Canticle Blue

18. Ships

Even in their folded state, the Per'sa airships weighed almost nothing. Their bulk was much more of a hindrance than their weight. After carrying their tents to the terrace in front of the washroom complex, the group easily moved the two smaller ships through the south doorway. The larger ship barely fit and took considerable care and patience to maneuver. In the end, they found just enough floor space for all three ships on the the south side of the fourth terrace. The smaller ones had been so easy to manage that they actually made plans to carry one of them to the Great-Room floor for study.

Earlier Syl had found a descending staircase behind the large airship in the warehouse. After the team finished moving the ships that afternoon, she and Geddes decided to find out what was below. They discovered large work complexes on every level, but none with sliding doors. They all appeared to have been largely emptied of their original contents; but many potentially useful things had been left behind, including light machinery, tools, various spare parts, work benches, diagrams, and even a few notebooks. More immediately useful was the discovery that each warehouse level had doors leading to terraces on the west side of the city. Finding that the door mechanisms had been disabled from the inside, they were able to unlock them creating secondary access to those areas from every terrace, including the washroom corridor.

Later in the afternoon, the group also removed rocks and other obstructions around the north warehouse door to restore movement. After that, both doors on that level were closed for the day.

Os and Cian were kept informed about the warehouse progress throughout the day but had kept working. With additional tiles removed and increased water flow in the tunnel, more heat was already dispersing in the city. By the time they had finished for the day, they could occasionally see all of the exposed portion of the waterwheel in the distance. Rather than being water-driven, it was, as they had guessed, actually lifting water from a lower level and pouring it over hot volcanic rock into a steaming pool. How it managed to do so was still a mystery. The outflow of that pool emptied into the covered channel leading into the tunnel.

When they finally emerged from the water tunnel, Os was amused to see Havilan and Elyse waving from a doorway in the middle of the fourth terrace.

Havilan called him on the radio. "Os, watch this!" He and Elyse quickly disappeared through the doorway. After several seconds, he called again. "Keep watching." Then they suddenly came running out of the washroom-complex door on the first level, and Havilan yelled, "What do you think?"

Os laughed so hard he had to find something to steady himself. Then he responded, "Ah, it must be a Per'sa trick."

Havilan called back, "Maybe we could hide, and you could come looking for us."

Os responded, "I don't think so. I'm too tired and filthy. Maybe you could come looking for me. I'll be the one splashing around in hiking shorts, or hopefully some more forgiving garment—after Cian and I look at the airships, of course."

That evening Syl declared a "Royals Night" for Cian and Os because they had worked so hard and missed out on the excitement of the warehouse complex. The royal couple were to do no work, especially cooking or cleanup. Their meals would be brought to them, and the team would look for other ways they might be served.

There would be much to discuss after supper. Havilan opened the nightly meeting with, "Temporarily-exalted Os person, king of mud in the higher reaches: I request permission to speak for you, and also for your queen—to whom, incidentally, you are not married."

After much laughter, Os answered, "Yes, humble, yet mischievous servant; lead on."

Havilan continued, "King Os wants to tell you all that he believes that available water flow is about seventy percent restored. He uses the word 'available' because the waterwheel has minor damage and cannot operate at full capacity. He says that work in the tunnel is estimated to be eighty percent complete, but it is still too hot—especially for those of us in serfdom—to work in the east tunnel for now.