Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,24
said, “Unfortunately, it's not something I can repeat. The aether in the remnants of the protective bubble is completely depleted now. I can't use it to drive off an attack unless I recreate the spell, and I won't be able to do that until we get the motile working again. The two are meant to work together.”
That's not good, Emilie thought, hugging herself. It seemed a long time until the night-eclipse would be over; the ship was like a bubble of light traveling through impenetrable darkness. Emilie said, “Do you think we'll run into anything else tonight?” She realized it was a stupid question as soon as the words were out. Kenar had told them over and over again, he had no more idea of what was in these waters than they did.
But he just put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug, saying absently, “I hope not.”
Emilie would have thought there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep after everything that had happened. But the shock of seeing the bones had rather crushed the excitement right out of her, and she found herself so heavy with exhaustion that she could barely drag herself back to Miss Marlende's cabin. Without bothering to undress, she lay down on the bed. Her restive stomach found this position much more amenable, and she quickly slid into sleep.
She woke briefly when Miss Marlende came in, drifted off again, then roused herself to see what the clicking noise was. It was Miss Marlende, sitting on her bed, loading a revolver. Miss Marlende saw her watching, and said, “Obviously I should have taken this precaution earlier.”
It was a little odd to see a woman with a gun, especially a pistol. But after what had happened, it seemed an excellent idea. Emilie asked, “May I have a pistol too?”
Miss Marlende frowned. “Have you ever used a pistol before?”
“No.”
“Then you may not have one.”
“Hmm.” Emilie subsided, sinking back down onto the pillow to go back to sleep. She recalled accidentally stabbing herself with a penknife while trying to cut reeds for a fishing rod one summer, and decided Miss Marlende was probably right.
Emilie slept through the end of the night eclipse and three hours into daylight. She woke, blearily stared at the clock, and struggled out of bed. After a quick wash, she tied her hair back, laced her boots, and hurried out to see what was happening.
She stepped onto the deck into dim sunlight and a humid breeze. Dark gray clouds filled the sky, heavily bunched in the direction the ship was heading. It completely obscured the cloudy column of the Aerinterre aether current. They had left the remnants of the flooded city entirely behind, but the sea wasn't empty. The ship was steaming toward a series of small islands. Odd islands, Emilie thought, shading her eyes to see. They all stood high above the water, at least twenty or thirty feet, with trees and clumps of vegetation on top and sharp cliffs dropping down to the waves.
By going to the bow and looking over the rail, she found Miss Marlende and Kenar on the main deck. Miss Marlende was using a spyglass to study the islands. Emilie hurried down the nearest set of stairs to join them. “What's that?” she asked. “Are we nearly there?”
“Possibly,” Kenar admitted. “These islands are similar to the ones near where the airship went down. I just hope we can navigate through them.”
Miss Marlende lowered the spyglass. “The channels between them seem quite narrow in spots. We're going to have to go very slowly.” She tapped her fingers on the rail in frustration.
“And hope nothing tries to grab us,” Emilie added, thinking of the Sargasso creatures last night.
“There's that,” Miss Marlende added wryly.
There seemed to be nothing more to do at the moment than watch the islands draw closer, and Emilie's stomach was growling. She went back inside, and found her way back down to the crew's galley. Mrs. Verian wasn't there, but her young assistant was scrubbing the tables, and Emilie managed to get him to stop long enough to find her a sausage sandwich, an apple, and a mug of very sweet tea. She was so hungry she ate the sandwich standing up at the serving counter, then put the apple in her pocket and carried the mug of tea out, meaning to head back up to the main deck.
But just down the corridor, at the base of the stairwell,