Junior Mapmaker Daisy Gunne

Dear Diary,

Of all the mistakes I’ve made in my life, I think this is the worst. Here’s how I thought today would go:

1. Descend to level 32 of the Cone and board the Rievaulx.

2. Find seat 45 and settle in for the 2 hour flight to Parisius.

3. Disembark to find my new apartment.

4. Settle into my new life as a housekeeper.

Now that none of that has happened, I can mentally retrace my steps and figure out how this began. I think that I accidentally went to level 45. Big mistake. I got on this ship because it looked kind of similar to the Parisian ferry, which I’ve taken before. I would have noticed the difference except that I was so discombobulated from thinking about this move.

Of course, Diary, you know the situation, and I hate repeating myself. So let’s move on. Why didn’t I tell the captain that I’m on the wrong ship? Excellent question. To be perfectly honest with you, as I always am, I didn’t tell Captain Springett because the idea of mapmaking is so intriguing. Remember when I took that aptitude test? Diagramming was my top result! I was on track to begin mapmaking school when it happened. So I’m thinking of this as my second chance. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be a natural.

I feel kind of bad about whoever was supposed to be here instead of me. Are they stuck in the Cone, wondering if they had the wrong day marked on their calendar? Are they riding the elevators up and down, searching for the slightly outdated wooden airship? What’s this one’s name again… Q something - Quaerere!

The crew seems nice enough, but Captain Springett is definitely off her rocker. All that talk about recipes? And who is Garland, anyway?

More importantly, how am I going to draw these maps? I may have scored high in diagramming, but I know close to nothing about their craft. And from the way the captain was talking, she’s under the impression that I’m a prodigy. I’d better figure out what to do, and quickly.

I noticed lots of old books in the captain’s office. Maybe I can learn from them. I hope mapmaking is easy. All you have to do is look, and draw what you see? Easy-peasy. A toddler could do it. I think I’ll ask the captain to borrow the books.

Okay, it’s the next morning. Sorry I didn’t sign off last night, I was busy cooking dinner with Kiona. She got all worked up when I suggested adding some flavor to the soup. Said something about Garland, and this Julius guy, and I don’t know what the problem was. Then later Springett called me to her office. I’d just beaten my all-time record of fitting olives in my mouth.

She wanted to talk about not changing the recipes and stuff. Doing everything by the book. Which is okay, I guess, but evidently not ideal for making tasty stews. After that I got flustered and told her I didn’t have an apprenticeship, and then made something up about practicing??? I don’t know how that will turn out for me. But I did manage to get some books from her office.

I’m half-listening as the captain continues her lecture. Finally, it’s my turn to talk. I gesture toward the shelves. “I’d love to borrow some of your books. Learn from the old masters.”

“Which is your favorite?” Her eyes narrow with suspicion.

Let’s hope my bluff works. “I enjoy all of them, how they have, um, different styles but keep the cohesion. It’s amazing what we can learn from older maps and their makers.”

She walks to the bookshelf. My answer must have satisfied her. She limps as she brings me half a dozen thick books. “These are some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them too.”

“Thank you. May I return to dinner now?”

“Yes, as long as you put the books in your locker first. And no more shenanigans.”

After dinner, I cracked open the first book, which was an autobiography written by Sir Julius Glass. He considers himself to be Angleterre’s first mapmaker, even though he learned from someone else. But he did create many of the drafting procedures, and he founded the Mapmaker’s Guild over 100 years ago. He was even knighted by King Williott.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The more I read, the more I think I’ve read it before. Maybe not all of it, but bits and pieces at least. So I kind of skimmed through it.

That book was actually one of the smaller in the pile. The others were super huge and clunky, and the next one I picked up was an in-depth map drafting manual. I set it aside and started recording my day in this diary. So now that I’m up to date, I’ll set you aside for the night. We’re going to land in Romulus soon, but we won’t disembark until the morning. Well, Kiona and I will be the only ones disembarking - to get some fresh food for the galley.

I don’t know much about Romulus. I guess I’m imagining a bunch of crusty stone pillars? We’ll see…

Goodnight for now.

Always yours,

Daisy

Nov. 27, 1891

Hello again!

Romulus was so amazing! I could barely decide what to look at because everything was just so interesting! Kiona didn’t look at anything, she was just focused on the market, like she’s been there a million times. Maybe she has, I don’t know.

We managed to find the fruits that she wanted, and as Kiona haggled with the shopkeeper, the person in the next booth let me try a slice of their tomato. It was seriously the best tomato I’ve ever eaten. But Kiona said we couldn’t buy any, so I mournfully schlepped back to the airship.

The scariest part was when Kiona started asking me how I felt about my new assignment here. I panicked for a second and had to make something up about how I wasn’t nervous, I’d been training to be a mapmaker, etc. She kind of squinted but didn’t challenge me. Or maybe she just squinted because the sun was in our eyes.

There was a point where I thought I was lost; Kiona had walked too quickly through the market crowd. I wasn’t paying attention because I was distracted by the pretty fabrics in one stall. Then when I realized I lost her, I stood on a barrel and soon spotted her at a booth kind of around the bend. So I caught up with her soon enough.

Surprisingly, I became very anxious when I realized we’d been separated. I don’t get anxious very often, but I guess being stranded in a foreign city is enough to get my fight-or-flight going.

Last time I felt that way was when I realized I’d departed on the wrong airship. As happy as I am to start mapmaking, I still wonder what will happen if they figure out my true identity. And I feel bad for the poor girl who was supposed to be here.

Wait! What if the Guild sends an albatross to the ship and tells them about the situation? That would be bad. I haven’t seen any messenger birds land on our ship, but that doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. Hold on a moment, and I’ll go ask Demi about it.

I’m back! So Demi said that the albatrosses will start coming once a day until we cross the Drake Passage, the windy strip of water that separates Antarctica from the other continents. Until then, Captain Springett will just go ashore to send a message, or the Guild might send a special messenger if needed. But he also said he hasn’t seen any birds come to us, and the captain didn’t disembark at our first stop here in Romulus. At first I thought, “Maybe I’m good for now.” But I didn’t want to chance it, so now I’m trying to figure out a way to disable the messenger birds that we have on board.

Knowing nothing about mechs makes it difficult. And I definitely can’t ask for help or anything. I’ll have to think about it some more.

Woah, the whole ship just jolted. It’s super dark outside; normally at this time, I can see the sunset. I think I just saw a flash of lightning!

Charlotte just came to bed in the bunk across from me so now I have to turn down my light. I haven’t really talked to her much but she seems very intense. I don’t know why.

Okay I have an idea now! All messenger birds have a little grav crystal, right? And the little solar panels to create the electricity that activates the crystals. So what if I sabotage each bird so that it just looks like mechanical failure?

I think I remember that the birds are stored in a little closet off one of the side hallways - I mean, passageways. Charlotte seems like she’s asleep so I’ll turn off my light and sneak over there.

-A Little Later

That was insane! I finally managed to find the messenger closet, but someone was already in there! I heard a bird say, “Estimated time of arrival is November 29, 1891. Do you accept?”

“I accept,” the man said. I couldn’t see his face through the slightly open door, but I recognized his voice. It was Sydney!

He opened a little hatch, and the bird hopped into a box. Then Sydney shut the first hatch and opened another that led to the outside air. The bird flew into the clouds. Good thing the storm calmed down.

But I was even more surprised when Sydney crouched in front of the other three birds. They were in dormant mode and didn’t move as he fiddled with the wiring. One by one, they sparked and drooped, something obviously broken, as he moved down the line. Then I realized that he would probably leave the closet soon, and would bump into me if I stayed. So I rushed back to my bunkroom, maybe not as quietly as I would have liked.

Now I don’t know what to think about this. On one hand, he did my dirty work for me. But on the other hand, what’s his motivation for this? What is he hiding? And who did he send the message to?

I can barely keep my eyes open. It has been such a long day. So goodnight for now, and I’ll update you soon.

Yours,

Daisy