“By the SEVEN!” Aiden heard the loud, startled voice of Duke Valeran bellow out as he appeared standing on top of the map table. There were lesser curses and exclamations of startlement, but that was the loudest by far. He finished pushing through the barrier and opened his eyes, looking down at the startled faces of the people in the wheelhouse.
“By the gods, boy! You did it!” the Duke threw his hands up, beaming and grinning from his bristly black beard.
The Captain himself looked dumbfounded but reached up to help him down. “Why the map table? Why didn’t you just appear in the middle of the room?”
“Well, I can’t see people when I’m in that place.” Aiden blushed, stepping down gingerly onto a stool and then the floor. “I didn’t think of it until I was here, but I don’t exactly know what would happen if I appeared where someone was already standing.”
All of them shared uncomfortable glances though Aiden noted the Duke also looked intrigued. Aiden had long ago realized the man took an almost childlike delight in things that could cause or result in great damage. Never to the point of mayhem to his own people, but he remembered how almost single-minded the man had been after Aiden had figured out how to fire the main gun on the Skywitch. The surprise had been deep for the Duke, close on its heels had been the desire to fire it himself.
“Well, good thing you were thinking, lad,” Valeran finally said, smiling brightly. “Still, this is an interesting development! If I ever have a need to raid a vault, I know who to call, eh? Or, if I find things missing out of my own vaults?” the big man eyed him with mock intensity, slapping him on the back and turning to his son. “Well? How did he jimmy the lock?”
Gavin had been over with the Captain, and both men turned looking baffled. “It is still locked!” the Captain said in disbelief. “How did you get in if you didn’t come through the door? Did you do something, eh… magical?“ the Captain wiggled his fingers with his eyebrow raised.
Aiden shook his head. “No sir, I just opened the door. It wasn’t locked when I did, or at least it didn’t appear to be so.”
“Strange,” Gavin said slowly, still looking at the locked door, “I wonder if there is a way to lock it in that other place you go, Aiden?”
Aiden just shrugged and then realized something. Maybe the Professor would know? He was just about to suggest that when a pounding came on the door. Gavin quickly opened the door and a sailor came into the room breathlessly. “Captain. We found one of the passengers, sir. He’s collapsed!”
The images of the Scratchers attacking them back in the hall sprang to Aiden’s mind. Had one of them snuck on board and killed someone? One of his friends? The Duke stepped forward, a look of fear on his face. “Who is it? Is it one of the children? Gods! How did this happen?”
The sailor was terrified to have not only the Captain but also his Duke’s attention so intent upon him. Before the man could stutter too much, the Captain snapped at him. “Out with it man! Who was it? where are they!”
“It…It’s the old one. The Professor! We found him in the galley. He looks odd and he’s not breathing!”
Aiden's mind screamed at him. The Professor! It can’t be the Professor! Images of the kindly old man flashed through his mind. The generous smiles and kind words through the years. It couldn’t be. Not him!
The Duke looked grim. “Take us to him now, and have your men search the ship, Captain. We need to find out what happened to him right away.”
Chapter 12
They stood over the collapsed, crumpled form of the Professor in stunned silence. Aiden wasn’t sure what alarmed him most; the odd, silver sheen to his skin or the boneless way he’d fallen forward onto the floor. The box he’d received from the Duke was lying next to him, open and empty. Whatever had been inside wasn’t there any longer.
The Duke made to lean down but the Captain reached out a hand, restraining him. “Your Grace, we don’t know what has happened to him. Whatever it may be, may not be entirely gone. Let one of my men handle this.”
The older man gestured and the first officer bent, reaching out to him slowly. When his hand touched the Professor’s hand, nothing seemed to happen which made them all take a sudden breath. Though unhurt, the lieutenant commander frowned and pulled his hand back rubbing his two fingers together. “It feels very odd. Almost waxy but slicker. Whatever is on his skin isn’t normal, sir.”
“I might be able to tell something,” Aiden offered, looking up at all those clustered around. “I’m not entirely sure, but…there’s a possibility and I don’t have to touch him to do it.”
Duke Valeran looked at him for a long moment with a sour grimace on his face but finally nodded. “I’m not too keen on putting children at risk but you’ve certainly had your fair stomach of it lately. I’ll let you try but at the first sign of anything I’m yanking you away. Boys?” The Duke looked at Gavin and Ashrak. “Be ready on either side of him to do just that if we see anything odd.”
Aiden nodded and waited until Gavin and Ashrak were in position before sitting down beside the first officer and getting comfortable. He’d never tried this before. He knew the Professor was made from glimmer steel, but he’d never even thought of trying to read the old man. He remembered the time when he’d read the Skywitch and had to pull back because of the mountains of information it had contained, he could only imagine the Professor would be worse. However, he also had several months more experience with the since then.
Slowly he pushed his mind out toward where the old man lay crumpled on the deck. He could tell what made up the Professor was similar, but not exactly the same as anything else he had touched before. There was a vitality to it that was lacking from other glimmer steel constructs. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what the difference was, but he decided to proceed even more carefully than he had before.
As he drifted in closer, he could see complex patterns of the glimmer steel. It was far too much to take in, and he realized he was trying to examine it too closely and was in danger of being subsumed by its intricacy. Quickly, he pulled back but not all the way. He still had to determine if the Professor was in any danger.
There seemed to be a strange overlay on the Professor’s form. It was faint, gave off a silvery glow as it shimmered just on the top of his skin. As he watched, it seemed to pulse before moving deeper into the old man’s form. He was gravely concerned at first because it did not seem natural but before he could pull back and declare his alarm, Glowby drifted down and gently settled over the Professor. He watched a faint, glimmering tendril descend from his friend, almost seeming to caress the Professor before withdrawing. After it was done, Glowby floated back up and he could feel his friend’s calmness and certainty the Professor was not in trouble.
Aiden sighed. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but once again his friend had helped him. He was grateful since he really didn’t know what to look for. He pulled himself out of his semi-reverie and blinked before looking up at everyone around him.
“I… I think it is okay. Whatever is happening doesn’t seem to be hurting him.” Aiden said, shrugging slowly as he contemplated the Professor's crumpled form in front of him. “I don’t know exactly what it is doing to him but I don’t think is a bad thing.”
The Duke frowned darkly down at Aiden for a long moment, his bristly eyebrows low over his intense, ice-blue eyes. “I don’t like mysteries, boy. Especially when it involves thousand-year-old men. Makes my eyeballs itch and frankly, I hate itching my eyeballs.” He took a deep breath and then looked around. “Okay, then it sounds like all we can do is put him up on a bed and watch him. If this was caused by that thing Carol Reid gave us, then I’m going to have to believe she didn’t mean us any harm. At least, I hope not. Otherwise, we’re all in worse trouble than we thought.”
The Captain gestured for some men to pick up Professor Reivus, and then he and the Duke followed them out of the galley. Aiden and his friends watched them go before exchanging troubled glances.
�
��Just when we had questions for him, too” Chari frowned, unhappy with the timing.
Ashrak looked at all three of them, baffled for a few moments while Gavin grinned and took the opportunity to needle the other tall noble. “We did an experiment with Aiden. Too bad you were busy talking to one of the pretty deck hands up front. You could have helped us with it.”
“You did something fun without me?” Ashrak grumped indignantly.
“I’m not sure exactly how fun it was,” Aiden said softly. “It actually was a bit dangerous, but we wanted to test out if I could go to different places in the Anderealm or pass through doors and then reappear. It worked, if you were curious.”
“Who was he talking to?” Chari asked Gavin quietly, her eyes moving to rest intently on Ashrak.
“You were able to walk through walls and doors?” Ashrak asked excitedly, totally missing Chari’s look and play punching Aiden in the shoulder as he bounced up to him. “Can you imagine the things you could get into! You could be the greatest thief in history, Aiden!”
“Well, I wouldn’t but yes, it does seem to work. We only tried it on the ship, though. I didn’t want to go back to the island and discover I couldn’t find you all again.”
“How would you get back to the island?” Ashrak continued. “Remember when we went to Duke Feldar’s study? We were flying then. Do you think you could fly? That would be handy. You could go anywhere in the world!”
Aiden paused. They had been flying then but he knew they’d both been inside Glowby so he wasn’t sure he could actually do it. And, the thought just occurred to him, they had seen people and listened to them in that realm. How had that happened? When he’d been in the Anderealm here on the ship there was no life. That was one of the spookiest things about the Anderealm, but in that one time and place, they could see and hear what had happened. He let his eyes drift unconsciously over to Glowby for a moment as he wondered if it had been something his friend had done or was it something else entirely.
“Aiden, why do you keep looking off into space like that?” Gavin asked curiously.
Aiden blinked, then looked at his friend and shrugged, trying to cover his slip. “Do I? I don’t remember doing it. Just thinking maybe?”
“It’s like that tic he gets over his left eye,” Ashrak offered. “Just one of his quirks, I think. Maybe he was dropped on his head when he was younger.”
“No, I’ve seen you do it before too, Aiden,” Chari said slowly as she moved her gaze from Ashrak to Aiden. “Actually, quite often. It’s not like you’re looking off into space, it’s like you are looking at something. Is there something you are not telling us?”
Uh oh, Aiden thought to himself. He’d always tried to be careful but he knew he slipped up sometimes. Jessop, the person he’d spent his time with before he became a lord wouldn’t care, taking it in stride along with his own odd quirks and habits. But these three weren’t like Jessop and they had noticed. What was he going to tell them? For some reason, he just felt telling them all about Glowby was wrong.
He was saved from revealing his secret by a cry up above. He didn’t know what it meant, but Chari looked up with a worried frown and they heard men moving about more quickly on deck.
“What’s going on, Chari?” Gavin said, beginning to head for the stairs that would take them all back up on deck.
“Sails,” Chari said. “Heading toward us directly or they wouldn’t have cared. And unmarked sails at that.”
***
Aiden, Gavin, and Ashrak followed Chari up onto the deck and found a place near the railing close to where the Captain and Duke Valeran were speaking intently. Most of the crew was still working, with anyone stopping to stare for too long coming to the quick attention of the first and second mates, but there were a lot of glances being cast toward the faint white sails far astern. It could be just a simple convoy of traders, but Aiden wasn’t holding out a lot of hope.
“What do you think is going on, Chari?” Ashrak asked as they all strained to see the still-distant threat.
“It’s too early to tell and I don’t have a spyglass.” She said hesitantly. “It’s busier toward Terek coast, but most sailors try to avoid being close to Reid. No one comes close to Reid if they can help it. Too many stories of lost ships.”
“Who would try to attack us?” Gavin said. “We’re on the Gerevat. It’s the flagship for our navy. No pirate ship could hope to take us.”
Chari nodded and shrugged. “If it were one ship, that would be true. Honestly, I can’t tell from here but the lookout above has a spyglass and can probably see more from up there. The Captain wouldn’t be worried if it were just one ship.”
“How much time do we have?” Aiden asked softly as they all stared out over the water. It was clear they were still quite a ways off, but Aiden hadn’t a clue how things worked on the water. It could be hours or days as far as he knew.
“I don’t know. It depends on how fast they are closing, Aiden,” Chari said. “I don’t think it will be today, at least. The Gerevat isn’t the fastest ship on the water, but she’s not exactly slow either.”
“Well, this is one of the things I was talking about,” Aiden said heavily, frowning in concentration as he turned to Gavin. “Can you go try to find out how long it will take them to catch us if they know? Maybe I can make something? Arms and armor for the crew at least? It won’t be fast and I probably can’t do everyone, but it wouldn’t hurt to have that little surprise, would it?”
Gavin nodded and moved off toward his father and the Captain. Meanwhile, Ashrak turned to Chari. “Okay, so if they do attack, what can we expect? Are they going to try to ram us or something?”
Chari shook her head. “No, but it depends on how many ships they have. They’ll most likely have some ballista, or maybe even a catapult, but until they get closer we can’t tell. Unless they are some pretty powerful ships, they will probably try to come in close and board us. The Gerevat has some powerful catapults and ballistae herself so most likely we’ll have range and power on our side in the beginning.”
“So bows and crossbows, then sword and shield?” Aiden said, thinking furiously.
“Maybe you could make some big ballista bolts that could go through their ships, Aiden?” Ashrak said, rubbing his hands together at the thought. “Or arrows? That would be something. They’d have nowhere to hide if the arrows just went through everything! I can just see their faces.”
Chari scowled and shook her head. “Yet again, you boys are just thinking of how to hurt each other. How about something to shield us? Maybe something like what the Skywitch has to keep the wind off, but stronger? It would be a big surprise if they jump across to board and bounce right off of the air. Or,” she paused, snapping her fingers and closing her eyes. “How about something to make us go faster? You made your little skimmer move, could you do something like that but for pushing us faster, Aiden? The entire ship, I mean.”
Aiden looked up, thinking furiously. “That is a good idea. All of those are a good ideas but… well, we need to find out how much time we have. I can only do so much, and really I have no clue what to expect.”
Just then, Gavin came back with his older brother Lieutenant Kelmen and Captain Stelios in tow. “Father is busy but he sent us Kel and Stelios to talk to. They should have some good ideas.”
Gavin’s older brother nodded gravely. “Okay, the Captain and Father informed me a little of what happened on Reid island, so I know some of what you can do, Aiden. Hopefully, we can come up with something clever. Right now, we’ve got five ships trailing us. None of them are as large as we are, and they are not anyone’s navy, so we could take any two of them, but with five, it isn’t looking good. That’s if they just come toward us straight and we just keep sailing along. The good news is they are a still a day or so behind us and we aren’t going to be just sailing along fat and happy. Once night falls, we’ll change course. It won’t be easy, but maybe we can lose them in the dark. At the very least they’ll take a whil
e to re-acquire us so it may stretch out the time before we have to fight.”
“Are we sure they’re actually going to attack us?” Aiden asked, “Maybe they’re just off course or something.”
Kel nodded slowly. “There’s always the chance, but we’ll know after the first night. Once we change course, if they turn to follow us the next day, then we will know for sure.”
“Okay!” Ashrak said enthusiastically and grinned. “So that leaves us with the question of what do we work on? Arms and armor? Bolts? Arrows?”
“What do you mean, we?” Aiden asked sourly, though his frown did nothing to dampen Ashrak’s grin.
“Very well, you then. What should you work on? I’m for that shield Chari mentioned. Can you imagine the look on their faces when they come to board us and instead find themselves falling between the two ships? Haha!” Ashrak made a splashing sound and then ground his two hands together. It wasn’t something Aiden really enjoyed seeing once he realized what it meant. It was difficult enough to have seen men cut up by swords, must less ground between two wooden hulls.
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 46
