The Wind Merchant

by Ryan Dunlap

  As soon as the magnet shot forward and left his personal space, it froze, leaving a tangle of cable suspended in front of him. Gravity dictated his descent continue, but the spooling cable now anchored him to the sky.

  The front railing stopped his descent with a hearty crack, completing the wind merchant’s haphazard transfer from one ship to another.

  Ras afforded himself a moment to take in his surroundings. He couldn’t even begin to process the mechanics of his fall. Beyond the suspended cabling he spotted a man on the bridge with glowing purple eyes, his mouth contorted into a scream. He held his stomach for reasons Ras couldn’t discern due to distance, but this was his world. His bubble.

  Elias Veir was nowhere to be found.

  Ras felt stupid for letting himself get his hopes up. He wondered if he had misheard the voice or just wished so badly to be wrong about the boneyard that he had reopened the wound in order to properly mourn.

  He stood, pain shooting through his battered body. Amidst the debris piled against the front railing, a small comm transmitter with a ripped out wire lay at his feet.

  What are you doing so far from the bridge? He bent down to inspect it. Can’t exactly hail a mayday without this.

  Leaning over the railing, Ras peered down into the foggy cloud. A man in stunted free fall hung not twenty feet below the doomed ship. His features were difficult to make out in the haze, but Ras knew whom he saw.

  “Dad!” Ras shouted. He felt stupid for the tears shed in the boneyard, yet relief washed over him in the knowledge that he wasn’t alone in The Wild. With heart racing, he almost called out again, but knew deep down that his father couldn’t hear him. But, with any luck, the next thing Elias would know, he’d be on The Brass Fox. The details of how Ras would make it back onboard his ship felt trivial at the moment.

  The cable anchored in Time supported his weight, but he had difficulty trusting the concept. With a smile he couldn’t lose if he tried, Ras spooled out cable and lowered himself over the edge of the ship.

  As he neared his father, Ras realized he was looking at a slightly older doppelganger of himself with shorter hair and the same build.

  His father hadn’t aged in ten years.

  Elias’ back was to the ground and his face held a sadness Ras had never glimpsed as a child. The look of fear mixed with a lack of acceptance of the terms of his fate made Ras realize even his father was human after all.

  After a moment more of lowering, the two men were level with each other. Ras inspected the long lost man. Elias sported the short beard that Emma had always ordered him to shave after returning from trips.

  Although only in his mid-thirties, Elias’ face was tanned and well worn from his time out with the wind. Wrinkles lined the creases around his eyes and mouth, reminding Ras of his father’s ease with a smile.

  Ras wrapped his arm around his father’s waist.

  Elias Veir snapped into a world foreign to him. The airship that had catapulted him to his death not moments ago now hung motionless, no longer careening forward in a blaze.

  His extremities fell back as some new harness wrapped around his midsection. Pain shot through his back as he recoiled, and the sound of straining cable filled his ears.

  Pulling his head up, he could see a grapple gun cable running over the railing of his ship, then realized his so-called harness was actually another man.

  “What’s going on?” Elias asked carefully. He turned his gaze from the man holding him to the ground far beneath him. Grasping tightly onto the belt of his unnamed savior, he positioned himself across the man’s back.

  “You’re okay, we’re okay,” the man said, “Just stay close.” He pressed a button on his grapple gun and the two of them ascended until they climbed over the edge of the ship’s railing and back onto the deck.

  Elias wrested himself free from the man’s shoulder and took a step backward, still in shock over the fall.

  Suddenly, the man in front of him reappeared, once more hoisting Elias over his shoulder.

  Elias once again freed himself, only to instantly find himself returned to the same position.

  “How are you doing that?” Elias asked to the back of the man’s head.

  “You’re trapped in a…Time…bubble…thing. I’m not. Long story.”

  “Who are you?” Elias asked.

  “That’s a shorter story, but one I should probably tell back on my ship,” he said, “You can stand if you stay close, I think.”

  “Oh,” Elias said as he let himself down from the man’s back, keeping his hand on the man’s shoulder. Pain pulsed in his leg as he noted the bit of wood paneling still lodged in his thigh. He gritted his teeth, pulled it out, and tossed it to the side. “You know, I’m still not entirely over the fact that I’m not falling.”

  “Who is your friend?” the man asked, indicating the Time Knack.

  “Oh, poor soul. That’s Morris.” Elias stepped forward and instantly the man popped into Elias’ direct field of view. The two stood face to face for the first time.

  “Remember, I need you to stick close,” the man said before spinning on his heel to hide his face. There was something familiar about him.

  “Sorry about that,” Elias said.

  “Morris, you said? Where’s he from?” The man asked, avoiding the line of discussion. He led Elias up the stairs to the bridge.

  “Here,” Elias said. “He’s Illorian. He’s…was…my guide.”

  The man turned to look at Elias. “Wait, I thought there weren’t any people here. It’s called Illoria?”

  “The man outside the bubble is surprised by what happens here? Interesting,” Elias said, arching an eyebrow. “Hold on, I know who you remind me of. My wife. Around the eyes, mostly.” He let out a deep breath. “Sorry, that was going to drive me crazy.”

  “Huh,” the man said, leading Elias to the edge of the bridge. “See that dark spot in the clouds? I’m going to need you to stand here and fire the shot.” The man unstrapped the grapple gun from himself and handed it to Elias. “It’ll freeze as soon as it gets away from me, but once I unfreeze Morris—”

  “Where…” Elias inspected the grapple gun. His grapple gun.

  “I’ll explain as soon as we’re back on my ship,” the man said, still offering the device.

  “What’s your name?” Elias asked, accepting it.

  “On the ship, please,” the man said. “Now, after you shoot, I’ll unfreeze Morris, which will take this ship back into free fall and my ship back to full speed. I need you to account for those factors.”

  “Yeah, got it,” Elias said. “What happens to Morris?”

  “He’ll fall a bit and then probably overload again, freezing the ship without us on it,” the man said, “Who is he?”

  “The grandson of someone very important,” Elias said. “I can’t leave him.”

  “We’re going to have to,” the man said, “But hey, he’s survived ten years like this, who’s to say—”

  “Ten years?” Elias exclaimed. His mind spun. “Are you saying I’ve been frozen for ten years?”

  The man sighed. “I just need you to make that shot.”

  Elias took a moment to process. He looked at the man’s jacket, grapple gun, and face. His eyes narrowed. “No.” A long pause. “Ras?”

  “Yeah, dad.”

  Elias threw his arms around his son, catching Ras off-guard. “Oh…my boy…you got big.” He heaved a huge sigh, thankful that his son evidently hadn’t read his letter of warning not to take to the skies. But, ten years. Gone. What about Emma? His mind flooded with questions.

  Ras enthusiastically wrapped his arms around his father, reaching all the way around for the first time. “I found your ship, I thought…”

  “Hijacked. Sky pirates,” Elias said. “Morris and I had to find this tub to continue.” He released his son, holding him at arm’s length to take a good look at his boy. “Where did you find it?”

  “Outside Solaria—”

  Elia
s laughed. “They flew it into the boneyard?”

  “You knew about that place?”

  “I guess it’s not bedtime story material,” Elias said. “How in Atmo did you find me?”

  “Hal gave me coordinates, but he didn’t tell me you were going to be here,” Ras said dismissively, “Look dad, I hate to rush this but we really need to get back on my ship.”

  “One more question, just in case we don’t make it,” Elias said, finishing strapping on his grapple gun. “How’s your mother?”

  “Still waiting for you to come home, but if we don’t hurry there’s not going to be a home to get back to.”

  “Fair enough,” Elias said, beaming at his grown boy. He took aim, adjusted up and slightly to the front of the ship. “That’s probably enough lead…” He squeezed the palm trigger.

  Ras stepped back, stopping his father once more. The fact that Elias so casually accepted the idea of Verdant not being around when they made it home gave him pause. He walked over to Morris. “Hopefully this will just be another moment and then someone will be here to help you,” said Ras, before placing his hand on the wounded man’s shoulder.

  The ship lurched, sending Ras off his feet and flying upward as the ship continued its doomed course. Panic shot through Ras. While he had acclimated to falling, he missed the grapple gun.

  A hand clasped tightly around Ras’ forearm. “I got you.” Elias pulled him in close as the cable continued to spool out.

  “Did we miss the—” Ras body jerked under Elias’ grasp and the two Veirs soared away, trailing behind The Brass Fox. The doomed vessel disappeared below the cloud bubble before freezing again in a new position.

  The view in front of them caused Ras’ heart to sink. In the distance, cliffs loomed, ready to smash The Brass Fox if it didn’t gain altitude soon.

  The two men neared the underbelly of the ship and were sucked into the collection tube, banging around until they landed inside the glass tank in the ship’s hold.

  “You were pulling a collection?” Elias asked over the loud vacuum.

  Ras released his death grip on his father. “Hal told me he needed air from these coordinates.”

  Elias chuckled. “I’m glad the message tube made it to him.”

  “How do we get out of here?” He didn’t know how long they’d have before they struck the cliffs, and every second could be the one that killed them both.

  “Gonna have to break the glass. Shame.” He reared back to strike the glass with the grapple gun.

  “You can’t!”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Hal needs air from here for his ship and if I can’t collect it, then I’ve sunk Verdant.”

  “How could you possibly have sunk Verdant?” Elias asked.

  “Because I destroyed the last Convergence and if I bring Hal air he’ll pay to replace Verdant’s engines with Helios ones and pay for fuel and—” he rambled on as fast as he possibly could.

  “Ras, Ras, it’s okay,” Elias said.

  “How?”

  “Trust me.” Elias swung his left arm back into the glass, shattering the containment tank around them.

  Glass showered down while Ras scrambled across the hold and ascended the ladder up to the deck. Above, he saw the cliffs growing closer. Too close for him to make it to the bridge in time. Too close for him to save Callie or Verdant.

  He had rescued his father just in time to ram them both into a cliff.

  The slim likelihood of success didn’t stop him from trying. He dashed toward the stairs up to the bridge. As he ascended, the ship shifted, causing his footing to slip. Gravity slung him back down the stairs. The ship turned hard to port and while it still neared the cliffs, it now did so at an angle, striking them with a glancing blow, which earned it yet another battle scar and sent it back out into the open skies.

  Ras picked himself back up and shouted down to his father. “What did you do?”

  Elias poked his head up from the hold. “More than one place on a ship you can steer her. We lose anything important?”

  Ras dumbly shook his head. “I don’t think so. Just another step toward winning Atmo’s ugliest wind merchant vessel…which I guess isn’t technically even a collection ship anymore.” He stared off to the horizon, lost in thought.

  “Never insult your girl, Ras,” Elias said. “What’s her name?”

  “The Brass Fox or Callie?”

  Elias lifted an eyebrow. “The neighbor girl? You two together?”

  “No, and that’s the problem,” Ras said. “Well, one of many.”

  Elias nodded thoughtfully and walked up to the bridge.

  “Dad, how am I supposed to save Verdant now?”

  “You never were, so don’t worry about it,” Elias said, studying the controls. “I like the layout. You build this?”

  “Yeah…wait, you mean Hal wasn’t going to replace the engines?”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Elias said, then slapped his son on his arm and gave his winning smile. “So, Callie Tourbillon. I always figured you had a thing for her.” Elias monitored the control panel, then took the wheel to strike out on a new heading.

  “Dad! Where are you going? I have to save Callie.”

  “And the rest of Verdant, I get that—”

  “No, the Elders have her. We came to The Wild—I mean Illoria—together and I was just on my way to get her back when I ran into you.”

  A screech resounded far and wide across the barren plains of Illoria.

  “What’s that?” Ras asked.

  Elias' eyes widened. “The main gate. Someone did my job.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The Reclaimer

  Elias piloted The Brass Fox along the cliff face they had brushed earlier in a weak attempt to hide in the cloudless sky. “Did anyone follow you through Hal’s pass?”

  “A Collective ship followed us,” Ras said. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, you’re fine. Great even,” Elias said. “I never thought I’d be thanking The Collective.”

  “Why did Hal want the gate opened?” Ras asked.

  “Venting Atmo of excess Energy. Levels would get so low that they’d have to pull The Winnower off the Origin so cities wouldn’t fall.”

  “No offense, but I think you’re giving The Collective too much credit,” Ras said. “They pulled out from The Bowl when I lost us our last Convergence.”

  Elias grimaced. “Well, if they’re going to control Time, they’re going to need to release their grip on Energy, and the Elders aren’t giving that up without a fight.”

  “Wait, wouldn’t opening the gate flood Atmo with Elders?”

  “We had the Great Overload, they had the Great…well, I don’t know what they called it, but instead of Energy Knacks blowing up into Convergences, Time Knacks froze cities. Most of the Illorians became stuck in Time after the main gate was built, so they shouldn’t have the forces to subjugate Atmo anymore. The only ‘Elders’ left are the ones in the ships that were flying high enough to miss out on the freezings. Their third-generation military is basically all that’s left, but they should be able to keep The Collective away from controlling the Time Origin.”

  “Dad, things have changed since you’ve been gone. The Collective developed some sort of Energy weapon.”

  “Sounds like they’re asking for another Great Overload. Is it like an Energy filled cannon ball or something?” Elias asked.

  “It’s a beam of some sort. Disintegrates ships. They’re going to rip through what’s left of Illoria, and the Elders have Callie,” Ras said, running his hands through his hair until his fingers became tangled in the knots. “Even if The Collective winds up controlling Time, I can’t let them go through Callie to do it, and I have no clue where she is.”

  Elias looked at his son. “I guess the old plan ain’t what it used to be.”

  “If you want to find a way back to see mom again, I understand,” Ras said. “Verdant’s sunk no matter what; I’m sure she could use some help.�
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  His father leaned against the dash, deep in thought for longer than Ras expected. He had always imagined his father to be quick with a plan and bold in its execution, and Ras worked hard not to feel disappointed as he waited.

  “Why didn’t you tell me I was a Lack?” Ras said, breaking the silence.

  “Ras, don’t call yourself that,” Elias said.

  “How hard would it have been to tell me?” Ras asked. “Maybe you could have had mom do it if you didn’t want to.”

  “She didn’t know what you…or she could do to someone,” Elias said. “I never told her.”

  “Well, she certainly seemed to have a good idea,” Ras said. “Did you know that mom was a La…could stop you from overloading?”

  Elias nodded. “Just about anyone from below the clouds can.”

  Ras opened his mouth to speak, but no words came to him.

  “There’s a reason your mother never talked much about her family.”

  “You’re telling me mom is a Remnant?”

  Elias sighed, wiping his hands across his tired face. “Please tell me you never used that word around your mother. I never let you say it before.”

  Ras had forgotten how sternly his father used to reprimand him as a child when he repeated that word after hearing it from schoolmates. “But you’re saying mom’s from below the clouds.”

  “I am.”

  Ras laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing, it’s just all those times I’ve been called a ‘son of a Rem-‘“ he cut himself off. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “The way people in Atmo treated those that were forced to stay behind like they were better than them,” Elias said. “The Atmo Project could only bring on so many, and the more people they brought, the shorter the amount of time before the floating cities became overpopulated. It’s a different world down there.”

  “How did they survive?

  “Well, one of the criteria for being moved to the Atmo Project was Energy sensitivity, so the ones left behind were obviously less at risk to blow up. After a few generations, the ones that had low sensitivity survived, had children, and I guess living so closely to Convergences eventually built up their immunity.”