A violet flash. The nose-burning smell of myst. The ticks, and then silence.
Twila grinned against the breeze–the Hourglass and its crew were on the way!
She jammed the speel dial forward until it hit ‘Ahead Half,’ and the airship chugged along toward the front side of Seapike. The purple smog from the engines would surely give them away to the harbor, but that was fine! After all, she was just another ship looking for a berth. And Twila would just keep her head down–if she could find something to cover up, all the better–if they saw wanted posters.
The afternoon sun glimmered off the Sunset Sea below as the Hourglass slowly drifted into Seapike’s harbor. Rosie paid the harbormaster a whole five masts–“Robbery…absolute robbery…”–and the ship’s engines cut as support beams slid into place below it. The crew trooped off the airship, leaving it at anchor with Sam and Ellie aboard.
“Okay, show me the tavern,” Twila said. They curled through the streets and marched into the seedy cracks and tunnels inside of Seapike’s pinnacle. The passages’ walls were rough and jagged. After a few bumps, Twila rubbed the hem of her [Platejack Coat] gratefully; clearly, Seapike’s stone resisted hammers and chisels. A faint smell of eggs wafted through the air here and there, always in places where no one would ever cook. And everywhere she looked, Twila searched for wanted posters. But there were none to be found.
Then, the Blackstone Inn’s door stood in front of her. How unimaginative the owner must have been; the fort was Blackstone, the inn was Blackstone, and if he’d had his way, Twila thought, the whole island would be Blackstone too!
Rosie led the group back toward a table halfway down the long, snaking tunnel–the Tunnel Tavern would have been a better name–and sat down. “This is where we were–will be?”
“Yeah, ‘were’ works just fine,” Rojir said. “So, we sat here. One man at the bar over there left to get the Gibson Marines. The other stopped us from leaving. Then Auntie Charlie walked in. They started fighting, and the Marines showed up.”
“They showed up too fast,” Becca said. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes. “That man couldn’t have gotten them so quick unless there’s a post nearby or he ran into a patrol.”
“Has anyone seen a patrol?” Rosie asked.
One by one, the crew shook their heads. Jamis walked up to the table with a wooden tray filled with cups. “Barkeep said he’d do a pitcher or something for us.” The kids took their mugs and waited while he left, returning with huge wooden pitchers, which he poured into the cups.
Twila took a sip of her watery ale. “This isn’t as bad as the Shimmertower brew, Carter? If there aren’t any patrols, first thing is to find where those Marines were posted. How far away, and from which direction? Jamis, Marianna, Rojir? Did you see anything yesterday?”
“Tomorrow? No, I didn’t,” Jamis said. “We’ll look tonight.”
Nodding, Twila took another sip. A plan was coming together. It wasn’t a great plan yet. But it was something. “Next, how many were there?”
“Dozens,” Marianna said seriously.
Rojir rolled his eyes. “Maybe ten to twelve? I don’t know what a patrol looks like, but it was enough that all we could do was run. But it wasn’t ‘dozens.’ They rushed in like they knew exactly what to expect and already had bayonets ready. So we ran down the tunnel to a door that Jamis opened.”
“I’ve got a gift for locks.”
“Then we just kept running. That tunnel’s long.”
“Let’s check the door and the tunnel after we’re done here. Jamis, you’ll be on the door with, uh, Becca. Rojir, Marianna, you’re finding where the Marines came from,” Twila said. She looked around. That left her, Rosie, and Carter. “We’ll be here, putting together a plan. Then we’ll all have plenty of work to do to make it happen.”
----------------------------------------
“There’s no guard post around here,” Rojir complained. “I have no idea where those Marines came from. It’s like they just appeared or something.”
“Yeah, it was weird. I think we saw two Marines total all the time we were out there,” Marianna nodded along. “They just walked through the tunnel and up the stairs. I followed them, but they didn’t go anywhere interesting.”
Twila stroked her chin. The crew was back around the table in the tavern. Another round of ship rat’s ale sat half-drank and half-forgotten. And Twila was feeling fuzzy. “Okay. We don’t know where they come from. We at least know they go up to the fort after, right?”
“We think we do.” Becca stared over her cup. She hadn’t taken so much as a sip–the pale gold drink inside filled nearly the whole thing. “We don’t know much of anything here, do we? We don’t have any business doing this tomorrow.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Then when are we gonna do it?” Twila asked. A brittle edge filled her voice, and she slammed her hand down on the table. “We only had seven chances, and we’re already down to five!”
“Well, skipper, if we mess up this one, we’ll be at four, and we haven’t learned anything. We don’t know where they come from, we don’t know how many there are, and we only have a guess as to where they go. We’re not ready!” Becca stood up and stomped off to the door. “I’ll be on the ship!”
As she stormed out, Carter watched. He shook his head. Then, he slowly stood up and walked out behind her. “I’ll talk to her. Wish me luck.”
Twila stood up, pushing down her anger. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes. The drink had to be getting to Becca. She’d never been this worked up about something. Yeah, that was it! Too much for a ship rat to drink couldn’t be good. With one more breath, she opened her eyes. “Let’s all head back to the Hourglass. We’ll plan in the morning when we’re feeling better.”
She walked to the door. The crew followed her out, then passed her as she wandered down the passages back toward the Hourglass. Seapike never seemed to slow down–the skywright’s workshops puffed purple-green smoke from their chimneys, and even in the mountain, away from the stinking smog, the tang of myst still made her tongue tingle. People pushed past her on their way to wherever they were going. But Twila barely noticed.
Becca hadn’t drunk any ale. Why did she get so upset? Down the city’s main path, toward the harbor, and even onto the ship, Twila pondered.
The salty evening breeze ruffled her hair as she boarded the Hourglass and stomped into the hold. Becca took one look at her and slipped into the front rooms. Twila shrugged. If the girl ran into Will, that was between her and the automaton. She passed the engine room and slipped into her cabin. Stretching out on the bed, she stared up at the silver engine. Its gears and flywheels sat still. The machine’s threaded cogs glimmered in the afternoon’s light.
If she hadn’t been drinking, why was Becca so angry? Why hadn’t she been sleeping? Twila shut her eyes.
The scene from the Gibson Foundry played in her head. The shot that wounded Auntie Charlie. Her return shot catching the Marine in the chest. Then the scramble down the docks and onto the ship. Her almost-sleepwalking-piloting.
Her eyes sprang wide open. She sat up, narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the silver engine even as she breathed and blinked. Breathed and blinked. The scene from Wainson’s Skywright filled her head even as the gears twinkled.
Becca had probably killed a Marine.
And no one had talked to her about it.
Auntie Charlie wasn’t here. There wasn’t an adult to have the conversation that had helped her. And that left Twila. As skipper, it was her job to take care of her crew. She stood up and walked into the hold.
“Becca? Becca, we need to talk.”
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level .91 (Myst 1/12, Hit Points 2/2)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Platejack Coat (lvl. 2) Plated Coat (passive) +1 Hit Point]
[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]
[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]
[Gizmo #1 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - Empty]
[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]
[Myst Battery - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]