‘What do you mean you don’t know where the others are?’ Pariqamtu said.

‘I had a blank moment back at the skyship flight works,’ Maggie said. ‘The world went white… I can’t explain it in any other way. More than just seeing white… all I felt and sensed went white. I found myself alone, with Big Beast here.’

The gharumal lay in the canal and rolled about. The waves made The Jupiter bounce and jolt against the side of the water court.

Maggie told Parimqamtu everything that had happened. How the manta had been saved.

‘So I did what we set out to do,’ Maggie said.

‘You mean what Jupiter… Dhakara, set out to do. You didn’t want him to go. You didn’t want him to go.’

‘You’re right. I didn’t. But I saved the manta anyway.’

‘Then you left Jupiter and Tamm behind.’

‘I had no choice.’

‘There is always a choice.’

‘I…’ Maggie paused. ‘I suppose so. But the one I made meant saving the manta. I…’ Maggie gasped. ‘I sensed Jupiter. His presence disappeared. He just vanished.’

‘Why do you always say things twice?’

‘What? No I don’t. I never do that,’ Maggie said. ‘What do we do now? We’ve got to do something.’

Pariqamtu’s aura flashed and Maggie noted frustration, and something like an eye-roll. She opened her mouth but Pariqamtu interjected.

‘Our first task now is to save Jupiter.’

‘What? I don’t even know where he is. He vanished.’

‘We’ll find him.’

‘I didn’t see him. I became focussed on the manta or some reason.’

Maggie stared at the gharumal rolling in the water in enjoyment. The Jupiter banged against the dock even as the manta slapped the water. She sensed that it called for her attention.

‘Yes. Jupiter has to be saved. But…’ Maggie’s gaze slipped from Pariqamtu to The Jupiter. ‘But how? We need help. And don’t we have to tell the rebels. They have to know.’

‘What’s so important?’

‘The Air Lord is here, and we’ve destroyed their zharaqsa flight works. But they have more manta ready to use.’

‘Strategically…’ Pariqamtu started.

“If we cut off the Imperial’s zharaqsa supply we win.’

‘Agreed, but…’

‘So we have to rescue the mantas from the black skyship.’

‘How do you…’ Pariqamtu trailed off in wonder. ‘How?’

‘I know it. I sensed them. The manta. It senses them too.’

Pariqamtu stared at the manta as it floated on the canal waters. Confusion and doubt but also surprise passed over her aura.

‘Nakharavi — manta, do not act thus.’ Pariqamtu said. ‘Why does it not flee?’

‘They wait for our decision, to help the mantas in the black skyship. And rescuing them helps the rebels. This entire region will be without zharaqsa catalyst. Except for what the rebels have.’

‘The only way…’

‘Is to go find Gan, or Red Back.’

‘Captain Qharamaraham — resolute harbor. He is captain. Red Back plays at pirate captain.’

‘Sure. Captain Qharham then.’

‘And Jupiter? You would leave him.’

‘I don’t know where he is. On our own how would we even start? Even if he is with Tamm. He’s captured. Or…’

‘And why do you think…’ Pariqamtu started.

‘The Rebels will be able to rescue him,’ Maggie said. ‘If he can be rescued at all. Do you think that you, me, and this couple of crazy beasts, could do it?’

‘And Aramqhami — agent of fate? What of him?’

Maggie laughed. ‘Breeze is our inside man. He’s on the black skyship.’

Pariqamtu laughed too, the head bobbing open-mouthed hissing that serves as a manisaur grin.

‘I can’t do anything alone,’ Maggie said. ‘You’ll help me? Won’t you?’

‘And here I thought you just wanted to go home.’

‘How can I? There is no way home. Neither of us can sail The Jupiter. It’s either rescue Jupiter, so he can sail in his crazy flying outrigger to the portal the Japanese spoke of. Or catch a ride with Gan or Redback…’

‘Or Captain Qharamaraham.’ Pariqamtu’s aura flashed and she looked away.

Maggie turned to follow her gaze. The manta broke the surface next to the gharumal, then slapped the water with their wings.

‘I follow you Maggie. For now.’ Parimqamtu said. ‘You’re right. Alone we can not rescue Jupiter.’

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‘Right then. How do we do it? How do we get to Gan and the other Rebels?’

They both turned to look at The Jupiter. Maggie knew the craft was as alien to Pariqamtu as to her.

The gharumal lowed long and loud then as if bidding them goodbye. It paced away down the canal, waves rolling away from the stride of its legs to slap against the stone wall either side.

The manta waited, one large eye directed at Maggie.

‘I’ve an idea,’ she said.

‘I really don’t think much of this idea,’ Pariqamtu said.

‘But it’s working, we’re flying again,’ said Maggie.

‘You have to take a turn spinning this thing.’

Maggie nodded. Not with agreement, but with resignation.

That’s the flaw in this plan. No Breeze to man the kheel.

The manta swam through the water and towed The Jupiter, while the blue glowing kheel kept them in the air.

Just so long as we keep the magic disk thing spinning.

She and Pariqamtu had partly dismantled The Jupiter’s rigging. Lowered and rolled up the sail in the boom. All so they could use the mainsheet, that usually controlled the sail, as a tow rope.

Maggie knew Jupiter would be upset at how they had ill-used his boat.

And there’s no way we could put The Jupiter back together again. None at all. Even if we wanted to.

The manta now held the rope in its mouth and powered through the water while The Jupiter rode three meters above the surface. They had made slow progress along the canal, but once out in the bay the manta had picked up the pace. From the wind in Maggie’s face, she knew they moved as fast as a train. Somehow the manta knew to avoid the fishing boats returning on the sea breeze with the day’s catch.

How did another day go by so fast? But so much has happened.

‘The problem as I see it,’ said Pariqamtu. ‘Is we have no way to direct nakharavi — the manta.

Maggie tried the rudder vanes. The back end wavered back and forth, but their direction of travel did not change.’

‘You think Nakhi knows where we need to go?’

‘This human need to name everything…’

‘You have names.’

‘Yes, but they mean something.’

‘So says Snow Capped Highlands?’ Maggie grinned. The manisaur's patch of white upon the fur-feather of her head glowed brighter as the day faded towards evening.

Pariqamtu’s aura flashed annoyance.

‘Oh let’s not quarrel. Maggie, or Margsret means pearl.’

‘Zhamnu? But why?’

‘No idea.’

‘Perhaps because your skin is as white?’

‘There you go, that could be it. But I’m as brown as a berry now.’

‘Which makes no sense. Except… berries are the shape…’

‘Of a pearl.’

They laughed. Maggie’s huffing chortles joined with the manisaur’s hissing burbles.

They caught each other’s gaze and something beyond even tulanvarqa passed between them.

‘Somehow. I think the manta…’ said Pariqamtu.

‘Nahki…’

‘I think Nahki knows where we go.’

‘Yes. You’re right. It’s like Pelorus Jack.’

‘Who is that?’

‘Pelorus Jack, was a dolphin… a sea beast like a manta… on my world. He was a guide.’

‘What is a pelorus? A navigational aid?’

‘Perhaps.’ Maggie got a strange feeling.

Had she known that meaning of pelorus? She did not realize she had. It came to the surface now.

‘He knew the way though. Pelorus Jack. Just like Nahki.’

‘In any case. We’ve no choice.’

‘You said there’s always a choice.’

‘The choice was to do or die.’

‘That’s not a poem is it?’ Maggie said. ‘No, no. It’s okay.’ She held her hand up. ‘I don’t need to hear it.’

And so Maggie and Pariqamtu let the manta have its head. They were going somewhere.

They just didn’t quite know where.

Maggie’s arms ached from her time spinning The Jupiter’s kheel. She slapped again at the tightly woven reeds that enclosed the blue glowing disk.

‘How does Breeze do it?’ Maggie said.

‘You are right,’ Pariqamtu said. ‘Aramqhami has remarkable stamina.’ The manisaur sat behind the mast and kept watch on the tow rope and the manta in the water below.

The tow rope led from just behind the mast to a loop around the main hull, then down to the manta where it swam just under the water. Waves reached to touch the hull but The Jupiter rode high enough to stay clear of the sea.

In the dark of night Maggie had little way to know how fast they flew, or in which direction. Yet she still held a hand to the tiller that controlled the steering vanes as if she had remained captain instead the passenger she had become.

Maggie resigned herself to letting the manta take them where they wanted. She pulled her felted fur-feather poncho jacket closer about her. The wondrously light and warm jacket would be a sensation back home. Though Jupiter had told her of man-made fibers that worked almost as well in his time.

I’m so far away from home.

Her head spun when she thought on it. ‘I really do hope we will find Gan soon,’ she said.

‘Or Qharamaraham.’

‘What is it with you and Gan?’ Maggie needed to pay attention. Sleep dragged at her.

‘Ganarasha is thravin - cousin. Son to my mother’s brother. And there is always conflict between cousins.’

“Why? Shouldn’t you be close? Often cousins are so similar they may as be brothers or sisters. Mine are.’

‘Amongst humans this may be. But for we Quevantaqi cousins are too close to us. But neither are they far enough apart. They are thralin — enemy.’

Maggie thought on that. ‘So how do you know who are cousins, and who not?’

‘Tulanvarqa — connexion.’

‘Uh. Okay. So you do not even need to know them personally for them to be your enemy.’

‘We seldom do.’ Pariqamtu said. ‘But I know Ganarasha and we have no choice but to be thralin.’

‘That is the stupidest thing,’ Maggie said. ‘Thravin are thralin? I like Gan. If we meet him you will have to be nice.’

‘I will try. But understand that we can not avoid it.’

‘And I’m not sure I will ever understand you Quevantaqi,’ Maggie said.

They flew on for what seemed like hours. They alternated spinning the kheel to rest their arms, but Maggie’s hands ached from the constant slap upon wicker.

At least it keeps me awake.

The stars became visible in small parts of the sky between clouds. Then away off to the right the moon rose. So she knew they flew north, back towards where they had left the rebels after saving Jupiter from the Air Lord's hunt. Or where he had saved them from their inept use of his flying boat.

‘We will find them soon. I feel it?’ Pariqamtu said.

‘What? You can sense your enemy Gan from a distance.’

Pariqamtu fell silent then. She moved back and took her turn at the kheel.

‘Come on Paripari. Out with it. You’re just guessing. A woman’s intuition?’

Maggie recovered her breath and turned to watch the moon heave itself above the horizon. In its face she saw how little time remained in the month. The bright face glowed almost a quarter phase. The barest curve could be seen. A pang of fear hit her then as she sensed the approach of the deadline given to them by Ajiro.

‘We’ve so little time left,’ she said. ‘I knew I should never have let Jupiter have his way. Saving the manta might have seemed the right thing to do. But at what cost?’

A bright moonpath shimmered from the moon across the sea towards them, as if to connect them to the light in the sky. Movement broke the brightly reflecting water then and Maggie jerked in realization.

‘Mantas,’ she said.

‘Where away?’

‘To the right, starboard… that way.’ Maggie pointed towards the moon.

No sooner had she said this when a pair of mantas leapt high over them, banked, and landed in the water ahead with a spray of water.

Then two leaped either side of The Jupiter, and Maggie felt a surge forward. The wind increased.

‘Uh. Paripari.’

‘What is it?’ The female manisaur’s face remained dark even in the moonlight.

‘I have a bad…’

The Jupiter angled up, Maggie gripped the tiller. The outrigger surged up. The rush of water fell away below. Her guts did a little loop of fear as they bounced higher higher. Faster.

Pariqamtu turned and slapped frantic to keep the kheel spinning.

The mantas flew now, high out of the water. And they lifted The Jupiter with them. Maggie saw the moonpath fall away as they abandoned it and the sea.

The three mantas soared on, their huge wings swept the air.

Like fighter planes.

‘Shamakharavi,’ cried Pariqamtu. ‘Samavati - sea goddess.’

‘Don’t stop Pari-pari, keep the kheel spinning. And don’t look down.’

Maggie wished she hadn’t.