“She is the daughter,” Mage Asha said. “It has been seen.”
The commons among the Pride’s crew turned shocked glances toward the sailors from the Lady who were aboard. Those sailors hoisted their fists high and shouted answers to the unspoken questions. “It is her!” “She’s the one!” “The daughter has come at last!”
Mari braced herself for the reaction from the Mechanics, but instead of mockery and contempt she saw thoughtfulness changing to admiration and looks of shared amusement. What did that mean?
“Smart,” Master Mechanic Lukas murmured.
She finally got it. These other Mechanics thought that Mari was working a scam on the Mages and the commons, posing so successfully as the legendary daughter that she could get them to do as she wanted.
“What’s your plan?” Lukas asked.
“To set Mechanics free,” Mari said, determined not to disclose too much while people who were certain not to join her, like the guards and Senior Mechanic Denz, were in earshot. “Free to do new things, to innovate, to change. Learn what we can from the Mages and accept what skills they can bring. And give the commons freedom. Why are Mechanics ruling the commons? We’re engineers. Let the commons rule themselves and come to us for the technology and the tools they need.”
“If the commons rule themselves,” one of the passengers said in a worried voice, “everything could go to blazes.”
“It’s already been going to blazes,” Mechanic Ken commented. “There are almost always wars and raids and attacks going on, and look at Tiae. The Guild has always claimed it can rule the commons, but the Guild ended up abandoning Tiae. That’s not a sign of superior strength or wisdom.”
“It’s Tiae that makes me believe her the most,” another Mechanic said. “That and my experience with far-talkers. I was on a task force working on the portable far-talkers being constructed now. We were told to use the same design, but some of the components being turned out either don’t work or are bigger, heavier, and less efficient than they’re supposed to be. Something is being allowed to change, but only in one direction, and that’s downhill.”
Captain Banda pointed back to the stern cabin. “One-half of that used to house a far-talker. But over time the big far-talkers have been pulled off most Mechanics Guild ships to be used for parts to try to keep the far-talkers on a few other ships and those in the Guild Halls still working.
“I’ve been like the rest of you,” Banda continued. “Trying to do my best, trying to do my job, but coming under suspicion by the Guild because I wasn’t willing to watch everything fall apart without saying or trying something. I’ll admit I’ve had it easier than many of you. Once the big far-talkers came off of these ships we gained a degree of freedom from the Guild whenever we went to sea. But we always had to come back into port sometime. And you are all examples of what is happening: how any dissent, any questioning, is taken as disloyalty. Too many Mechanics are disappearing, too many are being arrested and sent off to exile, while the rest of us wait for an alternative that we don’t think exists.”
Banda pointed to Mari. “Now we’ve got an alternative. I’d rather die trying to make something work than die in a prison cell because I wasn’t allowed to try. This Master Mechanic has given me a choice. When is the last time you were offered a choice? When is the last time you were treated with respect? Master Mechanic Mari treated me better as her prisoner than the Senior Mechanics have treated me. I’m going to follow Master Mechanic Mari.”
“Me, too,” said Senior Mechanic Gina, stepping forward. “You’re going to need someone who understands administrative functions. I can help.”
“We don’t need the Senior Mechanics running everything!” an angry voice rose among the passengers.
“I don’t want to run anything!” Gina insisted. “I want to help things run. You need administrative talent. It’s like the grease that keeps a machine moving. The problem with the Mechanics Guild isn’t because the grease is part of the system, it’s because the grease has decided it’s the reason for the machine’s existence.”
Mari saw Alain give her a slight nod. Both Banda and Gina were telling the truth. And with that she realized how to resolve her worries about whether anyone else was being truthful. “Stay next to me,” she told Alain in a low voice, then spoke loudly again. “Welcome to both of you,” she said to the captain and the senior mechanic. “For everyone else who wants to stay, I would like you to come up here, one by one, and tell me you want to work with me.”
“No vows of obedience?” a sarcastic voice called.
“No. Just say you want to work with me. We’ll start with the crew.”
Unsurprisingly, all of the commons and the Mechanics among the Pride’s crew agreed, as did all but one of the Apprentices. That boy came close to Mari and Banda to speak quietly. “Mechanic Captain, sir, I truly want to stay with you, but my parents and my little sister live in the Guild Hall at Amandan. If I am seen to be a traitor to the Guild—”
“I wouldn’t ask you to risk your family,” Mari said.
“But we need a stronger reason for your refusal,” Banda added. “Something that will protect you.” His voice rose. “I am surprised,” he said, his tone growing colder. “I expected better of you than blind loyalty to the Guild. Go, then. You belong among those who think as you do.”
The Apprentice quickly hid a relieved smile, tried to look abashed but determined, and walked to stand next to the net cage holding the guards.
Then came the Mechanics who had been passengers. The first several came up without incident, but then a woman approached. “I wish to work with you,” she said in a businesslike manner.
Alain’s hand came up in a warding gesture. “She is lying.”
The female Mechanic flicked a quick glance at Alain. Mari saw a knife appear in her hand with shocking suddenness, then the female Mechanic lunged at her from only a lance away.
Chapter Eight
Mari had barely begun to shift position in an attempt to meet the attack, knowing that she had too little time to save herself, when she heard a gasp of exertion from Alain. A section of deck just forward of Mari’s toes vanished, leaving an opening gaping down to the next deck below. Her attacker, unable to react in time, stepped onto open air and fell forward through the opening.
The female Mechanic swung the knife at Mari as she fell, coming close enough to her that Mari easily felt the wind of the knife’s passage.
Mari stepped back into a defensive crouch, pivoting enough to grab hold of Alain as he slumped with exhaustion. She heard the impact of the female Mechanic on the deck below, accompanied by a sound like a broomstick snapping and a cry of pain. A moment later the opening was gone, the deck as solid as ever, and Mari was trying to keep Alain from collapsing while everyone stared at her.
Asha moved to help hold Alain, freeing Mari to stand upright again. Mari looked around at the shocked expressions and somehow managed to speak in a clear voice despite the pounding of her heart as adrenaline belatedly tried to shock her system into readiness for the already-passed emergency. “You just saw two reasons why I keep Mages with me. They can tell when someone lies. And they can do that.”
She pointed at the deck where the opening had briefly existed.
Captain Banda shook his head like one coming out of a dream. “Mechanic Deni. Take a couple of our people, and one of Master Mechanic Mari’s people, down and take custody of that viper. Mind the knife, but she shouldn’t give you much trouble. That was the sound of a leg breaking, unless I’m much mistaken.”