The rest of the afternoon was spent as a leisurely cruise toward Arn Gol. Rhys stayed at the helm for several hours and enjoyed the freedom of being away from a spire once more. Oliver came up and took the night shift as the sun dipped below the horizon, letting Rhys head down to get some food and much-needed sleep.

The next day started as more of the same, with Tom taking the helm as they cruised through the sky at a decent altitude. Rhys made sure to check in with each of them, but they all seemed in good spirits, despite their encounters with the inquisition.

Lucy seemed to be the happiest of them all, but Rhys imagined that was down to the surprise visit from her uncle Lucien. Rhys still felt a little unnerved by the thought of Lucien, but they were heading back to Arn Gol; it was unlikely they’d cross paths with him again.

‘Rhys, do you have a moment,’ Oliver said, catching up to Rhys just as he was relieving Tom to take the second shift of the day. Lucy had been down for this shift initially, but Rhys had volunteered to take it. After all, taking the helm of the Endeavour was one of his favourite jobs on the ship.

Sure, it did get a little boring after a few hours, but he could never get enough of watching the sea below them. There was so much life hidden in the clouds below, skraa and striss rays just being one of the more common sights to see.

‘I can stay on for a few more minutes,’ Tom said, gesturing to the helm from where he was leaning against the bulwark and watching the clouds go past beneath them.

‘No, it's okay, Tom,’ Rhys said, stepping past him to check the compass at the helm and make sure they were on course. Operating the helm was being a lookout more than anything, thanks to the steering lock they could use. The most that he expected to do this afternoon was make some minor corrections every few hours to account for any strong winds they encountered.

‘Okay, Oliver, I’m all yours,’ Rhys said, heading over to the bulwark where Tom had been standing a minute ago.

‘Well, it’s nothing much, Captain,’ Oliver said, coming over to join him and look out into the horizon. There wasn’t much to see, a few rays here and there flying above sea level and a distant ship heading on a course parallel to their own.

‘Is there something wrong?’ Rhys asked, looking over at his cargomaster when Oliver didn’t say anything further.

‘I just wanted to say thank you, that’s all. Thank you for trusting me the way you do. It’s not something I’m used to,’ Oliver said, not meeting Rhys’s gaze as he stared blankly into the distance.

‘No need to thank me, I’ve not done anything special here,’ Rhys said, waving away the thanks absently.

‘No, just trusted me to take on the whole management of your inventory from day one and given me a fistful of sovereigns to spend from the ship’s fund without question. If you think that’s normal, be glad that you have your own ship and don’t need to work for anyone else.’ Oliver told him, shaking his head in disbelief as he finally turned around to meet Rhys’s gaze.

‘The failures of others doesn’t make my actions special,’ Rhys argued, not wanting Oliver to feel in his debt for no reason. ‘I gave you the chance to prove your worth, and you did. That’s all there is to it.’

‘Have I ever told you where I’m from?’ Oliver asked, turning away to look out into the distance again.

‘No, I don’t think you have,’ Rhys said, a little confused by the abrupt change in topic.

‘I’m from Arn Damar. Have you heard of it?’

‘In passing, I know that it’s deep in alliance territory. That’s about it.'

‘Well, the main thing to know about Arn Damar is that life is cheap. It’s the most populated spire in the whole alliance, and it shows. Arn Damar has five spires, the main one that houses the city's centre, and four smaller spires that are close enough that the city has expanded to them over time. Each spire has been excavated and hollowed at the top, a little like Arn Dukatt, but not quite so dramatic. The poorer citizens live inside the spire; some spend almost all their time inside, only coming out to board one of the mining ships.’

‘Mining ships?’ Rhys prompted, not sure where Oliver was going with this.

‘The five spires of Arn Damar are some of the tallest in the alliance; they reach hundreds of feet above the surface of the cloud sea. For a long time, no one realised that they were part of a larger forest and that those five were simply head and shoulders taller than the rest.’ Oliver’s voice had a distant quality to it as he spoke, and Rhys had a horrible feeling he knew where this was going.

‘I don’t know how many spires are actually in the forest, but there’s over two dozen, at least. Apart from the main five, the rest are all short enough that they only reach the misting. That’s nothing special on its own. I’m sure there are countless spires like that. The problem here was that the area around Arn Damar is unusually high in akast crystals. Mining them out of the main spires would only cause issues in the long run, but those shorter spires were resource-rich and unclaimed. Every day, they send skiffs of poorly-paid workers down to mine the spires, and every day, not all of them come back.’

‘What happens to them?’ Rhys asked, thinking back to when he took the Endeavour down to the very bottom of the misting. It had been a harrowing experience, one he didn’t wish on anyone.

‘Equipment failure, mining accidents, natural cave-ins, monsters. Anything and everything could happen down there, and no one cares. Life is cheap in Arn Damar. The ships they use are barely functional; they don’t even have ship cores, just some basic runes. It’s a wonder that more folk don’t die down there.’

‘Surely it can’t be worth it,’ Rhys said in disbelief, trying to get his head around the idea of just throwing bodies at the problem like that.

‘Arn Damar produces more akast crystal than any other mine. Overall, they are outweighed by every other mining operation, but they still produce a huge amount on a daily basis.’ Oliver said, looking down at his hands as he clenched them into fists. ‘That’s the work I grew up on. That’s the kind of society we live in. One that condones sacrificing the poor and the destitute rather than finding a true solution to the problem.’

‘That’s horrible,’ Rhys said, shaking his head as he realised just how different his own experience was growing up in Arn Creth.

‘It is, and one day I hope to change it. However, you need to remember that it's a dangerous world out there. I’m incredibly thankful for the trust you’ve placed in me, but you shouldn’t be so trusting with others. This is a good ship, and you’ve got a good crew, but I don’t think either Tom or Lucy are going to be able to pick out scams and manipulators.’

‘Oh, I’m not worried, I’ve got someone else I trust who will keep an eye out for me,’ Rhys said, a small smile inching onto his face as Oliver frowned and cocked his head to one side.

‘You do? I didn’t realise you were working with anyone else?’

‘I’m talking about you, Oliver,’ Rhys said, his smile growing into a grin at the exasperated look his cargomaster gave him. ‘In all seriousness, I trust you and value your advice. If you think I’ve misread a situation, please tell me.’

‘It still baffles me how you are so easy to trust me, but I owe you for all this, so I’ll do my best. For that matter, if you need to do any more subtle deliveries, let me know so I can help with that as well,’ Oliver said, giving Rhys a pointed look.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve learnt my lesson,’ Rhys said, holding his hands up in surrender. It had been a close thing when the inquisition had searched the Endeavour; Oliver’s lack of knowledge almost exposed both the valuable cargo and, potentially, Zaxx’s presence.

‘Uh huh,’ Oliver raised a brow in Rhys’s direction before shaking his head and heading for the stairs. ‘I’m going to go and get some sleep before my shift tonight. I’ll see you at dusk.’

‘See you in a bit,’ Rhys said, giving Oliver a casual wave as he went below deck.

-**-

The day passed easily. There were no big problems, no significant developments and little to mark of note. Oliver came back to relieve Rhys at the end of the day, letting him head down for some much-needed rest.

Sleep didn’t come easily to Rhys. His conversation with Oliver was playing over in his mind. The sheer lack of compassion that was being displayed by the alliance was staggering. Rhys trusted Oliver enough that he didn’t think that he was lying to him, that everything he described was actually happening.

What really got to him was the grim acceptance with which Oliver stated that some of the miners died every day. It was one thing for the companies on the spire to take advantage of the poor. It was another thing altogether to send them to their deaths knowingly.

This was eye-opening for Rhys. He’d spent his whole life secure in the knowledge that the alliance had their best interests at heart. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

Eventually, Rhys settled down enough to sleep, wondering what else he might be wrong about.

-**-

Rhys woke early the next day and gratefully grabbed the tea that Zaxx had left on the stand next to his bed. He’d not slept especially well, so he needed something to wake him up.

‘Hmm, is this schwartztee?’ Rhys asked aloud, sipping the drink with an appreciative noise.

‘It is. I saw that Mr Morgan had brought some onboard, and I know you appreciate it.’

‘Oh, thanks, Zaxx,’ Rhys said, a little surprised by the thoughtful gesture.

‘I am glad you appreciate it. Our bond grows strong.’

‘Yes, I’m sure it does,’ Rhys said, sipping his tea again before getting dressed and starting to leave the cabin before stopping and cocking his head up at the ceiling. ‘Zaxx, is there anything I can get or do for you?’

‘Further upgrade or an addition to the ship would benefit us both.’ Zaxx said in his customary whisper.

‘Yes, but what about you, specifically,’ Rhys asked, realising that Zaxx had done a lot for him recently, but not so much the other way round.

‘The growth of our bond and the ship is my main concern. Beyond that, visiting somewhere new or having new things brought onto the ship for me to examine would be pleasant.’

‘Okay, I’ll see about what we can do for both of those,’ Rhys said, nodding slowly to himself. He’d been thinking of where to go after Arn Gol, but that decided it. They’d head north, along the edge of the alliance, visiting some new spires and hopefully getting some new things for Zaxx to examine.

After all, Zaxx was just as much a part of Rhys’s crew as the others, so he deserved his own rewards.