That evening Nedric couldn’t sleep. Elsebeth was being held prisoner in a house in Nothering and he ought to do something about it. There was no way that he could just let her stay there without trying to do something, the question was what. Before anything else he ought to see her parents and let them know what was happening. He’d hate to think how his mother would feel if it was him that had been taken. It would be good if he could offer some hope but he couldn’t really think of anything.

He had to leave the works. He didn’t know how long he would be gone so he really should quit his job. Fortunately there were several who could fill the role, as it wasn’t that strenuous. The problem would be that there would then be two impressors less than the required number so the workload would go up. He hated to leave them short staffed but Elsebeth was more important. He would talk to Alhern in the morning.

With that resolved he turned his mind to saving Elsebeth. As he was heading to Elseth anyway to see her parents, he might as well make the attempt to get help from his government. He couldn’t think of an easy way to do that as the common person had little impact on the government. Just because Setherland was a land of merchants was not a good reason to think of everything in terms of money and good customer relations. Sometimes it should be necessary to think of things other than profit.

If they didn’t respond, he was going to have to devise a rescue plan with whatever resources he could muster. These didn’t amount to much. He had some savings but mercenaries were expensive and he wasn’t sure where he would hire them. He wasn’t even sure that he would be able to trust them not to take the money and then run. His best bet would be to talk to Rialto. He must hire guards on a regular basis to keep his goods safe.

With some sort of plan in mind he was able to sleep.

* * *

Next morning he didn’t rush to rise. The decision was fixed in his mind so there was no going back. He only just managed to get to the dining hall before they cleared the food away. He took his time eating before strolling over to Alhern’s office.

Alhern was there, as usual worrying over paperwork. Nedric was sure that the man would have much rather been doing some carpentry but as he was the man in charge he had to do the work that involved. The problem was that he didn’t really know how to delegate and so was constantly swamped with decisions that others should be making. Nedric felt guilty that he would only be adding to that burden.

He spoke up. “I’m resigning. I’ll be seeing Elsebeth’s parents, then I’m going to see if I can find some help for her.”

“I’ll be sad to see you go lad, you’ve done a good job here. You sure you have to do this.”

“Yes.”

“Well then I guess you had better go. I’ll tell head office that you are on an extended leave. There’s a job here waiting for you when you get back.”

Nedric felt an immediate surge of relief. It’s all right to make a decision that burns all your bridges but when those bridges are doused and kept intact, it helps.

“Thank you sir. I can’t say when I might return or even if I will but that makes me feel better.”

“You can collect all the money that is owed you from the wages department at Elseth. You’ve only been collecting living expenses so there should be a fair amount. See me when you’ve collected your stuff together and I’ll make sure that the paperwork is all correct.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m supposed to be in charge of this place and when one of my staff is captured there isn’t a thing I can do about it. I’ve contacted head office and all they say is that they’ll look in to it. Waste of bloody space the lot of them!” Alhern’s voice grew louder as he finished his statement.

Nedric didn’t know what surprised him more, Alhern swearing or head office showing that little concern about one of their staff. The supervisor had always struck Nedric as being calm and collected, if somewhat poor at handling paperwork. He had never heard him raise his voice at anybody.

The response from head office was just as alarming. The company had always seemed to care about its staff. It made sense, especially as there were so few impressors. If anyone wanted a job elsewhere, Nedric was sure that they could walk up to virtually any merchant, state their skills and be offered a job on the spot. The demand for cooling equipment was almost as great as the needs of the boardways and the near monopoly owned by Rhianna’s father meant that all the other merchants were eager to obtain impressors. If the story came out that the company didn’t care, there might well be a mass migration.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Nedric decided that as he was going to be at the main site in Elseth, he might as well cause a bit of grief for somebody there and demand that they do something to help. If he was lucky he might even be able to get to Over-Engineer Tarim. Perhaps it was some over-enthusiastic subordinate trying to keep trouble away from him.

Nedric had been stood in thought and Alhern interrupted this. “If I was you I’d be packing now. There’s a carriage leaves for Elseth this afternoon and I imagine you’re in a hurry.”

Nedric left after a quick word of thanks. Entering his room he took a quick look around and knew it would take only a short while to pack. The problem would be his juggling equipment, apart from that he had very little else. A couple of sets of clean clothes, some letters and his dagger. He wasn’t one to really collect things. His room was bare of any form of decoration.

The juggling equipment however would have been enough for a small troupe. Apart from the balls of different types and the wooden clubs, he also had several diabolos and a couple of sets of what Carrite had called flower sticks. Two short sticks that were held in either hand and a longer one that was knocked back and forth between them. In the end he took enough equipment that he could practice anywhere and left the rest in a bag in the general recreation room.

The boardway journey was fairly uneventful. There was just the driver and himself on an empty carriage. The driver was one of those quiet types who didn’t like to be drawn into any type of conversation, so after a few attempts Nedric gave up.

There was one thing that really pleased Nedric. He didn’t notice on the first couple of platforms they went past but when they arrived at Elith he was pleased to see the town name proudly displayed, painted in white on a green background. He noticed the signs from then on. Each place proudly displayed in white on green. He had made his mark on the boardways and he hadn’t even been aware of it.

Arriving at Elseth he was happy to get off the carriage. Over a day spent in one place had made him sore in places he didn’t wish to think about. It wasn’t as bad as riding a horse but it was bad enough. It had stopped being a novelty after the first few hours and just became tedious.

The platform had changed; well actually the platform was the same but there were now several platforms and Nedric counted eight boardways laid down. He wasn’t sure where they all went because as far as he knew there was only the one route. It had been extended so that soon it would go from Waterfall in the west and would eventually reach the Esteril capital of Hellia to the east. He knew there were plans for more boardways eventually but it looked as if the plans were further developed than he had thought.

The surrounding area had changed as well. The platform had been in the process of having a building attached to it that would hold a restaurant and a place for travellers to stay. This was now complete. There was also an area where passengers could buy tickets to ride on the carriages and there was a steady throng of people queuing to purchase them.

The biggest change of all had occurred outside of the boardway. Where only two years before it had been located amongst fairly squalid buildings; now all of those had been demolished. There were buildings being constructed everywhere he looked and all of them appeared to be of good quality. Nedric wondered who was having them built.

As it was early evening he decided his first priority was to find somewhere to stay. The prices of rooms at the boardway were much higher than he could afford to pay and so he walked along the road that led into the heart of the city looking for accommodation.

As he walked he noticed that several of the houses he passed had signs that read ‘no vacancies’. He assumed that travellers tended to occupy the nearer places first and that he would find somewhere as he moved further along. It proved to be the case.

After a few minutes walk he found himself outside a building of a slightly older style than those nearby. It had a well-maintained look and had a sign reading ‘vacancies’ so he knocked on the door.

It was answered by a very prim looking woman in her late fifties. He explained that he was looking for the room for the night and she invited him inside. The price she quoted was quite reasonable so he paid the sum she asked. She showed him to a room, which were basically a bed, a wardrobe and a table.

“The key to the room also has the key to the front door attached. I expect you in the house before midnight as we don’t want the other guests disturbed and breakfast will be at half seven.”

The whole sentence was rattled out like an order. Nedric could imagine a guard sergeant speaking in very much the same manner. He idly wondered what would happen if he were to go out and return a minute or so after midnight but he didn’t know whether it was a good idea.

“That’s all right. I didn’t have any plans for this evening. I might stretch my legs before I make use of the room. Thank you for your time.”

He hoped that he would be able to lose the attention of the landlady. Whilst her rates were good, the militant way she organised her house was less inspiring. He wanted to be left alone by her. What he wanted most at the moment though was to get some food.

It was definitely a fault of the boardway system at the moment that he had been unable to get anything to eat on his journey. On the way there, the carriage had been half stacked with supplies, much of which was food, so it hadn’t been a problem. He had forgotten to take anything with him on his return journey and he was now ravenous.

The landlady had taken the hint and disappeared. He took the keys from the door after locking it after him and left the place to find something to eat. The keys proved something of a problem. They were large enough to start with and then for some reason they had been attached to a large lump of wood with the room number stamped on it. The whole thing was too large to go into a pocket so he was forced to strap it to his belt and it made him feel foolish.

Not far away he found a tavern that displayed a board of wares outside. The prices looked good and he went inside. It was the usual crowded and smoky atmosphere but he found himself a table away from most of the noise. One of the barmaids appeared took his order and disappeared into the crowd. She returned moments later with his food and drink. He paid her and then tucked in.

Where should he go first tomorrow? Would it be better to leave Elsebeth’s parents until later in the day? Getting his pay seemed like a good start and then he could determine what to do next. He wondered who would be a good person to approach in the government. He knew nobody at court and he doubted if any of the nobles would be interested in what he had to say. Perhaps it would be better to talk to one of the staff. Should he go to the palace or to one of the administration buildings, he really ought to contact Rialto. His friend was full of useful information and would know exactly what to do. He would compose a letter that evening.