Title: Kur

Author: JayBee-Bug

Chapter 21 - Embarkment

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"{Are you certain this is the place?}"

Celesal nodded. "She said Mossy Path."

"{Many of these paths are mossy,}" Sojourn muttered. Celesal rolled her eyes.

"Not a mossy path, the Mossy Path."

"{Oh.}"

Slowly, Sojourn crept up to the grain silo, his rider looking around cautiously the whole while.

"{I find it hard to believe there has been a machine in here this whole while right under our noses.}"

"Shh!"

Sojourn froze, his ears perked, a black statue in the night. "{What?}"

Celesal strained to listen a moment. "Never mind," she whispered. Sojourn snorted in irritation and moved on. Coming around the silo they reached the large double-doors of the building. Celesal gently tapped the door. The knob on the left door turned and the door slowly pushed outward with an old creak.

"Who goes there?" a voice asked in a half-whisper.

"Uh. Celesal Alderwit and Chaperone Sojourn," she answered quietly.

The door pushed open further, a man smiling at them and ushering them,

"Come, quickly, let's get you inside."

They gladly complied and slipped inside the silo, the man shutting the door behind them. He turned to look at his guests, his brows raised in surprise.

"Oh, I did not expect you to be so young, my dear. The way Julie speaks of you . . ."

He waved, "You must be very mature indeed for your age. I am sorry to be so quick, but from what your mother tells me, time is something to be frugal with tonight."

The man stepped forward and bowed his head slightly.

"I am Daven Brindenburg, friends. I've heard much of you both though I don't think we know each other personally very well."

The horse cocked his side to the side.

"{Brindenburg, eh? Your son Lamen was just sent recently to the Sea as Chaperone, yes?}"

Daven nodded, "Yes."

"{I have met him, sir. He is a very energetic young man.}"

"I am glad he has met you. He has been very hopeful about his new position. Ah! You must stop me when I get to talking. I am not accustomed to conciseness."

He gestured,

"Over here, this is Webwalker over here."

Sojourn turned and stepped back to let Daven by, who paced to the center of the room. The grain silo was large and cool and dark, their voices echoing inside, with a carpet of hay and moss on the floor. There was a crude desk up against the side of one wall, with a lantern sitting on it, but little else. The lantern cast the only dim light in the room.

"She may be a bit dusty, but as far as I know, she's still fully charged and functional like I last left her."

A large dark green cloth was spread like a tarp over a big object. Celesal dismounted from her friend and the two of them came over to see as Daven pulled the tarp off.

He revealed a Hablos Cart, a familiar sight for Celesal: which was a simple design and little more than a big silver bucket. Long, oval, scoop-shaped body that was meant to be filled up with material such as soil or grain. Some simple hover-pads on the cart on the bottom and the front and back, in order to allow it to glide through the air to its destination, and a seat in front to pilot the simple horseless cart. Hinges on both sides of the cart opened up to swing the sides out and down on the ground, to create a ramp of sorts up into the cart, in order to walk in and shovel the loads in and out.

"Sir, not to sound critical, but it looks to be just a Hablos cart to me."

Daven nodded, smiling.

"That is exactly what it looks like. But this is no ordinary cart. Allow me to illustrate."

He slid back the lock-tabs on one side of the cart and pulled it down to let it land on the floor, spraying hay about. He stepped inside the cart and went over to the pilot's seat. He gestured to Celesal.

"Come on in."

She stepped up the ramp and stood by the raised chair as well. Daven swung the chair out of the way so he could show her the controls on the raised panel. There was something different about them. The steering-wheel was there, and the acceleration lever was too: Celesal had piloted one of these carts once or twice. But Daven had added onto the control console.

Sojourn walked around the machine in the meantime, sniffing around and examining it. Daven tapped the little screen on the panel.

"This is important. You'll only be able to traverse a specific course across the Fields. You should-- hold on, let's do it this way."

He shuffled to the side,

"Here, go ahead and hop in the chair. You'll see things more easily."

Celesal did as he suggested, climbing up into the chair. He gently swung the chair around so she was facing the controls and stood next to her.

"There we go. Now, you got your standard controls, the lever forward means on, the lever backwards means off, and the wheel steers, right?"

She nodded. He reached over and tapped the little screen again.

"Like you know, the Patrollers each have their own zones to patrol in the desert. Their long-range scanners will only go a certain range and then another vessel is posted just beyond the other scanner's range. This creates a grid across the entire desert that this screen will display."

"Uh-huh."

"There are gaps in the grid, though. They occur where two long-range scanners meet and interthread. There is a narrow space that the scanners don't detect, a blind spot. This is where Webwalker navigates."

"But how am I supposed to-- this sounds very intricate--"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I've made it very user-friendly," Daven grinned,

"The screen'll show the grid, and highlight your path, and will have a little dot to indicate Webwalker. These big lights on the side of the control panel will stay blue as long as you're within the blind spot. They turn red if you've wandered off course. You have about five seconds if you're in the red to get back to where you belong, or chances are you'll be detected."

Celesal swallowed. "That sounds tough."

"It does, but it's not as difficult as it sounds, really. You've driven a cart before, right?"

She nodded.

"Good. This one's a little juiced up, so-- be careful. It's not the same old clunky bucket that crawls at a snail's pace."

Celesal smiled at that. Daven patted the side of the vessel fondly.

"I've given her spunk. Go easy on the accelerator lever, trust me. Pick up speed gradually so you can get used to steering at higher speeds. The vehicle becomes more and more sensitive to steering the faster she goes."

Sojourn clonked up the ramp and into the cart and peered at the scheming duo.

"{How fast is fast?}" he wondered. Daven shrugged.

"Quite honestly, I don't know. I've never brought her up to full speed. She's only been used a half dozen times on trips of any significant length."

"{Hmm.}"

"Right, what else. This is the switch for the headlights," he noted,

"Oo! I get headlights?"

"Yep! Those were a breeze to install. This right here's the seat strap. It straps you into the chair, keeps you from falling off. That was my idea. You have the goggles, right? Good. You all right with the straps?"

"I think so."

Daven tugged on the straps Celesal had tied into place.

"Yeah, they're nice and snug. You pull it off like this--"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Ok. Try those goggles on and check if you can see all right."

Celesal tied the goggles on, grinning at Daven.

"I feel funny."

"That's because you look funny. Can you see all right?"

She looked around and at the control panel.

"Yeah. The screen's practically invisible if I look past it . . ."

"Good. That's what you want. I think that about covers it, Celesal."

She looked at him with a panicky sort of expression.

"What? Wait. That's all?"

"There isn't much to it. I'm sure you'll do fine, it's pretty much like driving a regular cart, just faster."

"{And a narrower path,}" Sojourn pointed out, coming closer to look at the controls.

"Well, of course. But I think you'll get the hang of it pretty fast. She's got real smooth turning, very clean navigation. Not bad for a flying bucket."

"{Thank you for the help, sir,}" the horse said kindly.

"Yes, Mr. Brindenburg, I don't know how to tell you how grateful I am--"

Daven waved it off,

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad my ole' Webwalker has a chance to get used instead of just rusting away in here. I'm sure you'll treat her great."

"I will, sir, I'll do my very best--"

"I know. Sojourn, I suggest you hang out near the back. Speed plus a slippery surface isn't going to add up to the most pleasant trip a horse has to endure, but it should be ok."

Daven hopped off the ramp and closed the side back up, sliding the locks into place.

"I'll go clear a path, I'll be back in a moment," he called as he headed for the door.

Sojourn walked along the metal floor of the cart, which clacked loudly under his hooves, and peered at Celesal through her screen goggles.

"{You ready for this, Celesal?}"

Celesal visibly swallowed. "Uhm. I guess so."

"{You can still back out if you wish. We're under no obligation to attempt this.}"

She quickly shook her head.

"No. I might be nervous about my piloting skills but I know I want to do this. I have to."

Sojourn nodded.

"{You have my full confidence, Celesal.}"

She patted his head.

"I know. Thanks. Hey, you don't have to come yourself, you know. If you really don't want to. Hanging out with me tends to tarnish your good name."

Sojourn smiled broadly.

"{That's all right, my dear. I think I could possibly be of great help with diplomacy involving these Thatchers.}"

"Yeah, you're probably right. You're a good talker."

"Ok, you two!" Daven called from the doorway,

"It's all clear! You can start it up, Celesal!"

Celesal smiled nervously at her friend.

"Here goes."

She reached for the accelerator lever and pressed it forward one click. The Hablos' engine came to life, the hover pads glowed blue and began humming softly, and she felt the vessel rise on the cushion of air and start to drift forward. She turned the wheel hard so that the cart turned around completely and faced the open silo doors. Sojourn stood next to her and watched. They floated gently through the silo and out the doors. Daven asked her,

"You understand the view screen, Celesal?"

"Yes," she answered, nodding. She had glanced over it quickly and was pretty sure she understood it, it looked pretty simple.

"Good. I hope you two find what you're looking for, all right? Drive careful."

"{We will, sir, thank you again. We shall return as soon as possible.}"

"Oh! One more thing, I almost forgot!" Daven said, walking alongside the cart as it slowly floated forward.

Celesal glanced over her shoulder at him, "Yeah?"

"Whatever you do, don't press the red button. Ok?"

"Why?" she called after him.

"Because it's the self-destruct. It's for emergency use only."

"Self-destruct?! What do you mean, it, like, blows up?"

"Yeah! I don't want Webwalker falling into K'laul hands. Otherwise they'll know how smart we are."

"Oh. Ok!"

"Good luck!" Daven called, waving as the cart drifted off. Celesal glanced around the dark forest path she was entering nervously and flicked the headlights on. The twin beams were strong and lit her way well.

"Here we go," she said nervously to herself. Sojourn glanced at the sky above them.

"{The sun has fully set by now,}" he murmured.

"I know, Soj. Shh, I'm trying to drive here."

He stretched his neck out to see the control panel as Celesal cautiously steered along the path. The display screen was criss-crossed with red lines indicating the K'laul's sensor grid. Blue lines crept through the grid showing the blind spots. It only showed the desert, though, ending at the curve of the River. After studying it a while Sojourn determined where Daemon City was on the map.

"{When we enter the desert we will most likely appear here towards the center of the River. I suggest we take this path right here towards the City. If we don't run into them there we can travel along this path headed towards the direction of Thatcher, more or less.}" Sojourn planned out. Celesal was only half-listening, because her eyes were mostly on the road.

"Uh-huh, that sounds good."

"{Celesal, we're traveling very slowly. You only have it up one notch.}"

She scowled. "I'm trying to get used to it! Would you like trying to steer, huh?"

"{I doubt it's designed for horse users, unless I can steer with my teeth,}" he sassed back.

"Then quit criticizing!"

Sojourn was undeterred by her. Walking over to the side of the cart he stuck his head out the side, looking much like a dog sticking its head out a car window.

"{This is River Path, isn't it?}"

He got no response, his pilot not having heard him. He walked back over to her.

"{We're on River Path. We've traveled this path a thousand times. I'm sure you know it like the back of your hand, Celesal.}"

"Of course I do, Soj," she snapped.

"{Then surely you can go faster. Just think of it like another regular trip.}"

Celesal shouted at the top of her lungs,

"This is not a regular trip! For Kur's sake, Sojourn! Look above you! The stars are coming out! When we reach the water's edge we won't be stopping this time. Do you have any idea what this means?!"

Sojourn watched her soberly. Her hands shook as she gripped the steering-wheel. She let out a shuttering breath, visibly forcing herself to lower her voice.

"I've never been to the cursed desert before, Soj," she said lowly. Sojourn waited a beat.

"{Neither have I.}"

He watched them travel slowly along the forest path, the headlights showing their way.

"{But your sister has.}"

Celesal nodded slowly.

"Galan was always the brave one."

"{She is pretty brave, I must agree there.}"

Celesal easily steered the slow-moving cart.

"{Still. I think her little sister runs her a pretty close race.}"

Celesal frowned a moment in thought. Then she reached over and pushed the accelerator lever up a few more notches. Sojourn smiled as the wind blew harder across their open cart.