Into the Void

oversee the Unquenchable's manufacture.

'That's fantastic!' Teldin sensed his new friend's mixed emotions and changed the subject. 'What exactly is the flow?'

'The flow? Well…' The gnome paused; 'Whatever I said wouldn't be enough, and you wouldn't believe me anyway. You've got to see the flow to understand it. Just wait a few days.'

A cold fist seemed to grasp Teldin's heart. 'A few days?' 'Well, a week, maybe.' Horvath paused and looked appraisingly at Teldin. When he spoke again, his voice was gentler. 'Of course we're leaving this sphere. I thought you knew that.'

Teldin closed his eyes. Yes, he'd known that the gnomish vessel was going somewhere, probably another planet, but he'd assumed it was somewhere else in Krynnspace. Then he recalled other gnomes aboard ship mentioning an excursion through the flow. He was leaving his world, which was bad enough, but to be told that he was leaving everything he thought of as his universe… For a moment he almost gave in to crushing despair, but the moment passed. With an effort, he brought himself back from the brink of discouragement and forced his eyes open. He realized that the gnome was still talking.

'Our course will take us to Devis, in a sphere called Path-space,' Horvath was saying, 'then on to the Rock for a refit. He-Whose-Duties-Revolve-Around-Maintaining-And-Repairing…' He stopped short and started again. 'Our shipmaster says we're about due, particularly after that scrap with the neogi spidership. You didn't think we'd hang around here, did you?'

'I didn't really think about it,' Teldin replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

'Well, you should,' Horvath said, not unkindly. 'We're heading for the shell now. Good view on the way. We'll be passing close to Zivilyn. What a wild planet that is: twelve moons and more colors than you've got names for.' The gnome set down his empty mug. 'My advice to you is, don't worry about it. Enjoy the trip and learn everything you can. Once it gets in your blood, this is the only life that makes any sense. You'll never go back to being a dirtkicker again.' He slapped his thighs and stood. 'Well, I'm on watch shortly. Why don't you come up on deck with me? Just because I have the duty doesn't mean I can't talk.'

Teldin followed the gnome up a different companionway and emerged on deck farther aft than he'd been before, just forward of the chaotic structure the gnomes called the stern-castle. He looked up and saw another gnome leaning over the sterncastle rail, looking down at them. Remembering Horvath's comment about humans only seeing the superficial, he tried with a critical eye to make out the differences between the two gnomes. But, if he discounted the minor differences in clothing, the two looked enough alike to be mirror images.

Horvath looked up at the other gnome and raised a hand in salute. 'Greetings, Yourcaptainship, sir, Captain Wysdor, sir.' Now that Horvath was speaking to another gnome, the words flooded forth so fast that, to Teldin's ears, they blurred inextricably together. 'Wherewouldyoubewantingme?'

Captain Wysdor pointed forward and rattled off a speech even faster than Horvath's-so fast that Teldin could make no sense of it at all. Horvath obviously understood, however. He snapped another salute up at the captain and headed forward.

A little belatedly, Teldin followed. 'What did he say?' the former farmer asked.

Horvath looked puzzled for a moment, then grinned. 'I'd forgotten I might need to translate,' he said. 'There's no watch this time. We took damage in the fight, and the captain needs to know how much. He told me to get Saliman and a couple of others and take the longboat to check us out from stem to stern. It shouldn't take too long.' He took another couple of steps, then stopped again and turned back. 'Would you like to come?'

Teldin looked down at Horvath. 'Come?' He tried to keep his voice flat, to hide his sudden trepidation.

The gnome's smile told him he hadn't succeeded. 'Certainly. You're Honorary Captain. You're entitled. And you've got a lot of questions, probably, about spelljammers, about the Unquenchable. Am I right? Well, the best way to learn is to look, as we gnomes say. Are you game? It'll be perfectly safe, I promise you.'

Teldin hesitated, then a broad grin spread across his face. 'If this is perfectly safe, it'll be the first safe thing I've done in weeks. I'm game.'

'Good,' Horvath said briskly. He turned away and called to a young gnome who was crossing the mizzen deck. 'Miggins-effivargonastro.'

'Yo?'

'Get Salimanaduberostrafindal and, er, Danajustiantorala and join me at the longboat.'

The young gnome nodded and trotted down a companion-way leading belowdecks. 'Come on,' Horvath said as he led Teldin forward.

The longboat rested on blocks on the gnomish dreadnought's mizzen deck, hard against the port rail. Two large davits were bolted securely to the deck and the rail, and heavy block-and-tackle rigs were hooked to large eyes at the longboat's bow and stern. Teldin looked the longboat over with interest. Now here was a vessel he understood. About thirty feet long at the keel and tapered at bow and stern, it was a larger version of the small riverboats that Teldin knew from his childhood. Oarlocks were mounted on the gunwales, and two oars lay lengthwise across the thwarts that braced the hull. The only unusual feature was the enormous, broad-armed chair that was bolted securely in place in the longboat's stern. Made from heavy, dark wood and ornately carved, the chair looked more like a throne than something appropriate to a water-going vessel, especially with the assorted bits of machinery that appeared to have been bolted to it at random.

Horvath noted where Teldin was looking, 'Minor helm,' he said as though that was sufficient answer, then he raised his voice. 'Boat crew, get us ready to put out.' A number of gnomes appeared from elsewhere on deck and checked the davits' rigging, then took up the slack on the lines. 'In you get,' Horvath told Teldin as he clambered over the gunwale. 'Sit up in the bow if you like. It's a good view, and you'll be out of the way.'

Obediently Teldin stepped over the gunwale-easy for someone of his size-and settled onto the forward thwart. As he did so, three other gnomes arrived and climbed aboard as well.

The youngest of the three-Miggisomething, he remembered Horvath had called him- looked at Teldin curiously, then his face crinkled in a jaunty grin, and he winked broadly. 'Welcome aboard the Ship of Fools,' he said in a cheerful voice as he settled upon a thwart amidships. 'You can call me Miggins.'

The second gnome to board was a marked contrast to Miggins. He was short and squat, even shorter than Horvath, and his lined face made him look centuries older than Teldin's new friend. Instead of the off-white shirts and leather aprons favored by most of the crew, he wore an ankle-length robe of rich burgundy, its hems embellished with finely woven gold threads. Around his neck was a thin gold chain, bearing as a pendant a rough nugget of raw gold almost as large as the gnome's small fist. A thin circlet of gold was around his brow, holding his curly gray hair away from his face. Totally disinterested, he didn't spare Teldin a glance as he seated himself in the ornate throne and laid his hands palms-down on its broad arms.

The third gnome was different again. She was female, apparently about the same age as Horvath. She wore the standard apron, but the cut of her clothes was different to accommodate the swell of her full bosom. She shot a glare at Teldin, and he realized he'd been staring impolitely. He looked aside quickly in embarrassment. The woman took her place on the same thwart as Miggins.

Horvath spoke up. 'These are Dana, Miggins and Saliman,' he said, indicating the individuals as he named them. Teldin was glad that Horvath had abbreviated the names. 'Welcome our new shipmate, Teldin Moore,' Horvath went on, 'a mighty neogi-killer, I hear tell.' The woman, Dana, shot him a quick glance that mixed surprise and disbelief, then looked away again. Horvath nudged Teldin with an elbow. 'Watch out for Saliman,' he said in a stage whisper, indicating with his thumb the elder gnome seated in the throne. 'Give him a chance and he'll entrap you with his rhetoric. You'll be worshipping gnomish gods and wishing you were a gnome before he's through with you.' He raised his voice to its normal pitch. 'And you, Dana, I'll ask you to keep your lively good humor and ready wit to yourself, or you'll overwhelm our fine guest.' Dana snorted and shot Teldin another disgusted look.

'Boat crew ready?' Horvath bellowed.

'Ready,' responded one of the gnomes at the ropes.

'Then take us out.'

The lines complained as the boat crew took up the slack and lifted the longboat dear of the deck. The davits pivoted with a groan as they swung the vessel over the rail.

'Lower away,' Horvath ordered. 'Easy this time.'

The boat crew let out the lines, and the longboat descended slowly. When it reached where the waterline