Lord Raiden

I'd like to welcome you to my story entitled "The Specimen", part 1 of the "Lost Races" trilogy. I am releasing on the internet for free under the Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Creative Commons License. I welcome people read and share this story with everyone you know. The reasons for my releasing this story free to the internet are simple. I believe in the free sharing of works, ideas, and even books. Thus I'm putting my money where my mouth is and sharing one of the many novels I've written. There is no charge to download and read this book, however, if you like what you read, I simply ask that you give a small donation to Raiden's Realm as your way of showing your appreciation.

As for why I chose this book series over my other novel series is because it's lowest on the pecking order for being published. Since it will be well over a decade before it ever hopes to have a chance of being published, and while the ideas are still fresh and crisp in my mind, I chose to release it to you, the reader, for your enjoyment. I wanted you to be able to enjoy it now without having to wait another ten years to get that chance.

Individual discussion and feedback on each chapter of the story will be available via the forums. All comments, concerns, criticism and feedback are welcome. I also will have each chapter available to you in PDF and Audio Book format (readings provided by myself and other forum members) very soon. I will release these in parallel with the written chapters I post online. And now, without further delay, I give you the prolog to "The Specimen".

Note: More about the story and a list of current chapters can be found here at my site.

================================================== =======================

PDF version
Audio book version

Miguiga lay quietly on the beach near his village and looked up at the clouds floating high overhead. It had been unusually cool that day and the wind was blowing surprisingly hard for mid summer. The other villagers had said that no storms were coming, and while the skies seemed to agree with them, the winds told a different story. He turned to the side and watched casually as several men worked furiously to secure the last of the large fishing boats on the shore to protect them from the growing waves that were pounding at the beach. He felt the warm water lap up around his feet and push sand up his pant legs, and then retreat quickly leaving several surprised crabs and a pile of sand stranded within and around his feet. The men soon finished and then quickly retreated into the village away from the shore. The waves continued to pound the beach, each one growing gradually stronger than the last. Another wave crashed onto the beach and quickly raced past his knees, retreated, and then attacked again, this time reaching up nearly to his arms.

Miguiga sat up in alarm just as another wave crashed down in front of him and marched far up the beach past him. He stood up quickly and retreated several paces as another wave raced in, surrounding him with water past his knees. It pulled his legs out from under him as it retreated. He immediately leapt to his feet again and began running away as a much larger wave crashed on the beach and charged hard and fast for the village.

Miguiga ran with all his strength as he raced between the huts of his village shouting, "The sea is attacking! The sea is attacking!"

Another much larger wave crashed ashore behind him and crushed several small huts that sat near the beach. Miguiga turned around in horror to see who had been hurt, and then realized that nobody was there. He looked around in panic, and then darted inside a nearby hut. It was empty. Completely empty.

There was no signs of clothing, or pots, or people, or anything! He felt the hut sway briefly, and then heave to the side as water sliced through the foundation like a knife. A large wall of water exploded in through the sides and tossed Miguiga around like a ragdoll. Another wall of water rushed into the hut and ripped it apart, ejecting him out a window and high into the air where he landed on top of a nearby palm tree. He quickly gathered his senses and looked for a way to get to higher ground. But before he could move, water swirled up from below him like a maelstrom and tossed him high into the air again. He splashed down in the water with a thud and was quickly pulled under. When he finally surfaced he found the seas strangely calm and the wind absent. He frantically searched in all directions from horizon to horizon, but saw no land, no boats, nor even a sign of his native island.

He treaded water for several moments, carefully contemplating what had just happened, trying desperately in his mind to make sense of it.

"Is this a dream?" he thought to himself. "No, it can't be. It feels too real."

Just then his ears heard a soft, humming sound. He looked up and was shocked to see a large, black, featureless cube hanging motionless in the sky just above him.

"What in the�" began Miguiga.

Suddenly the water below him turned into a giant whirlpool, sucking him under in seconds. He struggled intently for several moments to reach the surface, and then lost consciousness as the oxygen in his lungs ran out.

His mind swam with questions and voices as he floated in a thick blackness, punctuated with brief bursts of brilliant blue and yellow lights. He felt completely detached from his body, devoid of feelings, emotion, or sense of time. He seemed to float, suspended in the blackness, weightless and without form. And yet there was a calming warmth that seemed to surround him and fill his mind with a strange sense of peace.

"Miguiga," echoed a faint and distant voice. "Miguiga!" came the voice again, closer now, and more insistent.

Suddenly he felt a sharp repeated pain in his side. He sat bolt upright and put his hand down to his side, intercepting a small, bare foot that kicked hard at his ribcage.

"Miguiga!! Dad wants you! He needs help putting the boat away. Now stop sleeping and go help!"

Miguiga turned towards his little sister in surprise, then out towards the water, and finally up at the sky.

"Get moving or dad will punish you again!" she said, even more insistently.

"Did you see�a strange, black cube somewhere?" he asked, stuttering slightly in confused curiosity.

"You were dreaming again. Now move it! Dad needs you, now!"

Miguiga shook his head, stood to his feet, and smiled at his sister.

"Thanks squirt. You make a great dream monster," he said, playfully rubbing her head as he passed.

She screamed in frustration and turned to kick him as he ran away laughing.

"Miguiga! Come back here! That's not funny!" she said racing after him.

As the two children ran playfully down the beach, a large, black cube sat just above the water near the horizon and watched the village as it went about its daily activities.

"Did the reprogramming work?" asked a reptilian like man in a tall, wide backed chair that sat perched in the middle of a small command bridge.

A technician to his right shook his head.

"I don't know, controller. Only time will tell. But I don't foresee any problems. All the subjects so far have shown no signs of any lingering memories of their past. They should adapt well to their new homes."

The controller grunted and nodded, and then pressed a small button on a console in front of him. A square of light appeared over the console that was covered in rows of hieroglyphic like writing that looked like a series of well structured scratch marks. He pressed a corner of the square and it changed to a picture of Miguiga's face, below which was more of the same scratch like hieroglyphic letters.

"I trust your judgment on the other specimens, but this one concerns me. He was somehow missed in the initial specimen sweep of the island and was captured late. I fear that he saw too much when the island sank and may remember some of that at a later time, breaking the programming."

"If that happens, we can just reprogram him," said the technician flatly.

"No. Initial tests show that it would destroy his mind and possibly kill him if we did. They are fragile creatures and I do not want to risk damaging them."

"But if he�"

"I'm willing to take that risk. Besides, if that happens, the subsequent results should be interesting."

The technician nodded.

"As you wish. Should we now deploy our agents within their ranks to begin first hand studying of these specimens?"

The controller laughed heartily, and looking at the technician said, "You sound like we're infiltrating a rebel faction or some militant cult."

"But they are specimens and they are here to be studied," said the technician.

"Yes, true, but they're so much more than just specimens, are they not?" said the controller exuberantly.

"Yes, they are. But they're still specimens," said the technician.

The controller sighed.

"Ultimately, yes. But even so, it should be quite fascinating to see how this experiment proceeds. Creatures of such high resourcefulness and sentience are rare in the galaxy. We should learn all that we can about them."

The controller studied the image of Miguiga's face on the cube again and said, "This one especially."

__________________
My personal writing section
My Linux teaching and tech site, Raiden's Realm

Lord Raiden

PDF version
Audio book version

Keil sat on the end of a long boat dock near his village and studied the bright, starlit sky above as two meteors streaked by overhead.

"Hey, Yabos. Have you ever wondered if there's anything beyond this island?" he asked.

A young man wearing nothing more than a worn pair of swimming trunks plopped down next to him and handed him a glass of juice.

"Of course. There's all the other islands that we trade with," said Yabos.

"No, not them. I mean beyond the islands."

Yabos stared at Keil in bewilderment, his face only slightly visible in the darkness that surrounded them.

"There's only miles and miles of empty sea, and then the edge of the world beyond that," he replied.

"But there has to be more! Look at all the amazing stars in the sky! If the sky is limitless, shouldn't the sea be also?" said Keil.

Yabos shrugged. "I don't see why not. But why bother looking?"

"Because I want to see other lands, more people, bigger fish!"

"Again, why bother? You've got everything you need here," said Yabos.

Keil kicked his feet playfully, his toes tapping the water gently as waves rippled by underneath them.

"Well, I want to go out and at least try. I want to see the land beyond the end of the world. I want to see what's there."

Yabos shrugged. "Fine with me. But I'm not going."

Keil turned and looked at Yabos in surprise.

"Why not? This would be the adventure of a lifetime!"

"I don't want to get eaten by the great black fish that live out there."

Keil grinned, and then looked towards the horizon as the first of the twin moons were beginning to appear.

"Yeah, that does present a slight problem, doesn't it? But it's nothing we can't overcome."

"How?" asked Yabos bluntly.

Keil shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm sure we'll think of something."

"We? There you go including me again. What makes you think I want to be part of your crazy scheme? I kinda wanna grow old, ya'know."

"Keil! Time for bed!" came a shout from behind them.

Keil turned and saw his mother waving to him from the end of the dock.

"Coming mother!" he shouted, springing to his feet and running several paces before stopping. He turned back to Yabos and with a smile said, "Well, I'm sorry you don't want to come, but I've decided that I'm going anyways. There's something out there I want to find."

Yabos turned towards him curiously and asked, "Like what?"

Keil smiled. "You'll see."

Keil rose bright and early the next morning and hurried across the island to the far side. There was only one thing on his mind. Find Teben's machine shop. Keil knew that if he wanted to learn all there was about boat making, he'd need to talk to Teben. This was, at least in Keil's mind, because Teben knew more about boats than anyone else in the entire hundred isles. When Keil arrived, he found Teben working on a boat motor for a local fisherman. Keil asked Teben to teach him all he knew about boats. Teben agreed and began sharing with Keil a small portion of the boundless knowledge he possessed. Keil hung on Teben's every word. He scribbled pages upon pages of detailed notes, trying desperately to get as much as he could in writing for later. He already knew a lot about boats having grown up as the son of a fisherman. Yet the information that Teben shared with him seemed as fresh and new as the first day of spring. Even things he already knew. And that was saying a lot, especially for Keil.

At age three, Keil began going out to see with his dad to fish nearly every chance he got. By age nine, he had already become a highly skilled navigator and a sailor. Normally he spent every waking moment either out on the sea searching for fish with his family, or back in the docks mending nets and preparing for the next voyage. But this was the time of the great exodus, when all fish migrated to deeper waters to mate and raise their young. On these long fishing trips, only the most senior fishermen ventured out. Younger fishermen like himself were not allowed to join the hunt, as the sea grew more dangerous the farther they ventured out. There were many rumors, some new, some ancient, about gigantic black fish that would sweep in from out of nowhere and consume entire ships and their crews in one, breathtaking moment if they ventured too far out to sea. Because of this restriction, this time of the year was anticlimactic for him. But he didn't mind the time away from the fishing fleet. It gave him a chance to learn, to explore, and to travel to many of the other islands freely, something he wouldn't be able to do during the rest of the fishing season.

This was also Keil's invention time. A time when he would research, create, and invent new things all varieties. And he created a lot of things. While never having been given a formal education, Keil was no dummy. He was a self taught genius who knew and understood things adults twice his age couldn't even begin to comprehend, including things about astronomy, geology and more. He was also well versed in the ins and outs of most every boat in the hundred isles. The only skill he lacked was knowing how to build one. While the demand for boats was great in the isles, only a few small groups were allowed to actually build them, and they guarded their secrets as though they were a national treasure. Everyone that is, except Teben. While he wouldn't volunteer his knowledge to just anyone, he had no problem sharing it with people he knew. And his knowledge was formidable. Even though he was old, he was a well seasoned builder of many types of ships, both large and small, all of which were sturdy and dependable.

This is why Keil had come to talk to him today. He knew Teben would tell him all he needed to know about building a boat. Finally, after several hours of relentless questioning, Keil thanked Teben for everything he had shared, and hurried off towards his village again. He would spend the rest of the day organizing and studying his notes, getting himself as familiar as possible with everything necessary to design and build a ship. A ship that would take him beyond the end of the world. But as he ran, his ears began ringing with a strange, yet familiar sound that wandered in on the breeze. He paused and listened carefully as the wind blew softly through the trees around him. The sound slowly grew louder, and seemed to have a rhythm to it. Eventually his mind latched onto what he was hearing. A broad smile filled his face as he turned and raced back towards Teben's boat shop. A flier was coming, and he had a pretty good idea who was its pilot.

It was rare to see a flier this far out in the hundred isles. Part of this was due to Keil's home island being the most eastern island in the hundred isles, and part because most of the villagers were either fisherman, or somehow involved in or connected to the fishing trade. Hardly anyone on the island did anything that would require the special services of a flier. Yet one was coming. Keil was curious what package they were carrying and who it was for. For it to be sent by flier meant that it was either urgent, or important. If it wasn't either, it would have normally been sent by ship. Sometimes even urgent things were sent by ship if no fliers would agree to take it. If a flier wouldn't take a cargo, regardless of the fee offered to them, a shipper typically was forced to send it by swift boat instead. This was because operating a flier was expensive, and sometimes it was dangerous, depending on where they were sent. They were also a highly competitive group of individual businessmen, all competing against each other for the few jobs that were available to men of their trade. Despite being what amounted to the express mail service of the islands, fliers tended to be picky about what cargos they accepted.

They preferred the small, light weight, high paying and shorter cargo runs of the inner islands over the longer range, heavier cargos of the outer islands. The idea was that the less time you were in the air and the less fuel you burned, the more money you could make. But not everyone held to this belief. Senior pilots tended to enjoy the longer runs to the outer islands because to them, quantity was not necessarily better. Time, training and experience had taught them a myriad of ways to save fuel and time while still make a comfortable profit in the end. If Keil's guess was right, the pilot of the approaching flier was not only a well seasoned pilot, but one of the best in the entire hundred isles, despite his age.

As Keil reached the end of the dock in front of Teben's boat shop, his eyes began to scan the sky around him for signs of the incoming flier. Hearing the sound as well, Teben hobbled out of his shop and stood next to Keil on the dock.

"A flier's coming, eh?" he said.

Keil nodded, but said nothing. After several minutes of waiting, Keil began to become concerned. Normally it didn't take this long for a flier to appear once it had been heard. Yet there was no sign of it anywhere. He was just about to mention this to Teben when a slender, sleek flier body appeared suddenly over the trees at the far end of the small lagoon in front of Teben's shop. It's twin turbine powered props buzzed with excitement as they sliced effortlessly through the air. The flier dove down and came in low and fast across the water as it raced towards the dock. Suddenly its propellers growled loudly as their pitch was quickly changed from a puller to a pusher configuration. Within moments the flier seemed to come to a complete standstill, hovering awkwardly above the small lagoon as the water churned wildly below it.

Seconds later the engines and the props went silent as the ultra light aircraft plopped gracefully onto to the water below it. Keil grinned. It was definitely who he thought it was. Nobody else was crazy enough to try such a maneuver. The props soon spun to a halt and everything around them became deathly silent. The pilot climbed out of the cockpit and tossed a mooring rope to Teben who quickly pulled the small aircraft in close to the dock, and then tied it off on a nearby post.

"Hello grandpa Seis. What brings you here today?" asked Keil as he tried to hide the glee he was feeling at seeing his grandpa again.

The old man straightened his disheveled white hair and grinned at Keil.

"Just here to deliver a package," he said.

He reached onto the floor of the cockpit, picked up a small package and a clipboard, and handed it to Teben.

"You know the drill," he said half chidingly.

Teben chuckled. "If I've forgotten how to do something as simple as this, then it's probably time for me to retire, isn't it?" he replied with a hint of playful sarcasm.

Seis looked at Keil and smiled. "So what brings you down here today?" he asked.

Teben pointed at Keil and said, "He's been picking my brains all morning. If he keeps this up, I'm going to have to start charging him by the hour."

Seis chuckled and ruffled Keil's hair affectionately.

"He always was one who loved to learn. I kind of regret not bringing him to the guild of scholars at a young age. He might have become a great philosopher."

"What? Keil? Nah. He makes a better fisherman than a philosopher. Besides, while he may be smart, it's best that he uses that great mind of his to help us improve the fish harvest," said Teben.

"Fish harvest? Nah, that's a job for someone else," said Keil.

Teben curiously rolled the package over in his hands and said, "So what did you bring me today?"

"I don't know. But it comes from the supreme chief," said Seis.

Teben looked at Seis in surprise, and then quickly read the note attached to the package.

"Oh dear. This is quite a request. Why would the supreme chief ask me to do something like this?" he said.

Seis shrugged. "I don't know. I just deliver the packages. You'd have to ask him yourself."

Teben blinked. "Me? Question the supreme chief? I'd have to be mad to do something like that." He turned to Keil and said, "Excuse me. I need to get to work on this right away." He turned and hurried away to his shop.

"That's quite an honor being picked by the supreme chief to do something, isn't it?" said Keil.

Seis nodded, but said nothing. Keil studied his grandpa intently, and then noticed something. He grinned slyly.

"Uh, grandpa Seis? That package isn't from the supreme chief, is it?" he asked.

Seis eyed Keil and grinned slyly. "You're just as sharp as ever I see. You are correct. That the package is not from the supreme chief. It's actually from uncle Oden."

"Then if it's from him, why did you lie and say it was from the supreme chief?" asked Keil.

"Because of three reasons. The first is that Teben won't do anything for uncle Oden. Second, Teben owes me a favor. Third, I owe uncle Oden a favor. So I'm doing this in order to settle two favors. One owed to me, and one owed to your uncle."

"Well, that's certainly one way to do it."

Seis nodded. "It is."

"But doesn't this little favor cost you a lot of fuel?"

Seis shook his head. "Not at all. I had to be out this way for a delivery anyways. So this is just a small jog off my route."

Keil nodded. "Well, that was certainly convenient."

Seis nodded in return. "It was. So tell me. Teben said you were down here talking his ears off today. What exactly were you talking about?"

"I'm looking at building a boat or two," said Keil.

"A boat? Didn't you already build a boat?" said Seis.

"Nope. Just a wave glider."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Keil shook his head. "Not really. A wave glider is just a surfboard with a sail. While it could be classified as a boat, it doesn't have anything close to a traditional boat design."

"And you want to build a more traditionally designed boat," said Seis.

Keil nodded. Seis cocked his eyebrows in interest. "It's certainly an interesting project. Just be careful while you're working on it."

Keil grinned. "I haven't even designed it yet. That's why I was here talking to Teben. I needed to learn how to properly design and build a boat first before ever starting on the project."

Seis nodded approvingly. "A wise idea, I must say."

Keil nodded. Just then, a thought crossed his mind. "Grandpa, can you teach me about fliers?"

Seis cocked his head in surprise. "What brought that up? We were talking about boats just a moment ago," he said.

Keil blushed slightly. "Sorry, my mind works like that."

"So why do you want to learn about fliers?"

"Because they're just like boats. Well, somewhat like them anyways. Fliers can land on water, and they can float. So I was curious about them."

Seis shrugged. "I don't see why not. However, I suspect that your reasons go beyond the flier's ability to land on water, and extend into some�anterior motives of yours," said Seis, half accusingly.

"Not really," said Keil. "Well, it's for a project of yours, isn't it?"

Keil shrugged. "It is. But it's nothing you'd be interested in."

Seis grinned slyly. "Try me."

But before Keil could say anything, Teben appeared again holding a small white box under his arm. He handed it to Seis and said, "You're all set. I hope the supreme chief is happy."

Seis nodded gratefully. "Thank you. How much does my client owe you?"

Teben waved his hands in mock protest. "Nothing! Nothing at all!"

Seis raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Is that alright?"

"It's for the supreme chief! Please, take it with my blessings. No charge at all," said Teben insistently.

Seis nodded. "You will be honored."

Teben nodded. "I am already honored just by having this opportunity."

"Well, I must be off. I need to return this to the central island before noon. Would you come and untie me from the dock?" said Seis.

"Of course!" shouted Teben with joy.

"Do you have enough room in your flier for me too?" asked Keil.

Seis nodded. "I do, but why would you want to come along? I can teach you about fliers some other day."

"Well, I just figured I'd spend some time with you. I don't get to see you much."

Seis grinned. He knew that Keil likely had other reasons, but he didn't see the harm in letting him come along.

"Alright, you can come," he said.

Keil cheered and then jumped in the passengers seat of the flier. Seis then climbed in after him and waited as Teben released the small rope from the dock and tossed it to Seis before retreating a safe distance away. Seis checked his fuel and power gauges, did a quick preflight check, and then leaned out of the cockpit and gave the flier a gentle push away from the dock. The small craft bobbed slightly in the water on its thin rail like pontoons as it drifted slowly away from the dock. Moments later Keil heard the whine of the twin turbines as they struggled to start up. After a few moments the engines roared to life and the props immediately began to growl in anticipation. Seis snapped his harness in place, put on his flight helmet, and closed the door. Keil watched in wonder as the small flier slowly turned around and began creeping out across the lagoon. Suddenly, to Keil's surprise, the flier lurched rapidly forward as Seis pushed the engines to full power and adjusted the pitch of the blades to bite hard into the air. Keil felt his body pressed hard against the seat as the spindly little aircraft quickly got up to speed and climbed gracefully out of the water like an angry dragonfly.

For nearly a minute the little flier gained altitude with impunity before slowing suddenly and nosing over. Keil found himself slammed forward against his harness for a moment before a brief sensation of weightlessness overtook him. He quickly shook off the effects, and then noticed that the engines had gone almost completely silent, save for a soft growl that issued from the propellers.

"So, did you enjoy takeoff?" asked Seis.

Keil nodded. "That was great! I loved it!" he shouted with excitement.

Seis grinned. "I thought you would."

"Grandpa? How far can one of these fly?" asked Keil.

"About a hundred miles on a good day. Two hundred if I add an extra fuel tank in place of the passenger's seat." Seis then chuckled loudly as Keil frowned and muttered to himself. "You weren't hoping to fly one of these to the end of the world, were you?"

Keil shrugged. "It was a thought."

Seis shook his head. "Only the bravest of pilots will go out over the sea. Winds out there can be very unpredictable. So don't ever consider it unless it's an emergency."

Keil nodded. They sat in silence for the rest of the flight as Keil looked down at the other islands in awe. As they drew close to Seis's home island, the flier banked slightly to the right and descended towards a short stretch of hard packed dirt in the middle of the island.

"That's where we're going," he said.

"We're going to land in the dirt?" asked Keil in surprise.

Seis nodded. "The fliers can land on more than just water."

Keil blinked in surprise. That was something he didn't know and it made him even more curious to learn about them. The flier banked to the right one more time, and then slowly began to descend. The flier bobbed uneasily from side to side as rising warm air currents buffeted it from below.

__________________
My personal writing section
My Linux teaching and tech site, Raiden's Realm

Lord Raiden

PDF version
Audio book version

Keil felt his stomach churn in rhythm with the oscillations of the flier. It made him wish he had skipped breakfast. He heard a thumping sound and noticed that his grandpa was franticly pumping a long metallic handle as he tried to guide the flier in on its final approach.

"Is something wrong?" asked Keil.

Seis shook his head and pointed to the pontoons. "Landing gear!" he replied.

"Why are you lowering them manually?"

"Because I don't have any hydraulic pumps. I had to sacrifice them to save on weight."

Keil looked curiously at the pontoons and noticed small rubber wheels extending out from them. He then glanced back at his grandpa and wondered how saving a few pounds could justify the extra work it created. He shrugged.

"Well, grandpa knows best," he thought.

As soon he was able to get the wheels locked in place, Seis pulled back slightly on the throttle and adjusted the props to slow the flier. He gently eased the flier down and then lifted the nose a little as they swooped in low over the ground. They bounced slightly as the wheels touched the ground. Within moments the flier was taxiing off the runway and over to a nearby hanger just a few hundred yards away. As soon as the props stopped spinning, Seis signaled to Keil that it was safe to leave the aircraft.

Keil quickly climbed out and studied the small, secluded airfield with curiosity. As he did, he noticed a short, plump man waddling over towards them.

"Hi uncle Oden!" said Keil as he waved at the man.

The man waved back. "Hey there," he said in a thick, gruff voice. He waddled up to Seis and asked, "Did you get my part fixed?"

Seis pulled the small white box out of his cargo bag and shoved it into Oden's hands. "Favor repaid," he said with a hint of disgust.

Oden's eyes grew wide as he opened the box. "This is like brand new!" he exclaimed.

"It is brand new," said Seis flatly.

"How'd you do that?" asked Oden. Seis ignored him. Oden waved at him dismissively. "Well, nevermind. The favor is much appreciated. I must be off now. It was nice seeing you again, Keil."

"Nice seeing you too uncle Oden!"

Oden turned and waddled over towards a small sedan. A man standing nearby helped him inside, climbed into the drivers seat, and then drove away. Seis frowned.

"That man's so crooked, they could use him as a corkscrew."

"I didn't think that uncle Oden was crooked. A little plump maybe, but certainly not crooked," said Keil.

Seis gave a slight shake of his head, and then burst out laughing. Keil didn't know what his grandpa was laughing about, but didn't bother to ask. After Seis regained his composure, the two of them worked together to put the flier in the hanger. They then spent the rest of the afternoon talking about fliers, how they flew, how the engines worked, and anything else about them Keil could think of. When Seis ran out of answers, he offered to fly Keil to the central library where he could do as much research as he wanted. Keil agreed. Later that day he went down to a nearby communication center and sent a short message to his mother stating that he would be staying the night with his grandpa and not to wait up for him.

The next morning the two awoke early, unpacked the flier, fueled it, and then flew to the central islands where Keil spent some time in the central library while Seis took care of some other business. He picked through every book about fliers and flying that he could find, eventually picking four of them he wanted to take with him. He meet up with his grandpa for lunch and talked about what he had learned. Seis listened with quaint interest and answered nearly every question Keil threw at him. They spent several more hours together fishing before Seis flew Keil back home just before dark. Keil thanked his grandpa for the time they had spent together, and then rushed back to his room. Over the next several days he read the four books he had checked out over and over again until he had nearly memorized their contents. Feeling he finally understood everything he could, he pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen and began designing a boat to take him to the end of the world.

Yabos sat at a table on his porch and sipped his morning coffee. Waves crashed gently on the shoreline as the smell of the sea filled the air. He heard the sounds of someone running, and looked to his right to see Keil approaching him with a bundle of papers in his hand. Yabos raised an eyebrow in intrigued interest. Keil stumbled onto the porch, tossed the papers on the table, and then spread them out so Yabos could read them.

"What's this?" asked Yabos.

"I'm designing a boat that will take me to the end of the world!" exclaimed Keil. Yabos looked curiously at the hand drawn pictures and shrugged.

"Looks more like a bar of soap with legs to me," he said.

Keil scratched his head as he studied the drawings. "I guess it does in a way."

"What do you plan to do with this thing? Float high and hope the great black fish doesn't eat you?"

Keil shrugged. "Well, kinda. The faster it goes, and the higher it sits, the less chance I have of being eaten. At least that's the theory anyways. I got part of the idea from talking to my grandpa Seis. I was going to build a flier and use it to reach the end of the world. Problem is, they don't have the range I need. So I ended up with this."

"Ah, I see. And just when were you planning on building this thing? The fish are returning to the shallows already, which means we'll be out on the boats again soon."

Keil shrugged. "I know, but we've got time. We can work on it during the days when we not out fishing."

Yabos shook his head and looked at the plans again. "Aren't you going to start by building a model first?"

Keil nodded. "We are. We'd be silly not to."

Yabos narrowed his eyes as he stared at Keil. "We? Why am I being drawn into this? I've taken part in plenty of your experiments before and I can still feel a few of them," he said rubbing his right arm.

"Because you can get me stuff. Things I need for my experiments."

"You do realize that I'm not a bottomless pit of parts and supplies, right?," said Yabos.

"I know. But you're the best acquisition expert on the island. Nobody else can get me the stuff you can. Besides, I've got enough money to pay for everything we need."

Yabos shook his head. "That's not it. Acquisition of supplies is not as easy as you seem to think it is. I certainly have a lot of connections, and can pretty much get you whatever you want, but some of the things you ask me for tend to draw some very unwanted attention from the authorities. That's something I'd like to avoid at all costs if possible. On top of that, even if I do get the things you want, getting them back here is always a problem. Unless you know of someone who can be a special courier, most of the things you'll want will likely be off limits to us."

Keil nodded. "My grandpa Seis is a flier. He could courier the stuff for us."

Yabos cocked an eyebrow in consternation. "Knowing you, most of the stuff you'll want will be too big for a flier."

Keil shrugged. "I'm sure we can find a way around that."

Yabos sighed. "Well, that's not all. There's also the matter of patience. You never seem to have enough of it."

"I don't think patience will be a problem for me. Fishing is going to take up a lot of our time soon. So I'll have to be patient."

Yabos smirked. "That remains to be seen."

Keil nodded. "Trust me, I will. Now as for the parts we'll need, we simply order them sometime during our busy periods, and then wait for them to arrive. Then when we get some freetime again, we start working on the project."

Yabos nodded. "Yeah, and there also comes the other little matter of figuring out what we need to have shipped in and what we can find here."

Keil grinned widely. Yabos' eyes narrowed.

"Don't tell me you've already figured that out."

Keil nodded. Yabos threw up his hands in a mock expression of frustration.

"But of course. Why should I have expected anything less?"

"I'm also bringing Sager into my project."

Yabos did a double take. "Him? Why?"

Keil shrugged. "Why not? He's pretty much a walking library of knowledge."

"And he's also arrogant and condescending," said Yabos snidely.

Keil shrugged. "I get along just fine with him."

"You do, but not me. He acts like he's a god or something when I'm around him," snapped Yabos.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that. He does have an odd way of relating to people for certain, but he's alright for the most part. At least let him be part of the group. We could really use his knowledge and expertise."

Yabos shrugged. "It's your group. Do what you want."

Keil shook his head. "No. It's our group. We've been friends for a long time and I couldn't consider this group as mine, or yours or belonging to anyone for that matter. It's a team effort, therefore it belongs to all of us."

He held out his hand to Yabos and smiled. "Partners?"

Yabos crossed his arms and probed Keil with his eyes for several moments. Finally he sighed and said, "Why do I have this feeling that I'm going to regret this?"

Keil shrugged. Yabos finally nodded and shook Keil's hand.

"Alright, partners."

Keil smiled.

"So, since we're starting with a prototype first, what are you planning on building it out of?" asked Yabos.

"Might I suggest float wood?" came a voice from behind them.

The two boys turned to see Sager standing next to the porch.

"What are you doing here?" asked Keil.

Yabos crossed his arms and glared at Sager. Sager gave a slight nod to Yabos, and then handed several sheets of paper to Keil.

"All my calculations are there. Given all currently known variables, I've estimated the total distance you'll need to travel to reach the end of the world. The only problem to solve after that is how you're going to get back home one you're there."

"I see you were spying on us again," said Yabos.

Sager cocked an eyebrow and said, "It's hardly spying when you two talk like a pair of bullhorns. Besides, Keil's recent change of interests peaked my curiosity. Hence why I was, ‘spying' on you, as you say."

"That doesn't explain why you already have all the calculations completed for the boat," said Yabos.

"I hardly have them all completed. What I gave Keil was only a few minutes worth of work. I wrote them down while listening to both of you discussing this. If you would like, I can put more effort into making the calculations more specific to the project."

Keil waved at Sager dismissingly. "Not yet Sager. Let's get the design ironed out first," he said.

Sager nodded. "As you wish. And speaking of designs, how exactly were you planning on getting to the end of the world?"

Keil held up his drawings. "With this!"

Sager studied it for a few moments and nodded. "A hydrofoil boat. It's an intriguing design, but hardly practical, given the dangers that exist out there."

"Well, I had thought about flying, but that won't work either," said Keil.

"A flying boat? Hmm, that could be an interesting way to avoid the issues you'd encounter trying to get past the great black fish. That is, of course, assuming you can carry enough fuel and we can build a sturdy enough airframe for the craft."

Yabos crossed his arms and smirked at Sager. "So, we've moved from boats to fliers then, eh?"

Sager nodded. "For the moment."

Keil looked at his plans and said, "Hmm. Then I'll probably have to redesign my ship again, won't I?"

Sager nodded. "Would you like me to submit some ideas of my own to you? If nothing else, they'll give you a slightly different perspective on your project," said Sager.

Keil nodded. "That would be good. The more ideas we have, the faster this project may go."

"Then I will begin immediately," said Sager. He then excused himself and headed back to his house.

"I think I'll be heading out as well," said Keil as he scooped up his plans. "Can you start getting supplies for us?"

Yabos shrugged. "What do you need specifically?"

Keil quickly wrote down a short list of things and handed it to Yabos who read it and whistled in surprise as he scratched his head in thought.

"That's quite a list. You sure you need all this?"

Keil nodded.

"Alright, I'll do my best. But I'll need cash up front before I start," said Yabos.

Keil thrust a small wad of bills into Yabos' hand. "This should cover everything on that list with some money to spare. If we need more, I'll have to wait till dad pays me again," said Keil.

Yabos studied the wad of bills, and then grew wide eyed when he realized how much was there. "Where'd you get this??" he exclaimed.

Keil smiled. "Remember all those experiments I had stored in the shed?"

"You mean the ones that didn't blow up or catch fire? Yeah, what about them?"

Keil grinned widely. Yabos chuckled.

"Ah, ok. I wondered where they went. So, how soon do you need these items?"

"Can you get them to me by next Saturday?" asked Keil.

Yabos shrugged. "Not sure. But I'll try. Can't promise you anything."

"Well, do whatever you can. And thanks for helping out. I owe you one," said Keil.

Yabos grinned. "Eh, don't worry about it. I've got it covered," he said as he slipped the wad of bills into his pocket.

The two then said their goodbyes as Keil headed off to his house to rethink his design a bit more. As Keil vanished into the distance, Yabos studied the list again and scratched his head.

"He never makes it easy, does he?"

The next day, Keil headed down to the docks to meet his dad and uncle as they came in from the day's fishing. As their boat pulled up to the pier, Keil waved to his dad, and then caught the rear mooring line of the boat as it was tossed to him. He quickly tied it to a mooring post as his uncle Norban stepped off the bow and did the same.

"How was the catch today?" asked Keil.

His dad shook his head. "Decent. Not the best, but decent. We thought the fish were coming in already so we moved closer to shore and ran there all day. What we got was certainly not indicative of the main brood."

Two cargo trucks and a small portable crane drove down the dock and stopped next to the boat.

"Hey Jome, unloaded your cargo yet?" asked a scruffy middle aged man as he stepped out of the cab.

"Not yet. Our fish hold is only half full today, so I don't know if it's worth you unloading us," said Keil's dad.

The man chuckled. "You're doing better than some others I've heard about today. Some didn't catch anything."

Jome nodded. "The pickings are still slim."

The man shrugged. "Well, fish is fish and anything we bring in will still make us a little money."

He turned and waved at the crane operator who drove the crane forward and up to the boat. Jome and Norban pulled the locks on the large metal fish tank in the center of their boat, and then connected the crane's hooks to the lifting anchors on the sides of the tank. The crane quickly latched on, and then groaned as it lifted the heavy fish tank out of the boat and over to one of the waiting trucks. The truck driver steadied the tank, and then pulled the release handle on the bottom. A pair of doors popped open and a torrent of fish, water and seaweed poured out of the bottom. The truck creaked under the weight. As soon as the tank was empty, the driver closed the doors, and then signaled to the crane operator to take it away. The tank swung around much easier this time and was quickly dropped back into place on the boat. Jome and Norban quickly detached the crane hooks and secured the tank. The crane then turned and moved farther down the dock to the next boat waiting to be unloaded.

One of the men on the dock read a small weight gauge on the side of the truck, and then pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket and paid Jome.

"It's not a lot, but this should at least pay for your gas for today," said the man.

Jome sighed. It was less than he had hoped for, but at least they had broke even for the day. The man thanked him for the fish, climbed into the lead truck, and then headed down the dock to where the crane was already waiting to unload the next fish tank.

"How much did we make?" asked Norban. Jome grunted.

"Enough to pay for our fuel and some supplies, but not much else."

"I was afraid of that. If it keeps going like this, we'll be back to fishing with the sail skiff again," said Norban.

"Well, we'll worry about that when the time comes. For now let's just tidy up and go home."

Norban shrugged. "Fine by me," he said. He rubbed the thick, sun bleached seaman's beard that hung from his cliff like chin, giant cheekbones and dark, suntanned skin. He wore a thin, sleeveless shirt and battered work pants that were covered in seaweed and fish scales. Small patches of dark, sun drenched flesh peaked through the myriad of holes that covered his pants.

Jome on the other hand wore a thicker short sleeve knitted work shirt and heavy canvas pants over which hung a thick leather apron he used to protect himself and his cloths from the same things that had ravaged Norban's cloths. Keil helped his dad and uncle tidy up the boat, stow their gear, and pull the nets off the boat to dry for the night. When all of the work was completed, Jome pulled the wad of money out of his pocket and began to split it between himself and Norban. It was the usual ritual each night after they had been paid for the day's haul. Jome ran his fishing business as a partnership with his older brother Norban, both of which had equal stakes in each of the two boats they used and all money they made or lost.

"Hey, Norban. What do you want to do with your half from today?" asked Jome.

Norban turned and said, "Put it in the tank. We need the fuel more than I need the money," he said.

Jome nodded and pocketed the money. He then turned to Keil and said, "Thanks for helping us close down for today. Did you just come to help, or did you want something from me?"

"Can I go out on the boat with you tomorrow?" asked Keil.

Jome raised an eyebrow in interest. "Why are you in such a hurry to get back on the boat? I thought you'd enjoy the time off."

"I do, but I miss fishing with you and uncle Norban. Besides, it's getting boring around here," said Keil.

Jome peered at Keil out of the corner of his eye, as though probing for a bigger reason, but saw nothing obvious. "We're still having to fish too close to the barrier for you to be on the boat," he said.

"Dad, I'm almost nineteen. I'm nearly a man."

"And you're still my son. I don't want you on my ship until we're closer to shore."

__________________
My personal writing section
My Linux teaching and tech site, Raiden's Realm

Lord Raiden

(chapter 2 cont)
Keil started to protest this, and then stopped. He knew how stubborn his dad could be and realized that he wasn't going to change his father's mind, so he dropped the subject. He would pick it up again later when his dad was more pliable. He really didn't want to go back out fishing, as he was enjoying his time at home away from the sea, but he knew that the best chance to study the waters farther out from the island was to go fishing again with his dad and uncle. While he knew the waters out near the barrier well enough to navigate them proficiently, he had never really studied them in depth. Anything he could learn out there would come in handy when he made his trip. The two soon locked up for the night and headed home. As they drew near to their house in the dimming evening twilight, Jome suddenly stopped in his tracks and lowered his head. He sighed deeply, and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"You really want to go out with us again, don't you?" he asked.

"Where'd that come from?" thought Keil. He nodded.

"Alright, then you can come fishing with us again if you really want."

Keil jumped and shouted for joy, and then gave his dad a giant hug.

"Thanks dad!" he exclaimed.

Jome smiled. "Just remember one thing. If things start getting too dangerous out there, I'm sending you back to shore. Understand?"

Keil nodded and then hugged his dad again. "Thanks dad! I love you!"

Jome smiled and stared at Keil in curious interest. "How come you're so suddenly interested in fishing again. You never seemed to like it before?"

Keil shrugged. "I guess I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it until this year."

Jome's lips curled up in a knowing smile, but said nothing. He had heard about many of his son's inventions, both those that were successful, and those that weren't. While he suspected that this was just an attempt to provide a platform for yet another experiment, he didn't question his son's sudden interest in fishing. If anything, it might have the welcome benefit of convincing Keil's younger brothers to take up the fishing business as well. The two then walked the rest of the way home, had a hearty dinner, talked on the porch for a while, and then headed to bed for the night.

__________________
My personal writing section
My Linux teaching and tech site, Raiden's Realm

Lord Raiden

PDF version
Audio book version

Keil and Jome rose early the next morning, ate breakfast, and headed down to the docks to start their day. Like clockwork they meet Norban by the boat just as the sun was breaking the horizon. They quickly loaded their supplies for the day, fueled the boat, readied the nets, and then cast off. Norban steered the boat through the dim gloominess of morning as they made their way out of the harbor. This was normal routine for Keil and his family, leaving the harbor at or just before dawn, long before most of the other fishermen had even stirred. To them, leaving so early in the morning, and coming in late in the evening, meant that they would get much more time on the water each day to fish than anyone else. And the more time they spent on the water, the more fish they brought in, and thus the more money they made.

Reaching their destination a few hours later, Norban slowed the boat to a gentle crawl as Jome and Keil let out the net on its long string of buoys until it was fully extended. Once it was fully deployed, Norban gently throttled up the engines and began making sweeping patterns back and forth across the water like a farmer plowing rows. While they waited for the nets to fill up, Keil sat on the bow of the ship and took a long series of detailed notes on a large pad of paper. He recorded water temperature, wave heights, and everything he could see and measure around him. Jome smiled as he watched his son scribbling away.

"What's he doing?" asked Norban.

"Something for a project of his, I suspect."

"A project? You mean another one of his inventions?" asked Norban with a slight expression of surprise.

Jome nodded. "Most likely."

Norban shrugged and said, "Well, I guess you can't say much. At least he's making good use of his mind."

Jome smiled and nodded. Just then he heard a distant, shrill whistle, and then a pop. Both men looked over the starboard side of the boat and saw a small puff of smoke in the distance against the otherwise clear sky.

"What in the world..." said Jome as he pulled his large binoculars out of their carrying case.

Keil raised his head in curiosity and looked in the direction of the noise. Seeing nothing, he looked at the wheel house and was surprised to see his dad and uncle studying the horizon and discussing something. Keil quickly packed up his notepad, tucked it into the small bag he was carrying, and then hurried off to the wheelhouse.

As he slipped inside, Jome said, "Keil, grab the winch. We need to haul in the net. Someone's in trouble."

Keil quickly dropped his bag and rushed to the back of the boat. He unlocked the winch's controls and started drawing in the nets.

"You can speed it up a bit. The net's nearly empty," said Norban.

Keil nodded and increased the speed of the winch. The back of the boat began to lower in the water slightly as the first part of the net came aboard. He then raised the boom for the winch and drew the partially full net into the air over the fish tank. Jome and Norban grabbed the net and struggled to center it over the tank.

As Keil began lowering the net into place to dump it, Norban shouted, "Just drop it in the tank as is. We'll empty it later."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Keil.

"We don't have time to fuss with this right now. We have to go help the other boat."

Keil nodded and then lowered the net into the tank. As soon as it was down he secured the winch controls and raced back to the wheelhouse just as Jome pushed the throttles to full power. The engine came alive with a roar, lifting the nose of the boat up briefly as it plowed through the water as fast as it could. Keil braced himself as the boat bounced wildly across the waves. Off to their right they could see two more boats approaching just as quickly as they were, one of which was signaling them.

"Keil, get the flags and ask them if they're here to give aid to those stricken fishermen as well," said Jome.

Keil quickly pulled a pair of signal flags out of a storage box in the wheelhouse and rushed out to the starboard side of the boat where he relayed his dad's message. The other boats signaled back. "They're indeed moving to give aid and welcome our assistance," said Keil.

"Tell them thanks and ask if they know who's ship it is." Keil sent the message, and then read the reply.

"They don't. They're just heading in the general direction of the flare."

"Alright, then let's get out there and see who's in trouble," said Norban. Just then several flairs burst into the air.

"Did you see that?" asked Norban.

"Clear as a bell," said Jome.

He hurried out of the wheelhouse and up to the bow where he scanned the horizon with his binoculars. He saw another flare flash just a few miles in front of him, and then noticed a boat bobbing in the water. As she scanned the ship he saw someone else standing on the port side with binoculars staring back at him. Another man came out of the wheel house and began signaling to them.

"Keil, on the bow with me. Tell them that we see them and we're coming to assist. Then ask them what their trouble is."

Keil sent the signal. Moments later, the other boat singled back.

Jome lowered his binoculars and said, "Engine trouble? That's a bad place to break down. Send a message to the other two boats that we've found the distressed ship. They're having engine troubles and are on a heading of two zero eight at three point three miles."

Keil sent the message. "They're signaling to us to hold back. They say they're closer and will handle the rescue for now. We should stand back and conserve our fuel until needed."

"How generous of them. Tell uncle Norban to throttle back. We'll stay here for now," said Jome.

Keil complied and quickly relayed the message. The boat soon slowed, and then stopped. As they watched the first boat closing on the stricken vessel, a large black form exploded up from under the stranded boat and consumed it, and then splashed back down into the water. The three men's hearts leapt in their chests in unison.

"The black fish!! Norban, get us out of here!" shouted Jome as he turned and bolted for the wheelhouse.

As the engine roared to life and the boat turned around Keil watched the other fishing boat that had come to the stricken ship's aid turn with all its might and try to speed away. For several moments it seemed like it had escaped, and all was safe. Then suddenly the fish appeared again and consumed it as well in one fluid motion, leaving no trace of it behind on the water's surface. Moments later, the second boat was consumed as well. Now only they remained. He ran to the back of the boat and watched the sea for any sign of the black fish's approach. For several moments he saw nothing. Then his eyes caught a large, black form emerging from under the water behind them.

It exploded to the surface and began quickly bearing down on them. It opened its wide, black jaws to swallow them up, and then stopped. It closed its mouth and slipped part way down into the water again, its massive eyes staring curiously at him. It then slowly slipped below the waves and vanished. Keil, initially frozen with fear, found his legs become like jelly under him and give way. He collapsed to the deck, panting heavily, his normally bronzed skin now nearly devoid of color. Seeing Keil collapse, Jome raced across the deck to him. "You alright Keil?" he shouted over the roar of the waves and the engine. Keil didn't move or say anything, but continued to shake in fear as he stared at the water behind them.

"Keil, are you alright!?" shouted Jome again.

Keil nodded slowly, but said nothing. Jome lifted Keil to his feet and helped him back to the wheelhouse. Once inside he picked up a map, studied it briefly and shook his head.

"The great black fish shouldn't be this close to the islands. We're still over fifty miles from the edge of the safe fishing zone."

"He has to have come in for some reason. They don't like shallower waters," said Norban.

"Do you think he was following the fish?"

Norban shook his head. "Unless his primary food source all died off, he wouldn't bother with the smaller fish that we hunt."

Jome frowned. "Well, something brought him in closer."

"We'll need to tell village chief about this when we get back," said Norban.

Jome grunted. "He's not going to want to hear this. Nobody will."

The village chief looked over Jome's map and scratched at his thin, gray beard.

"So you say you saw it here?" he said, pointing at several markings on the map.

Jome nodded. "We were going to the aid of a disabled fishing boat when it attacked. It swallowed the stricken boat, and two others that responded to it's call for help."

The village chief grumbled to himself. "That's too blasted close to shore. It's right inside the fishing zone," he mumbled.

"Only about fifty miles," said Jome.

"Fifty miles is fifty miles. It's not like we have a lot of sea out there to the east that we can fish in to begin with. To have them come this much closer to'feed, for lack of a better word, is disturbing to me. It's already bad enough that I'm going to have to tell three families now that their men are gone. Add that to the fact that we're already under quota, and it puts us in a bind. Nobody's really catching anything to begin with, and I know this will unnerve a lot more people, possibly cutting our harvest even further, and putting us farther behind in our quota."

"No offence chief, but I think our quota should be the least of our worries. Nine good men are dead because of that monster. What are we going to tell their wives and families?"

"That they died bravely at their post," said the village chief.

"You'd put fish quotas ahead of the lives of our fellow fishermen?" exclaimed Norban.

"Men's lives always come before fish quotas! You should be the first to know that! If lives meant nothing, then we'd have no problems sending our children and young men out on the boats all year round! But as you've noticed, we advise against that. No, my concern with the quota is because those fish are our livelihood. Without those fish, we don't eat. And if everyone is starving, then what are you going to do? Like it or not, the quota is still important to us, even if men's lives are of greater value," snapped the chief.

Norban glared at the village chief, but said nothing.

"We should inform the families as soon as possible," said Jome.

"Not until we've decided what we're going to do about this threat," said Norban.

"They need to know first. We can settle our fishing problems later once we take care of this. Chief, I advise that you call an elders meeting for later tonight. We need to discuss what to do about this new threat."

The chief nodded.

Keil sat at the table behind his family's humble house and stared blankly at his notebook as he thought hard about what had happened. Even hours later the shock of the whole experience with the black fish still lingered strongly in his mind. Off in the distance he could hear the wails of women and children as the word of the deaths began to spread throughout the village. He had heard about the great black fish many times before from other fishermen who had seen it themselves first hand, but their tales didn't begin to do justice to the true size, power, or speed of the great beast.

"Hey, you alright?" came a voice from behind him.

He felt a hand touch his shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze. He turned to see Yabos and Sager standing behind him along with Seika and his two younger sisters.

"Oh, hi guys," he said softly, as though awoken from a dream.

"You doing alright? We heard you got a pretty good scare out there today," said Yabos.

Keil took a long, deep breath, and then let it out slowly.

"I'm fine. Just never been that close to death before."

"Yeah, we heard from your uncle. Crazy stuff, eh?" said Yabos.

Keil nodded, but said nothing.

"Hey, we're having a fish bake on the beach tonight if you want to join us. A little partying will take your mind off of what happened today," said Seika.

"Thanks," said Keil with a smile.

He gathered up his things, put them into a small bag, and then walked to the beach with his friends. A small group of teens had built a bonfire inside a large sand pit and were prodding it in an effort to get it going. Off in the distance, the sun slowly sank out of sight behind the horizon as the first hints of night began to appear in the sky. Others soon joined them two and three at a time, each bringing with them either food or a beverage that was placed on top of a nearby picnic table. The more people that came, the more food piled up. Soon the feast spilled over into a second, and then a third table as the number of teens and children on the beach continued to grow. Eventually the party started with some singing, and then a call to eat. Everyone dove in and ate to their hearts content, nearly consuming the expansive feast faster than it had first appeared. After everyone had eaten their fill, they gathered around the glowing bonfire and random small groups began to sing songs again.

Several of the kids produced instruments seemingly out of nowhere, and within a short time the small scattering of random tunes all meshed together into one gigantic campfire chorus. The later it got, the more the kids sang and the livelier the party became. It didn't take long for the music to lift Keil's spirits until he had completely forgotten about the day's events. As it got darker, torches were lit and placed around the outside of the party area to provide extra light for those sitting furthest from the fire. Those still eating found ample supplies of food on the tables, despite the majority of it having been eaten already. Keil found a seat away from the fire and sat down to watch the others as they ate, drank, and made merry long into the night. But as the moons drew to their zenith in the sky, the party began to die down until all that could be heard was scattered laughter and quiet conversations. Keil sat on the beach in the dark with four other boys and two girls he knew from the village, including Yabos and Sager. They talked about recent events in the village, and all that was happening in the hundred isles, laughing at some things while shaking their heads at others. Finally, as the hour drew late, they each curled up somewhere comfortable on the sand and fell fast asleep.

Keil awoke the next morning to the sound of groans and mumblings as the first of the revelers began to awaken from their cold, sandy beds and stretched their sore, tired muscles. Being used to waking up before dawn each day, Keil was surprised to find that not only was the sun up, but his dad hadn't come to wake him yet. He sat up and looked over at the fishing harbor, which could be seen clearly from where he sat on the beach. He noticed that all the boats of the fishing fleet were still moored in the harbor, and there was nobody on the docks. He found this very strange, but put no further thought to it. He walked down to the water and washed the sand off his skin, and then splashed some of the warm sea water on his face to help him wake up. As he scrubbed his arms in the waves he became aware of how active his mind was. It was wandering through dozens of thoughts about boats, fliers, the great black fish, and much more. Looking out across the water he saw birds flying around, searching for their morning meal. It was at this point that he realized he was hungry.

He wandered back to the tables and began sifting through the leftovers from the previous night's revelry as he looked for something to eat. As he chewed on several pieces of semi-dried bread and cold fish, he began to think about the pontoons on the flier that his grandpa flew. Then his mind wandered to the birds overhead, then the pontoons, and then the birds again. Suddenly the two ideas merged in his mind and an image appeared of a boat. But this was a boat unlike anything before. Realizing he had just stumbled onto a great idea, he dropped what he was eating, grabbed his notebook out of his bag, and began to scribble frantically for nearly half an hour, filling page after page with ideas, basic schematics, and drawings. Finally, satisfied that he had gotten everything down on paper, he sat back with a sigh and looked at his work. He really enjoyed it when he had these sudden brainstorms. Some of his best ideas came out of them.

"What's that?" came a groggy voice from behind him.

Keil turned to see Sager staring over his shoulder at the notebook through half open eyes. "It's an idea I just got while grabbing something to eat this morning," he said.

"Mind if I look at it?" asked Sager.

Keil got up from the table and gestured to Sager to sit down. "Go right ahead. I'm going to look for something else to eat. I'm still hungry."

"Find me something too please," muttered Sager.

Keil grinned. Sager was not one for mornings and didn't really come alive until early afternoon. As Keil pushed aside wrappers, dirty plates, and other debris in his search for food, Sager squinted through large round glasses at the notebook, studying the writings and drawings on each page. Gradually his mind began to wrap itself around what he was reading as the fog in his mind slowly cleared. He pulled his glasses up on his forehead and drew the notebook closer. He flipped the pages again, studying each one in detail. Finally he put his glasses back on and stared off into the distance as he thought about what he had just read.

He turned to Keil and said in amazement, "Where did you get an idea like this?"

Keil shrugged. "Don't know. Like I said, that's the idea I got while scavenging for breakfast. Why? Is something wrong?" he said as he munched on a piece of dried fish.

Sager shook his head. "No, not at all. In fact, it's flat out brilliant."

Keil raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Come again?"

"A boat that flies like a sea bird. It's certainly not what I would have expected. A spark of pure genius, in my humble opinion. It's similar to what the fliers can do, but on a much larger scale. Nothing of this size or construction has ever been built or attempted before, and I really think it could work. There's just one problem."

Keil shrugged as he chewed on a piece of cold fish. "What kind of problem?"

"Power."

Keil cocked his head to the side as he tried to understand what Sager was getting at. He finally shook his head and said, "I don't get it. What about power?"

"A boat can't move without power, and it takes even more power to make one fly than it does to propel it through the water."

"And? I don't get what you're trying to say."

"Keil, your boat can fly."

Keil furled his brow in surprise, put down his plate of food and walked over next to Sager who pointed at some of his drawings.

"The main lifting structure on your boat is this pair of gull wings here. With enough speed, it could easily gain altitude and fly quite fast and high. But as I said, it needs lots of power to do it."

__________________
My personal writing section
My Linux teaching and tech site, Raiden's Realm

Lord Raiden

(chapter 3 cont)
Keil shook his head. "My boat can't fly. I added the wings to help lift it as high out of the water as possible in order to reduce drag and increase speed. It was never meant to fly," he said.

Sager nodded. "True, but if we added control surfaces to the wings, added a tail, and provided it with enough extra power, your boat could fly. In theory anyways."

Keil sat down next to Sager, took the notebook and looked at the design again.

"You sure this isn't too big to fly?"

"Not at all. With enough power, anything can fly."

"It's always about power, isn't it?"

Sager nodded.

"Is there an engine we can get that'll make it go fast enough?" asked Keil.

Sager shook his head. "There isn't an engine big enough in the entire hundred isles."

Keil sighed and said, "Well, I guess that idea just died on the drawing board."

Sager grinned. "I wouldn't say it's dead yet."

Keil raised an eyebrow in interest. "But you said that no engine existed in the hundred isles that could make my boat fly."

Sager nodded, and then grin slyly. "But that doesn't mean we can't build one. And I know just who we can get to build it."

__________________
My personal writing section
My Linux teaching and tech site, Raiden's Realm

Lord Raiden

PDF version
Audio book version

Millen looked at Keil's notebook and whistled in wonder. "This certainly is ambitious, I'll say. Even for someone like you, Keil."

Sager stood with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on Millen. "Can it be done?"

Millen scratched his head. "Nothing like this has ever been attempted before. The closest thing I know of is the new super turbines at the propulsion research laboratory. Problem is, they're still prototypes and certainly not ready for any mainstream applications."

"So once again we're back to this being impossible," said Keil.

Millen shook his head. "I didn't say impossible. But it's certainly going to be one of the largest and most unprecedented designs ever. An engine that can produce fourteen hundred pounds of thrust is not going to be easy to create."

"Fourteen hundred pounds of thrust? Where'd you get that number?" asked Keil.

"I just used standard weight to thrust ratios to determine how much power we'd need to get your boat flying. They're a mathematical equation that tells you how much thrust you'll need to lift a specific amount of weight. Typically you need about one pound of thrust for every four point five pounds of weight in order to sustain level flight. However, you need about one pound of thrust for every three point two pounds of weight in order to be able to climb or take off," said Millen.

"So how big around will this engine be?" asked Keil.

Millen used his arms to make a circle over his head. "About this big or so."

"Ok, but how big is the prop going to be?"

Millen looked curiously at Keil and said, "What prop?"

"You need a prop to make it fly, don't you? Every flier I've seen has a prop," said Keil.

Millen furled his brow in surprised curiosity. "You won't have a prop."

"Then how will it be able to take off?" asked Keil.

"I take it that you've never seen a jet turbine before?"

Keil shrugged. "My grandpa's flier had one on it."

Millen held up a finger and said, "Ah, that's the thing. The turbine you saw on his flier is what's called a driver turbine. They're used for generating power on a drive shaft to spin the props for the fliers. They produce a lot of torque, but not much thrust. What I"m going to build for you is a jet turbine. They replace the need for a prop by having the engine produce all of the needed thrust instead of the prop. There are currently several working jet turbine prototypes in the hundred isles that I've been privileged to have my hands on and learn first hand how they work. Making the one you need will simply be a matter of scaling up those designs until we get an engine that will provide us with enough thrust to get your boat in the air."

Keil nodded in approval. "I like it. How soon can you have a working prototype?"

Millen shrugged. "How soon do you need it?"

Keil looked at Yabos and Sager, and then back at Millen. "Probably not until the boat is finished."

"How long will that take?" asked Millen.

"Depending on how fast we can get the rest of our supplies, build a prototype, and test the design, it could take"oh a few months at most," said Keil.

"That isn't enough time. I'll need at least six months to build, test and certify the engines before I give them to you. If things don't go as planned, it could be as long as a year."

Keil groaned. "Not as quick as I had expected," he said with a hint of disappointment.

Millen shrugged. "Well, if you want it faster than that, you're basically asking for a miracle. I might be able to have a working prototype in as little as four months, but that'd be pushing it."

Keil sighed. "Look at the bright side. It gives us plenty of extra time to design, build, and test our boat before we actually fly it," said Sager.

Keil thought for a bit longer, and then nodded and shook Millen's hand. "Alright, sounds good to me. As for payment for your services, we'll have to work that out later once I figure out how the money's going to come together for this project."

Millen shook his head. "This one's on me. If this design works as planned, I can sell it and make more from the prototype than I could ever hope to get from you."

Keil grinned. "Then we'll make it up to you in some other way."

"Sounds good to me. So, how about one of you figuring out how we're going make fuel for this thing," said Millen.

The three boys looked at each other, and then back at him.

"What are you talking about?" asked Yabos.

"Well, unless you want to talk the central government into donating a couple thousand gallons of flier fuel, I suggest you figure out how to make your own. Especially since you don't want them knowing about your project."

"How much fuel will your engine consume?" asked Sager.

"Well, assuming that these engines follow the typical volume to consumption ratios, and considering that you'll be flying with two engines rather than one, you're looking at burning about fourteen hundred pounds of fuel an hour, or about a hundred and seventy gallons."

"Two engines? Why would we need two? I know fliers have two engines, but that's because they're prop driven. We'll be thrust driven," said Yabos.

Millen shook his head. "We'll need both engines for two reasons. The first is redundancy. If one engine fails during flight, Keil will still have the other one to rely on. The second is because we'll need the extra power in order for the boat to achieve take off and gain altitude. Considering you'll be launching from the water, the more power you have at takeoff, the better."

Yabos nodded. "Alright, I guess that would make sense."

"Not to sound obtuse or anything, but has anyone considered what we'll do about maneuvering while on the water? I can't imagine having to fire up those engines every time we need to move the boat. Especially with the amount of fuel they'll consume,&