Zachariah looked at the papers pinned to his work table. He thought he had enough

for working models of his next two projects. Gold Bug could build them easily

enough. Once he had the models, he could think about gathering the materials

necessary to do the job.

Carson and his squid would be a real help in assembling things. Bolan and Knife

would be stuck doing inspections to make sure everything worked right. Gold Bug

would have to put some of the fine tuning together for them as they worked.

They might need extra hands, but he didn’t know who they recruit for this. There

weren’t that many machinists operating.

They might be able to get some people from Lobster Bay’s air corps. It was an option

they needed to look at before they went forward.

Carson could do the work of dozens of men with his daemon. When he was

concentrating on something specific, more hands meant more general work being

done that he couldn’t get to at the moment.

Zachariah didn’t think they needed that many more people, but he wanted to be sure

about things.

A knock sounded on the door. Zachariah looked up. He wasn’t expecting anyone. The

children and Carson had gone to the celebration without him. His shop had been

closed down for the race, so he didn’t think any customers would be by, and it was

later than he received customers at any rate.

He handed Gold Bug a piece of metal to chew on before he went to the door. If there

was trouble, he wanted one of them to be ready for it.

“Who’s there?,” Zachariah asked.

“It’s Campbell, Master Eight Arms,” said the ambassador to Messer’s Reach. “Can

I come inside?”

“Certainly,” said the machinist. He unlocked the door and let his visitor inside.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“That would be excellent,” said the ambassador. “Thank you. Do you have some ale?”

“Yes,” said Zachariah. “Hold on. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you,” said Campbell. He went to a visitor’s chair and settled in. Zachariah

handed him a cold bottle of ale moments later. He smiled as he took it.

“What brings you by, Ambassador?,” asked the machinist. He had some cold tea in

a cup for himself.

“I have been sent news that you are going home,” said Campbell.

“I have a temporary job in the harbor,” said Zachariah. “And I have a commission for

Lobster Bay. I am hoping to complete both of them before the next air race.”

“The commission has taken complaints that you cheated to win this year’s race,” said

Campbell.

“Really?,” said Zachariah. “The Kellers.”

“Yes,” said the ambassador. “They contend that your Rocket had to fly many times

faster than survivable by an aircrafting.”

“They are right and wrong,” said Zachariah. “A flying machine with the right shape

can fly as fast as the engine can carry it, but if the flying machine is the wrong shape,

or shoddily built, there is a chance that it might come apart if pushed hard enough.”

“I have heard that some magical craftings can also go faster than what is normally

survivable in a flying machine,” said Campbell.

“I don’t know anything about magic,” said Zachariah.

“Who does?,” said Campbell. “The survey on your flying machine matches what they

took before the race began, so you are clear.”

“That’s good,” said Zachariah. It was lucky the booster machine had broken up in the

air while they were flying to Messer’s Reach.

The fact was he had cheated to overtake the racers. The booster had been something

his partner had built, but he should have foreseen the trouble with it. The fact that

their cheating had not been discovered didn’t make it less wrong.

On the other hand, it felt satisfying paying the Kellers back for their cheating.

He would never be able to prove they had stuck the rock in the belly jet, but the list

of suspects were short, and they were the only technical people on the runway. He

had dismissed the Riordianians, Octo, and Rabbit as suspects because of their lack of

technical prowess. Sir Dormir didn’t seem to care if he won, and would have used

something else to jam the Rocket. That left the Kellers as the only ones with the

means and the motive.

He just didn’t see how they could have done it.

Maybe the monster they had could have done it while his attention was elsewhere.

“Do you plan to enter next year’s race?,” asked Campbell.

“It depends on how fast my commissions goes,” said Zachariah. “I have two big jobs

to do. I hope to have at least one done by the time the race comes up again.”

“Some of my opposite numbers are conferring with the Houses about flight routes

over the Crater Desert,” said Campbell. “The route might have to be sent further south

toward Bern.”

“Why aren’t they included in the route now?,” asked Zachariah.

“They have monster problems,” said Campbell. “They blame it on the Rheim and the

Alvas, but no one knows where these monsters are coming from, or how to stop them.

And the Bern refuse all help with what they see as an internal problem.”

“I suppose they think an invasion would happen if they took help from outside,” said

Zachariah. He realized his cup was empty. He needed some more tea.

“Probably,” said Campbell. He took a long pull from his bottle. “Would you be able

to solve their problem?”

“I don’t know,” said Zachariah. “I would have to look at it for a bit to come up with

a solution. And if it’s magic, I don’t see how I can do anything about it.”

“If it wasn’t magic?,” asked Campbell.

“Gold Bug and I could come up with a rough solution, but I wouldn’t know how

effective it would be until I actually tried to use it,” said Zachariah. “That’s a lot more

danger than I want to face.”

“I understand that,” said Campbell. “That was why I took my ambassadorship.”

“Would you like another bottle?,” said Zachariah.

“I have to be going,” said Campbell. “It was a pleasure as always.”

“I won’t be out of the city for long,” said Zachariah.

“I will ask Sourby to see that your building is still here when you get back,” said

Campbell. He stood. “Thank you for the ale.”

“It’s no problem,” said Zachariah. “As soon as my associate arrives from Lobster

Bay, we’ll be moving to a temporary shop in Riordiana.”

“Associate?,” asked Campbell.

“I have asked Carson One Thumb to help me with these two jobs,” said Zachariah.

“He’s a machinist I have worked with before on other projects.”

“I see,” said Campbell. “I’ll see you when you return.”

“Have a good night, sir,” said Zachariah.

He saw the ambassador to the door and watched as the man boarded a carriage. His

neighbors tried to not look snoopy and failed as the carriage pulled away from the

curb. He closed the door and locked it.

“I should have foreseen the Kellers calling us out for cheating,” said Zachariah. He

went to get himself another cup of tea. “They are from Lobster Bay, so they should

have some practical knowledge of the limits on flying machines.”

Gold Bug chewed through the metal he had been given. He didn’t turn his attention

to his partner while he was working.

“Did we cheat?,” asked Zachariah.

The ant finished its meal. It held the metal in reserve for something they would need

to make in the future. It could do that for a day.

“What do you think about Bern?,” said Zachariah. “Should we go down there and see

if there is something we can do about their problems?”

The ant shook its antennae. They had enough problems just trying to solve their

commissions. They didn’t need to take on other people’s problems before they had

theirs in check.

“I agree,” said Zachariah. “I would love to look at it, just to say I had a solution that

could be used, but you’re right. We have to make sure that egg isn’t in the water

before we can think about cleaning up a whole city.”

Gold Bug settled on part of a blueprint. It clacked its mandibles.

“I know,” said Zachariah. “We’ll need a bigger gravity engine for power because I

plan to have crew quarters and a small galley put in. That way we can sail for as long

as we have supplies.”

Gold Bug moved to another part of the blueprints. It waved one antenna.

“I haven’t decided on what weapons would be optimal for an undersea craft,” said

Zachariah. “Heavy insulation would be best if we use the lightning model. I am not

sure what will happen if we use the gravity gun, or the new design you came up with.

We don’t want anything that might backfire on us when we use it.”

Gold Bug clacked its mandibles.

“We will test miniature versions in the water to see what happens,” said Zachariah.

“If we can’t put them on the water version, we will definitely try them out on the

battleship for Lobster Bay.”

He doubted the Lord of Lightning had a defense against concentrated gravity, but he

was prepared to be surprised.

He wasn’t the only machinist in the world building things for people.

Zachariah finished his tea and went to make another cup. He was looking at the

biggest commissions of his life. Even splitting the fees with Carson would make him

wealthy enough where he could just invent for invention’s sake.

He could modify the battleship designs to head for the moons if he wanted after this.

How would he build it without help from a nation was something he had to put aside.

Time and money would be more than he could be expected to have for something as

big as an aerial battleship. He would have to settle for another Rocket designed for

breaching the atmosphere.

Like the underwater machine, it would have to operate without air on the outside. He

glanced at the plans for the boat. He could take the technology from that and add on

flight capability.

He didn’t know how long he sat in a daze before he heard the front door unlocking.

He looked over.

“We’re home, Da,” said Sola. She led the way into the lobby of the shop. Bolan and

Carson followed her. She had a box in her hands. “We brought some of the dinner

home with us.”

“We also brought home the cup,” said Bolan. He held up the trophy for Zachariah to

examine.

“That’s nice,” said Zachariah.

“I’m flying out in the morning,” said Carson. “Octo’s rebuilt jet handles well if I say

so myself.”

“We told Octo we would build a flying battleship for Lobster Bay if he could meet

our price,” said Bolan. “I don’t know if they will go for it.”

“We can’t worry about that,” said Zachariah. “We already have one client that is

asking for us to complete a big job for them. I had hoped that we could build both

vessels side by side, but there’s plenty of time to work out any negotiations.”

“The jet will show we can do the job, Zachariah,” said Carson.

“I’m not worried,” said Zachariah. He took the box and opened it. “Steak and

potatoes, and a slice of pie. You’re too good to me, Sola.”

He smiled as he took the box into the kitchen.