David Cook - Beyong the Moons

“The helm? It’s the engine, the thing that makes a spelljammer go,” Gomja explained between pants.

“That thing? It was like a chair,” Teldin said.

“Well, sir, that’s what it is. Without it, this deathspider will never fly-and the gnomes can use it on the Unquenchable . I don’t really understand, but the tinkers do.” Gomja strode up a ramp to the upper deck. Bright sunlight assailed Teldin ‘s eyes as the giff stepped onto the weapons deck. A team of gnomes was swarming over a half-disassembled catapult, passing the pieces to a boat waiting over the side. Reaching the edge of the deck, Teldin could see bubbles rise as water rushed into the deathspider’s bowels. The human reveled in the thought of the great old master trapped in fast-flooding chambers.

“It’s time to leave, sir,” Gomja said, lowering Teldin, bleeding and bruised, to the outstretched hands below. A gnomish flotilla, rowboats that looked as if they couldn’t possibly float, waited alongside.

Gomja was dozing at a small conference table, his head flat on the metal surface, when Teldin finally tottered onto the Unquenchable 's bridge. His cloak, prize of the neogi, flapped against his arms as the wind blew through the open doorway. Teldin tugged the door shut, listening to the creaks and groans as the counterweights and pulleys slid the valves into place. The door was definitely a piece of gnomish work.

The racket was even enough to rouse the the normally hard to wake giff. With a tired lurch, the big alien pushed back the little chair he precariously perched on and brought himself to attention. "Good afternoon, sir!" Trooper Gomja hailed.

Teldin stared in wonderment, perhaps at the clutter of dials and levers on the tiny bridge, perhaps only in confusion over the missing hours. "What happened?" the cloakmaster finally asked, trying to get some bearing on where he was.

"We rescued you, sir, from the neogi," Gomja carefully explained, suddenly concerned for his friend. "Do you remember the deathspider, getting on the rowboats?" Teldin nodded, and the giff continued, "You collapsed, sir, so I had them bring you over to the Unquenchable where I could keep an eye on you. I wouldn't trust a gnome doctor unless I was around."

"Thank you for that," Teldin said paling slightly at the thought of what a tinker might do to his body. "But how did you rescue me, and with gnomes to boot?" Still somewhat wobbly, thr farmer gently lowered himself onto one of the ridiculously small gnomish chairs.

Gomja smiled. "It wasn't that hard, sir. After you left, I organized my gnomes into a proper platoon, as a sergeant should. The little fellows were quite taken by the idea and spread it around. At one point, the whole mountain was a single platoon, but I managed to get that straightened out!" Gomja cheerfully allowed, banging his fist on the table at the humor of the thought. Once they got the idea, the gnomes were just demons for fighting. They don't like being kicked out of their mountain, I guess."

"They drove the neogi out?" Teldin asked in disbelief. It was hard to imagine the gnomes resolute about anything.

"Just about, sir." Gomja pointed with his big finger to the top of the cone of Mount Nevermind, clearly visible through the bridge windows. "The gnomes have pushed the neogi into those small spires. There're only a few of the beasts in the uppermost towers, levels thirty-seven through thirty-nine. The neogi are trapped and can't retreat. I've got six platoons up there trying to root them out. We'd have them out by now except for that other deathspider."

Teldin sat up straight at the words, inducing a wave of pain through his stiff shoulders. "What other deathspider? I thought there was only one!"

"Not anymore, sir," the giff grimly explained, pointing in the opposite direction. There, framed by the window, was the malevolent, black shape of a second spider-ship, hovering over the far end of the crater lake. "It showed up a few hours ago. It's my fault, sir. I forgot these things travel in packs. So far, it hasn't done anything. My guess is that they're waiting for reinforcements."

Teldin's bandaged arm throbbed. "Then?" The answer was obvious, but fatigue was making it hard to think.

Gomja scanned the ground between the enemy ship and the crater wall. “Then I think the neogi will attack again, better organized and with more forces. The gnomes might not fare so well against a serious attack.”

“I thought we just had one,” Teldin remarked, not encouraged by the giff’s gloomy claim.

Gomja shook his big head. “No, sir. With only one ship, that was more like a raid. I imagine the neogi didn’t expect resistance, but now they’ll be prepared for a fight.”

“Until they get the cloak,” Teldin added as an unpleasant afterthought. The fabric hung on his shoulders like lead, the burden of death it carried suddenly crushing.

“I suppose so, sir.”

Teldin painfully ambled to a porthole window and looked out over the deck. From on board, the Unquenchable seemed more like a proper ship, though still strange in its design. Unlike the ocean-going Silver Spray , the gnomish vessel appeared to have the flat hull of a riverboat, with the decks stacked on the hull. Each deck was surrounded by a balcony that opened onto all the cabins for that level. A crazy assemblage of ladders and stairs manage to ruin the neat-seeming arrangement, but Teldin was certain the gnomes considered these an improvement.

The farmer leaned on the porthole sill and contemplated. He had come a long way since his adventure had begun. The farm seemed like something far distant, even though it was only a few weeks’ journey away. Going back now would feel very different, even more than when he had rejoined his father after the war. At least then there had been something to go back to, Teldin ruefully realized.

“Did you wish to speak with me, sir?” asked Gomja.

“Right, right,” Teldin finally said distractedly. He turned away from the porthole, his jaw set with determination. “What’s it like out there?” the human finally asked after several false starts.

“Sir?” Gomja dropped his stiff stance.

“Out there, beyond this world, what’s it like?”

Gomja cocked his head and didn’t answer for a long time. “I don’t know, sir. I mean, I can’t explain. It’s

quiet and dark, sir.” The giff fingered his knives nervously.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Teldin broke in. “I mean, are there people out there, humans, or is everyone-well, something else? I guess I want to know, would I be alone?”

Ears wiggling in surprise, the giff answered, “You will never be alone, sir. I’ll be with you.” Teldin shook his head, realizing Gomja didn’t understand. The big alien tried again. “There are humans, yes,” he cautiously offered.

“Oh” Teldin said in disappointment, hoping for something more poetic. He didn’t really know what he expected the giff to say. “I wish I knew what’s so special about this cloak, Gomja. Why do the neogi want it?”

The giff pursed his big lips. “As I have told you, sir, I don’t know. Perhaps you should rest some more.

The injured farmer ignored the giffs suggestion. “But the neogi do want it, and if they don’t get it this time, they’ll try again, won’t they?” Teldin looked at the opalescent fabric for the thousandth time, trying to fathom its mystery.

“Yes, sir, that seems certain.” All this was obvious, and Gomja could not see what the human was getting at. “The neogi are a determined race,” he offered.

Teldin paced the little bridge, looking from the giff to the neogi ship. Unconsciously, the farmer’s fist drummed against his leg. “Would I like it?” Teldin blurted.