The Glass Weaver | A Novel #Wattys2018 #Wattys2019

Chapter 17

The large building clearly had a large hole. It was easily 3x larger than the ship I was driving, and that was just an estimate. Through the transmissions, I hadn't expected such a large structure. But even as we got closer, I realized how large it will be. Looking behind me, I could tell that Lacey and Corrig felt the same.

"Has Perlaes always been this big?" I asked slowly.

"No, it was just a small bubble town the last I remember. It was never the size of this superstructure." Parker replied, still focused on the building before us.

"We need to take cover near a cave or something," Corrig spoke.

"Sure, but there is nowhere near the structure to hide. If we get any closer now, we will be caught by their scanners. There's still a quarter of a mile left to reach the structure. Could you guys swim there?" Parker spoke, applying the brakes to the ship.

"It would be better if we could be closer." Lacey spoke, "I am not sure how long I can manipulate the water for. Corrig, how long can you hold us invisible?"

"Easily 30 minutes." He replied, "How about you?"

"I could make us go faster for 5 minutes. It would be like a slipstream, so it won't be anything incredibly fast." Lacey stood up and looked out the main window to gauge it all, "From here, I might get us just short of it, but by then I will be tuckered out."

I groaned, "I see. Let's keep moving around and see if we can get any closer to the structure."

Parker spoke up, "I have an idea. Let's act like we are apart of their society."

"And how in Dahel are you planning on doing that, Parker?" Corrig asked angrily, standing up suddenly. The ship moved slightly from the force of it. 

"As much as I can try and hide it, my family is technically a high family that The Ender and his people use. I did not want to follow their path, so I fled with Nevada's family under a false family name. Nevada, well, she knows and took pity on me."

I turned away in embarrassment; he was right. I did save him from the torture, but I never knew about his troubled past. Just that he was a scared boy that had lost his family. In a way, I suppose he was right; he had lost his family because of his differing beliefs.

Lacey narrowed her eyes, "So are you Enderian?"

"No. My parents...they are. Technically I am not their child. My mother was a maid for them, Aquariusian, and they took pity on me so they made me one of their own. I'm fully Aquariusian, but my family name they stripped from me."

"So you are Parker Helstone?"

"Yes. But to them...I am Parker Algernon." Parker admitted timidly. I patted him on the back in support.

"Parker, I knew what you had told me on that fateful day. I didn't realize the trouble that your family had done."

"The problem is...they are technically my blood as well. The Ender and his people are all Aquariusian." Parker explained, "Just a couple of bad apples that believed in ending the world, not saving it. My mother was a maid...my father, well he was the head of the Algernon family. I didn't want anything to do with him after a while so I took my mother's name."

"So could you get us in?" Corrig asked, "Are you certain this could work?"

"It depends on if I am still classified as an Algernon in their database. My family is close to The Ender, so I am not sure if they would have kept me in. It has been a few years since I have seen them, so they might believe me to be dead. It is all up to the Gods at this point."