Zachariah awoke with Sola shaking his shoulder. He blinked his sleep out of his eyes.

He looked up.

“What’s going on?,” he asked. He tried to force the sleep out of his voice.

“Someone wants to talk to you,” said Sola. “Knife kept him away apparently until

Brother Rabbit vouched for him. Knife woke us up with his horn.”

“I didn’t hear the horn,” said Zachariah. He looked around at the engine compartment.

“The walls are doing their job all right.”

“Come on,” said Sola. “Knife almost shot our visitor full of holes.”

“Good,” said Zachariah. “That’s what we wanted.”

“We think he’s a racing official,” said Sola. “We don’t want to be disqualified

because Knife set someone on fire.”

“That would be bad,” said Zachariah. He got to his feet. He wrapped his blanket

around his shoulders. “Let’s see what our guest wants.”

He followed Sola back to the front of the Rocket. He noticed that the kids’ blankets

were folded and put in his seat. He could add his when he was done talking to their

visitor. He waited for Sola to climb down from the compartment before following her.

Bolan, Knife, and Hardy already stood with the lean man. He wore the same type of

flight suit that Gear Octo wore when flying. Maybe he was a pilot for Lobster Castle.

“How do you do?,” said Zachariah. “My daughter said you wanted to talk to me.”

“I’m Gear Primus,” said the pilot. “I command the air force here in Lobster Bay. I

wanted to hear from you what happened in the air during the race.”

“We were attacked by fliers that I believe were launched from a huge battleship in the

air,” said Zachariah. “I believe that we accounted for three of the enemy but I am not

sure. We lost one of the others. I don’t know which one.”

“All right,” said Primus. “We found signs of battle, and crashed aircraft. No bodies

except for the downed racer.”

“Brother Rabbit knocked one out of the air,” said Bolan. “I saw it with my own eyes.

You didn’t find a body for that?”

“No,” said Primus. “Corwin’s Mansions are at the edge of our flying area. They are

a no man’s land between us and Baldwin. I dispatched a message to their government

to warn them of what’s going on up there.”

“What is going on up there?,” asked Sola.

“Lobster Bay has a tendency to produce mad machinists,” said Primus. He nodded at

the Keller boys. “They tend to attract trouble. I think the giant ship you encountered

was owned by the Earl of Lightning. He has tried to overthrow our government

several times in the past.”

“Lightning?,” said Zachariah.

“That’s right,” said Primus. “The scheme before this was a clockwork giant that we

blew up before it could reach the castle.”

“I was warned about trouble in the mountains,” said Zachariah. “I blew it off. It looks

like the man who warned me knew what he was talking about.”

“Are you continuing in the race?,” said Primus.

“Yes,” said Zachariah. “We still need to test the Rocket. Then I have a commission

to build a boat that sails under the water. Gear Octo asked us to consider creating

copies of the Rocket for your government. And I am.”

“Really?,” said Primus. He nodded. “All right. You’re going to have to arm these

copies. Our fliers have to be able to engage an enemy in the air.”

“As soon as we handle our other commission, I will be glad to build you copies,” said

Zachariah.

“What about copying that giant battleship?,” asked Bolan. “That thing was huge.”

“I don’t see how we can do that without resources,” said Zachariah. “That thing was

huge and armed.”

“We can do it if we had more resources,” said Bolan.

“I think Bolan is right, Da,” said Sola. “Once we have an engine big enough to lift the

weight of the thing, we can easily put together a body big enough to match what we

saw.”

“Lobster Bay would like a weapon like that,” said Primus. “We have to deal with

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

monsters from the ocean, and meeting Lightning on even ground would be

marvelous.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Zachariah. “I’ll need to draw up plans to show I can still

do that part of things. Then I’m going to need resources to build it in the first place.”

“I will talk to my commander to see what we can do to get you what you need,” said

Primus.

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Zachariah. “Maybe I can get some of the Green Lights

to help me with some of it. I’ll have to talk to their ambassador when I get back to

Messer’s Reach.”

“A joint project with Baldwin?,” said Primus. He didn’t look overjoyed at the

prospect.

“The size of the ship we saw was incredible,” said Zachariah. “I don’t know how he

built it without people knowing to be honest. A Green Light, or maybe one of my

countrymen, could put an end to it by themselves. The rest of us will need a bigger

stick.”

“I understand,” said Primus. “I will send someone to Messer’s Reach to talk to you

when the race is over.”

“We’re down on Key Street,” said Zachariah.

“Look for the explosions,” said Bolan.

Primus smiled before walking off.

“So we’re really going to build a battleship for the Lobsters?,” said Bolan.

“Maybe,” said Zachariah. “I was thinking of using it to go to the moon.”

“Wait,” said Sola. “You’re promising them a battleship, but you are going to build a

space ship instead?”

“I don’t see why not,” said the machinist. He rubbed his hands together. “I’m hungry.

How long until we start launching again?”

“Don’t know,” said Bolan. “I don’t know if Sir Dormir landed yet.”

“Let’s get some dinner,” said Zachariah. “Then we can wait until we launch. We’re

last except for the Kellers.”

“Sounds good,” said Bolan. “A spaceship and a battleship. That’s a really big thing

to try, Zachariah.”

“I know,” said Zachariah. “We won’t be doing it on our own. We’ll have the Lobsters

behind us if we can show we are getting results.”

“Where would we build such a thing?,” said Sola. “To match what we saw, we would

need an open space as big as our street back home.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” said the machinist. “Right now, let’s concentrate on

winning the race and building the undersea boat. We can maybe use the Rocket

design for that, and then use it as a prototype for our battleship.”

“What about small flying machines to launch like that other one?,” asked Bolan.

“We would have to include a space for storage and mechanical work,” said Zachariah.

He looked up at the Rocket. “We might have to change the shape if we wanted to

include fighters.”

“Don’t dream away reality completely,” said Sola. “We still have to win the race.”

“We will,” said Bolan. “We’ve beaten everybody else in our times.”

“Not everybody,” said Zachariah. He nodded at the Kellers.

“We can beat them again on the next two legs,” said Bolan. “Unless they are going

to blow up their engine trying to keep up with us.”

“Don’t put it past them to try,” said Zachariah.

Brother Rabbit appeared. He smiled as he leaned on his shovel. Pearl rode on his

shoulder.

“A reversal of roles?,” asked Zachariah.

“For the moment,” said Brother Rabbit. “That was some fancy footwork earlier.”

“What about the growing and using the shovel as a bludgeon,” said Bolan. “That was

impressive.”

“It was a trick,” said the pooka.

“That was one big trick,” said Bolan.

“I know,” said Rabbit. “Most of the Shae can do things that look impressive, but

aren’t really that awesome when you stop to think about it. It’s like your daemons.

They scare people not used to them, but they are really just complex magic at work

to simulate life.”

“I suppose,” said Zachariah. “When are you two heading back in the air?”

“We’re behind Octo and that red dragon,” said Rabbit. He pointed with the shovel at

the daemon and his rider. “That one is tricky. We were chasing Octo, and then the

dragon whisked by like lightning.”

“Daemons can be fast,” said Zachariah. “We were about to eat something and do our

check out. Would you like to eat with us?”

“That would be great,” said Rabbit. “I thought I would be able to forage, but this race

is more taxing than I thought it would be.”

“This leg especially,” said Zachariah. “Has Sir Dormir launched yet?”

“He hasn’t arrived yet,” said Rabbit. “We’re still waiting on him. After he gets here,

he has two hours to rest up and then take to the air. The rest of us will be right behind

him.”

“I wonder if something happened to him,” said Zachariah.

“The Lobsters are going to give him an hour, then they are going to check on him,”

said Rabbit. “The Lord of Lightning might have taken him.”

“They won’t be able to free him,” said Bolan. “That thing was huge.”

“You’re telling me,” said Rabbit.

“Why are you hanging out with that troublemaker?,” the youngest Keller shouted

from his airship. “He’s bad luck.”

“He brought back our shovel,” said Zachariah. “I would suggest you not try to use

your boost any more than you have to. I’m afraid it might blow up.”

“No way,” said the Keller. “Our machining is on point.”

“Okay,” said Zachariah. He spread his hands in a way to show what he thought of

their machining. “Let’s get that dinner. We’ll be in the air for hours when we do

launch.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have some carrots, would you?,” said Rabbit.

“Somewhere,” said Sola. “Let’s see what we have and how we can turn it into a cold

meal.”

She climbed up into the crew compartment. They heard noises as she started selecting

ingredients to use.

Zachariah gestured for Bolan to help out. He looked back blankly, then shrugged. He

climbed up into the open space.

“Do you think there will be more trouble?,” asked the pooka.

“I don’t know,” said Zachariah. “It’s going to be a long flight. We might have some

problems just crossing the desert. At least when we reach Riordiana, we’ll be a short

hop to Messer’s Reach.”

“Thanks for helping me,” said Rabbit. “The shovel fell out of the air.”

“I threw it at one of the sky pirates,” said Zachariah. “It seems to have bounced across

the sky until you caught it. Keep it. You might need it before things are over.”

“Thanks,” said Rabbit. One of his ears turned. He looked at the noise it directed to

him. “It looks like the Alvas is finally here.”

“So we have two hours from when he lands until he launches,” said Zachariah.

“Plenty of time for eating and drinking.”

“I agree with you,” said the pooka. “I hope your half men can cook.”

“They are my daughter and assistant,” said Zachariah. “And they are still growing up.

Hopefully they will be able to build bigger things than what I dream of doing.”

“Bigger than what you dream?,” said Rabbit.

“I want to touch the moons,” said Zachariah.

“You’re a little crazy,” said Rabbit.