Beneath the Glass Dome

Chapter 20

Aimee nearly had to run to keep up with the strange little man as he traveled across his property towards what appeared to be a giant pile of wood. For being a rather cantankerous person at first glance, he seemed spry, jumping nearly six feet at a time forward as he hurried forward.

"Where is he going?" she asked as Narit kept up with her.

Narit shook her head. "No idea. I never saw him move this fast before. Isn't it exciting?"

She had a point. It was quite exciting to see him bounding forward, knowing there was something wonderful he wanted to show her. Her mind raced with the different possibilities. It had to be something related to the Glass Star. Something which would let her know how wonderful her father's castle was.

The man nearly fell upon the ground as he scurried off but regained his balance, his right hand hitting against the ground. He turned back to her and said in an excited voice, "Watch out for those damn holes. Thought I found them all but." He raised his fist in anger before continuing back on his spree forward.

Taking his advice, Aimee kept her eyes alternating between the ground in front of her and the strange man who seemed to be disappearing faster. "Can you slow down?"

"Can't. Every second we waste is another second Stanton destroys something else of mine."

At least it seemed this man has his priorities settled in his mind. They continued running towards the massive pile of wood before he abruptly stopped, his feet sliding in the moist ground from the nearby river. He exhaled as he stared at the pile in front of him with a smile. "This is what I've been working on. Never thought I would find someone who would have use for it but we have to get you to the Glass Star as soon as we can."

"Through a pile of wood?" She raised her eyebrow at his suggestion. It seemed this man must've been out here for far longer than he wanted to let on if he believed this. "Are we stringing them together as a raft?"

"Raft? Raft?!" He turned to her as though she suggested they swim to the other side of the world. "You don't raft to get into the Glass Star. It's a beautiful castle, surrounded by a glass dome to keep intruders away with complicated and massive underground areas comprised of sophisticated technology I designed myself." He returned his attention to the pile of wood and shook his head, mumbling raft once more under his breath.

She decided to keep her mouth closed until he further explained everything he was gazing at.

It didn't take long before he started yammering on in an excited tone of voice, "I've been working on this for a while now. It's not as large or as fancy as the ones I designed for the other royals but it has a few built in additions. Speed increases, ability to break apart when being attacked, several hidden compartments." A large smile crossed his face as he continued staring at the wood.

Narit peered at the same pile and asked, "From here, it seems like it's still a pile of wood."

"Had to hide it. Can't trust who'll be around." He pulled something from his pocket, a small box of silver brushed metal seemingly not larger than a snuff box. He tossed it onto the pile and took a step back.

Aimee and Narit did the same as well. The pile of wood began to move, rearranging itself with a loud clattering of parts joined itself in various positions. Slowly, Aimee noticed a familiar outline of the hull of a naval ship being formed in front of her. Her eyes continued to watch as the wood swirled upon itself, joints clicking into place as it continued building itself.

"What is this?" she asked aloud as she witnessed its creation.

The man kept his eyes peeled on the hull, a smile on his face as his shoulders set back in confidence. "One of my greatest things I ever built. I call her Madgie."

"Madgie?"

He nodded. "Greatest woman I ever knew." He paused for a moment before nodding and turning to her. "Let's take a tour, shall we?" He bounded off towards a small walkway which dropped from the side of the hull resting upon the ground.

"That's great and all but shouldn't it be closer towards the river? Do you expect us to push it all the way?" It might be rather hard for them to push the vehicle that distance. Her arms hurt already thinking about the struggle.

He laughed as he continued onward. "We don't need water for this. All we need is the clear sky and a steady hand."

She shrugged and walked on, nearly stopping the moment she made it through the threshold. If she thought the inside of the man's shack was filled with mechanical objects, it was nothing compared to what she was witnessing right now. There were wires running in every direction with what seemed like small sparks spurting out at random intervals. She worried whether they would ignite the wooden ship and cause everything to erupt into a ball of flames.

The man seemed to sense her unease and explained, "Don't worry about all that. It looks scary but I can assure you this is the safest place to be on the entirety of Earth or my name is Fekrin."

Aimee noted the name he used. At least she had someone to put blame on in case it did manage to flame. "Will this take us all the way to the Glass Star?"

"Absolutely. We'll make it there in record time." He grabbed onto a small rope and pulled on it, a ladder clanking downwards as a door in the ceiling slid past, revealing even further space above them. He proceeded to climb.

Without hesitation, she climbed behind him. "How will we make it there?" She pulled herself onto the next level and stood, looking around with an opened mouth.

The entire upper level's walls were glass, carefully polished so that they showed the world around them without so much as a speck to disrupt the view. Copper trim held them in place with small screws with lion head's etched into them visible at a closer glance. Massive red velvet curtains hung in several positions although they seemed to have never been used before. She couldn't blame Fekrin on that –she wouldn't want to close the windows either.

"This is beautiful," she said breathlessly as she looked around, ignoring Narit as she joined them on the upper level.

Fekrin moved in next to her, silently which was quite impressive for his size, and said in a jovial tone, "Want to see her fly?"