‘What’s the matter?’ she called as she climbed down the side.
The smile faded from Malien’s face. ‘What have you done to my thapter?’
‘We had a … few problems.’ Tiaan put her feet on the ground, which seemed to be heaving, and had to clutch at the racks to avoid falling on her face.
‘Are you all right?’
‘I’ve not slept in forty-eight hours.’
‘You failed then,’ said Yggur, eyeing the empty racks.
‘Four of the soldiers were lost, and Phar got away at the beginning.’
‘I was talking about the silk.’
‘It’s inside. Five bolts. Not as much as Nish wanted, but it was all we could get.’
The others came out, still filthy, ragged and smoke-stained, but proudly bearing the precious rolls of cloth between them.
‘You’ve done well,’ said Yggur. ‘I didn’t think you would return at all, least of all actually bring back any cloth.’
‘Then why did you send us?’ said Nish.
‘I didn’t send you. This was your mission, Nish.’
‘But you permitted it, even at the risk of the thapter.’
‘If we dare not take risks we’ll never win this war.’
‘Nor if we take foolish ones,’ said Flydd, but he was smiling too.
‘You took the best team in the world,’ said Yggur. ‘If you couldn’t succeed, no one could have. Come inside. Breakfast is ready.’
Tiaan was seated next to Irisis at breakfast. The crafter seemed unusually friendly, or perhaps Tiaan could now allow her to be.
‘Is there no challenge you cannot rise to?’ said Irisis, open in her admiration.
Tiaan didn’t know how to answer. ‘I just did my best. I couldn’t leave them to die.’
‘Not even Nish?’ Irisis said, but Tiaan knew she was joking. ‘Thank you for saving his life, Tiaan. He’s my dearest friend and everything to me.’
‘I’ve been wondering about him all the way back from Thurkad. Wondering if I might not have been wrong about him. In some things.’
‘Perhaps you were, in some things,’ Irisis said. ‘We did you wrong, Tiaan, back at the manufactory, and I’m very sorry. It was my failing, more than his. I was a nasty, inadequate woman and I used him against you.’
‘You, inadequate?’
‘Another time,’ said Irisis. ‘But since we hunted you across the mountains and lost you to the lyrinx, and Nish’s father was so terribly injured …’
‘I remember that day all too well,’ said Tiaan.
‘Ever since, Nish has been a changed man. He grew up that day.’
‘I’ll never forget the way he treated me in Tirthrax,’ said Tiaan with a flash of fire.
‘But there was a good reason for it. Flydd sent Nish after you and, when he reached Tirthrax, he saw you bringing the Aachim through the gate. He truly believed that you’d betrayed our world.’
‘He was cruel …’ Tiaan trailed off, replaying the scene in her mind.
‘If you knew how he has suffered this past year, Tiaan, and all the great things he’s done, you would think differently of him. I know you would. But I’ll say no more than that. Talk to him, if you care to, and he can plead for himself.’
Flydd fell in beside Nish as they went inside. ‘Remember your despair after we came back from Nennifer and you couldn’t get anything done?’
‘I remember,’ said Nish.
‘Look how far you’ve come since. And keep it in mind, Nish, whenever you wilt under the burden of all we have to do – as I do. We just go one step at a time, and no matter how low we’re brought, we never, ever give up.’ He squeezed Nish’s shoulder and passed inside.
Nish stood there for a moment in reflection. The plan had come a long way, and so had he. One step at a time. He smiled and followed.
Two days later, with twenty people sewing the silk, the air-floaters were complete. He’d reclaimed the silk from the dirigible, and Inouye had discovered part of an air-dreadnought airbag hanging in a tree ten leagues away, giving them just enough to complete the airbag of the third air-floater. There had even been a little time to use the thapter for training the pilots and artificers. Every pilot had made at least one flight under Malien’s stern guidance. No one had crashed it, though there had been sufficient incidents to make Nish fear for what would happen if they did recover any machines from the battlefield.
‘Everything’s ready,’ he said to Yggur, after having worked all night. ‘We can go as soon as you say the word.’
‘Excellent!’ beamed Flydd. He shook Nish’s hand. ‘And on time, too. It’s a pleasure to deal with a man who’s as good as his word. Well, Yggur, if you would just explain to Nish how he’s to move the thapters without access to the field, he can be on his way.’
Yggur looked as though he’d had no more sleep than Nish. ‘My devices aren’t ready yet.’
‘What?’ said Flydd, putting on a show of surprise. ‘But you said you were nearly finished a week ago.’
‘I am nearly finished, but I haven’t tested them to my satisfaction.’
‘Why not?’
‘There are a few wrinkles still to be ironed out.’
‘But everything depends on them.’ Flydd seemed to be taking a malicious pleasure in Yggur’s discomfiture. It was a weakness in his character that Nish could only appreciate, in the circumstances. The two mancers might be working together but they would be forever rivals.
‘I’m aware of that,’ Yggur said, stone-faced.
‘And the least delay to the schedule could be fatal to our chances of being ready for the spring offensive.’
‘Yes,’ said Yggur. ‘It could.’
‘Well, I won’t pretend that I’m not disappointed,’ said Flydd. ‘Bitterly disappointed, in fact. It’s a major setback.’ He gave Yggur a sly glance, then said cajolingly, ‘When do you think it will be ready?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Tomorrow?’
‘Not tomorrow!’ Yggur snapped.
‘What about the day after?’
Flydd had such a strange, coquettish look on his craggy face that Nish wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d batted his eyelashes.
Yggur cracked. ‘I don’t know, damn you.’
‘Then I won’t keep you,’ said Flydd. ‘I’m sure you’re anxious to get back to your workshop and try to make up for lost time. Good day.’ He nodded and turned away, taking Nish’s arm and pulling him after him. ‘Wipe that grin off your face, Artificer,’ Flydd said sternly. ‘Show some respect for your betters.’ But as soon as Yggur was gone, Flydd clapped Nish on the back, taking the sting from his words. ‘Well done, lad. You can go to bed now.’ He went off, whistling a cheerful air.
The following day the thapter set off for the south-east, carrying the patterns for various devices that were to be made up by manufactories there, including Tiaan’s plans for master and slave farspeakers. It was to be a lightning trip, both Malien and Tiaan taking turns and going night and day, as Flydd hoped to be back in just over a week.
The trip proved uneventful, apart from their first brief call at Tiksi, where Tiaan hoped to see her mother. Unfortunately Marnie was not at the rebuilt breeding factory.
‘She lost everything in the fire,’ said Matron. ‘I haven’t seen her in nearly a year.’
‘Poor Marnie,’ Tiaan wept. ‘Cast out on the streets with nothing. Doesn’t anyone know what happened to her?’
She was unable to find out, for the city’s records had been lost in the fires.
Thence they turned west to her old manufactory. Tall, dark-skinned Tuniz was still overseer, and she reminded Flydd of his promise, that if she met all her targets for a year he would send her home to Crandor, to the children she had not seen in two years.
‘I remember,’ said Flydd. ‘And have you met all your targets, Overseer?’
‘Not all, but nearly,’ she said, anxiously baring her filed teeth.
‘Then the condition has not been met and I owe you nothing!’ She winced. ‘Nonetheless,’ Flydd went on, ‘I do want to send you home, and will if you complete this last task to my satisfaction. I have here a number of samples.’ He showed her Golias’s globe, several different slave farspeakers Tiaan had made, plus her detailed designs of each. ‘Can you make me, say, ten master farspeakers, and one hundred of the slave variety, in a month?’