The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (60 page)

Shann looked up at the sky. It was a cerulean blue decorated with a few wisps of cloud.
Excellent flying weather
. Her heart beat faster at the thought of flying…up there.

“She’s ready to go when you are.” Shann and Rael turned to see a Kelanni clad in bright blue coveralls. He was old, but with a strong physique. He had a round tanned face and wispy white hair, which was being blown about comically by the wind.

“Hello, Ravid.” Rael turned to Shann. “This is Ravid–head avionics engineer. Ravid, this is Shann.”

Ravid winked conspicuously at Rael. The boy shuffled his feet and bowed his head once more.
What is it with this place? Why does everyone think we’re on some sort of a date?
She suddenly had a wicked thought. Impulsively, she linked her arm with Rael’s. She felt the boy freeze. “So,” she asked conversationally, “how far can this thing go?”

Ravid looked at Rael with a puzzled expression. “Is your girlfriend new here?”

Shann glanced up at Rael, who was looking more and more uncomfortable. She smiled enigmatically. “You could say that.”

“Well, I charged her overnight myself, miss,” Ravid said. “Twenty met-ryns on turbines alone. If you use lodestone, you might put another five on that. Of course, you’d need to halve the numbers for a round trip. You kids going far?”

Shann fluttered her eyelids. “That depends…”

Ravid grinned from ear to ear. “Well, have a good trip.” He turned and headed back toward the low building.

Shann withdrew her arm and regarded the boy, but he would not make eye contact. “Th-that wasn’t very funny, Shann.”

It was a stupid thing to do. First Solvi; then Ravid. She had allowed her feelings of annoyance to get the better of her and played into a role, but now Rael thought she had done it to make fun of him. She felt regret at having hurt him, but also a flash of annoyance. Why did males always think that they were at the centre of everything you did? Shann thrust the thought aside and did the only thing she could. “I’m sorry,” she said.

She saw the tension flow out of him. He smiled weakly. “Come on, let’s go.” Using handholds on the side of the fuselage, he climbed up to the cockpit and held out a hand to pull her up. “You take the front seat.”

“Surely you don’t expect me to fly this thing?”

“The front seat is the passenger seat, Shann. There are auxiliary controls, but they’re locked out. In any case, just…don’t touch them.”

It was easier said than done. The cockpit was cramped and it was hard not to knock something accidentally. Rael somehow managed to fold himself into the seat behind her. The clear cover came down over her head, and the fans started up. She had an odd sensation and realised that the machine was rising into the air. Looking down, she could see the avionics field with its odd building, surrounded by the other craft, growing smaller until they looked like a shoal of little silver fish. Soon it was swallowed up in the wider countryside of rolling fields overlaid with falls of snow.

The engines’ note fell as their little craft banked towards the northeast. Shann turned her head so that she could just about see Rael from the corner of her eye. “Ravid said this thing was powered by lodestone,” she shouted.

“Partly,” Rael’s raised voice came back. “The turbines are powered by a stored electrical charge. However, lodestone has diamagnetic properties. We run a current through the lodestone in the lower fuselage; it gives us extra lift from natural lodestone deposits at lower altitudes.”

“So…you push off natural lodestone, like we do with the flying cloak.”

“In a way, yes,” Rael replied. “But the electrical field gives us more of a push.”

Shann studied the labels on the controls in front of her. This one would correspond to the lodestone layer; this would be the equivalent of the bronze. There were a few toggles and buttons she wasn’t sure about, but the principles seemed clear.

Snow-capped mountains to the right faded into low-lying clouds, draped about their peaks like a loose fitting shroud. To the left, the land spread out toward the shimmering line that was the Aronak Sea. It was exhilarating. “Do you mind if I ask you something?” she asked.

“I, er…suppose not,” he said.

“How did you come to work for Hannath?”

“I…was good with numbers. The educator told Hannath. The projects the Master was engaged in meant that he needed someone who had number skills. So I was asked to be his apprentice.”

“He doesn’t seem to treat you very well,” she observed.

“He…I am very privileged. It is a great honour to learn from the Master.”

Shann bit back her words. Now was not the time. But the way things were developing, she sensed that there would soon come a point where she would be forced to test his loyalty to his Master. And that would involve hurting him even more.

She did not relish the prospect.

~

The launch site was a nest of rods and girders, cocooning a squat metallic ovoid shape. It sat on a flat, featureless plain–the only sign of artificial construction. Shann was frankly a little disappointed. She had expected the craft to be much larger, for some reason. As it was, it seemed scarcely any bigger than the avionic she was flying in–far too puny and fragile a craft to challenge the very stars.

Rael chose a circular approach vector, so that Shann had a view of the structure from all sides, before he finally brought the avionic to a gentle touchdown on a clear patch of dirt about two hundred yards out. As the dust cleared, Shann saw a couple of figures trotting toward them. They resolved into a man and a woman, dressed in identical green overalls.

Rael slid back the cockpit cover, and he and Shann climbed out. The man stepped up and gave a short bow. His head was bald in the middle and his light olive skin bore a smattering of freckles. “Greetings, Rael,” he said. “You’ll be pleased to know the timetable has moved up and full testing is due to begin…” He tailed off as his gaze fell on Shann. “Who is she?”

“She’s a visitor,” Rael stated simply.

“Does Hannath know about this?” he demanded.

“The master knows all about her. N-now I have to return soon and make my report. Please let me see what you have been doing.”

The man looked as if he was about to say something else, but his lips compressed to a line and he gave another short bow. “Of course. This way, please.” He and Rael set off in the direction of the construction site, while Shann and the other woman fell in step behind.

The woman was middle aged, with shoulder length fair hair. She smiled warmly at Shann as they walked. “Sorry about that. Suma is a little nervous of ‘visitors’. The Scientific Directorate is breathing down his neck right now.” Her smile vanished. “You’re not a spy sent by the Directorate, are you?”

“No, I don’t know anyone from there,” Shann replied honestly.

The woman’s smile returned. “Well my name is Ermina. I’m pleased to meet you,” she said.

“Shann,” Shann replied.

As they approached, the metal gantry towered over them. From the air it had seemed insignificant, an artificial aberration on the plain far below. Now it loomed over her, an uncomfortable reminder of her own insignificance. Rael and Suma entered a small cage-like construction and moved to make way for Shann and Ermina. There was barely enough room for the four of them, and Shann was about to ask why they were all crammed into such a tiny space, when the cage suddenly began moving upward with a jerk.

Shann stifled a cry and grabbed onto a rail to steady herself. The cage juddered as it moved. She watched as the curved surface of the vessel that was entombed in the metal framework passed before her eyes. They were halfway up the structure when the cage suddenly lurched to a halt, and they squeezed out onto a narrow platform. There was a chilly breeze. Shann pulled the brown fur jacket tighter around her neck.

Rael and Suma headed off around the platform. Suma was pointing upward and talking animatedly. Ermina tapped Shann on the shoulder. “Come on,” she said, setting off in the opposite direction.

“What about the others?” Shann queried.

Ermina waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, they’ll be at it for ornahs. Best leave them to it.”

Shann followed the older woman as she led the way around the narrow walkway. They had walked a quarter of the way around the structure when Ermina stopped and leaned against the outer rail, inviting Shann to take the spot beside her.

Ermina gazed at the plain stretched out before them. “Takala Flats.”

“What?”

Ermina turned toward the girl and laughed lightly, “Sorry, it’s the name we’ve coined for this place. ‘Takala’ means banishment or exile in Ancient. It’s a bit of a joke, really. Some of us have been here for quite a while.”

The “flats” were spread out like a patchwork quilt–yellow grass and purple shrubs, interspersed with white snow. There were no signs of habitation and no wildlife evident from this distance. Even the sky was empty of birds. In comparison to the Eastern Plains, it was positively barren.

“So,” Ermina began, “what is your interest in our project, Shann?”

Shann felt like a fish out of water. She had no reason–no excuse for being here. For all she knew, this woman might report back to Hannath and get Rael into trouble. For his sake and hers, Shann had to play into a role. There was only one card she had to play, but it was a good one. She hoped it would be enough. “You use lodestone to power the vessel. The lodestone pushes it and the vessel pulls the lodestone.”

The older woman’s eyes widened. “So you know the principle behind the diametric drive?”

“Uh-huh.” Shann nodded. “Rael and I have been collaborating on it for a while.”

“Really,”
Ermina returned, “Rael never mentioned you before.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Of course, you know how he is around girls, so maybe that’s not surprising.”

Shann didn’t really know what the woman meant, but she replied “Oh, yes.”

Ermina looked her up and down as if seeing her for the first time. “You seem a little young to be consulting on a project such as this.” Shann felt a rising sense of apprehension, but it was quickly dispelled when the woman laughed again. “Still, I suppose at my age, everyone starts to look young.”

Ermina had an easygoing manner that Shann was warming to. As Shann smiled back, the germ of an idea formed in her mind. She dipped her toe gingerly into the waters. “This vessel–it could take us to the other side–to Kelanni-Drann, could it not?”

“I suppose so,” the woman agreed, “but that isn’t the mission profile. Three orbits, followed by a controlled landing. We will be making observations of the other side from orbit, of course. Why do you ask?”

“Aren’t you curious about what lies on the other side?”

“In a way, yes.” Ermina said. “But I seriously doubt whether there’s much there of interest.”

Shann was taken aback by the woman’s response, but managed to make herself sound casual. “Why do you say that?”

Ermina chuckled. “Well, I’m not an anthropologist, it’s true. But if the accounts of the Goratha are correct, then I seriously doubt whether anyone survived on that side. The few who were left here in Kelanni-Skell were almost wiped out that first winter. No–it’s very unlikely that anyone would be left in Drann after all this time. It’s probably a wasteland.”

Shann imagined the look on Ermina’s face if she knew that the person she was talking to now was from that “wasteland”, and that there were many thousands of Kelanni there. A part of her longed to shatter the woman’s self-assured notions. But Shann had something far more important to accomplish than that, right now. “I was wondering…whether I might take a look at the flight controls.”

To her utter surprise, Ermina pointed a finger at her.
“Caught you.”

Shann’s heart froze. “W…what do you mean?”

Ermina laughed again and shook her head. “Of course I half suspected when I saw your size and build. But that last remark gave you away. Although I must admit, I didn’t even know there was a short list yet.”

“A short list?”

“For the position of our first pilot.” Ermina smiled warmly. “Although I would have to say that if you have managed to charm both Hannath and our boy Rael here to the point where they would allow you to come visit the site, then you probably deserve the honour of being our first pilot for that piece of ingenuity alone.” She burst out laughing again, and Shann felt the tension flow out of her to the point where she could return a smile.