Emilie & the Hollow World by Martha Wells Read Free Book Online

intention of leaving here without your father and his men,” Lord Engal cut her off. “That may not be my sole reason for pursuing this experiment, but it certainly is the most important.” He took a deep breath, and added more calmly, “Miss Marlende, you've repeatedly demanded that I trust you and Kenar. I would appreciate it if you would extend a little trust to me in return.”
    Miss Marlende met his gaze for a long moment, then said, grimly, “Fair enough.”
    With a pointed glance around, Engal continued, “As I said, we'll sail toward Marlende's position while Barshion and the engineers try to make the necessary adjustments to the aetheric engine. We'll also try to raise the airship on our wireless, though from Dr. Marlende's notes we know that the aether in the air here may interfere with radio waves. If we encounter obstacles, we'll deal with them as necessary. If we can't deal with them, I'll reconsider our course.”
    Captain Belden didn't look happy, but he didn't object, either. Emilie, as annoyed as she was with Lord Engal, had to admit that this was as fair as possible, and probably what she would have done in his position. Miss Marlende seemed to agree. She said, with a trace of stiffness, “Thank you, Lord Engal. I can't ask for more than that.”
    Then Lord Engal ruined it by saying, “I should think not.”
     
     
     
    There was a lot of bustle at that point, everyone putting their heads together over the maps, and Emilie found herself shuffled out of the wheelhouse and into the corridor. Once there, she wasn't sure where to go. Everyone seemed to have temporarily forgotten that Miss Marlende was supposed to be in charge of her, and she didn't want to remind them. And she didn't want to draw too much attention and get herself locked up in a cabin for the duration.
    But her stomach was growling, and she felt sure she wasn't the only one; somebody would be feeding the crew breakfast.
    She went down the nearest stairs to the main deck, and once there followed the smell of fried bread and sausages down another stairwell to the crew quarters. The corridor opened into a crew lounge fitted up as a galley, with long tables and benches, where an older woman and a boy about Emilie's age were working at a small stove and counter, dispensing food. Several crewmen, some with bandages, black eyes, torn uniforms, and other signs of the fighting, were sitting down to eat or waiting for seconds. Emilie picked up a tin plate and a cup from a clean stack and joined the line.
    She noticed most of the crew were Southern Menaen, like Lord Engal, or looked as if they had a mix of both Southern and Northern heritage. They could have all been hired from Meneport, but.they seemed very comfortable with each other, as if they had been together as a crew for a long time. They had fought off the attack on the ship in a very capable fashion; it made her wonder if Lord Engal did this sort of thing a lot.
    From the talk she overheard, everyone was unsettled by the fight, tired, and deeply uneasy about their current whereabouts. Emilie thought it was a rational reaction to the whirlwind events of the past few hours.
    When it was her turn, the boy who took her cup to fill it at the tea urn just stared at her, but the woman who was dishing out the food blinked in surprise and said, “Now who are you?”
    “I'm Emilie.” She held out her plate hopefully. “I'm with Miss Marlende.” Maybe that would come in handy after all.
    “Oh, well then, you should really be eating up in the passenger lounge,” the woman told her, but continued scooping sausage slices, fried bread, and potatoes onto her plate. “Verian, the ship's steward, is going to be serving up there.”
    “But this looks so good,” Emilie said, and for once it was the complete truth. The sausage was plump, the bread soaked with butter and sugar, the potatoes nicely browned.
    Her sincerity must have been evident, because the woman smiled, ladled more onto the plate,