Brightness Reef

Then again, I’m hardly ever as sure of anything as Huck is of everything.

Of course, there was one other person we could ask, but in the course of stowing gear and going over plans, I guess the fiery old smith dazzled us out of bringing the subject up. Intimidated may be a better word, though I’m not sure, since I’m writing this by candlelight without my handy dictionary. All during the last few days, Uriel galloped from her normal duties, to talks with her human guest, to tending her precious hall of disks, to flooding us with more details we never thought of during all our long months pla

At one point I did try to ask about all the changes she had made in our plan.

“We always figured on starting by exploring the shallows near home. Then redesign and refit before trying deeper water from a boat. Maybe going down ten or twenty cords. Now you’re talking about doing thirty, right from the start!”

“Thirty cords is not so very nuch,” Uriel dismissed with a snort. “Oh, I agree that your old air circulators wouldn’t have veen uf to it. That’s why I reflaced the systen with a suferior one we had on hand. Also, your gaskets would have leaked. As for the hull itself, your design will do.”

I couldn’t help wondering — where did all the equipment come from? We hadn’t figured on needing a gas pressure regulator, for instance. Good thing Uriel pointed out the mistake and happened to have a beautiful handmade one in stock. But why did she already have one? Why would even the Smith of Gue

Huck admitted, it wasn’t hurting our chances to have Uriel’s competence behind us. Yet I worried. An air of mystery shrouded the enterprise.

“All will ve nade clear when you get to the Rock, and everything is ready to go. I’ll check the gear out nyself, then I’ll exflain what you can do for ne.”

Barring day trips to Wuphon, Uriel hardly ever left her forge. Now she wanted to take two weeks off, adventuring with us? Never in my life has a single piece of news struck me the way that one did — at once both reassuring and terrifying. Perhaps my nick-namesake felt the same way when, exploring the deep catacombs under Bias-par, he found something unimaginable, a mystery tu

So there we were, Huck, Ur-ro

Ur-ro

“Come on, you guys! You’re so jeekee slow!”

Ur-ro

An exaggeration. I know how tough urrish hide is. Still. Huck does have a way of recalling only whatever seems convenient at the time.

She had to stop and wait, huffing impatiently, at intersections to let Ur-ro

Speaking of moons, great Loocen sat low in the west, the largest of Jijo’s satellites, a familiar reddish crescent, though right now the main part facing us was dark, so no sunlight sparkled off the cold, dead cities the Buyur left there intact, as if to taunt us.

Stars glittered overhead like… well, before writing this down, I wracked my brain for a comparison out of some book I’ve read, but Earthling authors never had anything in their sky like the Dandelion Cluster, a giant puff-ball of sparkling pinpoints taking up almost a quarter of the sky, skimming the southern horizon. I know ’cause if they did, they’d have competed to describe it over and over, in a million different ways. Visitors from the crowded north part of the Slope always act amazed to see it in its glory, so I guess the Dandelion’s one good thing about living here at the southmost boonies.

It’s also one chief reason why Uriel’s predecessor built a telescope on that spot, and a dome to protect it against rain and ash from old Gue

Ur-ro

The heavy cinderblock structure seemed to rise against the dazzling starry cluster, reminding me of a glaver’s muzzle, taking a bite out of a big gutchel pear. The sight made my back scales frickle. Of course at this altitude, with no clouds in the sky, the air had a chilly bite.

Whistling dismay, Ur-ro

“What is it!” I whispered urgently.

“The roof is open,” Ur-ro

“The hell you say,” Huck cursed. “I’m for sneakin’ in.”

They looked to me for the deciding vote. I shrugged, human-style. “We’re here. Ought to at least take a look.”

Ur-ro

So we neared the dome and made out that the roof line was split open, exposing blocky shapes to the shimmering sky. The path ended at a ground-level door — ajar — revealing dim shadows within. Huphu trembled on my shoulder, either from eagerness or from anxiety. I already regretted taking her along.

Ur-ro

“Of all utterjeekee things, what could top her scouting ahead at night?” Huck groused. “Urs can’t see in the dark any better’n a glaver can at noon. Oughta let me do it.”

Yeah, I thought. As if g’Keks are built for stealth. But I kept silent, except for a low umble to prevent Huphu jumping off.

Switching her braided tail nervously, Ur-ro