Nine days came and went. All the while the great helm became more and more sluggish. Tempest was feeling the draining effect of the sphere. Magic didn't work normally here. It either surged out of control, or it didn't work at all. The magic from Cherry's magical elixer was stable, and Tempest had been drinking small quantities of it to maintain her ability with the helm. When she needed rest, the Call Maraine lay still in space. The air on the ship was growing thin, so it was necessary to drop into the atmosphere of an air world they passed. The air, while breathable, was full of dust, so for a short time the crew was prone to sneezing and coughing, which burned their throats in the increasing heat. Now the dust had settled on every surface of the ship. The Calla Maraine, normally bright blue, now looked dull, and very, very dirty.
One fact that alarmed the crew was that the decanter of endless water was only producing a small trikle of water, when normally it ran like a small well. Clearly, water was precious. Every available container on the ship was used to collect water, and someone continuously watched the decanter. It was assumed that it would eventually stop producing, so supplies had to be made while the well was still running.
At long last, the ship traveled above the world of Athas. It looked like a dead world from space. The seas appeared to be dry, and vegitation was sparce. Were it not for the few dots of light on the dark side of the planet, the trademarks of cities, one would assume that Athas was a truly dead planet.
Cherry and Bagath looked down at the planet. If the accounts were correct, Darran-Koor, the last of the Nimar, was down there somewhere, along with one part of his five-part key. They watched the planet carefully, searching for a city near a mountain chain that was called Tyr. It took nearly half a day. Yearth noticed a long mountain chain with a forest on its western face, and from between the clouds he spotted a junction point of two roads that came in from the desert.
"That's the place," Bagath said. "Tempest, travel toward that city and try to set us down in the mountains to the west. With luck we will have some shade."
"It will have to be a hard landing," Tempest called back. "I don't see any water bodies down there at all."
"Understood, just do the best you can."
"Cloak on!" Skot called.
The Calla Maraine lurched toward the planet and vanished behind its illusionary curtain. Slowly, it entered the atmosphere. The sudden heat of the planet's daylight hours hit the crew like a giant hammer. In seconds they found themselves trying to cool off by any means they could. Garments bagan to fall to the decks of the ship, sweat began to form all over ever body on the ship, and wherever possible people took whatever shade they could find. One thing they did not do was reach for water. The Calla Maraine had a good supply, and the decanter was still working, but no one knew for how long, nor did anyone know how long they would be here. Cherry hoped it would only be a few days, because whatever the result, the next few days would be unlike any challenge she or any of her crew had ever faced.
Cloaked, the Calla Maraine flew over Tyr. It looked like many other cities, but it had a sinister air about it. Something wasn't right down there. The entire skyline was dominated by a wide tower that looked like a large barrel. Around it grew a variety of small trees, and several well kept buildings rounded the foundation. Near the tower was what looked like a huge market, or perhaps an arena. And against the arena was a multi-colored pyramid like structure. This structure looked more omonous than any other in the city. The rest of the buildings appeared to be in various stages of disrepair. Clearly something was wrong with this place.
Later, after a few hours of searching, Tempest carefully landed the ship in a narrow clearing in a grove of tall trees. In the late afternoon sun the trees offered a little precious shade, which the crew took full advantage of. The heat was unbearable, and some of the less modest members of the crew spread themselves naked on the relatively cool earth near the ship.
Cherry, now stripped down to a halter top and a short skirt, sat on the aftcastle, looking at her notes. Bagath, dressed only in knee-length britches, came to meet her.
"You look great," he said with a grin.
"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied in kind. "This appears to be one of the cooler places on this world. That city appeared to be on the edge of a desert. I wonder what the weather will be like down there."
"I think we should rest here until nightfall," Bagath offered. "We can approach the city by night, when traveling should be easier. Skot estimates two night walk."
"I imagine those mountains will be filled with a variety of nasties," Cherry said. "It won't be an easy trip."
"No, but we can't risk using the Calla Maraine. Tempest had trouble maintaining the spelljamming field, and the cloak almost failed on two seperate occasions."
"Do you think anyone saw us?"
"Doubtful, but I won't swear to that."
The crew set up a simple camp, and spent the rest of the day in the shade offered by the trees and the hull of the ship. Nightfall offered only a slight drop in temperature, but there was a breeze which made things easier to deal with. Cherry, Bagath, Skot, Tempest, Djan and Gaye, all dressed for desert travel, started for the mountains.
Elsewhere, in the city of Tyr...
A mul entered a brightly lit room where a Templar sat, studying an ancient scroll. The Templar was a tall, imposing man with a bald head and hard features.
"Here are the books you requested, master," the mul said, handing them to Kelset the Templar.
"Thank you," Kelset answered in a clear, barratone voice. The mul bowed and walked out, leaving the Templar. The man walked over the the window and looked out at the city. Night was falling, but the city was still alive. Every so often a single loud voice would pierce the omonous silence of the night.
The templar looked back at the book, at a picture of a strange craft. It looked vaguely like a large fish, whose eyes appeared to be extended on two narrow booms. The word "Hammership" was written below the picture. Earlier that day he had seen something in the afternoon sky, a flying craft that looked vaguely like a sea creature. It was brief, and were it not for the psionic scrying he had been using to search for a troublesome slave wench, he would have missed the image entirely. The craft he saw didn't look like the one in the old drawing, but there were certain similarities.
These flying ships were the stuff of legends, to be told over tankards of sap wine in the seedier gathering places of the city. Kelset knew better, however. There was a time, long past, when these strange ships used to visit Athas, carrying wares from far away places. Now it would appear that one had just arrived.
Kelset was determined to find it, and make it his own.
If travel by day was dangerous because of the heat, then travel by night was equally dangerous becasue of the creatures that roamed the mountains near the Calla Maraine's forest landing sight. On several occasions, strange creatures appeared from the odd looking trees, or spring from around the rocks. Gaye said that psionic power was present everywhere, at least in small quantities. Telepathic power was so strong on this world that even the insects used it!
When the daylight returned they took shelter in a large fissure in the rocks. While the tiny shelter was free of dangerous creatures, it was not free of the heat. The plan was for one person to keep watch while the others slept in the shade of the fissure. But, whenever someone tried to sleep the heat would shake them awake again. No one spoke. No one dared to dry their mouths any more than was necessary, in an attempt to conserve what little water they had. When night fell again, they resumed their course eastward to the city of Tyr. Bagath and Djan constantly checked the crude map they had of the area, istelf assembled from a variety of scattered sources. The map proved to be reliable, however. Just before dawn they reached the summit of the mountains and saw Tyr in the distance below them. One more night's travel should bring them to the city.
The second day was spent below an overhang in the rocks. This appeared to be the enterance to a large cave. The cave could provide valueable materials - like water - but they had no time to investigate. Sleep was possible this time, because a breeze appeared to rise from the cave. In all likelyhood a very dangerous creature lived in the cave, but if one did it had no interest in the six travelers who were borrowing its doorstep.
It was late afternoon and Tempest was keeping watch. The suns rays reflected off her bronze skin like a mirror. She was wearing only a simple bodysuit that covered her torso, in a vain attempt to battle the heat. Her sweat had completly soaked the garment, and she felt like she was melting. This was a far cry from her home world, a world where winter lasted most of the year and even the warmest days were cool.
While thinking of home she spied three creatures climbing into the mountains. She whispered to the others, and rolled into the cave enterance where she could see the creatures clearly. They were large, four legged creatures. The body looked like vaguely like a bat's, while the legs looked like long, narrow stilts. A humanoid form was riding on each one. After a few minutes voices could be herd.
"If something is hiding up here it could be anywhere!" one said.
"Aye, and since we don't know exactly what we are looking for, that makes it even more difficult," another said.
"I agree," the third said, "but our mission is simply to scout around."
"For any sign of a flying boat that looks like a squid? I tell you, the master has sun-madness!"
"I couldn't agree more, but at least we can do something other than stable chores for once."
At that the three people shrugged in agreement, as the land-striding creatures carried their passengers deeper into the mountains.
The rest were awake now, and heard the exchange.
"Someone did see us," Cherry said heavily. "That changes everything."
"Their chances of finding the ship are small, and what's more the crew is guarding it," Bagath whispered.
"One thing I've learned about this world already," Cherry said, "is that nothing is exactly as it appears."
