The Wind Merchant (48 page)

“Long story.”

She looked deep into his eyes. He looked worse for wear, but otherwise just how she last remembered him. “How are you…” She ran a hand over his cheek.

“The Wild’s a funny place,” he said, then pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss before releasing.

Old Harley received a rope from the man wearing a hat, who touched the wide brim in a note of respect toward Emma.

She looked back at her husband. “Where’s Ras?”

He looked to the horizon. “I don’t know where he is, exactly.”

Emma threw her arms around him. She felt numb, and hated that she believed such news seemed inevitable as soon as she watched her boy leave the docks. The weight of it was too much.

“It’s all right, baby. I’m sure he’s fine,” Elias said softly, his breath tickling her ear. “I think it’s time you spent some time with your family.”

She pulled away, looking deep into his eyes. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry, I’m coming.”

“But you’ll overload,” she said.

“Not with you.”

Old Harley secured the rope, then stepped toward them. “Sir, are you leaving us again?”

“I’m afraid so, Harley,” Elias said with a sad smile.

“Oh,” Old Harley said. “If it’s not too much to ask, I’ve always…oh, never mind.”

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s just that that’s
The Kingfisher
,” Old Harley said, gesturing to the ship. “And I’ve always wanted to meet the captain.”

“He’s not onboard, but if you’d like to come with us, we’re about to go meet up with him.”

The Kingfisher
’s landing gear extended, settling down on a patch of soft grass alongside a lazy river. The soft roar of a waterfall played in the distance, mixing with the sound of the ship’s ramp lowering.

Emma stepped out first, followed by Elias, who appeared to be still familiarizing himself with his set of crutches. Old Harley took a bit of convincing from Elias to step out onto the grass. He nervously surveyed his new surroundings.

“So much for a nap,” Dixie mused, pulling her feet off the console of the shuttle. She drowsily pulled a lever, opening the smaller vessel’s hatch. “Hey! Over here!” she called out.

Emma peered over at the shuttle, then broke into a run at the sight of the two figures carefully exiting the vessel.

Even with most of his body swathed in thick bandages, Ras was able to lift his left arm to accept his mother’s embrace.

“Hey mom,” Ras said, his right hand still laced with Callie’s.

“What happened?” Emma asked, taking in the sight of her boy. She leaned over to hug Callie next.

Ras looked down at his battered body. “Just about everything.”

“Do I get a hug?” Dixie asked. “I did kind of save them both.”

Emma smiled. “I don’t know who you are, but—”

“Dixie Piper,” she said proudly. “People call me Dix, Dixie, Pip—”

“Just call her Dixie,” Ras said, giving her a lopsided grin.

“You only get to make a first impression once, Ras.”

“She pulled us away from the Time Origin,” Callie said. “I think you two will get along just fine.”

“Yeah,” Dixie said, then shot a look at Ras. “You’re heavy.”

Elias hobbled forward with Old Harley and Dayus. Emma slapped his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew he was alive?” she shouted.

“You didn’t ask if he was alive. You asked where he was,” Elias said, fighting a smile that Ras presumed would earn him another slap. “This place doesn’t have a name as far as I know.”

“I was crying!” she said.

“I thought you were happy to see me—”

“Mom! Dad!” Ras said, raising his voice and stopping their argument. “It’s all right, we’re here. We’re fine.”

“Why didn’t you come back to
Verdant
?” Emma asked.

“We can’t,” Ras said, looking over to Callie. “At least not together. As best we can figure out, if Callie and I get close enough, we overload, which I guess for someone with Void means destabilizing a Convergence or knocking away concentrated Energy.”

“Or normalizing Time,” Callie said.

“Right, or that,” Ras said. “We didn’t want to save
Verdant
just to accidentally knock out her Energy reserves as soon as we bumped into each other.”

“And I’d prefer to heal a little before I convince Daddy that our trip was a good idea,” Callie said, prompting a sage-like nod from Elias to Ras.

“Or tell them that you are over one-hundred years old,” Ras said.

She pursed her lips. “For the last time, I’m not one-hundred and three years old, I’m nineteen…I was just born one-hundred and three years ago.”

A confused look played across Old Harley’s face. “I’m going to need a primer on all this Void-talk,” he said. “So where’s Hal?”

“Back in Illor—back in The Wild,” Dayus said. “He has work to do.”

“Harley, I thought you said you wanted to meet the captain,” Elias said.

“I do.”

“Well, he’s right here,” Elias said, gesturing to his son.

Ras gave a slightly embarrassed grin. “Hal thought of it as a prison after all those years,” he said. “It’s mine as long as I don’t rename it
The Platinum Fox
, or some other
Fox
. I’m going to need a crew, though.”

“It doesn’t look like a wind merchant ship,” Emma said.

“It’s not. I don’t think I’m a wind merchant anymore,” Ras said. “
The Winnower
is gone, and as soon as the rest of Atmo finds out that The Collective has been using Knacks to make their fuel, there’s going to be an uprising. Callie and I are going to have to clear the ground of Convergences before the cities can land safely once they run out of fuel.”

“The Collective has been doing what now?” Old Harley exclaimed.

“We’re going to need someone who knows the surface,” Elias said, wrapping his arm around his shocked wife, “and I can only think of one person I want to guide us.”

“How many crew members are you going to need?” Old Harley asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” Ras said. “Can you think of any candidates?”

“A few,” Old Harley said. “Not everyone has someone waiting for them back on
Verdant
, and some of us might jump at a chance to save the world.”

Save the world
, Ras thought.
That’s a far cry from trolling for Twos
.

Elias put a hand on Ras’ shoulder. “I’ll take Harley and your mother back to
Verdant
to see who we can find. You kids are going to need your rest…it won’t be long before we hit more turbulence.”

Ras looked back at Callie, who squeezed his hand, prompting a reflexive smile. The girl who dreamed of seeing the world now had to do just that in order to save it, and he would fly her anywhere.

“I’m ready.”