“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 a
nd 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 liste
ning 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.