I froze. Looked at Rod. Grabbed a bit of his coattails in my teeth and yanked him to a halt.
He spun around to stare at me for a moment, then looked over to the Keeper. “Oh,” he said, trying to pull his coat out of my hands without ripping it, sort of slapping and poking at my snout. “Don’t worry about him. He’s got the looks but he’s not part of the game.”
I growled and didn’t let go.
“You gonna trust me or not?!”
I stared at him. Gave him my best flat look, ears and everything. Snorted.
“Nice. Look, go vet him yourself if you’re that bothered. But given my own reputation around the goons d’you really think I’d just up and go ‘yeah sure lawman, you’re totally cool with being on a ship with a shapeshifter and a hormonal elf.’”
“Elk.”
“Not how you pronounce it,” Rod shot back at her, now openly slapping my nose and lips to get me to let go. I waited until he was straining a bit before opening, letting out a throaty laugh when he stumbled forward. “Yeah yeah. Look, just get on the boat.”
I snorted at him but trotted forward. “Keep a tight hold,” I told Layla. I flapped my wings out to give them a few test flaps, then took the last two steps at a bound and leapt for the doors, wings giving me added lift so we soared directly into the ship and avoided the rope and Keeper altogether.
Because ultimately he was right. Rod knew our situation and was no fan of Keepers himself. He would have reversed direction immediately if he thought that Keeper was going to be of any danger whatsoever.
I didn’t explain it to Layla at the moment, however. Rod was grunting as he made his way up the ladder, Miles and the Keeper right behind him. “Time for liftoff,” Miles said, trotting her way through the large area. Larger than it should have been, really. I couldn’t smell any magic around the entrance, and there shouldn’t have been any anyway, but…this cargo bay or loading area or whatever the hell Miles would call it was just big enough to be too big in regards to the size of her ship.
She continued out a doorway, boots clanging against metal as she went. The Keeper hesitated, motioned to us.
“What?”
He gave a small smile. “Cap’n doesn’t like visitors to stay here during liftoff. She prefers everybody in one spot where she can keep an eye on them. Follow her, please.”
“And you’ll be…?”
His smile broadened. “I’ll be Hansel. And I’ll be in the back.”
Rod shot me a look and trotted after her, Layla and I following. Hansel kept up in the back, specifically far enough as to not be on my tail. Keeping a large enough distance between us to make me feel both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.
I didn’t like Keepers. Even if they weren’t actively working for the Authority. So I kept an ear turned towards him at all times, wings tucked closer around Layla as we went. She leaned forward slightly, keeping her weight balanced and responsive as we moved. Technically she could have hopped off at this point, but evidently neither of us were thinking about it.
A series of winding hallways full of pipes, steam, metal sheets and grids later and we were in the cockpit, a smashed mix of wires and buttons and kobs and a few floor levers concentrated on a half-circle of a desk that sat with it’s top at an angle. Miles was already working the controls, twisting things and slapping them while yelling at an open speaker with a single wiry mic sticking out over it.
“Look, I don’t care what the Keepers say,” she was shouting over the rising flood of engine noise, “I’ve already been cleared for takeoff. They can’t come aboard!”
Hansel shuffled us in and closed the vault-like door behind us, spinning the handle and locking it in place.
“They’re insisting, Miles. They want all grounded ships to remain grounded until they can search. It’s nothing big, they’re saying it’s routine.”
“Excuse me,” Hansel said to us with a short smile. He walked up to the speaker and tapped Miles on the shoulder, who sighed and moved. “This is Keeper Hansel of the Arid Sector. You can tell them I’m well aware of the search and I’ve already inspected the ship. What they’re looking for is not here. If they press you tell them to contact me through the proper channels and I’ll get back to them once the paperwork comes through. Until then, this ship is set to fly on the proper mark. Keeper Vectors 5-5-7-8.”
There was a pause before the speaker crackled again. “Name and Vector registered. I’ll let them know. Thanks Hansel, hope Miles isn’t too mad.”
Miles let out a snort and elbowed him out of the way, spinning wheels and pumping something on the desk. Electricity shot out from the desk and spun it’s way out of the room following the pipes, and the entire ship lurched. Hansel rejoined us by the door. After another few rickety, sudden jerks, Miles hit a button and several TVs dropped from the ceiling around her, showing us several angles of the outside. Monitors on the dash flickered and beeped as we began to rise, the floor quickly disappearing from view. There was a rumble as the overhead doors opened up, magic washing over us like a wave and then we were in the sky. Free.
Just for a minute. But it was unlikely anything would happen up here. Jake couldn’t reach us. The other clans couldn’t reach us.
We were good to rest, even for a minute.
