Zachariah and Carson walked around the shell of an air ship Gear Octo had brought
in from Crater Desert. They pointed at various things as they went. Carson shook his
head at the list they had produced after five minutes of talking.
The pilot, Brother Rabbit, Sola, and Bolan watched the two pointing out flaw after
flaw. The pooka twitched his nose.
“Sounds like you were lucky to make it to a landing,” Brother Rabbit said. He chewed
on a carrot.
“Tell me about it,” said Octo. He looked down at his torn flight suit. “At least the
officials were able to work on my injuries so I can finish the race.”
“We owe that Alvas for the rescue,” said the bunny. “That’s pretty humiliating in my
opinion.”
“Tell me about it,” said Octo.
Zachariah and Carson stopped in front of the small group. The shorter machinist
looked back at the air ship. He turned and smiled at the group.
“It’s a wreck, but I think I can do something with it,” said Carson.
“Carson is going to have to fly back to Lobster Bay with you,” said Zachariah. “He’s
going to make sure it won’t crash while you’re trying to get home. Festus already
talked to the officials about you picking him up as cargo.”
“So I’m flying with a passenger?,” said Octo. “What about the jet?”
“Carson is going to work on improving it before lift off tomorrow,” said Zachariah.
“Then it should carry the both of you across the continent, barring problems with that
battleship we dealt with in Corwin’s Mansions.”
“This has been an exciting race,” said Brother Rabbit. “I can’t believe that the end is
in sight.”
“Festus is throwing a dinner for us,” said Zachariah. “After that, Carson and I will be
working on Octo’s machine. Bolan, I want you to go over the Rocket and make sure
she’s ready to fly. Then we’ll need to get some sleep before takeoff.”
“Can we look at the island?,” said Sola. “I know it’s a ferry ride over and back.”
Zachariah paused. He hadn’t expected that. He should have realized that Sola would
want to see if others had survived the destruction of the city like they had.
“Go ahead,” said Zachariah. “Be back for the dinner. We’re having it here.”
“Come on, Bolan,” said Sola. She patted Hardy on the head so he lumbered after her.
“I can stay,” said Bolan.
“Go with her,” said Zachariah. “I’m afraid she is going to get a lot of bad news. One
of us should be there to brace her. Carson and I will be taking apart Octo’s machine
and getting it ready to fly.”
“All right,” said Bolan. “I don’t like it.”
“There’s a sweet shop halfway to the top of the hill,” said Zachariah. “If you stop
there, you can see most of the city from that side of the hill. I think there’s some other
shops around there in case she wants to get a souvenir.”
“All right,” said Bolan. “I’ll look after her.”
“Enjoy the day,” said Zachariah. “When we’re done with the race, we have to get to
work and start working on our boat.”
“Don’t worry,” said Bolan. “Knife and I can handle anything we need to do.”
“Come on, Bolan,” called Sola. “We’re going to miss the ferry and will have to wait
for the next one as slow as you’re moving.”
“Don’t swim until we figure out what we’re looking for down there,” said Zachariah.
“I got it,” said Bolan. He walked toward where Sola waited for him to hurry. Knife
followed with the clicking of his mechanical legs.
“Do you know who his parents were?,” asked Carson. He watched the pair walk
toward the docks.
“He doesn’t talk about them, and he didn’t give me their names,” said Zachariah. “I
expect that if he wanted to find them, he could. When we met, he said his parents
were in the square when the thing erupted. Unless they show up, I think they were
killed before Festus sank the city.”
“Festus sank the city?,” said Octo. “With what?”
“Haven’t you been paying attention?,” said Brother Rabbit. “He did it with his
dragon.”
“Could you do that with Pearl?,” asked Octo.
“Not a chance,” said Rabbit. “She’s not a fighting monster.”
“You guys can take off and get out of our way,” said Carson. “I think we can handle
this. Maybe you should go with the kids.”
“I’m going to get some sleep,” said Brother Rabbit. “I’m tuckered out.”
“I’m going to get a drink from the local saloon before dinner,” said Octo. “Can you
get this thing in better shape?”
“I think so,” said Zachariah. “Carson’s daemon and Gold Bug are decent fabricators.
Between the four of us, we should have your plane improved enough to make it home
from Messer’s Reach. Carson is going along to make sure it doesn’t fall apart because
we missed something.”
“If I didn’t think it would be safe, I wouldn’t fly in it,” said Carson. “Trust me on
Stolen story; please report.that.”
“I’ll talk to the force command and see if I can get the both of you some kind of
compensation,” said Octo. “I’m going to get that drink. I’ll be back before the
dinner.”
The machinists watched him walk off. Brother Rabbit had already vanished while
they were distracted.
“I thought they would never leave,” said Carson.
“Let’s get started,” said Zachariah. “We want to be done by the time dinner is
served.”
“I’m with you,” said Carson. His daemon floated from the marks on his arms and
torso. She waved her arms in the air as she looked at her partner. “We have a big job
to do, Ferra. We’re taking this air machine apart and putting it back together in better
shape.”
“While Ferra is doing her part, Gold Bug, I need you to check on all the controls,
wiring and so forth,” said Zachariah. “Test as you go if you don’t mind.”
The ant waved its antennae. He climbed down from Zachariah’s shoulder. He
trundled to Octo’s repaired machine. He climbed up the side and dropped inside the
seating area.
Ferra floated over to the air machine. Her ten tentacles started going over the seams
binding the parts together. In a few minutes, the thing was disassembled and spread
over its slot on the launch field.
She started putting it back together slower than she had taken it apart. Each segment
looked new as she went over it, and slotted it to the next segment in line.
Gold Bug worked his way along the inside of the craft, checking every line, and bolt,
and inner seam as he went. He had to use his resin to patch things in certain places.
He felt that was a good fix, and an improvement in some cases.
Zachariah nodded as the air machine came back together. Ferra still had her touch.
Carson should be proud of his daemon.
He walked around the air machine, checking the repairs with his eyes. Even the
wheels looked new to his eyes. He nodded. The real question was how she would do
in flight. They couldn’t take her up until the race restarted, so they couldn’t know if
the overhaul on the engine and controls had made things better until they launched
for real.
He hoped Carson and Ferra could ride it out if there was trouble with the engine, or
the controls.
“She’ll do fine,” said Carson. “Ferra thinks she’s better than when she rolled off the
assembly table.”
“I’m sure there won’t be a problem,” said Zachariah.
“I have to go spend my last night with my family,” said Carson. “I will be back in
time for the launch tomorrow.”
“Go ahead, Carson,” said Zachariah. “We’ll be here when you come back.”
Gold Bug climbed up Zachariah’s body to perch on his shoulder. He watched his rival
and rival’s partner walk off the field. The work had fitted together smoothly from his
perspective.
“Things are going to be busy tomorrow,” said Zachariah. “I need one more thing from
you before you take a break if you don’t mind.”
Gold Bug waited patiently on his shoulder.
“I need you to create a model of various armaments we can take into the water in your
opinion,” said Zachariah. “We’re going to have to build a working type to use with
our boat once it’s in the water.”
Gold Bug climbed down to the ground again. He stood in the grass, waiting for
Zachariah to hand him some metal to use. His partner handed him a small piece of
iron to consume. He bit into the iron cube. Every bite split off another ant to take a
bite. The cube vanished under the assault.
The swarm created three unpowered models to fit what Zachariah wanted. The ants
recombined as the time limit on what the metal gave him wore out. He took in each
duplicate while he waited for Zachariah to say something.
“This looks like a gravity gun,” said Zachariah. “And a lightning gun. What’s this last
one? I don’t recognize it.”
Gold Bug made a power source resembling a crystal tube and plugged that into the
miniature gun. He triggered it. A section of the grass and part of the dirt vanished. He
pulled the power source out of the model weapon.
“How well will that work underwater?,” asked Zachariah.
The ant made a clack with his mandibles that indicated that he didn’t know how it
would work against a different environment.
“We’ll mark it down as something that needs development,” said Zachariah. “I think
we will keep this idea to ourselves. Warfare has enough weapons in my opinion.”
Gold Bug climbed up his partner’s leg. He vanished into his hive.
Zachariah picked up the three models. He looked at the divot blown out of the field.
What would happen if the weapon fired in the water and blew back on itself?
Did he want to be around if that happened?
He should do some tests before he considered using the weapon on his underwater
boat. The last thing he wanted was punch a big hole in his craft while he was stuck
inside of it.
He also needed to learn how to swim. That was something he had neglected to pursue
machining.
Zachariah stored the models in the Rocket. He decided that he would talk to Bolan
about running the tests. If the weapon was unsafe, they couldn’t use it to kill the egg.
Either the gravity gun, or the lightning gun, would have to do to get things done.
He settled in his seat and closed up the window. He needed a nap after all the
excitement they had gone through the last few days. The kids would be back to wake
him up for the dinner.
He closed his eyes and thought about the undersea boat. He compared what he wanted
to the rocket. He knew he had fallen asleep when he found himself in a vast area of
parts and moving metal arms on tracks. He looked around as he walked. White walls
and moving pieces were everywhere.
“Hello, old chum,” said Gold Bug. He smoked on a pipe as he walked among the
parts on his back legs. “It’s a pleasure, I’m sure.”
“Hello, Gold Bug,” said Zachariah. “It’s a pleasure to talk to you like this. This is a
nice place you have here.”
“I like it,” said the ant. He gestured down an aisle with one of his torso arms. “Are
you sure we should try to find this egg?”
“Not really,” said Zachariah. “What’s your opinion?”
“We could get killed if we’re not careful,” said Gold Bug. He walked down the aisle.
He puffed on his pipe as he went.
“There’s a risk,” agreed Zachariah. “I’m hoping to minimize it as much as possible.”
Gold Bug paused in front of a section of vehicles. They were models to Zachariah’s
eyes, but he was sure they would work. He looked at the rows of cradles stretching
out of sight.
“These are marvelous,” he said. He wanted to take them off their cradles and see what
they could do.
“It’s your imagination,” said Gold Bug. “One of these should suit your purposes if
you can translate the design to the real world.”
“One of these?,” said Zachariah. He walked among the cradles. He found a design
that looked like a combination of a sailing boat and his Rocket. A hatch for divers to
leave from the bottom indicated two decks inside the shell. “Is it possible to look
inside?”
“Open up Design Two Five Five!,” commanded Gold Bug. Metal hands descended
from the tracks on the ceiling. They pulled the design apart to show how the inside
was laid out. One set of arms held the upper deck to be inspected while the lower
deck sat on the cradle.
Zachariah took mental pictures of the craft. He noted space set aside for cabins for the
crew, a bigger gravity engine, and weapon systems that looked like a combination of
gravity guns and the new model of weapon Gold Bug had put together.
“This is very nice,” said the machinist. “Do you think we can build this in a year?”
“I can build a prototype in a few hours,” said Gold Bug. “It wouldn’t be able to take
much in the open water.”
“Thank you,” said Zachariah. “The faster we find out if the egg is there, the better
things will be. Another eruption would finish the survivors here.”
“If it grows like you think it will, the island would only be the first,” said Gold Bug.
He puffed on his pipe. “We might lose a good portion of the continent before the
Green Lights wipe it out.”
“If the Green Lights can wipe out,” said Zachariah.
“That’s true,” said Gold Bug.
The world shook around them.
“It looks like it’s time for you to wake up,” said Gold Bug. “Have a good time at the
dinner.”