The Boiling Sea, page 17
Svetlana collided with Narci, and Narci gasped. It took a moment for Svetlana to realize her former lover's outcry was not from their collision, but rather from the ghostly sword now retreating from her side, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
Lady de Whittvy chuckled softly, gaze locked on Narci. "Well, I suppose we're even now." She moved away from the gap as Narci collapsed to her knees.
Svetlana knelt beside Narci, hands frantically flapping near the wound, which had already colored Narci's shirt crimson.
"Get the Gem," Narci muttered through clenched teeth.
Svetlana glanced up. No ghosts had filled the opening in the line, and High General Throckmorton now cowered in the corner. She peeled off her vest and pressed it to Narci's side. "Hold that tight," she said before she plunged through the gap toward Throckmorton.
Svetlana checked for Lady de Whittvy's location, but the noblewoman and her daughter had both vanished. She kept her knife at the ready as she crouched near the floor and worked her way to the High General.
He had already removed the crown when she reached him and held it out with a shaking hand. "Take it," he wailed. "Just leave me be."
Svetlana snatched the crown from his hand. "Call off your men."
"They won't answer to me!"
"Then what good are you?" Svetlana spat back. Turning back to her crew, she bellowed, "Athos, Martin, move out."
Athos's gaze swept the room. "Where's Hortence?"
"She disappeared. Likely pursuing her mother."
"Narci?"
"She's wounded. I'll get her," Svetlana said. She reached down to pick up Narci but fumbled with the Gem of the Seas. Had it been a simple gemstone, she could have placed it into a pocket. But this was a crown, and there was no good place on her person to stash it.
Except for atop her head.
Grimacing, Svetlana put on the crown holding the Gem of the Seas. The metal band to which the Gem and its neighbors were attached was cold and tight against her head. She slipped one end of the crown underneath the straps that held her monocular in place, pressing that end more closely to her scalp. It felt more secure, if still a bit unwieldy.
The overwhelming presence of the boiling seas resonated through every fiber of Svetlana's being, as though it had set her blood to boiling. She knew that with the simplest thought, she could calm the turbulent waters.
She also knew that doing so would ruin everything she and her crew had fought for.
Her mind filled with visions of a calm sea, with fish leaping across the surface and birds flying above. It almost felt like she was there, just above the surface of the water, with warm, balmy breezes ruffling her hair. A sense of tranquility pervaded her thoughts, and a smile sprang to her face unbidden.
She looked around, her sight filled with the prow of a ship larger than The Silent Monsoon, riding across the waves. Above her, sails billowed in the rigging, the normal balloons of airships nowhere to be seen. This was sailing, something she thought she would never get to do.
A glimmer of gold shimmered on her right side, and she turned to look at it. As she did, her smile slid away. She had no peripheral vision on her right side, on account of her blind eye.
"I'm dreaming," she muttered. Pushing aside thoughts of the Gem, of the oceans, and of anything that wasn't within her immediate field of actual vision, she focused on Narci and Athos, and she thought about the crew back on her ship, Annette, Indigo, Jo, Deliah, and Drassilis. Her thoughts spun farther, to Lar, Martin, and their family, Chickie, Hortence, and the other friends she had on platform cities across the world. She set her jaw and moved.
Scooping up Narci, she made her way to the door. She watched for any sign of Lady de Whittvy as she headed onto the deck.
Her forward movement was slowed abruptly by Athos and Martin facing off against another group of ghosts. "You signal Jo yet?" she asked Athos.
"No, we're a bit tied up." Athos jerked his chin in the direction of the flare gun he had tucked into his waistband.
"I can't fire it," Svetlana said. "I've got my hands full."
Hortence scrambled down the stairs, bowling through the ghosts in front of Athos and Martin, then smiled feebly at Svetlana. The mayor's daughter was bleeding from several shallow cuts on her face and arms, but other than that, she looked solid.
"Hortence, flare gun." Svetlana jerked her chin in Athos's direction.
Hortence's smile spread, and she dove for the flare gun, rolling over onto her back and peering up the stairs. "Fire in the hole," she said, sighting along the top of the gun.
Her good eye going wide, Svetlana twisted to the side, pulling Narci closer to her body to shield her.
The hiss of pain following Hortence's shot surprised Svetlana, and she turned her head to see who the mayor's daughter had shot.
Lady de Whittvy stood hunched over on the stairs above, a grimace of pain marring the parts of her face Svetlana could see.
Svetlana gloated for only a second before addressing Hortence. "I don't know if Jo could have seen that."
Hortence nodded, fumbling another flare from Athos's waistband, reloading the gun, and ascending the stairs. As the rest of the crew joined her on deck, she aimed it over the side of the ship to fire again. The second flare arced out and exploded off the starboard side of the ghost ship.
The Silent Monsoon drifted into position almost immediately, as if Jo had anticipated their need to leave the ship quickly. Annette stood ready with the gangplank. When she took in the scene on the ghost ship, she hurried back to the bridge. A moment later, The Silent Monsoon moved even closer to the ghost ship, almost near enough to bump it.
"Go, now," Svetlana said, nudging Athos.
Athos hurried across the gangplank, followed by Martin, and the two men took over for Annette, who had been bracing the wooden platform on her own.
Svetlana placed Narci on the gangplank next and pushed her as far across the wood as she could. Annette scooted out to meet her and brought Narci the rest of the way onboard the Monsoon.
"Hortence, it's time," Svetlana said, standing at the end of the gangplank.
Hortence nodded and began her retreat, but Lady de Whittvy had made her way to her daughter's position, lurking slightly behind her.
"Not again, you don't," Svetlana said, hurling her knife across the space. It struck Lady de Whittvy in the shoulder, drawing her attention away from Hortence and to Svetlana. As Hortence made her successful retreat, Svetlana smirked at Lady de Whittvy. "Goodbye, Vertiline."
Svetlana climbed onto the gangplank and crossed back to her ship.
Chapter Eighteen
"She's stable," Annette said as soon as she entered the mess, before Svetlana had the chance to ask. "It'll take a while until she's back up to fighting speed, but she'll recover nicely."
Svetlana favored Annette with a smile and relaxed back into her chair. Hearing the good news about Narci's recovery was an enormous relief. It was almost better news than their recovery of the Gem of the Seas, though the latter was also a relief.
Athos and Jo, followed soon after by Indigo, Deliah, and Drassilis, filtered into the mess, leaving Martin and Hortence flying The Silent Monsoon across the Southern Sea, not bound for any particular location.
Svetlana took up her customary perch on the back of a chair to address her crew, the largest it had been in years. "Now that we have the Gem of the Seas, we need to make a decision. We know that if we wanted to, it could be used to tame the boiling sea. If we do that, though, all the platform cities will fall."
"Don't do that," Deliah said.
"We won't, don't worry," Svetlana replied. "There's a theory, advanced by Lady de Whittvy, that it might be possible to tame portions of the ocean, so we can pick and choose which platform cities stay in the air and which come down. That would give us time to evacuate the platform cities."
"That involves a bit too much power, if you ask me," Annette said, her brow furrowed. "Who are we to decide which platform cities are worthy and which aren't?"
"I think if we're going to start bringing platform cities down, the ultimate goal would be all of them," Athos said. "After evacuation."
"Might not work," Jo said.
Athos nodded. "She's right. We're basing this possibility on what Lady de Whittvy said, and she may have had her own motivations for suggesting it was possible."
"Agreed," Svetlana said. "Indy, Drassilis? Either of you want to weigh in on the possibilities so far?"
"Deliah is right. Don't do it," Indigo said.
"I do not believe myself qualified to weigh in on this decision, Captain Tereshchenko," Drassilis said.
"Why not?" Svetlana asked.
"There is a level of morality that I believe Mother left out of my programming. I am more inclined toward scientific experimentation, which suggests we should see what happens. This may be a relic of Mother's own thinking. So I will abstain from this decision."
"Excellently argued, Drassilis," Annette said, her eyes wide in astonishment. "Though you didn't say this directly, I will. The Gem is dangerous. Too many people would use it for their own ends. Even if we come up with an airtight plan for using it responsibly, that only lasts as long as we've got control of the Gem. It's far too easy to lose."
Svetlana nodded. "Bringing us neatly to option three. We destroy it." She held up her hand to forestall any argument before she was done. "Destruction ensures that no one else ever gets their hands on it and has to make this decision."
"What if destroying it stops the seas from boiling?" Jo asked.
"The first High General told me that the seas boiled before the Gem was created, and again after the Gem was lost. That suggests to me that if the Gem is destroyed, they'd still keep boiling."
"I can't confirm that, Captain," Annette said. "I've read histories of the time before the Boiling, but nothing that says there was a previous time when the oceans boiled."
"Has anyone ever explained why the oceans boiled?" Athos asked.
Annette shook her head. "The explanation has always been that the Gem was lost." Then she nodded slowly. "I suppose this gets into the question of 'why did the Gem exist?', and I don't have an answer for that. This is all uncharted territory."
Svetlana grinned. "We're pretty good at uncharted things. Indy, Deliah, Drassilis?"
"Smash it," Indigo said, Deliah nodding vigorously beside him.
"I will continue to abstain, Captain Tereshchenko," Drassilis said.
"Alright, vote then. Anyone in favor of stopping the boiling straight away?"
No hands raised.
"Anyone in favor of stopping some of the boiling after the platform cities have been evacuated?"
Again, no one raised a hand.
Svetlana chuckled softly. "Anyone in favor of smashing it into smithereens?"
Every member of the crew, save Drassilis, raised their hand.
A moment later, he joined in. "If it's going to be unanimous."
Svetlana nodded. "Thank you. Next step. How do we destroy it?"
"We could likely crush it beneath the diving bell," Drassilis suggested.
"And all get in and jump on it," Indigo suggested.
Drassilis shook his head decisively. "We will not all fit in the diving bell."
Indigo frowned. "Take turns?"
"Are we sure it can be crushed?" Athos asked. "I mean, it's a mystical magical thing. Shouldn't it need to be thrown into a volcano or something?"
"I don't trust volcanoes," Indigo said.
The remaining human crew looked at one another for a moment, their expressions making it clear that each was trying to parse what Indigo had just said, before Annette spoke up. "What makes them untrustworthy?"
"They're just fire. Might not destroy it completely."
"Bear in mind we've promised Dargon three-quarters of the treasure," Svetlana said, gesturing toward the Gem. "That's all we got, so we've got to give him his cut, or else we work for him for a year and a day."
"Who says we have to give him actual pieces?" Jo asked, her lips pressed into a smug grin.
"That's my girl," Athos said, giving Jo's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I like this plan, Sveta. I'll even give up a mirror for the cause."
Svetlana considered what Dargon's reaction would be to receiving a box of powdered glass and chuckled. "Well, it does ensure he can't somehow put it all back together again."
"It isn't as though he has a way of testing it, is there?" Annette asked.
"Highly unlikely," Svetlana said.
"Crushed under the diving bell, then?" Athos asked.
Svetlana shrugged. "What are the other options?"
"Drassilis tried rolling over it. Didn't break," Indigo replied.
Athos held out his hands for the tiara.
Svetlana produced it from the interior pocket of her vest, which still bore traces of Narci's blood. "Don't put it on."
"Wasn't planning on it," Athos muttered. "I take it wearing it is a bad choice?"
"It makes things complicated," Svetlana replied.
Athos tested the metal band that held the fragments of crystals and glass together in his hands, frowning as he did. "We could put it on the winch and wind some rope over it, but I'm not sure that will do the trick either."
"Probably not," Indigo said. "Rope's too soft."
"If this thing is going to be so hard to break, what's it going to do to the floor of the hold if we crush it under the diving bell?" Svetlana asked. "Can we maybe not destroy the ship?"
"Drop it from the top of the cave in Bonebriar?" Indigo suggested, miming dropping something from the top of his reach to the mess table, which he smacked with his other hand. "Pa-chew!"
Athos flicked the center crystal with his fingernail, and it chimed, a mournful sound that sent a chill up Svetlana's spine. "It might work. It sounds like glass."
"It's not just glass," Svetlana said. "We'll try the diving bell. On the street in Bonebriar. We can use the pulleys to pick it up and drop it down until the pieces are small enough."
"With us inside?" Indigo asked.
"Do you really want to ride inside the diving bell, Indy?" Svetlana asked.
Indigo considered for a moment, then shook his head. "Another time."
~
Indigo and Deliah held a tarp between the two of them, maneuvering beneath the suspended diving bell. A few of the residents of Bonebriar had come out to watch this spectacle, all of them looking confused as to what was going on outside Lady de Whittvy's former home.
Athos and Drassilis manned the pulley system that held the diving bell aloft, with Athos suggesting occasional adjustments to the teenagers.
Svetlana, and the remainder of her crew, plus their current guests, stood to one side, watching with considerably more interest and knowledge than the residents of Bonebriar. She held a plain canvas bag containing the Gem of the Seas in one hand. If it could be destroyed, a thin layer of canvas wouldn't protect it from the weight of the diving bell, but it would keep it from prying eyes.
"I know it's not my place to intrude, but you're sure about this?" Martin asked.
"Positive," Svetlana said. "Though I'll hear you out if you have a suggestion."
Martin shook his head. "I don't, not really. I just hate seeing something like that go to waste."
"You're not the only one who will," Svetlana replied. "The problem is, there are some people who would stop at nothing to get their hands on this, and I can't risk my crew being forever on the run to protect it."
"We could lock it up somewhere," Martin suggested.
"Wherever we put it would never be safe. I don't want to put that on anyone's head."
"Then I'll rescind my suggestion," Martin said.
"Good," Svetlana said, grinning at him. "Glad to be on the same page."
Athos waved to the assembled crew, drawing their attention. "Jo! Come over here. You get the first drop!"
Jo looked at Svetlana, brow furrowed, pointing to her own chest.
"We voted," Svetlana said. "For your valor and all that. And because Athos asked me nicely."
A faint blush danced across Jo's cheeks, gone almost before Svetlana was certain she'd seen it, and Jo hurried to join Athos.
Svetlana held the bag containing the Gem of the Seas in both hands for a moment. She couldn't be sure this was going to work, but they had to try. She approached the tarp, looking at the diving bell warily, and then set the bag in what appeared to be the direct center beneath the heavy capsule, moving off the tarp as soon as it was in place.
"Here goes nothing," Athos called out.
Jo pulled a lever, and the diving bell plummeted to the ground. A crunching sound followed, and the entire crew let out a cheer.
Athos moved the lever back to its starting position while Drassilis started the winch to raise the diving bell back above the street.
As soon as there was enough clearance, Indigo darted forward and grabbed the bag, peering inside. "Not smashed."
Svetlana joined him and looked into the bag. Portions of the crystals had chipped off, but the central stone was still whole. Shrugging, she said, "We'll keep trying until it works." She repositioned the bag beneath the diving bell and retreated to the place where the crew stood.
"Who gets second drop?" Annette asked.
"Drassilis," Svetlana said. "Then Hortence, then Deliah. Then Narci if she's up for it. Martin, do you want a turn?"
Martin shrugged. "If it's going to take all of us dropping it, then sure, I'll take a turn."
"Sveta, Jo wants you to go next," Athos called out.
Svetlana looked toward her first mate and pilot, alongside Lady de Whittvy's automaton. "I have the order all figured out."
"She thinks you're the one with the biggest grudge against the thing, and maybe that's its own kind of magic," Athos said, glancing at Jo. "Right?"
Jo nodded, gesturing to the lever.
"You are the captain, Captain," Annette said.
Svetlana wasn't convinced, but she shrugged. "Alright, sure."
With everything in order, Svetlana took her position at the lever, ready to drop the diving bell.
"Think how much you want it gone," Jo whispered.
