Bactine (31 page)

Daniel arrived at his apartment, wet and cold. And also excited, exhilarated. He had been somewhere new again, snooped around in places he should not be. He had heard things he should not have heard. And he had not been caught. The whole thing came down to a giant trip.

It was all completely against everything his military training had taught him; they had spies for things like that. And he couldn't care less. He had done this. He had learnt things about Clelem Dandra ko Galem that apparently not many people knew.

He treated himself to a hot shower and dry clothes. After locating some rations he kept for special occasions, and the lasting rain was one of those, he sat at the table and stared out the window. The painful open spot of the Pricosine stung him.

Daniel had tried to see the shipyard from his room, but that was just out of visual range. Maybe that was just as well.

He flipped open the hydger, wondering if that needed drying out with all the rain, but miraculously that did not show any problems.

No one had tried to call him. The clouds overhead did not show any sign of wanting to leave soon. This was going to be a dreary day, Daniel was rather certain of that.

As his thoughts rolled on, he suddenly found himself composing what could be a letter to someone, in his head. He decided that he might as well make it a real one. Yes, he would write a letter to his sister.

He wrote to her, about how he had been transferred to NGC6637-VIII ('a really very far-away planet') and how he had been stationed here to do security on ships, because of pirates. He did not hide from her the fact that they had been outnumbered, and that his life had almost been forfeit.

'I do at times think of you, Cynthia,' he wrote. 'I hope you're doing well and I would really like to hear from you.'

Daniel read his letter over a few times. Then he sent it off, through the star base relay address. The white blip on the screen told him it had been delivered, and that was all he could do.

As he was staring through the window again, the hydger rattled. He picked it up. A black triangle was there, and he didn't even frown anymore.

"Hello, mysterious person."

"Mr. Zacharias," the distorted voice said, through the by now familiar brushing sound. "Have you seen the boat?"

"Yes. I did." Daniel explained about the problem of the size. The stranger on the other end was silent, apparently he had not counted on that. Then Daniel told him about the possible alternative that they were working on.

"You are venturing into options yourself?" No brushing or distortion could take away the surprise in the voice.

"Yes. I want the people from the Pricosine saved. A few people I know want to help."

"When do you know what their option is for saving the crew?"

"They told me they would get back to me in a few days. So that could even be tomorrow," Daniel said.

Another silence. "I see. Can you send word to me as soon as you know if the option is viable?"

"I can, but I'll need the identification of your hydger for that." Daniel wondered if the mysterious person would do that.

"Very well. I will hear from you. As soon as possible." Beneath the black triangle a set of numbers appeared as the connection was terminated.

Daniel stared at the numbers and could not believe it. He had a way to connect to this person now, whoever it was. Quickly he stored the call sign in the hydger, again wondering how many of those this strange box could hold.

Unfortunately, after that the day held no more excitement for Daniel.

He was appreciative of his umbrella, as the rain was still falling as he went out for dinner.

-=-=-

"Krrrrrkkk... Krrrrkkk..." went the hydger. The display told him that Tomlin tried to talk to him.

"Hey, Tomlin, what's up?"

"Good morning, Daniel. Can you come over to me?" Tomlin sounded all business. "I mean now?"

"Yes. What's the rush?" Daniel asked as he veered up from the bed.

"Strange Aldrick has agreed to see you."

"Ah. That is wonderful. I think. I should be with you in something like... half an hour?" Daniel estimated.

"That would be good. Gerolf is on his way also, he'll be here before you. We'll wait for you." Tomlin ended the call without a further word; things had to be very exciting for him, to forget that. Tomlin had become such a gentleman, Daniel grinned.

As he stood in front of the mirror, fixing his tie, he grinned again. 'Not just Tomlin, Daniel, not just Tomlin...'

A carriage took him to Tomlin's house. The roads were still wet; it had rained until early morning, but now the clouds had broken up and some sunshine was making its way down, to take care of the excess moisture.

When he arrived, Tomlin and Gerolf were already waiting outside.

"Good morning," Tomlin said as the two got in. He did the address trick with the hydger and the carriage pulled away. As they were on the road, Tomlin explained that they had visited Strange Aldrick and that the man had said he had something incredible to show them.

Daniel asked him what it was, and Tomlin just grinned. "You're going to love it, Daniel. Really. But Aldrick asked us not to tell anyone. It is all experimental and... such."

"Experimental? And... such?" Something in the way Tomlin had spoken gave Daniel a feeling that he'd rather not have. And he was not certain what worried him more, the experimental part or the bit that was not mentioned.

"It's somewhat out of the ordinary," Gerolf simply said.

"Oh. Somewhat. And experimental. And we are going to the person who devised this." Daniel sat back. "Sounds like a very good idea."

"I agree," Gerolf said. Daniel had no idea if the man was joking or if he had no grasp of sarcasm whatsoever.

The journey took them out of Skarak and into what could be called the backlands. There were many trees in shapes and colours Daniel had never seen. The road was less used and also less maintained: the carriage was shaking quite a bit, and its lack of good suspension became painfully apparent.

"How on Earth does this thing know where to go?" Daniel asked as he tried to find something to hold on to.

"We're not on Earth, Daniel," Tomlin laughed, "and I wouldn't know even if we were there!"

Gerolf just held on, stoically silent.

At the moment Daniel was afraid that the carriage would fall apart, it stopped.

"We've arrived," Tomlin said the liberating word. Their transport had not broken down. Or it had, at the right time.

They left the carriage. Daniel stepped into a puddle. Gerolf grinned.

"Come on, no fussing about dirty shoes, Daniel," Tomlin said as he started up a narrow path through hip-high grass. Daniel went after him and Gerolf closed their ranks..

The carriage did not move.

After about fifteen minutes of plowing through the grass, over a path that was not promoting progress, they reached a gate. Daniel wondered why there was a gate without a fence.

"It's Aldrick's place. Does this give you a clue why he's called strange?" Tomlin opened the gate and let them in. Upon Daniel's frown he said: "Aldrick's strange. But that does not mean he's crazy, Daniel, remember that. If he puts up a gate, use it. Really."

The three men walked on. The track now was somewhat more friendly on their legs, and they reached a small house. Well, it was more a large cabin.

"Aldrick!" Tomlin yelled. "We're here!" He turned to Daniel. "You never know where he is, so it is smart to announce yourself as soon as possible."

"I knew you were here," a voice said. The body that came with it appeared from inside the cabin. "No need to shout." The man was dressed in white slacks held up by a wide black belt, and a red shirt. He wore black boots and a blue wool hat, despite the nice weather. His skin looked an unhealthy shade of pale.

The man walked up to them and stared at Daniel. "You are the sailor, right?"

"You could call it that," Daniel replied.

"Good. Come with me. I have the perfect thing for you." Without wasting words or time, Aldrick turned and marched off, the three others in his wake.

Strange Aldrick suddenly stopped. "There she is."

Daniel and his fellows stopped. And stared. "That is..."

"An airship," Aldrick cheerfully said. "It is what you need. Believe me."

"Uhm, I am sorry and not meaning to offend or so," said Daniel, "but that is a boat."

Aldrick frowned. "I cannot call it an air boat. That sounds all wrong."

They stared at a boat, all blue, that stood in a field. It had what looked like two wings protruding from its hull, pointing downwards and resting on the ground, to keep the boat level. There were two short masts on the boat, the sails nicely wrapped up. On the ground, on four sides, they saw strange blobs, like sacks, that were connected to the boat with a complex set of lines.

"How do you like it?" Aldrick asked.

"It's... impressive," Daniel gave it his best.

"Oh... wait until you see it all. Come!" Aldrick grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him to the boat. "Here, look, see those? Those are the balloons, the floaters that will lift up the boat. Up, to the sky..." Aldrick raised his hands, looking up to the sky. "The sky..."

"Yes. I see them."

Tomlin and Gelrof kept a safe distance and grinned at each other.

"Come, come!" Aldrick became excited now. "Here, look." He held up a tube that was connected to one of the balloons. "This goes onto the boat!"

Daniel spotted it. "Yes." He was, so far, less enthusiastic than the strange man next to him. Amused, yes. But not excited yet.

Aldrick again pulled Daniel along, now to the neat blue stairs that hung from the boat. As Daniel climbed on board after the man, he noticed it was larger than it had looked. It was somewhat like a small ship, with the right attitude. It could hold twenty people with ease, thirty even in case of an emergency.

They went aft on the small ship, where a small cabin was built. Behind the low cabin was a steering wheel.

Aldrick opened the doors of the cabin and pointed at a steam-compressor, in which the four tubes of the floaters came together. "Here, see, look, fire this up, and the hot air goes to the floaters, and they fill up. With hot air, you know. And then they rise, and lift up the ship. The AIR SHIP." Aldrick exaggerated the words, wanting to make his point.

Daniel shook his head and sat down on the bench behind the steering wheel. "And you expect that this whole contraption, including the heavy steam machine, will float with these four balloons?"

"Expect? I know it will." Aldrick folded his arms over his chest. "I have flown with this airship, sir. It flies. It sails through the air. And it lands on water just as easily. But that is not a smart thing to do, because when the balloons get wet, they won't fill up anymore." This sounded like experience.

Daniel looked up at the man. "Do you think we could give this a try?"

Aldrick sat down next to Daniel. "Yes. And we alone will fly it, as these two... gentlemen..." he almost spat out the word "...are too squeamish for this."

"Daniel, are you sure about this?" Tomlin asked, still from a safe distance.

"I am sure I want to try this, Tomlin," Daniel replied. Then he followed Aldrick around the airship as the man secured the lines that held the hot air tubes in place and fired up the steam machine. It did not take long for the engine to build up steam and the floaters were filling up.

"Now look, Mr. Zacharias," Aldrick said. "This point is important. As soon as the balloons are round, you hold this down." He momentarily pressed down a lever, which made something hissed. "This fills something special into the balloons," Aldrick said with a smile that would look good in a secretive brotherhood. "This is what gives them the lift."

Daniel saw the balloons fill up quickly with the lever pushed. As soon as they hovered well over the boat, Aldrick let the lever go and throttled the steam engine a bit. Daniel still had his doubts that all this mass would be leaving the ground, when they were suddenly lifting off.

Daniel let out a shout of surprise and happiness, just for the sheer joy of it. Tomlin and Gerolf stood with opens mouths, watching the affair take off. Aldrick attempted to outshine the sun in delight of his success. "Now, Mr. Zacharias, would be a good moment to set a sail."

"A sail?"

"Yes, sir. That is how you steer a small sailing ship, don't you?"

"And what about that?" Daniel pointed at the steering wheel.

"That only works in the water, Mr. Zacharias," Aldrick said. He added an understanding smile.

Daniel grinned. This had been one stupid remark. He made his way to the mast closest to the cabin, threw his coat on the row of benches and worked the ropes until the lower sail was in the wind. He found that the sail was very easy to manoeuvre. With some clever moves he turned it exactly right. The airship moved forward, pushed on by the wind.