The Worlds of the Sheaf

The Confrontation - Part 6

      Every item in the cabinet had a small plaque on the wall behind and above it bearing a few lines of incomprehensible alien script, and Thomas copied each letter down in his notebook for later translation. "I'm betting they say what each item is and where it came from," he told Matthew as the others were examining the dead Master. "If we can find a set of the Masters' star charts, their version of the charts the Felisians gave us, it'll lead us straight to the Shipbuilder world."

     "That's great," replied Matthew, "But if these Masters are scavengers, if they only visit dead worlds, then that would mean the Shipbuilder civilisation is as dead as the Ringbuilders and the Citybuilders. I think the Masters are the danger now. We know they're still around, or at least they were until very recently."

     "You're right," agreed Thomas, "and I think Saturn thinks so as well, but it would be nice to be able to dismiss the Shipbuilders first. You saw the size of their ship! Knowing for sure that they're not around any more would really help me sleep easier at night. Besides, the star charts'll probably show the location of the Master's homeworld as well."

     "And what do we do when we've found it?" asked Matthew nervously. "Go there in the Jules Verne? Pay a visit to the race that enslaved the entire felisian race? We don't dare risk letting them know where Tharia is!"

     "I'm sure Saturn'll have thought of that," said Thomas reassuringly. "We'll be taking precautions."

     "Like setting the ship to blow up if we're boarded?" suggested the soldier. "I've seen what happens when magic's explosively released, and there's a lot of magic aboard the Jules Verne. I don't want to die in some final valiant gesture. I want to go home to Heather and the kids."

     "Me too," agreed Thomas, thinking of Lirenna and Derrin, who hadn't known for over a month now whether he was dead or alive. He would have given one of his spellcasting hands to send them a single reassuring word! "We've got to get off this planet first, though, and that means getting that silver ship working. I don't know how much hope there is of that..."

     "Tim says the felisians are pretty confident," said Matthew. "The big problem will be getting back to the portal before we're blown up like the Bescot."

     Thomas nodded sombrely, and then went back to copying down the symbols.

     They did indeed find what looked like charts of some kind, but even with translation spells they could make nothing of them without being able to compare the worlds marked on them with worlds they already knew about. When they got home they would compare them with the felisian charts, and hopefully that would unlock them, revealing their secrets. For now, though, all they could do was stow them away in the silver ship for transport back to Tharia and continue with its repairs.

     When they'd supplied the felisians with all the equipment they needed to repair the bit of the ship they were currently working on, there was nothing for the humans to do but leave them alone to get on with it. Saturn settled down with Thomas's spellbook to study the younger wizard's spells and Thomas, feeling lost and naked without it, sat nearby and watched him like a dog hoping to be tossed a treat by its master. Saturn studied the book for over two hours, turning page after page and scowling at the lack of high level spells, but finally the strain on his single eye was too much for him and he closed it. Thomas waited expectantly for it to be handed back to him, but to his surprise Saturn instead tucked it away in one of the pockets of his robes and settled down for a nap.

     "Master?" ventured Thomas hesitantly. "Master?"

     The elder wizard opened his eye a slit and looked at him. "Yes? What do you want?"