The engine room of the blackbirder’s skyship glowed brilliant, the bright green light searing when the mantas answered Jupiter's call.

He staggered as the world twisted up, but not enough. The flight engineer babbled and warbled incoherently.

‘Don’t just stand there,’ Jupiter said. ‘The captain wants more height.’

‘But the captain's communicator! No signal comes from the bridge.’

‘All the crew, they all fight. There is no one in the bridge now the deck burns. Can’t you smell death all around you? Why do you think the captain sent us to you?’

‘The mooring line,' the engineer said. 'It still holds us to the ground.’

Jupiter stepped towards the engineer and placed his hand on the female manisaur. He looked into the dark face, shadowed green in the glow of the zharaqsa. Her aura flickered with uncertainty.

‘We have to save the skyship,’ Jupiter said. ‘Save the town from burning. Direct the flight engine upwards now it has power. The Qharvan will cut the mooring line.’

‘Why would an Imperial officer concern themselves…?’

‘Don’t you know? Blackbirders work for the Air Lord.’ Jupiter stretched the truth, but not so much. The Air Lord's Imperial Navy for some reason now worked with the Blackbirders.

Perhaps that will persuade this engineer somehow to do what we ask.

‘And you? A human?’

‘The Air Lord and I are... we're old friends.’ Jupiter felt the motion of the ship change, a sideways slip.

‘Now Engineer! Upwards.’

The engineer dived for the controls, the flight-engine's polygon’s array of edges and faces twisted, the green glow pulsed, then steadied.

Jupiter felt and heard the mantas within his mind.

We fly. We fly.

The deck lurched. Then the huge thump of a collision.

‘What have you done?’ The engineer wailed.

‘We fly. We’re free,’ Jupiter said. ‘We just had to bash our way past the attacking rebel skyship.’

Jupiter flapped his jacket, dusted himself off. ’Now,’ he said. ‘We cut the mantas free.’

'We cannot. They light the zharaqsa — catalyst. Without it we cannot fly.'

‘You are killing them. It has to stop.’

Jupiter clambered up the side of the flight-engine's polygon. Inside the sphere spun with the flicker of green light within.

'The zharaqsa is lit enough to power flight'

But they have to stop torturing the mantas like this.

He reached out to the first manta. Touched the iridescent fur-feathers. The body beneath felt cold as death.

They have passed

We two survive

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Jupiter dropped to the deck and rounded on the engineer. ‘You’ve killed one already. Where is your blade? There is no time.’

‘I’m no fighter. I have no blade.’ The engineer cowered, even though they were half a head taller than Jupiter.

He climbed to another manta, felt its warmth, the pulse of life. He drew his sail spanner from around his neck. It had no cutting edge, but he used the end to pry apart the knots of the manta's bonds. The manta slipped free, floated a moment, then fell to the deck with a thump.

‘You can not fly?’ Jupiter dropped to its side.

No. Free them. Free the other.

‘Who do you talk to?’ the engineer said. ‘Do they answer?’

’Nothing good for you.’

The manisaur wailed and cowered away as Jupiter strode around the polygon to the next manta. ‘What? Did you expect something more?’

Jupiter worked to free the other manta from its bonds just as Tamm burst into the room.

‘We’ve got to get out of the engine room,’ Tamm said.

‘The mantas are not free yet. We have to get them out of the engine room first.’

‘The Air Lord’s skyfort… We’re about to crash into it.’

‘Breeze,’ Maggie screamed as the imp disappeared over the side.

She dived to the side away from the collision with the rebel skyship.

‘Maggie. The kheel,’ Pariqamtu shouted from the bow. ‘Keep the kheel spinning.’

Breeze swung into view on the far side of The Jupiter. He let go of the rope he held, did a summersault and landed on the outrigger platform, just as The Jupiter steadied as Maggie spun up kheel.

‘Breeze!’ Maggie exclaimed. ‘You evil imp. What…?’

I Swing… Pull Joop… Safe Now…

‘So you want me to believe you did that on purpose? Pulled The Jupiter off the skyship?’ Maggie did not know whether to laugh of scream. ‘You crazy crazy…’

I Try… I Do.. I Try…

‘Maggie. Look out,’ Pariqamtu shouted. ‘The Skyfort.’

Maggie saw the Air Lord’s huge skyship had drawn close now. The gharumals strode across the courtyard pulling The skyfort towards them.

Pariqamtu stood in the bow and swung a rope tied with a weight on the end. ‘We’ve got to stay close to the Kitaraham,’ Pariqamtu shouted. 'I'll try to get a rope to catch us together.'

She let fly with the rope, it twanged tight. As the wind blew upon them the outrigger swung around behind the Kitaraham's stern. The black skyship lurched higher, and its masts smashed against the Kitaraham until the burning deck struck the rebel’s underside.

Maggie saw Gan and his crew climb from the burning blackbirder skyship up towards his own.

But the mantas pain throbbed higher again. And Maggie could do nothing to free them.

The blackbirder’s skyship surged upwards just as Jupiter freed the third manta from its torture rack. The manta broke free and spun away, slammed into the side wall, then slid down. Jupiter felt its pain and fell from the flight-engine’s polygon to land next to the manta.

‘Get us higher can’t you?’ yelled Pariqamtu in the face of the flight engineer.

The manisaur worked the controls and the sphere that held the zharaqsa twisted and a low thrumming came from the engine. Jupiter felt it as an increase in searing rip of pain through his being. He gasped for breath. But his mind opened to the manta’s consciousness. The loss of their mate pained them as much as the bodily hurt from the lifting of the skyship.

But beyond the agony of the manta’s existence he sensed a calmness. A deep well of peace far away, beyond the curve of the planet, beyond the moon.

Beyond beyond…

‘Jupiter!’

Someone called his name.

‘Jupiter, Get up,’ Tamm screamed. ‘We can’t stay here, and these are dying. We won free of the ground,’ said Tamm. ‘But we still burn.’

‘Can you fly?’ Jupiter said.

‘What? Tamm’s aura flashed confusion.

‘Not you,’ Jupiter turned to the mantas.

First one manta then the other shivered. Their wing tips lifted and pushed down. If they did not fly, they did at least rise from the ground.

‘This skyship? Does it drop missiles?’

‘Yes.’ The small voice came from the forgotten engineer at the controls. ‘The missile bay, it's forward of the engine room.’

‘Open these doors to the main corridor.’

The engineer and Tamm shoved the huge access doors. Then he and Jupiter ran through and along the smoke filled corridor. Missile rooms opened directly from it on either side.

‘I understand you now,’ Tamm said.

He swung on the bomb door mechanism and a set of panels swung up. Air whistled up through the openings, cleared the room of smoke. Through the opening Jupiter saw in the flickering light of flames the wide deck of a skyfort filled with marines and soldiers.

‘Look out. We’re about to crash,’ Jupiter yelled.

The missile bay shuddered with the impact and the bomb doors slammed closed with a bang.

‘Get them open. And keep them open. That’s the only way we have to get out,’ yelled Jupiter.

He raced back towards the flight engine, towards the mantas.

‘Where are you? Come to me?’ He could see nothing in the smoke filled corridor.

We cannot. We try. But we cannot.

The skyship shuddered as it ground against the skyfort. ‘We have to get more height.’ Jupiter yelled.

But he knew the mantas had nothing more to give.

The skyship fell then.