Zachariah and Carson stood on the dock. They had done all the trials they could think of, readied the boat for any potential failure points, and checked over any performance issues. Now they had to launch their craft into the dangerous water and hope it could carry out its mission.

They were going along as consultants and damage control in case something

unexpected happened while the boat was under.

“If things work out, we can hand this over to Lobster Bay and move on to the flying fort design,” said Zachariah.

“It should be a lot easier than building something designed to work away from air,” said Carson.

“I know,” said Zachariah. “I also hope to use it as research for trying to figure out how to fly above the sky. I need to talk to the Green Lights and try to find out if any have flown that high.”

“We’ll need to think about measuring sticks,” said Carson. “We have no idea how far away the stars in the sky are.”

“I know,” said Zachariah. “I might not be able to do this at all.”

“We can build a chart out of the steps we need,” said Carson. “That’s how we built the ferry for the island, and how we have done other things without you. The problem is you will have to show you can do it before you can earn enough to do it regularly.”

“I think it would be easier to set up a floating way station than actually trying to breach the sky itself,” said Zachariah. “We could direct any experiments we needed from there, and the Rocket would make it easy to get there from the ground.”

“It sounds more reasonable than trying to shoot directly to another planet without thinking about what’s out there,” said Carson.

“I know,” said Zachariah. He waved a hand. “How was I to know the air stops above the clouds. I never flew that high before.”

“I can’t think of anyone that has,” said Carson.

“The Lights have,” said Zachariah. “Some of them have. One told me about the wind road we found when we talked to him. They might know a lot more than what they are telling the rest of us.”

“They might already know how to build one of these boats you came up with, and other things,” said Carson. “It makes sense. They can do a lot with their magic. I expect learning strange machinery would be there with that.”

“I need to know what they know so I can build my own things,” said Zachariah. “It might make everything else we want to do that much easier.”

“I agree,” said Carson. “Would they share what they know with you?”

“I have no idea,” said Zachariah.

“We’re ready to go, gentlemen,” said Benz, as he approached from the crowd around the cradle. “If your boat survives the next step, we can send it to Lobster Bay for approval.”

“I assume you can modify the basic shape to suit your needs,” said Zachariah.

“I made some notes on what we can do to make things a little faster to produce,” said Benz. “Something like this would be in a cruiser class. I assume my government may want bigger vessels to patrol our waters.”

“How many external threats do you have to face?,” asked Carson.

“We have some giant monsters that dwell in the ocean around Lobster Castle,” said Benz. “And we have some pirates that like to use our monsters as cover for their attacks.”

“So a boat under the ocean might be a good counter for some of that,” said Carson.

“It will be a surprise for the pirates the first few times we use it against them,” said Benz.

“Are you ready to see how this works before you go home?,” asked Carson.

“It would be nice since I will have to ride home in your machine around the

continent,” said Benz.

“Be careful of the Alvas,” said Zachariah. “Also people who aren’t good in tunnels, or away from the open, would be a poor match for this.”

“I made notes and recommendations on that,” said Benz. “Pilots would not be good for this type of duty except as short term minders. They are too fond of flying to be pushed into working under the water.”

Zachariah wondered how Lobster Bay would pick such a crew for its fleet of undersea boats. He decided that was out of his hands. He had to worry about his machinists in his shop before he could worry about the other city state’s personnel.

“Let’s get on board and conduct our monster hunt,” said Zachariah. He gestured to the boat. “As soon as I am done with my part of the agreement, she’s yours to sail home.”

“Do you really think there’s something in the water?,” asked Benz.

“Something is poisoning the water, and killing the fish,” said Zachariah. “We might as well take a look around just in case there is something there we can do something about. If it clears the dead zone in this part of the harbor, that will earn the king’s respect, which will make the next projects I want to do a lot easier to do under his aegis.”

“Are you still thinking about flying above the sky?,” asked Benz.

“I have to gather a lot more information than what I have now,” said Zachariah.

“If you can make it work, send a message to me,” said Benz. “I would like to know how you did it.”

“I will be glad to,” said Zachariah. “I thought it would be easy, but now I think I don’t know anything at all.”

“It might be years before you’re ready to go,” said Benz. “I’ll look for anything in the Archive that might help you.”

“Thank you,” said Zachariah. “I would appreciate it.”

“My superiors will probably want to look at anything you find out,” said Benz. “It will be up to you how much you want to share.”

“I have to find out if conditions are survivable before I can think of how I am going to do that,” said Zachariah.

“Lobster Bay has a lot of airborne problems,” said Benz. “Anything concerning the air and sky would interest my people.”

“I can’t promise anything, but I hope to have something practical that I can use for myself, and can share with you in the future,” said Zachariah. “Let’s board and see if we can do what we built the boat to do.”

The machinists boarded the boat. They took up positions in engineering. The numbers on rollers would give them facts as Octo steered the boat through the murky depths. And engineering was the most solid space in the boat. The front of the boat could be cut off but the machine center could maybe get any survivors to the surface with the emergency controls.

Zachariah made his way forward so he could stand behind the gunner’s chair. He wanted to make sure the danger was over before they were done sailing around.

He switched on the communications speaker they had come up with to connect the gunner to the helm. He winced at the crackling coming from the listening part of the device. He imagined that all of that would get sorted out eventually.

“Try to head dead center of the Dead Zone, Octo,” Zachariah said. “That seems the best place to start our search. I think a spiral might work best from that starting point.”

“What are we looking for, Master Eight Arms?,” asked the pilot.

“I think it will be shaped like an egg, but it will be monstrous in appearance,” said Zachariah. “I hope to destroy it before it can open and spread out to land.”

“How big a target are we talking about?,” asked Octo.

“The original threat was dozens of steps tall in the middle of the city on the shore,” said Zachariah. “Festus killed it with his daemon.”

“That’s what created the harbor,” spoke up someone listening in to the talk.

“Festus’s daemon creates a giant rock to attack with,” said Zachariah. “He used three on the city to kill what had been summoned there.”

“But he didn’t kill all of it?,” asked Octo.

“Or there was more than one tower, and we only saw the edges of what was really going on,” said Zachariah.

The machinist frowned at the memories bubbling up. He and Sola would have died if they hadn’t run into Bolan. Their three daemons, but mostly Knives and Hardy, had saved them when the city had been sunk into the ocean by Festus and his dragon.

It had been a close thing for the little family, but they had come through and set up their small shop in Messer’s Reach, and then winning the Great Air Race. Now they were testing a new type of machine that could open the waters to anyone who wanted to sail the oceans.

The lights from the boat played along the bottom of the ocean. Zachariah noticed that the fish that had swam into the Dead Zone had not swam out. Stripped bones dotted the landscape below them. He frowned.

If they sprang a leak now, the crew could die before they could lift to the surface and evacuated his machine.

“Keep alert for leaks,” Zachariah said over the intercom. “The water is poisonous. Octo, we’ll have to head for the surface if some of it gets in.”

“Understood,” said the pilot.

“I think I see it,” said Nick, their gunner. “Compass says northeast.”

The boat swung in that direction. The lights swivelled to focus more of them on the sea floor. Something reflected the shine back at the boat as it descended.

Zachariah frowned. It looked like an egg made of dark flesh. Roots dug into the ground under it. A cloud of vapor drifted into the water around it.

“I’m going to say this is the target,” said Zachariah. “Octo, can you turn us in a circle to make sure we’re only dealing with one of these things.”

“Understood,” said Octo. “Executing turn now.”

The boat turned in a full circle at the slowest speed the jets could manage. The light didn’t catch any other egg in their beams. It looked like they only had to deal with the one, and then they could surface and start thinking about their next job.

“All right,” said Zachariah. “I didn’t see another one close by. Nick?”

“I didn’t either,” said the gunner. “How do you want to do this?”

“I think we should use the light cutter to try to burn the egg off instead of the Mark Twos,” said Zachariah. “They might spread the contaminate when they hit. We don’t want to spread the Dead Zone out trying to kill it.”

“All right,” said Nick. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Octo, bring us around to point northeast,” said Zachariah. “We’re going to try to burn the egg up.”

“Understood,” said Octo. “Give me the word when you need me to stop the turn.”

Zachariah and Nick watched the lighted area as the nose of the boat swung back around. Nick took the time to pull the lever to free the guns and make sure only the cutter would fire. He tested the movement of the chair, listening to the bubble turn as he pulled on the gun controls. A small x painted on the bubble covered what the weapons should be shooting at when he pulled the trigger.

He had tested the weapons and knew what they should do. This was the first time he would see them work in real conditions and he felt shivers run up his spine.

One wrong move and he could killing everyone onboard by exposing them to what was outside the boat.

“Ready to fire,” declared Nick. “Light cutter only.”

“Full stop,” said Zachariah. “We’re on target.”

Octo directed the jets to gently push down so the boat wouldn’t settle on the bottom. He expected some ground disturbance, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

“Firing cutter,” said Nick. He aimed the x at the egg as he thumbed the button for the weapons to shoot at the target.

Beams of light sliced through the water, obscuring the action as Nick kept the barrels on target as best he could while blinded by bubbles of hot water. He eased up to assess the damage after a few seconds of shooting.

“I think you hit it,” said Zachariah. “I don’t see it anymore.”

“Neither do I,” said Nick.

Something crashed against the glass of the bubble. Zachariah stumbled back, shocked that something else could be down in the dead water with them. Nick fired by reflex, shooting blindly.

“I don’t think you killed it,” said Zachariah.

“Something is growing from the bottom,” reported Octo. “I’m backing us off.”

“We hatched the thing instead of killing it,” said Nick. He shot some more into the water.

“Or it was already getting ready to hatch, and we arrived too late to stop it,” said Zachariah. “Pull the shutter release to cover your window. If we take another hit, the water will flood the compartment.”

Nick pulled the lever. Steel plates snapped down inside the window. He should be able to shoot, but he would be doing it blind.

“I’m going up to see what we’re dealing with,” said Zachariah. “We might need to use the Mark Twos after all. If there’s a leak, get out and shut the door.”

Zachariah headed for the helm to look at his enemy, and try to devise a solution.