In a world of steamships and Progress, no one who sails due south across the Wild Sea ever returns.
No one knows why.
Dale Mortensen intends to solve the mystery. With the help of an old sailor and a reformed playboy searching for his missing sweetheart, he locates a captain and crew ambitious—not to mention crazy—enough to undertake the journey across the Wild Sea.
The Infinity and her crew sail south, but the truth of what really lies on the other side of the horizon is more amazing—and terrifying—than anything they can imagine.
It’s the adventure of a lifetime—and it may just get Dale and his friends killed.
Find out how this Young Adult steampunk adventure unfolds chapter-by-chapter every Thursday! Click here to start from the beginning. Or if you want to read it at your own pace, buy the ebook for $6.99 from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords or Sony, or get it as a trade paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Book Depository.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HORIZON
E. R. PASKEY
CHAPTER FORTY
EXITING THE STATION, THEY BEGAN MAKING their way down into the Mining District. They met a steady stream of miners leaving for the day, but aside from a few disdainful glances at Corwin’s suit, the men were too exhausted to care why they were headed toward them.
As the array of buildings comprising the mining complex loomed closer, Dale glanced sideways—and down—at Corwin. “If this cove is glassed off from the rest of the Mining District, how are we supposed to reach it?”
Thunder rumbled overhead, partially drowning him out.
Corwin shook his head. “Sivak will have an access point.”
“Guarded?” asked Hawk.
“Probably.” Corwin reached inside his shirt to pull out a necklace with his own disc on it—a disc of shining gold. “This’ll get us through.”
Dale experienced a peculiar sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Aye, and whoever’s on duty will remember us.” He nodded to the gold disc. “How many people in Rift City have those?”
“But—” Corwin frowned mightily, before tucking his disc safely away again. “If I don’t use it to get us in, how else will we make it past the guards? The only other option would be to attempt to—” he stopped mid-sentence, as though someone had just bashed him across the face with a plank.
“We’d have to reach the cove via the beach,” said Dale quietly.
Behind his beard, all the blood drained from Hawk’s face. “You can’t be serious,” he said hoarsely. “Cross the beach at night? With Them out there, waiting for us?”
“Actually,” said Corwin, “it shouldn’t be that bad. With that portion of the beach blocked off from the rest of Rift City, there is no human traffic to draw the Streamers.”
Hawk shot him a frankly incredulous look. “That you know of, Hamper.”
“Back out now, if you like.” Corwin drew a small revolver from his pocket. “I have this. Mortensen and I are forging ahead.”
Dale raised an eyebrow at Hawk. “Crossing the beach is more dangerous than facing however many armed men are guarding Peabody?”
“Clearly, you’ve never had a proper encounter with a Streamer,” muttered Hawk darkly, but he kept walking alongside them.
Instead of continuing on toward the Mining District’s various buildings, Corwin took an abrupt turn and veered left toward the overgrown tangle of giant trees and undergrowth separating the Mining District from the coast. Thunder continued to rumble overhead, indicating another line of storms was about to blow across Rift City. The breeze picked up, carrying a damp, earthy smell tinged with salt.
Shipwreck weather, thought Dale.
The first raindrops fell seconds later, splattering the glitterglass roof that had been slotted into the side of the mountain like a shelf, propped up by trees. Within moments, the storm broke loose to send gales of wind and rain lashing down on Rift City. Corwin plunged into the foliage; Dale and Hawk shared grim looks and followed him.
Ten yards into the trees and undergrowth, Dale became aware of a rushing sound above the wind and rain. His brow furrowed. Are we headed toward a waterfall? One twist in their path later, he realized the rushing sound actually came from a curtain of water pouring off of the glitterglass roof. In the darkening light, it was impossibly to see what lay beyond that curtain of water.
“This is where things get interesting.” Grinning madly, Corwin wrapped his coat tighter around himself and stepped through the curtain.
I’m beginning to see why he patrols the coast for shipwrecked New Arrivals, thought Dale wryly. Shaking his head, he approached the watery curtain. He took a breath, stepped through it… and was instantly drenched. His only consolation was the thought that the torrential downpour coming from the sky would have completely soaked him anyway.
Hawk emerged beside Dale, cursing under his breath. “Now what?” he growled.
“We head toward the beach,” said Dale.
“Keep away from the waterline and you should be fine,” Corwin assured them over his shoulder.
The smell of the ocean grew stronger the closer they came to the edge of the trees. Hawk was still muttering something under his breath, though Dale was not entirely sure what he was saying. He caught enough to know his friend had worked in a liberal dose of interesting words.
While it was true Dale had never had a personal encounter with a Streamer—at least one that he remembered; entire chunks of the aftermath of the Infinity’s explosion were missing from his memory—he could sympathize with Hawk. I’ve been too busy to think much about the fact that here, the water is our enemy.
It was a sobering thought—and enough to send cold chills down his spine.
The ground beneath their feet eventually gave way to pebbly sand and they broke out of the trees onto a storm-lashed beach. Frothy waves pounded against the shore, whipped into a frenzy by the wind. Visibility was very poor, but Dale could just make out that they stood in a little harbor nestled up against the side of the mountain. He could not see anything else.
“This way!” shouted Corwin above the wind, and he began to work his way up the beach along the tree line.
They were all soaked clear to the skin and starting to shiver by the time a dark, yawing cave mouth appeared in the mountainside before them.
The bottom edge of the cave mouth was about three yards up a steep slope. Squinting at it through the rain dripping into his eyes, Dale pictured the dirigible in his mind and concluded that this opening was indeed large enough for the machine to have passed through. Casting one last look at the turbulent ocean over his shoulder, he set about clambering up the slope to the cave mouth.
It was slow going, and difficult. The rocks were slick from all the rain, and the downpour made their hands and feet slippery as well. Hawk cut his hand on a particularly sharp rock, eliciting another round of cursing, but they otherwise made it to the top unscathed.
As he hauled himself over the lip of the cave mouth and into the darkness beyond, Dale’s scrabbling hands found a loose rock. He nearly lost his balance and fell, but managed to catch himself just in time. “Careful,” he grunted. “Lots of debris up here.” He made it to his hands and knees, before gingerly rising, taking care not to bump his head into anything.
He need not have worried. The cave’s ceiling was far enough above them that he could not even touch it with a hand stretched above his head. Definitely large enough for the dirigible.
“Looks like they widened the entrance.” Corwin directed their attention back to the loose debris strewn across the lip of the cave. He kicked at a small chunk of jagged rock with his booted foot. “We’re on the right track.”
Dale peered into the depths of the cave and felt his heart begin to pound again. The wind howled outside the cave, spattering the first few feet of cave floor with raindrops, but he did not hear it. It’s very…dark, he thought. Aloud, he said, “How will we know we’re going the right way?”
“We’ll just have to try it and see.” Corwin shrugged his shoulders in the darkness. “You said the dirigible is fairly large, yes?”
“Aye.”
“Then we follow the largest tunnel if it splits.”
“I’m no cave expert,” interjected Hawk abruptly, “but isn’t it, well, a bit foolhardy to go wandering around in the dark with no light?”
“Can’t be helped. Do you want to find your friend or not?”
“We’ve come this far, Hawk,” said Dale.
Hawk only shook his head.
The three men clung to the rough cave wall like insects as they inched their way through the cave. Once they left the entrance behind, they were unable to see even a hand before their faces. It was an eerie experience.
Stranger still was the way sounds echoed around them. Dale had the distinct impression that the cavern was much larger than it seemed from the outside. For one thing, he could straighten to his full height and walk with no fear of bashing his head into an unforgiving ceiling. The tips of his fingers did not even brush the ceiling.
After an interminable period of time, they finally encountered an obstacle.
“Gentlemen?” Corwin’s voice sounded peculiar. “I am afraid we may have a bit of a problem.”
Dale’s heart sank. What now?
“What is it?” demanded Hawk.
“There is a barrier here,” said Corwin, in a low voice. “A metal grate of some kind, impeding further progress.”
“Can you feel a lock?” asked Hawk.
A brief pause, and then, “Yes.”
“All right, then. I’ll get us through.” Hawk moved up to stand beside Corwin.
Dale opened his mouth to ask how, but Corwin beat him to it. “How do you propose to do that?” he asked, incredulously.
“Let’s just say I was an adventurous lad growing up and leave it at that.”
Dale nodded sagely to himself. Lock picks. He’d never have guessed that of the man. “Smart, Hawk.”
“Bit strange to explain, should I ever find myself in trouble,” said Hawk quietly, working on the lock in the dark, “but I couldn’t stand not to carry ‘em around with me.” He opened the padlock with a ‘snick’ and Dale stepped up to help him determine how the gate worked. It was a long, high gate that appeared to swing open across the large expanse of this part of the cave.
“It’s heavy,” grunted Hawk.
Dale put his considerable strength to the task and succeeded in swinging the heavy gate open a few feet—just enough to let them slip past it. Once they were through, he immediately swung the gate back into place.
“We can always move it,” he said quietly. “But if somebody comes looking, we don’t want anything to appear out of place.”
Hawk and Corwin agreed.
Several yards later, they found a tunnel opening that branched off to the side. For a moment, the three of them stood there, debating which way to turn. Dale blinked several times and rubbed his eyes, certain he was imagining things. Spots and streaks had danced before his eyes since they stepped into the total darkness inside the cave, but now he thought he saw light flickering on the rock wall ahead of them. It seemed to reveal a curved tunnel.
He nudged Hawk and spoke in a barely audible voice, “Do you see that?”
“Aye,” muttered Hawk.
Dale drew his revolver from his pocket and set off down the tunnel toward that light, taking great care to tread lightly. Excitement and anticipation coursed through him, coiling his nerves and muscles in preparation for what possibly lay ahead. Light indicated the presence of other human beings…which meant they might well find Raphael and Peabody. Please, he prayed, let Raph be alive.
He had not gone more than a few steps before Corwin moved to take the lead, producing his own revolver as he went. Corwin, too, moved quietly, but surely.
The tunnel did indeed curve. It was a short, rather steep curve that made Dale wonder in the back of his mind if it had been created by a fierce current of water violently splitting off from the larger stream that had carved out these caves over the years. As he and the others neared the curve, they began to be able to actually see the dim outline of each other’s forms. Cautiously, they edged away from the wall far enough to be able to get a good look at what lay beyond the end of the tunnel.
The first thing Dale saw was a large glitterglass cube standing in the middle of the cavern, reflecting the light of several nearby lanterns, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the two figures inside the cube.
One of them was vaguely familiar—Probably Peabody, his mind rationalized—but the other… Relief washed over Dale, so intense it nearly buckled his knees. He knew the other figure seated on a cot with his back against the glass and his arms careless draped over one knee.
Raphael.
His friend was indeed alive and well. Dale shared a triumphant grin with Hawk. We found them.
Raphael and Peabody both accounted for, Dale then proceeded to study the rest of the cavern. One of the lanterns had been set on an overturned crate, the other on an old table. Two armed men sat at this table, playing cards.
Must be guards. Dale eyed them. Both were well over a head shorter than he was, but they were far from small men. Both had revolvers in their belts.
Dale looked back at the glitterglass prison cell. On closer inspection, he glimpsed what appeared to be holes drilled—or melted, it was hard to say—through each of the walls at regular intervals to provide the prisoners with air. Two cots stood inside, along with a lidded bucket and a bucket of drinking water. Peabody occupied one cot, and Raphael the other. Judging by how close the cots were to each other and how little room was left in the glass cell, Dale surmised it was only supposed to hold one prisoner.
Raph must have proved himself useful. It was the only reason Dale could find to explain why his friend was still alive.
Corwin caught his attention. Raising his revolver, he indicated himself and nodded to the two guards.
Hawk and Dale both immediately shook their heads. Hawk pointed to another tunnel, just barely visible beyond the glitterglass cube. They had no way of knowing how many more men were stationed there. Besides, each guard sat facing a tunnel opening. True, they were not paying much attention, but, but still…
Hawk pointed to Corwin and then in the direction of the glitterglass cube, mouthing, Tunnel. He then indicated Dale and himself and motioned to the two guards.
Nodding, Dale shoved his own revolver back in his pocket. The guards might be armed, but if he and Hawk could catch them by surprise…
Corwin nodded his agreement.
Dale held up a hand, counting down from five as they braced themselves. When he reached one, all three of them burst out of the tunnel.
Find out how this Young Adult steampunk adventure unfolds chapter-by-chapter every Thursday! Or if you want to keep reading right now, buy the ebook for $6.99 from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords or Sony, or get it as a trade paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Book Depository.
Copyright © 2013 E. R. Paskey