Second Veil

by Wilson, David

  With a heavy sigh, Euphrankes turned and headed for the airlock. He couldn't escape the fluttering sensations in the pit of his stomach, but he wasn't frightened. He just wondered if he'd be able to stand the hours left before they turned the nose of the Tangent toward space and launched into a new world.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The crew was gathered around the oval table in the main dining hall. Some had to take up seats along the walls – the hall was designed for them to eat in shifts. There were twelve members of the crew. Euphrankes, Zins, and Aria made up the command. Ozymandes was to serve as an engineer, and as the ship's chaplain, should anyone have second thoughts, or want to talk about The Protectors, or the lore of their own planet. He took both roles very seriously, and was particularly pleased to have been chosen to be among those allowed access to the ship's log, and to be part of the communications rotation.

  Euphrankes stood at the head of the table. He had a seat, but he could no more have sat down in it at that moment than he could have flown without the ship. His nerves were on edge, and his eyes were bright. If he still had doubts, they were absent from his words and his expression. He paced back and forth, studying each of those gathered.

  "What we are about to do," he said at last, "has been described to me over the past few weeks as remarkable, foolish, courageous, and suicidal."

  There was a smattering of nervous laughter, but there was too much possible truth in every one of the descriptions to laugh too hard.

  "I prefer to think of it," Euphrankes continued, "as an aspect of destiny. Everything we are – everything we've done, studied, figured out, argued about and lived has brought us here to this moment. Together. There isn't one among you who has not contributed their part, and we haven't even left dock. Before we are done, I suspect we will all have our chances to explore whether we are courageous, mad, foolish, or a strange combination of all of the above.

  "Everything we experience will be new. We have studies and theories, but in the end, that is all we have until we pass the Second Veil. Once we are in space, where we believe it to be a vacuum without atmosphere, that is when we will begin to actually learn. From that moment forward, we will observe, record, and experience facts. We have to be quick and clever. We have to be able to assimilate what we find and encounter, and learn from it on the fly. There is no experience to fall back on, and in many cases we may discover there are no second chances.

  "That said, if there are any among you having second thoughts about making this voyage, now is the time to speak. I will ask this question one more time, when we are moored in Urv. After that, we are committed, every one of us, to this adventure. The very future of our planet may depend on what we find, how we react to it, report it, and adapt. Are you ready for that responsibility?"

  There was a subdued murmur of assent. Every face was serious, but Euphrankes saw his own eagerness to be underway mirrored on every face. He had studied and worried over the choices for the crew, and now, seeing them assembled and ready to fly, he smiled. They were the best of the best. All of those he'd most wanted to have with him had come, and the few who he'd not counted on, like the young priest Ozymandes, had proven invaluable already.

  Oz, as they'd begun to call him after only a single day of working with him, had a very quick mind when it came to mechanical engineering. He also had years of practice drawing, recording, and "ritualizing" maintenance procedures. Since the Tangent was new and many of her systems would be tested for the first time under fire, it was good to have someone along with a background of and tendency toward careful, practical procedure.

  Zins would serve as navigator, officially, but Euphrankes knew the man could be counted on in any capacity. He wasn't an engineer, but he could fly an airship, and he could lead. When things got tough and it was impossible to be in enough places at one time to keep an emergency under control, Zins would be another version of himself. It would also be good to have him for conversation, once they were alone in space. They shared dreams and visions, and Zins had known Euphrankes' father.

  They'd also ended up with a good mix of men and women. They didn't necessarily want to encourage deep relationships between crew members, but Euphrankes had Aria, and he knew that if they'd brought only men, or only women, eventually trouble would ensue. There had to be some semblance of normalcy, and there was just no way to gauge how far they'd be traveling, or how long they'd be gone.

  Food was somewhat of a problem, but this time it was Bonymede who'd come through with a solution. In a chamber near the rear of the ship he'd rigged a second dome, not as large as that they used to navigate on the bridge, but sufficient to catch light from suns and stars. Rigged up around that chamber were powerful lights, aimed at an array of narrow rows of planters.

  One of the mysteries of The Protectors was where the first seeds had come from, and how the equipment they used in the cities to drill into the planet's surface to find and sift the proper soil and chemical mixtures to grow the food that kept them alive. There wasn't much variety to it, but it sustained, and Bonymede had created a miniature garden in the image of one of the larger plantations. He had soil, and enough chemicals to enrich it when necessary.

  Cyril had presented them with one of the miraculous distillation machines that created the water they drank. No one had even begun to fathom how these worked. The cities recycled everything. Water, waste, and air were reconstituted by great machines. Certain chemicals drawn up by the same drills that produced their soil were shifted over to the distillation plants, combined with the city's waste, filtered and distilled, and provided a seemingly endless stream of fresh water.

  What Cyril had given them was a very small version of one of the distillers, and several tanks of chemicals. Bonymede had tied it all together with the ship's waste management system, and – by all indications – they could produce more water and food than they should be able to use, allowing them to store and hoard supplies. All of it was miraculous – Oz's word for it. Every possible trouble that Euphrankes' fertile imagination could invent, someone on the crew, or in the cities, or at The Compound, found a solution for.

  "I am proud to fly with you," Euphrankes said at last. "Every one of you. I spoke a few moments ago about destiny. Look around you at all we have created. Think about the things that stood between us and success, and how this crew – this small group of individuals – grew into a single powerful force to overcome them."

  He stood for a moment as his words sank in, and then went on.

  "Okay, everyone to your posts. Strap in. Get the lines cleared, and be certain the ground crews are ready. We will launch for Urv in ten minutes."

  Without another word, he turned and headed back up toward the bridge. The others rose quickly, glad to have a purpose, and glad to have a few moments to think, not only about what Euphrankes had said, but about the short journey to come, and the much longer one in the near future.

  None of them said it, but they were all proud to serve under Euphrankes. Even those who'd been with Zins before, or who'd never served on a crew of any kind. His enthusiasm was infectious, and his confidence that they were doing the right thing inspired them.

  They spread out through the ship, setting controls and releasing moorings. Slyphie and Bonymede slowly decompressed Freethion into the membranes surrounding them and very gently they lifted to the length of the few remaining restraints. Engineers below decoupled the airlocks, dropping back through and sealing the locks behind themselves, glancing up through protective helmets at the bottom of the Tangent's huge hull.

  The ship was easily twice the size of the Vector or any other airship they'd manufactured in the past. It was long and sleek, less oval and more cylindrical. The hull was reinforced by Imperium straps around the outside of the already nearly impenetrable Imperium hull. Every inch of the ship glistened, and as it pulled away from its moorings and drifted up toward the Second Veil, those below thought it was like a great, silver star in the sky.

  Then the ship le
veled off, spun lazily, and started off toward Urv, gaining speed. Euprhankes put the ship and the crew through their paces, intent on shaking out any bugs before they reached their destination.

  In only a few moments, The Outpost shrank to the size of a small child's toy, and then winked out of sight.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  When the Tangent reached Urv, they found a huge gathering of citizens waiting for them at the base of the main air tower. A new system of airlocks had been installed, larger, to allow cargo transfer, like those at The Outpost, and modified for the Tangent's locks so that the much larger ship could moor at a slightly greater height than the smaller ships. The changes represented a lot of work, and Euphrankes was impressed.

  The difference in Urv was astonishing. Things that had seemed grimy, forgotten, and on the short track to entropy were clean, polished, and gleamed in the morning light. The streets were cleared, and there were even a few vehicles moving about them.

  "Word has it," Zins said, staring down at those gathered below, "that the main road to Bethes has been cleared. They've made it through with a large cargo of food, and the priests in Bethes are working with Cyril's ambassadors to strengthen their pumps. The air is a little better all along, and people are coming outside to enjoy it."

  "It's surreal," Euphrankes said. "I feel like it's only been days since I climbed down from this same platform, only to be banished for daring to dream about the ship I'm standing in now."

  "That's the way life works," Zins said with a shrug. "When things happen, they tend to happen suddenly. It could have been a lot different outcome…I'd say we did pretty good."

  Euphrankes smiled.

  "You're right, of course. Doesn't change how it feels, though. I still can't get used to the idea of High Councilor Cumby smiling."

  Both men laughed, and then, as the final lock was clamped in place, they preceded the crew down through the airlocks and onto the platform. As he climbed down, Euprhankes heard something odd. The lower he got, the louder the sound grew, and then very suddenly he recognized it. It was music. Live music.

  He stopped and glanced down. Zins, who was descending directly behind him, nearly stepped on his head.

  "What is it?" Zins asked, irritated.

  "Listen," Euphrankes said.

  And they did. All of them, up and down the ladder. They stood very still, and they listened, and then, suddenly someone laughed. It wasn't a laugh of mirth, but of delight.

  "Where is it coming from?" Zins asked.

  "I'm not sure," Euphrankes said. "Let's get down there and find out."

  At the base of the tower, they found their answer. Cyril was there, and with him was a small contingent of priests. Each of them held a different instrument. Euphrankes had heard the music before, of course. They played it in The Temple nightly. None of them, however, had ever seen the men with the instruments – and, in his memory, the music had never been played in the streets.

  High Councilor Cumby stepped forward with Cyril by his side. The old priest was smiling.

  "Don't look so shocked," he said. "When I was a boy – and granted, that was a very long time ago – there was often music in the streets. We've been playing as often as we can, even working on some new songs. The sound seems to help the workers, and the air…it's been a long time since it was better to breathe outside The Temple than it is inside. Since we have you to thank…"

  Euphrankes held up a hand.

  "Stop that," he said. "There were a lot of people involved in bringing about these changes. I may have helped to set it all in motion but without the two of you supporting me, and my crew, and Zins' crew, and…well…let's say it's been a group effort. The music is lovely."

  They all stood for a while and listened. Finally, High Councilor Cumby broke the silence.

  "They have a small ceremony planned in your honor," he said, "all of you. The citizenry and The Council and even The Temple have a few things to gift you. I know you can't carry much, but I think you'll find that what we have will be of use. Then we'll settle you all in for a good night's rest to be ready for tomorrow's launch."

  Euphrankes nodded. He couldn't resist glancing up over his shoulder into the sky.

  They walked back toward Urv as a group. Some things had not changed. They still didn't use mechanized transport lightly. Cumby explained that they wanted to maintain as much order as possible, so they were not changing the rules en masse. Also, they felt that the revitalized atmosphere didn't need to be challenged so soon. The attitude of the citizens, and The Council, was that the improvements were a blessing, and to be treated as such.

  The walk seemed somehow shorter than the last time they’d made it. The way was lined with waving, cheering citizens, and the priests and their instruments followed along behind. Before they knew it, they were in the city proper, where they saw that tables had been set up in the street outside The Council Hall. There were banners and baskets, food and drink.

  On the central table there was a pile of packages. The rest of The Council sat behind in chairs behind that table, arranged in a semi-circle. There was a podium fronting the chairs, and High Councilor Cumby made his way to it slowly. Euphrankes and the others stood, uncertain what to expect, waiting.

  “This is too weird,” Aria whispered. “Has The Council ever met outside the chamber before this?”

  “There were times, long ago, when they did,” Euphrankes said. “I’ve never seen it, but my father told me they used to hold ceremonies where they honored those who accomplished great things, and made presentations. When Myril became High Priest there was such a ceremony.

  Once Cumby was in place, the group was ushered up to stand across the table from him, turned so that they faced out into the crowd. Hundreds of faces smiled back at them, some that they knew, others they’d never seen. There were children clinging to their parent’s legs and couples, arm-in-arm. They stood and waited as Cumby turned on the amplifier on his podium and cleared his throat.

  “It has been too long since we have gathered like this,” he said. “The last time, I was a much younger man, and the occasion was less auspicious. I hope that in the future we’ll have occasion to do this often. With the roads opening, and new breakthroughs in the pumps, patches, and airlocks daily, I suspect it won’t be a problem to find those worthy of reward.

  “Today, there is no doubt of the occasion. By this time tomorrow, some of our best and brightest will be launched on a new adventure. I can’t begin to tell you all that may be riding on their success, and I don’t believe I have to tell you the danger they face. It is a courageous mission, and one worthy of The Protectors, who made it possible for us to survive and progress to this point…often against our will.”

  There was a polite smattering of applause, but it was subdued. None of them was quite comfortable with the new order, and laughing at the way they’d lived their lives for decades did not come easily.

  “Before we send them off,” Cumby continued, “The Council, some of our engineers, and the priests of The Temple have gathered a few items to send along with them. We realize that space is limited, so we have prepared nothing to large or ungainly, but I believe what we have will be of some use, and possibly some comfort before all is said and done.

  “Euphrankes, Zins, Aria, would the three of you step up here please?”

  They did as they were asked, standing at the table. There were five packages, neatly wrapped. They were not marked for any particular person. The labels read:

  To the Officers and Crew of the Tangent.

  Farscinian, a thin, darkly mustached Councilor, rose from his seat and stepped up to face them across the table. He picked up the first of the packages and presented it to Euphrankes.

  “This first is my personal gift to you, Euphrankes,” High Councilor Cumby said. “It is addressed to the entire crew, because I trust you will display it in a place where it can provide inspiration and hope. It was presented to The Council by your father, long, long ago. I believe you may
recognize it, or, at least what it represents.”

  Euphrankes opened the package carefully. When the paper fell to the table, he held a small, transparent case. Inside, resting on delicately constructed metal blocks, was a model of an airship. The lines were much older than those of the Vector, very similar to those of the Axis. Euphrankes stared at it for a long time, and then glanced up sharply.

  “This is the model he brought before The Council? The one he used…”

  “To convince us that he should be allowed to put an airlock in the First Veil and build an airship. Yes, Euphrankes…that is the prototype model for the Alexis…sister ship to Maester Zins’ Axis.”

  Euprhankes held the case very carefully. He studied the tiny airship, and a tear formed at the corner of one of his eyes. He didn’t wipe it away, and eventually it trickled down his cheek and dropped to the ground.

  “Thank you,” he said at last. “I will mount this on the bridge of the Tangent in a place where all who pass will see it.”

  Cumby nodded, and smiled. Next, Councilor Farscinian picked up a longer, flatter package and held it out to Maester Zins, who took it with a small bow.

  “As Navigator,” Cumby said, “you will be responsible for the charts. We weren’t sure what you had available, or how accurate they might be, so we’ve had the priests on watch in The Chamber of Stars kept busy This package contains charts of the stars as we know them, and duplicate copies so you will be able to record your travels more accurately. They are bound for protection, and we would be honored if, upon your return, you would return them to the library in that chamber for study.”

  “I will keep them carefully,” Zins said, bowing again, “and I will return them gladly. It would be an honor to have my words kept in so important a collection.”

  The next package was much smaller, and Farscinian offered it to Aria.

  “I know that as First Officer, you won’t be spending a lot of time in the gardens,” Cumby said, “but it will be your job to interface with the crew, and to help keep morale as high as possible. With the opening of the road to Bethes, we’ve been able to renew certain stores that have been lacking for a long time. This package contains several varieties of seeds. If used properly, and tended well, they will help add variety to your meals, and help to bring a few smiles. I hear that you have a rather remarkable gardening setup on board. I trust you can make good use of them.”