by Eli Ingle
“Sorry?”
“You were sending down beacons and I could hear the engines straining to get through and everything. Then that Fallen Thing was coming after you …”
“That’s exactly it. The Fallen One was what was holding us back. We were trying to get through without letting it through as well so we weren’t able to leave. Then when we were fighting it off, it drained a lot of our power. We don’t usually need beacons to help us land. They’re for emergencies like the night we collected you.”
“What was it even doing there?”
“Well, they sort of … reside there. In between everything, you know. Waiting.” “What are they?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out and we hope that with you on board we might be able to understand it a bit better.”
Before Rigel could ask anything else, the monitor on the console began to beep loudly. Pressing several buttons at once, Laurie began shouting commands. He pulled down a speaking horn and talked into it.
“All flight crew report to the control room, all crew to control room, thank you.” He let go of the horn and it reeled itself back up into the roof. “Rigel! See that lever over there? Can you pull it when I tell you to? Thanks.”
Moving over to it (it looked like the ones used by signalmen on railways), he grabbed it tight, pulling the handle to free the mechanism.
L’aroche and Opal arrived back from inside the ship, moved over to the control panel, and began fiddling with the controls, obviously familiar with what to do.
As Laurie spun a wheel, Rigel watched out of the front window. The clouds in front of them were beginning to swirl, slowly at first but then faster. As he watched he saw that suddenly something changed; he was no longer looking at clouds but rather at a tunnel that had parted them.
“Now!” cried Laurie, bringing his hand down.
With a ratcheting sound, the lever moved downwards as Rigel dragged it down. He stared as they began flying towards the tunnel.
“Woo-hoo! Are you ready? This is the best bit! Better hold onto something!”
But before Rigel had the chance to grab onto anything, the ship jolted forward at an incredible speed, picking up momentum the further it went into the hole. Unseen by the pilots, the gap in the sky closed behind them with a crack and they were sent into the swirling unknown.
CHAPTER SIX
Rattling like a rollercoaster down a shoot, the Persefoni shook and bounced, knocking the crew to the floor. Holding onto the lever in front to stop himself from sliding away, Rigel watched as Laurie scrambled up to the controls.
“All hands on deck! We have a three-oh-niner! Repeat: three-oh-niner!” Laurie shouted.
“What’s a three-oh-niner?” asked Rigel, scrambling up.
“Wormhole.”
“But you went into it.”
“You didn’t let me finish. It’s a particularly violent wormhole.”
“Is it not the same one you came out of earlier?”
“Nope, it – ”
But a large crash through the air scattered them to the floor again and Laurie was too distracted to finish his sentence.
Somewhere close by a bell rattled and Spanner came in, inexplicably standing up. As Rigel looked down, though, he realised the thin mechanic was wearing special boots made of metal. They clanged loudly every time he put his feet on the floor. As he watched, Rigel saw one of the pilots toss a pair to Laurie and the other pilots, who promptly put them on.
“Sorry, Rigel,” Laurie said, “we don’t have any spare pairs so you’ll just have to hang on. We didn’t think it was going to be this bumpy. Agh!”
Had it not been for the boots, Laurie would have gone flying. As it was he was just thrown against the controls, dislodging quite a few.
“What are they anyway?” Rigel asked, gripping the lever harder.
“Magnetic boots. Stop us from going everywhere.”
“Why is it so bumpy?” Rigel asked, starting to feel concerned.
“Not sure. Should be okay.”
“What if it throws us out of the hole?” asked Tink.
“Yeah, don’t think that’s the most helpful thing to mention at this point, Tink.”
“Just saying …”
“Well, don’t!”
“There’s a chance we might get thrown out of the hole?” asked Rigel.
“Oh no! I mean, the chances are very slim …”
“What would happen if we were thrown out?”
“Erm, we’re not really sure. We sort of … haven’t ever heard back from the people who fell out …”
“Oh, great!”
“Hey, but look! We’re really good pilots, we’re not going to get thrown ouuuaghat!”
With another crash the ship tilted violently to the left, making the pilots scrabble to keep upright. From inside the ship something began wailing. With a groan the ship righted itself before tilting backwards, nose pointing to the sky. The siren began to wail louder. Laurie craned his neck, frowning as the noise failed to stop.
“Rigel! Come with me.”
“Alrighty then …”
Letting go of the handle, Rigel slid all the way to the door. It was only as he was picking up speed with no way to stop himself as he careered towards the door that he regretted his hasty decision. Fortunately Laurie was running quickly to keep up with him; as he reached the door he spun around and caught Rigel under the arms, saving him a nasty crash.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Let’s see what that siren is, eh? Tink, Spanner! Come on.”
Opening the door and walking through, Rigel was surprised when Laurie removed his magnetic boots. In response to his questioning look, Laurie explained.
“Well, it’s all carpeted from here on. The boots are just for when you’re flying the ship. Yes, I’ll probably end up sliding around now but even if I had the boots on they wouldn’t help me. Might as well have lighter feet instead.”
Hurrying down the corridor (the ship had righted itself again), they walked the length of the ship until they reached the place where the siren was loudest. It was so loud that it hurt Rigel’s ears, forcing him to clamp his hands over them to try to ease the pain.
Turning into the doorway on the left at which Laurie was pointing, they moved through the semi-automatic opening door and into a boiler room.
Heat struck their faces and made them wince backwards. Tink and Spanner hurried inside, looking as though they were used to the heat. Smoke poured out of the door and once it had cleared, Rigel and Laurie stepped inside to see that there was a fire under one of the boilers. Laurie ran over to ask what was wrong.
“There’s a burst pipe in section seventeen,” explained Tink, running a coal-smeared glove across his forehead. “If we don’t redirect the stream it will decrease the pressure to a dangerous level and the whole port boiler could lose power, sir!”
“Show me,” Laurie commanded.
Leading the way, the mechanic directed Laurie to the back of the boilers where several large pipes twisted around each other. Rigel scurried after them, trying to look as though he knew what he was doing.
Arriving at the section of broken pipes, it was immediately apparent that something was seriously wrong. The whole unit had been ripped loose, sending a stream of deadly steam blasting towards their faces. This prevented them getting near enough to fix it. Laurie tried to move closer but backed off pretty quickly, spluttering and rubbing his face. Pulling his goggles down, he tried again but without success.
“Can’t we shut the boiler down?” he asked.
“Can’t, sir,” replied Tink, appearing agitated. “Because of the worm-hole we need all the power we can get.”
“But this isn’t giving you any power!”
“It is but only half the amount. If we shut it down then we won’t have any.”
“Can’t you just leave it then?”
“No, sir,” interjected Spanner, “the steam
may eventually break the other pipes. It could also rip the pipe it’s coming out of further and then damage the ones next to it.”
“Can’t you isolate that section of the pipes and redirect the steam to the unbroken half?”
“We could try that, sir.”
“Well, get on with it then!”
Hurrying back, they watched as the two mechanics shouted at each other, directing each other over pressure vents and temperature gauges. Slowly but surely the venting steam was being cut off, the flow at first reducing to a spray rather than a jet and then stopping entirely.
Tink thanked Laurie for his good advice. Just as they were about to continue on their way they heard a strange noise, like a high-pitched whining. Turning around, they looked at each other, confused.
Then the boiler exploded.
CHAPTER SEVEN
As Rigel opened his eyes he was aware of a terrible throbbing sensation across his body. Peering around, he scrabbled against the wall as what he saw registered in his mind. A massive hole had been ripped in the side of the ship and he had been thrown back to the only part of the floor that was remaining.
“Laurie? Laurie?! Where are you?” he called.
Standing up, he backed against the wall, looking around for Laurie.
After a few moments he spotted him, along with the other mechanics, thrown awkwardly against and on top of the other boiler as if they were rag dolls.
“Laurie! Laurie, wake up!”
Rigel shook him desperately until the Captain came around and peered blearily down at him. Laurie’s confused state from the blast made it difficult to co-ordinate his feet and Rigel had to help him direct his feet down on suitable footholds until he reached the safe area on the floor. Rigel helped Tink jump over the gap by grabbing onto them. Laurie pulled Spanner from the top of the boiler.
Opening the door behind them, they slipped out and into the corridor, shutting it behind them when they had helped the others to get out. They had been burnt badly and had trouble walking. Laurie and Rigel would have to help them along. Laurie grabbed a lever that rested horizontally against the door and pushed it upwards. Sweat glistened on his brow as he put his weight behind it, grunting with the effort, and then pulled until it had travelled in a one hundred and eighty degree arc. First a clunk, then a hissing noise was heard and finally a small light-bulb that had been fixed above the door began to glow red.
“Air-locked it,” Laurie explained as they hurried back to the cockpit. “It’s no good to us now.”
As they approached, they heard a heavy wailing at the front of the ship. Laurie ran towards it, dragging Tink after him. Running towards it, they realised that the Persefoni was beginning to tilt downwards – an ominous sign.
“Does this ship actually do anything but break?” asked Rigel, as he tried to keep up with the Captain.
Ignoring the question, Laurie opening the cockpit door and swept in, immediately demanding answers on their location, distance, and trajectory. After hearing him curse several times, Rigel presumed the answer was not good.
“What’s happening?” Rigel asked, coming over.
“We’re going down! The hole has just ripped the ship apart and there’s nothing we can do about it!” shouted Laurie. Rigel saw a desperate look in his eyes that he did not like – it was something he had not seen in him before, even when the boiler exploded. Laurie began spinning a small handle. Following his gaze, Rigel saw that pipes above their heads were swinging around like points on a railway track. A jet of steam blasted across the roof and then quietened down as the flow was re-directed. For a moment it seemed to stabilise the ship, but then there would be another groan and it began tilting again. The wailing of the siren only increased their anxiety. “Oh, will you shut up!” Laurie snarled and hit it so hard with a hammer that it broke and stopped making the noise.
“Is there not any sort of emergency evacuation procedure?” asked Rigel.
“Not for this kind of emergency. If we were just flying above ground we could send out a distress signal and then parachute down but because we’re in a worm-hole that’s not possible.”
“So what can we do?” Rigel asked desperately.
“Nothing. We’ve just got to see what happens.”
“What? Just like that? With nothing, no hope, no plan … nothing? I thought you knew what you were doing? I thought you knew what to do! You’ve dragged me away and then we’re going to crash and burn before we’ve even started?!”
“Do you really think this is the best time to have this conversation?!” Laurie snapped. “I’m trying to save us here, I don’t need your criticism right now. There is a chance that we won’t die on impact but I don’t need this kind of negativity, thank you.”
“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry, it’s just I don’t know what to do … I wasn’t expecting to end up crashing so soon after being picked up…”
“It’s alright … and yes, I know … neither was I, but what can you do?”
Pumping a handle, they seemed to manage to get the ship upright again but with another wail it began to tilt its nose downwards again. As Rigel watched, Quimby tripped over and slid along the floor before crashing into a wall. Crying out, he crumpled as he hit it, the wind leaving his lungs. Amidst all the flying, no-one had time to move him. Rigel shuffled over, trying not to slip and managed to at least lay him flat rather than in a heap.
“Wait a minute,” said Rigel, suddenly thinking as he moved back to his original position, “if we’re in a wormhole, then where will we end up if we fall down?”
“Ha … well that’s sort of the problem … we have no idea.”
“Oh, great.”
“Yep. But we’re going to find out now …”
Bringing down the speaking horn again, Laurie addressed his crew.
“Attention! Attention, all crew members! This is your captain speaking. We are heading for an imminent departure from the worm-hole. Repeat: imminent departure. The ship’s engines have failed. We’re going down. See you all on the other side.”
Pushing the horn back up, he rested against a chair, not bothering to pull any more levers.
“At ease, crew,” he instructed wearily. “Might as well rest while it happens.”
Tink came over, wringing his hands. “I’d just like to say, sir, on behalf of the whole crew, that even though you’ve failed us – ”
“Oi!”
“ – that we think you’re a great captain and it’s been a pleasure serving under you.”
“Thanks, Tink. That means a lot,” Laurie said, patting him on the shoulder, “… but you never know – we might survive this.”
They both looked at each other before bursting out laughing and slapping each other on the back.
“See you on the other side.”
“And you.”
As Tink walked away, Rigel stared at him. Laurie caught his look.
“What now?” Laurie asked wearily.
“Nothing … I just can’t work out how you can all be so cheerful.”
“Well, Rigel, I guess when you get to my age you realise how unimportant most things are. People fear death because of the loss of what they have. I’m not bound by material possession so I would feel no regret on dying.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“But you’re only twenty-something! That’s hardly world-weary…”
“I’ve seen a lot.”
“Most people where I come from don’t think like that.”
“Oh?”
“No, they seem to think their belongings are the most import thing, I think.”
“I would not expect you to understand or agree with what I was saying because you’re still quite young, but if you can grasp the concept then I think there’s still hope for us.”
“Even if we’re about to crash and die?”
“Well, you never know.”
The light outsi
de distracted them further; it was flashing violently in front of the windscreen. Laurie looked over, blinking.
“Nearly there,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face. They made a dry sound like two sheets of parchment rubbing together.
When the airship had nearly reached the edges of the wormhole, Laurie stood up and pulled a few final levers whilst muttering things like “Might reduce the impact” and “Wouldn’t want Mother to say I didn’t try properly.” When he sat down again, Rigel asked what he had done.
“Oh, just sorting a few things out that might reduce the impact as we go through.”
A final flash of lightning illuminated the cockpit, giving the faces of the crew a flat, helpless look.
“Brace yourselves, crew,” commanded Laurie. “Here it comes.”
A boom shook the ship and sent the instruments on the panels wailing and beeping. The Persefoni was plunged into blackness as they finally hit the wall of the wormhole. At first there was an awful rushing noise, like the sound of an approaching express train, and then ...
Nothing.
An entirely still nothingness.
An airless vacuum surrounded them and seemed to draw the air from around the ship until they were floating in a soundless emptiness. No-one dared to speak for fear of what breaking the silence might do.
Distantly they heard an ominous rumbling. A grey light was filtering through into the cockpit, illuminating the eyes of the crew, who were looking around, unsure whether they had been saved from crashing or whether their fate had just been postponed for a moment. Another flash illuminated the cabin and this time a crack of thunder boomed through the space. The ship shook again, gradually picking up speed.
“This is it,” muttered Laurie to Rigel, daring to break the silence. “Now we find out whether we live or die.”
The ship shook even more violently, forcing Laurie to do something other than just sit there.
“To me,” he instructed, moving back to the levers. He and three others pulled back on a large lever that, once down, set the Persefoni on a steadier course so that the ship was no longer rattling the crew around violently.
As the bright light rapidly approached them, the possibility of there being something outside the wormhole brightened their feelings. Of course the fact that Laurie and his crew had collected Rigel from Earth and then moved back to the wormhole proved there were various different entrances and exits to it. However, it was the gap between worlds that they were sailing through. There was always a chance that they might miss a world and fall into nothingness. They were not safe yet.
