The Wind Merchant (28 page)

Ache and exhaustion settled into Ras’ body as the adrenaline ebbed away. Sitting up caused him to feel every muscle in his body screaming at him. Ras stood, then helped Callie up.

Pop. Pop. Pop, pop, pop.
Dixie, Callie, and Ras walked over to the side railing, looked past the balloon, and saw
The Halifax
erupt in a series of small green explosions as it met with the Convergence, ripping the ship apart.

“What’s going on?” Callie asked.

“They had Knacks onboard,” Ras said.

“Oh my…so they’re…”

“Overloading,” Dixie said, “Being pulled into the Convergence.”

Callie turned her head away. “I can’t watch that.”

The Halifax
’s engines failed completely as the ship erupted into a furious inferno and continued hurtling toward
The Brass Fox
.

“Do we have a magnet in us or something?” Ras protested. He pointed to Dixie. “Get her into the quarters and make sure she’s secure,” he said, running up the stairs to the helm. Dixie had lodged her hair clip into the ignition to start the airship. There was no time for amusement or annoyance. He jammed the throttle forward.

The Brass Fox
jerked into motion, bringing shouts from the quarters.
The Halifax
blotted out the sky above him, blocking what light fell through the clouds onto the small wind merchant vessel.

“C’mon, c’mon!” Ras shouted at his ship, slamming the wheel to starboard. The ship barreled toward the edge of
The Halifax
’s shadow. He didn’t let himself look back to see if he would make it, as there was little more he could do.

A groan of metal and a sizzle of hot engines hitting the water behind Ras finally piqued his curiosity. He turned to see
The Halifax
splashing down, creating a wave higher than
The Brass Fox
was flying. Ras yanked up on the wheel, giving the airship enough altitude that the wave merely clipped it. Still, the force pushed
The Brass Fox
forward and almost threw Ras against the wheel as the water roared over the railing and slammed against him.

Soaked, Ras continued to pull his ship into a climb and circled back around the burning wreckage of The Collective’s capital ship. Smoke belched from the hull as the fires lost their battle to the flooding waters, and
The Halifax
descended into a watery grave.

Half an hour and fifty miles later,
The Brass Fox
was limping just underneath the clouds. Inside the upended Captain’s quarters, Ras sat stunned in the chair next to Callie, who was resting her head on the small table next to her destroyed typewriter. Dixie paced around the ripped up mess of sheets, clothes, and cookware, her expression manic.

“I cannot believe sky pirates took down
The Halifax.
It’s
The Halifax
!” Dixie said, continuing to pace. “Well, say something!”

“We’ll get you another typewriter,” Ras said, placing a light hand on Callie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Ras’ head swam. Nothing made sense.

“What were they doing to me?” Callie finally asked, still not looking up. “To us?”

“Like I told him, they were testing to see if you were Knacks,” Dixie said.
 

Callie looked up and shook her head, then reeled before steadying herself. “That doesn’t make sense. They had Knacks onboard already. You saw what happened when the Convergence hit it.”

“Well, they were testing for something,” Ras said, leaning over to pick up the old leather satchel, and carefully emptying the relics onto the table.

“Hold on, where’d you get that?” Dixie asked, walking up and snatching a small dueling pistol. She pulled its weathered and bloodied twin from the small of her back, then shot an accusatory finger at Ras. “You! I knew it!” she shouted. “I don’t know what I know because it still doesn’t add up, but I knew you had something to do with it!”

“What are you talking about?” Callie asked.

“One second I’m sitting in the brig, and the next thing I know, I’m strong-arming the guards with this,” Dixie said, hefting one of the pistols. “What gives?”

Ras reached into the satchel and offered Hal’s brass orb to Callie. “This thing, I think.”

“You touched it!” Callie cried. She snatched away the device and inserted her fingers to start the mechanism. The arrow began to scope out, then stuck.

“I wasn’t the first,” Ras said, “Foster got to it before I did, and who knows who pulled it from our ship when they ransacked it?”

Dixie pointed at the orb. “How does that explain what happened?”

“It doesn’t,” Callie said. “It’s supposed to just be a compass that leads to one place, but nobody else was supposed to be able to work it but me.”

“I think it’s more than a compass,” Ras said, then hesitated. “I don’t know how, but I’m starting to think it can stop time.”

Dixie gave a hard laugh. “And you know that how?”

Ras sighed. “Everything around me stopped and I was the only one on the ship that could move. The pirates kept firing though…”

Callie stared blankly, lost in thought.

Dixie opened her mouth as if she had something to counter with, but her mouth shut and she gave a look of confusion. “I’d call you a liar, but…” She lifted the dueling pistol. “Why would something like that happen?”

“I thought stuff like that only happened in The Wild,” Ras said to Callie, then waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Are you with us?”

She shook her head slightly, breaking the trance. “Right.”

“Hold on, did you say The Wild?” Dixie asked. “Who knows anything about The Wild? It’s not like anyone’s been there in a hundred years.”

“We’re trying to break that streak,” Ras said, then turned to Callie. “But how are we going to find the pass now with a busted compass?”

“Who in their right mind would ever want to go into The Wild?” Dixie asked.

“Our hometown is going to sink if we don’t,” Callie said.

“I’m going to assume there’s a longer story attached to that,” Dixie said. “What’s your hometown?”

“
Verdant
,” Ras said.

“I heard Bravo Company attacked it. It’s still flying?” Dixie asked.

“When we left they were just surrounding it,” Ras said.

“So if you go to The Wild and do whatever you need to do, it’ll be a blow to Bravo Company, right?”

“They want
Verdant
, so yes,” Ras said.

“Perfect! I particularly enjoy not giving sky pirates what they want. I’m in.”

Ras shook his head. “Sorry Dixie, you’re not going with us—”

“You’ve saved my life twice now, so I’m a little in your debt,” Dixie said. “By personal obligation I kind of have to, and if I’m being perfectly honest, now I kind of want to.”

Ras held up his hand. “It’s a moot point. We don’t know how to get into The Wild anymore.”

Callie stared blankly at the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Ras asked. Not getting anything further from Callie, he turned to Dixie. “Would you give us a minute?”

“Sure,” Dixie said, “but talk quietly. These walls are kind of thin and I’m a bit of a snoop. Just a heads up.” She exited, and Ras turned to Callie.

“Hal was telling me the truth,” Callie said, half to herself.

“What about?”

“Me,” she said. “Ras, I’m a Knack.”

“We already know you’re not—”

“I’m not an
Energy
Knack, I’m…” She clenched her jaw. “I’m a Time Knack.”

“What in Atmo is a
Time
Knack?” Ras asked.

“According to Hal, there’s an Origin like Energy in The Wild, only it regulates time. He said it’s like friction. If it’s thick in the air, things can’t move,” she said, looking into Ras’ eyes. “The first Knacks developed their sensitivity by living close to an Origin, so instead of exploding when an Energy Knack gets too close to too much Energy, a Time Knack…”

“Stops time,” Ras said, understanding. “And they were blasting us with something.”
No wonder they let me go…
He ruffled his hair. “But you’re not from The Wild. Nobody is.”

“The Elders couldn’t have built themselves, Ras. Maybe somebody in my family way back when was from there,” Callie said.

“So, the headaches…”

“Maybe it’s because I’m a Time Knack. I don’t know,” Callie said, then wrinkled her nose. “That still feels weird to finally say out loud.”

Ras gently picked up the brass orb from Callie’s hand. “So does this thing actually point toward Time?”

Callie sheepishly looked at Ras, then shook her head. “I just made it point whatever direction I wanted it to point, which was whatever direction I saw Time the most concentrated.” She smiled an apology. “He made me promise not to tell anyone unless I had to.”

“What, it’s not like there’s some super powerful leader of Atmo’s Energy supply after someone like that, is there?” Ras asked with a half grin.

“I don’t know, is there?”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you about that. Yeah, Foster shot at me when he realized I didn’t know how to use this thing,” Ras said, inspecting the orb. “Your overload stopped the bullet, so…thanks for that.”

“Really? Jerk.” Callie said. “But wait…How were you able to move?”

Ras had an idea exactly how a Lack could avoid being affected by something coming from an Origin, but preferred to skirt the issue. He turned the orb around in his hand. “Maybe whoever holds this is immune to freezing?”

She furrowed her brow. “That doesn’t really make sense, but right now not a whole lot does.”

“Wait, so that means you can still get us to The Wild?”

Callie nodded, her tired grin spreading to Ras.

“I’m feeling excluded now!” Dixie shouted from the deck. “You two aren’t being nearly loud enough!”

“Huddle’s over,” Ras said.

Dixie returned, rubbing her arms for warmth. “I don’t know if you know this, but clouds are cold.”
 

Ras stood and brought the tattered map draped over the bed to the table. “We’ll have to check our coordinates against the stars tonight, but unless the battle moved, we should still be over
New Crispin
.”

“You mean
Crispin
, right?” Callie asked.

Ras turned, looked at Callie, and solemnly shook his head.

“Oh,” Callie said, slouching slightly. “Wait, everyone was running to their ships. Maybe they got away.”

“I hope so,” Ras said. He turned his attention back to the map, tracing a finger east by northeast from
Crispin
. “It looks like the only city between us and The Wild is
Solaria
. We’ll have to drop you off there, Dixie.”

“Oh, will you now?” Dixie defiantly planted her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “
Solaria
is on the opposite end of Atmo from
Verdant
. Did you fix that compass?”

“It’s a little worse for wear, but it’ll work,” said Callie, looking at Ras.

“Well, you’re not dumping me off on
Solaria
. It sunk just after it launched. How old are those maps?” Dixie asked. “If you’re heading that direction, any respectable Atmo city is going to add days to your trip.”

“How much longer does
Verdant
have?” Callie asked.

Ras did the math. “Three weeks. Maybe. I’m sure Bravo Company has been circling
Verdant
just to use up as much Energy as they can in The Bowl.”

“But Pop said Bravo Company uses Helios engines,” Callie said.

“No pirate uses Helios engines,” Dixie said. “They’d have to continually raid Collective sources for it.”

“Well, regardless, nobody is bringing extra Energy to
Verdant
from outside The Bowl. Three weeks, max. On top of that we have to think about getting back to tell…” Ras looked at Dixie, then Callie.

“So, you don’t have time to spare,” Dixie said, smiling. “Y’know, you two don’t have the best track record when I’m not around. Besides, who gets to say they’ve been to The Wild and back?” She paused. “You
are
coming back, right?”

“That’s the plan,” Ras said.

“It’s settled, then. You nice people wouldn’t leave me to die alone on the surface at the hands of Remnants or a Convergence, so I’ll help you get to The Wild and back. We’ll call it even after that.”

Ras took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You need to know what you’re signing up for. There are Elders still in The Wild.”

Dixie shrugged. “So? There are sky pirates on this side. And now we’ve got The Collective after us. Give me antique wind-up toys any day. I know how to handle myself. I’m a big girl. Let me pay my debt.”

Ras took a moment, letting the silence hang. “Do you know your way around a Windstrider engine?”

Dixie beamed. “Oh, definitely! I mean, I’m no miracle worker. We’ll need parts to repair the one that took the brunt of that pirate’s cannon ball.”

“Hold on, when did we get hit?” Ras asked.

“Someone took a pot shot at me when I launched…You didn’t think I expected you to go skydiving without a parachute off
The Halifax
, did you?”

“I didn’t really have a lot of time to think about it,” Ras said.

“Well, we should be able to putt along just fine under the clouds with one Windstrider, but I wouldn’t bet on us in any races,” Dixie said. “
Solaria
is old enough. Maybe we could find some Windstrider parts if it’s not already picked clean by Remnants.”

“I still kind of want to meet one,” Callie said.

“Girlie, you don’t want to run into a Remnant,” Dixie said.

“Why? Have you seen one?”

“No, but you hear all those stories…some say they’re cannibals; others say their skin is green and sickly, almost falling off their bones.”

“Can we focus on getting the engine fixed?” Ras asked. “We’ll fly out toward
Solaria
and at least see what our options are.” He turned to Callie. “Can you get us a heading while Dixie and I look at the engine?”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Callie said.

Ras escorted Dixie to the hold. The cannonball lodged in the Windstrider didn’t give Ras high hopes as he collected a few broken engine parts from the floor.

“Wow, this was a classic,” Dixie said, resting her hand on the Windstrider. “If
Solaria
didn’t fall too hard, it shouldn’t be difficult to find what we need.”