Among the Nameless Stars

pride. “What do you think?”
    “This is quite the contraption,” was all Kai could bring himself to say. “What do you plan to do with it?”

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    “Race it, of course!” Pen said. His expression turned hard. “Got a race planned at the end of next week, against two Luddites from the Channel and that damned explorer. This beauty is going to win me a lot of money. At least, it had better do, or I’ll know who to blame.” He pointed a meaty finger at Kai and stalked off.
    Kai swallowed thickly and stared up at the old boat. Threats from Pen were nothing new, and this latest one barely penetrated, as a single thought crowded out all the others in his mind.
    Explorer?
    “Can you do it?” Bess asked. She’d lingered behind, and her expression was grim. “Looks pretty bad.”
    Kai shrugged. “I don’t see why not. He’ll have the carpenters in on the body, so I’m mostly going to be looking at the engine. Don’t see why it should be much different than any of the other boats I’ve been fixing for him.”
    “Yeah, but he’ll want this one to go so fast. . . .” Bess shook her head. “I think he’s gone mad with pride. Since when does Pen know anything about boat racing? And against Channel Luddites and Nicodemus Innovation, too.”
    “Who is that?” Kai asked, keeping his tone as subdued as possible.
    Bess snorted. “You know … the explorer.”
    No, Kai didn’t know. Kai didn’t know there were any explorers at all anymore. The very sound of the word struck his brain like the peal of a bell. Lightness streaked through every limb, sparking with a hope Kai thought long dead. “Where does he … explore?”
    How does he explore? How do the Luddites even let him? Kai thought exploration was forbidden, like “innovation” itself.

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    “Oh, you know, nearby islands. Amazing, the kind of stuff he finds just days off the coast.
    All sorts of treasures from before the Reduction. He’s the one who found those wild horses a few years back. The giant ones all the Luddites around here have?” Bess rolled her eyes. “What Pen wouldn’t do to get his hands on one of those horses. But Innovation won’t sell him one, no matter what. I should know—I’ve been the recipient of all Pen’s anger when he gets Captain Innovation’s latest rejection letter. You know what they say—‘kill the messenger.’ Or the scribe, in my case.”
    “Ever think about reading it wrong and telling him he can have a horse?” Kai joked.
    Bess smiled at the thought. “Yeah, but then who would get the beating when it doesn’t show up? Not Innovation, that’s for sure. And it seems Innovation’s rich enough without Pen’s business.”
    Kai put his hand against the hull for support as surprise and envy coursed through his system.
    This man, this Innovation, was an explorer . He’d been off the island . He was rich. Rich on his own .
    “That’s why Pen wants in this race. Each entrant is contributing to the prize pool and Innovation has put up one of his best horses. Guess Pen figures it’s his only way to get his hands on one.”
    “The usual scare tactics didn’t work?”
    “Sometimes,” Bess said ruefully, “I think Nicodemus Innovation is the only Post in the enclave who isn’t afraid of Pen.”
    That settled it. Kai needed to learn more about this man as soon as possible.
    “So about the boat—” Bess was saying.

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    “Yes.” Kai waved a distracted hand in her direction. “It’ll be in fine shape for the race. Won’t make Pen an expert skipper, though. I grew up near the Boatwright Estate, so I’ve seen what it takes to pilot a ship.” Kai was no expert either, but he’d always wanted to learn. Unfortunately, the Boatwright’s shipyards had been shut down since he was a child. “I don’t think he’s got anyone to help him there.”
    Though, Kai thought, it wasn’t as if this was a sailing race, where the skipper’s ability to read the water and the wind was all-important. In a motorboat race, it took only an understanding of the physics of moving on water and the ability to make the engine work harder.
    “No, I suppose not,” Bess said, frowning. “That’s some relief, at least, though I suppose in my condition I shouldn’t be hoping something happens to sour his mood. Most folks I know are dying to see him brought down in some