‘You took your time. What are you up to?’ Rebus commented.
‘Just an insurance policy,’ Rhidian said, and no more.
Rhidian then asked Red to give him a hand to unhitch the ropes from their moorings. The boy shimmied down the gangplank and met the engineer. The two of them tossed the ropes to Rebus for him to secure and he coiled them in a spool on the deck. The two then ran up the gangplank and, once they pulled it in, they were ready to leave.
The ship began to ease away from the jetty, drifting into the open sky. The tension in Red’s stomach began to ease but this wasn’t over yet. Rhidian told the others to keep a lookout for any signs of frantic activity, just in case they’d been found out. He then dashed to the navigation room. He steered the ship away from Skytraz Prison and slowly drifted out of dock.
Red stood rigid as a statue, watching the rock prison slowly get smaller and smaller. Rebus didn’t speak for a while, either; this was a very scary time. The darkness was good camouflage. Red kept his eyes peeled, licking his lips and breathing shallow.
Being an engineer, Rhidian knew that Sky Ships worked in a similar way to a hot air balloon, but with the added propulsion of an engine. Most of the ships had cushioned airbags, whilst older models (like the one he’d arrived on, moored opposite) still held zeppelin-type balloons above. The giant airbags on this freighter fitted along the whole length and width of the vessel’s underside. It had everything ingeniously weighted to keep the air-borne ship from capsizing.
He remembered reading up on Professor Jenk’s invention, the pioneer of the “floating base”. This made it possible to have the balloon underneath and not above the ship – a great step forward, making the balloon skin easier to protect. The old zeppelin-type vessels were vulnerable to attack. The hot air balloons would be the main targets. Their highly inflammable gas would explode if the material used for the balloon was punctured by pirates or rogue fire.
These days they used a non-flammable liquid and a thick outer skin. And with the balloon fitted to the underside, there was almost no chance of puncture and any danger of explosion. Rhidian detracted from his engineering lesson and called back to the others.
‘How are we doing? Are we far enough away yet?’ he hissed as he stuck his head out of the cabin.
‘Just a little further, my friend, and you can start the engine,’ Rebus called back.
‘It still looks quiet. There’s no movement from what I can make out, Rhidian,’ Red’s voice cut across the deck.
‘Okay, but we have to get away as quickly as we can,’ he relayed as quietly as he could. Within a couple of minutes, Rebus joined him in the control room. They waited until it was just the right time and when they thought they were out of earshot, Rebus spoke.
‘All right, Rhidian,’ he said in his full voice. ‘Start her up.’ Rhidian then primed the engine with a few pumps of a plunger. Once he was satisfied it was enough, he then pressed the button to start the engine. It seemed to turn over but coughed and spluttered as if it was getting over a cold. Rebus gritted his teeth in frustration and hoped the engine sound hadn’t travelled back to the prison.
‘What’s the problem, Rhidian?’ Rebus asked, and looked concerned, his face white. ‘We have to get out of here now. Can you pilot this thing or not?’ he rasped.
‘Hold on a second, Rebus. I’m a little rusty and this engine has been lazing all day. Just give me a moment, will you?’ he grunted, just as frustrated as the wizard. ‘I don’t want to over prime her. Once she’s flooded then we’ll have real problems.’ Rebus stood back, not knowing anything about the combustion engine and let Rhidian get on with it. As a wizard you have to understand things before you can use any magic and the enormity of the ship would take all his magical strength. He may need that for later.
The next moment, Red came flying into the control room and looked really concerned.
‘I-I th-think they’ve found out we’ve gone,’ he bellowed.
‘How do you know? What did you see, boy?’ Rebus pressed.
‘Come see for yourself.’ Red led Rebus outside. Sure enough, when Rebus looked far into the distance, he could see glittering lights of many flashlights and a siren echoed through the air, alerting the whole prison.
‘RHIDIAN… WE NEED TO GO NOW!’ Rebus boomed.
‘I know, I know,’ Rhidian winced. His hands were clammy and sweat was dripping from his brow onto the dials of the console. He’d run every scenario he could think of, but he knew that under pressure he could and would make mistakes. He stood back – why wasn’t it starting? He again ran all the procedure through his mind – every sequence, every scenario. Pump the fuel to prime the engine… press the start button and… He scratched his head.
‘RHIDIAN!’ Even Red was joining in on the chorus now. Rhidian had both hands on his mouth, breathing through his fingers. He swallowed hard and panted furiously. This is basic, basic engineering, he scolded himself. Why isn’t the fuel…? He stopped; something came to him.
‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘I’ve primed the engine and pressed the start button.’ He smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand. ‘How stupid of me,’ he muttered. ‘I haven’t flicked on the petrol feed – basic engineering. Of course, the engine is starved of fuel.’
‘RHIDIAN, now would be a good time!’ Rebus screamed from the deck. Rhidian once again pumped the plunger and then he flicked the switch. When that was done he crossed his fingers for a moment… and then pressed the start-up button. The engine coughed, spluttered and exploded into life. The jolt from the propeller shook the ship. Rhidian grabbed the power lever and eased it forward. The ship began to pick up speed; it wasn’t only the wind moving it now – the power of the engine was in full thrust. He could hear the howls and hoots of delight from the old wizard and the boy. He rested his clammy hands on the steering console. They’d done it. They’d escaped from Skytraz. But it wasn’t time to celebrate yet; they had to make sure they were far enough away first.
Rebus came bursting into the control room, his face reddened by the rush. Red was two steps behind him.
‘Come on, man, get this ship out of here fast,’ he demanded.
‘We’re at full thrust. Why, what’s the problem?’ Rhidian answered back.
‘They’ve got that second ship and they’ll soon be on our tail,’ Rebus said, and looked more flustered than Rhidian had ever seen him.
‘They won’t catch us now,’ Rhidian said confidently.
‘How do you know that?’ Red responded. ‘That other ship could be faster than this one.’
‘It doesn’t matter how fast it is,’ Rhidian said with a smile. ‘It won’t start without this,’ he said, holding out a short piece of electrical flex.
‘What’s that?’ Rebus asked curiously.
‘It’s the main starter motor lead. Without it, the engine won’t start up,’ he answered smugly.
‘You crafty dog,’ Rebus giggled. In fact, all three of them danced a jig around the control room, laughing and cheering as they did so.
The ship glided through the sky, riding the air as calm as a bird. Before long, it was a small dot in the distance and then it disappeared completely.
Chapter 8
Hope
Mia rubbed at the wooden table with her soft polishing cloth in a half-hearted attempt at getting it to shine. To be fair it was already polished to a high standard, but Jenta-Lor expected everything to be in pristine condition. She adjusted the stiff collar on her blouse and yanked it away from her throat. She sighed and swirled the cloth in circles, not really thinking of the job at all. She hated it here.
Since she had been taken, totally against her will, and forced to work in this place, she had no enthusiasm for the work. But at least she wasn’t thrown into prison, or maybe worse, but her mind was on other things. There wasn’t a minute that went by that she hadn’t thought about Rhidian. A knot tugged at her stomach. She hadn’t been told anything and wanted to ask on many occasions, but kept quiet.
&nb
sp; Was he all right? What was he doing? Was he thinking of her too? Was he being harmed? Her stomach tightened again at the last thought as she looked at her reflection in the wood.
Her pretty face had lost its sparkle. A dulled, sad reflection vacantly stared back from the mahogany surface. She noticed dark circles under her eyes and knew it was because of the sleepless nights. Her forehead now carried worry lines in place of her previous smooth skin. She blinked back a tear that pushed at the corner of her eye and the sadness gripped her throat. She tried to settle and tried to think of happier times; it was difficult. She needed to know something about her husband. Stop being so soft, she told herself as she straightened her shoulders.
Mia moved from surface to surface, doing exactly the same job as she’d done the day before. She came across the one door that she wasn’t allowed to enter. She thought it strange that she had access to all other rooms in this place, other than this one. She could even clean and polish in Jenta-Lor’s study, under supervision, of course. They didn’t want her seeing any information that didn’t concern her. But this door was totally “out of bounds” and she wasn’t even allowed to go in there with a chaperone. What was so important in there that she wasn’t permitted to see? This always intrigued her. She stood for a moment, pondering, and felt a slight tickle deep in her gut.
She soon snapped out of her thoughts when she heard raised voices from Jenta-Lor’s study. This was strange; she realised something was up. The house had been really quiet. She hadn’t been there long, but presumed that this was the general atmosphere. That was the only godsend of being trapped, the tranquillity.
The staff had put her to work straight away and as long as she got on with it, they left her alone. She was alone now, but the heightened tone of the conversation was intriguing. She found herself needing to investigate.
There were only the two dividing doors that separated the study from the waiting room where she was working. That seemed to be where the commotion was coming from. Mia wondered if she could listen without the other servants or Jenta-Lor’s main staff catching her. She needed to keep her head down or she didn’t know where they would put her next.
Mia casually walked from the centre table and polished her way to the study entrance. Each side of the big doors were two smaller tables, with a vase on each one – that was her opportunity. If I polish those now, it won’t look as though I’m spying, she thought. She placed her cloth on the side and lifted the vase off the stand. She’d remembered that Jenta-Lor’s desk was situated to the left side of the study, that’s why she chose the left table to polish.
The vase itself was quite heavy too and at one stage almost slipped from her grasp. Her stomach knotted and she opened her mouth in shock, eyes bulging. Mia then gently placed it on the floor, next to the table, and let out a shallow sigh. Then she retrieved her polishing cloth and leaned forward and pressed her right ear to the door. She pretended to polish and listened at the same time, making sure to look around for anyone who might catch her.
The conversation was a bit muffled at first, so she had to strain to hear it correctly. She squinted in concentration. She then felt someone approach and eased back from the door, looked down onto the table surface and continued polishing. A tall servant swept past and didn’t even acknowledge she was there.
She watched as he walked down the corridor and disappeared into another room. She let out a huge breath of air. That was too close, she thought. She again checked to see if anyone was watching; there wasn’t. Mia quickly pressed her ear against the cold surface of the door once more and this time closed her eyes and focussed.
‘What did you say?’ She heard one voice growl angrily. It sounded like Jenta-Lor himself. The other voice was meek under Jenta-Lor’s overbearing tone.
‘M-y lord,’ the voice stammered, ‘the report has just come in to say prisoners have esc-aped.’
‘What are those buffoons doing over there in Skytraz Prison? You are supposed to be running a jail that is inescapable – how could they let this happen?’ Jenta-Lor bellowed.
‘They’re on lock-down now, my lord, so that no one else can escape,’ the other voice grovelled.
‘It’s a little bit late for that now, isn’t it?’ Jenta-Lor screamed, ‘I don’t know why you don’t let them all escape,’ he said, the sarcasm oozing from every pore. ‘Do we have the numbers and names of the prisoners that got away, or has the paperwork escaped too?’ Jenta-Lor continued to mock.
‘Yes, my lord, I have the names here.’ Mia thought she heard someone step forward and maybe a piece of paper being ruffled.
There was another sound of echoed footsteps that scurried down the hall. Mia had to quickly look as though she was cleaning again. She cursed herself that she’d miss the names of the escaped prisoners. One of the kitchen staff shuffled past her and scurried away. Mia waited for only a second and didn’t waste any more time. She planted her ear against the door again like a suction cup, hoping she hadn’t missed any vital information. But she needn’t have worried.
‘Rhidian Fines and Rebus!’ Jenta-Lor screamed.
‘And Red, a young boy…’ the officer didn’t have time to finish.
‘I don’t care about any boy, you idiot. How could this happen? How did they escape?’ Jenta-Lor continued his rant.
A huge smile filled Mia’s face and her heart was beating much faster now at the news. He was in Skytraz Prison, she’d gathered as much. She didn’t care for the details of the escape, only that he was out and free. She stepped away from the door and put the vase back in place.
‘He’s escaped, he’s escaped,’ she repeated, trying to keep her voice to a whisper, almost jumping up and down on the spot. This fresh information lifted her spirits and made things a little easier to manage, knowing he was at least safe for now.
She moved away from the door and busied herself with the other furniture in the room, when suddenly the doors to the study burst open. She turned with a start. Jenta-Lor walked across the waiting room in a fast-paced march – the officer scrambled behind. He looked at Mia and stopped. He stood and gave a long penetrating glare.
‘You know, don’t you?’ he questioned, his eyes like lasers.
‘I’m sorry, my lord, know what?’ she lied, keeping her refrain from slipping into a grin. He peered in her eyes, searching for the truth.
‘You know that, err, never mind,’ he growled, dismissing her and continued on down the corridor. The officer shadowing him gave her a sweeping stern glance as he swept past. She heard the slam of a door and they were gone. For the first time in all the commotion of the last couple of days she felt good. Get back to me somehow, my love, she pondered lovingly, and soon.
Chapter 9
The Stowaway
‘Where are we headed?’ Rhidian enquired as he stared through the window into the steely skies. The grey wisps of cloud were thinning to reveal the early beginnings of a new morning. The ship chugged along at a steady pace. Rhidian stood at the wheel, feeling a little tired.
‘We have to get as much distance between us and Skytraz Prison as possible,’ Rebus announced, and scratched his perfectly trimmed beard. Rhidian turned and looked directly at Red. He was standing quietly in the corner, listening and taking in the conversation without commenting. Rhidian smiled at the teenager and Red gave a polite grin back.
‘You’re quiet for a change,’ Rhidian said. ‘Anything wrong?’
‘I’m fine,’ the boy reacted in a whisper, having to clear his throat. He hadn’t spoken for a while and his mouth was dry. ‘It’s just…’ He paused. Rebus and Rhidian looked at him.
‘What?’ Rhidian enquired squinting in curiosity. ‘What’s the matter? you can tell us.’
‘I’m… hungry,’ he said simply, ‘and I didn’t want to bring it up.’
It was quite amusing to the engineer, the idea of the boy being hungry. Especially after their traumatic escape from the prison. They’d broken out of their cells. They’d made it to the ship, whilst fooli
ng the prison guards in the process. All that taking place, excitement and fear, and now – the boy was hungry! Rhidian chuckled to himself. He’d been a teenager once too, and food could be more important to a kid than anything.
‘Why don’t you make yourself useful and see if there’s anything on board. We could all do with something to eat I suppose,’ Rhidian expressed, flicking his gaze to the old wizard. ‘I know I’m hungry too – steak would be nice.’ The thought made his stomach rumble.
‘Yes, I could use a bite,’ Rebus added. ‘There must be something in the galley, boy. Have a good look around. The kitchen must have food for the crew.’
‘Yeah, okay,’ Red agreed, and perked up a notch when he thought of all the possible food there might be. ‘I’ll find something.’ He hurriedly turned around and made his way out of the control room. He was more than ready to search and see what treasures were in the kitchen.
‘Do you want me to come with you?’ Rebus called out after him. ‘You may need help.’
‘No, I’ll be fine, old man,’ the teenager replied, his voice fading with the wind as he disappeared onto the deck. Rhidian almost burst out laughing but managed to hold it in.
‘Old man, indeed,’ Rebus grumbled, rolling his tongue around in his mouth. ‘Cheeky young scamp,’ he moaned, grinding his teeth.
Red stopped halfway along the deck. He closed his eyes for a moment and drank in the cool early morning breeze. Right now it was the best feeling in the world. He was free of that awful prison and that was a relief in itself. He opened his eyes again and walked purposely across the ship’s decking – his stomach tickled with the pitch and roll of its camber. The woodwork groaned and Red’s stomach grumbled along in sympathy, reminding him of his purpose: food!
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