“Very difficult,” Brank’ox judges when I’m done showing him. “Everything has to be done perfectly. And you must be extremely careful close to the end so the whole heap doesn’t explode in your face.”
I squeeze his thigh. “It’s not that difficult. You’ll see.”
Brank’ox has finished the steel bands and the wooden piece, and I show him how it all works.
“This steel tube goes here, on top of the stock. It has to be fastened very carefully, using these two bands. They have to be tightened more than this, though. See? Now you can hold the tube like this, so that you can aim and resist the force. This thing is called a gun.”
“Like the other word, gunpowder.”
“Yes! Exactly. That’s why it’s called gun-powder.”
“I assume the gunpowder goes in here,” he says and touches the muzzle. “The hole back here is for the wick. Then you can direct the bang anywhere you want, with no danger to yourself.”
I nudge him with my hip. “You got it. But it gets better. If you put something else in the tube, after you put the gunpowder in, that thing will shoot out of the tube very fast. Anything it hits will be destroyed. Or badly injured. It can even be pretty far away.”
“Like the crossbows some of the women in your tribe are using.”
“Like the crossbows,” I agree, “except this is much more powerful. And the bang and flash will scare the enemy as well.”
He scratches his chin. “Powerful enough to kill dragons?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But if we build a very large gun, one that can shoot iron balls the size of your head, then it has to at least damage a dragon, right?”
“They would have to retreat,” Brank’ox says thoughtfully. “Or just flee.”
“That’s all we need. And that was my plan.”
“With the dragons gone from this part of the jungle, the gray ghosts will let you use the alien ship, so you can go back to your planet.” His voice is flat and betrays no emotion.
So this is it. I had my fun, and everything worked out better than anyone had any right to expect. Now I have to think of the future. “I guess that’s the plan. But it will take a long time to make that many guns. We might not even do it. Some of the girls really hate that idea. And not all of us will go, even if we can.” Okay, I guess I can push it ahead of me a little longer.
“I see. We’re running low on water. I’ll just go and get more.”
“You sure? I think we have enough for today.” I’m not actually that keen on him going out. Every time he comes back from outside lately, he’s all gloomy and brooding for hours, and I can’t get him to open up about it.
“Better to have full stores,” he says and climbs up.
I watch him go with his powerful movements, making everything he does look effortless. Can I really leave someone like that, knowing I’ll never see him again?
- - -
That night I prepare an extra fine dinner, taking care to make Brank’ox’s favorites of grilled turkeypig filets with herbal spices and sauteed tik fruits. I even prepare two of our precious salen fruits and two cups for the not-tequila, even if it’s only been a couple of days since last time we had a little drink.
“We’re celebrating,” I explain when we sit down an hour after sunset, the fire crackling and throwing its flickering light on our faces. “The gunpowder works, and now we have a gun. That’s why we came here. The mission Delyah gave me is complete.”
“Successes should be celebrated,” Brank’ox rumbles and sits down beside me. “And you have been very successful. I see you’ve prepared a feast.”
“We deserve it,” I explain. “And later I have something else for you.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Do you, now? I wonder what it could be. You know what things I like.” He glances at my chest.
“Not that kind of thing, you insatiable monster. Okay, that too. Absolutely. But also something else.”
“I can’t wait.”
We finish our dinner, savoring it a little extra. I’m actually really happy about my success with the gunpowder. It’s taken a lot of my experience to get this far, and any chemistry major would consider it a major achievement to make something as advanced as that from pretty much scratch. The soap was hard to make, but this was on a new level.