Emilly went to the railing and pointed. "But, see where the fire's burning? That's what remains of the Gray Area. Lina pushed the rest into a 'door', she said, into a dead universe. I asked how dead, and...she said she didn't know."
"Which was the...?" Deebs asked.
Emilly shrugged. "I have no idea. She said something about Limbo...28? 38? Something..."
"No, sorry, I mean, what was the Gray Area?"
"Oh...the flagship of the Gearhaven fleet."
Deebs blinked at her. "...that's going to play havoc with the taxes."
"The Gray Area is the normal visiting ship, or the ship we send out on expeditions, while the Grown-Up Conversation is our more...ah...aggressive ship." Emilly considered. "Which he's actually brought to Haven, actually, and no one's said anything..."
Deebs looked out across the bay once more. "Is the electrical arcs and the like containment, or the edge of the Rift?"
"At any rate, we didn't bring the Gray Area to Haven. How would we explain flying a steampunk airship over a future settlement on a desert moon?"
Deebs smiled. "Aesthetics."
"Point." She followed where Deebs was looking.
"Near as we've been able to figure...those are the rift horizons. They fluctuate, but it seems to be between two and three at any given time."
Deebs smiled. "I have occasionally brought out my Martian flyer, just because of my history...May I?"
Emilly nodded, and the air shimmered, and a Martian flyer landed delicately on the balcony.
"Oh, she is a pretty thing."
"One of these days," Deebs said, "I am going to rewrite my picks to reflect all the versions of Mars that have been an influence on me. That, for instance...That is straight up Martian chronicles."
Emilly nodded. "Very cool. If you're planning a flyover, though, be careful!"
"It occurs to me that a Space 1889 vibe might be a good dressout for coming to visit."
"And there's still an active rift we need to take care of in the round tower in front, at the top..." She looked over at Deebs and grinned at her comment. "It might."
"This probably needs a dose of Mad Science, with the very best in advanced maritime technology. S: Something like the Nautilus, with her aetheric power plant to fuel a Gate-crasher."
"Ooh, indeed."
"How much of a hurry are you in, to clear this...nuisance?"
Were it done, t'were best it were done quickly, Emilly thought. But she simply nodded. "The biggest problem are the followers, because they DO follow, and at this point, the new ones cluster. The old ones, it was just one at a time, but that mass hits me and I can barely move."
"Hmm..." Deebs said. "To ADAPT a Nautilus, or build out a vessel...Do they respond to attack? Or gunfire?"
Emilly tilted her head, considering.
"I envision beams coming out of the Nautilus' 'eyes', sewing the rift shut at a distance, rather than going in and slugging it out."
"Well, Lina said they responded to a high amount of fire, but...she was the one burning, so I don't know how hot it was? I didn't see any char marks inside the house, which is good....but she did get rid of the two lurking on the upper level." She looked out over the flickering rift arcs. "I have no desire to explore the new rift."
Deebs nodded. "So des'."
She leaned forward, something catching the light. She angled her torso over the railing. Was she seeing flat squares of...energy? Over the water?
"Oh, what NOW, that wasn't there this afternoon...Ack--" She froze. "One of the tentacle beasts is on this side..." She began to breathe again when it didn't turn towards her. "It seems too far away from us to target."
"Now, would that normally work? Straight energy beam? Sounds slightly different. Or a pulse cannon."
Deebs pulled out a gun the Duchess didn't recognize, aiming it at the creature. A thick beam of humming yellow light hit the thing.
She shot again. It shrieked, but otherwise, didn't seem affected.
"Hmm." Deebs touched the belt of her silk tunic, a slim structure unfolding from her back. Narrow slight thrusters pushed her up, it seemed mostly with air, not solid fuel, and she got out a larger gun. This one shot a narrower beam of green, that sounded like radio static.
She settled back to the balcony, folding away the jetpack, as they watched the chunks of monster fall and sink into the dark waters.
"Or perhaps an Anbaric Orb--it could be used to channel ALL THE LIGHTNING."
"Well! That seemed to work. Thank you!"
"My pleasure. Those beasties really do need to Be Dismissed."
"They do."
She summoned the Martian flyer again, climbing in. "More on the flip! Because...SCIENCE!"
"Yes!" She waved as Deebs left, making sure she didn't attract the attention of the tower of flailing limbs by the lighthouse. Then she sighed, and returned to the library, to see what else they had on dimensional anomalies.
(Continued in part LI.)
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