The Seven Revels

Decipher the Code

Indigo stared at the manual in her hands for a long time. This was what they had been looking for... It was the one thing that could save them.

She dropped it when she heard a knock at her door, the sudden sound startling.

"C-Come in," she stuttered, fumbling to pick the manual back up.

The door opened and Quill peered in. "Hey, I was wondering if you were going to come up for lunch or...?"

Indigo pulled herself to her feet, trying not to wince as Charlie dug his claws into her leg before he leapt off of her lap. She made her way to the door and shoved the book in Quill's face. He flinched backward, as though he thought she was trying to hit him with it.

"What are you-"

"Look at the cover, Quill," Indigo ordered. He did as she said at once, without any arguments.

"But... this is..."

She nodded.

"Where the hell did you find this?" He asked, pulling the manual out of her hands. He held it before him, staring at it as though it would vanish if he took his eyes off of it for a second.

"It was in a box of my grandmother's old things. She was a pilot in the MRO back in the day so I suppose it makes sense."

"Indigo, this is exactly what we've been looking for... This is the key to us getting out of here!"

"I just can't believe I didn't notice it sooner. I mean, I looked through her things briefly before I left home, but I guess I didn't dig down deep enough..."

"You are... the best," Quill said as he began to flip through the pages. "It's not the same model as ours, but they've changed so little about the actual operation of these things over the years that it shouldn't be a problem..."

"How do you know so much about airships?"

"Huh?" Quill looked up from the manual for a moment, then returned to his task. "I don't know a whole lot. But my dad was military at one point, and he always said in his letters that they never changed much about operations."

"Your dad was MRO?"

"Yeah... It was a long time ago so..."

Indigo didn't ask the question she really wanted to ask. She expected she wouldn't get any answers anyway. He was so thoroughly engrossed in what he was doing. His answers to her previous questions had been offhand. He was too busy trying to find the information they so desperately needed. Another few minutes passed before he yelled, "Aha!" with a triumphant grin. "Here it is! 'Acceleration and In-Flight Operations'!" He turned to her for a moment. "I've got get this information to Jen. Is it okay if I...?"

It took Indigo a moment to realize he was asking her permission to take the manual with him. Indigo stared at him for a moment, trying to understand the change Quill had undergone. He suddenly seemed much less pessimistic and melancholy. He was much more inviting than he'd been several hours before. He still had an air of unhappiness about him, but he seemed much more comfortable around her. She wondered if it was because she had figured out his secret.

She nodded and watched as he turned to leave.

Quill made his way to the cockpit as quickly as he could while reading through pages of the manual. He couldn't believe their luck. He burst into the cockpit, trying not to shout for joy. Jen looked up at him, surprise etched across her face.

"We found one!" he almost shouted. He held the manual proudly in front of her.

"Where?" she gasped, standing up.