Ringships

by Peter Claisse

  ‘The landing date is fixed. We're not wasting time down there.’ As he said this, he knew what was coming. He should have seen it; he cursed himself for saying so much in his report.

  ‘Well, I am going to un-fix it. If you're ready two weeks early, we land two weeks early.’ The Captain hardly even heard what was said. The division heads were confirming that it was possible. He tried to think of some good reason to tell the Director why they could not land early. As it was he did nothing. Seeing his discomfort, the Director grinned at him, ‘There you go, see what positive management can do. A good man in an organisation would have suggested it himself.’ This comment made Captain Turner feel a little better. He liked things that were black and white with no shades of grey. If landing before the Council Meeting did lead to the loss of the ship, at least it would get rid of the Director. The thought of running for the escape pods and leaving him behind brought the trace of a smile to his face. Seeing this, the Director suddenly looked restless.

  Back at his office, he waited for Atlanta to drop below the horizon and called Paul on the radio. When informed of events, Paul replied very quietly, ‘She's lost her power’

  ‘How do you mean, lost her power?’

  ‘I saw it in the books but never thought about it much. Sometimes they just do.’

  ‘When did it happen?’

  ‘A few hours ago.’

  ‘How long does it last? We may be relying on her to protect us.’

  ‘Apparently, it varies. Can be years.’

  ‘Can't the Council Meeting be brought forward?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘We'll just have to do what we can. You try to help her get sorted out. I'll see what I can do here.’

  He worked fast with his plans. Soon, programmers were working on the ship control software to allow for field variations and fitters were assembling weapon systems on the shuttles.

  33

  The big mare was close to exhaustion as it galloped towards the castle, late that night. The old minstrel who rode it was also near collapse but was almost refused entry. His mellow music and the mystical images in his tales of the Ancients normally assured him a warm welcome. These were, however, not normal times. The hastily repaired drawbridge now stood raised above a newly cleared moat. A nervous guard was of the firm opinion that the visitor should have waited until dawn. A shouted conversation finally convinced him, however, that this was no ordinary visit. The old man was confused and spoke in a way which made the guard wonder if he was drifting into one of his more popular stories. The difference was that, this time, nothing could mask genuine fear in his voice. What he had seen had terrified him to the point that he had come to the only place he knew where people would listen to him. He had travelled to every corner of the land from the coastal villages in the far north to the mountains in the south and told stories to all who would listen. This time, his story was for only one person. The guard was persuaded to let him enter and to send word to the mage Princess Lynella to ask if she would permit him to see her.

  Gathering around the dying glow of a fire in the steward's study, Lynella, Paul, and the steward listened. The minstrel had arrived at the monastery a few days after Lynella's battle and capture. The community had been frightened but had been told that Lynella had attacked the ship and would soon be joining them.

  ‘She would never have attacked the ship.’ This comment from the steward brought an embarrassed silence.

  ‘It was a sort of a mistake, I think.’ Paul had never dared to ask about it.

  Lynella looked intently at the last small flame on a charred log in the fireplace. ‘It was anger. I meant to destroy the machine. I couldn't do it. I had become part of it.’ She stopped for some time, then turned and looked at Paul before continuing, ‘It was just anger. The ship was there so I attacked it.’ She looked up, remembering that the minstrel was there.

  ‘I am honoured by your account of this, my lady, and shall guard it in the closest confidence,’ he assured her.

  ‘The ship was not damaged,’ Paul added.

  The minstrel continued with his story. He was only allowed into the monastery on the understanding that he did nothing upset the Abbot. They were generous people, especially the Abbot himself on the rare occasions when he came to listen to his songs, so he had said nothing and listened. Paul's attack had caused far less upset to those who lived in the monastery than the fight with Lynella, but it had provoked a far stronger reaction from the Abbot. Military discipline had been imposed throughout and large numbers of guards with crossbows were now positioned inside and outside the main doors. Everybody was required to keep a weapon by them as they slept and be ready for a summons to the defence. The pace of work on the machine had also been greatly increased. The lights now pulsed strongly at all times of day and the humming noise was loud enough to be heard in all areas. Rumours of the shuttle flight, which had been seen by a large number of soldiers, spread rapidly. Strong denials by the Abbot did nothing to stop them.

  Having provided entertainment for the monastery for the usual three evenings, the minstrel had prepared to move on. He had already decided to go to the Southern Castle but decided not to say so. Declaring that he intended to travel to the Eastern Castle, he was surprised that he was not allowed to leave by the direct route, out of the main entrance facing the source. Being escorted out of the northern door and advised to travel across country left him driven by his unending curiosity to investigate. Travelling around to a vantage point on a nearby hill, he had watched and waited. In the early dawn of the following day, before any ordinary folk were out, he had seen the iron ship in the crucible in front of the monastery rise into the air and move around for several minutes before descending back into place.

  Seeing how shocked his audience was to hear this final piece of news, the minstrel raised himself unsteadily to his feet and, with a nodded consent from the steward, left the room.

  Lynella was close to tears, ‘I could have stopped him. Both times I could have stopped him. Now I can’t do anything.’

  ‘Do we really know that he’s going to attack Atlanta?’ Paul asked, trying to sound hopeful. ‘When I spoke to him he was talking about a crusade to earth.’

  The old man looked at him with great intensity. ‘Think about him. Think about who he is and what he wants. We have known him for a long time. All he seeks is power. To keep his power, he must have a war or a crusade, otherwise his people may see the enemy within. His crusade was only a means to keep control of them, and try to get control of us in the kingdoms. Now he has no crusade he needs a war.’

  ‘He will lose power if the ship lands,’ Paul observed.

  ‘And if he destroys it he will have a great victory which will make him popular. Look at history. We have records of the history of earth before our ancestors came here. There were many like him, and there have been many on this planet since we came.’

  Paul thought about this. ‘There were more on earth after you left. In many wars they killed millions. This man needs enemies.’

  Paul left soon after and reported the minstrel's story of the Abbot's success in flying his ring ship to Captain Turner. The reply was pessimistic, ‘There's no way any weapons we put on the shuttles could stop anything that size.’

  ‘We're going to have to ask the Mission Director to delay the landing’

  ‘He won't do that. He'll make us suffer for not telling him earlier and then start a very bloody battle storming the monastery’

  ‘We'll have to tell him eventually.’

  ‘If we do, it'll be at the very last moment.’

  34

  Early the following morning, Henry summoned Angus to the Great Hall to face the charge of cowardice. Maria escorted Paul up to one of the galleries, where a considerable number of the castle residents had gathered to watch. He was fascinated by her detailed description of the formalities of the High Council and how each member had their own seat, which would be handed on to a successor when they died. She seemed to kno
w the history of every last ornament and carving on each one of them.

  Most of the royal family gathered in their customary seats but Henry joined some of his officers in the seats facing them which, for the sessions of the High Council, would be reserved for the Eastern Kingdom. Much of the main chamber was empty, but this did nothing to relieve Angus's fears as he entered in silence and took his place at a single chair in the centre.

  ‘What's going to happen?’ Paul asked quietly

  ‘We don't know. There's been nothing like this for over a hundred years.’

  Henry stood and read from a prepared script: ‘This court martial is assembled to consider a matter of military discipline. These officers will decide the matter and their decision will be final. You are charged with cowardice. You refused my order to return to the head of the column.’ He went on to describe every last detail of the battle with the dragons, before reaching his conclusion and asking Angus if he had anything to say.

  The big man was lost for words and just said, ‘She wanted me to stay.’

  ‘Is that all you have to say?’ Henry was pressing him as Angus looked to Lynella for support. Under Henry's gaze and without her power, she could think of nothing to say.

  ‘The Princess can't help you. She can't even manage the tricks she used to murder my brother any more.’ He was leaning forward, eager to savour his victory. ‘While you have been away,’ he continued, ‘we have been fighting to defend your homeland. There will be many more battles to fight and examples must be made of any who display cowardice.’

  ‘Hasn't he noticed that I can shoot the dragons?’ Paul asked in a whisper.

  ‘Hasn't he noticed that Angus was never a coward?’ Maria replied.

  The proceedings moved on. ‘You may have thought that you were serving a mage,’ Henry was saying, ‘but look at her. She can't do anything.’ Lynella was looking progressively more uncomfortable. The officers soon started a brief private discussion and announced that Angus was to be banished.

  Hearing the news Lynella withdrew into a world of her own, remaining in her room and permitting only Maria to enter when absolutely necessary. She ignored the messages Paul sent in, asking to see her, to help, to encourage or just to be with her. Her reply was always the same. She was no longer a mage, she had let down her friends and had no wish to see anybody.

  Paul managed to persuade Maria to let him know where Angus had gone. Because of the presence of the dragons, his banishment only effectively excluded him from the castle. There was nobody to even try to exclude him from the kingdom, so he had camped near the northern keep. Riding out, Paul found him slightly more at ease outside the castle but still totally despondent.

  ‘What can I do, now I have been banished?’ he asked, sitting on the grass near his small tent. Paul had no more ideas than he did. They discussed the past at length, but had no good plans for the future.

  After this Paul found himself, as expected, inactive. He considered returning to the landing field but there seemed to be no point in it, even if the Captain would permit it. He had become a helpless spectator as the landing drew nearer. After a day with plenty of rest and good food, he felt fit and ready but could think of nothing he could do to help. Lacking any other ideas, he began the work he had originally wanted to do before the Council Meeting. In his pack, he had a set of instruments which he had brought with him from the shuttle. These consisted of electric field generators and detectors. His original plan had been to work with them with Lynella, to help her develop her skills in the use of her power. Without her help, he decided to investigate her artefacts. Sending word via Maria, he was able to obtain the jewel and the circlet with an ease that surprised him. He was shocked to hear that Lynella had completely lost interest in them. The only other thing he required was a lighting globe which was easily obtained from a corridor in the old part of the castle.

  Starting with the lighting globe, he saw exactly what he was expecting. The wire leading into it contained two copper conductors, wrapped in what looked like paper based insulation. Connecting them to a simple power supply, he was, however, surprised to find that nothing happened. This, at last, was something that he felt he could usefully work on. Clearing a table, he spread out all of his test equipment and placed the globe in front of it. Close inspection showed that the globe was a sealed glass sphere, containing what appeared to be an opaque gas. The only irregularity on the surface was the hole where the wire entered which, he guessed, had also been used to blow the glass and pump the gas in. Working steadily, he set about the most comprehensive set of electrical tests he could manage. Some time later, after many attempts, he was amazed to find that he had managed to make it glow with a complex high frequency pulsed signal from his field generator. Moving on to the jewel and the circlet, he found that these responded to exactly the same signal: the circlet absorbed it and the jewel amplified it. Reporting back on the radio, he found considerable interest in his discovery. ‘You know we can tune the ring on the ship to produce that pulse sequence,’ the captain observed.

  ‘What good would that do?’

  ‘It might re-awaken her power.’

  ‘She's not a machine. If someone goes deaf, shouting at them won't cure them.’

  ‘Yes, I hear all that but if there's any hope, we'll give it a try’

  ‘If it does anything, it might do more harm than good.’

  ‘I'm sorry but we've got to try it. There’s an orbital correction due this evening but I'll get them to let it drift and do a bigger one in the morning.’ There was a pause while the Captain checked the data on his terminal ‘That will be at 10.43, so be ready.’

  Paul found Maria in the courtyard. She had been out to see Angus, and was in a hurry to get inside before too many people saw her. As they walked through a side door, he told her what the Captain was planning. She stopped and looked at him, ‘What will it do?’

  ‘I don't know.’

  ‘Can't you stop him?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘What can we do about it?’

  ‘Just warn her and be there ready if it gets through to her’

  Lynella, as expected, ignored their warning, saying that she had lost her power, so it would not affect her. Paul had to wait outside her door when the time came. Half a minute before the pulse was due, he stood up from the window seat and prepared to go in.

  As the pulse came, Maria called to him to come in. Entering cautiously, he saw Lynella in a chair.

  ‘She's fainted’ Maria said

  He looked at her. ‘She doesn't look too bad. We'll just have to wait until she comes round to see what happened.’ Once again, he found himself checking her breathing and pulse as her body slowly recovered its equilibrium.

  A few minutes later, Lynella opened her eyes to see Paul and Maria looking at her. She was just about to tell them to leave when she remembered what had happened and stopped, not daring to hope that her power could have returned. Very cautiously, she looked at a small ring and, focusing on it, found herself able to make it move. She looked at Paul, ‘What happened to me. What was it that you did?’

  ‘I didn't do it. They did it on my ship’

  ‘You mean that they can do that to me as well as the pain I get all of the time. Why did you let them?’

  ‘I tried to stop them, they wouldn't let me. You wouldn't let me near you’

  ‘What good would that have done?’

  ‘I could have put something around you to keep the field out.’

  ‘How could you do that?’ Maria asked.

  ‘With some chain mail.’

  During the next few hours they searched for all of the fine chain mail they could find and assembled it as a canopy around Lynella. For the first time since the ship's arrival, its pulses could not reach her.

  35

  A short corridor led to the old keep. Although some of the lighting globes were missing, Lynella lit the others with nothing more than a casual glance. Remembering back to their brief contact befor
e his imprisonment, Paul could sense the extent of the change that had taken place within her. His logical mind identified it as the beginnings of the arrogance which was the weakness of all the mages in the books he had read in the monastery. At another level, he found it strangely attractive. This young girl who had seemed to be playing games with him when they had first met, had taken well to the sudden maturity that had come to her from the trials she had faced.

  Lynella was walking faster now, keeping just ahead of him. She turned and smiled at him for an instant before moving on confidently, guiding them further into the maze of old corridors. Finally, she paused at a door which opened of its own accord in front of her when she looked at it.

  Through the door, he found himself standing at the side of a large metal sphere more than ten yards across. The surface was copper coloured with numerous deep scratches and faint traces of green corrosion. At intervals across it, there were signs of joints but, running his finger across one, he could tell that they had been welded together, using the power of some ancient mage. Lynella was watching him.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked.

  ‘Guess,’ she replied. She was leaning against the wall now, looking pleased with herself.

  Paul was completely thrown by this reply. ‘Are you teasing me?’ he asked.

  ‘No, you're the only man in this castle who doesn't tease me, so I would never do that,’ she paused. ‘Except the old steward, I suppose. He never teased me.’

  ‘So, why have I got to guess?’

  ‘When I put the marker bracelets on you, I thought that you must have power because you came from space. Now, I see your power is in your knowledge of machines. I want you to demonstrate your power.’

  Paul looked up at the sphere. He could see a thickening of the metal around the centre of it, half way up. This was simple; it was a ship, not much of a test in working that out. Then he thought again. This was a ship with a sealed atmosphere. In all the books he had seen in the monastery, no mention had been made of flying very high. There was no need for it in battle. There had only been one occasion when they had needed that.