“But the Southern Barrier,” General Sako said. “The fortifications…” He reached up to his breast pocket and touched the handle of his pipe.
“Admiral Sandao has sent scouts ahead to find a way to get us through, given I can’t travel freely in the king’s land anymore. Cini doesn't have enough resources to cover the entire Barrier. We will find a way.”
“Sukina, if I may,” I interjected. “I have an idea.”
Sukina stepped back from her father and turned to me. “Go on.”
“I just remembered. My father has a long-time friend called Candalmo Segora who operates merchant runs down to the Southlands every few weeks. He always works on schedule, so his boat should be somewhere just north of the Southern Approach, right around now.”
Sukina frowned. “Is it large enough to house Velos?” Clearly, for some reason, she didn't want us going north without him.
“Of course. He's got one of the largest secicao import companies in Spezzio. His trawler would be able to fit Velos in the hull plus two, maybe three, Greys.”
“The less the better,” Sukina said. “We'll need to be as discreet as possible.”
General Sako was giving me such a hard look that I worried he was about to rush over and punch me. He turned again on his daughter. “Sukina, this is madness you hear me?”
“Butan,” Sukina said. “We've been through this a thousand times and I'm sure we'll do so a thousand times again. A mission is a mission and you know as well as anyone here that we've got to face danger sometimes.”
“Sukina I—”
“I'm going Butan, that's the end of it.”
And at that point, she stormed out of the room. I rushed out to catch up with her, remembering the argument I'd had with Papo. Our over-controlling fathers seemed another thing we had in common.
CHAPTER 19
We met Candalmo Segora just by the island of Soora, half way up the Southern Approach. These islands were all the same really, red and grey lumps of rocks, some with sandy beaches but little else to mark them as distinct.
He was standing on his deck, looking out at the secicao clouds that we'd presently left behind us. The sun had just started to peek over them, which was always quite a spectacle — the halo around the sun and the way it cast out its rays in multi-coloured prismatic displays.
The full-bearded moustachioed man was just a little bit taller than General Sako but much lither. In all honesty, he'd always seemed to me much more a city than a sailor type. His twenty-three strong crew were busy working the engines of the trawler, making sure it had enough fuel to power the huge beast on its way.
When he noticed us in the sky, he first shouted out something and a couple of crewmembers ran below decks to grab some rifles. A couple of minutes later, though, he recognised me, gestured to his men to put them down and beckoned us in.
We landed on the quarterdeck, with plenty of room for Velos. The three of us dismounted fast.
Candalmo came up over the ladder at the bottom of the deck carrying in one hand a tray with four cups of hot secicao and a cafetiere. Another crewmember came up with a small trestle table strapped on his back. He put this out on the floor, where it stood at around ankle height. Candalmo placed the four cups down on the table and sat down cross-legged on the hard, steel floor.
“Fine day today, isn't it?” he said. “I'm sorry, I saw the glints of metal and I thought you were some kind of rogue automaton. What have you done to Velos? I must say, doesn't he look splendid?”
This caused Faso to smirk and I bit my tongue to hide my chagrin.
“Come, come,” he said. “Sit yourself down and have yourself some secicao. It's been so long since I've seen you Pontopa and my, how you've grown.”
I sat myself down on the floor, remembering a couple of trips I'd taken south with Candalmo and Papo during my childhood. I eyed the cup of secicao and was tempted to reach out for it, but then I remembered. “I better not, I'm abstaining.”
“I too,” Sukina said as she sat herself down.
“Ah well,” Candalmo said. “All the more for us men then. He poured mine and Sukina's cup back into the cafetiere.”
Faso was the last to plonk himself down on the floor. As soon as he did, Ratter popped his head out of his sleeve and scurried up upon his shoulder, cautiously watching Candalmo's every movement.
“What is that thing?” Candalmo said.
“This is Ratter,” Faso said. “My own personal butler. Made from the same technology as the dragon armour that you so admired.”
“Yes, that's very nice., I suppose.” Candalmo said from behind his cup of secicao. He turned to me. “Well, Pontopa, what brings you here today?”
I decided to cut straight to the chase. “Candalmo, did you hear about the Five Hamlets?”
“No, not yet. Business still booming as usual?”
I shook my head. It took me a moment to compose my thoughts. “The king razed our vineyard. He took my parents prisoner and now the entire village is under martial law.” The words came out so broken I didn't think I would make it to the end of the sentence.
Candalmo's hand trembled and some secicao splashed onto his chest. He wiped his lips and brushed the spillage off his shirt. “You're kidding me. Why?”
“The thing is, we're now wanted fugitives.”
Candalmo looked at Faso then Sukina, as if trying to determine which of them had drawn me down a crimninal path. “But the king would raze a whole village just because of one citizen. No… You're pulling my leg.”
“Unfortunately not,” Sukina said. “I can see from this boat that you profit well from King Cini, but he can be ruthless at times.”
“Dragonheats!” He took another sip of his secicao. “Who are you, by the way? I'm sorry, I never introduced myself, I'm Candalmo Segora.”
“Sukina Sako.”
“The author?”
“Among other things.”
Candalmo turned to Faso. “And you are?”
“Faso Gordoni, entrepreneur and inventor extraordinaire.”
“Yes, well…” Candalmo turned back to me. “Pontopa what happened? Problems with the dragon again?”
“Far from it,” I said. “Look Candalmo, it's too complicated to explain and time is of an issue. I just want you to trust me that I'm doing the right thing.”
“Never doubted, it my lady. So, I'm guessing you need my help getting home?”
He took another sip of his secicao. The aromas rising from the cafetiere made me desperately want some and then I became a little sick thinking about it.
“Jonis,” Candalmo shouted down deck. “I need you here on the poop.”
“Captain Segora,” Sukina said. “I wanted to ask, how well fortified was the Southern Barrier when you passed through? I guess, you would have passed around four days ago?”
“Three, in fact. Cini installed some new technology in our engines that has us running at lightning speed.”
Faso jerked his head up when he heard this. Ratter sprung to attention on his back. “What technology is that, exactly?”
“Oh, the ability to use some of the secicao we harvest. Cadigan coal is now outdated, he says. These are new times and our ship is one of Cini's first experiments.”
Faso's skin turned red, but he said nothing this time. He'd clearly now gone past complaining about the king stealing his technology.
“So, the fortifications,” Candalmo continued. “Yes, I came through the Southern Barrier just east of Fraw and I could see there was a heavier guard west of there. Lots of airships passing overhead, though. I thought they were just preparing for a festival. Did something happen over there Pontopa?”
“Something, yes,” I said. “Look, I need to ask a huge favour, Candalmo. Do you think you'd be able to take Velos below decks and smuggle us through? East of Fraw perhaps, where it’s a little less fortified?”
Candalmo shook his head. “I'm afraid we have a full cargo. King Cini made me sign a contract that I'd also send these massive
automatons south.”
I looked at Sukina. So, that's where the Mammoths were coming from — merchant trading ships. She raised an eyebrow. We were so far from Gerhaun that we could no longer telepath through the collective unconscious, but we could still read the expression on each other's faces.
“There's new deadlines too,” Candalmo continued, “he's put extra quotas on the times that we have to deliver his stuff and bring the secicao back. After what you tell me about the Five Hamlets, I don't know what the consequences would be of failing to keep to his terms.”
“I understand,” I said. “I guess our best bet is to fly through ourselves.”
A man poked his up the ladder. “You called, captain,” he said.
Candalmo looked at his pocket watch. “Took you your time. I was going to ask for more secicao, but something urgent has come up. Calculate bearings to Sanjiornio and give me an estimated time there and back.”
“But sir, the contract.”
“I just need information right now. Go on, get on your feet and get on with it.”
The crewmember saluted. “Yes sir.”
He rushed down the ladder. “My hunch is that I can take you that far and still make it back here. We've been running the engine on fifty per cent power to stay on target — the more secicao we burn here the less we can sell to the king.”
I smiled. “Thank you Candalmo.” It made a lot of sense. A merchant ship would draw a lot less attention than an approaching dragon. The ship was on the water after all and it would take them a while to see Velos on board.
We sat and chatted while we waited, though I found it hard to concentrate any more on what Candalmo was saying with the burning anxiety within my chest. Fortunately, he soon took an interest in Sukina as he too had read her novels. Every second or two, I kept turning over my shoulder to see if the crewmember would climb up with news.
Soon enough, he did. He rolled out a parchment of paper. “We estimate it would take three days to get there,” he said. “And two-and-a-half back. So long as we run at one hundred per cent power.”
“Do it,” Candalmo said. Then he turned to me with a smile. “Remember, I'm burning away my profits for you. Just make sure you and your father remember that when you get back on the straight and narrow.”
The man scurried down the ladder, shouted an order. Shortly after, the foghorn sounded, and the ship began to turn around.
✽✽✽
We had some time while we waited for planning. Which was a good thing really, given we had no idea how we would get through at Sanjiornio. I’d only been to this island a couple of times, to avoid heavy storms at Fraw. It made sense to pass through Sanjiornio this time, since it was much narrower from north to south in places, than other islands in the Southern Approach, meaning King Cini couldn’t install as many fortifications on land.
It wasn’t ideal for boats either, due to some strong currents and jagged underwater rocks to the east and west of the island. Which meant that Cini’s forces only needed to stand guard for pirate airships and, of course, dragons.
We stood on the bridge, around a map of the Southern Barrier and Northern Continent that Candalmo had pinned out on the navigation table. He had labelled on it the locations of Cini’s major stations, and it was clear that the king had the Southern Barrier covered quite extensively.
The table stood at the centre of a lookout tower from where we could see the sandy, island of Soora, the fading secicao clouds, and in all other directions the deep blue sea.
“Cini protects Sanjiornio through watchtowers and shrapnel-flak automatons,” Candalmo pointed out. “It won’t be easy for you to sneak through.”
“Easier, I think, than getting through near Fraw,” Sukina said. “But we still need to work out a plan.”
Faso was pacing back and forth on the spot, his hand on his chin. “So,” he said. “We have to escape the watchful eye of guards as well as heat sensors on the shrapnel-flak cannons looking for dragons.”
“How would you know how they work?” I asked.
“Because I designed the things.”
That caused me to grimace. It made me wonder if Sukina wanted Faso on Gerhaun’s side not so much to develop technology for her, but rather to stop him developing war technology for the king.
“If it’s shrapnel-flak,” I said. “Then maybe we can just fly over it, like we did at Fraw?”
“No,” Sukina said. “We don’t want those things firing at us, since that would reveal our location to King Cini. He may be luring us towards the Five Hamlets, but our advantage is that he doesn’t know where we are right now and consequently when exactly and from which direction we’ll arrive.”
“Although,” Faso said. “Maybe Pontopa’s idea to fly high isn’t a bad idea. If we get high enough, then the guards won’t know exactly what they’re looking at.”
Sukina nodded. “Candalmo, what’s the weather forecast for when we arrive?”
“Clear sunny skies, and dark moonless nights. No clouds.”
“Great for a holiday,” Sukina said. “But hardly ideal for a covert operation.”
“So, we do it under cover of night,” Faso said. “I simply need to turn the armour on so Velos can get high enough. They never designed their fortifications for anything that flies so high. And, if I heat the armour to the right temperature, the heat sensors will think they’re looking at a seagull and ignore it. Of course, I had to put in a safeguard, so they don’t shoot everything that passes through and waste the king’s resources.”
“That’s good,” Sukina said. “Apart from one thing. The guards will still see us. They can’t miss something shooting by, glowing green on a dark night.”
“Not necessarily,” Faso said. “Candalmo, how exactly do the guards keep watch for dragons and airships with their propellers off?”
“Why, searchlights, of course.”
“I thought so.” Faso stopped pacing and looked at Sukina, a smile on his face. “Problem solved. Searchlights means light pollution. Which means all we need to evade the beams and the guards will have no chance of seeing us.”
“Okay Faso,” Sukina said. “I must say, this time you’ve surpassed yourself.”
The inventor turned to me and winked. “I know,” he said. “I know…”
Well, he was smart I admit. I just wished that sometimes he could also show some humility. I excused myself and went outside to check on Velos.
✽✽✽
We made it to the Southern Barrier in two and a half days, just as the sun was starting to set. We waved Candalmo goodbye and then Velos took off and flapped his wings to cut through the twilight and shortly after darkness descended, and we could soon make out the searchlights ahead.
Eight of them, attached to eight guard stations, turned around the sky at a pretty steady pace, obviously part of automatons themselves. And they were powerful too, stretching out far away from the island, which I’m sure would make it difficult for a slow flying airship to get through.
We didn’t want to get spotted when the searchlights pointed away from us, so Faso only turned on the armour when we were close to one searchlight’s beam, pointing out away from the island so we remained out of range of the shrapnel-flak automaton scanners. Then, I steered Velos to follow the path of the beam around, never entering it, while pulling back on his steering fin to get him high.
As I did, I looked down into the darkness below, and could only faintly make out the shape of the land. I couldn’t see any sign of the shrapnel-flak automatons, but I knew they were there. All Faso would have to do is get his calculations wrong and their sensors would have latched on to us. Then, the guards would raise the alarm, thousands of Hummingbirds would come hunting us and, if we made it to the mainland, Cini’s troops would be right on our tail.
Fortunately, we passed through without incident and then we could quite comfortably travel through the rest of Tow without much risk. That probably meant around five more hours in the saddle, given it wasn’t a good i
dea for Velos’ armour to be on at this time. Faso also hadn't designed this thing for comfort and the seats left my backside feeling kind of numb.
Ironically, he was the one to start moaning. “Can't we touch down?” he said once we were far enough inland. “We must be clear of Cini's forces by now.”
“Shh,” Sukina said. Although there was no sight or sound of an airship, we were worried that Cini might have set some patrolling without propellers and lighting.
“But I'm hungry, thirsty, and my bottom feels like I'm sitting on an iron maiden.”
“Faso, you designed this armour,” I pointed out. “Why didn’t you put cushioning on.”
“Safety was my paramount concern at the time, not comfort. I kind of expected you’d factor plenty of breaks into our trips.”
I shook my head. “Faso, we'll land when we get to the Five Hamlets, the more you complain the longer it's going to be.”
Admittedly, I just wanted to get home as soon as possible. For all I knew Cini might have had an execution lined up for my parents.
“Suit yourself,” Faso said. “But don't expect me to be able to walk easily tomorrow.” Which stopped him talking for the rest of the trip, but it didn't stop him groaning every time we hit a bit of turbulence.
Admittedly, I did find it a little cramped in the seat as well. The way Faso had installed it, I had to push my knees up to my chest, and I missed the feeling of my legs dangling off the sides, able to stretch them out whenever I pleased.
Eventually, we reached the Five Hamlets. I felt Velos want to let out a roar, and instinctively, a soft song came out of my mouth to calm him. I knew why Velos had felt a little angst. Usually, the Five Hamlets had a little charm about it. They kept oil lanterns lit in the streets, so that we could see the stucco on the walls and the cobblestones on the street as we came in to land.
But this night, no one had bothered to light the lanterns at all. All the better for us, I thought, since it decreased the chances anyone would see us approach. Something rustled behind me and I heard Sukina taking a swig from hipflask. “Automatons. Just because we can't see them, doesn't mean they can't see us.”
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