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diff --git a/posts/2025-10-20-second-voyage-of-the-aerie.php b/posts/2025-10-20-second-voyage-of-the-aerie.php new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d173440 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/2025-10-20-second-voyage-of-the-aerie.php @@ -0,0 +1,1337 @@ +<h1>On Stranded Wings: Second Voyage of the <em>Aerie</em></h1> + +<p class="description"> +This year, for Nat 1's WWOO two-week short-story challenge, I revisted Kee and her menagerie of Wingfolk pioneers. I'm invested in writing fiction for fun again, and I wanted to use this story to do a couple of things. First, I wanted to more closely experiment with close third person writing. I wanted to get more of Kee's thoughts around what was happening and "zoom in" on her actions. Second, I wanted to use much richer imagery and situational environments to reveal things about the world, instead of just dumping them on the reader. I ended up writing a much longer story than originally anticipated for this anthology, but I couldn't stop telling the story! +</p> + +<p>The rhythmic thrumming of the engines emitted a drone that hushed out +all other noise in this part of the ship. Like a lullaby, it smoothed +over footsteps, tools, and valves, present though they were. The dim +light was betrayed by glinting aluminum girders, all of which were +strapped in place by a web of thick steel cables. The canvas walls gave +off the slightest ripple—the only indicator that there may be a harsh or +exciting world beyond them.</p> +<p>A row of slack hammocks filled the voids between large tanks of water +or oil, a couple of dented workbenches with bins of fasteners, and +heavily laden wooden toolboxes. One hammock, taught with its burden, +appeared at first like an open burlap sack full of iridescent green +feathers. It rarely twitched or deviated from rest, a state most +appreciated by its occupant. The bundle of feathers rose and fell and +routinely gave off a snore. Sometimes a clawed black foot or a scaly +hand would make its way out of its nest in search of cooler air.</p> +<p>The volume of the engines deadened abruptly. Like a backup quartet +quickly regrouping into a trio—the drop was soft and proportionate. +There was no harsh banging of equipment. No explosions or ringing to +indicate a state of alarm, but the new quiet was plenty enough to +disturb the slumber in the one weighted hammock. Any dreams that might +have been filled with bright, blue skies and the thrill they brought +were quelled with the intrusion of new silence. That silence would +assuredly beget work. Not the boring or toiling kind, but satisfying and +thought-provoking work. These thoughts tucked away dreams and rushed in +to replace them with alertness and drive. For Kee, they did this rather +slowly.</p> +<p>“Mmmmsome engine down…” Kee grumbled, hoping it was loud enough for +someone to hear the complaint. She cracked open one eye. <em>Nope, just +me.</em> She sighed and unfurled in the hammock, swaying as she sat up. +She stretched her arms over her head and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. +A yawn escaped her long, thin beak. “Can’t even finish rest before +someone mucks up on watch?” she asked aloud to nobody.</p> +<p><em>Oh well</em>, her gripes were always half-hearted anyway. +In-flight repairs meant thrilling engineering, and she wasn’t going to +miss a second of the action. Kee hoisted herself up and slid down from +the hammock, sucking in air when her claws clanked on the cold aluminum +deck. She fluttered her wings to wake them up as she started off.</p> +<p>Kee headed forward down the catwalk through the belly of the ship. +The droning of the engines got louder as she moved. <em>If it’s still +this noisy over the aft engines, it’s gotta be the forward port or +starboard engine that died.</em> She continued musing as her footsteps +clicked along the planks of the catwalk. Could it be fuel delivery? +Oiling? Or maybe some mechanical failure. She was confident that the +crew had done a thorough overhaul and inspection before the voyage, and +everything looked in order. <em>Maybe—</em></p> +<p>“Kee, the devoted early riser, on her way to set things straight, no +doubt!”</p> +<p>Kee jumped out of her thoughts to see lanky white plumage strutting +up the corridor toward her. Eudo’s arm was raised in greeting, and the +gape of his orange bill was curled in a friendly grin. Kee smiled back +and returned his wave before rolling her eyes in mock annoyance. “Eudo +the rigger, managing to somehow eek his way through trim watch no +doubt.”</p> +<p>He nodded with his too-long neck. “Cheeky and grumpy this morning, +great combination. Just finishing up, actually. Moved a hundred gallons +forward. Figured you’d already be up and thought I’d see if you wanna +hit the galley before I go off watch. When’s the last time you slept +through a down engine?”</p> +<p>She blinked and gave an exaggerated yawn in reply. “Well, you know +me. Can’t stand the thought of sleeping in.”</p> +<p>“Yeah, ’swhat I thought. The rest of the crew and I do our best to +keep you on your toes anyway,” he said and bowed in mock service. “Now +it’s your turn. If we go to eat, you should know Halihk is in there.” He +smirked and twisted his long neck so he could look pointedly down his +bill at Kee.</p> +<p>She bristled, and even though the plumage on her nape was sticking +straight up, she waved her hand through the air to dismiss Eudo’s +comment. “He and I aren’t mortal enemies, you know. We just got off on +the wrong foot.” <em>Well, more like both feet, fists, and all</em> now +that she thought about it.</p> +<p>Halihk’s first impressions ranged from mildly antagonistic to +downright malicious. “What matters is he and I both care about getting +stuff done and leaving each other alone; it doesn’t make any difference +what he thinks of me.” She hoped it sounded convincing.</p> +<p>Eudo retorted, “Yeah, seeing you two get stuff done is what makes +breakfast so entertaining for me and the other guys.” Before she could +sass him, he spun around and took long, bobbing strides down the +corridor. Kee switched from thinking up comebacks to figuring out how +she was going to get reassigned to the downed engine. Halihk might give +her a go at it if the rest of the workload was light. She clicked along +the wooden catwalks to keep up with Eudo. Her line of sight stretched +down the catwalk, which arched slightly back up at the end of the hall. +Her gaze drifted up to the massive cells full of lifting gas looming +overhead. The gargantuan bags quietly assumed most of the ship’s bulk +and kept her aloft. Kee admired the off-worlders. <em>Featherless and +wingless things, but they do have some bright ideas</em>.</p> +<p>Before long, they arrived at the galley door. It was one of the only +compartments of the ship that was walled off from the inner workings. +Cooking, eating, and communing were best done out of sight of work. The +privacy was largely for show; the room was still wrapped in canvas and +did nothing to muffle the chatter and noise from inside. But somehow the +guys still used it to divulge all the latest scuttlebutt. Eudo slid open +the canvas door and stepped through. Kee followed right behind and drew +the door shut behind her. Along one wall, a row of electric cooktops and +an oven were lined with aluminum pots, pans, dishes, and utensils. Kee +immediately spotted Yarrick dancing back and forth, prepping and dishing +out rations, his black feathers dusty with flour and his apron stained +with whatever he had happened to be reheating that day. Perches and +tables lined the perimeter of the cabin, running down the middle from +one end to the other. Electric lights bathed the whole room in an +artificial but cheery glow. The watch change meant the place was already +teeming.</p> +<p>The menagerie of crew present was busy squawking or chittering away +in conversation. Edd was trying his best to distract Yarrick (or anyone +who would listen, probably) with a tale of someone he met at the dry +dock. Eudo did his best to push his way past Edd in the cramped space +and get something to eat. Kee turned her attention to the tables. +Sriharc, a navigator and one of the Talons who ran the ship from the +control gondola, ate across from Halihk at a far table. Halihk looked +more abrasive than usual. Kee’s throat dried up. He was probably ready +to peck the eyes out of anybody who’d so much as open their beak at him. +<em>This should be good. Well, only one way to get what you +want.</em></p> +<p>She marched her way right up to their table. “Morning, Sriharc. Fine +flying weather out there?”</p> +<p>Sriharc nodded in greeting, his yellow eyes darting from Halihk to +Kee and back. “Fine weather, just a few passing Vork.”</p> +<p>Vork were a mystery to Kee; essentially, they were bonded globs of +elements that floated around in the air from place to place. They +populated and sometimes moved through Wingfolk skies like vast +migrations. Most of them were harmless, such as the jelly-like masses of +water, but others were dangerous—floating blobs of caustic acid-like +substance, burning pockmarks into the sides of the Shelves. Steering +clear of them was a job for the Talons.</p> +<p>“We’re making good headway, too, a few thousand miles in over the +Underwood already. Another couple of days and we’ll break the record for +crossing over it wings-on-your-back. Then comes the rest of the +surveying flight, charting, etc.” He smirked and lifted his pitcher with +an arm trimmed in brick red plumage. “Course, we’d do it a lot quicker +with four engines.” He retrained his eyes on Halihk.</p> +<p>Kee braced for impact but managed to offer, “Sure, well, I’ll get +right on that.”</p> +<p>Halihk answered on cue, “Nuts, Sylph, there’ll be no asking for an +invite to the party on starboard engine, ‘cause the answer’s +<em>no</em>. You stay on trim watch this shift or go pick flowers in the +Underwood for all I care.”</p> +<p><em>Oh yeah, it’s on.</em> The crude words flowed from Kee’s mind to +the tip of her beak without filtration. “Thanks Halihk, but actually was +feelin’ a little worked up—came to check whether you gents were lekking +in here. Gotta say so far I’m pretty disappointed, s’like a cold shower +with you around.”</p> +<p>Eudo smacked the table from across the room, head reared back in +laughter. Yarrick beat his wings and chuckled while he shifted pans +around. Halihk sneered, but his beady black eyes glowered up at Kee.</p> +<p>She reloaded and took her next shot before he could get one +out.“Besides, if I wanted that job, I’d ask the chief or one of the +Talons,” she jabbed a scaly black thumb at Sriharc.</p> +<p>Sriharc raised his gray head and rolled his eyes at the ceiling. “Oh, +no, you two and Llyr work that out; he’s in charge of you mechanists. +’Sides, in this galley, the only one in charge is Yarrick over there. +Right, Yarrick?”</p> +<p>Yarrick looked up from what he was doing long enough to caw out a +dry, “You better believe it!”</p> +<p>Sriharc stood from his perch and made his way past the rest of the +menagerie and out of the galley. Before he shut the door, he flung one +last piece of ammo toward the impending battle: “Oh, and Halihk failed +to mention that he already asked the chief if he could look at that +engine. Poor guy got shut down.” He gave Kee a wink. The jerk looked +pretty satisfied with his handiwork.</p> +<p>The pot was adequately stirred. Halihk stood, his tawny wings +stretching out and puffing up his stature. “That’s right, Sylph. Chief’s +orders. You stay on trim, and I go on rest, and Krarr learns how to pull +a cylinder all by himself. Sky above knows he’s gotta figure it out +in-flight one way or another.” His white cheeks shifted. He looked +amused more than anything. “Besides, if you really want to pull a fella +in here, all you gotta do is show him your nest.”</p> +<p>Kee felt her wings quiver and the down on her chest swell. She stuck +her neck out and threw her arms up, gesturing to the tight room. “Maybe +I would if there were any guys with rank in here, but there aren’t, are +there?”</p> +<p>She felt the blow hit home. The dirty cone-face’s amusement faded +faster than it came. That got him. All he could get out was, “Perch on a +cactus, Sylph,” and he stomped back up to his table.</p> +<p>“Yeah, lay an egg, Halihk.” Kee turned on her toes and scraped her +way across the deck back to Eudo, who was already perched at a table +with Edd. Yarrick coughed and growled out, “That’ll be enough o’ that +while I’m prepping food for your foul gizzards!”</p> +<p>Kee sidled up to Eudo. She avoided eye contact, instead fixing her +gaze on the black and white photograph above the table. It had been +taken back at the dry dock before the maiden voyage when Halihk had his +chance at being Chief Mechanist. The caption read: <em>The</em> Aerie +<em>and her crew</em>. Eudo started, “You know you really ought not to +bring up the guy’s rank. He was really proud to be ‘chief for a day’. +Besides, you’re both Soaring Mechanists now, you don’t have anything +left to prove to anybody.”</p> +<p>“It’s just how we get along. Llyr will smooth things over.” Kee +stared at the photo, or rather, past it into some middle distance. She +let her vision blur while her time as a Fledgling Mechanist trickled +back. All the hard work, the sweat, the late nights. Why did she do it? +’Cause she liked it, duh. Should she have something to prove? That she +wasn’t too small or just some broody girl in denial? If she did have +something to prove, she wasn’t sure to whom. Herself? Her family? Llyr +or the crew? She wanted to work on the <em>Aerie</em> the moment she +knew the ship’d been offered to the Wingfolk by the off-worlders. She +flew a long way to apprentice with the best. She wanted to get her hands +dirty, make things tick, solve problems. <em>Building things had a +purpose. Wasn’t that reason enough?</em> Should she have some aspiration +to fly higher, fly farther, like everyone else? Or maybe one day design +and build ships. Give flight to the flightless. That wasn’t such a bad +reason; most everyone had that goal. It was troubling, not because it +was a bad goal, but because it didn’t feel like it was <em>her</em> +goal.</p> +<p>The table had been quiet for too long, and her chest felt tight. She +thought she’d die stewing on it if she didn’t talk about something else. +“So uh, what’s up with the Underwood?”</p> +<p>Luckily, Eudo took the hint. “Well, we’re pretty deep into the +territory. You know we’re gonna be the first ones to cross it? It’s so +big nobody’s ever been able to wing it across the whole thing.”</p> +<p>Big deal, lots of trees to look at. “We stopping anywhere?”</p> +<p>“No, don’t think so. In our briefing, Qreel just said we’re mapping +the whole Shelf. Taking measurements, pointing out spots where we might +be able to settle or something. Besides, the canopy is too thick to land +anywhere.”</p> +<p>Edd added his usual flavor to someone else’s conversation, “Ain’t no +sense trying neither. Talons said the last expedition that touched down +at the edge just reported it’s dark, dank, and full of nasty +varmints.”</p> +<p>Eudo and Edd continued gossiping about the mission and the crew while +Kee ate. Her thoughts drifted to the desolate foreign shelves, like +those of the Underwood. <em>Why would we explore a place not worth +living?</em> She supposed it was better than the Crags. The lowest +surface of the Wingfolk world wasn’t a nice place to be. Jagged rock and +nothing grew there. Up high on rock columns called Shelves is where +everyone lived, ate, and had fun. Lakes, beaches, her hometown. Thoughts +wandered back to it for a brief moment before the memories got too +boring. No, the best was being in the air. All the time if you could +help it. At least here she could fly, tinker, and see what else was out +there.</p> +<p>The conversation drifted to the captain. Edd waffled on, “Well, this +is how the hangar guys said it went down. Captain’s flyin’ through this +wicked squall, yeah, and he gets to flyin’ too close to the deck, and +then <em>bam</em>!” He slammed his fist on the table. “He smacks +back-first into the Shelf-face. Radius nerve is smithereens, and he’s +grounded for life.” Kee caught Halihk turn around at his table and +survey them with one eye. Edd was too stupid to notice or listen when +Eudo shushed him. “So I’m jist askin’, how come the guy steerin’ the +ship is the one who’s caught in a gale flyin’ upside down.”</p> +<p>Halihk rose from his table and walked closer until he stood beside +Edd. He set his fingers on the table, his wings looming such that they +blocked out the electric light overhead. He spoke with a controlled tone +that Kee couldn’t remember ever hearing from him in all her hours on +board. “There’ll be no more talk of the captain in this galley. And if I +catch you doing it on watch, chief or no chief, I’ll set you to work. +Did that make it into your hollow skull?” Before they could respond, he +turned, opened the canvas door, and left.</p> +<p>Edd recoiled and tried to stammer an apology, but it was too late. +“Sheesh, you guys know I don’t mean nothin’ about the captain, he’s a +great Talon. ’Sides, he got us out of that jam on our maiden voyage.” He +turned and raised his pitcher to Kee. “With some fancy flying from our +fearless, shimmering bolt of green!” Kee giggled and rolled her eyes. +Looking back, her “daring” flight between the engine cars wasn’t her +proudest moment.</p> +<p>The drone of the ship’s remaining engines was cut by the whistling +hiss of an air starter and the <em>pop</em> of ignition. It quickly +erupted in knocking and intense vibration, which reverberated through +the lightweight girders of the ship and rattled its way into the hollow +bones of everyone in the galley. The <em>Aerie</em> was shivering like a +beast in distress, and the clanging, knocking sound made Kee wince. Then +it was over, gone seemingly as quickly as it had started. Kee jumped +from her perch and made for the door. It slid open, and Halihk’s tawny +face and white cheeks blocked her way.</p> +<p>“Get to it, Sylph, on the double.” He gestured out the door with his +wing.</p> +<p>Kee bolted out into the corridor. Her jaunt almost turned to flight +as she jumped and flapped her way down the catwalk to the cargo bay. The +cargo bay was essentially a series of storage lockers situated between +two rings of the hull. A few loading rails and lifting chains hung from +the ceiling, and crates and sacks of supplies were stuffed anywhere they +would fit—between cables, girders, and the supporting nets of the +massive gas cells above. It did, though, have large bay doors beneath +for raising and lowering palettes of cargo into the ship. These were +usually left open for the crew to catch some wind. <em>Perfect, they’re +still open!</em> Kee took one look over the edge into the clouds and +rolling green canopies below and dove off the ledge.</p> +<p>Every plume, every fiber of her body savored and cherished the wind: +the cool rush of the <em>Aerie</em>’s wash and the warm, uplifting +currents from the Shelf below. It was heavenly. She kicked her legs out +behind her as her pointed, violet wings fanned out to grab the air. She +buzzed them to keep up with the ship, but the updrafts flowed over and +through her primaries and held her aloft. The enormous silvery fish +above her propelled itself through the air effortlessly, if noisily. No +beating of wings kept the <em>Aerie</em> aloft.</p> +<p>Mile after mile stretched the green canopies, all the way to the +horizon in all directions, without so much as a bump in elevation. +Scattered clouds cast shadows down onto the lush foliage. A few Vork did +meander in between clouds. They didn’t look caustic or dangerous, mostly +clear. More likely than not, they were just balls of water. Ahead, Kee +could see the control gondola slung beneath the bow. Through the +porthole windows, she could see Talons—officers of the +<em>Aerie—</em>busily charting out their course and maintaining the +ship’s heading. Kee pulled back to slow up. She drifted back along the +sloping, ribbed hull, dipping her right wing and rolling over to +starboard to meet up with the engine car.</p> +<p>The small pod was affixed to the hull of the ship with a few girders +and a ladder. The propeller windmilled freely. <em>Alright, girl, what +do you need?</em> Kee dove toward the ladder and tucked her wings. She +deftly grabbed hold of the rungs with her claws, firmly joining the +<em>Aerie</em> once more.</p> +<p>Wind rippled through the down on her arms and back as she slid into +the car below. She landed on the deck with a clank. Krarr was panting +and hunched over the engine, frantically disassembling the rockers with +an open-ended wrench. Soot covered his light gray and tawny down. His +bushy ear tufts, normally flattened back against his head, were standing +straight up and scraping the canvas ceiling of the engine car. He jumped +and spun his head around, fixing his enormous, yellow, globed eyes on +Kee.</p> +<p>“Kee! I don’t know what happened,” he pleaded. “It was running rough +and then just quit. I made some timing adjustments, but it wouldn’t +start, so I removed a couple of cylinders. But when I got ’em off, I +didn’t see anything wrong, so I put it back together and started it up +again, that’s when things shook. It felt like the whole car was going to +come apart! And now I don’t—I just don’t know—” he tripped over the +remaining words and eventually trailed off without forming a complete +thought.</p> +<p>Krarr was even more out of his element than usual. On a good day, he +was a half-decent mechanist, just a little too by-the-book to +troubleshoot things himself. Kee looked around the place. Tools and rags +littered the already cramped compartment. Spare parts were unboxed and +scattered about, and the toolbox appeared to have been turned upside +down at some point. Worst of all, the engine order telegraph—the method +the Talons used to communicate desired speed and direction— was still +set to <em>Cruising speed</em>. The big guy was clearly flustered.</p> +<p>“Krarr, take a deep breath with me. In through the nares, out through +the gape.” She sucked in air, held it, and exhaled, motioning for him to +do the same. His bushy chest inflated as he breathed in, and then +compressed as he let the air out. “We’re gonna figure this out together, +okay?” He nodded. Kee pointed to the telegraph. “Always, <em>always</em> +set the telegraph first so the Talons know what’s up, alright?” He +nodded again while she rolled the dial back and forth, ringing the bell +with a <em>Ti-ti-ti-ting</em> and setting the indicator to <em>stop +engine, brake on.</em></p> +<p>Kee motioned for him to scoot over. The great iron behemoth dominated +her attention, and she greedily fixated on it, running over it with eyes +and scaly fingers, trying to assess what had been done or not done. The +gorgeous brass and iron fixtures looked to be mechanically intact. Six +cylinders stood in a row, one clearly half-bolted. The spider-like valve +train atop the cylinder was in pieces, no doubt Krarr’s next avenue of +attack. The rest of the assembly seemed untouched: a network of pipes +and hoses carrying oil, coolant, air, and fuel all strung out like veins +from the cold, dormant heart. In her head, Kee could see everything: +valves actuating, pistons traveling up and down, connecting rods +translating linear motion into circular motion, and finally turning the +crankshaft and propeller. All she needed to do was see who in the family +was misbehaving.</p> +<p><em>Spark plugs first.</em> Kee grabbed a socket and wrench from the +wooden toolbox and started pulling all twelve spark plugs one at a time. +She held them out under the light from the porthole, studying the +electrodes for damage. Finally, she got to the last cylinder. They were +both fouled, sooty with oil and unburned fuel.</p> +<p>“Krarr, during your watch, was she blowing fire or blue smoke out the +exhaust at all? Or using much oil?”</p> +<p>Krarr shifted on his feet in the compartment and nodded. “Yeah that +started happening on my watch. I tried adjusting things, but nothing I +did helped, and then it quit.”</p> +<p>Burning oil and bad oscillation. Kee wasted no time. She reached back +down to the toolbox and rifled through it, setting out everything she’d +need to disassemble the last cylinder. Notably, it wasn’t the one Krarr +was halfway through taking off.</p> +<p>While she was working, another pair of clawed feet started traversing +the ladder from the hull down into their car. Llyr’s jet black feathers +poured into the compartment as he squeezed along the other side of the +engine next to Krarr. She looked up long enough to give a, “Hey chief,” +and continued working. The place was cramped with three mechanists in +it.</p> +<p>“Kee, Krarr, sorry I’m late. How are you two getting on?” Llyr was +always pleasant, and Kee felt a warm sensation of confidence every time +she worked with him. Her apprenticeship at dry dock was mostly overseen +by Llyr, and he was the best there was, no doubt. He knew things about +engines no other Wingfolk had picked up yet; it was borderline +supernatural. But he never talked down to anyone—everything was a +learning opportunity if you were willing to put in the work.</p> +<p>Krarr jumped at the chance to provide some iota of progress, “Well, +Kee pulled the spark plugs, and the number six cylinder is fouling +pretty badly. She—I mean, <em>we’re</em> taking that off for +inspection.”</p> +<p>“I see, well observed. And what are we thinking could be the culprit +so far?”</p> +<p>“Krarr told me blue smoke and flames right before she stalled, so I’m +thinking rings or connecting rod. With the vibration we all felt, gotta +be the rod.”</p> +<p>“Well diagnosed, you two! I can see I’m not needed here. But Krarr, +why don’t you lend Kee a hand with those valves?” Llyr was good. He +wasn’t a watch-and-learn kinda guy. He taught through hands-on +experience and built confidence.</p> +<p>Kee and Krarr squished together on the outboard side of the engine, +working in tandem. Llyr watched their work over the top of the motor, +making small talk. Kee heard less and less of it the more focused she +got. She was savoring, calculating, keeping track of parts. After +another hour, they had everything neatly organized into small buckets of +parts on the floor, and together, they lifted the cylinder apart. It was +pretty bad. The top half of the cylinder was pretty scored up. The +piston itself clearly failed in some way, as there were black scorch +marks all around the rings and down the sides of the piston. Everything +was still connected, but there was clearly overheating and loss of oil. +Kee studied the piston, dangling freely in the air as if it were holding +onto the crank for dear life. She worked it back and forth and noticed +the wrist pin was dead seized.</p> +<p>“Well, I think you’ve found the culprit, alright.” Llyr beamed over +the valvetrain at his two mechanists.</p> +<p>“Yep, definitely bad wrist pin,” Kee confirmed and offered the piston +to Krarr to study. “We’re going to need some parts from the engineering +station and more tools. It should only take an hour to get a new pin in +and put everything back together.”</p> +<p>Llyr blinked and frowned. “I’m not so sure we can. Look at the slight +curve in the connecting rod; it’s bent out of shape, and I think it took +too much meat off the cylinder with it. I think we’ll have to remove the +piston and run on five the rest of the voyage.” Kee’s tail feathers +drooped. A wrist pin or even re-ringing was an easy job. The conn rod +meant dropping the pan, turning the block over, and getting the end caps +off. It was a major overhaul. But Llyr was right, there was no way this +piston was moving up and down without hitting the sides of the cylinder. +It just wouldn’t fit right, unless—</p> +<p>Kee’s heart skipped, and she perked up. “Well, let’s file the piston +then!” she chirped. “We can ream out the bushing a little so it’s oval, +and then file the edges of the piston to give us some clearance with the +cylinder. New rings should take care of the rest, right?” She pointed +her beak at Llyr, zealously waiting for his reply.</p> +<p>The chief turned things over in his head, looking not at Kee but at +the piston. After musing for another minute, he made eye contact with +Kee, smiled, and cawed, “We’ll need to run less fuel through there, but +I don’t see why not. Let’s get to work.”</p> +<p>Kee danced in place; she couldn’t help herself. She was radiating. +Resurrecting an engine was like magic. The tools were like wands or +mystical adjuncts, connecting Kee with some tapestry of innate motorized +life force.</p> +<p>The crew set to work. Kee and Llyr flew back out of the car and up +through the now-orange sky back to the cargo bay. They clanked their way +to the engineering station, gathering parts and tools as they went, and +chatted about the wind conditions, ballast levels, clouds, and their +stuck piston. They swapped stories of great discoveries made on watch +and late nights banging their heads against problems that tired eyes +would never solve. They gathered their collection into a few light packs +and flew them back to the engine car.</p> +<p>The Underwood continued endlessly below them. It looked like a +bubbling, rolling green sea of tree crowns. As the daylight waned, the +shadow of the ship passing overhead grew longer.</p> +<p>When they got back to the starboard engine car, they resumed their +positions. Kee and Krarr stood on the outboard side, taking turns filing +away at the disassembled piston. A little metal there, a little shave +here. They checked and rechecked the fit as they worked, making sure +they removed just what was necessary. Finally, they had a fitment they +were happy with. By now Kee’s white chest was sooty and matted with +grease in spots. Her iridescent green arms gleamed a rainbow-black hue +from the oil. Llyr worked on the fitting of the new wrist pin, ensuring +it had a full range of motion and adequate lubrication for startup. By +the time they had the cylinder back on and everything ready to go, the +light through the porthole had gone completely, and an indigo night was +rapidly giving way to pitch blackness. A small electric lamp was all +they had to work by now.</p> +<p>Llyr wiped his claws on a rag and ran his hand back along his nape. +“Well, who’d like to do the honors?”</p> +<p>Kee almost spoke but caught the words at the last moment. She instead +gave Krarr a gentle thump on the wings. “How about it, Krarr?”</p> +<p>Krarr’s yellow globes trained on Kee. He smiled, nodded, and moved +into position. The chief rang the telegraph with a +<em>ti-ti-ti-ti-ting</em> and signalled <em>idling, brake off</em>. Kee +and Krarr echoed the command. She released the brake while Krarr set the +choke and mixture for startup. At last, he yanked the air starter.</p> +<p><em>Vvvfff-boom</em>, the engine coughed and then erupted with +motion. The carburetors sucked in air, and magic and life returned to +the dead cauldron of fluids in the engine car. It sounded distinctly +different from Kee’s memory, probably because it still wasn’t running in +top shape, but it was smooth and powerful. It tickled Kee’s +senses—sight, sound, smell. It was an orchestra of fumes, valves +ticking, and coolant and fuel flowing through a maze of energy.</p> +<p>Llyr rang and signaled <em>cruising speed</em> with the telegraph, +and assumed the throttle controls while Kee handled the clutch that +connected the engine to the propeller. Llyr put the power on, pumping +more fuel and air into its starving cylinders to increase the RPMs, but +not quite to the level they usually ran at. Kee yanked the clutch to +engage the prop. The shock was instant, and the oscillating in the car +was intense. Kee immediately reversed her actuation.</p> +<p>Nothing happened.</p> +<p>She pulled harder, but it wouldn’t disconnect. <em>What’s wrong with +this thing?</em> The entire car was shaking and creaking with the +vibration. Llyr yelled something to Krarr, but Kee couldn’t hear it. The +car swayed.</p> +<p>Krarr killed the engine. The vibration stopped, but the car continued +swaying. Llyr shouted, “Strut’s loose—both of you out!” and he motioned +up the hatchway ladder.</p> +<p>“Krarr, move your tail feathers! Get out of here!” Kee started +shoving Krarr around the engine toward the ladder. “Chief, you’re in the +way, move.” The car was tighter now that the three Wingfolk were +spreading their wings in a panic, as if any moment they’d need to fly to +safety. Kee and Krarr couldn’t maneuver around Llyr up the ladder.</p> +<p>“I’m going last, no arguing!” Llyr demanded. The car sagged and +swayed again as a creaking, twisting sound tore through their ears.</p> +<p>“You don’t get to choose, now hustle!” Kee shoved Krarr’s bulk up +against Llyr, pinning him up against the ladder. Finally, he struggled +to free himself and start climbing. He disappeared through the hatch as +Krarr followed as quickly as his size would allow. Kee grabbed the rungs +of the ladder. Past Krarr’s tail, she could see the torn canvas of the +ship and girders protruding like splintered bones piercing skin. As the +car sagged, the fuel and oil lines severed, showering the car and ladder +rungs with a smelly, slippery lubricant. Llyr and Krarr took a bath in +motor oil, shielding their eyes as Kee grabbed hold of the rungs with +both hands and started to hop up the ladder. <em>The telegraph</em>. Her +eyes darted toward the dial face, in the dim light still indicating +<em>cruising speed</em>.</p> +<p>“Sylph, let’s move!” Llyr shouted down the ladder.</p> +<p>She reached for the lever instead, rang the bell, and felt her +stomach lurch. The creaking, crunching noise of twisting aluminum and +the snapping crackle of wire braces gave way to the noise of wind.</p> +<p>The light in the car went out, and Kee felt her whole body shunted +against the far wall. <em>Dropped.</em> Everything spun and turned over +as she spread her wings, trying to get airborne. Her wings flapped and +slapped into pipes, flinging tools, and the canvas sides of the car.</p> +<p><em>Caged.</em></p> +<p>Kee slammed back-first into the side of the car, the momentum she +built up impacting all at once and knocking the air out of her as the +car smashed into solid matter again. She reached out for a +handhold—anything she could use to climb out of the car and get into the +open.</p> +<p>The car’s speed picked up again as it rolled over on its side. She +jumped just as the car reentered free-fall, once more pinning her to the +side. The disorienting blackness and falling sensation kept her +scrambling for a way out of the cage. <em>Falling.</em> Any egress she +could use for flight was invisible, out of her grasp. Parts and tools +continued to spiral around, assaulting her face, chest, and arms. She +covered her eyes with her hands as she flapped and rolled.</p> +<p>The motion halted violently again with a shuddering smash as Kee +rocketed sideways into the engine block, one of her wings buckling with +a sickening crunch as her head impacted the manifold.</p> +<p>Everything was still, but her vision was still swirling. Her wing +hurt. Her legs hurt. Her head hurt. Sticky, warm fluid ran down into her +eye, and fog seeped in, stealing her consciousness away.</p> +<hr/> +<p>The air was stagnant and thick with moisture. Unbreathable. +Everything was a fuzzy approximation of reality, swirling around in +invisible mist. Kee’s head pounded, the feathers on the left side of her +face still hot and sticky. A cloud of gnats invaded her thoughts and +faculties and drew her vision to the gray light and the car around her. +<em>Shit.</em></p> +<p>She and the car sat in at least three inches of muddy, oily water, +and gnats and mosquitoes assaulted her ears. As the fuzziness left her +skull, the car became clearer. The pain got worse. <em>Double +shit</em>.</p> +<p>Everything was sore, but parts of her were in agony. Her left wing— +“Ouch!” she winced and hissed as she grabbed it. “Oww!” It hurt worse +the more she touched it, the more she flexed it. Her heart pounded, and +nausea slowly crept up her throat from her stomach. She sucked in +breath. <em>Keep it together. Just a little sprain. One inch at a +time.</em></p> +<p>She relaxed and then tensed her shoulder muscles, slowly extending +her wing joint by joint. “<em>Shhhhhit</em>! Ow!” Her feathery wing +wrist burned and throbbed. Worse, it was immobile. Despite the pain, she +felt no control over it. She stiffened it again, hoping to find a +restful position where her muscles didn’t sear.</p> +<p>Now wide awake, the masked pain came in full force. “Oh no, oh no no +no!” <em>It’s fine, just sore, you can do this Kee, just gentler—</em> +She hissed again as she extended her right wing, and the pain coursed +back into the wrist. It felt like her muscles had been pried loose from +her bones with a chisel.</p> +<p><em>Grounded?</em> It sank in too fast. Her eyes welled with tears so +quickly she choked on them. She couldn’t cry, she just couldn’t. She had +to find a way. But the sobbing came in spurts anyway. Holding back made +her throat raspy. “My wing, not my wing!” she croaked through tears.</p> +<p>This was it. She was grounded. Like the captain, she’d never fly +again. But unlike the captain, she was stuck in some stupid forest +nobody even wanted to live in. Just a dumb little wannabe mechanist. Her +last flight was carrying some tools around. She wished she had the +forethought to take just one last soar from the observation deck with +Eudo. But here she had no Eudo to lean on. No Llyr to teach her. The +gnats and the humidity were all she had. No crew, no friends. No +<em>Aerie</em>. They would rescue her, right? How could they? Llyr +probably didn’t even see the engine car fall. How would they even know +where she was in the dark? She’d give anything for that last flight now. +Maybe it would be better if she hadn’t woken up at all. She cried for +only the sky knows how long, emptying any energy she had left into her +tears.</p> +<p>A flapping sound and something landing with a thud and a splash +outside jerked Kee to her senses. She called out, “Hello? Guys, I’m in +here!”</p> +<p>More rustling and a kickoff. Something was flying away fast. Kee +pushed herself up off the wet floor, holding her breath through the +pain. The car lay roughly upright, tilted a few degrees to one side. She +climbed what was left of the slick ladder, carefully tucking her lame +wing so it didn’t impact the hatch. With her head out of the car, she +laid eyes on the Underwood for the first time.</p> +<p>The forest was dense with the largest swamp gum trees Kee had ever +seen. The tupelos had massive trunks, and their canopies stretched at +least one hundred feet toward the sky. There was no sign of any +Wingfolk. Kee’s eyes scrutinized the canopies. <em>Am I +hallucinating?</em> Everything was dimly lit as minuscule amounts of +light cut in through the foliage; only a small hole let daylight down +directly above where Kee landed. <em>Landed? Hell of a landing.</em></p> +<p>Kee scoured the ground around the car. The base and roots of the +trees were completely submerged. The whole area she could see was +flooded. Leaves and debris floated on the water, which was surprisingly +clear everywhere except where the broken engine bled oil. She blinked. +At the base of the car, on what looked like a small raft made of tree +roots, were flowers. A whole pile of green-white flowers the size of her +fist. Beside them sat a few dark blue fruits, all floating calmly on the +raft.</p> +<p>Kee was still dizzy and overcome with pain. Her stomach added a new, +gnawing sensation to the party. Suddenly, she was starving. She +clambered out of the hatch, careful not to rock the car too hard. +Climbing down the car's side was not easy, but Kee managed to grip the +ribbed, torn-up surface. She splashed down into the mud as deep as her +calves.</p> +<p>The raft wobbled as Kee swashed up to it, sinking slightly into muddy +deadfall beneath the surface. The flowers smelled amazing, their sweet +nectar alluring. Kee picked one up and drank from it. <em>Wow, that’s +great.</em> It was sweet, and with every sip, her body begged for +more.</p> +<p>She drank through half of the flowers before she caught herself +thinking about Halihk. She chuckled. <em>If that jerk could see me now. +Picking flowers in the Underwood.</em> She dismissed the memory and +turned to the fruit. She bit into it. It was good, but not as good as +the flowers, more like a sour plum than anything.</p> +<p>While Kee ate, her spirits recovered marginally, and the sense of +hopelessness melted away into questions. She always felt better when she +had questions to think about. But here, there was nobody to ask them but +herself. <em>Who left this for me? Was the crew here or someone else? +Would the crew even be able to find me?</em> She winced again. How long +would it take for her wing to heal—if it did heal fully, she wondered. +She set that question aside and finished the food.</p> +<p>The little raft was made of just a couple of logs bound together with +reeds and vines. Kee saw some utility there, and as best she could, she +tied a small splint to hold her broken wing in place. No sense in making +things worse. The wood looked like it came from the tupelos around her, +but it was dry, even seasoned. She carefully piled the remaining dry +logs.</p> +<p>“Well, I’m alive for the moment. And I can’t leave. If someone does +come looking for me, it’s going to be right here. Might as well make +myself useful.”</p> +<p>She waded around in the water, studying the dirty bottom. The twinkle +of tools shone up into her eyes. Every instrument, tool, and scrap of +metal she could find, she gathered into a neat pile. This pile she +carefully rinsed off and oiled with what was floating on the surface +around the car, and returned to the scuffed wooden toolbox in the car. +She took stock of what was left. The car was tattered, and the frame had +buckled. The tools were in decent enough shape, though. There were a few +welding masks and miscellaneous parts from their repairs. The engine had +sunk into the ground up to the manifolds and flattened out the girders +beneath. It was toast, as were two of the propeller blades.</p> +<p>Kee couldn’t help herself. She was tired, and already the little +light she had to work by was fading. She began disassembling the engine, +including the clutch and propeller brake. She wasn’t sure if she was +passing the time ’til she could be rescued or just passing the time +until the inevitable happened. It didn’t matter; she couldn’t help +herself. She needed to tinker, and if she couldn’t fix what happened, +she needed to <em>understand</em> it.</p> +<p>Her postmortem revealed another broken wrist pin, just like the one +they repaired in flight. Other signs indicated under-oiling, which +likely contributed to the failure in both pins. As the pistons started +to seize, the vibration shook the engine car hard enough to break +struts, cables, and supports. The clutch was another mystery entirely. +Why it wouldn’t disengage when Kee tried to stop the quaking didn’t make +any sense. Not, that is, until she opened it and realized the forks that +the lever tied to and which disengaged the clutch had been shorn off. No +doubt from the oscillations in the engine car. She made a mental note to +report the need for rubber dampeners and a variety of structural +reinforcements. <em>Not that it’ll do me much good here.</em></p> +<p>She knew she was just satisfying her own curiosity. She supposed she +felt better thinking about her work. It distracted her from the pain, +too. Her wing still throbbed, albeit not excruciatingly. She had no +doubt now that her wrist had broken, and there was no flying for at +least a few weeks. She pretended to be confident there’d be no lasting +injury. Focusing on the engine helped her to not think about that.</p> +<p>The dim light faded into night, and the cool air ushered in an +all-encompassing fog throughout the Underwood. The lush, green gum trees +all turned into shades of formless gray. Kee could hardly see beyond the +clearing surrounding the engine car. Only the tiniest sliver of pale +moonlight penetrated the narrow opening Kee crashed through in the +canopy above.</p> +<p>She sat on top of the car for a couple of hours listening to the +stillness, hoping she’d hear the distant hum of the <em>Aerie</em>’s +propellers or a pair of flapping wings. Nothing came. Nobody came. +Everything was quiet. <em>Come on, guys, where are you?</em></p> +<p>From deep into the hazy distance, Kee could barely make out the +faintest splashing sound. It wasn’t very regular, not like water lapping +up against a tree trunk. It would echo off the trees from Kee’s left and +then go silent. <em>Fish?</em> The splashing echoed off the trees to +Kee’s right for a few seconds and then retreated again. Kee had been +fishing before. Fish jumping made little splashing noises, but this was +different. It was almost a dragging, heaving <em>kerplunk</em> onto the +bottom, displacing all the water in a small area. Kee flinched. There +was one that couldn’t have been more than fifty feet away.</p> +<p>She wasn’t sure why, but she had the most uncomfortable sensation. +The plumage on her chest puffed out, and her nape stuck up. The flopping +swashes moved this way and that, closing the distance between whatever +they were and the engine car. Kee slid off her tail into the car and +rummaged through the toolbox as quietly as she could. Her heart was +pounding. Even her breath sounded loud. Another splash. She grabbed a +flashlight, hoping it was dry, and scurried back up the ladder. She +turned every which way, holding her breath while she listened. She heard +no splashing. No flopping, lurching, or smacking sounds. Kee exhaled +softly. She quietly moved the chrome flashlight from her chest, and her +fingers fumbled for the switch. Her hand trembled as she pointed it at +the foggy surface beneath the car.</p> +<p>The light clicked on, and the water surged. Four massive, flat beasts +with black scales and purplish feathers all rampaged toward the car on +six legs. They slammed into the frame and started tearing at the canvas +with monstrous, snapping jaws, hissing and lunging at the girders.</p> +<p>Kee leapt, and the light slipped from her fingers, clanking through +the hatch into the car. She slid down after it, the frame shaking and +shuddering from the creatures’ onslaught. Snarling, hissing jaws ripped +through the silvery flesh of the car and gnawed on its aluminum bones. +<em>What the—</em> One head pierced through the canvas behind Kee just +shy of her tail feathers. Her good wing flapped automatically as if +begging to carry Kee away. If only its twin worked. She backed up to the +end of the car and bumped her head into the telegraph; the +<em>ti-ting</em> of the bell rang out into the space.</p> +<p>Abruptly, the swarming stopped. A tentative hiss emitted from the +jaws outside. Kee reached around and cranked on the lever, banging it +back and forth between <em>engine off</em> and <em>fire</em>. Kee was +sure she’d go deaf from the ringing, but the hissing, biting onslaught +rapidly gave way to scattered turbulence. Kee rang the bell until her +arm was sore. When she finally relented, her chest was heaving with +exertion, her mind dazed with fear. She halted, held her breath, and +listened. There was stillness. No splashing. Nothing at all.</p> +<p>Kee slumped down to her knees and crouched in the oily puddle, her +back to the manifold. She wrapped her arms and good wing around her +knees and started to cry. Not because she couldn’t help it, but because +she wanted to. Wisps of mist floated in between the folds of tattered +canvas.</p> +<hr/> +<p>Kee awoke with a start. The stillness of the dim gray morning +unsettled her after the night’s attack. She couldn’t bear being grounded +in such an awful place. Every little sound she heard startled her. She +felt flighty, twitchy, restless. She slept, but only fitfully. Her awake +mind focused on one singular thought: <em>I’ve got to get out of +here.</em></p> +<p>She stood and sloshed toward the ladder. She scaled it and sat on top +of the car, staring down at the marshy surface. Her eyes roamed and +eventually settled on the tupelos, then back to the car, and finally on +herself. Kee was never prim or neat. In fact, her mother used to say she +looked downright unpreened on occasion. But Kee never paid much mind to +her appearance to date. She hated to admit it, but she’d give anything +for a preening comb right then. Her feathers were matted and greasy. Her +iridescent green plumage was grungy with dirt, oil, and swamp water. The +cuts and scrapes she got during the fall made her look patchy and +squalid. She did her best to ignore it, but she couldn’t help feel like +she already looked half-dead.</p> +<p><em>Well, if I’m gonna die, I’m gonna do it from where I belong. From +high up.</em> Kee had decided in the middle of the night that she’d +figure out how to climb one of the gum trees. She wasn’t sure how yet, +but she wasn’t going to spend another night on the ground. And who +knows, maybe she could gather some sign of the <em>Aerie</em>, or send +up some kind of signal. It’d be a better camp. Safer, and at the very +least, she might see some sliver of the sky again. She craved some +semblance of sky.</p> +<p>It was time to work. She deftly began dismantling the canvas +surrounding the engine car. It was mostly in tatters, but there was a +rigger’s kit inside she could use to make some small patches. She also +unbolted any dangling, frayed cables that once secured the struts to the +<em>Aerie’s</em> hull. When she was done, she had a large silvery blob +of canvas and a pile of line and rough-looking cable.</p> +<p>The engine car looked like a twisted-up mess, a massless cage +entrapping an iron beast that surely would never growl again. She +quickly got to unbolting the rear-most girders of the car: the small and +light ones would make a decent basket to lift off the ground. If she +could find a way to secure a few cables or vines, maybe she could winch +herself up to the broken canopy she crashed through.</p> +<p>She was deep in thought when out of the corner of her eye she caught +it: another raft! Like the first one, it was piled high with flowers and +fruit. She reared around looking for its carrier. Had she missed the +flapping last night? Early this morning? She made some noise taking off +the girders. Her eyes went where they never had to: up. She inspected +the gum branches.</p> +<p>A half-scream fled from her beak when she saw her patron perched on a +branch, staring down at her with bright blue eyes. The Wingfolk in the +tree returned a surprised squawk, nearly losing her grip on the tupelo +limb she roosted on.</p> +<p>Kee caught her breath; her heart was pounding out of her chest again. +The perching Wingfolk wafted and settled her wings and resumed her +relaxed posture, watching Kee. On second look, she had yellow eyes with +blue eyebrows and nape. Her head had a tall, black crest that flowed +down to her conical beak. Her belly was a fluffy, off-white color which +sloped back to vibrant purple wings. She said nothing, but rested her +chin on one hand, an elbow on her knee, absorbed apparently with the +busywork below.</p> +<p>“He-hello up there?” Kee attempted to sound more welcoming than +frightened. Her guest uttered no response, but blinked once. “Can you +talk?” Again, nothing. <em>Alright, we’re not making much headway +here.</em></p> +<p>Kee changed tactics. She elongated her right wing and hand and tipped +them in a wave. Wingfolk sometimes did this in flight to be friendly as +they passed in the air. It seemed to help: the stranger extended a wing +and a hand, waving back down to Kee. <em>Alright, now we’re getting +somewhere.</em> She gestured toward the flowers. “Thank you for the +food. You’re very kind.”</p> +<p>At Kee’s gesture toward the raft, the stranger seemed to perk up. She +spread her violet wings and soared down from her perch, alighting on the +engine car above Kee. Kee felt a pang; it looked so effortless. The +Underwood dweller seemed to understand and fixated on Kee’s splint.</p> +<p>“My wing is broken. I’m kinda stuck here until my friends get me. +<em>If</em> they come get me…” She wished Eudo could be here. At the +very least, a familiar face would feel comforting.</p> +<p>The dweller hopped down from the car and splashed in the water beside +Kee. She pointed to the fruit and then back at herself, uttering +something unrecognizable. Kee turned and picked up one of the dark blue +fruits, then handed it to the dweller, who took it and seemingly +expressed gratitude with more unfamiliar words. Kee saw an opportunity +and took it. Kee pointed to her own chest. “Kee.” Then she pointed +toward the stranger and waited.</p> +<p>“Reeka,” the dweller responded, munching on the fruit and +nodding.</p> +<p>“Reeka. Kee,” she said, pointing first to the newcomer then to +herself. “Nice to meet ya, Reeka.” Kee took a break from her work to +perch with Reeka and share the food. She was accustomed to forgetting to +eat while solving a problem on watch, but she never went hungry. Reeka, +whoever she was, seemed to know what to eat and where to go to get it in +this place. She sat mostly in silence while Kee talked, more to herself, +recounting her journey on the <em>Aerie</em>, the crew, and her fall +from the hull. Some words drew Reeka’s attention more than others. She +would interject and substitute a piece of her own language for something +Kee said. They tried as much as possible to use gestures, but Kee was +sure most of it didn’t make it through. Not until she described the bog +beasts by splashing around and making chomping motions with her hands. +Reeka locked onto that.</p> +<p>“Tarkzu,” she repeated a few times, making the same chomping jaws +with her fingers, occasionally scanning the visible edges of the +Underwood as if the creatures could be around any tree.</p> +<p>Their exchange continued for over an hour. Reeka seemed to be a good +friend, or at least neutral to the whole situation. She must not have +had much else to do around here because she continued to watch Kee’s +every move with intense interest. As nice as it was to have someone to +talk with, it was time to get back to the task at hand. That being +figuring out what to do when the Tarkzu came back. She fished a few +tools between the girders and unbolted the telegraph from the side of +the car. A hand-held deterrent would be ideal, especially if the car +were naked on the ground.</p> +<p>Reeka seemed to enjoy the ringing bell thoroughly and egged Kee on to +repeat it several times. After the novelty wore off, Kee revisited the +tupelos. She wasn’t much of a climber. She couldn’t remember clawing her +way up a tree since her fledgling days, and the trees back home were +perfect for climbing. They had lots of low-hanging branches and hollows +to reach for. These gum trees were trickier: tall and wide, and all the +branches were up in the canopy. It’d be great if Reeka could fly a cable +up there and secure it to help Kee get her basket up high, but that was +obviously beyond their level of communication.</p> +<p>Several hours passed with Kee trying to find various ways to wrap a +cable around a tree and shuffle her way up it. It wasn’t as +straightforward as it ought to be. The only conclusion she drew was that +climbing sucked and nobody should have to do it, ever. Her thoughts +wandered back to the captain who hadn’t flown for years. How did he do +it? The <em>Aerie</em> seemed a lot more appealing, considering he’d +never be able to take to the wing again.</p> +<p>A small, <em>click, click</em> sound emitted from Reeka’s hands. She +had been examining every object in Kee’s toolbox with great curiosity, +her crest bobbing this way and that as she studied their apparent +functions. Now she was playing with a flint striker stuffed between the +welding masks, apparently trying to get it to catch on one of the little +dried logs Kee saved from the first food raft. Surprisingly, it actually +caught quickly.</p> +<p>Reeka set it gently afloat on the surface of the bayou. As it rolled +and burned, Reeka watched it earnestly. The smoke played tricks on Kee’s +eyes, apparently shimmering and pooling above the roots.</p> +<p><em>Wait a second—what?</em> Kee dropped the cable she was futzing +with and waded over to Reeka’s log. Reeka looked up and grinned at the +edges of her gape, her eyes bright with glee. Her eyes weren’t playing +tricks; the smoke really <em>was</em> collecting<em>.</em> As the smoke +rose from the root, it pooled and reformed into a tinted bubble. It had +a gray, wispy, smoky quality to it, but unlike smoke, which dissolved, +it stuck together and stayed buoyant. More bubbles started to lift from +the stick and join the steadily growing mass hovering a foot above the +water.</p> +<p>Kee’s beak hung open, mesmerized by the effect. <em>It was Vork! +Here, of all places, Reeka created Vork!</em></p> +<p>Vork were a relatively poorly understood phenomenon in the world of +the Wingfolk. Kee wasn’t a Vork expert. She didn’t know where they came +from or how they formed—she had only the most basic experience with +their composition, but spent more time dodging them on the wing than +anything else. But here, she was watching Smoke Vork form before her +very eyes, and all it took was burning the wood from a gum tree.</p> +<p>Reeka took the now sizable Vork and spun it around in the air like a +ball, pushing it over to Kee like she was initiating a game. The misty +globe floated through the air toward Kee and stopped short when it +encountered too much wind resistance. Kee took it in her hands and +tested it. The surface tension held it together, giving it a sense of +consistency. It was not hot to the touch, although the smoke within +continued to swirl like it was from a fresh campfire. Little bubbles of +Vork continued to pool above the log; every small contribution caused +the bigger mass above it to gain altitude. Reeka grabbed it and sent it +sailing over to Kee. <em>Sailing just like the Aerie</em>. She felt a +bolt go through her mind. “Vork! Lifting Vork! Reeka, you’re a genius!” +She bounced the ball back to Reeka, who blew air out of her beak, +sending it soaring over her head.</p> +<p>“Reeka, can you get more of these? We need more, <em>tons more</em>!” +Kee held up the splint on her wing and pointed to the smoldering pyre. +Reeka seemed to understand, nodding and clicking the striker a couple +more times. Kee waved her hands around in the air. “Awesome, yes! We’re +gonna have a big fire, Reeka!”</p> +<p>Reeka chortled and shook her head, apparently amused by Kee’s +excitement. But she dutifully extended her wings, beat them a few times, +and leapt into the air. She soared out of sight, dodging gum trees with +an impressive amount of skill. Kee reached through the engine car and +removed the rigger’s kit, unraveling it to find thick thread and sharp +needles. She unrolled her pile of silvery canvas and busied herself +patching and reshaping it. She didn’t know how long it would take Reeka +to come back with enough wood, but she wanted to have something ready +for when she did. She needed to. Mist was already rolling in.</p> +<hr/> +<p>The murky light of the Underwood was waning. Kee engineered what she +felt was a craft capable of carrying her up through the canopy and +roughly where she guessed the <em>Aerie</em> was headed. Confidence was +lacking, but it was better than nothing. The basket of thin aluminum +girders was light enough, Kee assumed, that she would take up most of +the weight. Cables and vines tethered it to her makeshift canvas +envelope, which was essentially a large umbrella designed to collect the +lifting Vork. Reeka brought surprisingly bountiful hauls of deadfall +from only sky knows where. Her trips away from Kee became shorter and +shorter as the night and mist crept in. They had built a good bonfire +below Kee’s envelope. The Vork percolated from the smoky gumwood and +gathered into the envelope, which began to tense on its restraints. The +basket was fastened to the ground by a string of pistons, connecting +rods, and other heavy components. It must already support more than its +own weight. <em>Just a little more and it’ll carry me too. I +hope.</em></p> +<p>To pay for Reeka’s time and firewood, Kee offered her the whole of +the toolbox, which she greedily accepted and continued admiring. She was +busy with the socket set while Kee fanned the flames of the bonfire with +her good wing. Soon she’d fly again. Very soon.</p> +<p><em>Splash.</em></p> +<p>It was definitely a splash. Isolated but unmistakable. Kee stopped +wafting the flames and listened. Reeka’s yellow eyes were fixed on the +wet path zig-zagging through the trees away from the car. More lapping, +watery sounds followed. And another splash. <em>Shit</em>. Reeka dropped +the tools and thumped her wings, the beats taking her airborne in a +split second. Kee looked up and already saw her tail feathers in a high +tree branch, not twenty feet to the side of the engine car. <em>Great, +thanks!</em> Kee couldn’t stay mad; she knew she’d be up there too if +the roles were reversed. Time to get a move on.</p> +<p><em>Splash.</em></p> +<p>Kee’s nape stuck up. She trudged through the tepid water to grab her +telegraph deterrent from the engine car and yanked the lever twice. The +shrill ringing sounded out and echoed off a few of the trees. She +listened with bated breath. Nothing disturbed the water. Kee counted off +the seconds, the crackling of the fire the only disturbance in the cool, +misty hush.</p> +<p><em>Splash.</em></p> +<p>And then another, off to the distance on the right. The floppy +paddling and lunging continued. More water was displaced by the wet +smacking, further to the left. And another. Kee rang the bell +incessantly, not bothering with listening. She needed time. Vork +continued to glob together from the fire’s smoke, filling her envelope +further. She continued chiming the bell, its tone resounding off the +trees. High up, she saw Reeka looking wide-eyed at Kee. And then, a +shriek from where she roosted; Reeka was shouting down and pointing to +Kee’s flank. The water erupted as gargantuan jaws snarled and opened +wide to seize Kee. She beat the purplish feathers on its head with the +telegraph, every strike sounding off another <em>ti-ting</em>. “Get away +from me!” she howled. She kicked at its black scales with her claws, its +six stubby legs struggling to push its flat, flabby body closer to its +prey. Kee bumped into the car, tools sliding off the roof and plunking +into the water. She reached down and grabbed a pipe wrench, cleaving +into the beast’s head with jaws of her own. It went limp. Was it dead? +Maybe just stunned.</p> +<p><em>Splash. Splash.</em></p> +<p>“Alright, time to get the hell out of here.” Kee untied the tethers +at the base of the basket. Each one cast off with a thump, the basket +rising and straining ever more as its earthen grasp gave way. Up above, +Reeka shrieked again. Another Tarkzu attempted to leap over the flames +but fell short, searing its chin on the bonfire and shooting steam out +of its nostrils before recoiling in pain.</p> +<p><em>Splash. Splash.</em></p> +<p>They were everywhere. Her beak hung open, hyperventilating. She swore +her heart was beating out of her chest. Adrenaline coursed through her +veins as her shaking hands fumbled with the tethers. “Come on, come +on!”</p> +<p><em>Splash. Splash.</em></p> +<p>The fire. She grabbed one of the few good burning logs and wielded it +like a brand, touching it to the remaining ties. The basket jolted as +the ties thumped and smoldered away. Kee jumped on, hissing as she +bumped her injured wrist into the envelope above.</p> +<p><em>Splash. Splash. Splash.</em></p> +<p>The last of the tethers burned off. All that was left was the steel +cable, bundled up and bolted to the engine car. Kee attacked the bolts +on the basket with her pipe wrench. It slipped, rounding off one of the +bolts.</p> +<p>She was sloppy, panicking. <em>LET. GO. WHY WON’T YOU LET +GO?</em></p> +<p>Another pair of black jaws exploded from the water inches from her +face, latching onto the side of the basket. Kee screamed as the +leviathan gnawed on the aluminum girders, twisting them like sinewy +bones. The cable wrapped around its glistening white, razor-sharp teeth +and started to fray. Kee assaulted its head with the pipe wrench, but it +wouldn’t budge. Finally, the cable snapped, twanging away and ripping +open a red gash in the monster’s mouth. Still, it held firm.</p> +<p>Kee’s arm was tired from swinging the wrench. She didn’t have much +left to give. Her eyes were wide with fear, her muscles aching, her beak +lulling open and panting with exertion. Her chest was pounding with +respiration. This wasn’t a problem solved with tools. When you have +nothing left to give, some problems just chew you up and spit you +out.</p> +<p>The Tarkzu’s beady black eyes rolled around and blinked as it +shredded away at Kee’s basket. She drew everything she had left into +both arms: one last swing. The wrench met its mark right between the +beast’s eyes, which crossed as its skull caved in. Its jaws jerked open +and withered as the creature slumped into the muddied water.</p> +<p>As soon as she was free, Kee’s craft began to rise. Inch by inch, she +felt herself leave the sky-forsaken surface of the Underwood. She +watched the seething bog quickly engulf and snuff out the bonfire. A few +blobs of smoky Vork drifted off as the steam mixed with the mist.</p> +<p>Kee’s vessel accelerated as it climbed uninterrupted toward the +canopy. She held fast to the lines to stabilize herself, grasping the +basket with her feet as it swung in the air. Moonlight poured in through +the shredded hole above. Kee wafted her good wing through the air, +propelling herself and lining up her balloon with the egress. She swore +she could taste fresh air and even a cool breeze dripping down through +the hole.</p> +<p>The canvas ruffled slightly as it bumped against a branch, deforming +and squishing back into shape. At long last, the branches thinned out, +and a whistling breeze rocked the highest foliage and Kee’s envelope. +The cool air washed through her dingy plumage, setting her heart +a-flutter. <em>Feels so right.</em> The whole sky was a deep indigo, and +long, flat clouds slid softly across the expanse as the moon shone in a +bright, full white glow.</p> +<p>Kee got her bearings and rearranged herself on the basket. She stuck +her good wing out and gave it a buzz. After a few seconds, she had some +forward momentum. It wasn’t as fast as winging it, but it was still +flying, and that was good enough. She breathed a sigh, not just of +relief, but of satisfaction.</p> +<p>She was the second Wingfolk she knew who flew without wings.</p> +<p>Alongside Kee’s airship, a blue and off-white figure beat her wings. +The breeze ruffled Reeka’s crest. She was struggling slightly to gain +more altitude, but easily kept up with the slow headway Kee was making. +She turned her head and smiled, waving. “We did it, Reeka, we made +it!”</p> +<p>Reeka paid little attention to Kee’s gesture, but wore a wide grin on +her face the whole time. Her head was twitching this way and that, +taking in everything the sky above her home had to offer. “You know, a +part of me never thought I’d make it out of there. I didn’t realize that +you may never have left either.” A small gust shook the basket, and +Reeka struggled to maintain a clean flight line. “Try this,” Kee said, +lifting her arms up and stabilizing them like she would her wings if she +were soaring. Reeka studied Kee and seemed to get the message. She +straightened out, and her flapping became less frantic.</p> +<p>Kee settled in and tried to get comfortable holding the lines and +slowly wafting her wings. It was going to be a long night.</p> +<hr/> +<p>The sunrise emitted a beam of orange and pinkish hues that carved out +a semicircle in the endless indigo over the Underwood. Kee’s eyelids +drooped. It was a struggle to keep them open, especially as the warm sun +began to shimmer into her pupils, almost lulling her into nodding off +and enjoying the rays and the breeze.</p> +<p>Twice during the night, she had almost fallen asleep—Reeka would +perch on the back of their little airship, beating her wings to help +propel them so Kee could have a break. Eventually, they’d lose enough +altitude that they were forced to hop off and let Kee rise again. The +whole while the endless rolling canopies of the Underwood swept by +beneath them. It felt good to be above the foliage again. Kee wondered +at the vast expanse and how many miles of treacherous swamp lay beneath +the tupelos. <em>How much longer can I keep this up? What if I have to +live in these woods forever, after all?</em> Her chest tightened.</p> +<p>She twisted her neck to check up on her companion. Reeka’s wingbeats +were starting to get languid. She’d been flying through the night, and +clearly much longer than she was used to being airborne. Maybe there +would be a village that Reeka could show her. She could heal up there. +<em>And then what? Spend the rest of my days dodging shitty Tarkzu?</em> +She wasn’t ready to give up yet. Like her compulsion to join the crew of +the <em>Aerie</em>, her need to return to it coursed through every +hollow bone in her body. It was like breathing or flying. Automatic, she +just had to do it.</p> +<p>An occasional glint in the green sea of canopies jolted Kee out of +her ruminations for a brief spell. The sunlight bounced off some +geometric surfaces like a faceted mirror. Kee course corrected, pointing +herself right at it. Her gut stirred as she stared transfixed at the +glimmer of hope. As the sun rose higher, the glinting became +increasingly frequent. She swelled. It was like a strobe light, +signaling and beckoning Kee. Her wing buzzed harder, her eagerness +driving her forward. <em>It has to be there</em>. Falling out of the +sky, fighting for her life, and building a way to fly again, it was just +another mountain to soar over. She <em>needed</em> it to be there. Her +affinity for tinkering, for the <em>Aerie</em>, and for her crew’s way +of life were a part of her. They were innate, her whole reason for +living. She knew then and there that there was no chance she’d fight it +out in these woods.</p> +<p>Like the captain, she’d be glued to the <em>Aerie</em> come what may. +She was sure, like him, she could find a way to bear not flying again if +she had to. But to be completely grounded, to watch the ship sail away +forever… she was sure she couldn’t survive that. The thought of being +away from home, spending another night out of her hammock, surrounded by +tools, parts, and machinery, was unbearable.</p> +<p>The sun continued to rise all the while the duo’s journey went on +toward the glimmer, hoping for an end to their plight. Closing the +distance between themselves and the twinkling afforded them more detail +of the subject. Kee’s eyes were glued to the glinting. They strained, +squinting to make out lines, shapes, anything worthwhile in the +brightness. The shine gave way to a spot of silver. A rounded shape, a +quartet of raked tail fins. Straightaway, her vision focused, and +everything became clear. An argent, beached whale slumped atop rolling +green dunes. Kee’s heart leapt, and she blinked tears from her eyes. The +corners of her gape lifted into a grin. She picked up her pace. With +every wing stroke bringing her closer, she took in the beautiful sight. +<em>Home.</em></p> +<p>“This is it, Reeka, this is it! We made it!” Kee let out a whoop.</p> +<p>Reeka beamed at Kee and shouted something Kee couldn’t make out, but +was certain was celebratory. She looked to be transfixed by the +<em>Aerie</em>. Kee wondered whether that’s what she looked like when +she first perched on the sill in the hangar and drank in the massive +craft; the wonder and adventure it foretold beckoning her to come +aboard. Everything was in focus now. Despite the damage, the ship still +took Kee’s breath away. The nose pointed a little skyward of +equilibrium, as if looking toward the blue yonder for help to extricate +her from terrestrial ties. Where there once was an engine car, there +were now exposed, twisted aluminum girders. Several cables hung down +outside the hull, free from their restraints. A gas cell was exposed to +the harsh sun and moisture of the sky above the Underwood. Hastily +applied patches bandaged over cuts to its delicate surface, where the +cables once secured it. A handful of wings flapped their way around the +cover. <em>They’re stranded too!</em> Gas must have leaked from the cell +when the cables snapped. The ship had no capacity to lift itself, no way +to fly. <em>No way to find me</em>, she gulped.</p> +<p>A rush of wind shook Kee’s basket. <em>Not home yet</em>. Her biceps +strained as she gripped the ropes and ruddered her wing to maintain her +current course. She gingerly spread her bad wing a little to let the air +rush through her primaries. It wasn’t quite flying, but it felt so good. +She dismissed the possibility she could still be trapped here. It didn’t +matter where the <em>Aerie</em> was or what shape she was in; she just +felt right.</p> +<p>Kee started calling out. She emptied her lungs of air, trilling and +calling until her throat was sore. Reeka joined in, waving her hands and +scrying.</p> +<p>They watched the wings and talons flitting around the <em>Aerie</em>, +dropping what they were doing and taking to the air. They started +swarming, beating their wings to gain altitude and heading directly for +Kee. The menagerie of bright plumage swept through the air in +formation.</p> +<p>Kee allowed her wing a rest and just drifted. Soon she made out +beaks, eyes, downy cheeks, and entire faces. She started pointing them +out to Reeka. “That’s Eudo!” Her chest was swelling with glee. “And +Qreel is next to him there. And that’s Sriharc, they’re both Talons. And +there’s Halihk, he’ll bite your head off like a Tarkzu if you’re not +careful.” Reeka tilted her head at that.</p> +<p>The gap between her friends and crew tightened, and she could finally +hear the litany of cawing and shrieks of delight. Eudo went on and on in +between wafting wing flaps, “Kee, you’re alive! We thought we lost +you—didn’t know where you were—but you’re really alive!”</p> +<p>“Nuts, Sylph, only you could bring a whole engine gondola to the +ground with yourself in it!” Halihk sounded exasperated and not a little +bit sarcastic to Kee’s ear. He gave a wry smile at Kee all the same.</p> +<p>Qreel and Sriharc grabbed hold of the tethers to her gondola, +jostling it slightly but holding fast to Kee’s arms. Sriharc interjected +between Eudo’s unabashed zeal and Halihk’s taunting. “Good to have you +back Sylph. It looks like you’ve had quite the journey.”</p> +<p>In his trademark raspy voice, Qreel begged this be the last time he +had to carry Kee back to the ship. Kee wanted to sass him but was too +drained of energy to care. She didn’t want to dig up her big flight on +the first voyage. Instead, she did introductions while the crew beat the +air around her craft, “This here’s Reeka. She honestly saved my life. +She’s a good friend. Reeka, these are friends.”</p> +<p>Reeka announced something Kee didn’t understand. She was going to try +mimicry or signing before Halihk spoke up. “Chu’rec debok?”</p> +<p>Surprise swept over Reeka’s face. She quickly replied, “Debok, +trejartu!” She went on and on in her own language while Halihk nodded +and shook his head.</p> +<p><em>How in the sky?</em> Kee was floored. “You can speak her +language? What are you guys talking about?!”</p> +<p>“No, I can’t speak it. At least not fluently. She speaks a similar +dialect to one I have studied; some of the tribes outside the Underwood +use it. What, Sylph, you think I spend literally every day up to my +armpits in grease like you?” He gestured at the state of her +plumage.</p> +<p>Kee chuckled. “You’re wet shit Halihk, you know that?”</p> +<p>He just smiled and said, “Yeah, you too, Sylph. Not like we could +leave without you, though, on account of the <em>Aerie</em> bein’ heavy +and all.”</p> +<p>“I know you couldn’t leave without me fixing all your problems, +Halihk. Check out the Vork in this thing—you get a big bonfire going and +you’ll get plenty to get the <em>Aerie</em> up again.”</p> +<p>Sriharc and Qreel helped Kee out of her basket and held onto her so +tightly she thought her arms were losing circulation. They carried her +down the rest of the distance to the control gondola while Halihk towed +away her craft. The bulkhead was open, and the boarding ramp was down, +resting on the foliage. A handful of thick lines held the <em>Aerie</em> +to the canopy.</p> +<p>Inside the gondola, a stack of charts was piled up at the navigation +desks. The fresh maps of the Underwood were splattered with arrows, +circles, and big cordoned-off sections of the <em>Aerie</em>’s flight +path with the names of crew alongside them. <em>They did send out search +parties. Dozens of them.</em> The captain was there to greet Kee +immediately and welcome her back aboard. His mud-colored feathers grayed +at the tips, and his right wing sat lower and limper than the other. His +eyes were piercing yellow, but exuded a calmness that put Kee at ease. +“Kee Sylph, Soaring Mechanist reporting for duty, Captain.” She +straightened up and tipped her good wing awkwardly in salute.</p> +<p>He gently raised his hand and then lowered it, giving the sensation +that there was no need for studiousness or ceremony. He spoke in a +gravely voice, “Good to have you back in one piece, Mechanist Sylph. +Long have we searched for your whereabouts and turned up nothing.” He +donned a grave look, “We were starting to fear the worst with no sign of +you after the first night. I wish only that I personally could have seen +to your rescue.” He blinked and glanced out the window at her craft +being towed in as he continued, “But, I see that there’s no situation +that doesn’t present itself as an opportunity for you to exercise your +skills. Once again, that was some fine flying miss.” He saluted her and +bowed his head.</p> +<p>Kee ballooned with pride. “Thank you, Captain. I couldn’t have done +it without Reeka here. She’s native to these parts and got me out of a +tight spot.”</p> +<p>The captain bowed to Reeka, maintaining eye contact as he did so. +Reeka, who Kee almost missed entering the gondola, looked decidedly out +of place. Her crest waved to and fro as she glanced from Kee to the +gondola’s instruments, and the other crew around her. She finally +noticed the captain and awkwardly returned his bow.</p> +<p>“Captain, the Underwood is going to get the Aerie out of here. I +recognize we’re low on lifting gas, but there’s a source for Vork here. +You burn the gum trees and—” Kee stammered halfway through her +explanation and suddenly felt dizzy.</p> +<p>“Easy, Kee,” the captain softened. “I believe you’re in need of +medical attention. Officer Qreel will escort you to sick bay. Let’s have +you looked at before we do anything else.”</p> +<p>“Aye, captain, that’d be… nice.”</p> +<p>Qreel helped Kee up the ladder and through the catwalk of the ship. +The monstrous cells and aluminum girders were familiar, comfortable, and +somehow inviting. Kee felt the urge to build, fix, and solve problems +give way to the need for rest and recharging. She eased into a hammock +in sick bay. Wooden shelves were stocked with bandages, ointments, and +basic dressing materials. While her wing was being tended, not seconds +after Qreel left, the door burst open again, and Eudo and Krarr stumbled +over each other into the room. Krarr’s ear tufts were back, and the +great yellow globes of his eyes ran with tears.</p> +<p>“Kee! I’m so sorry, Kee, it was all my fault—I broke things and then +you fell, and I tried finding you…”</p> +<p>“Krarr, easy Krarr,” Kee tried to interject, but it was no use.</p> +<p>Krarr blubbered on, “…but the ship was going to crash, so I had to go +help, and then we couldn’t find where you—and we tried going under the +canopy and there were these, <em>things</em>… Oh Kee, it must have been +horrible—” he continued to shudder and sob.</p> +<p>Eudo put a hand over Krarr’s beak and shushed him while patting his +shoulder. “Krarr, hey, Kee’s okay. She’s here now. I think she just +needs some rest. Right, Kee?”</p> +<p>“Er, yeah Krarr I’m okay. You know, you didn’t do anything wrong. You +did a lot of good. Means a lot to me that you came looking.</p> +<p>Eudo took his chance to get a word in and spouted a rapid collection +of excited topics that didn’t really join together right; his lanky neck +twisted this way and that with every phrase. “You really did a number on +that engine car, Kee. Looks like it fought back all the way down. You +gotta tell me all about it, and that airship you made, I mean, how’d you +come up with that? It was so cool seeing you flyin’ in like that! We've +been patching the gas cells but have nothing to fill them with, so—”</p> +<p>Kee raised both her hands to pipe down the overexcited boys. “Look, +fellas, I think I just need some shuteye here for a while. When I’m back +on my feet, I’ll tell ya all about it, but ’til then you’ll have to go +find Reeka and get the scoop from her.”</p> +<p>Krarr’s blubbering diminished, “Reeka, who’s Reeka? You mean you met +someone down there?”</p> +<p>The two squeezed together on their way out of the room, Krarr still +sporadically sobbing and Eudo trying to push past him to find the +Underwood dweller. They slammed the door shut and clanked down the +hallway.</p> +<p>Kee rolled over and lay on her stomach, taking in the smell of the +old cloth. An initial assessment revealed her wing wrist was indeed +broken. It would take weeks for it to heal. She got something to help +bring the inflammation and pain down, but the one real order was bed +rest. She took a deep, deep breath of relief when the doc answered her +careful probing questions and said, “Of course you’ll fly again.”</p> +<hr/> +<p>Kee glided over clear, teal water while warm currents held her aloft. +Occasionally, a gust of wind carried cool spray from the lake’s surface +up to her primaries. She let her legs hang down and drag in the water, +enjoying its cool contrast with the basking sun on her back. Her +iridescent green feathers shimmered and sparkled off the surface of the +water. The hiss of a starter and the roar of an engine seemed to belch +out of the lake at her.</p> +<p>She catapulted back from her dream into the sick bay. “The engines, +they’re running! We’re airborne again!” She rolled over and sat up, +yearning for a look. She flinched when she first noticed the black +figure perched near the doorway. Chief Llyr blinked and yawned. “Forgive +me, came to talk to you and saw you were asleep, so I just rested my +eyes for a bit.”</p> +<p>Kee’s energy surged, but only briefly. “We’re on the move again, +already? Don’t you need my—”</p> +<p>He cut her off before she could clamber out of the hammock, “Easy, +Kee, you’ve already done more than I could have asked of you. Halihk +managed to work out your discovery with Reeka. Cell number seven is full +of your <em>Smokey Vork</em> now. Actually, I think it works better than +the off-worlder gas. Besides, we don’t need as many crew to tend the +engine cars, seeing as we’re down an engine permanently.”</p> +<p>“Well, I can’t fly for a while, but I can still help.”</p> +<p>Llyr snickered, “You really have no quit, do you, Kee?”</p> +<p>She didn’t—she knew that, and he knew that. She was a relentless +learner, a doer, a fixer. There would be no sitting around on her tail +feathers while others had all the fun.</p> +<p>Llyr continued, “You’re going to need to rest up at least a few more +days for me before you go back on duty. This time, as a highly skilled +mechanist of terrific intellect once told me, <em>you don’t get to +choose</em>.” He grinned.</p> +<p>“Yeah, not my brightest moment with the telegraph either. I’m sorry I +ignored you; I just felt like I owed it to the crew to do everything I +could to help them first. To get you two out of the car, tell the Talons +what’s going on. I thought I could do it all.” Her shoulders wilted a +little.</p> +<p>“None of us can do it all, Kee, that’s why we do it together. You and +Eudo, for example. Or Krarr. Or even Reeka. You and Halihk could +accomplish a lot, too.”</p> +<p>She turned her beak up and squinted at Llyr. “Eh, you were on a roll +there, and then you lost me.”</p> +<p>He put his hands up in mock defense. “Hey, don’t look at me, it was +Halihk who first started organizing the search parties. He made the +first moves to get you back here safely.”</p> +<p><em>Well, shit.</em> She’d owe him for that. “Guess I can learn to +work with him on some level then.”</p> +<p>Llyr nodded and gave a thumbs-up. He stood up from the perch and +stretched his wings. “You know, Sylph, you’ll make a great chief +someday. You put the crew first, and you’re good at solving problems. +You figure out how to get Halihk to play nice and you’ll be a better +chief than me, that’s for sure.” He turned toward the door.</p> +<p>“Hey, chief, I got something to ask you.”</p> +<p>He slid open the canvas door and turned back. “Yeah? Shoot.”</p> +<p>“Why do you do it? The <em>Aerie</em>, the engineering. What’s the +goal of it all? Why do we bother with this stuff when we can already +fly?”</p> +<p>Llyr looked stumped. He concentrated for a couple of seconds, +brushing his hand under his beak. Finally, he spoke: “You know, Kee, I +don’t really know. It just feels like I got to. Now get some rest, we’ll +talk more tomorrow.” He slid the door shut, and his footsteps clanked +away down the catwalk and melded with the droning thrum of the +engines.</p> +<p>She shook her head at Llyr’s answer. Maybe she didn’t need to have a +reason either. Maybe she’d find it as she went along, or make one up if +she thought she needed one. She slid down in the hammock and rolled back +onto her stomach, resting her head on her hands.</p> +<p>Then again, maybe being driven is reason enough to do something. +Maybe you don’t climb into an engine car to be an engineer; perhaps you +do it because you’re built to do it. Perhaps it really is like flying; +when you don’t know anything else, everything just falls into place. +It’s more than a passion; it’s realizing when it’s missing that you +never could have lived without it.</p> +<p>She closed her eyes. To any onlookers, the hammock appeared at first +glance like a burlap sack full of iridescent green feathers, tarnished +slightly by traces of mud and grease. The hum of the engines was still +short one member of the quartet, but it didn’t stir or rouse the bundle. +Kee drifted back into dreams where she could soar and float to her +heart’s content, confident and sure that if her wings couldn’t carry +her, the <em>Aerie</em> would.</p> + +<?php $nolicense=true; ?> |