Zachariah walked through the testing lab. Several teams of machinists and daemons worked on weapons applications. One was even testing his lightning gun. Doctor Benz wandered around, making notes.

“Hey, Zach,” said the tester of the lightning gun. “I don’t think this is going to work for your boat.”

“What is the problem, Nick?,” asked Zachariah. He looked at the scale model.

“It electrifies the water,” said Nick Over Burning. “It’ll cut the systems unless we find some way to insulate the hull from the lightning. You don’t want to be underwater and have the engine cut off.”

“You have alternates?,” asked Zach. He was sure he could come up with something if he was pressed. He didn’t like it for the loss of time, but Gold Bug would be a big help in that.

“I think so,” said Nick. He rubbed his blocky chin with a big hand. “We think we can use light to cut through a target, but it might require a second engine, or we might want solid shells that ram a target on their own.”

“The water will stop solid shells unless they have an engine of their own to run them into the target,” said Zachariah. “And we have no way of making sure they would hit the target underwater.”

“I’ll see what I can do with building a cutter for your boat,” said Nick.

“I can get you examples of builds,” said Zachariah. “Gold Bug and I have thought of things enough to be able to build prototypes. We just don’t have time to build a full cannon on our own.”

“A light beam cutter?,” said Nick.

“Yes,” said Zachariah. “We modeled it off of one of Knife’s attachments. He is a walking toolbox.”

Zachariah went to the modeling and drafting area of their endeavor. He searched for the box he wanted. He took it back to the weapons team and showed them the model he and Gold Bug had come up with to copy the other daemon’s natural weapon.

“You press the button on top and a light beam extends out and burns the target,” said the machinist. He demonstrated for the crew.

“This is exactly what we need,” said Nick. “We’re going to need a separate engine to power it.”

“Talk to the design drafters,” said Zachariah. “We’ll have to make room for it.”

“No problem,” said Nick. He cut the power off for the model and inspected it. “We might be able to build in batteries to be charged by a smaller engine than the one driving the rest of the ship.”

“Do you think you can build a working device from this model?,” asked Zachariah.

“Yes,” said Nick. “We don’t really have a call for this kind of thing here with

everyone having daemons to do the heavy lifting, but we could take these cutters and use them as fence posts around the harbor to keep problem makers off our harbor.”

Zachariah nodded. Daemons made things a lot easier for his people. Other nations didn’t understand why they did things the way they did, but they were respected.

Minor warlords ran into a party of Riordianians and quickly learned what it meant to have daemons ripping your efforts apart effortlessly.

“Let me know what you have when you get a full sized model working, Nick,” said Zachariah. “We’ll have to finalize the blueprints so we can put in the correct wiring and junction boxes so the Lobster Bay people can build copies per our agreement.”

“Will do,” said Nick. “I’ll get George and his Biter to generate the parts we need, and then we’ll put them through the press. The group should have something tomorrow sometime.”

“Thanks, Nick,” said Zachariah. “I have to talk to the hull and engine teams.”

“I’ll have to go look at those later to make sure we can fit the weapons in place once we have them built,” said Nick.

Zachariah nodded as he moved on to the other parts of the complex. He had been smart to enlist help. It would have taken years for him to build everything with just Bolan and Sola helping.

He thought with the team he had gathered the first prototype might be built in a month at the rate everyone was pulling together.

“Hello, Zach,” said Renetta Star Snake. “We’re testing the engine today. If it works, we’ll be able to show the Lobster Bay people how to make their own.”

“We might need two power systems,” said Zachariah. “One will have to power the motive parts, one will have to power a weapons system.”

“We can do that,” said Renetta. She picked at the scarf around her neck. “We can actually build them to be put on a shelf beside each other since the design is so small.”

“I’ll talk to the hull people to make sure there is space for maintenance,” said

Zachariah. “We’re going to need to be able to pull them out and work on them at one point.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Renetta. “Depending on what they decide the engine room should look like, we can build four of these and let them run separately in case one of them is damaged.”

“I’ll talk to the hull builders,” said Zachariah. “They might already have

accommodations for all this.”

“All right, Zach,” said the woman. She went back to her group, talking about

duplicating the modules they planned to use.

Zachariah found the hull people at the cradle where they would put the diver together. They had a set of plans on a table as they talked about what was needed.

“Hello, Arnold,” said Zachariah. “How are things coming along?”

“We need to have an actual look at what we’re building,” said Arnold Half Hand. “Right now, we have nothing to measure against.”

“I have several models,” said Zachariah. “Renetta wants room for four engines in the engine room, and Nick wants room to mount the weapons. I think we’re going to need a committee meeting tomorrow.”

“That will be good,” said Arnold. “We’re going to need something to look at to

build anything.”

“All right,” said Zach. “We’ll have a meeting tomorrow before we start working.

Maybe input from the others will help things.”

“I think so,” said Arnold. “We can lay a hull easily enough, but we don’t know what will happen once you get it in the water. You might sink to the bottom.”

“I think the jets will handle that well enough,” said Zachariah. “Any thoughts on the windows?”

“I think one window for the pilot will have to be it,” said Arnold. “We can build

emplacements for lights like you want to help him see. Also we talked about cabin separators in case the machine fails and you have water rushing in.”

“Reinforcement on the window?,” asked Zachariah.

“Naturally,” said Arnold. “We might also install a shutter in case the window fails. The water will push in, so you’ll need a system to close the thing. It also means the controls have to be waterproofed, and that the emergency close will have to be strong enough to cut the water off.”

“Can you have a design drawn up before the meeting tomorrow?,” asked Zachariah.

“Yes,” said the hull master. “The build from the Rocket is tear shaped. Is that what you think this should be?”

“I think so,” said Zachariah. “The water inlets should be on either side of the nose, with the outlets in the back. I’m open for other shapes.”

“I think we should go for that general shape with the window stationed at the upper front,” said Arnold.

“I would have thought you would have settled on a more traditional boat shape,” said Zachariah.

“We could have but there’s no need for a top deck, and the bridge would be too far back to see anything,” said Arnold. “What you have is great for flying, but we’re not so sure about swimming.”

Arnold gestured for his daemon to pay attention. The rainbow bird flew to his

shoulder. It opened its mouth and light poured out. A phantom shape wrote itself on the air in orange lines.

“Put in the bridge and controls,” said Arnold.

A seat and control panels sprung to life on the upper deck. Lines went off from the helm, but they vanished without the missing pieces that should be added in.

“The engine room should be here,” said Zachariah. He pointed at the base of the tail. “Jets should be back and underneath.”

“Weapons?,” asked Arnold.

“We’re still figuring out what we can use underwater,” said Zachariah.

“We should probably have two, or three, turrets,” said Arnold. “We might need some kind of spear that we can shoot underwater.”

“It will need something to propel it to the target,” said Zachariah. “Water slows

flight.”

Arnold nodded as more sections came to life. They were building something none had ever seen before. Unknown challenges would have to be cleared.

“This is really good, Arnold,” said Zachariah. He gestured at the floating picture.

“It helps the shipyard put boats out to sea,” said Arnold. He rubbed the bird on its head. That cut the picture off.

“We’re going to need this as we go ahead,” said Zachariah.

“We’re ready,” said Arnold. “Talking to the others will let me place their parts more accurately.”

“I’ll let the others know,” said Zachariah. “Can you put this down on paper?”

“Not really,” said Arnold.

“I’ll talk to Carson,” said Zachariah. “Maybe he knows someone who can do it. That will make things easier when we have the design figured out.”

“Are you really going to try to fly above the sky?,” asked Arnold.

“I hope to,” said Zachariah. “It will take just as much work as this design has. If I had an air and fuel supply, the Rocket can reach the edge with what she has.”

“I would like to see that one day,” said Arnold. “Staying here doesn’t give me a lot of chances to look at new things.”

“I understand,” said Zachariah. “I have to talk to Carson. Before I go, do you need anything?”

“Right now, I’m waiting on the steel you’re going to need,” said Arnold. “Once I have the sheets, I can start on the keel of the thing. The control people will be able to move in to do their thing as soon as I have a floor for them to walk on.”

“All right,” said Zachariah. “I’ll send a runner to see where they are on the shipping. I’ll have to tell the others about the meeting. Thanks, Arnold.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” said the machinist. He rubbed his bird again. “This thing could still kill you before we get something that works.”

“I have faith in you,” said Zachariah. He smiled. “Let me get started on the other things.”

Zachariah turned and walked back to where the other groups were working. He told them about the meeting in the morning, and that Arnold had a picture of the thing they were working on that they could use to plan their own parts. Nick and Renetta confirmed they would be there in the morning.

He nodded. Everything was going smoother than he thought it would, but the

advantage of having a team of machinists helping him was worth the loss of

personally overseeing every detail.

He needed to talk to Carson about his air scrubbers and talk to the Lobster Bay people. Gear Octo should have some say in the controls since Bay pilots would be helming the ships on the other ocean.

And he needed to talk to Bolan and Sola about dinner and what they wanted to do on the project. And then there was the steel he needed to get for Arnold.

Zachariah decided he needed someone to keep him on track before he lost sight of the goal of having a functioning boat that could sail under the waves.

He depended on Sola for that, but she was looking after everyone else to make sure they were ready with their parts of the construction.

The air scrubbers were the most important part of the whole thing. The crew wouldn’t last any amount of time without them. They were also key to being able to fly to the edge of the sky.

He hoped Carson had a solution to that problem.