Chapter 116: Brainstorming

…

Link did not sleep until the Island Symphony arrived at Skyrider Port in the early morning. And then, even after both ships were docked and relieved of Center Island's residents, Link was wide awake in his bed until the sun came up. He had not been able to shake the sight of the Undying Storm swallowing Center Island. Watching the way the island just fell into darkness had made him leave the light on in his cabin all night. Irleen, while having her gripes about this, had eventually gone to sleep.

Even now Irleen slept while Link sat at his desk, idly flipping through his journal. He could not remember when he had started doing it. He had just read from his first entry, and then things had started going blurry at about the time he had re-read his entries from the Fire Realm. He had lost track of time as well. The moment someone knocked on his door, it appeared to be about mid-morning.

The knocking made him jerk in surprise, and he closed his journal before he called, "Come in."

Leynne opened the door and stepped inside with Dholit following behind. "Have we distuhbed you?" Leynne asked.

"No," Link replied. He glanced at Dholit, and he was reminded of their confrontation a few weeks ago. "Is something wrong?"

Leynne traded a confused look with Dholit. "Nothing in pahticulah," he answered. "I just presumed that you would like to know the condition of the refugees."

"Oh." Link adjusted himself so that he could sit up straight against the back of his chair. "What've you got?"

"My Captain, have you slept at all?" Dholit asked.

Link hesitated. "No, I haven't," he replied, knowing that he could do little to cover his exhaustion.

"Would you prefeh us to retuhn lateh?" Leynne asked.

Link shook his head. "No, it's all right. How are the refugees doing?" He then watched Leynne remove a clipboard from under one arm. He frowned and asked, "Where'd you get a clipboard?"

"Found it among the gahbage Sello's been collecting all mohning," Leynne replied. Link groaned in annoyance. "Don't wohry; Misteh Hahley was with him.

"The mayoh's office of Skyrideh Poht and the local guahds have been coohdinating with the mayoh's offices of both Autumn and Centeh Islands. The Skyridehs' office has re-opened, and they have been providing supplies since the Autumn Island refugees appeahed. Most of the poht has been designated as an area to be used by the refugees. Sheltehs have been set up in the poht as well as a few kitchenettes to provide wahm food."

"Any word from Captain North?" Link asked.

"Not yet, although I imagine he might be delayed in gathering moh supplies. From what I undehstand, Autumn Island had a population much greateh than Centeh Island. Until anotheh solution to this matteh with the stohm can be found, it's possible that Skyrideh Poht will become quite crowded." Leynne paused and gave his clipboard a hesitant glance. "I… am uncehtain about sharing moh, knowing of youh proclivity foh despairing oveh this pahticulah brand of news."

Link took in a deep breath. "We've lost people. Haven't we."

"In a much stricteh sense than you may think. Almost one thousand people have been repohted missing. To say that they ah dead might simply be an innocent falsehood. The mayohs' offices have put togetheh an impromptu census to get an accurate count of the refugees cuhrently residing on Skyrideh Poht. A numbeh of people have repohted family and friends missing since then, and the offices ah assembling a list so that these lost pahties might be found." He took a sheet of paper from the clipboard and stepped forward so that he could place it on Link's desk. "They've asked us to keep ouh eyes open foh them; theh's no telling wheh these people might have disappeahed to or whetheh they simply don't know that the mayohs ah trying to ohganize them." Link picked up the sheet and skimmed through the printed list of names. "Most of the missing people ah from Autumn Island, howeveh. Apparently, that evacuation was considerably less ohdehly than the one pehfohmed on Centeh Island. Still, a numbeh of people have been unable to find each otheh from Centeh Island as well. I've asked the engine room crew to look out foh any non-crewmembehs that might be wandering the ship."

"Layna has done heh best to seahch the entiah ship," Dholit spoke up. "No one but ouh own crew is aboahd."

"Still," Leynne said. "We should be watching foh people who might wandeh aboahd expecting assistance."

Link set the list aside. "Thanks, Leynne," he said. "That… actually makes me feel a little better. I-I have to admit… I was kinda depressed before you came in."

"Would you like to feel even bettah, My Captain?" Dholit asked, a grin crossing her face as she flexed the fingers on her right hand.

"Oh, c'mon, Dholit," Irleen groaned from her bed. "Really? This early in the morning?"

Leynne, who had checked his pocketwatch before Irleen spoke up, clapped it shut. "Actually, it's about mid-mohning at the moment," he said.

"I can do it anytime," Dholit said.

"Ugh, gross…" Irleen replied.

"How about our supplies?" Link asked, eager for a change in topic. "Are we gonna need more stuff?"

"I've taken the libehty of asking Cale and Lilly to take count of what we have left," Leynne said. "At the very least, I expect us to need some moh rations and foodstuffs. Pehhaps some moh fihst-aid kits as well. I'll have the numbehs put togetheh once Cale is finished."

"Wait a minute," Link said, leaning forward. "What happened to our rations?"

"Sympathy, mostly," Leynne replied. "We offloaded most of ouh rations to be used by the refugees." He watched Link's reaction for a moment. "I had thought the situation was uhgent enough to wahrant such action."

Link shook his head. "No, you're okay. We'll just have to go to a different island and pick up supplies when the time comes; chances are that any sort of food here is gonna go to the refugees. What's the air look like out there?"

Leynne gave him a confused look. "The… aih?"

Link sighed. "The airships. Did a bunch of them leave already?"

"Oh! Well, as I undehstood it, many of them have docked along the island's edge as close to the poht as possible. I can't say I've counted them, but I imagine that a numbeh of them might've left by now."

Link nodded. "Okay. We should spread word that we might be doing this again soon."

"We ah?" Dholit asked.

"I've taken a look at a local chaht," Leynne said. "If you'h refehring to what I suspect, then yes, Bell Island will likely be the next tahget of Cunimincus' hostility. At the rate the stohm is cuhrently moving, my best estimate is that Bell Island will be undeh attack in the next fouh of five days."

"Somebody should warn them," Irleen said.

"I agree," Leynne said, "but we risk a similah problem to what we might've faced on Bold Island. We've no proof."

"There's gotta be a way to stop the Smiling Gunner from reaching Bell Island," Link said with an air of frustration.

"Shoht of a head-on assault, I cannot imagine any otheh method," Leynne said.

"Then we should considah that," Dholit said. "I mean, as much as it would do history to save the Princess of Hyrule, we should considah this from a realistic standpoint."

"And what makes you think you can just take the Smiling Gunner head-on?" Irleen asked.

"True," Leynne said. "Any soht of assault would have to come from behind. Not just to avoid being in the ship's sight, but because you can only sail one way through a Sky Line."

"We're not attacking," Link said in a harsh tone. He placed his hands on his desk and stood up. "End. Of discussion."

Leynne and Dholit exchanged glances. "Well, theh is anotheh altehnative," Leynne said. "But I'm afraid it is just as unsavory."

"What's that?" Irleen asked.

"If the Undying Stohm continues to follow the Dawn Line, it will strike three moh islands before it comes back to Fohlight and Autumn Islands. Supposing we could evacuate these otheh islands and keep the refugees away from theih homes, we've essentially trapped the stohm in a cihcle."

"I don't expect that three moah evacuations will be any easiah than what we've done so fah," Dholit said. "And I cannot expect that the residents of all these islands will be happy to heah that they ah not allowed to retahn home until the threat is eliminated."

"It's a rough plan," Leynne told her. "And it all depends on whetheh Cunimincus can change Sky Lines oh not." He looked back at Link. "We still have time to wait foh the otheh captains to retuhn. We can discuss options then, if you would prefeh."

Link nodded. "We'll talk about it later," he said as he made to sit back down. Then someone knocked on the door. Or rather, the sound that they heard seemed more like the person on the other side was just holding back from pummeling his way through the door. Link froze where he was and glanced between Leynne and Dholit for a moment. Leynne and Dholit relayed his confusion to the door. Then Link said, "Come in?" The door opened.

And Captain Alfonzo, after realizing that there were other people in the room, immediately stood up to his full height. "Please excuse the intrusion," he said in a neutral tone. "I wasn't aware you had a staff meeting."

Link stood up straight as well. "We were just finishing up," he said. He indicated people with his hand as he made introductions. "Guys, this is Captain Alfonzo of the Grand Sails. Captain, this is my second-in-command Leynne and Dholit, one of my regular crew."

"Sih," Leynne replied with a polite nod.

But Dholit's head swung back and forth between Alfonzo and Link, her eyes wide. Link just cast her a confused look. She stopped and bowed to Alfonzo. "A pleasuah," she said in an amiable voice. "My Captain has mentioned you on a numbah of occasions."

"Has he now?" Alfonzo asked, casting Link a frown.

Leynne cleared his throat. "If you'll excuse me, Captain," he told Link, "I shall see to ouh inventory."

"Thank you, Leynne," Link replied. Alfonzo stepped into the cabin and moved aside so that Leynne could leave.

Dholit rounded Link's desk with a graceful glide and leaned close so that she could whisper to Link, "The game has changed, My Captain."

"Wha?" Link asked, pulling away from her. She gave him an evil grin, causing a shiver to climb his spine.

Then she turned and, with the same pace, walked to the door. "Captain," she said to Alfonzo just before stepping outside.

Alfonzo followed her with his eyes for a moment. Then he closed the door and turned to Link. "How old is that girl?" he asked, his tone confused.

"I would guess around twenty," Irleen replied as she drifted toward the middle of the room.

Alfonzo gave Link a confused frown while pointing at Irleen. "This is Irleen," Link said. "She's one of the residents of Forelight Island."

"You mean there are people living on Forelight Island?" Alfonzo asked as he approached the desk.

"There were," Irleen said, slowly falling toward Link's desk. "Now…"

"The entire population of Forelight Island is gone," Link explained to Alfonzo while he held out a hand to catch Irleen. "We don't know where yet."

"Oh," Alfonzo said, appearing a little shocked. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"We'll find them," Link said. "Even if I have to take a couple years to sail the world."

"I hope it won't come to that," Alfonzo said. "Listen, would you mind walking with me for a moment?"

Link glance down at Irleen. "I don't know…"

"It's okay, Link," Irleen said, lifting away from his hand. "I'll be all right."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on."

"All right, then," Link said. He dug into his pocket and put her translating gem on his desk. Then he stepped around the desk. "Out on deck?"

"Just what I had in mind," Alfonzo replied, moving to open the door.

The two stepped outside, and Link had to shield his eyes from the sun for a moment. When he had adjusted to the light, he closed his cabin door and walked fast to catch up to Alfonzo as he strode for the starboard side. "Hey, Dad?" he spoke up.

Alfonzo stopped next to the bulwark. He turned to Link with his arms crossed and huffed. "It's about time you called me that," he said, half a grin decorating his face.

Link scratched the back of his head. "S-sorry," he replied. "I ju—… I… didn't know if I wanted to say anything in front of Leynne or Dholit."

Alfonzo gave a frown. "Why not?"

"Wh—I don't know. It just… seemed so awkward. And… well, I kinda thought it was still under wraps."

"Keep walking," Alfonzo told him, using a finger to beckon him along. Link fell into step beside Alfonzo as they slowly walked toward the bow. "I think I know where you're coming from, boy. But, realistically, I wasn't able to keep this from the fleet captains. Or even the office staff; I'm sure some of them knew who you were. Your mom used to visit the office while I was away. While she was pregnant. I suppose the important ones to not know were most of the airmen and regular captains in the company."

"Did Captain Luke ever find out?"

Alfonzo chuckled. "I was never able to figure out if he knew or not. I know he took it easy on you, but since he was just as lenient with Line… no. No, I don't think he did. I should probably ask him some time."

"You probably will in a couple days."

"Will I?"

Link nodded. "We've been traveling with Captain Luke's ship. Captain North is also with us."

"Heh. Didn't know Captain North would ever be willing to follow a kid."

"Actually… he tried to kill us at first."

Alfonzo immediately stopped and grabbed Link's shoulder to bring him to a halt. "He what?"

"Ah—well, those weren't his original orders!" Link quickly said. "The fake princess ordered him to bring us to her. It… might've gone better if the Gelto hadn't gotten angry."

"The Gelto?"

Link indicated Biluf, Dholit, and Dubbl, who were standing near the forward capstan further ahead. "Them. They're from the surface. According to Cale, their population is composed of mostly women. Some of them wanted to join the crew while the ship was being built. Dholit… just… snuck aboard."

"A stowaway? And you didn't throw her off?"

Link sighed and let his arms flop against his thighs. "It's… It's just been happening lately."

Alfonzo raised an eyebrow. He leaned a little closer to Link and said in a lower voice, "You oughta know how to deal with this sort of thing."

"Yeah, well," Link said in a similar voice, "when your first stowaway is the Princess of Hyrule, you hesitate to put them in an empty grog barrel and drop them off at the nearest island."

Both of Alfonzo's eyebrows rose. "Are you kidding?"

"No," Link replied as he moved to stand next to the bulwark. He spun and leaned his bottom against it. "And that's kinda where all this started. The princess wanted to take a Sorian girl back to the rest of the Sorians on Forelight Island. She used the Island Sonata to get there, but she took a different ship to come back. That ship got attacked."

"By the same ship that took down the Island Sonata, right?"

Link nodded. "They used the other ship to get to Autumn Island, and then they sunk it. One of them took the place of the princess, and the rest went around to the other islands and started causing problems." Link scratched the back of his head. "And now the storm's wandering around the kingdom."

"Yeah, I thought it looked like fifty more ships tied up last night." He turned and leaned his rear on the bulwark next to Link with his arms crossed. "So what now?"

Link shrugged and rested his hands on the bulwark. "I don't know. If we do nothing, Leynne thinks that the storm will just go around—" He used one hand to draw circles in the air to illustrate. "—the Sky Line forever. But we don't know if it'll stay on the Sky Line. We could attack the ship, but we've still got a problem. Princess Zelda is still on the ship along with the crew of the Sorian ship. If we don't sink the ship, then we could just as easily kill the princess trying to save her."

"Link. There's more than one way to attack a ship."

"How?" Link asked, looking up at his father.

"Muskets. Bullets. Cannons are for putting ships in the ground. If you wanna save the ship, you kill the crew."

"Yeah, well… Cunimincus has crewmen made of metal. Literally. And you didn't see what he did to Autumn Island; he nearly blew the place apart, Dad."

Alfonzo sighed at him. "Sometimes, you just don't make things easy, Link. First off, you shouldn't be doing any of this."

"I have to. I promised Zelda I'd rescue her."

"And I'm sure having contact with the King of Hyrule has given you the chance to let him know about his daughter. Link, I'm sure you've played a big part in this. But it's time to let authority handle it. The king has his own fleet—trained professionals—who can handle this."

Link looked down at the deck. "I don't think I can. And the king already knows; he wanted me to bring her back."

Alfonzo chuckled. "Well. Sounds like you've already got a job to get to."

Link gave him a side-glance. "That was a quick change of mind."

"Hah! Well, I suppose I get a little relaxed when I don't have my ship. Speaking of which…"

Link sighed and looked over his shoulder out at the sky. "Last we knew, the Grand Sails was heading this way. But they would've run into the Undying Storm, so they probably went back to find another way. They should be in sometime today."

"What about Luke and North?"

"North went to get some help for the refugees from Castle Island. Luke went toward Sagacity Island in case the storm went that direction."

"We know it didn't. So what do we do now?"

Link turned his head to look across the deck. "Well, we can't go after the ship. We don't have any guns. Besides, they'd blow us away before we'd get close; that's how they took out the Island Sonata. Right now, we'll just have to wait until North, Luke, and Blair get back."

"Think you can talk all these captains into another evacuation?"

Link heaved a sigh. "I don't know. Maybe. But I don't know if we can do it again. How long do you think the Port can support all these people?"

Alfonzo stepped away from the bulwark. "Not long. Maybe we'll get lucky, and the storm'll decide to take another Sky Line."

"And then we'll have to find it again."

A moment of silence passed between them. Finally, Alfonzo spun on Link. "Well don't stop, boy! Keep talking. What else do we know?"

Link raked a hand through his hair as he thought. "I… don't know. I think that's it. We're in trouble no matter what we do."

"What about the storm? How is it moving?"

Link sighed again. "I don't know. Somehow, the ship inside the storm is driving it along the Dawn Line."

"And you said that the captain has been ordering his crew ashore ever since you got shot down?"

"Something like that. When the storm passed Autumn Island, he left behind a bunch of his crew. Enough that we got ambushed looking for survivors."

"What about the other airmen? You said they took the other airship back out here."

Link took in a deep breath. "The islands have these… structures under the surface. The Sorians built them to raise the islands up here. They also control the Sky Lines. Cunimincus' men… well, they were sent to the islands to mess up these structures, the technoworks. They're the reason the Sky Lines disappeared."

"Rumor has it they're back. How'd that happen?"

"While we were running from the fake princess and the rest of the Skyriders, we found out that some strange crates had been shipped around the islands. Line had sent them to smaller islands at first, but they eventually found their way to the bigger islands, where the technoworks control the Sky Lines. They shut the Sky Lines down, and I think some of them were even trying to cause the islands to fall to the surface. We went from island to island looking for them. Sagacity, Might, and Bold Islands all have the technoworks open. Once we cleared out Cunimincus' men…" Link caught the strange look on Alfonzo's face. "Uh… the captain inside the storm. Tall. Scaly. Blue. I think. Anyway, once we cleared his airmen out, we found a way to control the technoworks and restored the Sky Lines after repairing all the damage they caused."

"Now wait a minute," Alfonzo told Link before he could continue, one hand raised to cut him off. "You mean that you can control the Sky Lines?"

"You actually believe this?" Link asked, sounding shocked.

Alfonzo gave him an annoyed look. "Link, I spent the past few days trying to help people that had to run from the only storm in the sky. I'd like to think my mind's open to the possibility. But let's go back here. You can control the Sky Lines, right?"

Link dug into his pocket and pulled out the blues harp. "Yeah, with this," he said, holding it out toward Alfonzo. "Irleen says that the Sorians sometimes use instruments to control their magic, including the Sky Lines. Cunimincus' men had some Sorian airmen with them when they first shut down the Sky Lines. One of them was using this."

"You can use it? I didn't know you knew how to play an instrument."

"It's not as hard as it sounds. Remember the Sokkarokka Band? Those performers we were picking up every year and taking to Castle Island?"

"Yeah."

"They let me and Line visit during the festival. One of them showed me how to play harmonicas, including a blues harp." Link then shrugged one shoulder as he put the blues harp back in his pocket. "Not that I'm very good sometimes."

"How well can you control the Sky Lines?"

Link gave him a confused look. "I-I don't know. I've only ever restored them; I've never had to change them. It's just… nev—…" He trailed off when he not only realized what Alfonzo was alluding to, but that it was a possibility that he just might be able to pull off. "Excuse me." Alfonzo could only give his son a large grin as Link walked away.

Link burst into his cabin a moment later, surprising Irleen. "Irleen," he immediately said as she spun angry circles over his desk. "Do you know how to control the Sky Lines?"

Irleen froze in place, staring at him. Then she said, "Līnca. Līntána?"

"Li—what? Oh!" Link strode forward and grabbed the translator gem from his desk. "Sorry. Is that better?"

"Yeah," Irleen said. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah. The technoworks. You said they can make new Sky Lines, right?"

"Only if there's a new island in the right position to require a Sky Line," Irleen replied. "Otherwise, I don't think the technoworks will let you make another one on the spot. They keep the islands in position. If you just start placing Sky Lines where they don't belong, you could wind up messing that all up."

"Okay, well, what about changing a Sky Line?"

Irleen paused. "Link, what are you getting at?"

"C'mon, c'mon. Can we change a Sky Line without messing anything up?"

"I suppose. Why? What's…? Wait. Are you…?"

"That's right, Irleen," Link told her with a huge grin. "I wanna change Cunimincus' course."