[NaNo 2009] Entry 24.2 by Rhun

[mythochromos]

The problem was on the other side. The sails could be raised and the generators activated, which Ragnar did, and it was at a low altitude that they approached the town of Cranston.

Cole recognized the name as a corruption of Cairn's Town, and was amused. At some point the inhabitants of the two surfaces of the world were in constant contact, and here was a bit of proof. His amusement did not last long in the face of Cranston's welcome.

Once they were landed, a circle of town folk surrounded them with torches, shotguns, and, gods help them, pitchforks. He'd thought that was a cliche for pulp stories. When Ragnar tried to shout a greeting over the rail, balls and produce were tossed at him. Most came nowhere near but the sentiment was obvious.

"Well, there's nothing else for it," Cole said. "Let's test whether the packs work here: one end of the ship to the other, nice and safe. Then--" A pooka appeared and brushed up against his leg. "Well. I suspect the packs will work, then. Once we make sure, we can send Eibon in and have him strap one on the device, teleport it out. It's big enough not to be carried, is it not, Giulietta?"

"Oh yes, it's the size of a small wagon."

"So that's clear. Let's do it."

"I think you're forgetting something," Eibon said.

"What's that?"

"I have to get through the place and find it without anyone noticing that there's a stranger in town - and I suspect they'll notice any stranger in town."

"But can't you...?"

"I imagine it'll be locked up somewhere, perhaps in the jail or the constabulary office - perhaps under care of whoever investigates witchcraft in the area. It will be secure. It will take time to break into each, possibly to find the last, and I may leave signs of tampering. It doesn't always matter, normally."

"I could adjust things so that you can jump past a wall," Mina said, "But I can do better than that." She gestured at Cole. "Come. You should be able to understand what I'm doing and you'll be able to make the same adjustments later."

Coldly and professionally, she narrated the process of modifying the collision detection module. It could locate solid objects, plumb the depths of liquids so that users were not thrown without warning into the middle of a stormy ocean. With only a small amount of work, it could also detect a specific substance, or a combination of substances, and Giulietta well remembered using certain substances that would not be commonly found in such a place.

Eibon, who had also been watching, turned to Giulietta. "Do you think they'll have cannon powerful enough to harm this ship?"

"Oh, Blessed Mother, no. This is farm country, and Cranston one of the trade towns where those goods are consolidated into large shipments to be sent back to civilization. No one would think of having armor piercing cannon here! But I'm afraid you're right about strangers; it would be obvious for any of us to go there unless it's during market and that's only once a month. Two other local towns have market on the other weeks."

Zie nodded and addressed Ragnar: "I would wish you to prepare for ascent, then, and to keep a low altitude over the town. I'll call out any likely targets I spot, if that's helpful."

"With such a specific set of search criteria, yes," Mina said. "That would be very helpful; thank you."

Zie nodded and the group dispersed. Mina took to instructing Sebastian on the basic theory of what she'd just taught Cole, and the reading of the dials and fluid measures that told her the state and output of the device. Cole went up to the main deck, to join Eibon.

"Most of these towns are all the same," zie said. "This should be quick."

Indeed, zie spotted the constabulary within minutes, though they couldn't tell if the jail was attached. There was also a largish building with a steeple terminating in a large, eight-pointed star made of some battered, bronzish metal - likely the temple, such as it was, whose basement might hold Giulietta's device. But then they were cut short.

"Dragon!" Ragnar bellowed.

Not even thinking to question the sanity of that claim they bolted for the nearest door, Eibon dragging Cole along by the back of his jacket and slamming the door behind them. Only then did zie ask, "What did you mean, dragon?"

"Mechanical dragons. Ragnar thinks they're about the size of a dwarf variety of dragon, maybe ten or close to that."

"Oh, gods, who's deploying that sort of thing over Cranston?" Cole moaned.

"We'll worry about that if they start attacking with their talons," Eibon said. "Until then, I'll give my locations to Mina and she can search methodically if those don't do it. Warn the others."

That last job was done by going to the mess hall, where the teenagers and others were gathered, and instructing the teenagers to knock from door to door informing those who weren't in the hall. They seemed to glow with the responsibility; it wasn't a bad system at all.

Once that was done, Cole went back to join Mina and Sebastian. "We think we've got it," Sebastian said. "Basement of the suspected constabulary building."

"He spotted it first. Good eyes," Mina said.

"Well, I would expect so, with the kind of watchwork he builds into the decorations on his machines," Cole said.

"I'd be interested in seeing it, once we're out of this."

"Of course," Sebastian said with a look that Cole did not like at all. This was likely to get dangerous.

Though, of course, his idea of heart stopping danger had undergone some revisions lately.

Mina confirmed the rough dimensions of the device with Giulietta, then called out a warning to everyone in the room. "I'm going to try landing a pack on it, then picking the whole thing back up. Stay away from the center of the room."

Cole backed up a step reflexively, even though he was quite sure he was out of the target radius.

The pack melted into nothingness.

A pile of machinery mounted onto a small metal wagon, pack peeking out over one side of the wagon, appeared. Giulietta seemed to be in utter shock.

"That's not all of it. What did they do with it? They took apart a good third of it; good Lord, how do we reconstruct it without my notebooks?"

The rest looked around at each other as if to ask the same question, though without so much panic: It wasn't their device.

"Perhaps we can at least find the other parts," Cole said softly, "Though I'm not sure how much good that will do. Finding the notebooks...gods, if they've not been burned, how much paper would we have to sift through in the entire town?"

Giulietta began to cry but shook her head and waved off those who would comfort her. She wasn't the only one who felt dismal; Cole still remembered that Elysse's life was perhaps in danger and stepped over to take hold of Eibon.

"We've got some ideas of where to search, if we just wait things out until market day," Mina said. "I'll go down there myself. I'm not giving up yet."