Part 15 (2/2)

We drove our water sleds past the huge sunken s.h.i.+p and continued on to Grallion. We stayed underwater the whole way and didn't surface until we had slipped into the dock area where we had launched the skimmers.

An aquaneer was on the dock, tinkering with an engine. He saw the two of us surface and his eyes grew wide.

”Spader?” he said with. awe. ”Spader!” The guy jumped up and started yelling for joy. ”They're back! They're alive! Hobey-ho, Yenza, they're back!”

We were greeted with a hero's welcome. The aquaneers mobbed us on the docks and all but carried us topside. I got smacked on the back so much, I ended up with black and blue marks. No kidding. But I didn't care. This was great. When we got up into the sun, I took a quick look around to see there was absolutely no hint that a battle had taken place here. That's because it all happened on the water, and on the raiders' cruiser. The aquaneers took turns telling us what happened.

Just before the deadline that Zy Roder had given them for firing his guns again, Yenza quickly pa.s.sed an order to every aquaneer. She said they were to attack soon as they saw a flare fire from beneath the water. The aquaneers thought she was crazy, but they followed orders. Sure enough, they saw our flare and went after the raiders with everything they had. They sent several boats loaded with aquaneers to swarm the cruiser and caught the bad guys completely by surprise. ThePursuit'sbig guns were useless and the raiders weren't prepared for close-in fighting. Before they could rally to defend themselves, the aquaneers had boarded the cruiser and had little trouble taking command.

The only bad thing was that so many of the raiders escaped on small speedboats. Worse, their pilot, Zy Roder, had escaped as well. Yeah, Saint Dane got away. When I heard this, I glanced to Spader. I could tell that this news had tweaked him. He knew that Roder was really Saint Dane, and I'm sure he hoped to hear he had been captured. No such luck.

The aquaneers then scuttled the battle cruiser so no one could use it in anger again. While listening to them recount their victory, I split my attention between the aquaneers and Spader. I wanted to see Spader's reaction to what had happened. What I saw, I didn't like. This wasn't like the time at Grolo's where he was the center of attention, telling tales and buying everyone sn.i.g.g.e.rs. No, if Spader was happy about the victory over the raiders, he didn't show it. He listened to the group intently, then after they finished their story he gave them polite congratulations. The old Spader would have jumped up and shouted: ”Hobey-ho! n.o.body challenges Grallion! Sn.i.g.g.e.rs are on me!” But not this new Spader. This was a darker Spader, and it had me worried.

That's when I saw a welcome sight behind the group of ecstatic aquaneers. It was Uncle Press. He smiled and waved me over. I ran to him and the two of us hugged.

”You're becoming a legend around here,” he said with a chuckle. ”Next they'll be writing songs about you.”

”Trust me, I wasn't all that heroic,” I said. ”I almost bought it down there.” It sounded modest, but I meant it.

”Where have you been?” he asked.

I gave him a quick rundown on our trip to Zadaa and our meeting with Loor. I explained how Spader was getting up to speed on being a Traveler, but he wasn't handling it well. I said how his one and only concern was to get revenge on Saint Dane, and it was going to be hard to hold him back. I also told Uncle Press about the most important discovery of our trip: the symbol and the half of a map that might lead to the Lost City of Faar, as the legend referred to it. Uncle Press agreed that Faar, if it indeed existed, would be a perfect target for Saint Dane.

Spader then broke away from the celebration and joined us.

”Saint Dane got away,” he said with no emotion, though I knew he was burning up inside.

”Don't worry,” said Uncle Press. ”We'll see him again.”

I had been thinking a lot about what our next move should be, and it was as good a time as any to throw it out there.

”I think we should go to Panger City,” I said.

Spader shot me a surprised look and said, ”No. Leave my mum out of this.”

”I'm afraid your mum may already be in it,” I said, trying not to sound too harsh.

”Why? How?” Spader demanded.

”Spader's dad gave half of the map to Osa to give to Spader. That means the other half is still out there somewhere. We didn't find it with Spader's dad, so I'll bet you anything it's with Spader's mum.”

Spader reached into his pocket and pulled out the half map. Uncle Press took it and examined it.

”These numbers on top,” he said. ”They could be partial coordinates.”

Spader grabbed the map back angrily.

”I don't care about your fantasy games. Leave my mum alone.”

”You don't get it,” I said urgently. ”Maybe this whole Faar thing is a fable and we've got nothing to worry about, but if it isn't and Saint Dane is trying to find that lost city, then he'll want this map. If your mum has the other half, she's in trouble.”

This. .h.i.t Spader hard. I couldn't have shocked him more if I had thrown ice water in his face. I hated to do it, but he had to understand what was at stake here. He looked at the half map, then jammed it into his pocket.

”Yenza,” he said. ”She'll give us a boat. We can be in Panger City by nightfall.”

He took off running toward the aquaneer barracks. Uncle Press watched him run off and then said, ”He's hurting.”

”This is bad. When he finally comes face to face with Saint Dane - ”

”We'll worry about that when it happens. Right now let's get ready for a treasure hunt.”

CLOROL.

Uncle Press and I followed Spader to the far side of the aqua-neer barracks. As we got closer, we heard yelling coming from the building. ”I warned her, yes I did! I saw this coming but no one believed me!”

It was coming from Wu Yenza's office. When we peeked in the door, we saw Yenza behind a desk, looking stern, as usual. Spader stood to the back of the room, listening. All the hubba was coming from two agronomers who stood in front of Yenza's desk. They were the same man and woman I had seen outside the pilot house on Magorran shortly after the crash. They were arguing then, and they were still arguing now. At least now I had the chance to hear what it was all about. The man was a short, balding guy with an elfiike face named Ty Manoo. In another life, he could have easily gotten a gig in Santa's workshop. The guy paced, flailed his arms for emphasis, and spit when he talked.

”We set something in motion that must be stopped!” he shouted.

The woman didn't seem all that worried. Her name was Po Na.s.si. She was tall and slim with sharp features that reminded me of a sly cat. She stood with her arms folded, looking bored, as if Manoo were nothing more than an annoying kid.

”You are overreacting again,” she said while rolling her eyes.

”Overreacting!” Manoo shot back. ”There are hundreds dead on Magorran! We were attacked by raiders! What kind of reaction would you suggest?”

”What is the problem?” asked Spader.

”The problem is we caused the poisoning on Magorran,” Manoo spit out.

Whoa. New development. Uncle Press and I looked at each other and entered the office. It was time to get involved. Yenza saw us and stood up. She looked kind of fl.u.s.tered, like she was losing control of the situation and from what I saw of Yenza, she did not like to lose control.

”Spader, get your friends out of here,” she ordered.

”No,” Spader shot back. ”They're here to help us.”

”I don't want to cause a panic,” Yenza argued. ”Until we find out exactly what happened, we don't need rumors circulating.”

Uncle Press spoke to Yenza in a calm, controlled voice. ”If I may, Commander. Pendragon and I have come from a long way off because we heard there might be somea difficulty here. We won't spread rumors; we won't cause a panic. Our only goal is to help see you through this crisis.”

Yenza looked into Uncle Press's eyes, and I could see her relax. It was kind of creepy, actually. Uncle Press's soothing words had taken the fight out of her. It reminded me of the quiet way that Loor's mother, Osa, had a calming effect on people. It was almost hypnotic. I wondered if this were some kind of Traveler trick and made a mental note to ask about it later.

”They already helped save Grallion once,” Spader added. ”They're friends.”

Yenza looked us over. Finally she sat back down and said to the agronomers, ”Tell them what you told me.”

Immediately the little guy, Manoo, took over.

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