Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,14

and worn by weather. “That's not the Sun, is it? It's a sun, but not our sun.”

“Kenar calls it 'the warm heart of the earth.' There are other solid bodies in orbit around it that cause periods of darkness. One is called the Dark Wanderer, and the people who live here use it to determine directions. West is darkward, the direction the Dark Wanderer comes from, and east is antidarkward, the direction the Dark Wanderer takes when it leaves the sun.” Miss Marlende stared out the port, caught for a moment by the view over the crystal water. “I can't believe we really made it here,” she murmured.

Emilie couldn't, either. She supposed it would sink in over time.

Captain Belden was using a triangular plotting instrument to mark a position on the chart, and Kenar had his own system, using the widths of his fingers to measure and a stub of pencil to mark the points.

Lord Engal's brow furrowed as he studied the results. He said, “We left the fissure nearly ten hours early, at this point.” He tapped the spot on the chart that Captain Belden had plotted, some distance off the Menaen coast. “We know Marlende's party is here, in the vicinity of the Aerinterre mountain fissure.” He tapped another point on the chart, the outline of a large island. Then he looked at the other map, where Kenar had marked the same points. “Hmm.”

Emilie craned her neck to see. On the Hollow World map, the space between those points was blank. Kenar drummed his claws on the table and admitted, “Our ship was still charting this area. It was new territory for us.”

Captain Belden said slowly, “If our figures are correct, it should be the same approximate distance between the coast of Menea and the island of Aerinterre. That would be about two days' sail, if conditions are good.” He gave Kenar a hard stare. “If there's nothing in the way.”

“I don't know,” Kenar said pointedly. “If I knew, I would have put it on the map.”

Lord Engal let out a gusty breath, still frowning. “We've no choice. We can't return to the upper world until the motile is repaired, and if we can't go back, we must go forward. We'll try to reach Marlende's position.”

“We might not be able to go back,” Captain Belden said, “but we don't have to go forward. We could hold this position and make the repair.”

Miss Marlende stepped forward and slammed a hand down on the table. Emilie jumped, startled. Everyone else stared at Miss Marlende. Teeth-gritted, she said to Lord Engal, “The whole purpose of this, the whole reason we contacted you, gave you access to my father's work, was to help him and his crew. If you leave now, when he's within reach, so you can claim the discovery, I will-”

“I have no intention of leaving here without your father and his men,” Lord Engal cut her off. “That may not be my sole reason for pursuing this experiment, but it certainly is the most important.” He took a deep breath, and added more calmly, “Miss Marlende, you've repeatedly demanded that I trust you and Kenar. I would appreciate it if you would extend a little trust to me in return.”

Miss Marlende met his gaze for a long moment, then said, grimly, “Fair enough.”

With a pointed glance around, Engal continued, “As I said, we'll sail toward Marlende's position while Barshion and the engineers try to make the necessary adjustments to the aetheric engine. We'll also try to raise the airship on our wireless, though from Dr. Marlende's notes we know that the aether in the air here may interfere with radio waves. If we encounter obstacles, we'll deal with them as necessary. If we can't deal with them, I'll reconsider our course.”

Captain Belden didn't look happy, but he didn't object, either. Emilie, as annoyed as she was with Lord Engal, had to admit that this was as fair as possible, and probably what she would have done in his position. Miss Marlende seemed to agree. She said, with a trace of stiffness, “Thank you, Lord Engal. I can't ask for more than that.”

Then Lord Engal ruined it by saying, “I should think not.”

There was a lot of bustle at that point, everyone putting their heads together over the maps, and Emilie found herself shuffled out of the wheelhouse and into the corridor. Once there, she wasn't sure where to go. Everyone seemed to have temporarily forgotten that Miss Marlende was