The Ship Who Won (44 page)

Sounds of alarm erupted from underneath the console.

Tall emerged, signaling frantically. Potria, as a parting gesture, threw a handful of scarlet lightning at him. Tall

shielded almost automatically, and went on gesturing,

panic-stricken.

"My people," he repeated over and over. "My people!"

"We have to stop them!" Keffsaid. Plennafrey broke the

bubble around them, and the three headed for her chair.

"I will guard our friends," Chaumel said, making his way

across the platform toward them. Femgal threw forked

lightning, aiming for the silver and golden mages at once.

Chaumel ducked, and it sizzled over his head. A second

later, he had a thin and shining globe of protection raised

around himself and the console, withstanding the attacks

of the dissidents.

Plennafrey lifted off the platform. Asedow and Potria

were already most of the way to the tunnel. Suddenly, half

a dozen chariots loomed over them and dropped into their

path, cutting them off. Jaw set grimly, Keff hung on. Tall

clutched Plennafrey around the knees as she tried to evade

the others, but there were too many of them.

Traitor!" Lacia screamed, peppering them with thunderbolts.

"Upstart!" Femgal shouted at Plennafrey. "You don't

know your place, but you will leam! Together-now\"

The young magiwoman set up a shield, but spells from

six or more senior mages tore it apart like tissue paper. Fire

of rainbow hues consumed the air around them. An explosion racked the chariot beneath them. Keff, blinded and

choking, felt himself falling down and down.

Something springy yet insubstantial caught him just a

few meters above the tops of the generators. When his

eyes adjusted again, Keff looked around. A net of woven

silver and gold bore him and the others upward. Scattered

on the surface of the machinery were the pieces ofPlenna-frey's chariot. It had been blasted to bits. Plenna herself,

clutching Tall, was in a similar net controlled by Chaumel

and Nokias. Femgal and the others were halfway down the

cavern, turning to come in again for another attack.

"Are you all right?" Chaumel asked them, helping them

back onto the platform.

"Yes," Keffsaid, and saw Plennas shaky nod. 'The generators are running out of control. We have to slow them

down."

Tall kicked loose from Plennas arms and hurried over to

the console. Using the amulet, he flicked switches and

rolled dials, but Keff could see that his efforts were having

little effect. Femgal and the others were almost upon

them. A bolt of blue-white lightning crackled between him

and the console, driving him back. Bravely, the litde

amphibioid threw himself forward. Keff interposed himself between Tall and the dissidents, ready to take the

brunt of the next attack.

'That's enough of this!" Carialle declared loudly. Suddenly, the power items stopped working. The dissidents'

chariots all slowed down, even dipped. Everyone gasped.

Lacia clutched the arms other chair.

"Stop this attack at once!" Keff roared, flinging his arms

up. 'The next thing we turn off will be your chairs! If you

don't want to fall into the gear-works, cease and desist!

This isn't helping your cause or your planet!"

Furious but helpless, Femgal and the others drew back

from the platform. With as much dignity as he could muster, Femgal led his ragged band out of the cavern.

"Nice work, Cari," Keffsaid.

T wasn't sure I could select frequencies that narrow, but

it worked," Carialle said triumphantly. 'They won't fall out

of the air, but that's it for their troublemaking. I'm not

turning their power items on again. Tall can do it someday,

if he ever feels he can trust them." Keff glanced at the

globe-frog, who, in spite of the small bums that peppered

his hide, was working feverishly over the console. The turbines slowed down with painful groans and screeches, and

resumed a peaceful thrum.

T doubt it will be soon," Keff said. Plennafrey grabbed

his arm.

"We have to stop Potria," Plenna said urgently. "She's

going to kill the Ancient Ones and she doesn't need power

to do it. She's mad. If she can fly to where they are, that's

enough."

Keff smote himself in me forehead. "I've been distracted. We have to stop them right away."

"She's gone mad," Nokias said. "I will go." The golden

chair lifted off the platform.

T will help, Mage Keff," Brannel volunteered, emerg-ing from his hiding place.

"We've got to follow her, Chaumel," Keff said, turning

to the silver magiman. "Can you take us, too?"

"Not to worry," Carialle said cosily in KefPs ear. "She's

out here. In the snow. Swearing."

"Carialle stopped her," Keff shouted. Nokias turned his

head, and Keff nodded vigorously. The others cheered,

and Plenna threw herself into his arms. He gave her a

huge hug, then dropped to his knees beside Tall. The other

two globe-frogs had come out from beneath the console to

aid their chief. They all acted alarmed.

"Can I help?" Keff asked.

"Big, big power, stored," Tall signed, pointing to the battery indicator. "Made by them," he gestured toward the

departed Femgal and his minions. "Must do something

with it, now!"

"A glut in the storage batteries?" Keffsaid. He could see

the dials straining. The others, who knew from long use

what the moods of the Core felt like, wore taut expressions. "What can you do? Can you discharge it?"

Tall nodded once, sharply, and bent over the controls

with the amulet clutched in his paws.

On the surface, Carialle s fins rested on an exposed outcropping of rock not far from the entrance. She watched

with some satisfaction as Potria shook, then pulled, then

lacked her useless chariot. Asedow lay unconscious on a

snowbank where he'd fallen when his chair stopped. The

pink-gold magess hoisted her skirts and tramped through

the permafrost to his. It wouldn't function, either. She

kicked it, kicked him, and came over to apply the toes of

her dainty peach boots to Carialle's fins.

"Hey!" Carialle protested on loudspeaker. "Knock that

off."

Potria jumped back. She retreated sulkily to her chair

and seated herself in it magnificently, waiting for something to happen.

Something did, but not at all what Potria must have had

in mind. Carialle detected a change in the atmosphere.

Power crept up from beneath the surface of the planet,

almost simmering up through solid matter. Instead of feeling ionized and drained, the air began to feel heavy.

Carialle checked her monitors. With interest, she observed

that the temperature was rising, and consequently, so was

the humidity.

"Keff," she transmitted, "you ought to get everyone out

here, pronto."

"Whats wrong?" the brawn s voice asked, worriedly.

"Nothings wrong. Just... bring everyone topside. You'll

want to see this."

She monitored the puzzled conversation as Keff gathered his small party together for the long flight to the

surface. By the time they appeared at the chimney

entrance, clouds were already forming in the clear blue

sky.

Plennafrey rode pillion on Chaumels chair with the

three globe-frogs clinging to the back while Keff and Brannel shared the gold chair with Nokias. Nokias's remaining

followers straggled behind. The group settled down beside

Carialles ramp. Potria, her nose in the air, ignored them

pointedly.

"Whats so important, Cari?" Keff asked after a glance at

Asedow to make sure the man was alive.

"Watch them," Carialle suggested. The Ozrans were all

staring straight up at the sky. "Its not important to you, but

it is to them. In fact, its vital."

"Whats happening?"

"Just wait! You nonshells are so impatient," Carialle

chided him playfully.

'The air feels strange," Brannel said after a while, rubbing a pinch of his fur together speculatively with two

fingers. "It is not cold now, but it is thick."

The crack of thunder startled all of them. Sheet lightning blasted across the sky, and in a moment, rain was

pummeling down.

As soon as the first droplets struck their outstretched

palms, Chaumel and the others started shrieking and dancing for joy. A few of the mages gathered in handful after

handful of the cold, heavy drops and splashed them on

their faces. Plennafrey grabbed Keff and Brannel and

whirled them around in a circle.

"Rain!" she cried. "Real rain!"

Under his wet, plastered hair, the Noble Primitive s face

was glowing.

"Oh, Mage Keff, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

In the center of their Bttie circle, the three globe-frogs

had abandoned their cases and stood with their hands out,

letting the water sluice down their bodies.

'Thank you, friends," Chaumel said, coming over to

throw soaked sleeves over their backs. "Look how far the

clouds spread! This will be over the South and East

regions in an hour. Rain, on my mountaintop! What a

treasure!"

'This is what'll happen if you let the Core ofOzran run

the way it was meant to," Keff said. Plenna gave him a rib-cracking hug and beamed at Brannel.

'This welcome storm will convince more doubters than

any speeches or caves full of machinery," Nokias said, coming to join them. "More of these, especially around

planting season, and we will have record crops. My fruit

trees," he said proudly, "will bear as never before."

"Ozran will prosper," Chaumel said assuredly. "I make

these promises to you now, and especially to you, my furry

friend: no more amputations, no more poison in the food,

no more lofty magi sitting in their mountain fastnesses. We

will act like administrators instead of spoiled patricians,

eating the food and beating the farmers. We will come

down from the heights and assume the mande of our . . .

humanity with honor."

Brannel was wide-eyed. "I never thought I would live to

be talked to as an equal by one of the most important

mages in the world."

"You're important yourself," Keffsaid. "You're the most

intelligent worker in the world, isn't he, Chaumel?"

"Yes!" Chaumel spat water and wiped his face. "My

friend Noldas and I have a proposition for you. Will you

hear it?"

Noldas looked dubious for a moment, then silent communion seemed to reassure him. "Yes, we do."

"I will listen," Brannel said carefully, glancing at Kefffor

permission.

"Ozran will need an adviser on conservation. Also, we

need one who will liaise between the workers and the

administrators. It will be a position almost equal to the

mages. There will be much hard work involved, but you'll

use your very good mind to the benefit of all your world.

Will you take it?"

Brannel looked so pleased he needed two tails to wag.

"Oh, yes. Mage Chaumel. I will do it with all my heart."

"Shall I tell him now?" Plenna whispered in Keffs ear.

"He can have my sash and my other things when I come

away with you. Tall Eyebrow already has my belt."

"Um, don't tell him yet, Plenna. Let it be a surprise.

Uh-oh, Cari," Keff subvocalized. "We still have a problem."

"I'm ready for it, sir knight. Bring her in here."

"Now, friends," Noldas said, wringing out one sleeve at a

time. "I am enjoying this rain very much, but I am getting

very wet. Come back to my stronghold, where we may

watch this fine storm and enjoy it from under a roof." He

beckoned to Brannel. "Come with us, far-face. You have

much to leam. Might as well start now."

Brannel, hardly believing his good fortune, mounted the

golden chairs back and prepared to enjoy the ride. Noldas

gathered his contingent, including the recalcitrant Potria,

and Asedow, who was coming to with all the signs of a

near-fatal headache.

"Go on ahead," Keff said. "We've got some things to

take care of here."

Carialle's Lady Fair image was on the wall as Keff, Plennafrey, Chaumel, and the trio of globe-frogs came into the

cabin. At. once, she ordered out her servos, one with a

heavy-duty sponge-mop, and the other with a shelf-load of

towels.

'There, get warmed up," she said sweetly. "I'm making

hot drinks. Whether or not you've forgotten, you were still

standing on top of a glacier with wet feet."

Keff stepped out of his wet boots and went into his

sleeping compartment. "Come on, Chaumel. I bet you

wear the same size shoes I do. Everybody make themselves at home."

Plennafrey kissed her hand lovingly to Keff. He kissed

his fingers to her and winked.

"Oh, Plenna," Carialle said with deceptive calm. "I've

got some data I wanted to show you." Keffs crash-couch

swung out to her hospitably as the magiwoman

approached. "Sit down. I think you need to see these."

When Keff and Chaumel appeared a few minutes later,

freshly shod, Plennafrey was sitting with her head in her

hands. The Lady Fair "sat" sympathetically beside her,

murmuring in a soothing voice.

"So you see," Carialle was saying, "with the mutation in