Geomancer

F IFTY -F IVE

The morning after his idea about the balloon, Nish was hauled into a meeting room to find every artificer and artisan in the manufactory there, as well as a short, plump woman Nish had never seen before. She had stringy hair, thinning on top; her clothes were distinctly shabby and not very clean. Nish wondered what a scrubwoman was doing at the meeting, for so he judged her to be. He prided himself on his own appearance.

'This is Mechanician M'lainte,' said the scrutator. 'I sent a skeet for her and she came in the night.'

Nish gaped, and immediately wished he hadn't, for Xervish Flydd was staring right at him. That this shabby creature could be the great mechanician was remarkable enough. That the scrutator had got her here so quickly was astounding. Even if a message had been sent to Tiksi by skeet straight away, it could hardly have found M'lainte before three in the morning. It was only eight now, so she must have travelled the road in the winter dark. That made her a lot braver than he was.

'M'lainte,' said the scrutator, 'please speak.'

'We are assembled to discuss an urgent new project,' said the mechanician. She held up a large drawing, clearly based on the sketches Nish had done last night. 'That is, to build an air floater, like an enormous child's balloon. One large enough to carry people through the air for…' She looked to Xervish.

'A hundred leagues, if necessary.'

'Just so! The balloon would be lifted by hot air from a stove.' M'lainte indicated a box hanging just below the inverted teardrop of the balloon. Below that was suspended a wickerwork basket.

After a long silence, everyone spoke at once.

'It can't be done!' A loud voice from the back overrode the others.

'Oh?' said the mechanician coolly. 'Says who?'

'I am Porthis, senior artificer.'

'And noted jeremiah,' Nish muttered to Irisis. Porthis had made his life miserable since Nish had arrived here.

'What is your objection, Porthis?' asked the mechanician.

'The balloon would have to be enormous to lift such a weight. Maybe the height of the manufactory walls.'

'That's correct,' said M'lainte.

'The wind would tear it apart.'

'It's not fixed! The wind carries it. Besides, it would be built strongly.' She showed a drawing of the reinforcing – fine cables and strategically placed braces. 'If you judge this to be deficient, I challenge you to produce a better design.'

Porthis was not deflated. 'The hot air will go cold and the balloon will fall, killing everyone in it.'

'Thus the stove, which displaces the cooling air with more heat.'

'Will set fire to the balloon.'

'See here – I have marked in a protective flue.'

'In that case it will be too heavy.'

'Then, Senior Artificer Porthis, you will be in charge of making it lighter! And you will go on the first test flight, so make it strong and safe as well. Artificers all, I want to see a finished drawing for a trial balloon, tonight after dinner. I've already sent to Tiksi for materials. We'll begin making it in the morning.' Three days after Ullii had first seen Tiaan, she lost her.

'I sensed her,' she said to the scrutator and Nish in the afternoon. They were in a dim room and Ullii was not wearing mask or goggles. The scrutator liked to see her eyes when he spoke to her. 'I saw her crystal more clearly than ever before. I could almost see her, and clawers, lots of them. They were flesh-forming. It was horrible! I saw a creature they made. It wanted to eat her.' Ullii sprang up and paced across the room.

Nish stared at her shapely bottom, until he realised that the scrutator was watching him. Flushing, Nish looked away.

'Go on,' said Flydd to Ullii.

'Tiaan was terrified. She made the hedron spit fire.'

'Fire?' cried the scrutator.

'Fire like a purple fan. The crystal became so bright that it hurt my head. I could not see the lattice at all. The fire burned holes in the wall and I lost her. I have not seen her since.'

'What wall?' said the scrutator urgently.

'A tower that is a mountain, with water all round.'

'What else do you know about that place, Ullii?'

'That's all. I only saw it once.'

Xervish lurched crabwise to the door, taking a map from his bag. 'A tower that is a mountain, south-west of here.' He traced her sighting line on the map. 'Of course, Lake Kalissi! It has a great spire in the middle, of natural iron. A very strange place. There have been rumours of lyrinx there!'

He paced back and forth. 'Then we won't need the balloon,' Nish said, disappointed that his idea would come to nothing after all.

'Of course we'll need the damned balloon! She may have escaped, since Ullii can no longer see her. If Kalissin is a base for their flesh-forming, we've got to find out what they're making. Fire coming out of a hedron, strong enough to burn holes in a wall! If somehow Tiaan has uncovered real power, we've got to have it before the enemy does.' There were many trials over the next few weeks, not all successful. Two balloons crashed and caught fire. Another burned in mid-air, raining blazing debris and bodies down on the miners' village, including an unfortunate Porthis. Yet another balloon refused to take off at all; a leak was discovered. Two more, the third and the last, were moderately successful. The last rode up over the mountains, to be caught by the wind and driven for ten leagues in the direction of the plateau where the bloody battle with the lyrinx had occurred.

Ullii saw no more of Tiaan. She had vanished like an exploding star. Work on the final balloon continued. It was designed to lift ten people – Nish, Ullii and eight soldiers, to be led by Rustina – and all their gear. They were to capture Tiaan and bring her back on foot, since suitable winds for the return journey were unlikely. That was the problem with balloons.

The best part of two months had passed since the last sighting of Tiaan, and winter was almost over, by the time the balloon was assembled. It was made of tar-sealed silk stretched over a frame of light wood reinforced with tensioned wires. The structure was highly flammable but that could not be helped. Below the mouth sat a brazier built of wire mesh lined with furnace tiles. Below that hung a platform with basketweave sides, where they would eat, sleep and live. Fuel for the brazier would be stored there but they would have to replenish it on the way. They could not carry enough to take them to Kalissin, unless the winds proved particularly favourable.

The completed balloon, nearly fifteen spans high, not counting the basket, and ten wide, had used all the silk cloth in Tiksi. A valve at the top could be worked by a rope, to spill hot air and allow them to control where they landed.

The balloon's bracings kept it semi-rigid, so it looked as if it was ready to take off even when there was no hot air in it. It had been tested with different fuels while artificers measured the pull on springs attached to the ground, to see how much lift each fuel gave. Wood could be used if they had nothing better, though it had to be dry and took up a lot of space for the heat it gave out. Pitch or furnace coke were better, but pitch produced noxious black fumes and coke also required much space. Best of all was a clear liquid distilled from tar heated in an airless furnace, though it was dangerous to handle and liable to explode at the slightest spark.

One evening Irisis went to the scrutator and begged to be allowed to go on the balloon. She could not stop thinking about Tiaan's crystal.

'What on earth for?' His single brow wrinkled into a series of furrows. 'What could you do that would justify the disruption your absence would cause here?'

Irisis had a carefully prepared rationale but before that cold stare it seemed childish. She dropped her gaze.

'You do want to be crafter here?' he said softly. 'The breeding factory is only a suspended sentence, remember.'

Irisis felt that he was peering inside her head, and that he knew, and had always known, what a fraud she was. Under her, the artisans were producing more and better controllers than ever, but no doubt he enjoyed having that hold over her.

'All I ever dreamed about was to be crafter.' They still had a week's work to do when Ullii found Tiaan again. She was practically due west this time. 'Lakes and mountains,' said the seeker.

'As before?' Nish asked.

'No, big, big mountains.'

'Sounds like she's gone north from Kalissin,' said the scrutator. 'To the Great Mountains. She could be anywhere along a line a hundred leagues long. There's nothing for it, artificer. You'll have to leave at once.'

'The balloon isn't finished.'

'It will be. We'll work night and day to make sure of it. You'll go at dawn the day after tomorrow.'

Nish marked Ullii's direction on the map he was to take with him. On the last night the seeing was so strong that Ullii grew agitated. 'Fire and smoke, Nish!'

'A campfire?' Nish asked.

'Big fires. Fires coming out of the tops of mountains.'

The scrutator was alarmed. 'I don't understand. She's seeing volcanoes? There are no volcanoes in that land, or anywhere between the Great Mountains and the inland seas. Can her directions be completely wrong?' He cracked his crab-limb finger joints in agitation.

Further questioning revealed that the volcanoes were visions of Tiaan's, not what Ullii was actually seeing. The scrutator was not comforted.

'I don't like it. I wonder if I should come too?'

Nish did not care for that idea. There would be no credit in it for him if the scrutator led the expedition. 'Maybe better that I take a skeet to send word back,' he said carefully, 'and you remain here where you can act swiftly, should the need arise.'

Flydd gave him a knowing glance. 'There are arguments either way. I'll make my decision in the morning. Meantime, if I am to go, there's much I must record first. I also answer to unforgiving masters, artificer.'

Nish took the hint. Dawn came and went. The wind blew in the right direction but the balloon was not ready, though everyone had worked through the night. Nish was utterly exhausted as he humped his pack out the front gate. He sat on it while the last checks were done.

Irisis was pacing round and round the basket. She wore full mountain gear, including down-filled jacket and pants. Was she planning to jump on at the last minute? Nish hoped not.

The scrutator was also dressed for the cold, though he was calm. 'Have you decided, surr?' Nish tried to conceal his nervousness.

'I believe I will come with you after all. There is much to be learned about this new means of transport.'

Nish's heart sank to his knees. 'That is wonderful, surr,' he lied.

The scrutator frowned. 'It's not a reward, artificer. This is a desperate venture. The chance of any of us getting there is slim. The hope of us coming back alive, with her, almost non-existent. You do realise this?'

Nish had been trying not to think about that but of course Flydd was right. This was not a bold mission but a suicidal one. What would they find at the destination? Most probably a lyrinx dining table.

'You can still back out,' the scrutator said quietly.

'And confirm your opinion of me, and my father's?'

'You don't know what my opinion of you is.'

Nish thought for a minute. He did not have to go, and all his life he'd taken as few risks as possible, never losing sight of his goal. He could stay behind, work hard at his craft and probably rise in it. The war offered many opportunities. And there was Irisis too.

He met the scrutator's eyes. On the other hand, if he did stay, who would take care of Ullii? In spite of his barely sublimated lust, no one cared for her as Nish did. Moreover, the balloon had been his idea and he wanted to follow it through. He wanted to redeem himself too. Staying here could never erase the stain on his record.

Most importantly, that the scrutator was prepared to risk his own life on this mission showed how vital it was. How could he refuse?

'I will go,' Nish said. His knee shook and he knew that the scrutator noted it. 'Even if there are a thousand lyrinx at the other end. How else are we to win the war?'

The man's eyes gleamed. Crab fingers gripped Nish's shoulder. 'Keep an eye out for anything of a flesh-forming nature.' The scrutator turned away. At mid-morning the mechanician finally climbed down from the basket. 'It's ready. Fill it up!'

They began to inflate the balloon with hot air funnelled via a flexible pipe from a fire built nearby. They did not want to waste fuel getting the craft airborne. By the time it was inflated a strong wind was blowing. The structure strained at the guy ropes.

'Time to go,' said Flydd, examining the sky. It was midday. 'I don't like the look of the weather.'

Nish did not, either. Moreover, the late start meant that there was no chance of reaching their destination before dark. Setting down for the night in this wind would be perilous. By dinnertime he might be burnt to death, or fallen to his doom.

Ullii climbed in, crouching down in a padded basket specially made for her. A skeet was caged on the other side, to carry a message back. The cage was covered, skeets being notoriously vicious. Nish shook hands with the mechanician and Overseer Tuniz. Climbing up the rope ladder with wobbly knees, he went over the high side. Last came the soldiers and Rustina, whose gear had been stowed earlier.

Irisis was pacing more anxiously than before, practically running back and forth. What was she planning?

'Are you coming, surr?' Nish called down to Flydd.

The scrutator tugged the anchor cables. 'I just want to see how she lifts. Let go a few ropes and slacken off the others.'

Nish fetched him a salute. 'Cast off those ropes!' He gestured with a theatrical flourish that took all the braggadocio he could muster. 'Slacken the other tethers. Open the furnace damper!'

It was done but the balloon did not look like lifting. Nish was glad.

M'lainte frowned. 'I did wonder if it would take that much gear. Rustina, bring your troops down for a minute. We'll have to work this out again.'

Seven of the soldiers got out. The eighth began handing their gear down. He'd just lifted the second pack when a furious gust heeled the balloon over. It lifted sharply and all but one of the ropes ripped their stakes out. Everything not tied down, including Nish, fell against Ullii's basket. The skeet screeched. Ullii wailed. The brazier roared and flames licked up toward the tarred fabric. If it caught, the balloon would go up like a bonfire.

The mechanician shouted something. Nish could not tell what, with the wind in his ears. Irisis threw herself at one of the dangling ropes but was carried up into the air.

The balloon whirled on its remaining tether, down until it was in danger of smashing into the ground, then up again just as abruptly. Nish had to do something before it crashed and exploded. Whipping out his knife, he hacked clean through the remaining rope. Another gust lifted the balloon, which soared into the sky, righted itself and kept rising. Irisis wailed and let go.

Down below, the scrutator was shouting. The words did not carry. A white-faced Irisis was staring up at him. She did not seem to be hurt.

'What else could I do?' Nish muttered, realising just what he had done. All but one of the soldiers were left behind. Everything was up to him now.

Ullii was moaning in her basket. The violent lurches would have terrified her. Nish's eyes met the soldier's and he forced himself to appear calm.

'I'm Cryl-Nish!' He held out his hand.

'S'lound.' The soldier crushed it. He was a tall veteran of maybe forty years, with thin grey hair and a white beard, rather stained about the lips.

They leaned on the rim of the basket, on opposite sites for balance, watching the manufactory recede until they could no longer see it. The balloon was climbing quickly.

'Cold up here,' said Nish.

'Ain't it!'

What he should have done, Nish realised, was to pull the release-valve rope. Too late now. They were travelling over rugged country where it would be risky to land.

They were drifting south-west. Nish was amazed at how fast the balloon was going. Landmarks below, that he had spent days labouring across, fled by in minutes. This was the way to travel! He began looking for the plateau where the battle had occurred.

Maybe an hour later, S'lound interrupted his thoughts. 'Looks like we're going down again.'

Nish had forgotten the brazier, which had died down to a thick layer of coals. The pitch burned hot but it also burned quickly. He climbed the rope ladder, swinging alarmingly in the wind, and fed the stove with more black slabs. It erupted greasy yellow and brown fumes. Nish got down hastily.

'Disgusting smell,' he said breathlessly as he regained the basket. The climb had been unusually hard work.

'Ain't it.'

A man with a small choice of words. Nish lifted the lid of Ullii's basket. 'Would you like to see…?' She snapped the lid down again.

Nish sighed. It was going to be a lonely journey.

They were now travelling so fast that they were past the plateau before he recognised it. Everything looked strange from above. By late afternoon they had crossed the first prong of the range and were moving rapidly towards the second. Beyond was the wilderness of Tarralladell, somewhere in the middle of which lay circular Lake Kalissi, where Ullii had seen Tiaan previously. But that had been months ago.

Nish tapped on the lid of the basket. 'Do you think you could come out now, Ullii? I need to talk to you.'

After a considerable interval her head emerged, swathed in a bag of spider-silk with a black hat crammed on top. 'What?' she said in the tiniest voice.

'Can you still see Tiaan?'

'Of course! That way.'

She was pointing west-north-west, by Nish's reckoning. He bent to his map. 'If we're now here, and she's seeing this way…' The two lines intersected in Mirrilladell, a little way south of the Great Mountains. But the two sightings were close together, so the intersection would not be accurate.

S'lound interrupted his musings. 'It's not long to sundown. Were you planning to fly all night?'

'Definitely not! We might end up anywhere.' They were floating over the second prong of the range, though the flat lake-lands of Faralladell were visible in the far distance. Nish pulled the valve rope and the balloon began to descend, rather too rapidly. He yanked the other rope, which closed it again. They drifted down toward a stony ridge.

'Do you think we can land there?' he fretted.

'Haven't a clue,' S'lound said cheerfully. 'Ain't been in a gasbag before.'

Nish eyed the vertical outcrops of slate. If they hit one, the balloon would tip over and probably be wrecked, or catch fire; or split open, dropping everything except Ullii's basket, which was tied down. Then, relieved of its load, it would be off again, carrying her. Nish imagined her shrieks dwindling away. He dared not risk it. Climbing up, he tossed more pitch into the brazier.

The further side of the slope was even worse – incredibly steep, with rocks and pointy trees everywhere. 'I thought flying was going to be the hard part,' he muttered. 'It's not a patch on landing.'

The valley bottom was hopeless, covered in trees, and the other side just as bad. It was nearly dark now. He spotted a bare area on the adjoining ridge. The balloon was drifting toward it. 'Let's try there.' Nish spilled air from the valve. They lurched in an updraft. Beyond, the trees loomed up like a jagged wall. He felt the panic of having no idea what to do. The wind was too strong, too gusty.

He jerked the valve closed. 'We won't make it! More fuel, S'lound!'

S'lound scampered up the ladder and crammed the brazier full of pitch, but Nish knew it was too late. It took ages for the stove to lift the balloon when it was already going down.

'We're going to hit the trees!'

A panting S'lound heaved something over the side.

'What was that?' said Nish.

'One of the soldiers' packs.'

Between them they sent the other packs after it, except for S'lound's. There was no pack for the scrutator. Had he been planning to come at all? Maybe it was another of his tests. If so, had Nish passed or failed?

The balloon slowly began to creep up. The treetops rushed towards them. 'Hang on,' yelled Nish.

The basket struck the top of a tree, drifted into another and snagged on a branch. The balloon tilted right over. Nish and S'lound threw their weight from side to side. The treetop bent, a strip of weave tore from the side of the basket and they were free.

'Close!' said S'lound.

'Ain't it,' Nish replied, gently mocking the soldier. 'We'll have to keep going now.'

They saw no other landing place before it grew dark. It was eerie, drifting along in black silence, having no idea whether they were mountain-high or just spans from the ground, or even which way the wind was taking them. The brazier cast odd-shaped patterns of light on their faces.

Ullii came creeping out of her basket, exclaiming at the strangeness of it all. S'lound grilled antelope steaks on the top of the brazier. They were delicious, though with a tarry flavour.

It became extremely cold. They climbed up and down to feed the fire, lingering there to warm themselves. In the early hours S'lound sprang into the basket, dusting his hands. 'All the fuel's gone. Anything else we can burn?'

'We've a couple of flasks of tar spirits but I daren't use it. The mechanician was designing pipework to feed it slowly into the brazier but it wasn't ready in time.'

'Might as well chuck it over, then.'

'It could be handy, if we can't find any dry wood.'

They drifted along for another hour, falling but having no idea how fast. 'Tarralladell is covered in forest,' Nish observed gloomily. 'We'll be wrecked in the trees.'

'And lakes,' S'lound replied. 'More likely we'll end up in a lake.'

'With luck a frozen one.' Nish stared into the darkness. 'I hope…'

'What?' said Ullii.

'I hope we haven't drifted as far as the sea. If we have, we're dead!'

No sooner had he spoken than they went smack into something. Water gushed in through the sides and bottom of the basket.