The Tinkerer's Daughter (22 page)

“All right, we’d better not push it too much. This is going to take a few trips…”

And it did. I started by flying a stack of three gearboxes and a set of springs up to the airbase at Relian Keep. While I was there, I apologized to General Corsan for not having his maps. After I explained the situation, he was more than understanding. It helped that I had a firm grasp of geography, and I was able to point out the Kanters’ most recent locations.

“How fast are they moving?” he said.

“Faster, now that they’ve got the cannons repaired. But I still don’t think they’ll cover twenty miles a day.”

“Excellent. If you’re right, we’ll beat them to Anora, and they’ll have a bit of a surprise waiting for them. When will your planes be ready?”

“By the end of the week. But not if I sit here all day chatting.” The general laughed and shooed me off.

On the return trip I took a small collection of Tinker’s tools and two more springs, the last of them. The third and most interesting trip was when I brought Tinker himself. It was the next morning. He protested at first, trying to say that the smiths should be able to finish the work without him.

“Not a chance,” I said. “All they know how to make is horseshoes. Besides, I’ll also need your help for the assembly process. The Tal’mar are making the fuselages but they won’t touch the steel.”

He wandered into the barn mumbling something to himself, and returned with his heavy leather jacket, a flight cap, and a pair of goggles. It was then, as I saw him eyeing the plane uncomfortably, that I realized he had developed a phobia.

It must have happened when he first crashed the glider and broke his leg. When that happened, I think it reminded Tinker of his mortality, or made him conscious of it. I remembered how I had insisted on flying after the crash. I wondered now if that had been a mistake. Perhaps if Tinker had gotten right back in the air, this new fear wouldn’t have developed. I felt sad and partly responsible for the look of dread he wore.

I could almost feel the anxiety emanating off him as we towed the plane down to the field, and guilt welled up inside of me. “It’s okay to be afraid,” I said as we drove out onto the field. He shot me a nervous glance.

What do you mean?”

“I mean that I know how you feel.”

He set his jaw and mumbled, “I’ll be fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

The seats were considerably smaller than the comfy one in my old plane, but they were still better than sitting on the floor. I hopped in the front and grabbed the controls, and then waited patiently as Tinker lumbered into the back. I felt him tense up as I increased the throttle and we went bouncing across the field. Then I heard him moan as the plane lifted off the ground. I tried not to laugh.

I headed northwest, building up the altitude I needed to pass over the mountains. I’d found that it was worth the extra turbulence flying in this direction, because it cut my flight time by more than a third. So despite the fact that this plane was slower than the last, I was actually making the trip more quickly. That made it possible to check up on the Kanters and see how they were progressing, but I wasn’t eager to get too close to them.

Tinker wasn’t happy about the turbulence, though. The first time we started to drop, I feared he might just jump out of the plane. Then we bounced back up and he groaned like a sick child. A bit later, when we passed over the mountains, the icy cold wind took his mind off his fear.

“Is it always like this?” he said. I glanced back at him and saw ice crystals forming on his beard stubble.

“It’s a lot colder over the mountains,” I yelled. “But it’s a lot faster.”

“Keep going then.”

Tinker was amazed when he saw the landing strip that General Corsan had built. “They really did want the plane, didn’t they?”

“You have no idea.”

We touched down on the smooth runway and parked in front of the hangar. I had gotten to know several soldiers in the process of transporting parts back and forth, and I brought Tinker into the hangar and made a few introductions. While we were talking, General Corsan showed up. He offered Tinker a handshake.

“It’s been a long time,” he said grimly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” said Tinker. “Sorry that last shipment was late. I was a little distracted.”

The general laughed. “I suppose you were.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Now that we all know about Breeze, I think we understand. When you’re ready, the smiths are on the west side of the building. Just a word of warning though, you’ve got your work cut out for you… Breeze, I need a word with you in private.”

Tinker wandered off to find the blacksmiths, and I followed the general back to the keep. As we entered his planning room, he gestured for me to sit. He dropped into his own chair and shot me an indecipherable glare.

“What’s the matter?” I said. He’d been unusually quiet, and I had an apprehensive feeling growing inside of me.

He reached into a drawer and produced an envelope. “Do you know what this is?” he said.

I accepted the envelope and pulled out a pile of papers. They were covered in some strange foreign script. “I can’t read it,” I said. “What language is that?”

“It’s Kantrayan.”

My heart stammered as I stared at the awkward scrawls. “Are you sure?”

“Without a doubt.”

“What does it mean?”

He grinned mirthfully. “The Kanters don’t write. Their language is crude, barbaric. Their alphabet consists of thirteen letters, which makes it easy to scratch their lunatic ravings onto cave walls. But to my knowledge, the Kanters never developed the ability to make paper and pens.”

As I examined the paper, it occurred to me that the writing looked quite flowing, not at all the way I would expect a Kanter to write. The letters may have been correct, but they weren’t crude. They were written by a hand accustomed to the use of pen and paper. “Then who wrote this?”

“That’s the other problem. One of my men found that letter among Prince Sheldon’s personal things.”

I met the general’s stare with a confounded look. “You’ve been spying on him?”

“I didn’t get this far in life without knowing my enemies. I knew the prince was up to something from the way he’d been behaving the last few months. His behavior was getting more paranoid and erratic by the day. And his frequent trips… Until now, I had assumed he was preparing a legal case against me. I thought he was going to have me removed from command. I didn’t think he might be involved in something like this.”

“Treason, you mean?” I said. “I did.”

The general raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes. Yesterday, when I spoke to Analyn she said the reason he was posted at Relian Keep was because he was a danger to Prince Talanar. He has ambitions for the throne. Of course, I’d already seen the way he acted, and I didn’t trust him.

“Then I thought about the way the Kanters have been behaving. The way they had built riverboats and catapults… it seemed beyond their ability. Almost like they had help.”

“Agreed. What else?”

I pursed my lips. I’d had another thought, but I hadn’t had much time to consider it. “The Kanters went straight towards Anora and the Borderlands. They’ve gone right through the countryside. They haven’t even left guards behind. They’re completely exposed from the rear. It’s like they’re working towards a goal, something specific.”

“I thought as much myself. I believe Sheldon’s plan is to cripple my army here and then move towards the capital. So here’s what it comes down to: I need two things from you. First, deliver a letter to the king. In it, I explain everything. Second, I need evidence. I need you to go south, into the Badlands, and find proof.”

So there it was. Despite my best efforts and my illusions of being in control, the general was still going to use me like a tool. Instead of rising above his intrigues, I was about to become part of them. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“Where’s the prince now?” I said.

“On one of his trips. He said he was traveling to the capital, to personally inform the king about our treaty with the Tal’mar.”

“You don’t believe him?”

Corsan settled back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “I don’t believe anything Sheldon says. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true. He could quite possibly be on his way to the capital. He could also be conniving with the Kanters right now.”

“How can I get the proof that you want?”

He pointed to a spot on his map. It was about five hundred miles south of Riverfork. “The Kanters’ leader is a warlord named Keng’Sun. His tribe is based here, among these cliffs. I don’t know if he’s with the army or not, so you’ll have to be careful. You’ll need to get into his home, and find more papers like this letter.”

“How do you know all this?”

The general winked. “I wouldn’t be a very good general if I didn’t.” He rose from his desk, and for the first time since I’d arrived, offered me a genuine smile. “The Tal’mar will be expecting a delivery of parts by tomorrow, or the next day at the latest. You’ve got a lot of flying to do between now and then.”

“Suddenly I’m exhausted,” I said. He laughed.

“You’re in good company. Don’t worry, I have faith in you.” Somehow, that made me feel even more tired. I started towards the door, but then paused as I saw the general throwing on his jacket and cap. It was the first time I’d ever seen him wearing a full uniform.

“Why are you all dressed up?” I said.

“I’m leaving. As much as I’d love to stay here and twiddle my thumbs, I’ve got a war to attend. My men are almost in position, and the Tal’mar have been streaming across the channel for the last two days. We’re confronting the Kanters on the field south of Anora.”

That was a sobering thought. I suddenly realized that this could be the last time we’d meet. “Be careful,” I said.

“Don’t worry about me. You just get those planes in the air. I’ll be looking for you, day after tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there,” I promised.

I found Tinker at the smithy. He was instructing several men at once, apparently giving them a crash course in foundry. “Tinker, I have to go.”

“Just a moment gentlemen.” He came over next to me and whispered, “What’s going on? I thought we had a couple of days to deliver these parts.”

“We do. It’s something else.” His eyes narrowed as I said this. I spoke carefully, in a hushed whisper: “It’s what we spoke about yesterday, at the crash site. Remember my suspicions about the Kanters? I was right.”

Tinker’s face grew very serious, and he leaned in close. “This is dangerous business, Breeze. Can’t someone else do this?”

I shook my head. “You know I’m the only one Tinker. I’ll be okay. Just focus on getting those parts made.” He gave me a big hug and, before turning back to the men said:

“You be careful, Breeze.”

I took to the air with the intent of flying straight to the capital and delivering the general’s message to King Ryshan, but I soon thought better of it. First came the realization that Prince Sheldon might actually be there. If he saw me, it would be difficult to explain my presence to him, and if the King didn’t take the general’s message well, then I might be headed straight for the gallows.

That thought sparked the memory of my previous experiences, particularly when the Tal’mar had jailed me as soon as I’d landed. It was quite possible that the king’s guards would do the same, and there was no guarantee that he’d get around to hearing my case any time soon, or that he’d ever see that letter.

With that thought firmly in mind, I turned south and headed straight for Kantraya. I hated to do that to the general, but I figured I’d better follow the more important course. If he wanted to toss me in the dungeon for it, he’d have to catch me first.

It was a mind-numbingly long flight, made interesting only by my occasional stops to rewind the plane’s springs. It was already dusk by the time I passed over the southern border of Astatia and entered Kantraya.

The landscape had long since become a barren plain, marked only by plateaus and occasional oases. There was a certain simple beauty to the land, despite the fact that I knew the Kanters were down there. Fortunately, I was at a high enough altitude that I couldn’t see the piles of skulls and human bones. Soon enough I would see them all too well.

As night crawled across the land, navigation became exceedingly difficult. Using my maps while flying –and in the dark-was a haphazard endeavor at best. Especially considering that the maps of this territory were nearly a hundred years old, and were almost void of significant landmarks

It was about ten o’clock when I finally found what I was looking for. On the map, it appeared to be an especially large plateau, but in reality it was a volcano. A partially active volcano.

There was a full moon but I had little concern that the Kanters would spot my plane in the darkness. I circled over their village a few times from a high altitude, getting a feel for the layout of the place, and then landed about a mile away. It was an incredibly smooth touchdown. The dry desert soil was hard as stone, and almost perfectly flat. Even the paved road that the general had built wasn’t as smooth as that barren land.

After landing, I waited in the plane for a while. I wanted to be sure that I hadn’t been seen. I was ready for a quick takeoff in case anyone appeared.

I got a new appreciation for the desert landscape while I sat there. The horizon was like the edge of a giant ball, perfectly smooth and slightly curved. The stars flashed overhead like radiant jewels, and the moon cast pale, silver light across the foreign terrain. Plateaus and tall, smooth spires appeared at random, and in the dark they looked like the ruins of some ancient alien civilization.

I observed this strange beauty for several minutes, until I was certain that I could safely leave the plane. Then I gave Cinder a firm command to wait for me, and I headed towards the village.

The light of torches and bonfires were clearly visible in the distance, and I made a conscious effort to hide myself in the shadows as I crept closer. It wasn’t long before I heard the voices and saw the huge, lumbering shapes of the Kanters moving up ahead.