Hall stood on the deck of the ship, looking out into the void toward spherewall. There were tales of creatures, their origins long lost, who walked along the inside of the Realmspace sphere, taking care of the portals which permit entry and egress from the flow. Hall searched for them; but to no luck. They were still several thousand miles from the wall.
It was Delta shift, early evening. Most of the crew were in their quarters or at Eveningfeast. Hall had been quiet of late. Everyone knew something was wrong, but no one wanted to bother him. Hall was always lively, fun, and relaxed. A perfect contrast to the captain. Onestar was a samurai, and therefore had an...air about him. He seemed aloof to the rest of the crew, but Hall was the one who would lift a tankard with the best of them, telling tales and spinning yarns. He was a bard, after all. One of the best.
Hall didn't see Onestar stand behind him. The samurai shared his friend's pain, and did his best to comfort him. For reasons which he could (or perhaps would) never explain, Onestar had no memory of his life for a three-year period. The best psychics could not find those years. Magics would not reveal the lost times. Onestar had a gap in his memory, but there were certain things he knew.
One of them was a cleric with fire-red hair. The two of them shared a strong bond, but now that bond, with her name, was lost forever. Onestar kept this pain inside himself. Only Hall knew the samurai's secret. The two of them had become close friends over the years. If only he could help him now.
The sphere wall came ever closer. To the right, a sudden flash of light caught the attention of both men. A portal had opened suddenly aganist the shell of the sphere. Seconds after it opened, a galley ship, it's main mast broken in two and its missenmast shattered beyond repair, entered Realmsspace. Fires, still raging from the presense of the phlogiston, burned on it's decks. The ship moved ever slower, appearing that it's helm was down.
Onestar took the spyglass from his belt and examined the ship. He studied it for a moment before crying out.
"All hands, battle stations! All hands, battle stations!"
Hall became aware of the samurai's presense and joined him. "What do you see over there?"
"No markings on the ship, but I see signaling flags saying the ship is in need of help. There was also something like a flag of surrender, but that's been ripped in half." Onestar turned to Hall. "Get down and take the helm; I need the most experienced officer on it I have."
Hall nodded and ran off. He seemed more alive now than in the past few weeks. Onestar turned and headed for the bridge. Once there, he felt the ship lurch suddenly when Hall took over. Pascal was already on the bridge, waiting for him.
"What's happening," the Arcane asked.
"There's a ship under attack..." Before Onestar could finish, a voice rang out from above them.
"Nautiloid Ho!"
Illeria, the battle wizard, quickly entered the helm room and looked at Hall, who was seated on the helm.
"You sent for me sir?" she asked, still short of breath.
"Yes," Hall answered. "Use your magic to set up a direct ESP link between myself and Li T'Sing. Split second timing will be needed here."
The black woman started to cast the spell, and the two men slowly became present in each other's mind. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Onestar was directing everyone to battle stations. The hammership was maneuvering to place itself between the crippled galleon and the nautiloid. The two ships were still several minutes away, but they seemed to be within arm's reach. Karamon Mornja, the giff weapons officer, entered the bridge.
"Weapons status?" Onestar demanded.
"The forward catapult and the two medium ballistas are ready to fire, extra ammunition is being brought up from the hold, and the aft catapult should be ready in five minutes," the giff answered.
"See if you can cut some time off the aft catapult."
"Aye sir!" The giff turned and ran out.
Blaise was quickly co-ordinating his technical crews to start trimming and running the sails. Correct timing in this respect would make the ship more maneuverable, at least for a few minutes. Without warning, a loud springing noise came from the main deck. Blaise looked out the portal and saw Zebart jumping for joy. A net had come into place, forming a canopy that covered most of the deck.
"Looks like that gnome finally did something right!" he announced.
Onestar agreed and turned to Phantom.
"Put together a boarding party in case this gets close and personal. Illeria will be standing by to dimension-door you aboard the 'naut."
Phantom turned to talk with one of the security guards, as Ville entered from the helm room.
"Captain," he called, "Hall is calling you. He says it's urgent!"
Onestar turned the bridge to Blaise as he dropped through the hatch into the helm room.
"What is it, Hall?" he asked.
"That nautiloid is moving very fast. I can't tell for sure, because the portal is causing some interference, but I think it's using a pool helm!" Hall answered.
"Wonderful," Onestar said sarcastically. "Just what we need."
"There's more! Take your scope and look just beyond the 'naut, toward the portal!"
Onestar ran to the port hole and looked. There was the nautiloid. Some of it's markings were clear now, but they did not look familiar. Beyond was the portal. Against the chaotic swirls of color, Onestar could see another ship. He lowered his scope in horror.
"By the Moons of Cartania," Hall said, "I hope that's an illithid illusion!"
"So do I," Onestar said softly, as he looked again at the illithid dreadnought that was trailing the nautiloid.
Onestar looked out through the giant illithid dreadnought out in the flow. The first Mind Flayer Ship, a nautiloid hadn't made it's way through into the sphere yet. Against the nautiloid, Onestar thought, they could defeat them easily. But a dreadnought was another matter entirely, one which the whole crew understood.
Around him, crew were calling out instructions and carrying out commands. They were well seasoned, this crew. No green dirtkickers here. Pascal was next to Onestar, using what appeared to be a modified abacus, doing some calculations.
"The Nautiloid should enter the sphere..." Pascal clicked some more beads "...in forty-five seconds."
"Then there is enough time. Ville!" Onestar turned away. Pascal's face contorted into a strange half-frown. He'd known the samurai to seemingly act first and explain later. Whatever he had planned, Pascal thought, better be good.
"Aye, captain?" Ville answered, turning away from some nearby spare crossbows.
"Ville, go down to my quarters. On the bookshelf near the door you will find an ivory box. Bring it here, but don't open it. Understood?"
"Aye!" Ville turned and headed below. Hall, linked to the ship through the Bardic Helm, heard and saw all that transpired on the ship. His voice echoed around the bridge like a spirit's, there yet not there.
"The hummingbird?" Hall asked. Onestar just nodded. Pascal, who had heard this mentioned before, seemed suddenly excited.
"Finally, I get to see this hummingbird. I've always wondered what it does."
"You will get a chance to now," Onestar answered, just as Ville returned. He held in his hands a box about the size of loaf of white bread. It had a gold latch in the front but no hinge could be seen. On the top was a etching of a golden oriental dragon, with several words inscribed in the top. Pascal, who stood a good two heads taller than the samurai (a tall man himself), could not make out the Oriental lettering.
"Shinikoko. Matusame. He-ni-mokobu. Taraq. Hi!"
Onestar muttered those words, and the latch opened of it's own accord. Inside, sitting on a bed of soft red velvet was a jade hummingbird the size of a man's fist. It's wings were out, as if it was in flight, and it's beak pointed out. Onestar took the bird and handed the box back to Ville. He stepped outside to the net-covered deck, Pascal one step behind him.
"Now what?" the arcane asked.
"How long until the Nautiloid is in the middle of the portal?" Onestar asked, stroking the back of the hummingbird's head.
"15 seconds," Pascal answered. Onestar began counting to himself. When a few seconds had passed, the samurai threw the bird into wildspace with all his might. Once it left the air envelope of the hammership, it seemed to come alive and flew straight for the portal!
"This is gonna be good," Hall's voice said, seemingly coming from a portal.
The Hummingbird flew straight toward the opening in the spherewall. From the otherside, the nautiloid passed into Realmspace. When it was halfway through the opening, the hummingbird reached the hole. Instantly, the portal closed! The nautiloid was halved by the sudden closure of the wall! Flames began to break out as the half of a ship inside Realmsspace broke apart. It's destruction was complete.
Using their spyglasses, the crew of the Eternal Wanderer saw mind flayer bodies fall into the void. Cries of joy erupted from the ship. Pascal stood behind Onestar, mouth open, staring in wonderment.
"The Hummingbird is rare," Onestar began. "It can create a temporary portal in a sphere, or it can close one instantly. The only problem is that the opening closes rather quickly, within one minute. If you have someone trailing you, then you can use it to get out of a touchy situation. Watch. The portal should open any second now.
Just as Onestar finished talking, the spherewall opened again. By now, the Eternal Wanderer was close enough to see the other side, out in the flow. The other half of the nautiloid was burning in the vapors of the flow, a lifeless wreck. Strangely, the dreadnought just sat there, not moving.
"What in the seven hells could they be waiting for," Phantom asked.
*Actually,* Estriss said, *I believe that particluar ship is abandoned.*
"What?" Pascal exclaimed.
*I recognize the markings. That particular dreadnought was reported missing some five years past. It was acting as a slave transport, taking slaves from The Grinder in Greyspace and transporting them to Illithid brethern in the Astromundi Cluster. The ship never made it, and no one knew why.*
"So we now have a mystery on our hands," Onestar commented, his eyes focusing on the wrecked ships in front of them. "Hall, get someone to relieve you on the helm. I want you up here to lead a boarding party onto that galleon."
"Aye," Hall said. His voice seemed to come from the netting covering the deck.
"Stand down from Battle stations," Onestar ordered. "All hands remain on Alert Watch. Phantom, assemble a landing party of 4, yourself included. When Hall gets up here, he's going to go over there with you. Learn what you can, check for survivors."
"I hope this isn't going to delay our visit to Krynnspace," Hall said, coming up from the hold.
"If it does, it won't be for long. We have to cut through Greyspace to get to Kyrnnspace anyway, I want to drop the Dreadnought off in a safe port and get it later."
"Why?" Pascal questioned.
"Simple. I plan to refurbish that ship, transfer everything to it, and take it for my own."
"Ahem," a voice could be heard from behind. Hall cleared his throat loudly. Onestar turned around and looked at the bard, smiling slightly.
"Of course, I mean OURS," Onestar commented. "Dramatic overacting, that's all."
Hall seemed relieved by this. He looked out into the opening into the flow, toward the dreadnought outside there. Seconds later, a hum could be heard as something entered the air envelope of the Eternal Wanderer. The jade hummingbird fluttered downward, toward Onestar outstretched hand. Once it reached him, it turned back into a jade sculpture. The samurai replaced it into the ivory chest and closed the lid.
"First thing we have to do is check for survivors," Onestar said. He walked downward to the main deck, which was still covered by the netting. The samurai stopped short of the bottom, as he looked over to the other side at a gnome working feverishly at some controls.
"Whyisn'tthisworkingThisshouldbeworking Idon'tunderstandwhyit hasn'trolledbackintoitself Itworkedperfectlyonthediagram..."
"Excuse me," the samurai yelled from the other side of the ship. The gnome, Zebart, looked over to the party waiting on a set of stairs near the deck. "Some of us would like to walk without having our legs cut by netting."
"Ohbutcaptainyouwon'tbreakyour legsonthenetting Allthatwillhappenisyou won'tbeabletostand..."
Onestar buried his face in his empty hand. It was rumored that he had a dislike for Gnomes, but the samurai kept this hidden well. Most of the time, that is.
"Blaise, perhaps you could..." Onestar began.
"Already on my way, captain." The Arcane touched a stud on his jeweled belt, and a doorway shimmered into view. At the same time, another doorway opened on the other side of the ship, right behind Zebart's Automatic Net Releasing Machine. Blaise Pascal stepped through the doorway, appearing on the other side. As the Dimension Door disappeared, Blaise stopped down, grimaced at the little Tinker Gnome, and proceeded to look at the machine. Seconds later, a loud "CLANK" could be heard and the netting rolled itself up back into place.
"Thank you, Blaise," Onestar said. He, Hall, Ville and Phantom stepped onto the main deck. Hall turned to Onestar.
"I've got a few questions," Hall began. "First, where in the seven hells do you plan to hide a Dreadnought!"
"We'll keep it in the flow. Have Grimmore prepare a spell to cloak the Dreadnought, to make it appear to look just like flotsam or just more Phlogiston."
"That's right," Hall said. "He did say he's been working on a spell that'll cloak a ship. He's been looking for a way to test it."
"We'll use the Phlogiston Anchor to keep the ship in place." Onestar commented. He thought for another second, and then spoke again. "As for the reason why we could keep it, a dreadnought is one of the most defensive ships known to wildspace. It's cargo space is unmatched, and all we have to do is convert the slave quarters to bunk rooms. We'll use our...hidden dock in Greyspace to make repairs and adjustments later."
"Ah," Hall said, understanding Onestar's comment. "I remember."
"What dock?" Phantom asked.
"We'll tell you later," Hall answered, knowing that Onestar planned not to tell anyone else of their hiding place.
"You had another question?" Onestar asked as they made their way below deck.
"What do you think the Illithids were looking for on that ship?" Hall responded.
"I don't know yet. That's what I want you to find out." Onestar turned to Hall. "Be careful. We don't..."
"'...know what's out there.' Yes, father, I've heard this speech hundreds of times before." Hall smiled. He knew Onestar was overprotective at times, and decided to kid him about it. Hall and the others turned and made their way to the shuttle, while Onestar returned to the bridge.
The crippled galleon was a total loss. If the Eternal Wanderer had not appeared, the nautiloid would have certainly destroyed it. The boarding party had discovered seventeen people, many of them injured. There were also several bodies about, both human and illithid. A burly-looking man approached Onestar...
"Captain, I'm Kiernan Mark, captain of the Mystic—or what's left of it. I'm in your debt."
"Pleased to meet you, Captain. How did you land in this mess?"
"We're merchants, en route to Selune, and we were investigating that derelict dreadnought over there. We were hoping to find some treasure aboard. I sent people over to check it out, and they told me it was just a dusty mess. We were opening the portal when that 'naut took us by surprise. They boarded us and made a real mess out of things—killed eight of my crew."
"Did your men find anything on the dreadnought?" Onestar asked.
"Not that I know of. They told me it was empty. Of course I still have two people over there, and..." Kiernan was cut off.
"You have two people on that dreadnought?" Onestar was suddenly alarmed.
"Yes, there wasn't time to get them after the nautiloid attacked. I wasn't going to leave them there, mind you."
Onestar turned around fast. "Hall, Phantom, Mornja, and you two..." he started.
"On our way," Hall said. At that Blaise opened another dimension door, this one to the dreadnought, and the five stepped through.
This was strange, Onestar thought. It sounded like the illithids had waited until Kiernan recalled his men before attacking.
"Ville," he called, "Take three guards and a skiff, and take a look at that nautiloid wreck. See if you can figure out what they were doing here."
Hall and Phantom walked through the empty halls of the dreadnought, looking for any sign of what became of her crew. There was a haunting red light in the ship, and layer of dust on every surface of the main chamber. It looked like no one had been on the ship since it vanished. Suddenly one of the security guards who accompanied them called out:
"Mr. Dargess, there are two people down here!"
"You go ahead," Hall said to Phantom, "I'll check this out." Phantom continued to look around the chamber, as Hall walked over to an opening in the floor where he could see the level below. There was the guard, along with an elf and a dwarf. They must have been Mark's missing men.
Hall looked to the pair of strangers and asked: "Did you find anything down there?"
"I'm afraid not," the elf answered. "The holds are empty, and there appear to be no bodies on board, at least in the sections we have investigated. The Command Hull is sealed."
Had some of the Illithids abandoned ship? Hall asked himself. As he looked more carefully at what used to be the pool helm, he could see a large crack at the base of the vat. He then noticed burn marks on several surfaces. This explained a few things: something ruptured the pool helm, while the ship was still in the phlogiston. This caused an explosion, the helm was destroyed, and the Illithids abandoned ship.
"Hall!" Phantom called from above, "The hailing crystal on the bridge is still working."
Hall started up the stairs to the bridge of the dreadnought, asking "Is there any more equipment up there?"
"Just some tools and navigation gauges—basic bridge equipment," he answered.
Hall nodded and started summoning his bardic magic to activate the hailing crystal. Meanwhile, back on the galleon, Blaise had three of his technicians had examined the ship.
"How's it look?" Blaise asked.
"She's finished," the dwarf answered. "The helm looks functional, but their helmsman is in jammer-shock. The crew is in no immediate danger."
Someone called Onestar to the bridge. When the samurai arrived he saw an image of Hall superimposed on the portal. Hall relayed what he and Phantom had discovered about the dreadnought.
"I also found some journals," Hall added. "This is a dialect of Illithid that I'm not familiar with, but it looks tike things were going normally. I think she was attacked. "
"I see," Onestar answered. "Is the integrity of the ship intact?"
"Aside from some minor damage, she looks fine. We are having trouble entering the command Hall, however. Mr. Mornja is working on it at the moment. The helm is a total loss, and most of the equipment is gone, but with a new helm, this big shell should move."
"Fine. I'll be on board in a moment. I'm going to have Crystal move the Wanderer along side, after we tow in this galleon. We'll use the dreadnought's main chamber as an infirmary for the crew of the galleon."
"Agreed. The slave quarters still have bunks, should some of the survivors need extensive care."
"Excellent." Onestar paused. "Do you have any clue as to why the Illithids would make no attempt to reclaim the ship?"
"Not yet. There is some evidence of a struggle. It could be that....."
Hall was interrupted by Mornja, who was calling from the bowels of the ship. Hall excused himself for a moment and ran down to where the giff was. Mornja had broken the door to the command hull, which had been barred from the inside, and now stood in one of the officer's rooms. There was an Illithid inside, clearly dead—a slash wound was on its neck—but the body had been mummified by the phlogiston. The corpse was holding a dagger, and it was stained with green blood. Hall and Phantom looked at each other for a moment, confused.
"I wonder what happened here, and why this one was left behind," Phantom said. "Too bad we couldn't ask him," he added with a laugh.
This looked like the result of a ship-wide power struggle, but that didn't explain the barren state of the main chamber. Perhaps Estress could shed some light on things. The Illithid corpse was well preserved, so perhaps an autopsy could be done. He walked back to the main deck. Onestar, Blaise, Illeria, and Estress were watching the hammership approach. The hammership had the galleon in tow, and was slowly approaching the dreadnought.
"Did you find something?" Onestar asked.
"An Illithid corpse: perfectly preserved."
Three ships, a hammership, a dreadnought, and a crippled galleon, drifted aimlessly in the flow, just outside of Realmspace. All of the wounded on the galleon had been evacuated to the dreadnought, were the Eternal Wanderer's cleric was tending to their needs. Meanwhile, in the command hull, the senior officers of the hammership were trying to solve a puzzle with several missing pieces. Unlike the rest of the dreadnought, the command hull was full of materials and bodies. Star charts, logs, and books were spread around in disarray. Ironically, the only magical item present was the remains of a series helm.
"I'm stumped," Phantom said. "They pulled all of their written materials down here, but left the magical stuff above."
"Except for this series helm," Onestar added. "This must have been their backup helm, which for some reason they moved down here. But why?"
"They could have been preparing to separate," Blaise said. "In an extreme crisis, the command hull of a dreadnought can be separated from the rest of the ship. It could be that they were trying to escape with their logs, while the rest of the ship was under attack."
In one of the officer's quarters lay the remains of another illithid. Unknown to the others, Estress was there too. He knew of one way to get some answers, and he had decided to take it. Since the body was in such good condition, the brain fluids should still be in place, along with whatever thoughts the illithid had when it died...
Above, in the main chamber, more clues were appearing. There were burn marks everywhere, like that of magical fire. While investigating a piece of furniture, one crewman discovered a beholder eyestalk.
His discovery quickly caused a commotion, and the senior officers were about to investigate when a sickly shriek came from a nearby room. Onestar and the others bolted into the corridor to see Estress writhing on the floor. After a few seconds the illithid regained his composure.
"What happened?" Blaise asked.
*The Pool Disease!* Estress exclaimed. *These illithids died from the pool disease!*
"What is this disease?"
"It was a 'biological' weapon of the beholders several centuries back," Hall answered. "They used it to break the power of the Illithid empires. "
*Yes. It starts by infesting the brain pool of immature illithids. It breeds madness and paranoia in the tadpoles, which is telepathically spread to the adults.*
"Are you in any danger?" Onestar asked, suddenly worried.
*No. I recognized the poison when I attempted to draw thoughts from the illithid in this room. I did not receive a lethal dose.*
They all went upstairs to the central chamber, and learned of the beholder stalk. Other teams from other parts of the ship came with other minor clues, and finally things started to make sense. Five years ago, a beholder ship had attacked the dreadnought. The dreadnought was boarded, and the beholders infected the pool helm, eventually destroying it. Hall looked around for a moment, then started to sing very quietly.
"What is he doing?" someone asked.
After a few minutes, the singing stopped, and Hall stood up.
"I couldn't try that until I had something to use as a reference," he said. "This ship was attacked by beholders, and they did board it. The battle was fierce and deadly; it may have run for several hours. Whatever the illithids have on those papers must have been very important to them." Hall paused and pointed out several burn marks on the walls. "The illithids won the battle, but only after the pool was infected. Eventually they went mad, and a power struggle erupted between the crew and the officers, who were held up in the command hull. Eventually one of the officers unleashed some magical fire, here in the main chamber, killing the rest of the crew and destroying the manifest."
"All of this for a set of papers?" Onestar asked, confused.
"So it appears. Before the dreadnought was repaired, the illithids in the command hull became more insane and wiped each other out. This ship has been drifting ever since."
Several hours passed, and it was now gamma shift. People were crawling all over the three ships. Onestar was a bit curious about Hall. Several hours earlier he had started to decipher the illithid ship logs, and suddenly became obsessed. He has asked Estress to help him, and for the last several hours the two had been in Hall's quarters, cross-referencing materials from the bard's extensive collection of folklore. Onestar was about to enter and demand to know what was happening when Zebart informed him that Hall wanted to see the senior officers in his quarters, and that it was important. Finally, Onestar thought. A few minutes later, Onestar, Pascal, Ville, Phantom, Estress, and Hall were all assembled in the bard's quarters. Books, maps, and scrolls were spread about in disarray, and the half-elven bard had a heavy look on his face. When everyone entered, he was looking fondly at a small wooden statue of a half-elven woman with shoulder length hair... He snapped out of it and asked Phantom to lock the door.
"What you are about to hear can never leave this room," Hall said slowly.
"What's the problem? Did you and Estress make sense of this stuff?" Onestar asked.
*Yes, and I dare say I wish we had not,* Estress conveyed.
"Look at these," Hall said, holding up two scrolls. He handed one to Onestar and the other to Blaise. Onestar recognized his as a telepathic formula—the psionic equivalent of a magical scroll. It would take a while to decipher the formula, but Onestar could tell that the psionic discipline described was a very powerful one. Blaise recognized his as a sphere chart.
"What does this do?" Onestar asked.
*It opens portals.* Estress answered.
Ville laughed. "You mean that the beholders attacked a dreadnought and unleashed a virus for a portal opener and a chart?"
"In a word, yes." Hall paused; his voice was getting heavier. "That psionic formula is designed to open portals in spheres where magic doesn't behave normally."
"Could the Illithids have been using it to enter Astromundi?" Phantom asked. "I understand that getting in and out of that sphere can be tricky."
*There are some spheres where telepathic power is used more frequently than magic. The reasons differ from sphere to sphere, but there it stands. This formula will allow entry into such a sphere.*
"A sphere on this map?" Blaise asked.
"Yes," Hall answered. He withdrew his dagger and used it as a pointer. "Here is Realmspace, where we are now. Here is Greyspace, Solaris, Geaspace, and Crystalspace." He then pointed to a sphere some distance from Crystalspace. "That is the one the illithids were interested in. These illithids had discovered not only it's location, but how to get in. They also had the means to travel inside of it: a pool helm, which is telepathically based."
Onestar suddenly frowned. He couldn't read all of the symbols on the map, but he recognized one, a dark orange circle, that sparked something unpleasant in his memory.
Blaise did the same. He recalled a legend he had heard once about a world where psionic power was supreme, and magic was very dangerous and difficult to control. Yet, it was magic that any powerful being would want to tame.
"What sphere is this?" Onestar asked quietly.
*Arathias Noiras Solis.* Estress answered. Everyone looked puzzled.
"Does this place go by another name?" Blaise asked, not certain that he wanted to hear the answer.
"Yes," Hall whispered. "Athas, World of the Darkened Sun."
Hall was going to be ill. Athas, he thought. These illithids had discovered Athas, and at least one group of beholders knew about it! How long had this secret been locked in the hold of the dreadnought, and how many people were looking for it?
The senior officers worked furiously through the night, trying to peace together a puzzle that became more bleak with each passing moment. In the end, it was discovered (through magic) that the crew of the dreadnought had kept the secret to themselves; a spy had told the beholder ship, which turned out to be simple pirates. As for the nautiloid, they had been trailing the galleon for several days, hoping to strike it in the wildspace of Realmspace. When the missing dreadnought appeared, they had to accelerate their schedule. The illithid pirates never knew what the dreadnought held.
According to the log, the dreadnought should have been near Clusterspace, but during the power struggle between the crew and the officers, the crew had hijacked the ship and taken it far off course. When the illithid nations went searching for their missing ship, they were simply looking in the wrong place. In time, they gave up, not knowing what it really carried. The seeming coincidence of all this made the officers uneasy, but no other explination could be found.
All of the illithids and beholders who originally knew about the chart were dead. Mark and his men knew nothing of it, and the senior officers of the Eternal Wanderer wanted to keep it that way. The fewer people who knew of this, the better.
Onestar ordered the dreadnought secured as planned, and called together the crew of the Wanderer to resume its course. Kiernan Mark and his crew would make it to Garden in their crumbling ship, but no farther. That was good enough for them, and they went on their way. The crew of the Wanderer wished them luck as the portal closed behind them, leaving the Eternal Wanderer alone in the flow. The dreadnought had already vanished behind its illusinary wall. Crystal took the helm and the hammership began to move toward Greyspace. Onestar was alone on the foredeck. Hall slowly came up behind him. The bard was exhausted, but he knew he would never fall asleep.
"Onestar," he said quietly, "I took the liberty of securing the illithid maps, logs, and chart in a magical locked box in my quarters. I'm not sure they should be kept in the ship's library," he said with a sarcastic grin.
"Certainly not," the samurai said. The two men paused as the hammership was caught in a flow rapid. Realmspace began to fall behind them. Onestar smiled at Hall. "I know you're in a hurry to reach Krynnspace, but..." Hall cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"If she is there, two days won't make much difference. I've been waiting for a clue for almost five years."
"Hall..." Onestar started.
"Don't say it, I know. She may not be alive, I know that. I just can't keep asking myself 'what if.' I must find out for myself." He paused. "In truth, I'll be lucky if I find a body, or a grave."
"What will you do then?"
Hall sighed heavily. "Preserve the corpse, and eventually take her home."
"Cartania?"
Hall nodded. "We're bound to pass that world some day."
The two men looked out at the flow for a moment, and their thoughts drifted back to the chart from the dreadnought.
"What if those illithids had gone there?" Onestar asked aloud. "What do you think would have happened?"
Hall thought for a moment before answering. "In the short run, probably nothing. Eventually, however, Athasian wizards would have been all over the known spheres, and there would one day be a lot more worlds like Athas." The implication of that statement was like acid to the two men. Both knew of Athas by legend only, but that was sufficient.
"My world almost went that course," Hall added. "Cooler heads prevailed at the right time, but they could have just as easily failed."
"Mmm. The Magic wars of Solaris," Onestar whispered. "Most worlds have had something like that happen to them, and usually cooler heads do prevail. But now we have access to a world where cooler heads did not prevail. A world where magic and psionics as we know them are like children's toys."
The two men watched as the colors of the flow speed past them.
"Perhaps we should destroy the star chart?" Hall asked.
"Perhaps," Onestar answered. The idea was still in their heads as they went below to resume their duties.
Hall walked throught the decks of the Eternal Wanderer toward Onestar's quarters. Ville told him that the samurai wanted to see him, but didn't say why. Onestar had been in his quarters for the past three days, but no one knew why. Hall almost stopped to check on him once, but had to rush to the foredeck. It seemed that Zebart decided he wanted to try out his new "Phlogiston Fire Balls." He was stopped before any serious damage was done. Onestar, as usual, wasn't told.
Hall was hesitant to knock on the door. He stood there for a few seconds before knocking.
"Enter," the samurai answered. His voice seemed normal.
Hall entered. The samurai's quarters were, as usual, immacualte, with the exception of a large metal box sitting on the floor, opened and strewn on the floor. Onestar sat lotus style on the floor, looking at one box in particular.
"Onestar," Hall began. "What's going on? You haven't been on the deck for days."
"Sit down, old friend," he answered. Hall closed the door and joined the warrior near the contents of the box. Among them were maps, journals, and guides. Onestar had a box in his hands, looking it over. "Take a look at this."
Onestar handed the box to Hall, whose eyes widened as he read the label. "Pirates of Wildspace?"
"It was in this chest Phantom brought over from the Dreadnought. It appears in perfect condition."
"I haven't seen one of these in ages. It's not even opened."
"Care to give it a try?" Onestar asked.
"You better believe it," Hall answered, a broad smile on his face.
Elsewhere, Pascal the Arcane was furious. His anger was so great that his face had changed from a light blue to a hot pink. He had discovered why the Nextasy device had failed: the arcane who sold him the components had supplied the wrong manual. The magical crystal that powered the device was not made of Intelite, but Motorellium. Once he realized that his manual was wrong, he was able to repair the device in no time. The Nextasy device was now in the helm room, serving as an aid to the planetary locator and the evermap. The smokey cube of crystal displayed an ever changing pattern of lines and numbers, measuring the various properties of the phlogiston outside.
When we reach a port, the arcane told himself, my financial agents will hear of this, and a law suit will be filed. Woe to the one who delivered the wrong manual. Woe to him indeed!
Meanwhile, Hall and Onestar had spent three hours taking turns with the strange game that came from the dreadnought. Pascal was able to equip the Nextasy device to operate the game, under the condition that he try it when his shift ended. After a while, the two men had sore hands from using the devices called "mice." While they took their break, a knock came from the door.
"Enter," Onestar said.
A halfling entered carrying a large serving platter. Steam came from the side, indicating that the meal was hot.
"How did you manage to prepare hot food in the flow?" Onestar asked the cook.
"Easy," the halfling answered. "Zebart modified his phlogiston fireball device to work at a very low level. It now draws the natural heat of the phlogiston and converts it into a highly contained magical fire. I assure you, nothing went amis in the kitchen. It works fine."
Onestar frowned, and Hall gave the halfling an icy look.
"OK," the halfling sighed. "There was one mishap, but Mr. Pascal was able to fix things up. At any rate, we can now prepare hot meals in the flow."
Onestar was still frowning. "Phlogiston Fireball Device?" he hissed.
Hall stopped him from exploding. "He's allready in the brig," he said.
"Where he will remain until we reach Greyspace." Onestar calmed down before asking, "What's on the menu?"
The halfling lit up and placed the platter on a low table. "This is a dish that is very popular among certain humans. We learned the recipie from a chef on the rock of Bral, a man called Mario, and it goes great with ale."
The halfling lifted the lid of the platter, to reveal a round, pie-like dish. It looked like a large, flat piece of bread covered with tomato based vegitable sauce, some kind of thin saussage, what appeared to be chopped green vegitables, and melted cheese. The smell was enticing, and the human and half-elf suddenly realized how hungry they were.
"The rest of the crew are in the galley eating pies like this one, and they LOVE it. It's called pizza."
The End.
