ASHER RIVET

Ava and I made it back to the Crawler and reported the cease fire. While the leaders were a bit skeptic they decided to have us land so we could discuss what to do about our current situation. Back in the hangar, I had to help Ava down from the plane as her burns had started to act up. They weren’t more serious than that of someone staying the in the sun for too long without protection, but they could get worse without treatment.

The Menders took her to the clinic while I talked to the Boss. He was looking at the plane with glittering eyes like that of a child with a new toy. “This thing is amazing Boss. We can’t let the council try to sell it.”

“Don’t worry about that, boy. This is the only flying vessel we have right now. They would be outright stupid to give away something as powerful as this.”

“I hope so.” I looked at the raging storm that could be seen from the open hangar. Even now there were droplets of rain being blown in every now and then. “What exactly is a Vortex?”

“A gold mine, to put it simply. Never heard of one creating rain though. Normally, they just churn out nightmares that the crawlers kill for Aserite. All the nation crawlers follow a Vortex.”

“What do you think our best plan of action would be then?” I asked concerned that it might be too much for our tiny crawler to deal with and we’d be forced to leave. If entire nations were built around these things, what could our crawler that was barely the size of a wheel to some of those crawlers hope to do.

“The wave it put out will be detectable for roughly five hundred kilometers. That means we could have up ten crawlers up our asses in a few days.”

“Then we will have to abandon it after all?”

“Now, I didn’t say that. Your mother had the idea of calling some of our friends to join up with us. We’d be splitting the resources, but in all honesty, we could never use everything we would gain from the Vortex in the first place.”

“I wonder if Madam Ki would be willing to enter a partnership with us. I’m sure they are in roughly the same situation as us.”

“I don’t know. Anyone that flies pirate colors is a dangerous element, but it might be something to look into. Not all pirates are by choice.”

“How is mom?”

“She up with the council while they work out what they do about all this. After her injury today, they’ll probably force her to take her place on the board whether she likes it or not.”

I laughed at the thought. My mother was very free spirited and claimed that she would die in the cabin of her plane. While I respected that about her, I also wished she would look a little further down the road. She was one of the oldest Divas I had ever heard about. “She won’t be happy about that.”

“She doesn’t have much choice to be honest. Her partner just can’t fly anymore.” I looked in the direction he pointed and found mom’s plane. It had barely made it back at the beginning of all this craziness. It’s engine was pulled out and there were several holes that I knew weren’t part of the assembly.

“Boss! Come over here!” We turned to see one of the mechanics waving crazily from a hallway. Boss and I exchanged a look before we rushed over to see what was up. The mechanic led us to a room that we’d been using to store things for trade when we meet friendly Crawlers. It was empty at the moment since we’d recently traded a few days ago.

A panel was glowing on the wall next to the door and several arms had slid out from slots along the walls. A projection of a common aircraft part was displayed in the middle of the arms. There was a big red X above a bar that I found was labeled aserite. “A composer! I thought only the nations crawlers had these.”

“What’s a composer?” I asked never hearing the word before.

“Lost tech. They create parts for, well, everything. The crawler, the planes, the buggies, etc. If this is here, there has to be more to this crawler than meets the eye.”

“It is hundreds of years old. The commission plate might be worn to hell, but the year is still just barely legible. It was made just before the end of the Great War.” The mechanic offered as he moved through some of the menu options. We watched as several hundred parts that would have made our mouths water had we saw them on the market place flashed before our eyes.

“Is there no one on board that might know more?” I asked completely enthralled by the mystery of your little crawler.

The boss just shook his head. “I doubt it. Only a few families have been here longer than a few decades. The Chancellor might, but if the crawler had a secret like this, I’m sure he would have made better use of it if he knew.”

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“Good point.”

We played with the Composer for a few more minutes before another mechanic came and told us the council wanted to see Boss and me. Boss I could understand, but that they wanted me threw me off. Then again, I was the one that had managed to get the pirates to leave us alone for the moment.

We made our way through the crawler until we reached the boardroom. The six councilors along with the Chancellor were seated around a long table and arguing back and forth. Mom sat to the side clearly annoyed by something.

“Ah good. Foreman Lu, glad you could join us. Please tell us the situation of the Hangar and our fleet,” the Chancellor said cutting through all the arguing taking place.

“We’re down to the one plane that the lad found during the chaos. Since then we’ve checked everywhere to make sure there were no more hidden areas. Sadly, we’ve barely scratched the surface I fear. In fact, one of my mechanics found a Composer in the room that we stored our trade goods.” The council grew loud as they instantly started talking about the importance as well as the implications of this find. “I know that some on the council might have thoughts of selling the craft, but I would like to offer my opinion.”

The chancellor nodded. “Go ahead.”

“It would be suicide to try to sell it. I’ve only managed to give it a glance over, but just from that I could see that it was made for some serious lost technology. If any of the serious nations get wind that we had it in our procession, they would no doubt hunt us down to find out where we found it. Even if we tell them that we just had it in a hangar hidden by a pile of scrap, then they will likely tear this Crawler apart trying to find more. Couple this with the fact that we have a Composer. I can only see it leading to everyone onboard’s death.”

Mom stood up and gestured to all the council. “I have to agree with Boss Lu. We need to call some our friends and shore up while we can. The nations might be interested in a new Vortex, but that doesn’t change the fact their nations they have to be careful not to overstep or the other nations will intervene. This is truly a blessing for all the scattered crawlers out there trying to survive. If we call them to our side we can become a haven and make this area of the great desert a better place.”

One of the councilors stood up and looked everyone in the eyes. “I would like to second this idea. For too long has the threat of starvation been hanging over our, and our children’s heads. Think to all the people that we’ve met recently. Barely able to survive day to day. This is a golden opportunity! We just have to take it.”

Silence reigned through the room for several long moments. Each person likely thinking about what the pros and cons were to this venture. I gulped then stepped forward.

“Can I voice something?” The Chancellor nodded and I gulped again. “I’d like to say this is more moot than anything. If we leave the area of the Vortex, not only does the Crawler basically go back to being a pile of junk, but so does our new plane. We have a band of pirates off the port that we’ve already hurt. If they find out we’re leaving then they might just hunt us down in spite.”

“The boy has a point. If anything, we need to fly the Vortex for a few weeks to repair our planes. With the Composer that is a lot easier now.”

The room erupted into discussion with everyone trying to talk over each other again. This went on for about five minutes before the Chancellor slammed his fist on the table and everyone went silent. “I’ve only done this three times since I became Chancellor, but it seems the forth is upon us. I, Chancellor Derrick, one hundred and fifteenth Chancellor of Fortitude invoke my station given power. I declare that we will make or stake with the Vortex. This directive is in place until my passing.”

Hushed silence met his declaration. The last time the Chancellor made a declaration was close to a decade ago, when we had a food shortage. It meant that he was serious. “The Chancellor had spoken. We will dismiss for the day.” Mom moved over and grabbed my hand then pulled me from the room. Boss Lu followed behind us.

“I’m glad the Chancellor put his foot down. We can’t afford to have the Crawler fall into further chaos,” Boss Lu commented as we walked down the hall.

When we were out of sight of the boardroom, mom pulled us to a stop then proceed to check me over for injuries. Ignoring the fact that I was an almost head taller than her now, she was the one that had gotten hurt, not me. “Mom! I’m fine.”

“You have no idea how worried I was. Thank god you’re alright.”

“I’m fine? You’re the one that was shot today!” I retorted.

She waved me off. “Wasn’t the first time.”

~/~

“Ava. How are you feeling?” We were at the clinic as apparently my mom had snuck out. I had planned to check on her after everything had calmed down, either way.

“Like I spent three days on the deck straight,” Ava replied with a grin. She was covered in bandages that had a gaze on them, but otherwise looked alright. I had been worried about the burns as they taught us that some types of burns were worse depending on what caused them. Using the unknown weapon had saved us, but I had been worried about the cost to Ava.

“She’ll be better in the morning. With a nice tan though,” the mender said checking her over one more time.

“That’s good. Boss and I are going to try and figure out the settings before we go back up. Can’t have you burning with every shot fired.”

“I know you’ll figure it out.”

Mom and I went back to our house. A small place that only had three rooms that were just large enough for about five people to stand in without touching, or four if you counted the bathroom. Even this was considered a luxury to most of the people on the crawler as space was limited. I helped mom to her room and helped her lay down.

She had been putting on a tough face for everyone that we passed in the halls, but I knew she had to be hurting. “I think you should take the seat on the council. They need some new blood before this gets any crazier.”

She sighed then gave me a smile. “I know.” She turned to look a picture of her and my father as the posed in front of an airplane. “I always hoped to join him. I suppose it will just take a little longer.”

“I think dad would be happier if you took as long as possible,” I said while covering her with her blanket and causing her to laugh.

“I suppose you’re right.”

I gently closed the door then moved to sit down on the sofa, one of maybe ten on the entire crawler. It had to be forty years old, but a lot of work had gone into keeping it usable. Exhaling, I decompressed from the adventure of a day I had while wondering what tomorrow might bring us.