Emilie & the Hollow World (21 page)

Then Daniel staggered out of the cabin onto the catwalk, struggling with another man. The other man was bigger and Emilie didn't think the outcome looked certain at all. She looked around desperately, spotted a pistol lying near the hand of one of the fallen attackers. She grabbed it up, finding it unexpectedly heavy.

But as she turned back to the airship, Daniel got in a hard punch to the man's chin that made him stumble back until he fell over the railing down onto the
Sovereign
's deck. He struck the wooden surface hard, and Emilie stepped hastily away. Daniel saw her and grinned triumphantly, despite a bloody nose.

Then Lord Ivers stepped out of the cabin door behind him. Emilie pointed, yelling, “Look out!” but as Daniel swung around, Ivers pointed a pistol at him. Daniel froze.

Ivers strode down the catwalk, seized Daniel's shoulder and turned him around, pressing the pistol to his head. He said, “Cooperate or I'll blow your head off.”

Gripping her pistol tightly, Emilie bolted up the stairs. “Let him go!”

Lord Ivers turned on the narrow catwalk and dragged Daniel with him, the barrel of the pistol pressed against his temple. But as Ivers saw Emilie, his expression went from furious to amused. “Sorry, but I'm afraid I need him. Dr. Marlende has locked himself inside the steering cabin and I can't get him to open the door without a hostage.”

He didn't look worried at all. Oh, that's not a good sign, Emilie thought. “Don't move. I'll shoot.” She pointed the gun, trying to project an aura of deadly certainty. If she could have fired, she would have done it already. She had never held a pistol before and she didn't know if you had to do anything before pulling the trigger; she was afraid if she fumbled it, Lord Ivers would shoot Daniel. Also, she knew it might kick, and she was terribly afraid of firing a bullet into the airship. She wasn't sure one bullet would hurt the balloon, but they were right down near the engines and it might go through the glass. She couldn't count on any help from inside the airship; she could hear violent fighting still going on in the cabin.

“You won't,” Ivers said confidently. “A well-brought-up young lady like you.”

“I'm not a well-brought-up young lady,” Emilie said, projecting confidence. Ivers knew nothing about her, after all. “I'm a stowaway, and a thief, and a lookout for a dock gang that steals mail bags.” And an accomplished liar, she almost added, then decided against it.

Daniel's eyes widened. She had convinced him, at least.

Ivers stared, his brows drawing together in consternation. But he tightened his grip on Daniel. “Nevertheless, I'll kill him if you don't get out of my way.”

“Why should I?” Emilie countered. “I don't like him; he's been terribly rude to me.”

Daniel glared, clearly offended. At least she was distracting him from the gun at his temple.

“You don't like him?” Lord Ivers dragged Daniel forward. Emilie held her ground, though she had the feeling this wasn't going to work out for the best. From Lord Ivers' sneer, he clearly knew she was bluffing. “A handsome boy like him?”

“I'm impervious to physical attraction,” Emilie tried.

“It's true,” Daniel managed to gasp.

Emilie pressed her lips together. No, the stalling wasn't going to work. But she saw something out of the corner of her eye, on the
Sovereign
's railing, behind Lord Ivers.

It was Miss Marlende. She was leaning out on the railing, aiming her pistol at Lord Ivers, obviously trying to find an angle where she wouldn't hit the airship or Emilie.

Emilie's heart leapt but she controlled her expression and made herself focus on Lord Ivers' face. “If you let him go I'll drop the pistol,” she offered.

It was the wrong thing to say. Lord Ivers' expression twisted and he muttered, “Sorry, my dear, I've no more time to waste.” Gripping Daniel around the neck, he pointed his pistol at Emilie.

Emilie yelled and dropped into a crouch, covering her head, though she knew that wouldn't help. The gun went off with an ear-shattering bang, but it was Lord Ivers and Daniel who jolted forward and collapsed onto the catwalk.

Emilie scrambled forward to grab Lord Ivers' pistol out of his nerveless fingers. Ivers was half atop Daniel, and neither man was moving, and there was blood splashed on the metal beneath them. Emilie shoved both pistols down the catwalk and turned back to the men, struggling to lift Ivers off Daniel without dumping either one off the walk.

Footsteps clattered on the steps behind her and she threw a wild look around, but it was Miss Marlende. She shoved her pistol into her belt, saying, “We have to get them inside! The protection spells are about to separate.”

Emilie got a grip on Lord Ivers' arms and put all her weight into dragging him off Daniel. Miss Marlende stepped around her, grabbed his belt, and heaved him off. To Emilie's relief, Daniel groaned and stirred, lifting his head. “You had to shoot them both?” Emilie asked, breathlessly, helping Lord Ivers along with a shove as Miss Marlende hauled him down the catwalk. “Not that I'm complaining-”

“It was the only angle I could get that didn't include the airship,” Miss Marlende explained, her voice rough from effort. “When you ducked, I was able to take the shot. Hopefully, I just winged Daniel.”

“I think so,” he groaned, trying to push himself up. “Ow.”

Emilie got his free arm and pulled it over her shoulders, and helped him shove to his feet. They staggered after Miss Marlende. Emilie said, “I think someone's still in the cabin. Seth was-”

The airship's door flew open and Cavin came staggering out. Seth lunged after him, delivering a punch to the head which knocked Cavin down the stairs to sprawl on the deck.

“That's the last of them,” he gasped to Miss Marlende. His glasses were askew, his knuckles bloody, and he looked more like a prizefighter than a scholar. He reached for Lord Ivers and helped Miss Marlende drag him through the doorway.

A young crewman ran out of the third deck hatch, calling over to them, “Ma'am, the ship's secure, and Lord Engal says we need to go now!”

Miss Marlende told him, “Get those men and yourself inside, then shut the hatches!”

The crewman went to the rail, spotted the men lying on the deck, and waved an acknowledgment. Emilie helped Daniel toward the door into the airship, saying, “If splitting the bubbles doesn't work, will it matter if we're inside or out on the deck?”

Miss Marlende gave her an admonishing look. “Hush, Emilie.”

Daniel groaned again. On the deck below, several crewmen ran out of the hatch, seized Cavin and the other fallen men by their jackets, and dragged them inside. As Emilie helped Daniel through the doorway, she saw Cobbier and Mikel sprawled unconscious on the airship's deck, with another one of Lord Ivers' men. Charter was leaning in the doorway to the steering cabin, looking gray around the mouth. The fight couldn't have been very good for a recently wounded man. Seth dumped Lord Ivers beside the other escaped prisoner, Charter tossed him a coil of rope, and he hurriedly began to tie them up. Emilie looked back out the door and saw Miss Marlende hadn't followed them inside, but had run down the steps to the deck, starting to untie the line that formed the symbolic connection between the two ships.

Emilie deposited Daniel on the first bench seat, and ducked back out again as Miss Marlende climbed back up to the airship. Together they lifted the end of the set of steps where it was hooked onto the catwalk and dropped it down to the
Sovereign
's deck. As they stepped inside, Miss Marlende slammed the door behind them and shouted, “Tell father we need to go now!”

Seth bolted for the steering cabin and Charter just slid to the floor. Emilie took a step toward him, then stumbled when the airship shuddered. The deck slammed up and hit Emilie in the face. At least that was what it felt like. Sprawled on the cork floor, she lifted her head. Miss Marlende had fallen too, and Daniel had been knocked flat on the bench.

Emilie shoved herself upright, using the bench as a ladder, and leaned over Daniel to look outside. The
Sovereign
was gone. She could see something past the golden glow of the bubble, and realized it was rocky walls, stretching up.

Beside her, Miss Marlende staggered to her feet, and gasped, “I think we were a bit late on the release.”

“A bit?” Daniel said, still trying to struggle upright.

“What does that mean?” Emilie asked.

Miss Marlende began, “It means-” Outside, the bubble shivered, going almost translucent, before it solidified again. Emilie flinched, and Miss Marlende finished, in a smaller voice, “We might not have enough power.”

“Oh.” Emilie bit her lip, watching the rock stream rapidly past the fading glow of the bubble. “It was Dr. Barshion. He was in Lord Ivers' pay.”

“That explains a great deal,” Miss Marlende said, her voice tight with anger. “I hope he hasn't killed all of us.”

The airship shuddered, metal squealed, then a powerful jolt threw them all to the floor again. Sprawled there, Emilie saw the gold glow of the bubble vanish. “Oh no,” she gasped, “I think-”
we're dead
, she meant to finish, but that was daylight streaming in. Real daylight, surface daylight.

The pressure vanished and the airship jolted and shuddered again, but this time the force came from the side, like a strong wind. Emilie struggled to her feet and knelt on the bench to look out the window.

They were rising above a vast rocky cauldron, the top of the volcano. Clouds streaked the blue sky and wind whistled around the cabin. It pushed the airship over the rim, and they drifted above the outer slopes. They were rocky and bare at the top, sliding down amid boulders and old rock falls into a forest of short wind-twisted trees. Miss Marlende called out, “Father, we're losing altitude!”

“Yes, my dear,” Dr. Marlende answered from the steering cabin. “I believe we've lost a number of gas cells.”

“Are we going to crash land?” Emilie craned her neck for a better view of the slope. If they were, it looked as if they were going to do it very slowly. Now that the bulk of the volcano was blocking much of the wind, the airship was spiraling slowly down. At least they were on the surface, out of the aether current.

“Yes,” Miss Marlende said, “But we still have enough gas cells left so it will be more of a thump than a crash.” Her brow furrowed with worry, she added, “I just hope the
Sovereign
made it.”

“Can someone help me up?” Daniel asked from the floor.

“Oh, sorry!” Emilie helped Miss Marlende haul Daniel back to the bench. When they had him sitting up, Emilie turned back to the window.

“Can you see it?” Miss Marlende asked anxiously.

They were past the tree-covered slopes and over flat grassy fields, and Dr. Marlende was guiding them gently down in a wide spiral. As the airship turned, Emilie caught sight of the sea, past low rocky bluffs. She leaned close to the glass and squinted against the glare off the water. She saw light glinting off something, something coppery. “Yes, there it is!” she cried out.

It was the
Sovereign
, steaming toward the island shore.

“Now, you do know the way to your cousin's house?” Miss Marlende asked, looking a little worried. “It's going to be dark soon.”

They were standing on the dock at Silk Harbor, under a cloudy early evening sky, near the
Sovereign
's slip. This spot had been crowded with journalists and onlookers earlier, but by the dinner hour the furor had calmed down, and now there were only the usual dockworkers, off-duty sailors, and a few passengers making their way down the wooden boardwalk above the boat slips.

Dr. Marlende's airship had attracted the attention as it was towed in this morning on a large pontoon barge by a tug boat. It had taken a few days to get the tug and the barge from the port on the far side of the island of Aerinterre, load the airship, and then travel here, so the word had flown ahead of them on the wireless. Emilie wasn't sure what had caused more sensation, the news of the successful expedition, or when Lord Engal had formally given Lord Ivers in charge to the magistrates.

He had also had to give Dr. Barshion in charge, a moment of considerably less satisfaction for everyone.

Somewhat recovered from his injury, Dr. Barshion had admitted that he had been in Lord Ivers' pay from the moment Lord Engal had hired him. He had given Lord Ivers copies of Dr. Marlende's notes, and research that Miss Marlende had shared with Lord Engal, had committed some small sabotages and spied on everything Engal, Miss Marlende, and Kenar had done to prepare for the expedition. Barshion had apparently hoped to stop the
Sovereign
from ever making the attempt, leaving Lord Ivers to rescue Dr. Marlende and take all the credit and acclaim. Once they were down in the Hollow World, he had started to regret what he had done, but he had still put the sleeping spell on the guards, so Ivers and his men could escape. But he had refused to help them destroy the
Sovereign
, and Ivers had bashed him in the head and left him for dead.

Emilie felt a little sorry for him. A little. She would have felt considerably more sorry for herself and the rest of the crew if Ivers had managed to take control of the airship and destroy the
Sovereign
, and all the witnesses to and evidence of his wrongdoing. They were just lucky that no one had been killed in the escape attempt. Some of the crew, including Mikel and Charter, had been left behind temporarily in the town hospital at Aerinterre, and would have to be retrieved later.

“I'm sure I know the way,” Emilie told Miss Marlende now. The others would be leaving with the
Sovereign
, which was preparing to set out for Meneport tonight to arrive in the morning and meet the representatives of the Philosophical Explorers Society. The airship would be remaining here for repairs to its balloon, because Silk Harbor had one of the only weaving factories in Menea that could produce the special fabric. “It's on Caveroe Street, on Tamerin Hill. Karthea's letters said it's not a far walk from the port.” She felt considerably more prepared to present herself to her cousin than she had before. For one thing, she had new clothes: a skirt, shirtwaist, and jacket, plus a cap, stockings, and a set of walking boots suitable for town or country. There was also an extra set of under things and a nightgown, and a shoulder satchel to carry them and what was left of her old clothes. On Miss Marlende's request, Mrs. Verian had run out to a large drapery shop not far from the harbor and purchased all of it for her. Emilie could now arrive at Cousin Karthea's looking respectable, with something to wear until the package with her own things arrived in the post.

The Marlendes would be back here in two weeks, to collect their airship and Emilie. She had decided to take the time to stay here and visit Karthea, so she could explain to her why she had left home, so Karthea would know the truth and be able to pass it along to the more far-flung members of the family. It would also be a good chance to write letters to her brother in the navy and her friend Porcia, to let them know she was all right. Emilie expected she would be spending much of her time at Karthea's studying up on just what it was a lady's assistant and social secretary did.

“All right, then, as long as it's not far. I'm going to give you some money-” Miss Marlende began, taking a small purse out of her jacket pocket.

“Oh no, I couldn't accept it!” Emilie said. She hadn't started her new position yet. “I'll be fine, really.”

“Emilie,” Miss Marlende eyed her. “Do you even have the money to buy dinner, if you had to?”

“Well, no.” The last of her money had been pinned into the pocket of her bloomers, and it had been lost at some point, probably one of the times she had had to jump into the water.

“Isn't that how you got into this situation?”

“Well, yes,” Emilie admitted. “Maybe I'd better take it.”

“Besides,” Miss Marlende said, handing her the purse. “You've already been acting as my assistant and as an auxiliary member of my father's ground crew, so we probably owe you back wages for the voyage.”

“Oh, that's true.” That was different than taking charity from a friend.

Miss Marlende continued, “I've also put in a note with the addresses for our townhouse in Meneport and my father's workshop. If you get into any difficulty in the next two weeks, please write to us or send a wire. Do contact us,” she emphasized. “Don't try to stow away on anything to get there. I can send someone to get you, or I can wire you passage money for a ferry.”

“I'd be a much better stowaway now than I was before,” Emilie had to point out.

“Yes, I'm sure you would.” Miss Marlende smiled, and hugged her again. “We'll see you soon, Emilie. Try not to get into trouble.”

“I'll try,” Emilie promised. She had already said goodbye to the others, and even given her direction to Lord Engal, who had said that he might need to contact her for her account of the voyage. But even knowing that she would see her again before long, it was still hard to walk away from Miss Marlende, waving goodbye.

Emilie managed it, heading down the dock toward the stairs that led up to the walkway, and the streets above it where the gas lamps were being lighted as dusk fell. The houses and shops of Silk Harbor were spread out over the low hills above the wide sweep of the port, the streets dotted with trees. She could see people on the paved walks, and house lights coming on. She took a deep breath, filled with the sea, boat tar, and the scents of grilled fish and beef from the nearest chophouse. It wasn't as busy a place as Meneport, perhaps, but much less easy to get lost in.

Footsteps pounded behind her and she glanced back, surprised to see Daniel. He was dressed in a much more respectable jacket and trousers than she had last seen him in, and had shaved recently. He carried a satchel over his good shoulder, and his other arm was still in a sling. Miss Marlende's bullet had torn his shoulder, but hadn't hit bone. It had done quite a bit more damage to Lord Ivers, though he would still recover.

“Hello,” Daniel said breathlessly as he caught up to her. “Miss Marlende said you were going this way.”

“Hello.” Emilie lifted an inquiring brow. “What are you doing here? Aren't you going to Meneport with the others?”

He explained, “My family lives in a small village a few miles outside of town. I was going to stay over here tonight and then head out to see them in the morning. I'll catch up with Dr. Marlende when he comes back to get the airship.” He looked a little bashful. “I thought I'd walk with you. Maybe your cousin can tell me where there's a good rooming house.”

“I see.” Emilie smiled, turning to head for the walkway. “Maybe she can.” And they walked up into the town together.