Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,86
follow you to make sure your ships enter the aether current as planned.”
Smiling, Kenar nudged her with his shoulder. “Good. I know the others will agree.”
Miss Marlende nodded, and Emilie could tell she was relieved. “Thank you.”
The conference broke up at that point, as there was nothing much they could do, and Rani and Kenar needed to get back to the Lathi to continue the preparations for their voyage home. As the others left, Daniel caught up with Emilie in the corridor, and said awkwardly, “I wanted to apologize for my behavior, on the airship, after Beinar...fell. It was, uh...”
Emilie thought that “natural” was perhaps the word he was looking for. He had known Beinar personally, when she hadn't, and she felt she had been high-handed, at the least. She said, quickly, “No, it's all right. I'm sorry I was so sharp with you. I was just afraid something would happen and we wouldn't escape after all. And it was a shock.”
Daniel nodded, and they continued down the corridor. After a moment, he said, “You get angry when you're shocked?”
Emilie threw a suspicious look at him. Possibly he was teasing her. “Apparently so.” Partly to poke back at him, and partly from real curiosity, she added, “Why aren't you helping Dr. Marlende and Dr. Barshion with the engines?”
“I'm not that kind of sorcerer.” Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets, though he didn't sound too disgruntled. “I just don't have the aptitude for aether mechanics. I'm learning naturalistic magic.”
Emilie frowned. “From Dr. Marlende? I thought he was an expert in aether mechanics.”
Daniel smiled faintly. “He's an expert in both.”
Emilie had no trouble believing that. Dr. Marlende wasn't the kind of philosopher who wrote learned articles on other people's discoveries; he was the kind who made the discoveries. “What about Dr. Barshion?”
“I don't know.” Daniel sounded thoughtful. “I've seen his name in the Philosophical Society's journals, occasionally, but I don't know anything about him-”
Seth came out of the cross corridor at the end of the passage, spotted them, and waved. He said, “Come up to the wheelhouse, the doctor thinks he has it figured out!”
Daniel lengthened his stride, and Emilie hurried to keep up. Daniel called back, “What figured out? You mean-”
“How we're all getting out of here!”
On the chart table in the wheelhouse, Dr. Marlende spread out several maps, with Lord Engal, Captain Belden, Miss Marlende, Dr. Barshion, and Mr. Abendle looking on. Charter was here too, his arm in a sling and looking much better than the last time Emilie had seen him. He nodded to her as she and Daniel and Seth squeezed in around the table. Emilie smiled back, then looked at the maps. Except they weren't maps, but diagrams of something, covered with arrows and handwritten figures.
Dr. Marlende said, “Lord Engal has been aboard Lord Ivers' airship, and removed all the aetheric components that were salvageable. It's ready to be destroyed, and Seth and I will set that in motion as soon as we're finished here.”
Lord Engal stroked his beard. “I also removed the scientific information he collected, photographic film, notes, plant and insect specimens, that sort of thing.” Dr. Marlende eyed him, and Lord Engal cleared his throat. “I expect you to take charge of it, of course. I've collected my own information.”
But he'd like more, since it would make for an even better presentation to the Philosophical Explorers Society, Emilie thought, managing not to roll her eyes.
Dr. Marlende said, “Of course.” He turned back to the diagram. “With the array of spare parts and supplies you have generously brought along, I can quickly repair the damage to my own aetheric engine, but the Sovereign's situation is far more difficult. The aether component that supports the protective shield, the “bubble” necessary for travel within the current, is out of balance. It can be raised to enclose the ship, but it simply will not hold its shape for the entire length of the journey. I could try to recalibrate it, but it might take several days. And with the possibility that the Queen's forces are searching for us, our time is severely limited. What I propose to do is finish the repairs to my airship, and calibrate the two vessels' aetheric engines to work together, and then extend the airship's protective bubble to include the Sovereign, so we can travel through the aether current together.”
Everyone stared at him. Emilie thought she was following his line of thought, and the whole idea seemed dangerous. Not that traveling