Chapter 32: Ivory Guard

…

Nearly two hours passed before Irleen returned. And, as Link and Leynne felt they should have foreseen, Layna had breached common sense. She did not merely bring Irleen to the ship; she had caught her in a bag and swiped her translating gem from Cale before anyone had realized that she and Twali had shown up. She had also reinterpreted Link's standing order against traveling alone, claiming (through Dubbl) that she had not violated the command since she had carried Irleen with her. This, naturally, had caused Link to scream that, when he had issued that order, he had intended for the airmen wandering together to watch each other's back. How clear the message had been depended on how seriously Layna could take Link with Dubbl translating in a tired tone and Leynne trying to hide his grin behind a hand. Adding to Link's frustration was that this exchange took place in the middle of the main deck, catching the attention of the current deck crew and whoever else had wandered up from below. Just like Leynne, the crew had found his disproportionate butt-chewing amusing, and Link had to admit to himself afterwards that forgetting the horrors of the past few days by being his impatient self and chewing out Layna for reinterpreting orders again had helped him relax a bit. By the time Leynne conducted him and Irleen to the boat deck, he began hoping that Layna was not too upset by his outburst. Even among the Gelto crew, Layna had a penchant for bizarre and unpredictable behavior, and Link would probably have to apologize to her, if anything else to get the image of her dejected puppy face off his conscience.

After what must have only been a minute of looking, Irleen fluttered out of the Conductor's deck house to converse with Leynne and Link. "Well, it's probably about as bad as you think," she said.

"We won't get the Conductor off the deck?" Link asked.

"Oh, uh… okay, maybe not that bad," Irleen admitted. "The thing is, the block still works, just not as well. The two in the back look okay, but that one up front took a bit of a beating."

"How badly does this compromise the Conductoh's flight capability?" Leynne asked.

"Well, that depends," Irleen said.

"Depends? On what?"

"On what the hell that means," Irleen snapped.

The next sound Leynne made fell somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "Without testing it, do you know how well the Conductoh can fly?"

"Sorry, Leynne. I can't be that precise."

Link scratched his messy, blond mane. "I wish I'd known this would happen…" he groaned.

"As it is, The Night is still consistent with the problems it provides," Leynne pointed out. "Ihleen, can the damaged block be repaired?"

"Not here," she replied. "It needs to be healed inside one of the technoworks. It'll probably have to be the one connected to the library."

"A question," Leynne said. "Should one of these blocks be destroyed in the couhse of Link's attempts on The Night, could we hahvest anotheh?"

"These blocks are the same as the technoworks under the islands, so, yeah," Irleen answered. "It might take some work because I don't know how to do it, but it should be possible to pull out a block if we need it."

"Can't we just…" Link tapped the Sorian bracelet on his left wrist, alluding to its ability to affect technoworks blocks so that they could be removed. "… use this?"

"Only if you wanna risk burning a hand off," Irleen said. "Besides that, the block has to be sealed and its gap closed, otherwise part of the technoworks will begin to die. Don't you remember the mess the Lizalfos made of the Might Island technoworks?"

"Oh, yeah…" Link muttered as he dredged up memories of Might Island. It had been one of his more perilous adventures, not at all helped by the heat generated by a disassembled technoworks. He also recalled that it was the one island where Layna nearly died fighting Cunimincus' men. It quickly turned into a reminder of Layna's own frailty despite her training, and he quickly forced the memories to the side. After all, if he understood one thing about Layna, it was that Layna did not like being held back just because she might die. He glanced at Leynne and asked, "How much longer until The Night wakes up?"

Leynne pulled out his pocket watch to check it. "About three houhs." He closed the watch with a click and said, "This will mean checking the blocks afteh each night."

"Only if the boat gets destroyed," Link pointed out. He nodded at the deck house. "How easy is it to pull that block out?"

"I installed it," Leynne said. "I can't fit in theh anymoh, but I should remembeh enough to talk you through removing it."

"Go get whatever tools I'll need," Link told him. "I'll take it to the library to see if we can't heal it."

…

Link desperately wished that Leynne had still fit. While Link did not lack the elbow room to work nor was light much of an issue since the block still bore its bright glow, he did not like swinging a screwdriver around until stabbing his own hand because Leynne was trying to give him directions based on his two-year-old memory of the mechanism. This was compounded by the fact that, once he had the frame under the shutter loose, the lower assembly suddenly swung out and forced the handle of the screwdriver to smack the bridge of his nose. More annoying still, once Leynne remembered it, he explained to Link that he actually had not used the access panel at the front of the deckhouse precisely because the timbers had been in his way; instead, he had cut his own access in the bow of the boat, which he demonstrated when he leaned his upper half through it to help Link wrestle the block to the weather deck.

One of the benefits of an active technoworks block was that it was not heavy. Appropriately weighed down by a pair of sandbags meant for the Island Symphony, it was as if they had turned a brick into a balloon. Once the block was secured to both the sandbags and Link, Link took Irleen and Layna back to the library. They encountered Line, Cale, and Twali at the edge of the settlement, and Link told Line to come along while Cale and Twali continued back to the ship. Line, naturally, complained, but Link's reasoning was clear when they reached the library; Link needed more weight to pull the block into the technoworks. Line was helpful in dragging the technoworks block further down into the technoworks since adding just Layna barely got them past the first two floors of the library. Even this was insufficient to drag the block into the technoworks, but Link was prepared with extra rope. Line supplied some of the library's heavier books, allowing them to tie on more weight without having to return to the ship for additional crew.

They had the block settled in front of Link while he stood in between the control columns at the bottom of the technoworks. He had to take a moment to find the command note on his blues harp again, and the technoworks put together the list on either column. Link still felt a little disappointed as Irleen fluttered over the purple-colored options on the columns, knowing that he still needed to remove The Night from the rest of the technoworks in order to get it to work correctly.

"Okay, Line," Irleen said as she stopped next to one word. "Push this one."

"Click," Line said as he touched one finger to the bullet Irleen indicated.

"'Click'?" Link asked.

"Yeah, 'click'," Line replied.

"Are… you making that noise on purpose?" Irleen asked as a new list appeared on the column.

"Yeah."

"Why?" Link asked.

"Because it's a button," Line answered. "Buttons go 'click'."

Link exchanged a look with Layna and shrugged. "It's not a button," Link told him.

"If I can push it, it's a button," Line said.

"If I can push you, are you a button?" Irleen asked.

"You can't push me," Line said.

"I'm pushing you now," Irleen said.

Line blinked in confusion. Then he slid a hand in the large space between him and Irleen. "No you're not," he argued.

"Yes I am," Irleen replied, her tone sounding smart.

"You're not even touching me."

"I'm still pushing you."

"In what way?"

"In a way that counts."

"Wha-huh?" Line waved his hand in the space between them again. "How?! There's no contact!"

"Line, just stop," Link groaned.

"She's not even making any sound!" he whined at Link.

"Don't need to," Irleen said as she shifted up and down looking at the new list.

"Yes you do!" Line hollered.

"Would you just drop it!?" Link snapped.

"Well she started it!" Line hollered.

"Layna."

Line started and snapped a glance at Layna as if just remembering that she was nearby. "Please don't do it," he pleaded to Link.

"Push this one, Line," Irleen said.

"Huh?" Line asked.

Irleen jerked in the direction of one of the bulleted items. "Push. This. Line." Line blew a short raspberry and used his pinky to touch the bullet. A flock of blue particles fluttered into the room from the doorway and formed a square patch of light on the wall directly in front of Link.

Link glanced at Irleen and asked, "Is it supposed to do that?"

"I think so," Irleen said. "Line, Layna, shove the block against the wall. Make sure it touches the wall."

Line and Layna strode forward and lifted the bunch of books bundled by two loops of rope. The task was relatively easy since they just had to grab the lengths of rope between the block and the books; the block did the rest. Layna steadied the bundle with a hand as they pressed it against the wall. Both then started backwards when the light from the wall flowed onto the block. Link glanced at Irleen and found her watching a series of hash marks on the nearby column as they disappeared one by one. When the final mark faded away, the blue light on the technoworks block shifted back onto the wall, where it then scattered apart. Layna and Line quickly grabbed a rope as the block started to rise from the floor.

Link stepped forward and glanced over the block for a moment. Its surface had changed back to the steady orange-yellow swirl of color without a hint of red on any face. "Looks good," he told Irleen.

"Yeah, but you definitely have to be careful with them," Irleen said. "As long as the block is still whole, we can repair it with the technoworks as many times as we need. But if necrosis sets in, it's useless."

"Did you find any controls for separating another block in case we need it?" Link asked.

"I suspect it's one of the functions that we can't access," Irleen said, shifting sideways to indicate the damaged column. "While we're here, though, why don't you command the technoworks to heal again? Maybe that'll fix it."

"Sure," Link said, already stepping back into place. He played the command note again, and the lists formed on either side. One finger hovered over the list as he tried to remember which one started the task. "Which one? This?"

"The one above it," Irleen said.

Link pushed the appropriate bullet, and the surrounding light lowered while the list disappeared to form the blue ring on the floor. He stepped into the ring and watched the emeralds on his blues harp. It showed him the same song he had played only five days ago. The fact allowed him to begin playing sooner, and the technoworks around him only gave a small grinding sound. Other than the light slowly returning to the surrounding technoworks, nothing appeared to change as far as Line and Layna could see.

Link finished playing the song and pulled on the command note once more. He looked at the damaged column to find that two of the four darkened options appeared in full blue once again. "So it worked?" he asked Irleen as she hovered over the restored list.

"It looks like it," she agreed. "But we'll still need to clear out the technoworks; it still won't let us make another Sky Line."

"Ugh," Line grunted.

"It's not as if we can leave anyway," Link told him. Then he asked Irleen, "But can we get another block if we need it?"

"Yeah, that option's there," Irleen said.

"Okay," Link said. He glanced up at the ceiling as if trying to check the time in the sky. "How long have we been here?"

"Too long," Line answered. "Let's get outta here before the locals show up."

"Agreed," Irleen said.

…

Taking the block back to the Island Symphony proved to be a little trickier. With it now operating at full strength, they had to keep a few of the books with them to counterbalance its wish to fly away from them. All three of them had to hold the ropes, and they still needed both sandbags and five books to weigh it down enough to walk across the island. This walk was particularly eerie since the daylight had died faster. Link had to fire a green flare down the road so that they could finish navigating out of the settlement. Someone on the Island Symphony must have mistook it as a signal because they fired a green flare into the air a moment later. This helped, however, because they needed a better guide back to the ship than just walking toward the dull light on the horizon.

Leynne was still awake and greeted them as they boarded. All four of them took the block to the boat deck and continued to use the books and sandbags to keep enough weight on it while they dragged it back into the Conductor. This time, Leynne coaxed the block back into place and re-secured the frame. Once again, the Conductor was sitting properly in its supports.

Link took a few minutes to wash himself with a rag before going to the sick bay. Nester told him about feeding Geordie some lunch and a few scraps for dinner before sedating him again. Geordie would still need a few days for his major injuries to show signs of healing, but Nester explained that even Geordie eating so little was an improvement.

Link then went to bed in the sick bay. Again, he felt as if he had not gone to sleep at all. But when Leynne peered into the dim sick bay, Link sat up and addressed him only to be ignored. So, he dressed and put on his equipment.

He met Janni outside the berth deck. She stood with her arms crossed and one brow cocked. "Well," she said. Her next words included a bit of a giggle. "That didn't go too well."

"To say the least," Link agreed as he stepped toward the port staircase. "You were right; it's worse than before."

"But you're still gonna try, huh?" Janni asked as she followed him down.

"I don't have much of a choice," Link said. "Same as before."

"You could at least take a night off," Janni suggested.

Link stepped up to the spare parts bin and grabbed a handful of nuts. "It's not gonna happen, Janni."

"Yeah, I know," Janni said with a sigh. "Somehow, it just feels like I should be giving you ominous warnings whenever you wake up here."

Link gave her a confused look. "And you enjoy that?"

"Oh, I love it," Janni replied, although her tone made it difficult for Link to tell if she was being sarcastic.

"Right," Link grunted as he hefted a rope onto his shoulder. "You remember what the theme is for this technoworks yet?"

Janni shrugged, an exaggerated motion with her arms up in the air as if indicating mild surrender. "It's a mystery," she told him.

Link sighed. "Right. We probably won't find out until we actually get into the mines. How about The Night? Still moody?"

Janni gave him a flat look. "Do I look like its mother?"

"If I had to guess? I'd at least say it's daughter."

"Oh, the cruelty…" she said as he stepped past her.

"W—don't take it personally," Link said, pausing at the base of the stairs to look at her. "I was just making a joke."

"I wasn't," Janni said as she floated toward him. "If I took it personally, I'd probably kill you in some horrific way, too. You know, being the daughter of The Night."

Link stared at her for a moment. "So, you're not mad, then," he guessed.

"Not in the way you're thinking," she answered with a wide grin.

Link started up the stairs as he said, "You'd think I'd remember that every now and then…"

As Link stepped onto the deck, he could tell there had been a definite change. The lights in the bulwark were out; instead, lanterns had been mounted to the masts and the exterior bulkheads at either end of the main deck. This cast the main deck in an even glow. Lanterns had also been mounted on the railing at the top of all six staircases connecting to the main deck. The night shift had also changed its routine. While Gold still watched the ship from the forecastle, Hunter stood on the quarterdeck rather than the poop deck. This met with Link's approval since the poop deck was far too dangerous to walk at night with a large hole in the middle and only a waist-high bulwark. Lwamm, Twali, and Layna now patrolled the deck in a line from the rear bulkhead to the forward capstan. Although they could not see over the edge, Link was certain that this was much more acceptable. If any of them felt sleepy, they would likely choose to rest on any of the three capstans on the deck rather than try sitting on the bulwark. Memory of Ray's nearly-fatal plunge over the side might have provided more incentive to stay away from the edges of the ship. Curiously, Flower did not seem to be on-deck. Then Link remembered that he might have been seeing to Beech.

He continued to the boat deck and took the Conductor out again. This time, he dared to put a little more power into Sello's engine so that he could steer the boat into a larger arc around the island, giving the tower a wide berth in case The Night decided to simply swat the Conductor out of the sky. He explained this reasoning to Janni, but Janni only grinned and shook her head. Link took this to mean that he was still going to suffer no matter what he did.

As Link steered the Conductor toward the same area where he thought he had landed the previous night, he saw that the area had completely changed. A large, stone building replaced the forest, at least on the path that Link was supposed to take to the mines. And Link could see this building because someone had placed torches around the outside. One path was also illuminated with torches, so Link maneuvered the Conductor toward the farther reaches of the path thinking that the light would be safer for him to walk along. Janni suggested that he could just land near the mouth of the building or even above the entrance so that he did not risk encountering a trap along the path. Link almost argued the point with her, but then he considered that, since Janni was a lot more familiar with how The Night generally worked, he heeded the advice and directed the boat back toward the building.

He settled the Conductor until he could hear tree branches scraping the hull. Then he went to dump one of the sandbags overboard. He paused to look at Janni, who sat on the bulwark on the port side away from the building. "Do you feel like helping?" he asked.

She gave him a sidelong glance. "Not really," she said, her voice betraying a lack of interest.

Link's look turned suspicious. "Are you… bored?"

Janni sighed. "Let's face it, Link. You're just gonna get killed again. I really don't think The Night's gonna entertain you with the prospect of hurting it again."

Link shoved the sandbag off the transom and turned to her with his arms crossed. "Maybe it will, or maybe it won't," he said.

He was about to say more, was about to explain that he had to try whenever he had the chance, when he heard something rustle in the brush below. And he knew that it was something at ground-level because it sounded different from the wind-blown branches scratching the boat's keel. He put both hands on the transom and leaned over to look down. In the torchlight, he identified movement through the trees and tried to follow it.

The last thing he saw, and he barely noticed it until it was nearly on him, was a line of black flying toward his face.

Then he woke up screaming, both hands pressed against his left eye. He writhed on the bed until he felt weight on his chest, and, in surprise, he raised one fist and started striking someone's head.

"Somebody give me a hand in here!" Nester shouted. "Captain, stop hitting me!"

A moment later, someone grabbed Link's flailing arm and pinned it to the bed. Link opened his right eye to see that Lawrence held his hand down. It helped remind him where he was, and he put effort into trying to control himself. He could not keep himself still, feeling that at least moving around gave him some method of coping.

Nester stood up and told someone else, "Hold his legs; I don't feel like getting kicked." Link felt weight fall on his legs and glanced down to see Gillam pressing down on them. Nester brought his face closer to Link's face and asked, "What happened?"

Link breathed heavily through his teeth, trying not to scream out again while trying to tell Nester what he needed at the same time. Nester did not wait for an answer. He stepped away from the bed. When he returned, he held up his chart while telling Lawrence, "Let him go." Once Lawrence released Link's arm, he slapped his hand back over his eye with the other hand. Nester tapped the clipboard. "C'mon, Captain, tell me what's wrong." Link looked at the list. Then he took his right hand away from his face to point to the word "Sharp". Nester glanced at the clipboard. "Sharp pain? On your eye?" he asked. Link nodded. "What happened?" Nester asked.

Link formed a fist with his hand and hit the bed. Nester looked down at the hand, and Link repeated his action. "What is that, Doc?" Lawrence asked.

"Stabbed?" Nester asked. "Were you stabbed?"

Link nodded. "I… think," he said through his teeth.

"Can I see it?" Nester said as he set the clipboard down.

Link took his hand away, revealing that his eye was closed. Nester carefully placed one hand on Link's forehead and carefully used his finger to draw the eyelid open. Link flinched as light poured into the eye, the sensation sharp as if it was being stabbed again.

Lawrence and Gillam, both watching, jumped away from the bed upon seeing a red eye staring back at them.