Chapter twenty-one: Bloacker

Trigger warnings for those who need them

Mention of arranged marriages.

We’ve stayed pretty close to the coast before but now we need to head deeper inland.
Out of Halagat and into the countryside.
We take a train out the city.
Together with what seems to be the rest of the city’s population.
We end up standing the whole way.
Luckily the trip is only thirty minutes.
The train shouts loudly before we come to a halt by a long stretch of platform and not much else.
I look around.
This is supposed to be the right station right? I wonder as I check and recheck my ticket against the sign.
Most of the other people disembarked as well so-
“Dana come look!” Alice shouts.
My shoulders jump.
I stuff the ticket into my pants pocket and rush over to her.
Then my breath catches in my throat as I see where she’s pointing.
Off the cliff.
At least a hundred meters down, yet massive enough it feels like you could touch it from here, if only you tried hard enough.
It looks like a cathedral, with tall steel beams supporting the dome-shaped roof.
The roof panels are covered in mosaic, one half of the dome showing off fluffy white clouds against the bright blue sky. The other tinted dark with a smattering if stars and a pale half-moon on the tip of the dome.
Around the equator of the dome the building spills out into a second ring with little towers on six sides. The roof vaults from tower to tower with a dip on either end to frame the large rounded doors leading into the building.
I look over to Alice, smiling from ear to ear.
Well.
At least now I know we’re in the right place.
“The question is where to go down.” I muse.
“Oh that’s simple, we just follow the crowd!” Alice grabs my hand and tugs me along gently as we follow the formless mass of fellow travelers down a wide set of steps.
The cathedral may have looked close-by from far up.
But now that we’re making our way down the path it’s clear appearances can be misleading.
“It looks like we got a stiff walk ahead of us. Are you up for it?” I ask Alice.
“It’s not like we have another choice now do we?”
I let out a chuckle “I could carry you if things got dire.”
At this the girl averts her eyes “Yeah, I suppose.” she swallows “But that’s not really necessary, I think.” She stuff her hands in her pockets, “We should get going. Don’t wanna be late.”

“CONTESTANTS TO THE LEFT! AUDIENCE TO THE RIGHT!” a man in a dark blue uniform shouts through a speaking trumpet from up one of the towers.
Alice grabs my hand and tugs me along to the left.
“I think I’m supposed to be with the audience actually-“
“I know, but stay with me until you get sent away. Please.”
Oh so now the nerves are setting in. “Okay.”
The path goes all the way around the building and to my surprise there’s another growth on the back of the massive structure.
“Contestants this way!” another person yells standing by a large open door.
As we pass Alice’s grip on my hand tightens.
The clerk doesn’t seem to notice as he keeps shouting his one line.
I expected a vast, open space but instead this corridor looks more like a tunnel.
We press on.
There are significantly less people in here.
I didn’t realize the exams were some sort of spectator sport out here.
I take it Alice has already put two and two together.
“How are you holding up?”
“Nervous.”
“Understandable.”
“Did you see all those people?” she gestures back at the door behind us. “What if I fail?”
“Then we’ll try again next year. Or find another way. Maybe Cygne isn’t so bad after all? You could get the license there, then go back to Venusia?”
“No. I don’t want to go to Cygne, not now, not ever.” she plays with her hair as she talks “You understand, right?”
I can’t say I do. Not completely. But I do recall the one time we flew to Cygne. She went to see her mother and came back crying. “We won’t go unless you want us to.” I settle on in the end.
She smiles at me gratefully.
The corridor opens up into a large room filled with rows of chairs. And a desk with an older gentleman with a list. He has a kind yet serious face as he looks up as us.
“Name?”
“Alice Castella.”
“And you miss?” He asks and I know this is the end of the line for me.
“I’m not on the list, I’m just moral support.” I admit.
The man puts down the list “If you’re not taking the test you should be in the audience.”
“But what moral support could she give all the way of the other side of the building!” Alice shoots back.
“Alice, be polite.” I tell her.
The man squints at Alice for a long moment, then shakes his head.
“I’m afraid there are no exceptions.” he checks his watch “The spectator doors closed ten minutes ago.” He sighs “I’ll show you to the tribune through the maintenance route.”
“But-“ Alice starts. I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Alice it’s okay, you’ll do fine.” I then wrap my arms around her and hug her “No matter what happens. I’m proud of you.”
Alice makes a small sound. Then lets go of me and nods “I’ll uh- I’ll see you soon then.” She wavers.
I smile at her, then turn to the gentleman “Thank you for your offer, please lead the way.”
The man nods shortly, then calls something to the back in a language that sounds like Cygnian to me.
“This way please.’ The man signals towards a heavy-set door.
I wave to Alice one last time, she waves back.
Then follow the man out.

“Mind your head.” the man says matter-of-factly.
Beyond the door is a nearly triangular corridor with the ceiling swooping down sharply. Beyond it, I can hear gears turning and motors humming.
“Is this corridor connected to the simulator?”
“Not the way we’re going. We’re passing behind it. Past the many service hatches of the thing.”
“How many service hatches does it have?”
“six, three for the ring-motors, one for the jack, one for the electrics and one for the orb itself.”
“And it’s your job to keep it running?”
“Me? Oh, goodness, no, I just help out here and there. Nowadays I’m merely an old man filling his days.” He chuckles. “What about you?””I’m a mechanic. But of airships usually.” I quickly add. “I wouldn’t know where to begin servicing a flying simulator.”
“Well the ship components are still the same, it’s just about how they’re wired up.” The man shrugs.
“How does it work then?”
“Its an orb, large enough for the ship to fit into and five meters of leeway in all directions. Three motorized rings, connected to the steering apparatus inside the ship and a set of jacks to control lift. The biggest difference is that when the user turns the wheel it’s not the ship that moves, it’s the room.”
“Does that mean the simulator works somewhat like an armilary?”
He chuckles “Yes! Except that in that analogy you’d be inside the sun, watching the planets go by.” His smile widens as he tells me. “I knew you’d get it.” then his expression changes to one of curiosity “I must admit. I am surprised to hear you’re a mechanic. I thought you were a manta?” He says gesturing to the iris band around my arm.
“I am that too.” I smile politely “Manta will often diversify their skillset. The more we can do. the more tasks we can help with.”
“I guess that makes sense.” The man nods gently, head bobbing for a moment after as if contemplating something.
And so we continue in silence for a moment or so.
There are a lot of corridors leading off of here.
Little alcoves.
Doors.
Even going dead straight I can imagine the mess of corridors beyond.
I’ve started counting the hatches as we pass them as a sort of time-keeping method.
I didn’t expect the way to be this long.
We pass a door just behind hatch number three. It clicks as it falls shut behind us.
Then my guide stops abruptly and turns to me. “So how does a manta-mechanic end up escorting the daughter of the governor of Jaobai to a flying simulator in Charalia?”
I halt “Excuse me?”
“The girl you brought along with you, she’s Elizabeth Chattoway.”
What?
My face freezes in an attempt not to give anything away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The govenor of Jaobai would be Cygnian, right? Alice is obviously Charan-“
“Elizabeth Chattoway is blond as well.” The man shoots back effortlessly. “She got it from her mother. As well as her blue eyes and tendency to be stubborn to a fault.”
“What makes you so sure?” I try.
He huffs “For all our chatting, I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself yet.” He sticks out his hand to me.
I don’t want to grab this man’s hand.
Not until I know what he plans to do with me.
I smile politely. “It’s customary in my culture to bow when meeting new people.” I tell him while bending gently towards him. “Like this.”
He looks amused at this for a moment. Then puts the hanging hand on his chest and declares. “I’m Clara Lyonsi, decorated general for the seventh batallion, retired.”
Oh!
Oh…
He continues “I worked alongside the governor. Helped him get used to his duties when he installed himself in Choumuri with the little infant. So I can tell you with certainty that girl is Elizabeth Chattoway.”
I swallow. My hands feel clammy.
“If that’s true, then why aren’t you in Jaobai still? Why are you at a flying simulator all the way in Charalia?” I try.
“Let’s just say being exceptional is only appreciated when it benefits the ones in power.” a wry smile appears on his wrinkled face. “But I’ve seen little Elizabeth grow up for ten years before returning back to civilization.”
Meaning there’s nothing I can say to sway his beliefs.
But maybe I can get him on my side?
I sigh “In that case, I don’t think I have much of a chance to convince you she isn’t Julien’s child.”
The man raises his eyebrow “You refer to the governor of a country by his first name?”
“With his permission.” I gesture to myself. “Dana Wa, family mechanic, retired.”
He laughs at the notion. “Defected more like. I expect kidnapping from the kashuya, not from a manta.”
“I didn’t kidnap anyone. She’s here of her own volition.”
“Tell that to her father whose been looking for her for nearly half a year.”
“I’d rather not if I’m honest. Elizabeth doesn’t want to go home right now and I’ve made it my duty to support her where I can.”
The man shakes his head “This isn’t about what the girl wants. It’s about the good of the country. She should understand that by selfishly running away from her responsibilities she’s upsetting a very delicate balance and risking the outbreak of yet another war.”
“What do you mean?”
He blinks at me “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“About the governor’s plans to marry the girl off to the son of the previous emperor. Creating a new lineage and legitimizing Cygne’s continued stay in Jaobai.”
What!?
I-
My mind is reeling.
Does Alice know?
But she left for Hui and Hamala’s sake right?
That’s what she told me at least.
“I’m afraid, as the family mechanic, I wasn’t privy to such… delicate information.” I respond flabbergasted.
“So you fly halfway around the world with a fugitive without knowing why?” The man scoffs. “I thought you were clever for your kind but now I see your loyalty borders on stupidity.”
“What about your loyalty? You’re not even in Cygne. Do you really want to ruin a young woman’s life by sending her back?”
“Don’t sound so dramatic.” He waves away my concern “Marrying for love is for poor people. Even if her father hadn’t become governor. She would get married off for her parents convenience. Besides, this union could mean everlasting peace on the brown continent. Don’t you want that?”
“Elizabeth wouldn’t want to be used for such a fraught alliance. And I don’t want her to get forced into it.”
The man scoffs. “She’s a kid, she doesn’t know what she wants.”
“She’s eighteen. And already carving out a path for herself that suits her far better.”
He gestures around him. “As a manta, you have to look at the bigger picture, right? Consider what would be best for the world at large, correct?”
“Yes, but even if her return to Jaobai would be a positive thing. Which I am not convinced of, all I can offer to sacrifice is my own time, my own energy and my own freedom. I cannot decide those things for other people.”
He scoffs. “Shortsighted, all of you.”
I tense my muscles ready myself to fight or flee. “It seems we have reached a stalemate then. Now what?”
He raises his hands in innocence “I’m not looking for a fight. I think I killed enough of your kind for a lifetime.”
“I’m Xjawaw, not Jigani.”
He waves away the distinction. “If you’re unwilling to give her up, I’ll simply pull her from the test for carrying false identification papers and then have her arrested until the Cygnian authorites can pick her up.”
I bite my lip.
Look at the problem.
Break it down.
I don’t want to resort to violence if I can. Meaning there’s only one other option.
But I have to get to Alice first.
I sigh “Don’t.” I hang my head and avert my eyes. “Let me talk to her first. If you drag her away against her will she’ll just try to escape again.”
“There are ways to prevent her doing that.” The man assures me. Sending a chill up my spine in the process.
I shake my head. “I can help her understand. Come to terms with what needs to be done and make sure she doesn’t put up a fight. But please, let her do the test first. She’s been working really hard to get to this point and I don’t want have to squash two dreams in one day.” I plead.
The man scoffs. “Fine, but I’m not gonna let you out of my sight.”
“I understand.” I tell him but he doesn’t seem convinced with just that.
He grabs my arm, leading me along. “The tribunes are this way.”

The tests have long started by the time we arrive at our seats.
We enter a dark ring-shaped room. In the middle of which stands the orb, large and looming. Around the orb, about halfway down hangs a large screen on which is projected what happens inside the massive ball.
“Camera obscura?” I ask my newfound captor.
“Very good.”
“That’s incredible.” Even in my odd predicament I can’t help but be impressed.
The front row is completely empty.
I wonder if it’s reserved for some purpose but my captor sits down without qualms, dragging me along.
I guess at this point at least, there’s nothing left to do but watch the show.
On the large canvas I can see the orb. Painted on the inside with one half pale sky and one half grass, with little yellow flowers.
I don’t know the young man sitting in the pilot seat but I can feel the tension as he steers the wheel and the whole of the orb-shaped-room twists and turns alongside him.
It’s hard to miss the black smoke slowly filling the cockpit.
I missed the explanation of the assignment but luckily for me there’s a man with a speaking trumpet loudly commentating the whole affair.
“IT SEEMS OUR FELLOW IS HAVING DIFFICULTIES BALANCING HIS INTAKE AND EXHAUST CORRECTLY” He shouts.
The audience is holding their breath as the poor lad starts fiddling with his dials, trying to find the balance on feeling alone-
I hope that smoke doesn’t have the same composition as the real thing.
I turn to ask but then a bright red light turns on in the middle of the cockpit and man walks straight into the test.
The two talk but there’s no sound escaping the orb.
“LOOKS LIKE IT’S GAME OVER FOR THIS ONE. IT IS AWFULLY DIFFICULT TO RECOVER FROM AN UNBALANCED EXHAUST.” The commentator explains. “REAL EXHAUST SMOKE WOULD HAVE CAUSED THIS LAD TO PASS OUT AND CRASH ALREADY.”
The test taker pales at the news.
Then follows the man out rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME MISTER CLAEMP”
Next up is an older lady who takes off and lands her ship without much fanfare.
“NOW HERE’S SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT SHE’S DOING.”
But then there’s a loud whirring sound. as if something’s charging up energy. I look at Lyonsi, his eyes are gleaming “You’re gonna love this.” he whispers in my ear.
The orb breaks up as each of the many panels that make it up rotate along their vertical axis and swap out their daytime painting for dark sky and stars.
“That’s-“ I gasp.
“Pretty neat huh.”
I nod.
It’s a shame we had to meet under such unfortunate circumstances. I bet this man would be a wonderful conversation partner if he weren’t trying to steal my pupil away.
“IT’S TIME FOR THE NIGHT SECTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!”
The woman turns on the headlights at the front of the ship and turns off the lights in the cabin for better visibility.
Then she takes off again. Flying around competently for a bit before touching down safely again.
“NOW THAT’S WHAT WE CALL A PREFECT PERFORMANCE FROM MISS KAYLEI.”
The audience claps politely but I have a feeling they’re far more interested in when thing go wrong than when they go right.
This continues for some time. Flyers of all ages come in to try their hand and some of them pass and some of them fail.
My mind isn’t really on the other contestants.
My mind is trying to figure out what to do after Alice’s had her turn behind the wheel.
But before I manage to figure it out, there she is.
I sit up as she walks into the cabin. She doesn’t seem aware of the fact we can see her as she keeps looking back to the door she came through.
“NEXT UP, MISS CASTELLA.”
But then she sees the orb.
And her eyes start to gleam.
Warmth spreads in my heart as she smiles widely at the painted clouds above her head.
She looks back, gets instructed to sit down and start flying.
She apologizes, then walks to the chair.
She sits down and her expression changes from delight to concentration as she flicks all the right switches and pushes the right pedals.
The last person accidentally left the outside lamps on.
She turns them off to save on fuel.
“YOUNG BUT RESPONSIBLE. WE LOVE TO SEE IT.”
Pride swells in my chest.
She takes off and by now I think the assignment is just to stay in the air for a set amount of time at a certain speed and without ‘crashing’ as there’s little rhyme or reason to the patterns being flown.
With the pedals still quite new to her she starts up too fast but takes back speed in a controlled and careful manner not to jerk the ship.
She’s doing great.
The audience hates it of course. They rather see the orange lamps turn on signifying there’s a fire somewhere.
I do hope she makes it through the night section.
When we flew from Jaobai to Venusia I did the flying at night.
We hadn’t done much night flying yet and things were already too chaotic to add that to the pile of problems.
At least she can’t fly into anything here.
She touches down with a little screeching sound as she hadn’t slowed down just far enough before touchdown.
“OH, THAT’S GONNA COST HER POINTS.”
But the night sky gets turned on again meaning she’s still allowed to continue.
I smile at her expression filled with wonder.
She turns down her cockpit light, turns on the outside lights. And takes off again, sweeping and swirling through the simulator once again.
“I think we should go to her right after she’s signed the certificate.” I tell Lyonsi “That way there’s not too many people around if she throws a fuss.”
He squints at me “You said she wouldn’t put up a fight.”
“I’ll try my best to prevent that of course. But do you want the papers to write of kidnapping at the Bloacker flying simulator in case I don’t manage?”
He sighs “Fine.” He gets up “Follow me.”

He leads me down a different door and into a corridor that looks similar to the one we came from.
He doesn’t speak as we walk.
I’m not even sure what’s left to say.
We arrive at a little table with two people writing out the certificates.
Alice is already out the simulator. Rocking back and forth on her feet again as we approach.
“Dana!? Dana! I did it! I made it!” She rushes up to me and wraps her arms around me hugging me tight.
I hug her back, eyes still locked on the man with me. “Yes you did, I’m so proud of you Alice.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, thank you so much!”
“Uhm miss? You need to sign still.” the lady behind the table reminds my pupil.
“Oh! Sorry, uh, where?”
“Here and here.”
“Of course.” she signs.
“Congratulations.” the lady shakes Alice’s hand and hands over the certificate.
“Now that that’s all done with how about you two follow me?” Lyonsi asks.
Alice looks at me “Dana?”
“It’s okay Alice. He’s just showing us where the exit is.” I assure her.
“Oh! Okay.”
I grab her hand as we follow the man.
She looks at it, squeezes it as if asking what’s wrong.
“Alice you trust me, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And you know what I always want what’s best for you, right?”
“Yes.”
“So when I ask you to do something you’ll do it right? Even if it seems counter-intuitive?”
“Yes? What’s wrong?”
“Mister Lyonsi has uncovered your secret identity and I’ve promised him you’ll go back to Jaobai.”
“What!?” she pulls on my hand, I hold it tightly.
“Now don’t worry. Everything will be okay but I need you to listen to me very carefully.”
“You’re joking right!? You have a plan, surely you have a plan, right!?”
I squeeze her hand in confirmation. “I know it sounds like a bad thing but it’s not. You see your return will bring peace to Jaobai. You want that right?” My eyes stay focused on the man behind us.
If only I knew the way in this labyrinthine place.
She stops fighting “How?”
“You’ll marry the son of the former Jigani king. That way both camps are united and they’ll both be loyal to your offspring.”
“What!? That’s ridiculous!? I’d never-“
I squeeze her hand again. At least she sounds surprised by the proposition, adding to the theory she didn’t know.
She falls silent, captured in her own mind again.
“Will it mean the Jigani people will get a better life?” She asks.
“I don’t know. But it might, depending on how you play your cards.”
“I see.”
I wish I knew what she was thinking, but I need to keep speaking in Charan to ensure our escort doesn’t get suspicious.
We keep walking in silence. Following our escort dutifully as he takes turn after turn. Opening and locking doors as we traverse to somewhere.
Outside.
Hopefully.
My heart jumps as I can see the outside world as we turn the corner.
I squeeze Alice’s hand.
She looks up at me questioningly, then I tell her;
“Run.”