by Warhammer
Felix saw the indicated gauge beside the compass. Right now the needle was in the green zone at the tenth increment. It was about five increments short of the red zone.
‘While the needle is in the green, ye’re fine. That’s the zone o’ tolerance for the engine. Move it forward – but keep the needle in the green.’
Felix leaned forward on the lever. It resisted his efforts, so he pushed harder than he had originally intended. As he did so the needle moved forward and the drone of the engine altered to a higher pitch. The ground seemed to unreel faster below them, and the clouds drifted by more quickly on either side. Suddenly Felix felt Makaisson’s hard hand on top of his. Fingers like steel bands closed and he found the lever was being pulled back.
‘Ah said keep it in the green, ye unnerstan? The red is for emergencies only. Ye run the engine in the red and ye’ll gaun much faster but ye’ll burn it oot after awhile, maybe even explode it. That’s no such a guid thing at this height.’
Felix saw that he had accidentally run the needle into the red zone. He tried to pull his hand away but Makaisson’s held it in place for a moment. ‘Dinnae tak yer hand off the controls until ah tell ye. Keep yer hand on the speed stick the noo, alright?’
Felix nodded and the engineer freed his hand. ‘Dinnae worry. Ye’re no daein’ too bad. So, the next stick on the right controls the fins. Try tae no get the two sticks mixed up, it could be messy!’
Felix was beginning to wish he had never suggested that he might learn this. It seemed that there were many possibilities for disaster that he had never thought of. ‘In what way?’
‘Well, the fins control oor height above the ground. When ye pull that lever back the fins on the tail change attitude and we gaun up. When ye push it forward we gaun doon. That’s all ye really need tae ken. The actual reasons are a wee bit technical and ah doobt ye’d understand them.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
‘Right, pull the lever back. Gently! We dinna want to wake onybody up. Now ye’ll notice a wee gadget next tae the speed gauge. That’s yer altitude. The higher the increment, the higher we are. Yince mare, dinna gaun intae the red zone for ony reason. That could be fatal because we’ll be flying too high. An’ try no to lay the thing get doon to zero either, coz that means we’ll hae hit the ground. Now, slide the lever back to the neutral position. Ye’ll feel a wee click when ye dae. That means we’ll hae levelled off.’
Felix did as he was told. There was an odd buzzing in his ears, which vanished when he swallowed. He took his hand off the altitude lever and pointed to a smaller row of stubby levers attached to a panel at the height of his left hand. ‘What do these do?’
‘Dinna ouch ony of them. They control different functions like ballast, fuel and ither stuff. I’ll tell ye aboot them anither time. Right noo, ye ken ah ye need to fly the ship. Noo, keep headin’ north-north-east. An’ see that clock there? In two hours’ time wake me up. Ah’m ganne hae a wee kip. Ma heed’s a bit sare fae ah the booze yesterday.’
‘What if something goes wrong?’
‘Joost gae me a shout. Ah’ll be in this chair here.’
So saying, Makaisson sat himself down in the chair, and soon his snores filled the bridge of the airship.
For the first few minutes Felix felt a certain nervousness guiding the craft but as time wore on he gained confidence that nothing was going to go wrong. As time went on, some of the engineers came onto the bridge. Some glanced at him in amazement but seeing Makaisson slumbering nearby let him be. After a while, it became quite relaxing to watch the land and the clouds unroll beneath them.
‘Are you the pilot then?’ The soft voice stirred Felix from his reverie. It was a woman’s voice, husky and with more than a trace of a foreign accent in it. At a guess he would have said Kislevite.
Felix shook his head but did not turn to look at the woman. He kept his attention focused on where they were going, just in case anything unexpected came their way. ‘No. But you could say I am training to be one.’
A soft laugh. ‘A useful skill.’
‘I don’t know. I doubt that I can base a career on it. There are not too many vessels like this in the world.’
‘Only this one, I think. And given its mission, I doubt there will be another.’
‘You know where we are going, then?’
‘I know where you are going, and I do not envy you.’
Felix had to fight to keep his eyes fixed ahead and not to look round at her. He remembered what he had sworn to Borek back at the Lonely Tower. He did not really know this woman, and it was possible she was quizzing him for information.
‘You know where we are bound?’
‘I know you are headed out into the Wastes and that is enough for any sensible body to know. I do not think you will be coming back.’
Felix was discouraged to hear an assessment which so closely concurred with his own. He was also disappointed to learn that the woman had no intention of coming with them on their quest.
‘I take it you are familiar with the place then?’
‘As familiar as anybody can be who is not sworn to the Ruinous Powers. My family estates border the Troll Country which is as close as any mortal dare dwell to the accursed lands. My father is the March Warden there. We have spent much time battling the followers of Chaos when they try to infiltrate the lands of men.’
‘It must be an interesting life,’ Felix said ironically.
‘You could say that. I doubt that it is any more interesting than yours though. What brings you aboard this vessel? I must admit I was astonished to see a human, and a good-looking one, where I expected only to find Borek and his people.’
Felix smiled. It had been a long time since anyone, particularly an attractive woman, had told him he was handsome. He did not let his guard down though. ‘I am a friend.’
‘You are a Dwarf Friend? You must have performed some epic deeds then. Ulric knows there have been few enough of those in history.’
Felix wondered whether this was true. He had always assumed that it was simply a polite form of address. Now it appeared that it might actually be some form of title. He was about to reply when Makaisson interrupted from behind them.
‘Och, the lad has stood beside Gotrek Gurnisson on many an occasion, lassie. And he had a hand in the cleansing of the Sacred Tombs of Karak Eight Peaks. If that is nae grounds for namin’ him a Dwarf Friend ah dinna ken what is! Onyway, noo that ye’ve woke me up wi yer chatter, ye may as well gimme that wheel. Ah’ll tak iver noo.’
Makaisson stumped over and elbowed Felix from his position at the controls. He gave Felix a broad wink. ‘Noo you and the lassie can talk tae yer heart’s content.’
Felix shrugged and turned to smile at the woman. ‘Felix Jaeger,’ he said, bowing.
‘Ulrika Magdova,’ she said, smiling back. ‘I am pleased to make your acquaintance.’
There was a formality about the way she spoke the words which showed she was unaccustomed to them. They were like a polite formula she had been taught for dealing with people from the Empire. He thought that in her own land the greeting would be somewhat different.
‘Please, take a seat,’ he said, feeling a certain stupid formality he wished he could have avoided. They both slumped down with their legs stretched out in the overstuffed dwarfish chairs. Felix could see that his earlier guess was correct and she was almost as tall as he. Looking at her face, he revised his earlier opinion of her appearance. It went from merely beautiful up to stunningly beautiful. His mouth felt suddenly dry.
‘So what are you doing on this craft?’ he asked, just for something to say. She gave him a glance of languid amusement, as if she could read his thoughts exactly.
‘I am travelling home to my father’s estates.’
‘I cannot imagine Borek simply letting somebody on to this ship as a passenger for no reason.’
She raised her right hand to her mouth and stroked her lip with its forefinger. Felix could see the fingers were
callused like a swordsman’s, the nails pared very short. ‘My father and Borek are old friends. They fought together on many occasions in my father’s youth. He helped guide Borek’s last expedition to the edge of the Wastes. He looked after him and your friend Gotrek when they staggered back with the survivors. He was not surprised. He had warned them not to go. They would not listen.’
Felix stared at her. He had not imagined that any humans had been involved in that last expedition. ‘That does not surprise me,’ Felix said ruefully. He possessed considerable experience of just how stubborn dwarfs could be.
‘Some things about it surprised even my father. He had not expected anybody to return from that doomed mission. Few indeed, save the followers of Chaos, ever do.’
‘How long ago was this mission?’
‘Before I was born. Over twenty winters ago.’
‘They have waited a long time to go back then.’
‘So it would seem. It also seems that they have prepared well. Indeed it was a message from my father to say that he had done what they asked which brought me to Middenheim.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Borek asked my father to make certain preparations on our estate. To collect the black water. To build a tower. To stockpile certain supplies. At the time, they did not make sense, but now that I have seen this ship I think I understand.’
‘The dwarfs have built a base, a way-station, on your father’s land.’
‘Aye. And paid for it in good dwarfish steel.’
Seeing Felix’s quizzical look she smiled at him, and unsheathed one of her swords, pulling it part way from its scabbard. Felix noticed dwarf runes along the blade. ‘We have little use for gold along the Marches of Chaos. Weapons suit us better and the dwarfs are the finest armourers in the world.’
‘You came a long way from Kislev to Middenheim. That is far for a beautiful young woman travelling on her own.’
‘Better, Herr Jaeger! I had despaired of ever getting a compliment from you. Men are more forward about such things in Kislev.’
‘Women too, it seems,’ Felix said in mild surprise.
‘Life is short and winter is long, as they say.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Are you so obtuse?’
Felix could not help but feel that this conversation was moving out of his control. He had never quite met a woman like this Kislevite before and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Imperial women did not behave in quite this way, except perhaps for camp followers and tavern girls, and Ulrika Magdova certainly did not have the manner of either. Or perhaps, he was simply misunderstanding her manner. Maybe this was just the way women behaved in Kislev.
She spoke to fill the silence. ‘I did not travel to Middenheim on my own – although I could have. I came with a bodyguard of my father’s lancers. They departed northward and I waited to return with Borek.’
For the first time, she did not meet his gaze. He sensed that she was hiding something and he was not sure what. Certainly there was more going on here than met the eye. Also, for the first time, he started to suspect that she was not quite as confident as her beauty and her boldness had led him to believe. That suddenly made her more approachable and, in a way, more attractive. He smiled at her again and she smiled back, a little ruefully this time. Then she glanced over his shoulder, smoothed her britches with both her hands, and rose to her feet, all the while keeping him fixed with that dazzling smile.
Felix looked over in the direction of her gaze and saw that their other passenger, the sorcerer, had just entered the bridge area. He was looking at them in a puzzled, and Felix thought, perhaps resentful manner. If that was the case, he soon regained control of himself. A look of languid amusement passed over his lean handsome features and he advanced into the room. Ulrika Magdova sauntered past him, pausing only to give him a mildly disdainful glance.
‘Good day, Herr Schreiber. A pleasure talking to you, Felix.’
‘Good day,’ Felix said weakly, rising just as she vanished from view. The magician threw himself down in the chair she had left.
‘So,’ he said, ‘you’ve met the fair Ulrika. What do you think, eh?’
It was an impertinent question from a complete stranger, thought Felix, but then he had heard magicians could be somewhat odd. Then he noticed that the man was smiling and shaking his head like someone enjoying a private joke. White teeth showed against his tanned skin, the animated expression taking years off the wizard’s age. Felix guessed that the mage could not be more than ten years older than himself. Suddenly, impulsively, the man stuck out his hand.
‘Maximilian Schreiber, at your service. My friends call me Max.’
‘Felix Jaeger at yours.’
‘Felix Jaeger. That’s a name I’ve heard before. There was quite a promising poet of that name. Are you any relation? I read some of his verses in Gottlieb’s anthology several years before. Rather liked them, actually.’
Felix was pleasantly surprised to find that the stranger had heard of him. He cast his mind back to his student days when he had written verse and contributed to various anthologies. That all seemed to have happened to someone else, a long time ago.
‘I wrote those,’ he said.
‘Excellent. A pleasant surprise. Why did you stop writing? Gottlieb’s chapbook must be at least three years ago.’
‘I ran into some problems with the law.’
‘What were those?’
Something about the mage’s smooth manner was starting to set Felix’s teeth on edge. ‘I was expelled from the university for killing a man in a duel. Then there were the Window Tax Riots.’
‘Oh yes, the riots. So, in addition to being the poet Felix Jaeger, you are also the notorious outlaw Felix Jaeger, henchman to the infamous Gotrek Gurnisson.’
Felix went white with shock. It had been a long time since he had encountered anyone who had put those two facts together or even known he was an outlaw. The Empire was big and news travelled very slowly. It had been such a long time since he had been anywhere near Altdorf, the scene of that terrible slaughter during the riots. The wizard obviously noticed his expression. His smile became a grin.
‘Don’t worry. I am not about to turn you over to the law. I always thought it was an unjust and foolish tax myself. And to tell the truth, I sympathise with your predicament at the university. I was booted out of the Imperial College of Magicians myself, albeit a few years before you began your career of insurrection.’
‘You were?’
‘Oh yes. My tutors believed that I showed an unhealthy interest in the subject of Chaos.’
‘I would have to agree with them, I think. It’s a subject in which any interest is unhealthy.’
A gleam had come into the wizard’s eyes and he leaned forward eagerly in his seat. ‘I cannot believe that you think that way, Herr Jaeger. That’s the kind of short-sightedness I would expect from the wizened greybeards at the college but not from an adventurer like yourself.’
Felix felt compelled to defend his point of view.
‘I believe I know something of the subject. I have had more experience of fighting Chaos than most.’
‘Exactly! I, too, have fought against the Dark Powers, my friend, and I have found its minions in some unlikely places. I do not think that I am wrong when I say that it is the greatest single threat to our nation, nay, our world, that currently exists.’
‘I would agree with you there.’
‘And that being the case, can it be wrong to study the subject? In order to fight such a powerful foe we must understand it. We must know its strengths and its weaknesses, its goals and its fears.’
‘Yes, but the study of Chaos corrupts those who engage in it! Many have started down that path with the finest of intentions, only to find themselves enthralled by that thing they sought to fight.’
‘Now you really do sound like my old tutors! Has it occurred to you that, if you were a servant of Chaos, you would use exactly that argument to discourage a
ny investigation into your works?’
‘You’re not seriously suggesting that your tutors at the Imperial College were–’
‘Of course not! I am just saying that the servants of Chaos are subtle. You have no idea how subtle they can be. All they would need to do was put the idea into books, spread the rumour, encourage its belief. And, of course, Chaos does corrupt. If you work with warpstone, it will change you. If you perform dark rituals, your soul will be tarnished. I admit there is some truth to this line of argument. However, I don’t think that this should stop us from examining Chaos, trying to find ways to prevent its spread, to detect its followers, to blunt its terrifying power. There is a conspiracy of silence which permeates our entire society. It encourages ignorance. It gives our enemies shadows in which to hide, places in which to lurk and plot.’
Felix had to admit there was something in what Schreiber was saying. To tell the truth, he had often had similar thoughts himself. ‘You might be right.’
‘Might be? Come now, Felix, you know I am right. And so do many other people. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of publishing my opinions in a small pamphlet. The authorities decided that it was heretical and…’
‘You too became an outlaw.’
‘That more or less sums it up.’
‘Why are you aboard this ship?’
‘Because I continued my researches. I moved from place to place fighting against Chaos where I could, compiling information when I found it, hunting down wicked sorcerers. I have made myself into something of an expert on this subject, and in the end found a refuge at the court of Count Stephan. He is more far-sighted than many of our nobles.
‘He and the Knights of the White Wolf have helped fund my researches. Five years ago I met your friend Borek when he visited the library in the temple. He was most interested when he found out that I believed I had found a way to protect against the worst affects of Chaos. He enlisted me to help protect his airship on its voyage.’
Suddenly Felix began to understand the scale of the planning which had gone into their quest. It was of an order of magnitude that he had never encountered before. Not only had Borek overseen the building of the vast industrial complex at the Lonely Tower, he had employed Ulrika’s father to build an advance base and discovered and engaged this wizard to ward them against Chaos. The old dwarf had not been exaggerating when he claimed this was his life’s work. Felix began to wonder what other feats of planning would be revealed as the trip progressed. Still, he was not entirely convinced by Schreiber’s claims.
