The pointed tops of the forest pines drifted by slowly below. Alia watched as the barren expanse of the Great Dune Sea slipped into the distance, replaced by a comforting green blanket of forest. The air had cooled noticeably as they made their way deeper into the eastern reach of the Eternal Mountains.

Alia took a deep breath of the rarified mountain air. Over the past few months, she’d grown fond of the smells and sounds of the forest. A flock of birds suddenly emerged from the treeline, disturbed by The Liberator and the recently captured “Hurria” as they belched steam and smoke on their descent.

Suddenly, a kick within her nearly set her off balance. It hadn’t even been four months and her pregnancy appeared to be in its final hours. For reasons she couldn’t understand, the lives within her were growing at a remarkable speed.

“Hell of a view,” Sandra Mason said, pulling Alia from her thoughts. “It almost reminds me of home. Speaking of which, thanks for letting me name the destroyer.” She glanced down at Alia’s bulging midsection and added, “I hope I’m not overstepping my bounds here but, you look like you’re ready to uhh… pop.”

Alia laughed but quickly stopped as she had a sudden urge to urinate. “Yeah,” she replied, “I think I am. These kids apparently think it’s a fun pastime to take shots at my bladder.” She leaned over and placed her head on the ship’s railing to emphasise her discomfort.

Sandra shook her head. “I’m not what you would call maternal,” she said. “but aren’t pregnancies supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity of nine months?”

Alia nodded, still leaning against the rail. “You aren’t wrong,” she said. “I can’t explain it. Somehow, I’ve gone full term in less than half the normal time. It’s a miserable experience. Let me tell you. When I’m not puking over the side of the ship, I’m relieving myself or stuffing my face. If I’m really lucky, I find a few hours of uncomfortable sleep in the night. And don’t get me started on the pain. A woman’s body is supposed to gradually prepare for childbirth over pregnancy. Well, mine took a shortcut. My everything hurts.”

“Do you think the Ll’tal will have an answer?” Sandra asked.

“I hope so. If we make it to the village before I go into labor, I’ll call it a win,” Alia said through gritted teeth.

Sandra shrugged and replied, “Well, look on the bright side. Any mother would kill to reduce their uhh… sentence to half. What you have there is a blessing in disguise.”

They both laughed. The kicking in her womb finally ceased and Alia stood up. She caught a glimpse of a saddened expression painted across Sandra’s face. “I know leaving Hurria behind was one of the most difficult things you could be asked to do.” Alia said, probing for the cause of Sandra’s sadness, “But Emat has never steered us wrong.”

Sandra’s face was pained.

Alia placed a hand on her shoulder.”What is it?” she asked.

Sandra paused for a moment and stared at the slowly nearing forest. Finally, she turned to Alia and asked, “Permission to speak freely, captain?”

Alia nodded, “Of course.”

Sandra’s spoke quickly, as if she were spilling out months of pent up thoughts, “Captain, it seems like… like we are getting nowhere. We’ve been on this quest or search or whatever it should be called for months. All we have to show for it is a few black coin and more casualties.”

Alia held her tongue. I think you’re rubbing off on me, my love, she thought, suppressing a smile at the thought of Jim sitting quietly on the bed while she talked his ear off. Hurry home.

Sandra continued, “There’s a war on, captain, and we’re wandering about Ruin, pillaging ships for the occasional awakened individual or supplies. I just… I feel like we could be doing more.”

“Jim is assisting the ambassador as we speak,” Alia replied. “When they return, we’ll finally gain entry into Mountain’s Breath and move this… err, prophecy along.”

“I’m sorry, captain,” Sandra said, shaking her head, “but, I don’t have the same faith that you and Vachir do. The world is burning and we’re searching for a key to some mythical machine that does gods know what. Is it a weapon? A shelter? A toaster? We don’t know. Yet, all we’ve been doing for months is looking for it.”

Alia sighed, “You’re right.”

Sandra stared at her for a moment. “I’m sorry. What?” She asked.

Alia crossed her arms and said, “I’m not that disagreeable, am I? You’re as bad as Jim. I swear, every time I admit I’m wrong he -”

“No no no, captain,” Sandra interrupted, chortling, “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I’m just surprised is all. I half expected you to throw me into the brig. Hormones, you know?”

At that, Alia laughed, “This isn’t a military ship. I’m not going to have you flogged and put into chains every time you voice your opinion. Though, if I do, you can bet I’ll blame the hormones.” They both laughed and Alia added, “You can take the girl out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the girl.”

“Nor should you try,” Sandra replied. “Someone has to maintain a semblance of order around here.”

Alia nodded, “Actually, that brings us to something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you and Vachir.” She glanced around and asked, “Where is he anyways? I haven’t seen him around today.”

Sandra smiled, “I suppose you haven’t had time to look over the full manifest of The Hurria. It seems, when we captured her, we also obtained a few hundred kilos of coffee beans.”

Alia rolled her eyes, “Oh for the love of all things… We won’t see him for weeks.” Sandra snickered and Alia continued, “Well, you will just have to deliver the news to him yourself, if you can pull him out of the mess hall.”

“What news?” Sandra asked.

Alia pointed to the damaged airship they had captured. It bobbed up and down two hundred yards behind the Liberator. A skeleton crew scurried about its deck, making repairs and ensuring the ship would make it to their hideaway. “I am giving you command of The Hurria. Effective immediately, she’s yours.”

Before Sandra could speak, Alia held up a hand and continued, “What’s more. We’re making some personnel changes. From here on out, the Hurria and the Liberator will be taking on both awakened and unawakened crew. I’ve been at this for years and my goal was always to free awakened from the prophetess’ control. Now though, the bitch is showing her real cards in trying to control all of Ruin, awakened or otherwise. We can’t allow that.”

“Captain,” Sandra spoke, “It’s a tremendous honor, but Vachir is the obvious best choice for -”

“No,” Alia interrupted, “Vachir is a soldier. A desert rat as he puts it. I doubt he’d even accept command of his own ship if I offered it. You however; since you joined our crew, you’ve shown an impressive aptitude for airships and their operations. Additionally, you’ve shown me that you don’t have to be awakened to be extraordinary. My insistence on an awakened only crew was motivated by good intentions, but it would be wrong to deny perfectly able sailors into this, well… armada. It’s time for our little fleet to start taking on the most talented, not just the most privileged.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Sandra tried to suppress a smile. “Thank you, captain,” she half whispered. Clearing her throat, she said, “You know, now that we have multiple ships, we can’t refer to ourselves as the crew of the Liberator. We need a proper armada name.”

Alia stared at the reddening horizon. The sun had fallen behind one of the higher peaks of the Eternal Mountains, casting a shadow across the forest. In the distance, a small plume of smoke rose. They were nearly home. A sharp pain stabbed at her insides. Ugh, not a moment too soon she thought, dreading the coming hours.

Finally, Alia nodded. “Very well,” she said. “From now on, we will be known as, The Armada of Unending Light.” She quickly waddled off to the infirmary. Miracle or not, she was ready for these children to be out of her.

***

Jim paced through an empty hallway outside the burrower’s makeshift medical bay. After Kalandra had kissed him, he’d promptly retreated. A few minutes alone had given his conscience enough time to punish him for his indiscretion.

“Ahh there you are!” Ambassador Fredrickson exclaimed as he rounded the corner. “Do you have a moment?”

Can’t I just be alone for five minutes? Jim thought.

He continued his aimless walk as the ambassador trotted to catch up. “You’re a hard man to find sometimes,” Fredrickson said between heavy breaths. “One would almost think you’re avoiding me.”

“One would think,” Jim replied dryly.

Fredrickson nodded, “I’ve been accused of cloistering myself up from time to time. Sometimes, I get so distracted by work, days can go by before I realize, I haven’t seen a single face.”

Jim stopped and turned. He crossed his arms and stared at the ambassador.

Fredrickson scratched his thinning hair nervously. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ve never been much for small talk. I just… I wanted to apologize.”

Jim raised an eyebrow, “Oh?” he asked. “For what specifically?”

Fredrickson sighed, “For my behavior. I haven’t been what you might consider friendly. I uhh, well you have to understand, my work is very… no. No, there’s no excuse. My behavior has been less than exemplary and I want to apologize. That’s all.”

“Apology accepted in that case,” Jim replied, making an effort not to sound too pleased. When the ambassador didn’t move, he asked, “Is there something else?”

Fredrickson nodded, “Yes. I wanted to discuss that letter. Specifically, how were you able to read it?”

Jim shook his head, “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. I made a promise to a… friend.”

A disappointed look flashed over Fredrickson’s face before quickly disappearing. “Very well,” he replied, “I understand that trust is earned. That’s why I’m willing to make the first step.”

A metallic rumbling echoed down the hallway as Henry appeared from another room. As he rolled over, Fredrickson added, “Perfect. We’re all here.”

“All here for what?” Henry asked as he came to a stop.

“I promised you some answers,” Fredrickson replied, nodding to Henry. “What I’m about to tell you is, well, let’s just say, you are likely the first outside the Protectorate or Holy Land to be privy to this knowledge in a very long time.”

Henry brightened, “well ambassador, that’s a hell of a way to start a conversation. You have my undivided attention. Go ahead, spill all those protectorate secrets!”

Fredrickson grinned and shook his head sarcastically, “As I told Jim, trust is earned. Let us start small.” The ambassador held his hand under the cool blue glow of Henry’s ether cube as it poured out of the various open spaces of his chassis. “You asked me the other day how I knew that you had the skill to man our advanced guns aboard the submersible.”

“Yes,” Henry replied. “Until we boarded it, I’d never seen weapons like that, yet somehow I seem to know everything about them.”

The ambassador nodded, “Perhaps you have already discovered this, but you know much about a great many technological devices. That’s because, your skills come directly from the ancients.”

Henry leaned in. Due to the constraints of his metallic body, it looked more like he was about to fall on his face. “You mean the same people who built this thing? Those ancients?” he asked.

“Indeed,” Fredrickson said. “Tell me, my clockwork friend, what is your earliest memory?”

Henry pondered for a moment before answering, “I recall a large room full of strange lights and sounds, similar to this vessel, in a way. There were others like me all around.” He paused as if trying to glean more. Finally, he stuttered,  “I… I don’t really remember much else. And believe me, I’ve tried.”

The ambassador nodded and said, “That sounds about right. You woke up in one of the complexes, as we have come to know them.”

“What’s that?” Henry asked.

Fredrickson patted one of the walls of their vessel and replied, “The same people who built this, built the facility in which you were found. As you can see,” he said, rapping on Henry’s midsection with is knuckles. “All clockwork men are powered by blue ether cubes.”

Henry nodded and Fredrickson continued, “All known ether cubes come from one of three ancient complexes. Two of them were found about one thousand years ago, deep in what is now the Holy Land.”

“One guess as to who found it,” Jim commented sarcastically.

“Yes,” Fredrickson said. “None other than the lady of the south, the prophetess herself. Shortly after, she raised an army of clockwork men to conquer the southern region and afterward, renamed it to The Holy Land.” He shook his head, “The history lesson will wait for another day though. I tell you these things because you,” he pointed at Henry, “Are one of those clockwork men.”

Henry nodded, unsurprised, “I don’t recall much from those days,” he replied, shrugging, “but I don’t doubt it. Sometimes, I have terrible dreams of death and the sounds of battle, but when I wake, its as if they are instantly forgotten, aside from the pain that the dreams leave behind.”

Fredrickson nodded, “That’s to be expected. Human brains are meant to live out our lifespan of seventy, eighty, maybe a hundred years of age. They can’t retain a thousand years of memories.”

He drew his hands together as if lecturing and said, “As we age, we forget many of the details of our childhood. Soon, all that remains are the most important memories. Ask any person of advanced age what they remember from their younger days. They may tell you of marriage, the birth of a child, a traumatic incident. Extremely memorable events. At a thousand years though? Only skills and subconscious remain.”

Henry laughed. As he did, he slapped the metal joints that approximated human legs. “Fascinating, ambassador,” he said between laughs, “but you forget, I’m not human.”

Fredrickson smiled, “Actually, you are. Quite human in fact. Well, the parts that matter anyhow”

Henry fell silent. The ambassador continued, “Within every blue ether cube is the… soul, for lack of a better word, of a living, breathing human. Once, many thousands of years ago, before the fall, you were a human. Through a process that we can’t explain and know little of, your mind was transferred to an ether cube where it sat for thousands of years, dormant until its discovery.”

“I’m, human?” Henry asked.

“No, you are a clockwork man. However, you were human. It’s why you seem to have such an aptitude for things like piloting, operating ancient machinery, or understanding the finer points of underwater gunnery. If I were to guess, I’d say you were a soldier based on your skillset.”

Jim whistled and then chuckled, “Well, Henry, I guess your theories were right all along. I really hope you’ll take the time to tell Captain Rychist I told you so when we get back.”

Before Henry could reply, Fredrickson interrupted, “Now, I think we can all agree, this information is a fair trade for what I am about to ask you.”

“You want to know about the writing,” Jim said plainly.

“Yes, please,” Fredrickson replied anxiously.

Jim contemplated his response for a moment. Finally, he sighed and replied, “The language is called Ll’tal. It comes from a people who are not human. It’s a language I and a few others have learned.”

“From where?” the ambassador asked.

Jim shook his head, “I’m sorry ambassador. I meant what I said when I told you that I couldn’t share that information.” He held up a hand to stop Fredrickson’s impending protest. “It’s not a power trip or anything like that. It was a promise made to a friend.”

A range of emotions crossed Fredrickson’s face quickly. The sheen on his forehead seemed to brighten for a moment. Finally, he sighed and nodded. “Very well,” he acquiesced, “However, that skeleton you discovered was quite human. Is it possible these… La…”

“Ll’tal,” Jim said

“Right, Ll’tal. Is it possible, they are the ones who uhh, ate her?”

Jim shook his head, “I don’t see how.Well, yes, it was written in Ll’tal, but why would a human write in the language of her killers? It makes no sense.”

Henry, who had been listening silently as he puzzled over Fredrickson’s revelation of his past, spoke, “I think I know who ate her.”

“Oh? Who?” Jim asked.

“Look at their behavior. Their borderline insanity and insatiable hunger and thirst. These must have been the first. The ancestors of all of the rest of them. ”

Jim and Fredrickson stared at him, confused.

“Cannibals,” Henry whispered.

***

Alia groaned loudly. Sweat was pouring down her face and her breathing was deep. She gripped the sides of the gurney with white knuckled determination. “Oh gods!” she shouted, “Why does anyone willingly go through with this!?”

“Just a few more pushes, child,” came the airy voice of the female Ll’tal. “You’re already halfway done.” Nearby, another Ll’tal female was cleaning the first of the newborns. It was strangely quiet, but the female had assured her that her child was in good health. She’d gone into labor so suddenly, the Ll’tal healers had to board the Liberator and assist with the birth in its sick bay.

“Come on, my dear. One more big push. I can see the head.”

Alia clamped down and groaned. Her face reddened as she threw all her strength into one final effort. She was rewarded with a relieving sound of a newborn’s cry. The Ll’tal lifted her child into her field of view and exclaimed, “El’pelei!” Which meant congratulations, “It’s another healthy girl. This one is a great deal more stubborn than her sister.”

As the Ll’tal quickly cleaned and attended to the newborn, the baby cried loudly. Her shrieks soon disturbed her sister who joined in. The female Ll’tal smiled as she handed the newborns to Alia. As she took them in her unsure arms, they both calmed. “Hold them like this,” she instructed, guiding Alia’s arms. “Be sure to support their heads.”

The children quickly fell asleep on their mother’s chest. As Alia stared down at the two miracles, her exhaustion and frustration suddenly mattered for nothing. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt a love for them that she never thought was possible. No matter what, she would love them and protect them from all harm. As she lay there, exhausted and laughing, joyful tears rolled down her tired face.

“Come home to me soon, my love,” she whispered. “Your children need their father.”