Emilie and the Sky World

by Martha Wells

  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 almo
st 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 Marlen
de. 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.