"Airplane," Zakx said in Imperial, carefully articulating each syllable. "Fighter jet. Airplane. Fighter jet."

The Air Sergeant barked something in Imperial. She sounded angry. Zakx rifled through his pocket book, the Imperial Dictionary for Elemental Planes Folk, written by Lieutenant Reese. Put... your... back... into... it? Those were the words that she used. It must be an Imperial idiom. He slipped his dictionary back into his jacket.

"I think she wants you to work harder," Task muttered.

"I get it."

"Speak Imperial!" she commanded.

Zakx pressed his sponge against the tiled floor of the shower in the women's quarters. It was mostly already clean, but the women insisted that it be cleaned between every shift. He dipped his sponge into the soapy bucket between himself and Task. The middle-aged man, balding and plump, was surprisingly agile and never lacked for energy. He was also learning the Imperial language much faster.

"I... want... to... fly... my... fighter... jet," Zakx said slowly.

The Air Sergeant replied with a rapid sequence of words that Zakx did not quite understand. He could pick out the words oath, light, and princess. He reached for his dictionary again, but the woman swatted his hand away.

Two more women arrived in the shower room. One of them Zakx immediately recognized as Lieutenant Reese. Her face looked remarkably Imperial, her bright hazel eyes were framed by crows feet and dark, graying hair. The other woman he did not recognize. Attractive and slim, with wonderful red hair and blue eyes, she wore a pilot's uniform complete with a leather hat and brass goggles.

"Lady.. Ghost," Task managed to say in Imperial.

"You two," Reese said in their own language. "You are called Task, yes? And Zakx?"

"Yes," Zakx replied in Imperial.

"Get yourselves washed up. We are going flying with the Ghost of Taisia," Reese said. His astonishment must have been written on his face, because Lady Ghost nodded to him. The teal tiles of the shower behind the Ghost began to darken. A shadow began to materialize. A third woman appeared, wearing solid black robes, her face completely hidden behind the skull of some horned beast.

Mother! Mother! Freedom said. That is what Zakx decided to name her. She could not hear him unless he spoke Imperial. Freedom appeared at his side, a wolf-shaped Dark Elemental, and trotted over to the woman in the terrifying bone mask as Zakx pulled himself to his feet. The woman reached down and patted the wolf affectionately.

"Are... you... girl... mother?" he asked as they left the shower room. He instantly regretted it after he realized his grammar was completely wrong.

"I am her mother," the woman replied. Her voice sounded somewhat like an elderly woman, with a slight sinister tone.

"Are... you... Elemental?"

"I am an Elemental, yes. My name is Ashe."

"Queen Ashe!" he gasped. "Queen Ashe!"

"That is correct mortal. Remarkable. You can understand exactly what I say, and I need not speak Imperial. To these others, I am speaking complete nonsense. This language has not been used in this world since the time of my bindings. Fascinating. Say something in your own language now."

"Queen Ashe! You are the sealed child?" he asked in the language of his own people. "Really? Is it truth?"

"And yet..." Ashe said, "I hear nothing. Disturbing." Freedom trotted at the Queen's side, with her shadowy tongue hanging out in a happy pant.

"Were you talking to that creature?" Task asked as they crossed the threshold to the men's quarters. All four women stopped at the threshold and waited. "Is she really Ashe?"

"Speak Imperial!" the Air Sergeant barked from behind.

"She sounds too human," Zakx whispered. "She isn't like any Elemental I have ever seen before."

When they arrived on the deck of the Mortal Wing, a truly bizarre airplane waited for them. A high-wing airplane with two propellers on pylons, it looked unremarkable except for the fact that it did not have a normal landing gear. Instead, the airplane was mounted on two long boat-like structures, with the base of wheels just barely visible under each boat.

"Are... we... going... fly?" Zakx asked.

"I will teach you how to fly it," Reese said. "We have a new mission for you, and you will need to learn how to fly this airplane."

"There are two propellers," Task said. "I only have one Fire Elemental. I will not be able to power both engines."

Reese began saying something extremely complex to the Ghost of Taisia. The red-haired woman turned to face them. A massive Fire Elemental appeared by her right hand. It was nearly twenty feet tall, a woman made of pure flames, wearing nothing except a mask over her eyes and a crown on her head.

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"A High Daughter?" Task gasped in Imperial.

A second Fire Elemental appeared. It was much smaller, and looked exactly like the one that Task normally used. The Ghost pointed to Zakx. A second Elemental appeared by her left hand, similar in size and shape, but made of pure ice. She pointed to Task.

"Zakx, the Lady Ghost wants you to bond with the Fire Elemental," Reese said. "Task, you bond the Ice Elemental. Then together you two will have enough Elementals to power this aircraft. By the way, you must answer in Imperial."

Do you wish to bond with me mortal? the Fire Elemental hissed in his mind.

"Yes!" he said.

A bright blue light flashed ahead of the airship, out over the ocean. Three blue orbs of light appeared behind a fighter jet, forming into a triangle. A tilt-rotor, the type flown by the Imperial Marines, flew just over the deck of the Mortal Wing.

The Ghost of Taisia began to climb the struts toward the door. Queen Ashe became enveloped in shadows, and then she shrank to the size of a cat, grew butterfly wings, and fluttered up onto the redhead's shoulder. "Up we go then," Reese said. "Task, you will be the pilot. Zakx, you will be the first officer. I will teach you how to fly this thing."

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The bluish sky was filled with planet-sized bubbles of water, refracting the deep blue light of the world's moon. The rolling blue waves and maze-like patterns of sand gave way to a stretch of calm, shallow, and pure turquoise water. Under the surface of the water there were strange shapes and colors. "What is under the water here?" Zakx asked.

"It's called coral," Reese said in his ear. She stood behind them in the doorway to the cabin with a checklist in her hands.

"Set flaps to full," Task said. He sat in the commander's chair on the left, one hand on the yoke and the other hand on the two thin metal throttle sticks.

"Aye sir!" Zakx said as he reached forward and clicked the flaps switch down to the lowest setting.

"Reduce the throttle down to the descent marker, then let the airspeed bleed down to about eighty-five knots," Reese said. Task pulled the throttle back and the engines began to spool down with a whine. "Once we reach eighty-five knots, tip the nose down very slightly to retain that speed as we lose altitude."

The airplane flew exactly like other twin-propeller airplanes while it was in the sky. It just had a different checklist for landing in water. Reese passed the piece of paper forward to Zakx and then patted Task on the shoulder.

"Read the rest of this," she said. "I need to go strap myself in back."

"You have a lot of faith in us," Task said.

"If you can fly and land a fighter jet, then I think you should be able to manage this pair of wings. Just bring her down very easily on the water. Wait until the airspeed is below thirty knots before deploying the sea rudder." Reese turned and walked through the doorway.

"Do you know where we are going?" Zakx asked.

"My Ice Elemental is telling me where to go," Task replied. He pointed one hand over the dashboard toward some islands ahead. "She says her mother is out there." A single fighter jet circled high in the sky above the island.

As the airspeed indicator passed eighty-five knots, the nose tipped down slightly and the altitude began to drop slowly. Zakx ran his finger down the checklist. It was written in Imperial, so he had to sound out each letter. "Keep... airspeed... above... sixty-five... knots. Altitude... ten feet... above... sea level. Stall speed... fifty-five knots."

"Fifty-five knots. Affirmative."

The calm, smooth surface of the ocean drifted up to hit them. Just ten feet above the water, Task leveled off the nose and pulled the throttle back to idle. The airspeed indicator began to fall. Sixty knots, then fifty-five. Below fifty-five knots, he carefully lowered the nose very slightly, preventing a stall and creeping closer to the water. The pontoons on the bottom of the craft struck the water, and the airplane skipped like a rock several times before settling down. The airspeed began to fall rapidly.

Zakx reached forward onto the console and started flipping switches. "Sea rudder hydraulics activated. Sea rudder guard opened, deploying now."

The rudder pedals began to move, and the nose of the craft began to yaw to one side. The airspeed dropped below five knots and the airplane plodded along like a boat. Task pushed the throttle forward slightly to increase speed over the water.

"Well done," Reese said in Imperial as she stepped through the door once again.

"It's just another pair of wings," Task said.

A long wooden dock appeared beyond the nose of the craft. As they got closer, Task activated full reverse thrust to almost completely stop. Two burly men on the dock held ropes, waiting for them.

The sensation of powdery sand was a novel one to Zakx as he stepped off the dock onto the beach. The Imperial Marines and their tilt-rotor had already landed nearby when they arrived. Queen Ashe grew to the size of a normal human again, and led them forward along the beach. Beyond the grass-capped sand dunes there were straw-roofed wooden huts. Dozens of very attractive men and women lounged about in reclining chairs, wearing what looked like smallclothes. Some of the men appeared to be playing a game involving a ball and a net.

"What are they wearing?" Zakx asked.

"Those are bathing suits," Reese whispered. "Now keep quiet, she is right there. Do not speak a single word, especially not in our language. Let me and Lady Ghost do all the talking."

They approached a very tall and very buxom woman on the beach wearing a bathing suit under a nearly-transparent shirt-like garment. Her eyes were hidden behind solid black spectacles, and in one hand she held some type of fruit that had been cut open, decorated with a little umbrella.

"Welcome to my resort," the woman said. She glanced up and down at the Lady Ghost. "You are the mortal who names herself Ingrid. I recall your face."

"Thank you for leading us to your resort," Lady Ghost said. Zakx did not know what language she was using, but he understood her perfectly. "Queen of Water, we have a question, and a request."

The Elemental Queen of Water?! Zakx thought. This woman in her smallclothes is an Elemental?

"I will hear your question, mortals," the Queen of Water said.

"It is customary to exile the failed Matron candidates to the oceans of this Plane," Reese said. "I myself was exiled here. Are there others who are still alive? Do they still sail these seas?"

"There are many who still live. Do you seek them?"

"We do," Lady Ghost said. "This man is named Task, and he is bonded to an Ice Elemental. Is it possible to teach her to find those exiled Matrons?"

"It is possible, and I shall do as you ask. She can lead the mortal named Task to find the others."

The Ghost bowed to the Queen of Water. "Thank you!" She tossed a small pack to Zakx. It clanked when he caught it.

"As your commander," Reese said to them, "I give you your next mission. Take the airplane, and leave by yourself. It is supplied with enough food to last you two weeks. You can fill your canteens with water from the ocean. The water is pure and not salty. Use the keystones in that sack to open portals to the outside world and return to the fleet. Your orders are... to find the exiled Matrons and recruit them!"