Into the Void

Teldin glanced over at the elf. 'How can a constellation be new?' he asked.

'Of course the pattern itself is as old as any,' the elf explained with a half-smile. 'The meaning has changed, that's all. Once it was two constellations, the Dragon of Dawn and the Firbolg, but after the Time of Troubles, many inhabitants of the Realms decided it would be best to devise a constellation to revere the new goddess, the Wounded Lady. Do you know the story?'

'No,' Teldin admitted, 'but maybe…'

'Maybe another time, yes.' The elf turned and pointed forward. 'Do you see that bright star, just over the forecastle?'

Teldin looked where Vallus indicated. 'Yes.'

'That's Realmspace's primary, called-predictably-'the sun.' And that-' he pointed to another dot of light, nowhere near as brilliant as the first but still brighter than the other stars '-is Chandos, one of the giants of the Realmspace system, some seven thousand leagues across. For comparison, your own world is perhaps one thousand leagues across, and Toril is about the same. Do you realize that Chandos is about nine million leagues from us? And yet its light is almost enough to rival the sun. How can we not feel insignificant in the face of scales such as this?' He shook his head in wonder. Teldin shrugged his shoulders but said nothing. The universe might be huge, he found himself thinking, but most of it seems to be eager to make sure my stay here isn't as long as I'd like. 'How long to Toril?' he asked eventually. 'Another thirty days, perhaps,' the elf answered casually.

He must have seen Teldin's expression of astonishment, because he chuckled. 'Yes, it surprises me, too, at times. We traveled from one crystal sphere to another in, what, thirty days or so? Then, once we're within our destination sphere, we have to spend another thirty days to reach the planet we're interested in. Somehow it seems all wrong, but you should understand: There are rivers that flow in the phlogiston, rivers that can greatly increase one's speed if one's navigator is good enough to find them. Sylvie is one of the best. Once within a shell, there are no rivers, and even the smallest sphere is immense. Again, when it comes to understanding the universe- as with so much else-perspective is all-important. Wouldn't you say?'

With that, Vallus strolled away, leaving Teldin to his own contemplations.

***

The Probe was eighteen days inbound from the crystal sphere when the derelict ship was spotted. The hammership had, two days before, made its closest approach to Chandos, and the huge blue- green world was shrinking astern.

Teldin was leaning on the sterncastle rail, gazing out past the ship's stem spanker sails. Even at this distance, the great water world was an impressive sight. It had none of the dramatic hues of Zivilyn in the Krynn system, none of the great clashing bands of color. Instead, it was a study in subtle gradients as blues shaded imperceptibly into greens. The planet displayed an unbelievable range of intensities, from royal blues so deep they were almost purple to greens so faint they could almost be gray. Teldin could pick out three unusually bright points of light that appeared very close to the planet. Although nobody he'd spoken to had mentioned moons, he presumed these brilliant specks of light were satellites in orbit around the great planet.

The emotions that Teldin associated with this massive world were quite different from those he'd felt while viewing Zivilyn, too. Zivilyn, the giant of Krynn's system, seemed to embody dynamic change, energy, and turmoil. Chandos, on the other hand, made him feel calm, at peace with himself and with the universe as a whole.

'Ship ahoy!' The call echoed from the crow's nest atop the hastily repaired mainmast.

'Bearing?' That was Aelfred's call from up forward. Teldin turned and saw the big first mate climbing the ladder to the forecastle deck. A brass spyglass was under his arm.

'High on the starboard bow,' the lookout answered.

Teldin looked up to the recently repaired crow's nest. He could see the lookout in his jury-rigged perch, arm outstretched and pointing. Teldin tried to pick out the exact angle the man was indicating, but from this perspective it was difficult.

Aelfred seemed to have no such problem. He snapped the brass tube up to his eye and trained it forward, slightly above and to the right of the Probe's bow. 'Got it,' he called after a few moments. 'Mosquito, it looks like. No lights…' His voice took on a harder edge. 'She's tumbling. Crew on deck!'

From below Teldin heard the clanging of the bell that called the crew to their stations. The deck pounded with running feet as crewmen burst out onto the deck. Men swung into the rigging, and weapons crews prepared their catapults.

'Teldin! Over here!' Aelfred stood beside the forward turret, beckoning with a raised arm. Teldin crossed the main deck-doing his best to stay out of the way of the crewmen who were still rushing to their stations-and joined his friend.

Aelfred was leaning against the turret, his gaze directed forward toward the other ship that Teldin had yet to see. The turret was still immobilized after the damaging ballista strike from the deathspider, but that hardly mattered. The heavy ballista it contained was ruined, and there wasn't the material aboard necessary to rebuild or replace it, though, according to shipboard gossip, Horvath had offered to rig up a 'suitable substitute.' Bubbo, the weapons master, had threatened to clap the gnome in irons if he even tried.

As Teldin approached, the first mate turned to face him. The warrior's expression was troubled. 'Teldin,' he said, 'I want you to…' He moved his palm in front of his face, as though rearranging his features. 'Understand?'

'Why?' Teldin's eyes strayed to the star field in the direction in which the other ship must lie. 'Are they enemies?'

'I don't think so,' Aelfred said reluctantly, 'I think she might be a derelict, but…' He snorted in disgust. 'I'm getting paranoid. Look.' His voice became more persuasive. 'Where's the harm? If the snip's empty, just reverse it. If there are people aboard the ship, you might be saving your life.'

Teldin paused. The first mate was right, he thought, Aelfred was being paranoid, but he had to admit, it might be a necessary kind of paranoia. Teldin still didn't like shapeshifting on principle, but what good would it do if he stood on principle so firmly that the neogi ended up with the cloak? He sighed and nodded. 'I agree,' he said quietly.

He glanced around him. There was nobody else on the forecastle. With the ballista wrecked, there was no call for a weapon crew. All the other crew members he could see were busy preparing the Probe for the unknown.

He pulled the hood of the cloak up over his head and forward so that it shadowed his face. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath.

What face should he take? For the first time this was a relevant question. Up until now in his practice, he'd been assuming the face and form of others that he knew on board the hammership. Obviously, this wasn't a good idea; how would Garay-for example-react if he ran into his own twin?

Unbidden, the image of his rather came into his mind. He paused. Why not? He let the image build in intensity, then started making minor changes. His rather was too old. Remove some of the lines from around his eyes, then. His eyes were the same rich blue as Teldin's own. Too much of a similarity; change them to dark brown. Finally, remove the gray streaks from the black hair. He mentally examined the picture he'd built up and was satisfied. As to the body, change the frame a little, but not so much that his clothes didn't fit right. Broaden the shoulders slightly, make the chest a tad deeper, and that was it.

Teldin's daily practice had paid off. The whole process took no more than a couple of heartbeats. He opened his eyes again.

Aelfred shook his head and rumbled deep in his throat. 'I'll never get used to that.' Teldin reached up to remove the hood, but the first mate's hand stopped him. 'No,' Aelfred said, 'keep it on. No reason to draw attention to the fact that somebody else is wearing Teldin's clothes.' He paused in thought. 'For the same reason, don't talk unless you have to, all right?'

Teldin nodded.

Aelfred's distinctive grin returned. 'Good. You can stay here and watch if you want, but if things get nasty, either get belowdecks out of the way-' he slapped Teldin's shoulder ' -or, if it strikes your fancy, feel free to fry as many of the bad guys as you like.'