How deep did the gnomes burrow in their search for ores? Laedo could imagine them breaking through the exterior of their world-hemisphere, causing their entire atmosphere to go whistling into the void.
Presumably the designer of Erspia-3 had incorporated some measure to prevent that happening.
“Where to, Ruzzok?”
The gnome grunted uncertainly, perhaps unable to recognise his homeland’s geography from the air.
Laedo sent the ship swinging over what looked like a line of blast furnaces. Nearby was an array of enigmatic shapes, and beyond that a level area composed of cinders or ash of some sort.
Gently he set the ship down on the cinders. As he neared the ground, gnomes turned to gape upward.
Laedo turned to his passenger. “All right, Ruzzok, I’ve kept my part of the bargain. I want you to do what you can for me in return.”
Again Ruzzok grunted. Laedo led him down the corridor to the port, opened it, extended the steps, and invited him to take his leave. Already gnomes were running towards the ship from the direction of the industrial complex.
As he closed the port behind Ruzzok’s back, Laedo wondered what had driven the gnomes to such manic metallurgical efforts. Surely they were not prompted by their economic needs, which must be simple. Perhaps it was obsessive behaviour, bred into them in accordance with their mythic characterisation.
He returned to the main cabin and watched events on the viewscreen. Ruzzok was talking to his compatriots and gesticulating up at the cargo carrier. Consternation and puzzlement appeared on a dozen gnome faces.
Let them keep guessing for a while, he told himself. He would sleep for a few hours, then see how his new hosts behaved.
When Laedo awoke the two suns had appeared and he was able to look out on his surroundings in broad daylight.
A group of gnomes squatted not far from his cargo ship, staring steadfastly up at it. All wore the same one-piece knitted metal garment worn by Ruzzok, but he was unable to tell if his short-time companion was present. They all looked alike to him.
Beyond the immediate area, which was covered in ash and clinker, were the tall shapes of furnaces and the big, strange contraptions he had seen earlier. His attention went to the latter. They sported immense long beams and massive laminated steel springs. At the end of each long beam was what looked like a cabin large enough to cram in four to six gnomes.
It was a minute or two before he guessed their purpose. These must be examples of the powerful catapults designed to propel cargoes high into the air and through the gravity barrier to the other world.
The machines were spectacular, both in appearance and in intention. Laedo wondered about the shock to the human body of being slammed into the sky in so sudden a manner. Presumably the tough, stocky gnomes were able to withstand it, but he wondered if all of them survived the experience.
Checking his handgun for charge, he opened the port, extended the steps, and stood in the doorway looking out. At the first threatening move, he had decided, he would retreat into the ship and take off.
At his appearance two of the gnomes rose to their feet and walked forward. As they mounted the steps one of them gave him a nod and a look of recognition. It was Ruzzok.
He led them into the main cabin and invited them to be seated. They ignored this and continued to remain standing, their bearing stiff.
Ruzzok spoke. “This is Mezzen, mechanic and engineer. Tell him what it is you want.”
Briefly Laedo studied the newcomer. He had the same stolid impassivity as Ruzzok himself. It was impossible to read anything from his face.
“What metals do you work in, here in Gnomeland?” he asked.
The answer was fiercely proud. “We work in steel!”
Laedo nodded. He rummaged in a drawer and came out with the sketch he had made for Hoggora’s metal-worker, spreading it in front of the gnome technician.
“Can you make this? It has to be exact to the specified measurements, to one part in a thousand.”
One part in a thousand was barely enough in fact, but Hoggora’s man had been incapable of achieving anything like that. Laedo imagined that it would push the gnomes’ ideas of precision engineering to their utmost as well.
Mezzen peered at the drawing for a while.
“We can make it,” he pronounced.
“How long will it take?”
The gnome shrugged, and looked about him. “How long did it take your people to make this vehicle?”
Laedo gave an embarrassed laugh. “I’ve no idea.”
“Why do you want this part made?”
Laedo saw no reason to lie. “So that I can return home to my own world far off in space. My ship is damaged and I am stranded here.”
“Then this is a matter of great importance to you,” the gnome replied quickly. “If we are to help you, you must help us.”
“I have helped you already. I rescued Ruzzok.”
Mezzen pulled a face, increasing his ugliness to a quite extraordinary degree. “What of his comrades who are still prisoners of the fairies? You did not rescue those.”
The meeting was not going as Laedo had hoped. “I took a risk in rescuing even Ruzzok. If I had tried to release the others the fairies would have been upon us.”
Grunting his scepticism, Mezzen then said, “How many of us gnomes do you think this vessel could carry? Fifty? A hundred? Damaged though I assume it is, since it cannot take you home, it still brought you here from the world of the fairies. So it can return there as well. You could travel to and fro, transporting large numbers of us to assist the coming invasion.”
Mezzen looked at him steadily as he added, “Be our friend and we will be yours.”
Laedo reminded himself that all previous invasions had failed. In all likelihood this was because the gnomes’ catapults could not fling enough troops and materials to the other half of the split worldlet.
Ethically, he could not for one moment consider siding with the gnomes in their grotesque ambition. It looked like he would have to return to Fairyland and get to work on the projector station’s command system.
A thought occurred to him. Erspia-3 was similar to Erspia-1 in some ways. On the latter, the planetoid had also been divided, by ‘good’ followers of Ormazd and ‘bad’ followers of Ahriman. The dichotomy was more complete on Erspia-3, with two landscapes facing one another across a ten mile gap. On the one were the peaceful, delightful fairies. On the other, the belligerent, rapacious gnomes.
Perhaps the legendary Klystar liked to play with the good and evil aspects of the human psyche, separating them and allowing them to struggle with one another in various ways.
Another thought struck him. The surface gravity on Gnomeland was as weak as on Fairyland, but there appeared to be no need for it, since the gnomes did not fly. Why… ?
Of course. It was to enable the gnomes to reach Fairyland so as to engage in warfare with its inhabitants.
Everything had been planned from the start, just like placing a bridge between two formicariums so as to watch the two nests of ants fight one another.
Including the improbability that the gnomes could actually succeed in conquering Fairyland using their own resources. Laedo’s cargo ship could tip the balance in their favour.
“I shall have to think about it,” he said.
“What is there to think about?” Mezzen challenged, his voice loud and suspicious. “Our interests converge. You wish to have your ship repaired. We wish to take possession of the land in the sky. We can give each other what we want.”
His voice fell. “Or are you really here as a spy for the fairies?” he rumbled. “To report on our preparations?”