I could help more.”

“We’ve got the professor,” Mikel told him, making sure his satchel was fastened. “With her in charge, there’s not much call for more help.”

Emilie tied off the satchel’s extra strap around her waist, wishing the long climb was already over. “We’ll come back if we need anything else,” she said, and looked up in time to see Daniel staring pensively at the deck. As one of Dr Marlende’s favorite apprentices, he must be very upset. “It’ll be all right.”

Daniel looked up, startled, and gave her a distracted smile. “I know.”

Mikel thought Emilie should go first so if she slipped he could catch her. Emilie severely doubted Mikel’s ability to catch a falling body in these circumstances, even though they didn’t weigh as much when they were on the ladder, but she appreciated the thought and went ahead anyway.

They managed the long climb and the trek through the ship. The empty corridors felt much less spooky. Emilie thought it must be because they knew the others were waiting, and there wasn’t time to feel uneasy.

They arrived back to universal relief. “Is everything all right on the airship?” Miss Marlende asked, taking Emilie’s satchel.

“They were fine, just very worried about us,” Emilie reported. She saw Dr Marlende still lay unconscious and suppressed the urge to ask if he was all right. It wasn’t as if any of them knew.

While Mikel watched over Dr Marlende and Miss Marlende kept an eye on Miss Deverrin, Lord Engal and Cobbier set to work building the workings for the device, which would be placed inside a metal tube like a telescope. Professor Abindon sat on the floor a little distance away, concentrating on a metal plate with a small quantity of liquid aether on it. She seemed to be trying to urge it to cover a glass lens. The aether glowed a little, and it hurt Emilie’s eyes to look at it too long. Hyacinth had subsided into what looked like a heap of disconnected blossoms and hadn’t spoken for a while. Emilie thought it was probably asleep.

Finally, Lord Engal said, “Any time you’re ready, madam.”

“Quiet.” The professor didn’t look up.

Miss Deverrin moved closer to Miss Marlende, causing Emilie to tense warily. But Miss Deverrin said, “If this works… Can you use it on my father?”

Miss Marlende shifted her position a little and eyed Miss Deverrin thoughtfully. “That was our intention, even before this creature attacked my father. You believe that we’re telling the truth now?”

“Yes.” Miss Deverrin stared at the floor, her face etched with exhaustion. “I’m not certain why I didn’t before. It seems… obvious. I feel my memory of the past months since our accident is confused, and… I should have known something was wrong with my father immediately, as you did with yours.”

Emilie said, “Perhaps you did, and the creature kept you from remembering it.”

Miss Deverrin stared at her, startled. Emilie added, “There’s no way to know, really, is there?”

Miss Marlende rubbed her eyes wearily and smiled.

Professor Abindon said, “Ready. Bring the casing here, Engal.”

Lord Engal hurriedly stood and carried over the telescope casing and Cobbier brought the wire frame. Lord Engal carefully slid the wire and other small devices into the casing.

Emilie waved her hand over Hyacinth. It puffed out again and its blossoms fumbled for the translator. Emilie said into it, “The device is ready.”

Hyacinth waved in acknowledgement and pointed all its blossoms at the professor.

Professor Abindon carefully set the aether-coated lens in among the wire and slid the whole mechanism into the case. She said, “This should cause the creature’s aetheric aura to become visible, and the spell should detach it from Marlende’s aura and expel it.”

They all got to their feet. The professor lifted the case and pointed it toward Dr Marlende, and Cobbier backed hastily away.

Efrain said, “I don’t see anything. Is it working?”

Emilie glanced at him, frustrated. “We can’t see it because we’re not sorcerers.”

“No, we should all be able to see it.” Lord Engal glared at the device, then turned to Hyacinth’s translator. “Isn’t that how it is meant to work?”

Hyacinth waved its blossoms anxiously. Yes, that is how our device operated.

Professor Abindon swore, using a very bad word Emilie hadn’t heard anywhere but the docks in Meneport. She turned, pointed the device at each of them, including Hyacinth, and then swore again.

Lord Engal huffed in frustration. “Are you certain it’s working?”

“Yes, I can feel the spell, ready to initiate. Cobbier, is the mechanism attached properly?”

He stepped forward and took the device, examining it carefully. “Yes, everything’s still in the right position.” Then he stepped back and pointed it at the professor. Emilie’s breath caught in her throat. But then nothing happened. She breathed again as Cobbier handed the device back and said, “Sorry, ma’am. Just checking.”

Miss Marlende swore. “It was a trick! It’s had us here, watching Father, while it’s… moved somewhere else.”

“But where?” Lord Engal made a sweeping gesture. “If we’re correct in our assumptions and it can only infect someone who has a certain amount of magical ability–”

A horrible thought struck Emilie. “Daniel’s a sorcerer,” she said, blurting out the words. “On the way to the airship, I felt like something was watching us. But not on the way back.”

Mikel clapped a hand to his forehead. “I did, too. I thought we were both just imagining things–”

“Oh, if it’s taken the airship…” Miss Marlende ran out the doorway.

Hyacinth shoved the translator back into Emilie’s hands. She read the words there and shouted, “Go forward down that corridor! You’ll be able to see the airship from there.”

The others hurried after her, Lord Engal ordering, “Mikel, stay with Dr Marlende.”

Emilie ran with Hyacinth and Efrain at her side and caught up with the others at the end of the corridor, where it ended in a rounded room that must be the prow of the aether-sailer. The round windows were studded all over the front wall, giving a much wider field of view. Emilie ducked under Miss Marlende’s arm for a look, just as Professor Abindon said, “The airship hasn’t moved.”

“I don’t understand.” Miss Marlende rubbed her forehead, deeply worried. “If the creature did take over Daniel, it’s had plenty of time to act. What is it doing?”

Lord Engal stepped back from the window, shaking his head. “We may have just panicked over nothing, but I don’t like it. I’m going down there. Cobbier, you come with me.”

Professor Abindon drew back from the window, her expression still troubled. “I’ll bring the device. We can’t take the chance, and it would be too dangerous to bring Daniel all the way up here.”

Miss Marlende said, “Yes, it’s been hours since the aether current fluctuated. At least if we split up, it can’t get us all.” Miss Marlende turned away and started back down the corridor. “I’m going to try to revive Father.”

The translator moved in Emilie’s hands and she looked down to read, I will secure the controls. It was not necessary when we thought the creature had taken your elder, but now I am concerned.

“Yes, good idea. I’ll go with you.” It would be useful at least. She wasn’t sure how well Hyacinth could fight, and if Daniel tried to get to the controls, they would need to subdue him. She went to the doorway of the compartment. Miss Marlende had the medical kit open and had taken out the bottle of smelling salts. “Miss Marlende, I’m going to help Hyacinth guard the control room.”

“And me,” Efrain said.

“I’ll go as well,” Miss Deverrin said.

Miss Marlende had glanced up but hesitated at that. “Miss Deverrin, I know you must realize why we can’t exactly trust you.”

“I have to do something,” Miss Deverrin protested. “I give you my word. Besides, I haven’t the slightest idea how these controls work. There’s little I could do to this ship even if I wanted to.”

Miss Marlende started to speak, but Dr Marlende stirred a little. Mikel said, “His eyelids moved, Miss. He might be coming around.”

Miss Marlende turned back to her father. “All right, go on.”

Emilie started after Hyacinth, who waited impatiently for them at the end of the corridor. As Efrain and Miss Deverrin followed, Emilie said, “She’s very worried about her father.”

“I understand completely,” Miss Deverrin said, her voice grim. Emilie winced. She had forgotten Miss Deverrin’s situation for a moment; she wished she had just kept her mouth shut.

Efrain filled the uncomfortable silence. “If we can just get your father and that device they made in the same place, we could save him.”

The tense set of Miss Deverrin’s shoulders relaxed minutely. “I hope so,” she whispered.

Hyacinth led them to a wall shaft, and they went down a level, then along a corridor that led toward starboard. As they turned off into a series of rooms, Emilie recognized the route. “We’re going back to those rooms we found with the globe and all the panels. We thought it might be the place where they steered the ship.”

“That was where the aether current grabbed Dr Marlende and the others,” Efrain pointed out. “We should be careful.”

Efrain was just full of good advice. “What exactly do you suggest we do…” Emilie began, when they stepped out of the corridor into the first of the three control rooms they had explored. Through the doorway at the far end, they could see through the doorway to the center room with the giant globe. And standing in front of it was Daniel.

Emilie froze for a heartbeat. Even though she had been the one to think of it, until this moment she hadn’t really believed that Daniel had been taken over by the creature. It was a possibility that had to be eliminated, that was all.

But there he stood in the control room of the aether-sailer, running his hands over the metal-paper globe as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

Hyacinth surged forward but Daniel spun around. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and the shoulder of his shirt was stained with blood from where he must have torn the healing wound open when he climbed the ladder. He flung himself sideways toward a panel and a door suddenly slammed down into place, blocking off the room. Emilie belatedly lunged to the door and felt around the edge, looking for some sort of catch or switch. “How do you open it?” she demanded. Hyacinth frantically ran its blossoms over the metal paper, clearly trying to make the door open again. But nothing happened.

“That was him?” Miss Deverrin asked, startled.

“We can get in through the other way!” Efrain yelled and bolted toward the corridor before Emilie could stop him.

“Efrain!” Emilie caught him by the collar and yanked him to a halt. Of course, if there was a way to seal this door, there must be a way to seal all of them.

While Efrain pulled at his collar and glared, and tried to act as if she had strangled him, Emilie asked Hyacinth. “What do we do?”

Hyacinth shoved away from the unresponsive panel and flowed toward the door. This way, it said, managing to convey a world of anger in the words.

It charged down the corridor and she raced after it. She had never seen it go this fast before; it flowed halfway up the wall as it rounded the corner and went through a doorway. It led them onto the gallery of the big open space next to the series of control rooms.

The door there was sealed as well, and the door in the room on the far side of the globe room. Hyacinth hurried to a panel and started to manipulate the metal paper on it. Emilie began to follow, then swayed as the deck rolled underfoot. She staggered back and stepped on Efrain’s foot. He caught her but fell against the wall. Miss Deverrin gripped the edge of the doorway and managed to stay on her feet. She called out, “We’re moving!”

Emilie struggled upright, bracing her back against the wall. She could feel the aether-sailer turning, the motion more like a steamship and not an airship. “What happened?” she asked Hyacinth. “I thought we couldn’t move, because of the sabotage.”

She realized what the answer must be even before Hyacinth replied. The creature must have repaired it! That was what it was doing while we were distracted, thinking it had taken your elder.

Reading over her shoulder, Efrain said, “Uh-oh.”

“But where is it taking us?” Emilie shoved away from the wall and fought her way up the slope of the deck to the nearest window.

Her breath caught in her throat. She had forgotten about the airship.

As the aether-sailer had pulled away, the ladder had ripped from both ships’ platforms and come loose, floating some distance below the airship. The airship itself had been yanked around sideways by the force of it. Horrified, Emilie pressed her face to the cold glass. She could see the propeller and it wasn’t moving, wasn’t making any attempt to adjust its course. What did that creature do to Seth? Emilie thought. It would have had to do something to him for Daniel to be able to leave the airship.

But Professor Abindon, Lord Engal, and Cobbier had been on their way there. Maybe they had already reached the airship to find Daniel gone and Seth unconscious, maybe they hadn’t reached the outer door of the aether-sailer before… Emilie’s eyes widened.

As the airship lifted up she had a better view of the ladder. Both ends had come loose, and it was floating away from the airship’s platform, caught in the aether current. And three figures clung to it. “Hyacinth!” she cried out into the translator. “Hyacinth, help!”

Almost before the words were out, Hyacinth reached the window. It brushed against her side, smelling strongly of lilac. It struck all its front blossoms against the glass.

Efrain ran to the next window to look out, Miss Deverrin with him. He said, “The airship… Oh, no!”

Hyacinth pulled back from the window and said, They live?

Emilie’s throat felt thick. She said, “They have protective spells. But the air is limited. Dr Marlende said not to be trapped in the current, not to fall off the ladder, it wouldn’t last… We have to do something.”

Hyacinth turned away and surged for the door. We will go to the lifeboat. It has a mechanism we can use to retrieve them.

Emilie ran after it, Efrain and Miss Deverrin following her. “What about Daniel?” Efrain said.

As they reached the wall shaft down to the first floor of the gallery, Emilie managed to look at the translator. It said, He has taken control of this ship. We must reach the lifeboat before he thinks to jettison it.

She read the words aloud and added, “It’s right. We have to get to the professor and the others now; they don’t have time.” She stepped into the shaft, slipped, and had to steady herself against the wall. “But, Miss Deverrin, will you go to Miss Marlende and Mikel and tell them what’s happened? Maybe they can sabotage the ship again and keep Daniel and the creature from taking it away.”

Hyacinth had already started down the shaft, but the translator replied, Yes, a good idea.

Miss Deverrin hesitated an instant, then nodded sharply. “Yes, I’ll go.”

She stepped off the shaft at the next level, and Emilie and Efrain followed Hyacinth down. They took the route Emilie had followed with Miss Marlende and the professor what seemed like days ago now, down the corridor to the compartment with the engine shafts. Then Hyacinth took a doorway which led into the corridor with the individual lifeboat docks.

They ran down to the single sealed door and Hyacinth stopped, turning toward them. The translator said, We must be quick. If the being is watching the controls, it may see that this door has opened and realize we are in the dock. It may choose to open the outer door.

Emilie glanced at Efrain to make certain he had seen the warning. He nodded, his expression serious. She told Hyacinth, “We’ll be right behind you.”

Hyacinth turned back to the door and touched the panel. The door slid open and they all ran for the lifeboat. Hyacinth moved swiftly, circled around to the rear hatch, and ran its blossoms over the control there. Emilie heard the outer doors make a clicking noise. She stifled her first impulse to yell at Hyacinth to hurry; she didn’t want to distract it.

The hatch swung open and Hyacinth flung itself inside. Emilie and Efrain piled in after it, and Hyacinth shoved the door shut. Efrain pushed forward to the nearest window and looked out. “The door’s opening!”

Emilie clutched the translator to her chest and steadied herself on the wall. Hyacinth was already at the controls in the front of the lifeboat, and she felt the deck shift under her feet as the little boat lifted off. The translator said, That is for the best.

The boat surged backward suddenly and they were outside in the current, the wall of the aether-sailer towering over them. Emilie staggered and said, “Good, in another minute it would have thought of stopping us.”

Efrain picked himself up off the deck and stumbled back to the window. “Won’t it let all the air out from inside? Or is there a spell?”

There are automated protections that will force the inner door to shut. The lifeboat wheeled away from the aether-sailer.

Emilie pulled her way along the wall so she could look out a front window. The airship grew larger as they approached, then the lifeboat dipped down toward the floating ladder.

Emilie saw with relief that the three figures still clung to it. They had managed to climb closer to the end, but the gap between the end of the ladder and the drifting airship was just getting wider. “What are we going to do?” Emilie asked.

The lifeboat has a towing mechanism for recovering damaged craft from the aether current, Hyacinth explained. I have no means to bring them aboard, but I will try to get them back to your craft.

Emilie nodded, watching anxiously. “That would do nicely.”

The lifeboat slowed as it approached the airship. The deck moved underfoot again as the lifeboat angled downward, drawing near the ladder. Emilie gripped the rim of the window. She could see the professor clinging to the ladder, Lord Engal a few feet lower, and Cobbier below him. They were all staring toward the lifeboat; they must see that it was trying to get closer. They’re probably wondering if we know what we’re doing, Emilie thought. She hoped they did.

Hyacinth lifted up, stretched its hand-blossom out and splayed it over a patch of metal-paper to one side of the window. The paper began to move, shifting and changing, and Emilie felt something thunk against the deck underfoot. Hyacinth said, I am releasing the tow device.

Efrain ran to the stern to look out the stern windows. “I see it! It’s like a long chain with hooks on the end.”

Emilie stepped back so she could see out the nearest window. The tow chain curved out from beneath the lifeboat, stretching toward the drifting ladder. “Do you want me to direct you?” she asked.

That would be helpful, Hyacinth said. It hunched over the panel, and she saw with alarm that a few of its petals had wilted and fallen down onto the deck.

That wasn’t good when it happened to a normal plant, and it had to be that much worse when it happened to a plant person who used its petals for hands and eyes. I hope it’s not sick, Emilie thought, but didn’t allow any of her concern to enter her voice. “Just keep going like you are; it’s curving toward the end of the ladder… No, stop, back toward the lifeboat. Yes, that’s right.”

The hooks had almost reached the end of the ladder, but the ladder was caught in the buoyance of the current, slowly twisting away, starting to double back on itself. The professor climbed toward the end and stretched to reach the hooks. “Can you reel it out a little more? It’s almost there.”

It is fully extended. Hyacinth moved its blossoms over the metal paper. I will try to move closer.

The lifeboat dipped down, but the movement was jerky.

The current is moving again, Hyacinth said. I fear–

It cut off there, concentrating on finely adjusting the controls.

Emilie gripped the windowsill, willing Professor Abindon to reach the hooks. The professor reached the end of the ladder and stretched, but it was just a little too far. She pulled back and looped a rung of the ladder over one foot, then the other. Emilie grimaced, anticipating what came next. It was what she would have done if she had been in the professor’s position, but watching someone else do it was nerve-racking.

Her feet secured to the ladder, the professor lunged out and grabbed the hook. She contracted her body and pulled the slack of the ladder toward the hooks.

The professor looped the end of the ladder over the hooks, and Emilie let her breath out. “She’s got it!”

Efrain cheered. Emilie added, “Wait…” as the professor freed her feet and climbed down a little away from the attached hooks. “There, you can pull on it now.”

Hyacinth’s blossoms shivered, and the lifeboat moved slowly back toward the drifting airship. Emilie saw the metal paper on the panel seemed to be moving independently of what Hyacinth was doing. It had to be the growing disruption in the aether current. She clenched her teeth and didn’t say “Hurry!” Hyacinth had enough to deal with at the moment; it didn’t need its elbows jogged.

The ladder gradually straightened as the lifeboat drew it back toward the airship. The lifeboat couldn’t get too close, but as it approached, it started to turn, angling so the ladder began to swing toward the airship. Realizing what the lifeboat meant to do, Cobbier climbed down toward the end. As the ladder neared the airship, he stretched out his hand.

Blue sparks showed when the individual protective spell around Cobbier passed through the greater barrier around the airship. That end of the ladder went limp and bumped the top of the cabin, the rest still drifting out into the aether current. Cobbier climbed down and scrabbled for a handhold, finally catching the bracket above the door. Emilie sagged in relief as he wrapped a rung of the ladder around it. Lord Engal climbed rapidly down toward him, then passed into the protective spell and jumped down onto the gallery. Cobbier swung down beside him and both of them began to reel the professor in.

As the professor reached the gallery, falling into Lord Engal’s arms in a way that was probably highly embarrassing to both of them, Emilie said, “That’s it! You’ve done it! Now…”

Emilie wasn’t sure what they were going to do now, so it was just as well she didn’t have to finish that sentence. The lifeboat shuddered and Hyacinth said, The aether current! It is shifting! Hurry, we must–

It didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, either. On the airship’s gallery, the others must have felt the same shudder, because they abandoned the ladder and Cobbier wrenched open the door. Lord Engal shoved him and the professor inside and stepped in after them.

The lifeboat wheeled away from the airship, and Emilie turned back to the front window. Ahead of them was the stern of the aether-sailer. Emilie wondered for an instant if the lifeboat should try to get back aboard, if they could help Miss Marlende take control of the ship from the creature/Daniel. Then everything in front of her seemed to ripple.

Emilie grabbed a handhold and shouted, “Hold on!” just as the aether current seized them and took them away.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Terrified that they would be plucked off the lifeboat the way they had been off the aether-sailer, Emilie gripped the handhold for all she was worth.

But the whole ship jerked and rolled. She slammed against the wall and heard Efrain yell in pain and alarm. Light and dark flashed across the windows, then light again, then the lifeboat tipped forward and they were falling like a rock.

Emilie screamed but couldn’t hear herself. Possibly because of the roaring in her ears, possibly because of the screaming Efrain was doing. Hyacinth moved frantically over the controls, all its limbs flailing, rolling its whole body over the panels and metal-paper. There was definitely an advantage to having more than one hand, and it might just save their lives.

Emilie got a confused glimpse of blue rock flashing past outside, far too close to their windows, then the lifeboat’s nose lifted. Its headlong fall slowed, though the little ship wallowed like a toy boat caught in a storm. Then it dipped sideways and rammed into a stand of trees.

Emilie fell forward, slammed into the back of Hyacinth. It made a soft cushion to bounce off of, and she landed on her side on the floor. She lay there a moment, stunned, then realized they weren’t moving anymore.

She managed to push herself up on one elbow, her head pounding. Efrain was huddled in the back, braced against the wall. “Are you all right?” she croaked.

He nodded, staring at her wide-eyed. “Are you? You fell…”

“I’m fine.” Emilie struggled to disentangle herself. She knew she was lucky not to have bashed her head in. “Efrain…” It hit her suddenly, what Daniel had said about how dangerous this all was, and how her last words to Daniel were something inconsequential, and now she might never get a chance to say anything else to him in his right mind. “Efrain, I suppose we’ll always argue, but you’re my brother and I’m very fond of you.”

“Oh.” Efrain, trying to stand, hesitated. “Are we going to die?”

“I don’t really know. I just thought I’d take the chance to say it.” Emilie clambered to her feet, wincing at all the new bruises.

“I see.” He nodded in relief. “I’m fond of you, too. And I don’t think anybody else has a sister who can do things like you do.”

“They do,” Emilie assured him. “You just never hear about it.” She stumbled to her feet and looked for Hyacinth.

Hyacinth slumped over its panel, but its blossoms were trembling. Emilie wasn’t certain if she should touch it or not. She couldn’t have done it any good by slamming into it. She looked for the translator.

It lay in a scrambled pile under her left foot. She collected it in both hands, and it formed the words: Hold on. That must have been the last thing Hyacinth had managed to say.

Emilie struggled to her feet, her legs trembling. Out the window, all she could see were the shattered trunks of a stand of small saplings with blue-tinted trunks and leaves. Hyacinth must have used them to slow the lifeboat down enough to stop the impact from killing them. She brushed her hand lightly over its blossoms and said into the translator, “Are you all right?”

Its blossoms stirred. After a moment, the translator said, I do not feel well. But I am functional.

That didn’t sound very good.

Efrain said, “Where are we? Are we in that same place, with the gaps and the funny mountains? We’re not somewhere different?”

Emilie leaned forward to peer out the window. The trees looked a lot like smaller versions of the ones in the forest they had trekked through to get to the Deverrin camp. “I think it’s the same place.”

Hyacinth lifted up a little and pressed its blossoms against the window. Yes, it is the same. The current has brought us back here.

“But then why did the aether-creature take the aether-ship this time?” Efrain said, levering himself up. “Before, it just took people.”

“It took the Deverrin airship,” Emilie said. She lifted the translator and said to Hyacinth, “The aether creatures are controlling the current, aren’t they? This is proof.”

Hyacinth shook itself and pushed upright. Yes. Perhaps they did not bring the aether-sailer earlier because they had no use for it. Or perhaps something in the current has changed.

That didn’t sound good, either.

“The airship’s here!” Efrain said, staring out the back window. “Look!”

Emilie hurried to his side and craned her neck to look up through the window. The Marlende airship hung overhead, just visible past the jumbled branches of the broken saplings. She twisted the handle of the hatch to unlock it. It swung open a little and jammed against a broken tree trunk.

Efrain planted his shoulder against it and pushed. Emilie wedged herself in beside him, and together they managed to force the hatch open. Emilie shoved her way out first and held onto the hatch to keep from falling into the saplings. Her ears were still ringing a little from the crash, but the strange birdless, insectless quiet of the construction was almost too familiar.

The lifeboat sat in the clearing it had made, at the end of a trail of shattered trees, cutting straight through the forest. The airship hung in the air several hundred yards away, and she could tell the cabin had been battered around. The ladder still dangled from the bent railing of the gallery. She couldn’t see the aether-sailer, but with the path the lifeboat had cut through the forest, there was no way it could fail to see them.

The lifeboat hadn’t fared well. The outside looked worse than the inside, the silver metal gashed and scratched and the sail crumpled. As Efrain climbed out, Emilie leaned back in to ask, “Do you think you can take off again?”

Hyacinth climbed toward her, clutching its translator device. I do not think so. Much of the power is gone. Is the aether-sailer here?

“I can’t see it, but I think it must be here.” Emilie stepped out to give Hyacinth room to get out the doorway. Efrain had already made his way down the pile of broken trunks to the floor of the forest. With Hyacinth, Emilie followed him, the wood cracking and shifting under her feet.

The patch of forest wasn’t large, and they came to open ground after only a short walk. As soon as they were clear of the trees, Efrain jumped up and down, waving at the Marlende airship. They were at the edge of a field set below the big circular ridge of the Deverrin camp. Emilie could just see the top of the Deverrin airship from here.

She could also see the aether-sailer. It appeared to be trying to land, slowly lowering itself down into the bowl of rock where the camp was. “Can it do that?” she said aloud.

With difficulty, Hyacinth said, all its blossoms pointed toward the aether-sailer in what Emilie interpreted as consternation.

Emilie bit her lip, trying to form a plan. The creature/Daniel must not mean to stay locked up in the control room, not if he was trying to land the ship. If he came out, Miss Marlende could get him with the aether-device. But if he managed to land and the Deverrins’ party and Dr Deverrin got aboard… “We have to get aboard before he lands.”

Hyacinth said, You are right. It will be our only chance.

“Daniel – that thing in Daniel – isn’t going to let us aboard again,” Efrain said. “We’ll have to fight, somehow.”

The Marlende airship was moving toward them, lowering itself down. Emilie waved at it and shouted, “Lower a ladder!”

Fortunately, there wasn’t much wind in the constructed place, and the airship was easily able to maneuver. It angled downward until it was about fifty feet off the ground, then the door opened onto the gallery and Lord Engal stepped out. He released the boarding ladder that was stowed in a roll along the edge of the gallery, and it dropped down toward them. Emilie yanked Efrain back so it didn’t hit him in the head, then said, “Climb, hurry!”

Efrain started up. Emilie fumbled for a place to put the translator while she climbed; it was too big for any of her pockets. But Hyacinth took it, tucking it away among its petals.

Emilie followed Efrain up the ladder, moving so fast she forgot to be nervous at the height and unsteadiness of it. Hyacinth swarmed easily up behind her. She reached the gallery, and Lord Engal leaned down to catch her arm and pull her the rest of the way up. As Hyacinth scrambled onto the gallery, Lord Engal said, “That was a timely rescue; thank you very much indeed. We were all quite relieved.”

“Daniel was taken over by the creature, and he seized control of the aether-sailer,” Emilie said breathlessly. “We need to board it before it lands.”

“Like pirates,” Efrain added helpfully.

“Yes, we thought as much, and the professor also felt we should board the aether-sailer.” Lord Engal started to crank the ladder up. Emilie grabbed the railing as the airship swayed toward the ridge. Lord Engal added, “Better get inside; the woman flies like a maniac.”

Emilie headed for the door, stepping into the main cabin with some relief. Efrain and Hyacinth followed her in. “Where’s Seth?” Efrain demanded.

Emilie was afraid of the answer to that question. Professor Abindon was the only one at the controls in the steering cabin. “Is Seth all right? Daniel didn’t… Did he?” If Daniel had killed or injured Seth, he would feel terrible. If they could get the aether-creature out of Daniel.

Most of her attention remaining on the steering yoke and the port, the professor said, “He was hit on the head, and Engal and Cobbier carried him back to one of the cabins. He was regaining consciousness, but very woozy.”

“Good. Good that he’s not dead, I mean.” Emilie leaned on the back of the co-pilot’s seat. The professor’s clothes were torn and in disarray, and there was a bad bruise developing on her cheek, but her expression held nothing but grim determination. It was very reassuring. Emilie told her, “I sent Miss Deverrin to warn Miss Marlende about Daniel. He had locked himself in the control room and we couldn’t get to him. We decided to rescue you all first.”

“A wise decision,” Professor Abindon said. The airship had lifted up until it was higher now than the aether-sailer, looking down on the ridge and the camp on the other side. She turned the control yoke to swing in toward it.

Hyacinth handed Emilie back the translator and began to move around the control room, closely examining everything. It said, There is an emergency door in the top of the aether-sailer. We should make for it. It is not much used, and even if the ghost pirate knows of its existence, there is no way to lock it from the control room.

Emilie read its answer to Professor Abindon, who said, “Excellent,” and guided the ship down lower. Cobbier came to the doorway. “Good to see you all. Seth’s awake, but he can’t get up without falling down and needs to rest. What are we doing?”

“We’re attacking the aether-sailer,” Efrain told him.

The professor said, “Yes, and if you would, Cobbier, tell Lord Engal to leave the ladder partway down. About twenty feet should do it.”

The professor moved the airship down toward the silver curved top of the aether-sailer. Emilie tried to hold the question back, but it came out in spite of her. “Do you think we’ll be able to save Daniel?” She was starting to realize just how Miss Deverrin must feel. It was awful. Was Daniel himself even still there? Was he trapped in his body and painfully aware of what the creature was doing with it? Hyacinth’s crewmember had come through the experience as well as could be expected, as far as they knew, but would it be horribly different for a human?

The professor shook her head slightly, but she said, “I don’t know, my dear. Theoretically, it should work the way we thought it would on Marlende. But we won’t know until we try.”

Emilie nodded, and took a deep breath. She couldn’t worry about Daniel right now. She had to focus on getting aboard the aether-sailer and preventing the Deverrins from making everything worse.

The aether-sailer was having difficulty landing, probably because neither Daniel nor the aether-creature had ever landed anything like it before. As the airship drew closer, Emilie saw the aether-sailer was still at least a hundred yards above the ridge. The airship came in low over the top of the aether-sailer. The dangling boarding ladder dragged over the side of the hull, between two of the sails. The professor flipped switches to adjust the propellers and said, “Cobbier, take over. If Marlende is still unconscious, we’re going to need a sorcerer in there.”

Emilie stepped back as Cobbier came forward and took the wheel so Professor Abindon could slip out of the seat. She followed the professor out to the cabin, Efrain and Hyacinth with her. Lord Engal stood there, loading a revolver. He explained, “If the Deverrins manage to get aboard and have more weapons–”

“I’m not objecting. But if we have to shoot Daniel, best to let Vale do it. She’s an excellent shot and will be able to stop him without killing him.”

Efrain made an involuntary noise of protest but Emilie nodded; it only made sense. Though she hoped they didn’t have to shoot Daniel again while he was still recovering from being shot while escaping the Hollow World.

“Practical as always.” Lord Engal held the door for them as they went out onto the gallery. Needing something to carry the translator, Emilie stopped to grab a shoulder bag lying on the bench and found it already contained a medical kit. She slung it over her head.

She stepped out onto the gallery into the odd, still air. The rocky ridge to one side seemed awfully close, but any sight of the camp was blocked by the aether-sailer. Cobbier was keeping the airship as still as possible, about fifty feet above the hull of the aether-sailer, the cabin hanging down between two sails whose tips rested just barely below the gallery. Hyacinth moved forward. I will go first and open the door.

Emilie translated for the others, and Hyacinth flowed down the ladder. Lord Engal gave it time to get a little way down and then followed. Emilie turned to Efrain. “You should stay up here and help Cobbier.”

Efrain snorted. “Help him with what? I can’t fly an airship. I don’t know what all those buttons and switches do. I’d just crash into the mountain.”

He was right about that. “You don’t have to help him fly; you could… hand him things.”

“Like what?”

Emilie glared at him. “You should stay up here, out of danger.”

“It’s just as dangerous up here, if those two ghost pirates get their way.” He glared back. “And I want to help Daniel. He was nice to me when you were being horrible.”

Emilie found that hard to argue with. Still, she had to make the effort. “If you do something stupid and get yourself killed, I’ll be more horrible to you than you can imagine.”

“Children, I’d prefer to leave both of you behind,” Professor Abindon said, leaning over the gallery railing to watch the progress below, “and it’s only the facts that you saved our lives and we’ll surely need all the help we can get that make me hesitate. So if you’re going, start climbing.”

Emilie hurriedly tucked the translator into her bag and went first, rather glad the professor gripped her arm to help her through the difficult moment of climbing from the gallery onto the ladder. She went down quickly, unnerved by the way the ladder swayed with the airship’s slight movements, her view blocked by the metal curve of the aether sails. She reached the bottom and stepped cautiously onto the aether-sailer’s hull. Lord Engal steadied her, and she managed not to grab onto his coat sleeve. The surface wasn’t as slippery as she feared. The texture was rough underfoot, more like stucco than slick metal. Lord Engal said, “Try not to stamp or move around much. I’m not certain how well sound would carry through this hull.”

Emilie tried to stand quietly. The door was round and large, almost ten feet across. Hyacinth crouched to one side, using its blossoms on a circular metal-paper control set into a niche in the hull. Efrain reached the bottom of the ladder and shakily stepped down, the professor not far behind him. Then the door popped and began to swing open.

Hyacinth slipped inside and Lord Engal crouched down to look. Emilie pulled the translator out of her bag. After a moment, it said, This corridor is empty at the moment. Follow quickly, please.

“He says to come on in,” Emilie whispered.

Lord Engal sat on the edge and swung his feet down, then disappeared almost immediately. Emilie realized it must be one of the walking shafts, so was prepared when she sat down and put her feet on the wall, and it seemed to jerk her forward and into the ship.

The shadowy dark was broken by the now-familiar bronze lights, except they were blinking and trembling, like candles or gas flames caught in a breeze. Emilie walked down the wall shaft and let it spit her out onto the floor of a short corridor that had only one door in the left-hand wall. Hyacinth and Lord Engal were down there, carefully peering through it. She hurried to join them, stretching up on her toes to look over Hyacinth’s head.

The doorway led to a junction with several different doors, all thick with shadows that jumped with the fluctuating lights. Emilie stepped back and whispered to the translator, “Can you see anyone?”

I feared the pirate might set a trap for us, but there is nothing ahead. I hope it does not realize we are onboard.

“Why are the lights blinking?”

It is a warning that the ship may be damaged if it continues to fly in this manner.

Lord Engal read the translation over her shoulder. Efrain and the professor reached them, and Engal said, keeping his voice low, “We need to find Dr and Miss Marlende and Mikel before we proceed. Ask him–”

A loud bang echoed up through the ship. Emilie flinched in alarm. Lord Engal finished, “Never mind; I think I know where they are. To the control room!”

Hyacinth led them down the darkened corridor to the nearest wall shaft. The deck of the aether-sailer trembled under their feet, its engines protesting the effort of being awkwardly guided lower to the ground. “Was that a shot?” Efrain asked. “Are they shooting at Daniel?”

“Of course not,” Emilie snapped. She hoped they weren’t. “They must be trying to get the door into the control room open by shooting at it.”

“I don’t think that was a shot,” Professor Abindon said.

They went down another wall shaft and through a corridor. Emilie heard Miss Marlende’s voice somewhere ahead, and her heart thumped in relief. They reached the door that led into the cabin next to the control room where Daniel had locked himself in, and Lord Engal motioned them to wait. Emilie bounced in impatience as he stepped forward and cautiously looked through the door.

Then he exclaimed, “There, I see you’ve recovered, Marlende. Any success?”

With the others, Emilie crowded into the doorway. Miss Marlende and Miss Deverrin stood beside the still-closed doorway into the control room. Dr Marlende crouched beside it, near a large scorched spot on the wall. There were various dents and pry marks along the edge of the door, but so far, it must have resisted all their efforts. Miss Marlende swore in relief. “We were afraid you were dead!” She and Miss Deverrin both looked disheveled and weary but not hurt.

“It tried to kill us,” Emilie admitted. “We crashed the lifeboat, too, but the airship is all right.”

“We’ve tried using gunpowder from the pistol’s ammunition to construct a small explosive to get the door open, but it hasn’t worked,” Dr Marlende explained. “Mikel is guarding the door on the far side of the room, in case the creature attempts to escape that way, but escape doesn’t seem to be its plan.” Dr Marlende looked drawn and exhausted. He might have recovered, but the attack by the aether-creature had obviously been difficult on him. “I see you’re all well.” He peered at them anxiously. “Are Seth and Cobbier accounted for also?”

“Seth was hurt when the creature seized control of Daniel, and Cobbier is flying the airship.” The professor stepped into the room. “We have to get in there now. Daniel is attempting to land this ship so Dr Deverrin and the others can join him.”

“Yes, Mother, we know that.” Miss Marlende gestured toward the observation window. “If you have any suggestions…”

Emilie had been thinking frantically. “I have one. I can go around to the other door and try to convince it to let me in.” Everyone turned to look at her. Even Hyacinth extended some blossoms to see her better. “I mean, we never figured out how much it knows about the person it takes control of, did we? And we don’t know if it’s been listening to our conversation. Maybe I can convince it I’m silly enough to think it’s Daniel in there and not something that has taken Daniel prisoner.”

Professor Abindon frowned, but said, “I don’t think it’s much of a chance, but we might as well try it.”

Miss Marlende seemed less convinced. “But what would you do if it let you in?”

“Try to hit the lever to let you all in.” Emilie turned to Hyacinth. “You’ll have to describe where it is.”

I can do that. It added, This creature must know little about your people, not like the other one who has inhabited the elder of the camp. I hope your plan may work.

Lord Engal had already taken off his pack and was unloading various tools. “Yes, go ahead and try. Even if it only distracts the creature for a moment, it could be of use.”

Emilie turned back down the corridor, Hyacinth, Miss Marlende, and even Miss Deverrin moving to follow her. She stopped Efrain and told him, “Stay here with Lord Engal. He and Dr Marlende might need your help.” That was a diplomatic way of saying that they might need someone to hand them things, but she didn’t want Efrain to distract her while she was doing this. And mostly, she knew she would have to act very silly, and if they survived this she didn’t want to be teased about it later.

Efrain nodded. “Be careful,” he told her, and went back to Lord Engal.

Hyacinth led the way down the corridor to the gallery and around to the cabin on the far side.

Mikel stood by the sealed door into the control room, and turned in surprise as they came in. “You’re back!” he said, relieved. “We didn’t know what had happened.”

“It was bad for a bit,” Emilie told him. “But I’m going to try to trick the creature into opening the door.”

Mikel lifted his brows. “It’s worth a try, I suppose.”

Emilie wished they would all be just a little more confident. She handed the translator over to Miss Marlende, wanting both hands free.

Hyacinth pressed its blossoms against a metal-paper control near the door. Miss Marlende reported, “It says it will open a speaking device that will let the creature hear you inside the control cabin. And the rest of us ought to conceal ourselves in the corridor.”

As they left, Miss Deverrin stopped in front of Emilie and said, “Take care. Great care. These creatures… Remember they can affect your mind.” She took a sharp breath. “I know it seems an obvious piece of advice, and probably ridiculous, coming from me. But if someone had told me last year that my father could be possessed by some aetheric monster and I would not notice the difference…”

“I understand,” Emilie said quickly. And she had needed to be reminded of the creature’s ability to affect people’s belief in it. She would like to think she was too strong and knowledgeable to fall for it, but she knew where overconfidence had landed her before.

Hyacinth signaled that it was ready, and Emilie stepped over to the square of metal-paper on the wall. Hyacinth tapped a blossom on a small hole that had opened in the wall, and she leaned close to it and whispered, “Daniel. Daniel, can you hear me?”

She heard something rustle, though the room behind her was empty and neither she nor Hyacinth had moved. This lets me hear inside the room, she realized, that’s handy. “It’s Emilie. I can help you. Please let me in.” She tried to make her voice low and conspiratorial, though she didn’t know how sensitive the creature listening would be to nuance. If this was really the first time it had taken over a human, it might not have any idea how people would really talk to each other.

There was a long pause. Then she heard a quiet footstep. She thought the creature must have stepped closer to the talking device on its side of the wall. She said, “It’s safe. The others are all in the room on the other side. I don’t know why they’re doing this to you and poor Dr Deverrin. They say you’ve been taken over by some sort of monster, but I told them I don’t see any monsters around you.” Emilie hesitated, wondering if that had crossed the boundary into too stupid to be believed. She thought Miss Marlende must be listening from the corridor and whispering a translation to Hyacinth, because it was staring at her with all its blossoms. The deck shuddered underfoot again, a reminder there wasn’t much time, and she added, “I have a weapon that can help you, if the others get in before you can land.” She needed to make it more urgent. “They have a bomb, to blow up the door! They’ll use it at any moment.”

There was silence for what felt like a long time, except for a hollow thud and a muted bang that must be coming from the effort to get the other door open. Then Daniel – or at least Daniel’s voice – said, “What… What weapon?”

“A gun,” Emilie answered, “They don’t know I have it.” She made herself sob, though to her ears it sounded unconvincing. More like a muffled squawk. “I don’t want you hurt.” She winced in anticipation and made herself say, “You know I love you.” She hoped the real Daniel couldn’t actually hear her. She felt a great deal of friendship and affection for Daniel, but love was different. “I’ll help you any way I can.”

She waited impatiently for an answer. She was beginning to think this wasn’t going to work. She tried to think of something else to say but knew piling on more reasons the creature should open the door would just make it all sound like the lie it was.

Then Daniel’s voice said, “I’ll open the door, Emilie. You know I trust you and love you. Pass me the weapon through the opening.”

The hair stood up on the back of Emilie’s neck and every nerve tingled. The words themselves were strange to hear in Daniel’s voice, but there was a tone underneath that made her skin crawl. She said, “I will.”

Hyacinth eased away from her, moving to one side of the door, flattening itself against the wall.

Emilie stepped close to the door, not sure what she meant to do. She hoped Hyacinth was telling Miss Marlende what was happening through the translator.

The door creaked and started to slide and Emilie tensed. It opened just enough to reveal Daniel standing across the threshold.

Emilie meant to lunge through the door as soon as it was open wide enough, but instead she found herself just standing there.

Daniel still looked like himself, though his clothes were mussed and he had lost his sling. His shirt was torn enough for her to see bandages on his shoulder. They were blood-stained and the skin around them was purple-black with bruises. “You’re hurt,” she said stupidly. And it was very stupid, because of course she had been there when Miss Marlende had shot him back in the Hollow World. He must have made the healing wound much worse when he had climbed the ladder.

For a moment, she couldn’t remember why he had climbed the ladder.

He said, “Give me the weapon.”

She had actually reached into the bag still hanging from her shoulder and grasped the medical kit inside before she realized what she had done. She froze, staring at him. Oh. Oh, my. This had to be the effect that had clouded the minds of Miss Deverrin and the rest of her party. It chilled her straight to the bone. What would have happened back at the camp if Dr Marlende hadn’t been able to resist it and warn them about Dr Deverrin? Would they all still be sitting beside the corpse of the wrecked airship, listening to Deverrin and nodding along with everything he said?

Emilie forced herself to smile. “Of course.” She drew out the medical kit and held it out. “I hid it in here.” When he reached for it, she jammed it into his face and shoved forward through the door.

He wrenched backward and hit something on the wall beside him. The door rammed into Emilie’s shoulder, squeezing her painfully as it tried to close. The breath shot out of her lungs and she couldn’t even cry out. Then Hyacinth was beside her, then above her head, forcing its body into the shrinking gap. The door slid open abruptly and Emilie staggered forward, gasping for air. Daniel swung away from her, reaching for the controls on the central table.

Emilie shouted to Hyacinth, her voice a strangled croak, “Get the other door!” She lunged forward and tackled Daniel around the legs. They both hit the ground with a painful thump.

She remembered at that point that Hyacinth wouldn’t have understood her request to open the other door. But it must have realized that was the best course of action, because it leapt across the room and hit the control. Daniel struggled under her, turning to hit her, but Dr Marlende and Lord Engal charged in. Miss Marlende grabbed her arm from behind and hauled her off Daniel.

They surrounded him. Efrain and Miss Marlende stood by Emilie, and Miss Marlende had her pistol drawn. Dr Marlende held the aether-device. Daniel scrambled backward, his expression confused and terrified. “Help me, Emilie!” he said, desperate.

Emilie said, “If you were really Daniel, you’d know that thing won’t hurt you.” She was flushed and dizzy, and her shoulder hurt where it had taken the brunt of the door’s weight.

Dr Marlende lifted the aether-device and triggered it.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Daniel went still for an instant, then lifted both hands to his head.

Emilie bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. Come on, come on, work, she pleaded with the device. Then Mikel said, “What’s that?”

Emilie thought for an instant he was talking about Daniel, then realized she could hear someone shouting. It wasn’t someone in this room. Professor Abindon swore and said, “The Deverrins! They’ve managed to get aboard.”

Lord Engal stepped quickly to the doorway. “Dr Deverrin won’t know we have the device. This is our chance.”

“You’re right.” Miss Marlende turned to Mikel. “Get back up to the airship and have them break off. We can’t risk the Deverrins reaching it. Efrain, show him the way to the topside door.”

Efrain hesitated, throwing a worried look at Emilie. She jerked her chin, telling him to go. He nodded and ran out the door with Mikel.

Dr Marlende was already striding to the door with Lord Engal, Miss Deverrin right behind them. Dr Marlende said, “Vale, keep an eye on Daniel. We have to set a trap for Dr Deverrin.”

Emilie looked at Daniel again. He had fallen over sideways, curled into a ball. She started to step forward, then made herself stop. If the device hadn’t worked, he might grab her and hold her hostage. Miss Marlende said, “Emilie, take the translator, please.”

One hand occupied by her pistol, Miss Marlende held the translator awkwardly tucked under her other arm. Emilie took it, wondering if Miss Marlende just wanted to distract her from Daniel. But Hyacinth stood at her elbow, and she realized it must not have understood what had just happened. She said, “The Deverrins are aboard and we’re setting a trap for the creature in Dr Deverrin.”

Hyacinth flowed toward the door immediately, following Dr Marlende and the others. Emilie hurried after it. Professor Abindon said sharply, “Emilie, be careful!”

Emilie waved an acknowledging hand and followed Hyacinth through the outer compartment and out to the corridor overlooking the gallery. Dr Marlende, Lord Engal, and Miss Deverrin had taken position to one side of one of the supporting arches. Lord Engal held his pistol and was saying, “They must have climbed up along the ridge and reached the lower hatch of the aether-sailer. Part of the ladder was still attached to it when it broke away from our airship.”

Dr Marlende was armed only with the aether-device. His expression severe, he said to Miss Deverrin, “Young woman, I am asking you to withdraw. Surely you realize what effect seeing this creature again may have on you–”

“This creature is holding my father prisoner inside his own body.” Miss Deverrin’s voice was quite sharp. “I assure you I am very aware of that now. I will be here when that device frees him.”

“And I’ll remind you we don’t know if it worked on Daniel yet or not,” Dr Marlende said.

“Quiet, they’re coming,” Lord Engal whispered.

Emilie drew Hyacinth back and crouched down. She glanced around and saw Professor Abindon had taken up a position in the doorway to the control compartment, where she could hear what happened but also keep an eye on Miss Marlende and Daniel.

Emilie had a view of the archway in the far wall of the open area below, and she could hear movement now, booted footsteps on the metal floors. If Lord Engal was right and the Deverrins had gotten in through the underside hatchway, they must be coming down the main corridor from the first wall shaft.

Dr Marlende eased forward, carefully cradling the aether-device. Lord Engal lifted his pistol and said in an almost silent whisper, “Careful. Miss Deverrin, do they have other firearms?”

“Besides the ones you took, there are another rifle and three pistols,” Miss Deverrin whispered back.

“I’d rather avoid a gunfight inside this ship,” Dr Marlende murmured.

Emilie would, too. She spotted movement past the archway, a flash of metal, the gray of someone’s coat sleeve, and heard low voices. She tensed. If Dr Deverrin would just step out into view… That would leave the other Deverrins to deal with, but with Miss Deverrin here to talk to them, they might be able to avoid a fight.

Then Dr Deverrin’s voice said, “I know you’re there. I assume you have weapons pointed at us.”

Dr Marlende didn’t move, but Lord Engal shifted uneasily. Dr. Deverrin shouldn’t know about the new aether-device, Emilie told herself. He was only worried about the guns. The other ghost pirate would have told him that it had destroyed the original device.

“We have no desire to injure you,” Dr Marlende said. “But you have held us captive before, and we have no intention of allowing you to do so again. Perhaps if we can discuss the situation?”

“You wish to bargain with me?”

Emilie thought Dr Deverrin’s voice was oddly unemotional, as if the ghost pirate wasn’t bothering to play the part anymore. She sneaked a look up at Miss Deverrin and then wished she hadn’t. Miss Deverrin’s face was taut with dread, her expression sickened.

“You obviously want this ship. You and your companion went to a great deal of trouble to seize it and keep it in the aether current, and now you’ve brought it here. I assume your need for it is now urgent,” Dr Marlende said. “If you admit what you are, we can bargain.”

“Admit what I am?”

Dr Marlende smiled. “Oh, come on, now. Surely there is no point in attempting to conceal yourself further.”

“Very well,” Dr Deverrin said. “We are exiles. Our own people sent us out here to die and closed the aether current stream to our world so we could not return.”

Emilie whispered the words into the translator for Hyacinth, and added softly, “So they really are aether ghost pirates.”

Lord Engal muttered, “He must have the rest of the party under very strict control, to be able to speak so openly. That doesn’t bode well.”

Miss Deverrin took a sharp breath, as if suppressing the urge to speak. Lord Engal glanced back at her, and she shook her head. She whispered, “Perhaps. I don’t know what he’s done to them.”

“He obviously suspects a trap.” Dr Marlende turned and crouched down, and whispered to Emilie, “Take this and the translator and give it to Abindon. Ask Hyacinth to guide her around to the other side of the gallery. She may be able to get a shot from there.” He dumped the aether-device into Emilie’s arms.

She quietly scrambled back to the doorway, saying softly to Hyacinth, “Did you get that?”

I did. I will guide the matriarch.

To Dr Deverrin, Dr Marlende replied, “That’s very unfortunate, and you have my sympathy. But that doesn’t give you the right to torment and drive away the crew of this ship, or to attack the Deverrin party and use them to assault us.”

In the cabin, the professor stepped forward, taking the aether-device and the translator. “I heard. Come along, my friend.”

Hyacinth led her back through the control room, past where Miss Marlende waited with Daniel. He still lay curled in a huddle on the floor, and Miss Marlende looked deeply worried. Emilie hesitated, torn between following Professor Abindon and Hyacinth, and joining Miss Marlende. She decided two people moving through the ship were less likely to alert the Deverrins than three, and she didn’t think she could stand to sit and watch Daniel and not know whether it was all him in there or not. She slipped back to her former vantage point in time to hear Dr Deverrin say, “We needed to return home and used what was available to us.”

Dr Marlende frowned, trying to understand. “And did you cause the disturbance in the current that created this place, this amalgam of other worlds?”

“This is our way home. We have stirred the currents to bring us fragments of all the worlds along their path. These fragments join the whole, which will soon have such weight and power to break the seal and force open the aether current to our world. We will ride this vessel down it, and our people will not be able to prevent our return.”

Dr Marlende and Lord Engal exchanged dubious expressions. Emilie whispered to them, “Will that work?”

Lord Engal replied softly, “I have no idea. It sounds possible, though unlikely. But these beings obviously understand much more of the aether than we do.”

“I see,” Dr Marlende said to Dr Deverrin. “If that’s your goal, then I want to bargain with you. Have your companion release my assistant Daniel, and you release Dr Deverrin, and we will leave you in peace to carry on with your endeavors.”

Emilie held her breath. This depended on whether the two pirates could communicate with each other over distances through the aether, or if she and Hyacinth were right and they had needed the communication device aboard the lifeboat to speak.

“If that is truly all you want,” Dr Deverrin said, “Prove you have no ill intent. Come down where I can see you.”

Dr Marlende glanced across the room. Emilie followed his gaze and saw Professor Abindon standing just inside the doorway on the opposite gallery, Hyacinth beside her. He said, “Will you agree to release Dr Deverrin and my assistant Daniel?”

“Of course. But first come out so we can speak like gentlemen.” Emilie shifted uncomfortably. The ghost pirate hadn’t been speaking as Dr Deverrin since it had started the conversation; despite the reference to “gentlemen”, it still didn’t sound like him. It was as if it had pulled the word from some fading memory. Emilie suddenly didn’t think Dr Deverrin was in there at all anymore.

She didn’t want to think about what that might mean for Daniel. He hadn’t sounded at all like himself, either.

Lord Engal muttered, “I’m afraid we have to. He won’t come out unless we do.”

“Yes.” Dr Marlende threw another look across at Professor Abindon, who was waiting in tense impatience, the aether-device held ready. “Emilie, Miss Deverrin, stay up here.”

“I’m coming with you,” Miss Deverrin said. “Don’t argue. It will be to your advantage – he’ll think he can manipulate me.” At Lord Engal’s glance, she said, “He can’t. Not anymore.”

“Very well.” Dr Marlende stepped toward the wall shaft. “But Emilie, stay up here with Vale. She may need you.”

“I will,” Emilie said.

Lord Engal and Miss Deverrin followed Dr Marlende down to the wall shaft. Emilie stepped back further into the doorway, pressing herself against the side. It was harder to see the archway that the Deverrins would come through, but it would be harder for them to see her, too. She didn’t know what she could do to help. She didn’t want to just stand here. But she didn’t want to do anything foolish and make things worse, either.

Dr Marlende, Lord Engal, and Miss Deverrin went down the wall shaft, Miss Deverrin stumbling a little as she reached the floor. Lord Engal slipped his pistol into his jacket pocket but kept his hand on it.

Dr Marlende stopped near the wall shaft, not moving any further into the room.

Emilie held her breath, watching the doorway. After a long moment, two young men stepped into the room. One was Brendan, and the other was one of the men who had been guarding the Marlendes; both held pistols. Brendan said, “Alea, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Miss Deverrin replied. “There is no need for firearms. These people want to help us.”

Emilie didn’t move, didn’t turn her head for fear of attracting attention, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the professor lift the aether-device and take aim.

Dr Deverrin stepped through the doorway. He said, “Come here, Alea.”

Professor Abindon stepped around the corner and fired the aether-device.

Dr Deverrin staggered two steps forward and Emilie was ready to cheer in relief. It was working on him, just as it had on Daniel.

Then Dr Deverrin straightened up, smiling at Dr Marlende and the others. “My companion told me he destroyed that device. I thought you might try to rebuild it.”

Emilie looked across at Professor Abindon and Hyacinth. The professor looked annoyed and angry and Hyacinth had all its blossoms extended in alarm. Behind her, she heard a quiet “damn” from Miss Marlende.

Dr Deverrin said, “But it is far too late to use it on me. I have been in this body too long.”

Emilie looked at Brendan and the other man, the other Deverrins she could see through the doorway. Their expressions hadn’t changed; they still looked worried, a little confused. They can’t hear what he’s saying, she thought, just like in the camp when Dr Marlende had accused him of being an imposter. Dr Deverrin still had them under tight control.

But Miss Deverrin shouted, “You bastard, let my father go!” and surged forward.

Lord Engal caught her around the waist, holding her back.

Dr Deverrin held out his hand to her. “But I am your father, my dear. We are one.”

“It’s horrible,” Emilie whispered aloud. Poor Dr Deverrin… And Daniel, if the device hadn’t worked on him.

“But why?” The words burst out of Dr Marlende in a tone of anguish. “Why steal the bodies of other beings?”

Dr Deverrin said, “We cannot cross the bridge we have constructed in our true forms. We took these bodies because we needed them. There was no other suitable shell for my companion among the ones we already had, and if you had not come, we would have had to delay our crossing until–”

Then, behind her, Miss Marlende shouted a warning, and Emilie twitched around in time to see Daniel staggering toward her. She hesitated for a heartbeat, not sure if this was Daniel or the ghost pirate, then she lunged forward to tackle him back into the room.

But he grabbed her shoulders and twisted away from her, and she stumbled back and sat down hard. Miss Marlende tried to grab his arm, but he flung her off and made it the last few steps out onto the gallery.

He stopped right on the edge, and as Emilie rolled to her feet, he started to shudder. There was something jerky and inhuman in the movements, as if something was trying to fight its way out of his body. Emilie started toward him but stopped when Miss Marlende grabbed her shoulder. She could see everyone on the gallery floor staring up at him, and for once, Dr Deverrin had a real expression on his face. It was horror.

Daniel’s body convulsed and then light shimmered out of his skin. It was the deep red Emilie had seen reflected in the aether current clouds, shot through with black. It stretched away from Daniel’s body, dragged itself free, and Emilie could see it forming a shape. She saw multiple limbs, nothing that looked like a head. She gasped in relief, realizing this was the aether-creature leaving Daniel’s body.

Then the shape pulled free and Daniel stumbled back. Emilie and Miss Marlende both darted forward and caught him before he could fall. He was still breathing, blearily half-conscious. He gasped, “What happened?”

“You were taken over by an aether ghost pirate, but it’s gone now,” Emilie told him.

As they eased him to the floor, Miss Marlende muttered, “I didn’t expect it to happen like that.”

Emilie didn’t think anyone had. The aether-creature had disappeared over the edge of the gallery, and she looked down to see it lying in a gently glowing pool on the floor below. I hope it doesn’t go after Dr Marlende, she had time to think. Then, abruptly, its light winked out.

And Dr Deverrin screamed in rage. “You murdering filth, you killed him!” Brendan and the other man lifted their pistols. The other Deverrins surged into the room.

Dr Marlende pushed Miss Deverrin toward the door behind them and yelled, “Run!” He and Lord Engal followed her.

Miss Marlende snapped, “Emilie, take Daniel!” As Brendan lifted his pistol, she fired a warning shot down into the room, scattering the Deverrins.

Emilie grabbed Daniel’s good arm and helped him shove to his feet. She pulled his arm across her shoulder, and they staggered down the gallery as fast as they could. He gasped, “People are shooting at us?”

“Yes, again.” Shots rang out, and Emilie stumbled just short of the door at the end of the gallery. Miss Marlende caught up with them and grabbed Daniel around the waist, pulling them both on through the door.

“This way,” Emilie said, pointing down the corridor. “We need to get up to the topside hatch.”

They ran, awkwardly supporting Daniel. Hyacinth and Professor Abindon appeared at the end of the corridor. The professor said, “Marlende and Engal don’t know the way up to the wall shaft.”

Emilie remembered there was a short wall shaft in the next corridor over that led down to the level where Dr Marlende and the others were. “I’ll go get them,” she said, and shifted Daniel’s weight onto Miss Marlende.

“Emilie, be careful,” Daniel protested.

“Hurry,” Miss Marlende called after her.

Professor Abindon added, “We’ll meet you at the wall shaft up to the topside hatch!”

“Don’t wait for us; we’ll be right behind you!” Emilie called back. She ran down the cross corridor, hoping she recalled this area as well as she thought she had from their earlier explorations. She took the two turns she remembered, then reached the junction area with the wall shaft to the level below. A shout echoing up from it and the clang of a bullet hitting a metal wall told her she was in the right spot. She ran around to the wall shaft and shouted down it, “Dr Marlende! Lord Engal! This way!”

She flung herself down and gripped the edge of the wall shaft, resisting the pull of it, and hung her head down. At first she couldn’t see anyone; the corridors leading away from the junction below were empty. Then she heard running feet, and Miss Deverrin appeared at the end of a corridor. “Here, this way!” she called out again.

Dr Marlende and Lord Engal came into view behind Miss Deverrin, Lord Engal turning to fire a shot at their pursuers. They ran toward the wall shaft and Emilie scrambled back out of the way.

As they came up the shaft, Miss Deverrin was saying, “Are you absolutely sure?”

As the shaft deposited him on the floor, Dr Marlende replied, “Unless that was some sort of play put on for our entertainment, I don’t see… Emilie, was Daniel all right?”

“Yes, it’s him. He’s back. He doesn’t seem to remember much of what happened.”

Lord Engal stumbled out of the shaft. “The creature must have been telling the truth, Miss Deverrin. I fear your father is in effect dead. I am very sorry.”

Miss Deverrin dashed a hand across her face and didn’t reply.

“It’s this way,” Emilie said, and led the way down the corridor. There might be a quicker way to that main wall shaft, but she felt it was better to stick to the one she knew. If the Deverrins cornered them in a room, there would be no escape. “I guess it’s no good telling Dr Deverrin that we didn’t mean to kill the other aether pirate?”

“No, and I don’t think our intentions mattered.” Dr Marlende caught up with her as they rounded the corner. “There was clearly a difference from extracting an aether being from a member of Hyacinth’s species that we failed to understand.” He sounded calm again, the way he usually did, but Emilie remembered his voice when he had asked Dr. Deverrin why it did this to people. She thought Dr. Marlende was very good at making himself be calm even when he was in great emotional turmoil; it must be a necessary skill for an adventurer.

“The other one knew it was killing my father,” Miss Deverrin said from behind them, her voice harsh with grief. “Yes, there is that,” Dr Marlende admitted.

They made a turn into a long corridor, and with relief Emilie saw the professor, Miss Marlende, Daniel, and Hyacinth waiting at the far end. They were in the junction with the wall shaft that went up to the top level of the ship. Emilie waved at them and yelled, “Go on!”

As they hurried down the corridor, Miss Marlende and Professor Abindon had an abrupt discussion, then Miss Marlende hauled a protesting Daniel into the shaft. The professor and Hyacinth waited, the professor waving impatiently at them.

They had just reached the junction when Emilie felt the deck roll under her feet. She staggered sideways with the others and bounced off the far wall. The professor grabbed the edge of the wall shaft to steady herself and Hyacinth buckled a little before it caught itself on the floor with its four lower limbs. The aether-sailer shuddered and righted itself, and she heard metal groan from somewhere far down in the ship. “What was that?” she said, “The aether current again?”

Lord Engal said, “We may be too close to the ground. Surely this ship wasn’t designed–” Another shudder cut him off, and the deck tilted again. This time it didn’t right itself but stayed at an angle. Emilie braced herself against the wall. This was clearly very, very bad.

“Hurry,” Dr Marlende said, and pushed away from the wall, drawing Emilie with him.

Professor Abindon reached out a hand to steady Miss Deverrin. “Is it the block in the aether current breaking up? Perhaps it took both of them to maintain–”

A shot shattered the air and Emilie clapped her hands over her ears. A moment later, she realized she should have thrown herself on the floor, but it was too late now. She twisted around, sliding on the steep floor.

The Deverrins were in the corridor, rushing toward them, led by Dr Deverrin. They moved fast despite the slant in the deck. Lord Engal had slipped and fallen back against the wall… No, he had been shot. A red stain showed on his white shirt, under his open jacket.

Emilie lunged toward him. Professor Abindon lifted the aether-device and fired it. Dr Deverrin staggered, clutching his head. Dr Marlende drew a pistol out of his jacket pocket and fired twice down the corridor. He must have fired over their heads, but the other Deverrins halted in confusion. Emilie reached Lord Engal and grabbed his arm, trying to drag him up the deck. Hyacinth landed next to her and gripped Lord Engal’s jacket and arm with its blossoms and started to pull him up toward the wall shaft.

Lord Engal struggled to help them, his face set in a grimace of pain. Then Dr Deverrin straightened up and charged toward them again. Someone else fired another shot and Hyacinth fell heavily against Emilie. She caught it and found her hands wet with a white fluid. It’s been shot, she thought in horror. She held onto it and Lord Engal’s arm, braced to feel the next bullet herself. At least Efrain and Miss Marlende and Daniel got away, she thought.

Dr Deverrin stopped barely ten steps away. His face was a mask of rage; he was barely recognizable as the man Emilie had seen in the camp. He said, “Put the weapons down or I’ll have them kill all of you.” The other Deverrins were pointing their guns, waiting for his order.

Dr Marlende said, “You mean to do that anyway.”

Dr Deverrin lifted his lips in a terrible imitation of a smile. “Then shoot them. But you won’t, will you? They’ve done nothing to you except allow themselves to become extensions of me.”

Dr Marlende’s jaw hardened. “Let the others here go. I’ll stay, and you can take your vengeance on me.”

“Put down the weapon,” Dr Deverrin said again. “Without my companion, our aether bridge is breaking up and will destroy this ship. I have no time to argue.”

Lord Engal’s breathing was harsh in the quiet, and Emilie could feel Hyacinth sagging in her arms. She thought furiously, trying to see a way out.

Miss Deverrin said, “I’ll take it.” Emilie flinched. She had almost forgotten Miss Deverrin was with them, the woman had been so quiet.

Miss Deverrin stepped forward as best she could on the slanted deck, and held out her hand for the gun.

He’s taken her over again, Emilie thought, angry, then, hasn’t he? Miss Deverrin’s face was rigid, hard with grim determination.

Dr Marlende looked into Miss Deverrin’s eyes and put the gun into her hand.

Dr Deverrin said, “Now, my dear, shoot–”

Miss Deverrin turned and fired at Dr Deverrin’s head.

Emilie squeezed her eyes shut, just an instant too late. She heard a thump as the body hit the floor. Emilie opened her eyes to see the other members of the Deverrin party staring in shock. Light shimmered out of Dr Deverrin’s body, just as it had Daniel’s. Dark red translucent limbs stretched, and for a moment she thought the aether pirate would flee. Then it collapsed into a puddle on the deck and slowly went dark.

With barely a tremor in her voice, Miss Deverrin said, “That was the obvious solution.” She took a deep shuddering breath. “I understand why you were reluctant, but as Lord Engal said, my father was already dead.”

Dr Marlende took the gun out of her hand. He just said, “Can you make your companions follow us? If they remain behind here, they will surely die as well.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Miss Deverrin went to Brendan’s side and put her hand on his arm. He shook his head in confusion. The other Deverrins seemed too shocked to move. Down the hall, one of them slid to the floor.

Dr Marlende and Professor Abindon moved to haul Lord Engal up and toward the wall shaft. His voice tight with pain, Lord Engal said, “You may have to leave me, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dr Marlende said, shouldering Lord Engal’s arm.

“Yes,” the professor added from his other side. “Don’t make a bigger spectacle of yourself than you already have.”

Lord Engal said, “Madam, if I’m to die, I have some rather frank things I would like to say to you about your personality–”

Dr Marlende interrupted, “Emilie, is Hyacinth all right?”

“No, it was shot.” Emilie swallowed back a sob and tried to lift Hyacinth. For a moment it was like holding a limp bag of laundry. Then it suddenly shoved itself up and shivered its blossoms. It weaved back and forth, then wrapped an arm around her forearm. “There, you can walk. It’s not so bad.” She hoped it wasn’t so bad.

The professor fished into her bag and pulled out the translator. Without letting go of Lord Engal, she handed it back to Emilie. “See if our friend is well enough to move.”

Emilie held the translator up and read the words I can move. Is the pirate truly dead?

“It’s a puddle, like the other one,” Emilie told it.

A relief. And perhaps a sadness. I do not know what else we could have done. It shivered. Ouch. That was an extremely painful weapon.

“Just try to keep moving,” Dr Marlende said, with a glance back at the Deverrins.

He and the professor hauled Lord Engal into the wall shaft and Emilie followed with Hyacinth. It was easier to guide Hyacinth with the force in the shaft pushing them slightly upward. Emilie looked back over her shoulder, but the Deverrins still weren’t following them. She admitted to mixed feelings; the Deverrins had tried hard to kill them and might very well have permanently injured Lord Engal and Hyacinth. But they had been in the power of the aether pirates, just like Daniel had been. And she didn’t want Miss Deverrin to be left behind. Or maybe she didn’t want any of them left behind. I think I’m having a fit, she thought. If I was inclined to it, I might faint. Maybe later she could have a good faint, once they got out of this place.

“Is the creature really dead?” Lord Engal asked. “It’s not going to be sneaking about after us, is it?”

“I believed it lingered too long in Dr Deverrin,” Dr Marlende said. “Perhaps the being inside Daniel died for the same reason; after inhabiting a human, it was unable to switch to a different host or exist in its normal state.”

Ahead, the others reached the top and stepped out into the corridor. As they reached the turn that led to the topside hatch, Emilie looked back and saw Miss Deverrin and Brendan stumble out of the wall shaft. She said, “Dr Marlende.”

He looked back and called out, “This way!”

The Deverrins had caught up with them by the time they reached the topside hatch, still open to the light and air of the outside. Emilie heard the airship’s engine and it was possibly the sweetest sound imaginable. It was even better when Miss Marlende poked her head down through the hatch and said, “We’ve got Daniel aboard… What happened?”

“Both aether-beings are dead,” Dr Marlende said, “We need to help Engal and Hyacinth, and get all the Deverrin party onto the airship.”

It turned out to be fortunate that the Deverrins had decided to come. It would have been extremely difficult to get Lord Engal up and out of the hatch without Brendan and another young man to lift him from behind, especially in the angled position the aether-sailer had settled in. Emilie put the translator back into her bag, and she and Hyacinth went up the shaft to the hatch together, it still holding tightly to her arm.

They climbed out onto the top of the aether-sailer, clinging hard to the slanted metal. Emilie only had time to take one breath of air before she saw the situation was much, much worse than she thought.

The aether-sailer had hit the ridge and now balanced on it, its engines keeping it from sliding down into the camp below. Because of the new angle, the airship had been able to avoid the sails and move much closer, and hung only about twenty feet away, its boarding ladder draped across the aether-sailer’s hull. The sling and winch were out, which must have been how they had gotten Daniel aboard. Seth, his head bandaged, stood at the railing next to it, looking worriedly at them. But through the gaps between the sails, Emilie could see the far range of what they had thought were mountains but were actually piled-up fragments of lands brought from other worlds to build this place. They were breaking up.

Emilie stared, watching chunks break off and fly up and away. If the pieces were big enough to see from this distance, they must be huge. With her free hand, she pointed wordlessly. Her face set and grim, Miss Marlende said, “It’s happening all around us.” Gripping the edge of a sail to steady herself, she turned to face the airship. “Throw the sling!”

Emilie looked the other way and saw a giant chunk of the forest fly through the air. Her throat went dry and she turned back toward the airship. There was nothing she could do about it, and looking at it was terrifying. This place was breaking to bits around them.

She was about to ask where Efrain was when he banged out of the airship’s door and hurried to help Seth with the sling. They tossed it down, and Dr Marlende and Professor Abindon began to bundle Lord Engal into it.

Members of the Deverrin party were still climbing up from below, confused, staring at the airship. Emilie hoped none of them fell off. Miss Marlende said, “Father, get up to the airship. You need to start working on the spells to get us out of here.”

Professor Abindon tightened the last strap on the sling. “Yes, go, Marlende.”

Dr Marlende hesitated, then said, “Take care and move quickly, both of you.”

As Dr Marlende started to climb the ladder, Emilie said, “Lord Engal, can you carry Hyacinth?” It was huddled beside her and she thought its wound was worse. Between the blood that Lord Engal was dripping and the ichor from Hyacinth, the hull was getting slippery. Lord Engal held out his arms and Emilie pushed Hyacinth into them. She had to gently pry its blossoms off her arm. Lord Engal held on, grimacing in pain. Seth and Efrain started the winch, and the sling’s rope tightened, pulling Lord Engal and Hyacinth up and off the hull.

Dr Marlende reached the airship’s gallery, and Miss Marlende ordered, “You next, Mother. Hurry.”

The professor hesitated but didn’t argue, turning to the ladder. Miss Deverrin moved over to stand with Emilie and Miss Marlende. Miss Marlende asked her, “Is that all your people? I hope so, because if there’s someone left in that camp…”

“No, that’s all of us.” Miss Deverrin looked down at the camp, the wreck of the Deverrin airship, as if she had never seen the place before.

“Get them up the ladder, quickly,” Miss Marlende ordered. Miss Deverrin nodded and called to Brendan. The other Deverrins started to climb, slowly at first, until the hull shuddered under their feet. “Go, hurry!” Miss Marlende yelled.

Emilie clung to the sail, her fingers leaving sweaty prints on it. The view of the camp seemed much closer now, and she had to swallow back bile. Then Efrain called from above, “Emilie!”

She looked up to see the professor and Efrain at the railing. The professor tossed down a bundle of straps attached to a rope that was secured to the gallery. Miss Marlende grabbed it and shook it out to reveal a safety harness. She slung it over her shoulders, buckled it, and pulled Emilie close to fasten an attached belt around her waist. “Here, hold on to the strap at my shoulder.”

Emilie gripped the strap in relief, feeling much more secure. The last three Deverrins were on the ladder, only Miss Deverrin and her brother remaining behind. Brendan still seemed confused, and Miss Deverrin urged him onto the ladder first. She was about step onto it herself when suddenly the hull lurched underfoot and pulled away from the airship. The ladder was snatched out of Miss Deverrin’s hands and it swung away. Miss Marlende said, “Together, Emilie!”

As Miss Deverrin started to slide across the hull, unable to catch herself, Emilie realized what Miss Marlende meant. When Miss Marlende surged forward, Emilie ran with her right into Miss Deverrin. Miss Marlende wrapped both arms around Miss Deverrin and Emilie grabbed her with her free hand. Miss Deverrin gasped in fear but gripped their arms.

Then they swung free, dangling from the airship’s gallery, as the aether-sailer slid away down the ridge. Emilie stared at it in fascination as it rolled over and crashed into the remains of the Deverrin’s airship. Then a crack appeared in the far side of the ridge, and with horror she watched the whole side of the mountain split open. “It’s getting worse,” she said, her voice thick.

Then the rope jerked and they were suddenly reeled upward. The ladder still hung down, but Brendan and the other Deverrins had made it to the gallery. As Emilie and the others drew near the railing, lots of hands reached for them and pulled them up. Emilie was dragged onto the metal deck and had to force herself to let go of Miss Deverrin and the harness strap. The professor shouted for everyone to get inside, and they all stumbled through the door.

The cabin was crowded with confused people. Miss Marlende tore the harness off and started for the steering cabin. Professor Abindon slammed the outer door, locked it, and called, “Everyone’s aboard; get us out of here!”

The airship powered away and Emilie grabbed the nearest person’s arm to steady herself as the deck angled underfoot. Then she realized the person she had grabbed was Efrain. He looked scared. He said, “I thought you were going to fall!”

Emilie had thought so, too. Her knees still thought so and were trembling uncontrollably. She asked, “Where’s Hyacinth? And Lord Engal? And Daniel?”

“Up here.” Efrain led her toward the front of the cabin, shouldering his way through confused members of the Deverrin party.

Efrain went through the door into the steering cabin. Dr Marlende and Miss Marlende sat at the front, working quickly over the control boards. Lord Engal had been placed in one of the chairs toward the back of the room, and Mikel leaned over him, pressing a folded bandage to the wound above his hip. Daniel sat near the door, leaning back against the wall, and Hyacinth sat on the floor like a pile of discarded foliage. Emilie went to Hyacinth first and knelt beside it. She didn’t know where the translator had ended up. “Is it still bleeding?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel crawled forward. He looked awful himself. “I’m not sure it’s still conscious. It’s just been sitting where we put it.”

“We need to stop the bleeding.” A medical kit lay open on the floor and she pulled out more bandages.

As she looked at Hyacinth more carefully, she saw the blossoms were wilting in two distinct spots on opposite sides. The bullet must have passed right through its body. She tried to press the bandages against the wilted spots, but they were immediately soaked with the clear, violet-tinged ichor.

Professor Abindon strode in, dropped her satchel on the deck, looked from Engal to Hyacinth, then said to Emilie, “Try clamps. I’ll be with you in a moment,” and went on to Lord Engal.

Lord Engal gasped, “No, help Hyacinth. This is an opportunity for a concord between our species–”

“Be quiet,” the professor said, and took Mikel’s place at the chair. She told him, “You get back to the engine cabin; they may need you.” Mikel hurried out.

Clamps, Emilie thought, digging through the medical kit as Efrain held it steady for her. The airship shook as it pushed upward away from the disintegrating ridge. Miss Marlende had the wheel now, fighting it to keep the airship on its course. Dr Marlende leaned over the aether-navigator, carefully adjusting it. Emilie asked, “What do clamps look like?”

Daniel crawled over to the medical kit, and fished out two metal clips. Emilie took the clamps and handed Efrain the professor’s bag. “Look for the translator. Ask it if this is what we should do.” She was all too aware that Hyacinth wasn’t human and that they could hurt it while trying to help it.

As Emilie fumbled to use the clamp to hold Hyacinth’s wound closed, the sky outside the ports turned dark purple-gray and the airship jerked violently. Miss Marlende cursed. Dr Marlende said, “Just keep us as steady as you can, my dear.” The professor swayed but stayed on her feet, her hand pressed to Lord Engal’s side. She was murmuring something that Emilie hoped was a healing spell.

Efrain got the translator out of the professor’s bag. “Hello?” he said into it. “Hello, can you hear me?” He shook his head. “There’s no answer, Emilie.”

Daniel said, “The mechanism could be broken, or it might need some other power source to work.”

Emilie grimaced, realizing he must be right. The translator must have other parts it needed to function, aboard the lifeboat and the aether-sailer. With those both gone, it was useless. She steeled her resolve, leaned in, and fixed the clamp around the first wound. Efrain watched and winced. Hyacinth didn’t react except to move a few blossoms weakly.

Emilie hoped that was a good sign. She moved around to fix the second clamp into place, and the deck shuddered violently. Bracing herself, she shifted around and managed to clamp the second wound.

Then Miss Marlende yelled, “Hold on!” Emilie grabbed Hyacinth and Efrain held her arm. The professor dropped into a crouch and gripped the arm of Lord Engal’s chair, and Daniel braced himself against the wall. The airship jerked suddenly, the deck lifted under Emilie’s feet, and she, Efrain, and Hyacinth all slid into the back wall of the cabin.

The ports went dark, then suddenly filled with the deep blue light of the aether. The airship went still. Miss Marlende turned, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” Emilie said, disentangling herself from Efrain and Hyacinth. She could tell Hyacinth was still alive, though it didn’t seem inclined to move much.

Daniel tried to get up, then subsided back to the floor. “We’re in the current?”

“We’re back to our first position, where the aether-sailer was trapped,” Dr Marlende said.

Miss Deverrin, looking very disheveled, stepped into the doorway from the rear cabin. “We’re not all dead, so I assume things are going well.” Her voice sounded brittle, as if it was taking all of her self-control to appear normal.

“The disruption is already shrinking and will soon be gone from the current,” Dr Marlende told her. He sounded a little brittle himself. He asked the Professor, “How is Engal?”

She was leaning over him again, though he seemed to be unconscious for now. “He’ll do. If we can get back home within a reasonable time.”

“That is theoretically possible.” Dr Marlende looked toward Hyacinth, frowning. “That isn’t going to help our castaway, though.”

Miss Marlende asked, “How is Hyacinth, Emilie?”

“I don’t know,” Emilie said. It sat in a heap of blossoms, unmoving. She felt a lump of misery take up residence in her throat. Hyacinth had no way to get home, even if it didn’t die from its wounds. And they had no way to communicate with it anymore. She picked up the translator from where it had landed against the wall. “We can’t even talk to it. This isn’t working; it must have needed…” She trailed off, because the translator was forming words. It was saying, Hello, hello. Strange ship, can you hear us?

Daniel and Efrain leaned over her shoulder to see what she was staring at. Daniel said, “Uh, I think we need to look outside.”

The others turned toward the nearest port, and Emilie shoved to her feet, clutching the translator.

Some distance away, floating in the aether, was a lifeboat just like the one that they had crashed. Of course, Emilie thought. Hyacinth was supposed to follow them if it couldn’t free the aether-sailer. When it didn’t, they sent someone back.

Miss Marlende smiled. “Answer them, Emilie.”

Emilie leaned over the translator, cleared her throat, and said, “Yes, we can hear you.”

Drawing close enough to the lifeboat to transfer Hyacinth to it was easier than they all expected. The lifeboat was far more maneuverable in the aether than the airship. Emilie watched from the port as it moved in close, guided by Miss Marlende on the translator. Then it turned so that its stern hatchway was just over the airship’s gallery and inside their protection spell.

Dr Marlende ordered everyone else to stay back so the flower people wouldn’t think it was a trap, and it was only Emilie and Miss Marlende who waited on the gallery with Hyacinth. She had been talking to Hyacinth the whole time, though so far it hadn’t been able to reply. Its blossoms had begun to look better now, and it was able to move by itself when they urged it out onto the gallery.

The door to the ship slid open and two flower people peered out. They were both different colors, one with more yellow blossoms and the other a deep dark green with flowers that looked like grass spikes. Emilie had thought they would all look alike, which she realized immediately had been quite stupid. It wasn’t as if humans looked alike, either.

Hyacinth turned to her and the translator started to move in her hands. It said, I told them to go, but these two are members of my family, and they took their lifeboat to the nearest stable current and waited.

Emilie nodded. “That’s what families should be like.”

Hyacinth curled a blossom-arm around her wrist. And you and I are true companions, even if we do not see each other again.

Emilie swallowed back the urge to cry, part sadness, part relief that Hyacinth must be getting better if it could talk. She said, “We are true companions. And thank you for helping us. We would all be dead without you.”

It shivered its blossoms at her, in a way she read as amusement. I suspect you would have thought of something. But we were most clever together.

Emilie and Miss Marlende picked Hyacinth up as gently as possible and handed him up through the door to the others. Emilie took the translator from where it sat on the gallery and tried to hand it up to them.

The green one pushed it back to her. The translator said, Keep this. Then if we find each other again in our explorations, we will be able to speak.

“Thank you,” Miss Marlende told it. “I hope one day we do meet again.”

The flower people disappeared inside and the door swung shut. Emilie and Miss Marlende hurried back into the cabin, and the lifeboat moved smoothly away from the protective spell.

Moments later, both ships entered the aether current again for their long journeys home.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It was late evening when they came out of the aether current again, and night by the time they managed to anchor the airship at the Marlendes’ airyard in Meneport.

They were greeted by a few sleepy journalists who had apparently been camping in the street outside, Dr Marlende’s students and workmen who had been manning the yard, and some of the members of the Philosophical Society who Mikel said had probably been watching for them with aether-scopes.

Emilie stood with Efrain, Professor Abindon, and Miss Marlende by the anchoring ropes for the airship, watching all the activity. Miss Marlende had asked a student to send a telegram to Lady Engal to tell her about Lord Engal’s injury, and someone else to find a physician to attend him at his townhome, while Cobbier went to arrange transport for everyone. A telegram was also sent off to the Deverrins’ country home, to notify Dr Deverrin’s wife of the rescue, and one to a friend of Anton Deverrin, to see if he was still in town. “Hopefully, he can take charge of his relatives and sort out accommodation and help for the other members of the party until they can be sent home,” Miss Marlende said. The Deverrin party was sitting in one of the workrooms, mostly to keep them from wandering off or being taken away by one of the journalists.

Miss Marlende continued. “Our house isn’t large enough for this many people, unless we just have them camp out on blankets in the parlor and the dining room.” She glanced down at Emilie. “There’s room for you, Efrain, and Daniel, of course.” She eyed Professor Abindon, “And you as well, Mother.”

Professor Abindon just said, “Ah, good. I wasn’t looking forward to trying to obtain a hotel room at this hour,” and went off to check on Lord Engal.

Miss Marlende added, “And I’d better get a physician for Daniel and Seth as well. I’ll have one meet us at our home. They both seem better, but it won’t hurt to take precautions.”

As she left, Emilie worriedly surveyed the airyard. Watching her, Efrain said, “You’re still afraid of Uncle Yeric, aren’t you?”

Emilie eyed him; though they were standing in the dark outside the ring of lamps, the airship’s balloon was blocking out the moonlight, and it was difficult to see his expression. “I don’t want to be carried away like a sack of laundry, no.”

For a moment, it was like they were right back where they had been when Efrain had first stepped into the airyard days ago, as if nothing had happened or changed between them. Emilie’s heart sank, but she should have realized this was inevitable. Then Efrain kicked at the ground and said, “I understand why. If I was you, I wouldn’t want to leave the Marlendes, either. They really like you.”

Emilie felt a twist of hope. Maybe he really did understand. Impulsively, she said, “Why don’t you stay, too?”

Efrain thought about it for a long moment. “I don’t think they’d want me around like they do you. They still think I’m a kid. And I don’t hate home the way you do. Besides,” he added, “I don’t want to leave Emery.”

The way Erin left all of us, Emilie thought, and the way I left you.

Emilie was digesting this when Miss Marlende returned. Efrain said, “Miss, could I get cab fare to the hotel where my uncle is staying? I think he’ll be very worried about me.”

Miss Marlende frowned. “Ah. Yes, I’d almost forgotten about that. I think perhaps my father had better take you there himself. I hope your uncle doesn’t think we kidnapped you.”

“No, I’ll tell him I snuck aboard and it was all my fault,” Efrain assured her. The fact that he didn’t seem the least bit afraid of Uncle Yeric appeared to reassure Miss Marlende, and she took Efrain to go find Dr Marlende. Emilie followed more slowly.

More carriages and people were arriving, including a man Miss Marlende said was Dr Amalus, advisor to the Ministry and the Ruling Council. Then suddenly a man dashed through the gates into the yard. Emilie recognized a hatless and hastily dressed Anton Deverrin. She said, “Miss Marlende, look!” and waved at him.

He saw them and started forward, and Miss Marlende pointed toward the work shed where the Deverrins had taken shelter. He bolted toward it and had almost reached the door when Miss Deverrin stepped out, Brendan behind her. They fell into each other’s arms.

Emilie’s eyes filled with tears, but at least it was for a good reason this time. Dr Marlende came over to Miss Marlende and stood watching. Miss Marlende put her arm around him and said, “There was nothing to be done. He was long dead before we arrived.”

He said, “I know.”

Emilie sniffed and wiped her eyes. It was a sober reminder that there was one person that they had failed to rescue.

Emilie woke the next morning, lying comfortably in a soft bed and under blankets that had been recently aired. It was a very agreeable sensation. She remembered she was on a day bed in one of the Marlende’s guest rooms. Professor Abindon had the bigger bed, and the other guest room was being shared by Daniel and Seth, who were staying overnight to make certain their injuries were tended. Mikel and Cobbier had gone to their own homes in town.

The previous night, while everyone was still running around sending telegrams and arranging coaches, Emilie had talked a little with Daniel. He had said, “I hope I didn’t… do or saying anything while that thing was… I mean I hope that–”

“You didn’t,” Emilie assured him. “Except, you know, you hit Seth.”

Daniel seemed relieved. “Oh, good. Not about Seth, I mean. I already apologized to him.”

“Do you remember anything that happened?”

“No, it was all a blank, like I was asleep.” He grimaced, obviously thinking about what it would have been like to be aware through the whole terrible experience. “I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“It would have been very frightening to have been watching and not able to stop.” His pained expression worried her, and she said again, “But really, all you did was take over the aether-sailer. It was Miss Marlende and I who attacked you.”

Daniel smiled a little. “Well, that’s nothing unusual.”

Now Emilie sat up, peering blearily around. Morning light was falling through the gaps in the curtains, and the professor was up getting dressed. She said, “Go back to sleep, if you like. I’m just an early riser.”

“Oh,” Emilie said, and thumped back down onto the pillow. Then the professor opened the door to the hall and the scent of sausages and hot bread wafted in, and Emilie flung the covers off.

She hurriedly washed in the bathroom next door and dressed, and found her way downstairs to the dining room and the attached parlor, where a number of people, including the Marlendes, the professor, Daniel, Seth, several students, and important members of the Philosophical Society were all eating breakfast, talking loudly, or listening to other people talk loudly. Emilie helped the housekeeper carry in another full platter from the kitchen, then managed to put together a plate of sausage, fried bread, and warm jam, and acquire a mug of tea. She found a chair in a corner and sat down to eat.

The Marlendes’ house was not large, but it was airy and comfortable, stuffed with books and framed maps and papers and philosophical equipment. There were no formal rooms; every place looked inviting, as if people often read or studied in every available spot.

“Emilie,” Miss Marlende said, “No, don’t stop eating. We’re going to need everyone to write up an account of their version of what happened to them during the expedition. I’ll need one from you, and Efrain if possible, then I’ll need your help collecting it all together for our report to the Society.”

Emilie nodded, still chewing. Maybe taking a typewriting course at some point soon wasn’t a bad idea.

A maid came to the doorway and signaled urgently to Miss Marlende. Miss Marlende followed her away, and Emilie finished eating, snagged one of the cream tarts some thoughtful person had brought in a bakery box, and then helped the housekeeper and some of the students clear away abandoned plates and cups. Daniel got up to help her. “You should be careful of your arm,” she told him.

Daniel balanced several cups on a plate. “Compared to what else I did to it, I doubt this will matter.”

Miss Marlende came back in and spoke to Dr Marlende for a moment, then to the professor. They both stood and started out of the room. Miss Marlende beckoned to Emilie to follow. She hurried after them, hoping it wasn’t bad news about Lord Engal.

She followed them into a room that must be someone’s study. The walls were lined with shelves of books and bound notebooks. There were overstuffed chairs, a big table to lay out the maps that were rolled up in various stands, and a desk piled with papers and books.

Miss Marlende turned to Emilie and said, “Your Uncle Yeric and Efrain are here, Emilie.”

Emilie froze for an instant. “Why? Is he going to try to make me leave with him? I won’t. I can go out over the garden wall if–”

“That won’t be necessary,” Dr Marlende said firmly. “He didn’t seem at all unreasonable last night, but perhaps that was because a journalist managed to hang on to the back of our carriage and follow us there.”

Professor Abindon sighed. “They are relentless. That’s one good thing about Engal; he keeps them in check without resorting to violence.”

Miss Marlende put her hands on Emilie’s shoulders and said, “Your uncle isn’t your guardian. Even though your older brother isn’t available, I don’t see how he can legally force you to go with him.” She looked thoughtful. “Do you think your older brother, once you do contact him, would have any serious objection to you remaining here with us, in our employment?”

Emilie thought about her conversations with Efrain, the reflection she had done on Erin’s behavior. “I would be surprised if he did,” she admitted. Erin had undoubtedly had his own reasons for leaving the way he had, though he had never mentioned them in the few letters he had written to her. But Emilie had to face the fact that it meant she would never be able to count on him. Accepting that didn’t feel nearly as bleak as she had thought it might. Mainly because she felt that now, if she needed him, she would be able to count on Efrain. And he could count on her.

Miss Marlende nodded. “I can summon a solicitor, then. I know Lord Engal has a number of them lying in wait all over the city.”

“First, let me just talk to the man,” Dr Marlende said. “We’ve managed to get along with beings from different aetheric planes; we should be able to settle this.”

Dr Marlende left the study, and Miss Marlende said, “I’d better get back to the others. Just wait here, Emilie. And remember that if you don’t want to see him, you won’t have to.”

Miss Marlende went back to the dining room, but the professor lingered a moment. She said, “I have a great deal of experience leaving people behind in anger. If you would like to talk about it later, I might be able to offer some perspective.”

Emilie smiled up at her. “Thank you.”

The professor nodded and went out. Emilie paced for a bit, too nervous to sit down. Then there was a tap on the door and Efrain peeked in. He saw her and walked in. “Dr Marlende said I should wait here.”

Emilie nodded, trying not to look anxious. “How was it going?”

Efrain told her, “I think it’ll be all right. When the airship lifted off, Uncle Yeric complained to the man who was there from the Philosophical Society, Mr Elathorn, and I think Mr Elathorn explained how important the Marlendes are and how Lord Engal is working with them and how important Lord Engal is. And then when Dr Marlende brought me back to the hotel, two journalists followed us and I guess they thought Uncle Yeric was an important person too, because Dr Marlende went to see him as soon as he got back, and I think that’s what they’re going to put in the newspaper.”

“Uncle Yeric is going to be in the newspaper?” Emilie boggled. She wondered how the village would react. It would be almost a shame not to see it. Almost.

“Yes, it’s going to be a big shock,” Efrain agreed.

They were still talking about it when Dr Marlende came in and said Emilie should talk to her Uncle Yeric, that he was of the opinion it would be all right.

Emilie walked into the downstairs parlor, her heart pounding. This had clearly been the room meant for greeting and entertaining formal guests at some point, but it was now filled with bookcases too, and some of the side tables had papers and writing materials left behind on them, as if some students had been hastily cleared out earlier.

Uncle Yeric was standing, clearly still uncomfortable. He said, “Ah, Emilie. Efrain tells me you wish to remain here.”

“Yes.” Emilie folded her hands and tried not to shift nervously. She could hear everyone upstairs in the dining room talking, which was somewhat reassuring.

Apparently pretending their earlier conversation at the airship yard had never taken place, Uncle Yeric said, “I suspect your aunt will not approve.”

“My brother Erin is my guardian–”

“Your brother Erin left his family without a word, with only a letter inadequately explaining his actions.” Uncle Yeric controlled himself with difficulty, and said in a more even tone, “I fear what would happen if you ever found yourself in a position where you had to depend on him.”

Emilie stared at him, struck all at once by a shocking revelation. Uncle Yeric was just as upset about Erin leaving as Efrain was, as she had been. And he had taken it out on her, just like Efrain and Emery had. Uncle Yeric and her aunt had blamed the fact that Emilie’s mother was an actress and somehow must have passed her feckless ways on to her children, causing Erin, who had been the oldest, the most favored, the child they had known best and liked best, to leave them without a glance backward. As the only girl, and the next oldest, Emilie had shouldered all the blame, a substitute for her mother and Erin. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right, but at least she knew now. She said, slowly, “I wouldn’t want to depend on him, either. But if I have to leave the Marlendes’ employ, I can go to my cousin Karthea at Silk Harbor and help her with her school. She’s already said I can, if I want to.”

Uncle Yeric cleared his throat. “Ah, well. Your cousin has always been a very respectable young lady, despite her insistence on going to university.” He continued. “Dr Marlende assures me you will be staying under this roof, in the company of his daughter. You must write to your aunt, to let her know what your direction is. And write to her every fortnight, to let her know how you’re getting along.”

It seemed a small price to pay. Emilie said, “I will. I’ll write to her today.”

Uncle Yeric took his leave from Dr Marlende, and Emilie said goodbye to Efrain in the front parlor. He told her, “Write to me too and tell me all your adventures.”

“I will,” Emilie told him. From the stoop of the house, she watched Uncle Yeric and Efrain climb into a coach and drive away.

She walked back to the study to sit alone in the relative quiet for a moment, feeling very strange and a little at sea. Relieved to have the whole situation with Uncle Yeric settled, and able to start her new life without worrying about him. Guilty to realize she had abandoned Efrain and Emery just as Erin had, though like her, he had probably had reasons he felt were equally compelling. But at least she was aware of it, and now she was free to visit her brothers when she wished. And she was rather looking forward to when Efrain would be able to visit her.

Emilie realized she badly needed to write to Karthea and let her know she was all right, and to her friend Porcia Herinbogel to tell her everything that had happened. Thinking about how she would explain the whole situation to Porcia helped her sort it out more in her own mind. Emilie knew she didn’t forgive either Uncle Yeric or her aunt, but understanding their feelings did help somewhat. For one thing, it was going to make it easier to cope if they got angry with her again. Uncle Yeric wasn’t going to apologize to her, and the way he and her aunt had treated her would always hurt, even if he didn’t seem to believe what he had said anymore. If he ever had.

She was looking around for writing paper when Miss Marlende put her head in the doorway and said, “Oh, there you are, Emilie. Lord Engal is evidently feeling better and has sent a message demanding that everyone come round to his townhouse and continue the meeting there. Would you like to come along?”

“Yes, Miss, I think I would,” Emilie said, and followed her out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martha Wells is the author of several fantasy novels that have been published by Tor and HarperCollins, including Death of a Necromancer, which was a 1999 Nebula Nominee.

Publishers Weekly has said of her work: “Wells continues to demonstrate an impressive gift for creating finely detailed fantasy worlds rife with many-layered intrigues and immensely personable characters.” And she has been lauded by authors such as Anne McCaffrey and Robin Hobb.

Her books have been published in eight languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Dutch.

www.marthawells.com
twitter.com/marthawells1

STRANGE CHEMISTRY
An Angry Robot imprint
and a member of the Osprey Group
Lace Market House,
54-56 High Pavement,
Nottingham
NG1 1HW
UK
www.strangechemistrybooks.com
Strange Chemistry #26
A Strange Chemistry paperback original 2014
1
Copyright © Martha Wells 2014
Martha Wells asserts the moral right to be
identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
UK ISBN: 978 1 90884 451 4
US ISBN: 978 1 90884 452 1
Ebook ISBN: 978 1 90884 453 8

Set in Meridien and Dirty Headline by Argh! Oxford

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by
way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or
otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in
any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and
incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or
localities is entirely coincidental.

Contents

1. Title Page
2. Chapter 1
3. Chapter 2
4. Chapter 3
5. Chapter 4
6. Chapter 5
7. Chapter 6
8. Chapter 7
9. Chapter 8
10. Chapter 9
11. Chapter 10
12. Chapter 11
13. Chapter 12
14. Chapter 13
15. Chapter 14
16. Chapter 15
17. Chapter 16
18. About the Author
19. Imprint page