FicWad

Chapter 9

Fire in the hole!

Shortly after the launch, Aika and I left the bridge. It was like a reversed re-run from the trip to their island. Reversed since we were going away from it. Aika and I were down in the galley while Vyse and Fina remained on the bridge. A ship of this magnitude would certainly need a larger crew than just them to work effectively. With only two of them up there, for now, it would be a little hard.

I had decided to drop some of the ice-attitude, just for once. That way Aika would stop her... persuasion. She never said it out loud, but that was what she had been doing all the while, I could tell. She was not the first one but, to her credit, she was bearable. Quite paradoxical actually. Concerning my total lack of friends, I did everything I could to get away from people, not letting anyone come near. I had my reasons, but there was no way I would let her or anyone else know. No one would understand the reason in the first place. But it was the only way.

"So, how do you feel about the treasure?" Aika asked. Her eyes were filled with excitement. She tapped her fingers on the table, just to let out some extra energy.

"It will be interesting," I replied. I really meant it, since I hadn't been out of the Middle-Ocean, sort of.

She leant forward, her chestnut-brown eyes widened in amazement.

"'Interesting'? Kinda like calling the Valuan armada for 'a minor problem'! Well, it was, if you ask Vyse." She took a breath, as if to gather herself together after the little outburst. She smiled lightly. "I don't know what it is, but I just love treasure hunts."

"It's quite profitable, huh?" Excitement, or just usual greed?

"Sure, but that's just a bonus. And you know we're Blue Rogues?"

"All I know comes from blue-eyed rumours."

Aika seemed a bit puzzled over the fact I didn't know about Blue Rogues, which was wrong. What I knew was this: Black Pirates killed and plundered without mercy. Anyone was worth beating up for some petty gold. Blue Rogues mostly raided Black Pirates and armoured airships. Sure, people said they gave away most of their loot, but it could might as well be a lie. Hardly anyone did anything for someone else, unless they were rewarded. For instance me, but I was a freaking mercenary. It was different.

"Well, any rumors you've heard are probably true. Both Valua and Nasr have had funding from the Rogues. We mostly help the regular poor people, but this calls for an exception."

Nasr. Its capital was nothing more than a nexus for criminals and the syndicate of course. It had a polished outside, but its insides were rotting fast. And Valua then. Already before the Crystal War, they had brought war and fear to their neighbour-countries. A long war against Nasr, and twenty years later occupation of at least two countries. Talk about a good first impression on the new world. And talk about wasted money for the Blue Rogues.

Then a new voice called out:

"Alright, you can go back up now!"

It was Vyse. We both got up from our chairs and let the tea-cups remain where they were.

"Not a moment too soon," said Aika. "Can't wait until we arrive in Ixa'taka."

"And to try out the afterburner. We are the first people in the world who will travel using one. Quite exciting, and what an honour." He said the last word with a touch of irony.

How it could be honourable to travel with a new sort of engine was beyond me. It was not like anyone remembered the one who first travelled in an airship. As we were out of the mess, Aika said:

"Hey, wait a minute! If you're down here, then who is steering the ship?"

It didn't took much of a genius to figure that out, although it did seem a little unexpected.

"Fina, of course," Vyse answered. "She has steered before, you know, and not to mention controlled an advanced high-technology shuttle for non-atmospheric travels. Don't ask me what it is but she probably means her own boat."

"Figures," she grinned. "And to think that I had to use threat of force on you to let me take the wheel of the /Delphinus/."

Had it been someone else who said those words, I might have found it odd. Now I didn't, and that was weird in itself.

"If you remember, it was Fina with Cupil who delivered the 'threat' if I may call it that," Vyse said, whilst we were walking to the bridge. "Good for you, since you might not dare on your own, huh?"

"Tss, look at you. Acting tough when Cupil's not around."

"You know, why do I love being captain on the /Delphinus/?" Vyse asked. "I was hoping you could tell me, 'cause right now I don't have a clue."

That remark earned him a slight punch in his side from Aika. They had seemed professional enough on our first meeting in Nasrad, but with how they acted most of the time, they wouldn't live for long if they worked with the syndicate, but they seemed to be the last people who would end up at that payroll. Good for them. And I knew, of course, that the three of them weren't really as dense as they appeared. Just comfortable with each other, and very close to each other as well. Most people would certainly be envious of such a strong bond. Me? I was glad as long I could stay away from it. It was the only way.

Soon we were up on the bridge. Fina stood at the ship's wheel. We couldn't see her face, but it could be seen that she was concentrating very hard on her duty.

"Is everybody gathered?" Fina said, not turning her eyes away from the window.

"Yes," said Vyse. "So let's get this thing started."

xXx

Far away, a swift ship was about to cross the risky North Ocean. The ship was named /Claudia/, steered by captain Gilder; Air Pirate and lady-killer all in one. Ironically, he was escaping from a woman. A certain one whose name was Clara. Gilder had been on the run from her ever since the day before yesterday. All he had done was give Vyse and Fina a ride back to Crescent Isle, after saving them from Baltor. And of course, neither one of the Blue Rogues had told him that Clara was there! Hadn't she been unprepared for his arrival, he doubted he would've been able to escape. Fortunately, the Claudia had left the Primrose behind, but it would be safer to continue. The destination was Horteka.

xXx

The Delphinus had travelled for several hours. But since the group had left very early, they would have quite enough time to scavenge booty.

"Alright, according to the chrono-meter we've reached our destination," said Vyse. "Disconnecting the afterburner... Now!" He pulled down the new lever on the panel.

The roar from the afterburner stopped, as well as everything else. Even the propellers in the stern that kept Delphinus in the air! The ship sank like a stone, a very huge and heavy stone.

"Vyyyseee!! Turn it ooooooon!" Aika screamed as she clung to the starboard panel.

Esteban and Fina hadn't had that much luck and now they were laying on the deck. As they struggled to get up; the ship started to tilt heavily, its bow now raised up in the air! The table in the middle of the bridge fell over and landed with a loud crash at the captain's chair. The carpet glided down from the high bulkhead that just moments ago had been the deck. Vyse held on to the steering wheel while grasping for the gauge that activated the engines, his legs kicking in the thin air. Finally he reached it, managed to pull it, and soon the propellers started to kick in, preventing the Delphinus from falling further while still holding its somewhat strange position.

"Is everybody alright?" he asked.

Aika let her gaze sweep around the bridge. Vyse held on to the steering wheel, being highest up of them all. Fina had ended up at the portside side of the room. As for Esteban, had the bridge's door been opened, he might've fallen as far as to the door to the lookout, a drop of probably ten meters. Both of them seemed to be OK. Aika herself had managed to grab the end of her panel when the tilting started. She could only hope she wouldn't loose her grip and fall, and she was already slipping.

"Fine, but I've definitely been better, that's for sure," she said in a strained voice.

"At least the propellers are working," said Vyse. "You can say the worst is over."

"The worst? Don't make me come up there!"

Vyse looked at the portside panel-row where the gauge for inclining was located. Unfortunately, it was well out of reach for him. For any of them.

"Anyone have an idea?" he said as he shifted his grip to the left talking-tube to avoid breaking the steering wheel. At least he had something to hold on to. All Aika could do was to hold the base of the panel. She felt that soon she would fall down on to the... bulkhead.

"I have," said Fina.

She held out her right hand, and Cupil popped out.

"Go to the incline-lever. Can you see it?" she said to the little creature.

Cupil chirped and floated up to the panel. All four of them watched carefully, hoping that the little creature knew what he should do. Cupil seemed to be pondering.

"Yes, the middle one," Fina said, encouraging. "Come on, you can do it."

Cupil gripped the lever with his mouth and slowly yanked it forward. The Delphinus slowly rotated back to its original position. Finally, the deck was back to where it belonged. Walking with your feet down was an underestimated pleasure. Fina went over to "her" panel and patted Cupil for a job well done. The little creature chimed happily. Esteban slowly rose to his feet, holding his right hand on his back. It seemed he had hurt himself against the door's handle. Well, that was nothing compared to what Vyse would get! Aika walked up to her captain with an angry look in her eyes.

"Okay, for further reference: Being in the air plus turning of the engine equals a damn bad combination!"

"I didn't turn it of!" Vyse said, offended. "All I did was to disconnect the afterburner."

"And bring us to a total stop in thin air!" She steadily raised her voice. "Smart move, glass-eye!"

"And how should I know this would happen!"

Meanwhile, Fina and Esteban read through the blueprints Brabham had left them.

"I don't suppose any of you read through the whole thing," said Esteban.

Aika and Vyse turned their eyes to the couple.

"It seems that the new generator was placed just next to the Delphinus' engines. Normally it wouldn't be that bad, but when the afterburner was shut down, the whole machinery was affected."

"So basically" Fina began "the afterburner draws from the same power source as the normal engines once it is turned on. But when it's shut off, well, you all see what happens." She seemed a little uneasy about the tension between Vyse and Aika.

It smelt strongly of a botched piece of work. When they got back, Aika would gladly give Brabham feedback, in his face! But before that...

"I'm sorry I got angry," Aika said to Vyse, feeling a little ashamed for screaming at him. "I know you wouldn't let us fall down like that. At least not without telling us in advance." She grinned.

Vyse smiled back to show he wasn't angry at her.

"Well, I thought it would be more fun this way. I'll think of it next time." The quick row was by then settled.

Whenever they argued (very, very rarely) it was quite easy to get over it. Living together with each other on a remote island; getting annoyed at each other would be bad. Plus, they liked each other too much to let themselves get stuck in a long argument. The same with Fina. When they first met, she had been so demure that it was impossible to get angry at her, although she never did any such things in the first place. Now with all their adventures together, she had come to share the same bond with Vyse and Aika. Could it be much better? Well...

"When we get back home, we got an assignment for ya," Aika said to Esteban. "Put some loopers in Brabham's bed, and you'll be richly rewarded."

They all seemed to like it, except for Esteban, who snorted at the suggestion.

"Or how about we see where we have ended first," he said dryly. "We've might've been thrown off course."

Just for a second, Aika could have sworn she had seen a sudden sparkle in his eyes. And the way he immediately after had gone back to his ice-cold self showed that maybe he had tried to cover up something, maybe a laugh?

"That's true," said Vyse. "Everybody to your posts."

They all gathered around the panels. While Fina had the controls for the incline and altitude, Aika handled the speed and other things, such as the sonar. She turned it on for a quick scan below. Not much was there. It was just like she had said, the thin air.

"By the way," she said to Esteban "Did you get hurt?"

"I've been through worse," was his short answer. That was what most people said when asked something like that (or at least Air Pirates did), although he didn't seem one for regular lingo. So he had been through worse, maybe. But just what?

The Delphinus broke through the clouds. What they saw was a plain nothing. It could be any place from outside Valua to Ixa'taka, preferably the latter. No islands was in sight. Only...

"I think I recognise these mountains," said Vyse. "We're probably at the border of Ixa'taka, facing north, for some reason."

"I think so too. That we are in the North Ocean," Fina said and pointed.

North Ocean was synonymous with Black Pirates. And it was probably one of them who sailed straight towards them! It was a ship maybe half the size of the Delphinus. It was too far away to see the details of the sails, but they were black and a skull could be seen. That was enough. That meant trouble!

"I think I have to agree with you," said Vyse. "And they'll be here soon enough!"

"So what do we do?" Aika asked.

"While they're here, we might as well kick their butts with the moonstone cannon!" He brought the ship to standstill while still remaining in the air. "We'll have some time before they're here, so we'll have plenty of time to charge it up." He pulled down the regulator for their super-weapon. A flashing green light and a humming sound showed that it had started to charge.

"There is a chance they might get close enough to shoot," said Esteban. "I'll take post at the cannons."

"OK," said Vyse. He gave the description on how to get to the cannons and then the mercenary hurried off.

Fina grabbed a pair of binoculars and took post at the front window; she wouldn't need to watch over her panel for this battle. Inside Aika's head, Esteban's past words passed by: "Do you really think that killing is something you do for fun!?" And now he seemed eager to blast them out of the sky. She shook her head as if to shatter her thoughts. Whatever it was, it would have to be dealt with afterwards. Now they had a battle to win!

"What's the distance?" Vyse asked in a steady voice.

Aika angled the sonar to make it point at their adversary.

"Almost a half kilometer, too early for any contact."

But just as she had said it, a loud cannon-bang was heard, followed by a second and a third. But the Black Pirate ship hadn't fired. It must've been Esteban.

"Useless." Vyse shook his head. "It's too far away to hit."

"Or... maybe," said Fina, who now followed the shots with her gaze.

The balls sailed over the sky, would it hit? No, it couldn't possibly... or maybe, it would... The shots blasted with full power at the ship's main sails, forming a perfect triangle. The sails immediately caught fire and the flames quickly spread to the other sails. Suddenly, a voice came out of one of the talking-tubes.

"This is Esteban. I saw you had a magic cannon so I fired some PYRIs. The threat has been neutralised. We can continue on our course." He talked in a short-cut voice, kind of like one would imagine a Valuan soldier would speak.

"Affirmative," Vyse replied. "We'll leave 'em behind. You can come back up. Good shooting, by the way."

"On my way."

"Great shot!" Aika called in the direction of the tube, quite impressed. "You're awesome!"

"I know." Just the same tone as if someone had told him that the sky was blue and that Nasr was hot, like it was obvious. He was like he was.

From the tube, they could hear the faint sound of his steps. Soon he would be back. With one last look at the Black Pirates' burning ship, Vyse turned the Delphinus around, its bow pointed to the south. The propellers in the stern started to swirl and the ship moved forward towards Ixa'taka.

"Quite clever of him to use a pyri to set the sails ablaze," Aika said, smiling. "They won't be going anywhere for a while and no casualties." So that was his plan all along. Killing was really something that stood beneath his honour, even if he tried to make it sound like he was saving time.

Fina had almost made it back to her panel, now she turned to Aika.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"That there were no casualties."

"No, before that."

Aika had to think a little bit.

"Ah, that he had used a PYRI to set the sails ablaze. That's the furthest I remember back. Something strange?"

"What he fired" said Fina "was not a PYRI. It was an ELECTRI, most certainly an extremely high-charged one. Enough voltage to burn anything flammable. Not many people can do that, or are capable of..."

Before they got to ask her to explain further, the door opened and Esteban made his entrance. Whatever it was, it would have to wait.

The Delphinus sailed in between the cliffs where the iron net once had been set up. Now they had entered Ixa'takian air-space. The lush green forests stretched out as far as they could see accompanied with the high mountains that reached around the continent's western parts. It felt nice to come back to something that was familiar, but even here the winds of changes blew. Ixa'taka had moved from being a largely isolated part of the world to one of the biggest wood exports. Or, they had potential to be so if the Black Pirates could stop pestering the North Ocean. The South Ocean was still a minor hell to pass through. The only theoretical alternative was to pass through the Dark Rift into Yafutoma and travel northeast through the big hole in the stone-reef. Theoretical since no one had felt like trying.

Just after Soltis had arose from the world's bottom, many stone reefs and cyclones had been pushed away and somewhat erased. But after the silvite continent sunk again, everything went back to how it usually was, just like the tides of water. OK, it hadn't gone as quick as that. There still were some changes in the geography, some maps had to be redrawn, mostly in the vicinity of where Soltis once had been.

I'll gladly have changes, Aika thought, As long as they don't effect us.

Soon the particular stone reef was seen. It marked the end of the island. At portside, a very high mountain that was crowned with Rixis could be seen.

"There's the 'City out of Gold'," Aika said and pointed. "Quite an interesting place, but hardly any gold. Not even a moon crystal."

"What's a moon crystal?" Esteban asked.

Normally, that was Fina's line, although Cupil would probably chase Aika all day long in his dagger-form for saying that. More precisely, it used to be Fina's line.

"The moon crystals" Aika said, "are a special type of gem, or whatever, that could be used to control the six Gigas: Massive weapons of mass-destruction, very ancient, dating back to the old world. Valua tried so they could conquer the rest of the world. So we had to get to them before they did. It was quite a race"

"So that's why they called it the Crystal War?"

She nodded.

"Yep. In most cases, we were number one to 'em, but they came just after us, snatched the crystals and gave us a whole bunch of trouble to deal with. Down there, for instance." Aika pointed at an ex. glade. "There the green giant Grendel raised all sorts of hell before we stopped him. Big guy, big muscles, dumb as a brick."

Esteban didn't seem to know much all that much of the details around the conflict that had ravaged in Arcadia some six months ago. But it was in his profession to do only what the client told him to, not asking any questions. Was he really an archetype mercenary, or did something else lurk within him? Time would tell, but meanwhile, Aika had a clear opinion. He might not agree with her, but she felt it was the truth.

Now the Delphinus had reached the reef. A quick look at Esteban's map confirmed that they were at the right co-ordinates. The engine was put in a still-position so it was able to float as steadily as possible. Aika went out to turn on the lantern. She was back soon enough.

"Start the descent," said Vyse. "Half-speed so that we will be able to see any openings."

The ship sank down at the right spot. Outside the winds roared, but within the ship, it was relatively quiet.