path: root/posts/2025-10-20-second-voyage-of-the-aerie.php

<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>

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