Islands in the Sky

6.9

Sema looked, wondering why, wondering what it meant.

Sema looked at the odd shape of the island-ship, wondering why, wondering what it meant. She thought for a while, carefully, and then began to understand.

The island-ship and the woodcutting ship were sailing at the same height in the sky, as all boats did, and all islands too. They were floating at the height which all islands seemed to settle at, the island-ship because it was one, and the woodcutters’ ship because the rocks inside it, which held it up, found their own natural level in the sky.

The woodcutters’ ship and the island-ship were at the same height, almost exactly, which meant that when the two hit, if they hit, then the island-ship’s wider base would catch the underside of the woodcutting ship, knocking it over and tipping it up, and perhaps gashing it open too.

An impact like that would be bad, Sema thought. It would tip the whole woodcutting ship sideways as it happened, surprising and unbalancing the people aboard, who would be getting ready to fight, at exactly the wrong moment. The impact might also bind the two ships together, if the woodcutting ship’s became wedged on the island-ship, so the woodcutting ship couldn’t escape. Worst of all, if the two ships hit very hard, then the island-ship might break the woodcutting ship’s hull, and perhaps knock the rocks inside the woodcutting ship loose, too. Those rocks were what kept the woodcutting ship up, floating in the air. If enough rocks from inside the ship were pushed loose, pushed sideways out of the ship and into the sky, then the woodcutting ship would no longer be able to float. It would fall, or it would become unbalanced and unsteady, and flip itself over around the remaining rocks, still holding it up, toppling itself sideways in the sky.

Either way, whether it fell or flipped over, the people inside would die. Sema would die.

Sema was suddenly very scared.

She wondered if she should shout a warning to the captain about the island-ship’s sides, but she didn’t want to be a nuisance, or a distraction at the wrong moment. And it did seem like the wrong moment, right then. The captain was concentrating on sailing, looking up at the masts, calling instructions to the crew, then looking over at the island-ship, guessing distances and directions and where the wind would go. And most likely, the warning didn’t matter anyway, Sema thought, since being hit by the island was bound to be bad, no matter what, and so the captain was probably trying to avoid it.

Sema decided it was best to stay quiet, and not cause distractions. The captain had probably already noticed the island-ship’s sides anyway, and if not, then this wasn’t the best time to start shouting.

Sema stood where she was, silent, but watching anxiously. The island-ship was approaching fast, and it was beginning to seem as though it was too late for the woodcutters’ ship to get away.

Sema was scared. She was imagining the worst. She wasn’t quite sure what she thought would happen next, but nothing she was imagining was good.