Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,25

she heard Dr. Barshion's voice and stopped to listen. “…I'm sorry, Abendle, I just don't believe that's the right method. We should be adjusting the axis slowly, not trying to reorient it completely.”

Abendle. That was the older engineer who was working on the aetheric engine with Dr. Barshion and Ricard. Dr. Barshion sounds exhausted, Emilie thought. Sounding even worse, Abendle replied, “Yes, Doctor, you know more about it than I do, but I still think these figures don't show what they're supposed to. Maybe if Miss Marlende looked at them-”

“No, Abendle, she's not familiar with her father's work in that detail. I wish she was.” Dr. Barshion laughed a little wryly. “No, you and I will have to try to puzzle it out.”

Steps sounded on the metal stairs above and Emilie hurried away down the corridor, looking for the next stairwell. She made it before the two men reached the corridor, and escaped unseen up to the next deck. She wasn't sure why she had fled, except that Dr. Barshion already thought she was an eavesdropper and she didn't want to confirm that reputation by being caught at it again.

Emilie spent the morning out on the promenade deck, with Kenar and Miss Marlende. But Miss Marlende was too impatient to stay in one spot for long, and kept getting up to walk around the ship.

The scenery they were passing was endlessly fascinating. The islands were growing larger and closer together, so sometimes it was difficult to find a course through them. The ship kept having to stop and send out the launch to take soundings, which made Miss Marlende even more frustrated.

The trees were like the palm trees Emilie had seen drawings of, the ones that grew on the coast far to the south. But the fronds were much bigger, stretching out for ten or fifteen feet and then drooping at the ends. There were other trees like none she had ever seen before, squat with thick conical trunks, topped by sprays of feathery fern-like leaves. Beautifully colored birds - blue, yellow, green - flew away from the ship's passage, too quickly for Emilie to get a good look at them.

After the third time Miss Marlende excused herself to go up to the wheelhouse, Emilie said to Kenar, “You're not nervous.”

“I'm less nervous.” He smiled at her, a quick flash of pointed teeth. “My people are in an area that's foreign to them, but the ship was in good repair when I left, and they had plenty of supplies. And I know they can take care of themselves, and that they will watch over Dr. Marlende and his crew. Vale knows that too, but she's waited and worried a long time.”

Emilie noted that he had used Miss Marlende's first name, then realized it probably didn't mean the same thing to him. Kenar seemed to have only one name, himself. Though after their shared trouble, he and Miss Marlende did seem to be good friends. And she thought he had been through a lot too, what with the dangerous trip to a strange world, and Lord Engal's suspicion and distrust. “Why did you go with Jerom to get help?” she asked. She had asked him that before, but he hadn't given her a very good answer. “I mean, it was very difficult.”

He looked out at the channel again. “Dr. Marlende brought his ship and his people into danger to help us. We had anchored near a series of small islands and sandbars, and sent a small boat ashore to replenish our water supply. Rani, my partner, was aboard it.”

Just the way he said the name “Rani” caught Emilie's attention. She wondered if “partner” was the correct word or if Kenar was perhaps translating it wrong.

Kenar continued, “The island we chose turned out to be a trap. A giant creature, bigger than this ship, lived on the sea floor beneath it, feeding on the fish and birds that came within range. When Rani, Beinar, and Sanith beached their boat on the sandbar, the creature raised folds of skin out of the water, swallowing the sandbar entirely, trapping them. We couldn't reach them, and we knew if we didn't, they would be eaten alive. But Dr. Marlende had seen our ship and been heading toward us already, meaning to try to speak to us. He saw what had happened and took his airship down low over the island, and fired weapons at the creature. When that didn't work, some of his men let