The Quest to the Uncharted Lands

by Jaleigh Johnson

  Her mother listened as she chattered on, until Stella realized abruptly that her mother had gotten her to talk about Cyrus after all. Sneaky. She’d forgotten that about her mother too. Or maybe it was just that Cyrus was the only thing on her mind. She sighed, giving into the inevitable, and mumbled, “Yes, he’s cute. From a purely scientific perspective,” she added hastily. “And he’s…tall.”

  “Hmmm,” her mother said, as if they were discussing a research paper instead of a boy. “Tall. Yes, I believe he is.” Her expression abruptly turned serious. “He must miss his family very much.”

  “He does, but it’s not just that,” Stella said, wanting her mother to understand. “I think for a while he lost hope that he was ever going to make it home again. Or he buried his hope so deep that it was hard for him to find it again. That’s why I promised to help him.” She hadn’t thought about it this way before, but as she spoke, she knew the words were true. “If he can’t find hope, then I’ll feel it for him.”

  It sounded silly when she said it aloud, but her mother didn’t laugh. She reached across the table and put her hand over Stella’s. “I’m glad that Cyrus found you,” she said. “He couldn’t have asked for a better friend. I’m proud of you, Stella.”

  “Thank you.” Unable to meet her mother’s eyes, Stella smiled down at her sandwich.

  They ate in silence for a while, until Stella realized she had questions of her own. The cafeteria was empty except for the two of them, but Stella leaned forward and dropped her voice. “What’s going to happen when we land and meet the olarans?” she asked. “And what about Merrow and Dragonfly? Will they be able to get along with each other?”

  Even though the crew believed they’d captured the saboteur, there was still tension between the two sides. Stella had sensed it in the short time she’d spent among them. What if that affected their meeting with the olarans? What if Kovall didn’t welcome them? Everything the expedition was about to do felt so big yet so fragile, as if one wrong move would bring it all crashing down.

  Her mother hesitated before replying, and her gaze seemed to turn inward, as if she were a hundred miles away in her memory. “I wish I had answers for you, Stella, but I just don’t know,” she said. “None of us—humans, sarnuns, chamelins, or olarans—are perfect. But at some point, we’re going to have to want to coexist. If we spend all our time fighting change and fighting each other, eventually we’ll lose ourselves, lose the future we want for our children. But I promise you, your father and I will do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Stella nodded, unexpected tears welling up in her eyes. King Aron was right, she thought. Her parents really were the best people for this mission. They were explorers, talented healers, but they cared about people too. No matter what, they wouldn’t lose themselves, and they wouldn’t forget about their home. How could she have ever doubted that?

  Her mother reached across the table to pick up Stella’s empty tray, but Stella threw her arms around her mother and hugged her tight.

  “Whoa, what’s that for?” her mother asked, hugging her back.

  “I just…I love you, that’s all,” Stella whispered.

  “I love you too,” her mother said, her voice thick.

  They left the cafeteria a few minutes later and headed back to the medical bay. One of the engineers had come in with steam burns on his leg, which required the attention of both of Stella’s parents, so Stella took the opportunity to slip away, using the excuse that she was going up on deck for some fresh air.

  What she actually did was go put on the invisibility suit for more scouting.

  She started at the security office, as usual. She recognized the guard and passed in front of him slowly, looking at his eyes. They were normal, not bloodshot at all.

  Stella covered the other decks, staying out of the way of the crew, and ended up topside. She scoured the deck around the crow’s nest and then headed to the back of the ship, knowing she would have it to herself at this time of day.

  She glanced over the railing and, as usual, found herself overwhelmed by the dizzying view straight down.

  But today something was different.

  The mountains were gone.

  They were passing over a thick evergreen forest. Tall green spikes reached toward the sky, and Stella imagined she could smell the pine scent even from this height. The air blew warmer on her face than she’d ever felt it. It wouldn’t be long—it might even happen today—until they’d passed over the forest and found some open ground to land on.

  She couldn’t wait to tell Cyrus. He was almost home.

  Stella turned from the railing and jumped back in surprise.

  One of the crew was leaning over the railing a few feet away from her. At first, Stella thought he was airsick and throwing up over the side, but when he straightened, Stella saw he was holding a spyglass. He’d also been enjoying the view.

  He turned toward her, slipping the spyglass inside his long coat.

  His eyes were red and bloodshot.

  The Faceless man was standing right in front of her.

  Stella sucked in a breath, and that was what gave her away.

  The Faceless man reacted instantly. Plunging a hand into his pocket, he pulled out a fistful of white powder, which he threw into the air all around him.

  Stella tried to dodge the powder, but it hit her square in the chest, leaving a white stain and effectively giving away exactly where she was.

  Time to run.

  Stella spun and took off, but the Faceless man was fast. He bounded after her and caught up in three strides. He grabbed her by the hook of her suit and pulled her back, hauling her over to the railing. Stella’s back hit the metal bar, the breath whooshing from her lungs, but she was more worried about the dizzying drop thousands of feet to the ground.

  The Faceless man planted himself in front of her and grabbed the collar of her suit, tearing off her hood and undoing the invisibility power. “If you scream, I’ll throw you off this ship,” he warned her.

  Stella didn’t scream, but she did look around frantically for one of the deckhands, for anyone to help her, but the few people moving around on deck were all at the bow, and she and the Faceless man were hidden behind a large bin of parachutes stored at the back of the ship.

  “I know you’ve been looking for me,” the Faceless man said, his bloodshot eyes hot with anger. He shook her once, hard. “I knew you were out there somewhere, hiding in the suit, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing you do now can stop me.”

  His stale breath was hot on her face. Stella tried not to gag. “Tell me why you’re doing this,” she demanded. “We don’t want a fight with the olarans. We’re coming to your lands in peace.”

  “Peace,” the Faceless man said, turning the word to acid. “I’ve spent more time on your side of the world than any other olaran. I was there during the Iron War. Your people fight over every scrap of resources and your kind of ‘peace’ would doom our people and strip us of everything we have.”

  “What you’re doing will kill Cyrus!” Stella countered, her voice rising. “He’s one of your own people!”

  The Faceless man’s eyes blazed a warning, and he pushed her against the railing. Stella choked back her fear and fell silent.

  “You should have stayed on your side of the world,” he said. “I will protect my people from you, no matter the price. Once the boy is taken care of, this ship will fall from the sky.”

  With those words, he pushed her.

  Stella toppled backward over the railing, her arms flailing toward the empty sky.

  The world turned upside down. With her remaining shreds of concentration, Stella caught the last rail rung with one hand. Her whole body jerked, but she held on, stopping herself from plunging thousands of feet to her death.

  Don’t look down, she told herself, her legs swinging wildly beneath her. Whatever you do, Stella, don’t look down.

  She also tried not to think about the fact that she d
idn’t have a very good grip on the rung and her fingers were slipping.

  “Help!” she screamed. “Somebody help me!”

  There had been chamelins patrolling the deck earlier. Surely one of them would hear her. Mustering up as much strength as she could, Stella reached up with her other hand and grabbed hold of the rail, but in doing so, she looked down.

  Clouds swirled below her, the distant trees waving, their points spearing the sky like knives. Stella went light-headed and squeezed her eyes shut.

  Footsteps pounded across the deck in response to her cries. Stella looked up at the face of one of the deckhands who appeared over the railing. When the young man saw her, his eyes widened.

  Stella sighed with relief. It was one of the chamelin guards. He stepped back and transformed, wings exploding from his back as he changed to his lizard-like form and leaped over the rail, gliding on the air currents. He circled and came up beneath her, grabbing her around the waist.

  Stella let go, and he flew her up and over the railing again, depositing her back on the deck in one smooth motion. “Thank you,” she told the chamelin. He put a hand on her arm to steady her, but Stella waved him away. Scanning the deck for any sign of the Faceless man, she sighed. He was nowhere in sight.

  It didn’t matter. She knew where he was going and took off running across the deck.

  “Wait!” the chamelin cried after her, in the middle of shifting back to his human form. “What’s going on? What happened?”

  But Stella didn’t stop. The Iron Glory was in terrible danger, and she had to warn everyone.

  Stella burst into the medical bay, startling her parents, who were crushing herbs in a mortar and pestle.

  “What is it, Stella?” her father asked immediately, dropping the tools and taking her by the shoulders.

  “Cyrus,” Stella said, panting. “The Faceless man. He’s coming. He’s going to try to crash the ship. I don’t know how, but he’s done something. I…I saw him.”

  Voice shaking, she told them everything that had just happened. Her father’s face was a mask of fury when she’d finished.

  “We’re going to the captain this instant,” he said. “He’s going to listen to us.”

  “No!” Stella said, tugging on his arm. “Mom, Dad—the Faceless man can imitate any of the crew. He could imitate the captain, and the crew will never believe us if we question the captain! We can’t trust anyone, and Cyrus is the only one who can protect the ship. The Faceless man will go after him first. We have to break him out of the security office!”

  “Stella, he’s surrounded by guards,” her mother said. “If we can warn them—”

  “By the time we get them to listen, it might be too late!” she insisted. “Cyrus got the Iron Glory through the storm. He’s the only one who can help us.”

  Stella hadn’t planned to come running to them like this, but she needed them on her side. She didn’t think she could break Cyrus out on her own. Sneak in, yes, but getting him out was another thing entirely. If only she had more time, she might have been able to come up with a different plan, but this was all she had.

  Stella’s parents looked at each other, fear and uncertainty written all over their faces.

  Finally, Stella’s mother said, “I’ll go to the captain and tell him everything about Cyrus and the Faceless man. It’s a risk, but I think it’s one we have to take. In the meantime, Stella, you and your father go get Cyrus. Do whatever you can to protect the ship.”

  Stella’s father nodded, but worry was etched in every line of his face. “You realize if we do this, there will be repercussions,” he said. “If the captain doesn’t believe you, he might arrest us for setting Cyrus free. We’re not soldiers, but we’re still under his command for the duration of the expedition. He could bring us before the king when we get home, claim we committed treason by defying his authority and putting the ship in danger.”

  “I know,” Stella’s mother said, her voice dropping, but there was a layer of iron beneath it. “I don’t like to think about what could happen and what it would mean for our daughter, but we can’t turn away from this, Martin. The ship is in danger, and so is Cyrus. That boy’s parents aren’t here to look out for him. Imagine if it were Stella, captured and far from home. Wouldn’t we want someone to protect her?”

  Her father glanced at Stella, and the look on his face was full of love, sadness, and fear, all at once. She was seeing sides of her parents she’d never glimpsed before, and part of her didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see her father afraid. She wanted him to tell her everything was going to be all right.

  And the thought of her parents going to prison for treason…she couldn’t let that happen. “I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me,” she said. “Maybe it would be better if I just—”

  But she didn’t get any further than that before her mother interrupted. She was wearing her over my dead body expression. “Don’t even think about arguing with me, Stella. We’ll do this together or not at all. And we’re not doing this because you asked us to; we’re doing it because we have a responsibility to protect this ship and crew from harm.”

  Stella opened her mouth to argue, but the determined expression in her mother’s eyes stopped her. “All right,” she said, fighting back her fear. She pushed all thoughts of the future out of her mind and began gathering her supplies for what they were about to do.

  She opened her alchemy case and began passing out smoke bombs to her father while she haltingly explained her idea. She’d been working on a way to bust Cyrus out since she’d visited him the night before. She’d just hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.

  Twenty minutes later, Stella was heading up the stairs. When she reached the landing, she peeked down the hall in the direction of the security office. The usual guard was standing in front of the door, looking bored.

  Stella consulted her mental map of the ship, going over which rooms were on this deck. Besides the security office and the small room where Cyrus was being held, there was a supply closet at the far end of the hallway, a washroom on the opposite side of the hall, and, directly next to the security quarters, a conference room where the captain took meetings with the rest of the crew. It was a long, narrow hall, just like all the others on every deck of the ship.

  Her father had come down a few minutes ago and was supposed to have taken up a position in the washroom, waiting for her signal. Stella hesitated a minute to make sure the guard wasn’t going to look her way. Then she reached in her alchemy case and pulled out one of her smoke bombs and some matches. Lighting the fuse as quietly as she could, Stella crouched down and placed the smoke bomb on the floor by the stair rail.

  She didn’t have long to wait. Smoke quickly filled the small area and began pouring down the hallway. Stella ran and hid around the corner, before reaching back into her alchemy case for her knockout powder.

  “Fire!” cried the guard. “We’ve got a fire up here! Somebody help!”

  Stella heard a door burst open, and footsteps pounded down the hall. Two guards, including the one who’d been standing at the door, burst into the stairwell. Quickly, Stella raised the compact and blew a cloud of the knockout dust into their faces.

  Unlike when she’d used the dust on Cyrus, the guards succumbed immediately, crumpling to the floor in a heap. Stella crouched between their prone bodies and unhooked a ring of keys from one guard’s belt. She kept the compact ready in her other hand.

  She stepped out into the hall just in time to see another cloud of smoke pouring from the washroom where her father was hiding. A third guard had just come out of the security office, shouting for his fellows, but the cloud of smoke was too thick for him to see they were unconscious in the stairwell. He ran for the washroom, yanking open the door to search for the source of the fire. A pair of hands—Stella’s father’s—grabbed the guard by the shirt collar and pulled him inside.

  Less than a minute later, her father slipped out of the washroom, looking pleased, and shu
t the door behind him. Stella ran down the hall to meet him.

  “Any trouble?” she asked.

  Her father batted smoke away and shook his head, holding up the small container of knockout powder Stella had given him. “It worked perfectly. Let’s go,” he said, motioning toward the security office. “I’ll distract whatever guards are inside. You use the invisibility suit and go get Cyrus.”

  “Got it,” Stella said. She knew they didn’t have much time. The smoke from the bombs would draw out the rest of the crew, who’d sound the alarm while looking for a fire.

  She raised the hood of the invisibility suit and activated it before her father opened the door, and together they went inside.

  The woman Stella had seen the other night was guarding Cyrus’s door. She looked up in surprise when Stella and her father walked in. “What’s going on out there?” she demanded.

  “It’s a fire,” Stella’s father said. “I need your help right now. There are men down.”

  The woman’s eyes widened. She shot a quick glance at the door, hesitated, then said, “All right, let’s go.”

  They ran out of the office, leaving Stella alone. Her plan was working perfectly! She took the guard’s keys and tried them in the lock one at a time. Her fingers trembled as she thought about Cyrus waiting on the other side of the door. On her fourth try, the key slid into the lock.

  Stella pushed the door open and saw Cyrus standing in the middle of the room, his body tense as if expecting an attack. When Stella shut the door behind her and pulled off her hood, he relaxed.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, hurrying over to her. “Is it the Faceless man?”

  She nodded. “We have to get out of here and go somewhere safe.”

  Cyrus’s eyes widened. “But, Stella, where can we go? They’re going to know you broke me out of here. There’s nowhere we can hide.”