The Rings of Salammis

The Launch - Part 4

     Thomas was still rubbing his sore throat as he returned to the bridge, to find Saturn sitting in the central command chair, the Coronet of Farspeaking still on his head.

     "They got him," he said in satisfaction, removing the coronet. "That fool Walton bungled things in Kronosia, but they got him as he emerged from the Tara cubicle. Good job I sent word to expect him. Now we'll learn a thing or two."

     The wizard paused, and Thomas could see the inner conflict going on behind his face. Whether to return to Lexandria to assist in the interrogation, or remain with the ship to investigate the ring. Either could be the breakthrough they'd been hoping for; the key to defeating the felisian saboteurs once and for all.

     "Seskip knows his job," he muttered to himself eventually. "He won't appreciate my breathing over his shoulder all the time."

     "At least the Orb wasn't damaged," said Thomas, his voice still a little husky from the bruising to his throat. "How long would it have taken to install a new one?"

     "Not long," replied the older wizard. "The danger was that it might have been shattered without our noticing. By all accounts, the skydeath isn't a pleasant way to die."

     You're welcome, thought Thomas bitterly. Would it kill you to thank me for saving all our lives? On the other hand, though, there was something strangely complimentary about Saturn's cold attitude towards him, the way he just took him for granted. He remembered someone saying that you weren't a real wizard until other wizards started treating you like one, and he realised with a thrill that the casual disregard with which Saturn was now treating him was exactly the same way that he treated Pondar Walton and most other senior wizards.

     It made a stark contrast to the alternating commanding overbearance and forced friendliness with which he treated junior wizards and apprentices. Somewhere along the line Thomas had been promoted to the status of near equal, and he had a pretty good idea that it had happened during the flight of the Hummingbird, although he couldn't remember any specific incident that might have been responsible. Certainly not his rescue of Gunther and Karog, which had shown him up as a world class coward.

     The oval, airlock style door opened and Rin Wellin stepped through, giving Thomas a nod of recognition before turning to Saturn. "The depressurisation of the cavern is complete," he said, "and the moon trogs report that the outer hull is bearing up to the pressure exactly as calculated. We are ready to lift."

     "Very good," said Saturn as the shae man took the seat next to him. A moment later the door opened again to admit Timothy Birch, carefully pushing a light, metal frame wheelchair containing an elderly moon trog whose entire body was swathed in layers of clothing except for his face, his hands and his feet, which looked as dextrous and capable of fine grasping as if they were another pair of hands. His eyes were watery and bloodshot under their drooping lids, and his loose, sagging skin was blotchy with broken blood vessels.

     "Hi," said the cleric in delight upon seeing a friendly face. "Looks like most of the old Hummingbird crew are getting together again for this little trip. Have you met Prup Chull, Dallakast of the moon trogs aboard this ship? Prup, this is Thomas Gown. A wizard and a friend of mine."

     "At your service and your family's," said the moon trog in a faintly wheezing voice, raising a stubby, wrinkled hand on the end of a thin, fragile looking arm. Thomas took it gently and gave it a careful shake, afraid of breaking his bones.

     "It's always a pleasure to meet one of your race," he replied. "Your engineering accomplishments leave me breathless with admiration."

     The moon trog beamed with pleasure even as he dropped his hand back into his lap. Even this tiny effort against full Tharian gravity had exhausted him. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to talk during this voyage," he said. "If I may, I'll stop by your cabin sometime."