like the newly invented telephone device I’d read so much about prior to my departure from Theaston Vale—the Zull could only communicate telepathically when in close proximity.
Shortly after I’d assured Gallokomas that Clarissa, the colonel, and I were all in a fit state of health, the device was employed in this manner to relay to the rest of the community a meeting between us and a small group of Zull. The gathering was somewhat akin to a council of war. Clarissa had already been questioned about the machines she and Lord Hufferton had designed, and had redrawn many of her blueprints from memory. The contraptions all required coal to power their engines, but as this was an unknown resource on Ptallaya, Artellokas speculated that Yissil Froon would find a way to use Phenadoor’s own technology. He held up Iriputiz’s crystal and said, “In theory, the frequencies that characterise stones like this could be amplified and adjusted to cause water to boil. The engines would thus be rather less cumbersome than those you have devised, Miss Stark.”
“Making the machines lighter and more manoeuvrable,” my friend muttered.
“Oh yes, very much so. They could even travel underwater and in the air. However, while the crystals are a great advantage, they are also the machines’ most serious weakness.”
“Why so?”
“Because by interfering with their transmissions, we can cripple the engines.”
“You have a method?”
“We think so. We are creating weapons that will project a narrow beam of sound. The frequency will automatically adjust until it resonates with whatever crystal it’s aimed at. When that resonance is achieved, the sound will intensify until the gem cracks. This will render it useless.”
“Like an opera singer breaking a glass,” I mused. “It’s going to be a noisy battle.”
“I don’t know what you are referring to, but no, the sound will be well beyond the range of hearing.”
Artellokas informed us that Thoomra’s manufacturers—who were more artisans than industrialists—were already producing prototypes.
After the scientist had finished his report, a Zull who’d been keeping watch over the forest joined us and revealed that underconveyances had been landing a large number of Mi’aata at the mouth of the river. “But they are unarmed and appear sick. They go into the trees and become still among the branches.”
“The Discontinued,” I said. “They are not a threat. In fact, they will become Zull.”
The meeting finished after it was decided to send a party to New Yatsillat to recover any surviving Koluwaians. Due to the likelihood that, like Gallokomas, the Zull would find it difficult to enter the remains of the city, the responsibility fell to Clarissa and me. We’d be landed at the lip of the bay and would then make a foray into the ruins while our escorts circled overhead.
Before we set off, my two companions and I were carried to a particularly broad-topped eyrie, crowded with workshops, and were ushered into the presence of a Zull who proved to be a medic, scientist, and tattooist. Without causing me the slightest pain, he etched onto my inner right wrist a small spiralled design. He then did the same to Clarissa before adding the odd little symbol to one of Colonel Spearjab’s limbs. When the procedure was finished, Artellokas, who’d accompanied us, said, “Apply pressure to the centre of the symbol and speak Miss Stark’s name into it.”
Mystified, I raised my hand, pressed the middle of the spiral with my thumb, and said, “Clarissa Stark.”
Clarissa gave a squeal and jumped about a foot in the air. My voice had sounded from her wrist!
“It will enable you to speak across a distance with anyone you know who also carries the device,” Artellokas said. “Just press the symbol and say their name to contact them. There is no limit in range, but the tattoo will wear off in time. Most of us have them renewed each cycle.”
Her eyes wide, Clarissa put her wrist to her mouth, pressed the tattoo, and said, “Aiden Fleischer. Can you hear me?”
Despite myself, I gave a yelp and jerked sideways as her words issued from my arm. “Unbelievable!” I cried out. “This is simply astonishing! How can it possibly work?”
“It is a difficult process to explain,” Artellokas answered.
Clarissa asked, “Will you teach us the principles of Zull science once we’ve dealt with Yissil Froon?”
“I will. Come. We have more to give you.”
We were next taken to a studio, on the same eyrie, where Artellokas presented us with beautifully crafted and ornate pistol-like contrivances fashioned from wood and a brass-coloured metal. Their barrels