“Where are we going?”
“I have something I want to show you.”
Horton pressed onward through the room, walking towards a door at the far side. The portal seemed to loom, machina plates bolted to its frame in an attempt to make it sturdier.
Alex had been in Horton’s laboratory several times but had never noticed the door before. That side of the room was normally dominated by a large blackboard, but that had been wheeled to the right, exposing the doorway.
“What is it?”
“Patience.” Horton reached into the pocket of his coat, rummaging in its depths for something. “Ah, here we are.” He removed a key with a flourish, plunging it into a lock on the doorway. It turned with a loud click and the door creaked open. “Go on,” Horton said.
Alex pushed the door open and stepped inside. Light poured into the room from the glass above, daylight striking the object within. The room seemed to traverse the length of the laboratory. At the far end was a bed, along with a messy wardrobe, the clothes within bursting through the doors in their attempt to escape the wooden prison.
Alex knew Horton hadn't brought him here to look at his private quarters. It was the part constructed machine before him that was the star of the show. Alex recognised it, vaguely. The large metal cylinder was lying horizontal, held off the ground by short feet. Cables ran from both ends, plugged into devices covered in glowing lights.
“A transporter?” Alex said. “Does it work?”
“Not yet, sadly. This has been under construction since I arrived here. It’s taken years to get to this point. It’s…difficult. The parts I used back on Earth I made myself, with some aid from the previous guild master, but here I’m forced to use components from machina as replacements. There obviously isn’t a one to one exchange there.”
“Why show me this then?” Alex said.
“I’m trying to make a point. I am, not to blow my own trumpet, the Towers foremost expert in the aether. And yet I’m just as trapped here as anyone else. I’ve had to learn to live with the people here, the culture, its society. The council is the ruling body here, one that is democratically elected, if that kind of thing matters to you. I appreciate your sentiment, but you can’t just try and bluff your way into getting what you want,” Horton said. He ran his hand over the machine mournfully. “I know it might not seem like it, Alex, but you are not the protagonist of reality.”
“I didn’t think I was. I just wanted to do what was best for the guild.”
“And what’s best for the guild is escaping from your duties near the Tower, vanishing off into the unknown?”
“Yes, well, I thought so.”
“Look, I have given you and your friends significant leeway in how you operate. You are after all…different from most other knights. But I can’t go begging to the council with a half baked idea that any reasonable councillor can argue against in their sleep.” Horton sighed. “I understand your frustrations. I do. Who knows how much there is to explore now the passage to the Chosen’s lands is open.”
“How long will that even be open? The aether could come in and close it off again.” Alex knew he was reaching, trying desperately to salvage his pitch. “That’s a risk, right?”
“It is, though the aether isn't particularly fast in that regard. We have plenty of time.”
“Right.” Alex was defeated. He had no further points to make. It seemed like his idea was dead in the water.
“Listen. I can't go to the council with this. My situation with them is precarious, I can give them no further ammunition. Enough of our funds have already been shifted to this militia that it's causing a problem.” Horton bent down, adjusting a part of the machina that had caught his attention. “But the guild isn't a military force. We're more of a…contractor. If you wanted to head off into the wilds, I couldn't stop you.” He stood up, happy with his impromptu adjustment. “Do you understand, Alex?”
“I do, yeah.”
“Good. Try not to get into too much trouble.”
***
There were bits of broken wood everywhere, shattered remnants of a once-majestic ship. It was sad to see it like this, torn into parts and stuffed into a warehouse carved into the bottom floor of Orix tower, the ship's namesake.
Alex had asked his friends to gather at the warehouse to discuss his conversation with Horton. Casey had arrived with Erwin and Cassius, but Alex hadn’t just summoned his party. Joining them was Simian, the scavenger who had sponsored Alex when he had first arrived in the tower. The man was a chancer, always looking to scrape whatever zenni he could from a situation. His position as sponsor had entitled him to a portion of the knight’s earnings, or at least it did until the debt he claimed to have over them was proven non-existent. Some pointed words had led to him forfeiting that right.
Along with the humans, Alex had asked Hir'Six to join them, the destroyed airship's former grell captain. His people were much shorter than humans, coming to the waist of the average person. They had vivid purple skin and long pointed ears that sat perpendicular to their head, giving them a wide silhouette. Hir'Six stood out from most of his kind. He was missing a hand and a leg, talons taken from large machina standing in for a hook and peg-leg. The captain wore a wide-brimmed hat with glimmering razorwing feathers tucked into the band.
“Why bother gathering us all together if he didn’t go for it?” Casey said.
“Because the guild master was very clear. Well, he wasn’t explicitly clear, but it was heavily implied. He doesn’t think he could get the council to approve an official mission, but there isn’t anything stopping us from exploring out there off our own backs.” Alex had a wicked grin across his face, an idea coming to him as he had walked away from Horton’s laboratory.
“Sorry, you want us to head off into the unknown, and likely into enemy territory, for fun?” Cassius said.
“Not for fun. For the Towers. I know you've felt it, Cassius. Things are different around here. If people are scared of another army marching out of the aether is the militia ever going to go away? Besides, I know you want to go. You're a knight, how could you not?”
“So, what’s the plan then?” Hir’Six said. “I’m assuming you brought me and Simian here for a reason?”
“We rebuild the Star, then we take her out north. We find the chosen people and we offer peace. If we can come to a deal, then we can come back to the Towers with something tangible to offer the council. Hell, we can even make the trade for food like I planned if we want. Anything to calm things down around here.”
“That and poke around in the new lands out there.” Cassius nodded approvingly. He had spent a few months working as a guard to the gates of the Tower, and when his shift was about to come to an end the battle of the pass happened. He longed to get out there in the wilderness. “Alright, I’m in.”
“How, exactly, are we going to rebuild the star?” Hir’Six said. “She’s scrap. This is all that’s left after the crafter’s guild pilfered her bones for parts. It’s not like the bits are just lying around.”
“That’s exactly what it’s like,” Simian said with a smile. “I’m assuming that’s why I’m here?”
Alex nodded. “The flying machina that attacked the fleet during the battle, they’re the same kind that the Star was built around. If we can find one of them buried amongst the rubble up north, we can use it as the core of a new airship.”
“Are we sure we trust Simian?” Erwin said. He was only partly paying attention, fascinated by the piles of wooden scraps in the warehouse. “He does work for the militia now, right?”
“I work for whoever pays me. I’ve got no loyalty to this militia, they just wanted me to train up their rifle teams.” Simian wasn’t offended by the question, he understood Erwin’s concern.
“We all know Simian loves zenni more than anything. We could use his expertise getting the parts to get the Star fixed. No one can scavenge like he can.” Alex leant against the wall, the cold of the stone working its way
through his tunic. “I’m going to assume we’ll need more than just the machina parts.”
“A lot bloody more,” Hir’Six said. “Especially because I’m guessing that you might want to keep this on the quiet. I can’t imagine that the council will be best bloody pleased if they find out someone is going to go poke the proverbial sleeping sonifang.”
“Graverobbing. Brilliant, exactly what I wanted to be doing with my time,” Cassius said. He had never been Simian’s biggest fan.
Erwin crouched, rubbing his hands on his knees. “This is a section of keel, right?”
“It is, aye.” Hir'six stepped over to the knight's side and ran his hand over the wood. “This ship was passed down from my mother, and she got it from her father. The ship has been in my family for generations.”
“This wood is treated to be waterproof, I think,” Erwin said. “This was a boat first before it was an airship.”
“If you say so. She was an airship for as long as my family records show.”
“You know about boats, Erwin?” Alex said.
“Not boats no, I was just guessing from the wood itself. I am an aeronautical engineer though.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Back on Earth. That was my day job. I helped design planes.”
“You have to be joking?” Alex placed his fingers against his temples. “You never mentioned that.”
“You never asked.”
“What does that mean?” Hir’Six said, the words unfamiliar to him.
“It means,” Alex said, removing his fingers and placing his hands in his pockets, “that Erwin built airships.”
“Designed them, but basically. I think, if we get the parts, we can get the Star flying again. Better than before. Something that isn’t a real actual boat hanging from beneath a balloon.” Erwin had never seemed so confident.
“Sounds like we have a plan,” Simian said. “You tell me what you need, and I’ll start looking into getting them. For a fee, of course.”
“No,” Alex said. “No, you won't. This is how it's going to work. You owe us, for that little scam you tried to pull when we first met you. You help us build the airship, tell us where to get the parts we need, help gather the easier components, and we'll cut you in on whatever we find out there. New regions mean new plants and machina. I would bet those would fetch a decent price when we bring them back. You'll get ten per cent.”
“Twenty-five,” Simian countered.
“Ten.”
“Fine, Twenty.”
“It’s still ten.”
“Fifteen?”
“We’ll do twelve and a half, maximum,” Alex said.
Simian tilted his head to the side, pondering the offer. His motions were exaggerated, a practised tactic for haggling. It was always best, in his experience, to let the other party think they had gotten one over on you. “Twelve and a half. Sounds like a deal.” Simian extended his hand to Alex. The knight took it and shook.
“First thing’s first,” Erwin said, turning his back to the scraps. “Most of this is no good, honestly. Not for what I have planned. We could do with those machina parts though. A clean-burning jet engine? That's a great place to start. We'll need a place to start building, somewhere out of the way where we won't get noticed. And we'll need a whole bunch of helping hands. With just us, it's going to take a long time.”
“You leave that to me. I’ll round up my crew, they’ll be as eager as I am to get back into the air,” Hir’Six said.
“Froggletts would be a great help,” Alex said. “They do have that weird knack for building and making stuff.”
“The infinite,” Simian said. “You said you needed somewhere to build. Build it in the infinite. No one goes there, and it’s got enough space that you could do what you like.”
“As much as I hate to agree with him, Simian has a point.” Cassius crossed his arms and leant against the wall. “Not even the guild keeps a watch on the infinite, there’s nothing out there, so why bother. Perfect place to hide something.”
“Sounds like we have a plan,” Casey said. “The captain gets his crew, we move all this stuff out to this infinite place, then we draw up a list of what we need and start trying to get it.”
“We won’t need to move much of this stuff,” Erwin said, picking up a spoke that had once been attached to the ship’s wheel, the wood sent flying away from its home when the Star of Orix had crashed into the ground. “A lot of it is shaped wood that won’t work for what I have planned. It’s mostly going to be fittings and things. Do we have the balloon?”
“Aye, it’s at the back, deflated.”
“Good,” Erwin said. “Look, captain, this ship, the new Star. It won’t be the same as the last one. It’ll be a new ship, more or less.”
“As long as it gets me and my crew back in the skies, it’s good enough.”
***
Dust flicked into the chair as the chalk danced across the wall, scratching out words unreadable to most. Alex stepped back, slipping the small white rod back into his inventory, and looked at the list he had scrawled out. He had written it on the wall opposite his list of materials needed for his planned upgrades, giving his room a distinctly crazy person vibe.
“It’s a long list,” he said out loud.
“It’s not even the full list,” Casey said. “I’m sure there will be more once Erwin gets a good look at what we do have.”
Alex looked down at the scrap of paper Erwin had given him, doubled checking he had noted everything. “The top one just says gas. What does that even mean?”
“I assume he means for the balloon.”
“God, I hope he doesn’t mean whichever the explosive kind is.”
“Hydrogen,” Casey said. “I have no idea. I’m guessing that maybe the people of the Tower’s don’t actually know what kind of gas it is.”
“Sheet metal,” Alex said, continuing down the list. “That I think we can get. We head out into the wilderness and gather some ore, have Granald melt it down for us.”
“You do realise how much we’ll need in order to build something airship sized? Doing it that way will take months.”
“Well, where does all the metal you see about the Towers come from?”
Casey knocked her heels together. She was sitting on the end of Alex’s bed, legs stretched as far as she could get them. “The ruins, remember Horton said once.”
“That’s a good point. My guess is we might find a lot of this stuff there in which case. It’s on the far side of the swamp, right?”
Casey nodded. “We never did get a chance to check it out.”
“Looks like that should be our first port of call,” Alex said. “The big issues are going to be getting there, and then getting back with anything we find. It's not like there are regular airship flights out there at the moment.”
“I’ve got an idea there. Don’t you worry,” Casey said.
Chapter Four
Wagon Train
Alex leant against the wall, rubbing his chin as he considered the scene before him. Casey had arrived smiling as she sat atop a wagon, tugging the reins of the machina pulling it. Three more wagons had followed, each driven by a member of Hir’Six’s frogglett crew. They were longer than the wagons Alex was used to, each wagon having six wheels rather than four, but was otherwise the same. A simple wooden base with a canvas covering. Alex had to wonder where the fabric for the arched roofs had come from.
“This is your plan?”
“Yeah,” Casey said. “It’s pretty simple really. If we can’t carry enough of the stuff, then this lot can.”
“I was thinking you had something a bit more out there. Maybe a massive bag so we could just put what we find into our inventory or something like that.” Alex shifted his position against the wall. The outside of the Towers were a lot rougher than they appeared, and the stone was rubbing against his tunic.
“You know, I thought about that, but this is all supposed to be on the quiet, right? Someone goin
g around asking for a twelve-foot wide bag is the kind of thing that will get tongues wagging. But people hiring some caravans? That's normal around here.” Casey jumped off the wagon, landing on the ground and kicking up a grey cloud. She began to pat down her clothes, wiping the dust from them. It wasn't necessary, she could have simply accessed her outfit menu, changing into her armour and then back to her clothes quickly. They would have re-emerged spotless. Brushing herself was a subconscious reflex, Casey not fully aware she was doing it.
“You’ve got a point. I do kind of want to see the giant bag though…”
“Maybe next time,” Casey said. “I booked these wagons under Simian’s name. Said he was looking to expand his salvage operation. The best lies are the ones that have a kernel of truth to them I always find.”
“You lie often?” Alex said. Casey poked her tongue out at him.
One of the froggletts croaked loudly, the sound echoing throughout the valley. The creatures were normally silent so it was always surprising how loud they could be when they did choose to make noise.
The tower Alex was leaning against answered the sound with a low rumble. Its great heavy doors began to swing inwards, pulled on clanking chains and creaking gears. Behind the door, on the walls of the tunnel beyond, were several more froggletts, turning cranks and moving wheels.
Hir’Six was standing in the centre of the tunnel, his hand and hook on his hips, his needle teeth exposed in a wide grin. Behind him was a collection of wheelbarrows and boxes filled with the salvaged parts of the Star that Erwin had deemed worthwhile. Erwin himself was standing behind Hir’Six and carrying one of the boxes on his own, his enhanced strength making itself useful. Cassius was just behind him, pushing a wheelbarrow stacked high with assorted wood and metal.
“Should do nicely,” Hir’Six said, his metal leg tapping against the stone floor as he walked forward. “How long do we have them for?”
Aether Knight: Desolation: A LitRPG Light Novel Page 3