Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,55

at the far end of the building. She scrambled up onto the sill, glanced back to see a guard just behind her, and as he lunged for her she jumped.

By pure luck she missed the stone dock platform and plunged into the water. She floundered to the surface, coughing and gasping, heard someone yelling about shooting at her, and flailed away, swimming frantically.

She managed to get headed down the waterway, away from the window, but another gunshot rang out behind her. Then something grabbed her ankle and jerked her under water.

Emilie struggled wildly, until she realized whatever had a hold of her was both furry and scaly. It had to be Rani. She hoped very hard that it was Rani. They passed through a dark section of water and she thought they were going under a solid object. Right at the point where Emilie thought her lungs would burst, they surfaced abruptly.

Emilie coughed and spat out water as Rani pulled her up onto wet stone. Emilie sputtered and managed to get a full breath. “You all right?” Rani asked.

Emilie nodded weakly. They were inside a building, perhaps next door to the one the airship was docked in. The ceiling was low and arched, cracked and stained with mold. There was more floor space between the pools of water.

“I had to stuff your boots and the sack they brought you in into the slop bucket,” Rani said. “Sorry. I saved these.” She pulled Emilie's dripping stockings out of the front of her shirt.

“That's all right.” Emilie took the stockings, though she wasn't sure what good they would do her at the moment. “I don't think Miss Marlende got away.” She coughed again.

“No, but she was very helpful, your friend. I would not have gotten away without her. And you,” Rani added, giving Emilie a friendly nudge to the shoulder that almost pushed her over. “You are one brave little person.”

“Thank you.” Emilie was too worried to be flustered by the compliment. “We have to rescue Miss Marlende.”

“That we do.” Rani got to her feet, giving Emilie a hand up. “This way.”

They made their way through the long building. It was quiet except for the water lapping in the pools, and Emilie saw cracks in the pillars and more splotches of mold; it had clearly been abandoned for some time. She wondered how many empty structures there were in this section of the city. Probably many, since the Queen had chosen this area to dock Lord Ivers' airship. This city was not as prosperous as it had looked at first, more evidence that what Lord Ivers had said was the truth.

They came to a doorway on the far end, opening out to a narrow canal, with steps and platforms for merpeople to enter the water. It was lined with three- and four-story buildings, with large windows and balcony platforms. There was no sign of life or movement. Rani turned back toward the airship building, and Emilie kept close to the wall. Being shot at was not an experience she wanted to repeat. We need to steal a gun, she thought. The rifle Rani had jerked out of the guard's hands had fallen into the water, and Emilie wondered if they could retrieve it, if it would still work. She rather thought it wouldn't.

They reached a doorway leading into the airship building, and Rani stopped abruptly, holding up a hand. Emilie froze, and realized she could hear a low metallic buzz. “You hear that?” Rani whispered, then she said something in Cirathi that was probably a very bad word, adding: “The engine!”

Rani ducked through the doorway and Emilie hurried after her. They went through a wide shadowy passage with a shallow stream of water running down the center, toward an archway that opened into daylight. That must be the courtyard, she thought. Emilie's heart was pounding. If they had already started the airship's engine...

Rani stopped at the edge of the archway, taking a cautious peek through it. She cursed again and said, “We are too late, Emilie.”

Emilie looked, in time to see the cabin of the airship clearing the top floor of the building, the enormous balloon throwing a huge shadow over the water court. Damn it, no! Desperate for it not to be true, she said, “Maybe they left her behind.”

Rani ruffled Emilie's hair sympathetically, but said, “We'll search.”

Cautiously, they looked through the lower floor, then worked their way back up, all the way to the cell level. There was no sign