The tracker made good time around the perimeter of the city. Euphrankes knew he could have shaved off some time by cutting across, but there was less chance of running into any unforeseen obstacle on the outer road, and he could crank the engine up to full capacity. Besides, it gave him some small satisfaction to roar through Urv with the engines wide open. Despite the momentary cooperation of The High Council, he had no illusions. They had spurned him too many times for him to trust them so quickly.
"One quarter mile," Aria said.
She was bent over a screen, carefully marking coordinates on a chart beside her. Euphrankes knew that she had long since pinpointed the point of impact. Aria used engineering diagrams and mathematical problems to avoid anxiety. He'd seen it any number of times; starting with the first week she'd come to train at The Outpost. He was glad to have her at this point. If they set up even a little off target, the city could be sucked free of its entire atmosphere before they could adjust.
The plan was simple. They'd brought all of the Imperium they had, and they'd created a thin, impossibly strong membrane. It was set up so it could be pumped full of Freethion, which would draw it up and taut over the edge of the rift. Magnets were attached around the perimeter and in concentric circles moving toward the center. They were precisely calibrated to counteract the Freethion and prevent the patch from being sucked through the rift into space. It was a modification from the patches they'd used on the road. For one thing, it was at least ten times as large as the biggest they'd tried.
The only problem with the design was the placement. They couldn't put it in place until after impact. They would have very little time to get the placement of the magnets right, and once they released the Freethion into the patch, it had to be perfect. Under more controlled circumstances, they could release some gas and loosen the patch, but there wasn't going to be time, and the amount of pressure differentiation was going to be huge. They had a single chance to succeed.
"I'm going to pull up short," Euphrankes called to the others. "If we get too close, we're going to be in danger from the impact."
When the tracker had stopped, they clambered out quickly. All of them were in full protective gear with their helmets sealed. They unrolled the Imperium patch, but kept way back from the veil. They were nearly finished when voices rang out from the direction of the city.
"It's Zins," Lyones cried out, waving.
"Either High Councilor Cumby was as good as his word," Euphrankes said, "or Zins is stuck here with us, and his ship has been taken. Either way I'm glad to have him here. He's got a lot of experience with airlocks, and though this is different, I'm thinking he may have some insight."
"Termac is with him," Slyphie said, "and about half a dozen others. Some of them appear to be in the uniforms of Council Guardsmen."
"Good,” Euphrankes said. “The more, the better. Bring them up to speed as quickly as possible," Euphrankes said. "We have less than fifteen minutes to impact, and we don't want anyone who isn't ready at a moment's notice anywhere near that patch. If they don't seem to be getting it, find them something to do a little farther back."
Maester Zins came up at a trot, giving Euphrankes a mock salute.
"At your service," he said. "We got here as quickly as we could. It didn't take too long to get down off the tower, but convincing that crowd to let us leave without allowing them on board the ship was a different matter."
Lyones and Myklos took off suddenly, running back toward the tracker.
"What are you doing?" Euphrankes called out. "There's no time!"
"The debris," Lyones cried. "We forgot. We have to be able to move it out of the way."
And then they were gone around the corner of the tracker, and it was too late to worry about anything. Brilliance filled the sky. There was a whistling, roaring sound from above, and they spun. The thing plummeting out of the heavens wasn't large, maybe the size of a man, but it was dropping at incredible speed. It still burned, despite the thin atmosphere beyond the veil. Euphrankes had little time to worry over this.
"Back!" he cried. "Get back."
And then it struck. The sound was deafening. The object crashed into the veil, moving so fast it pierced cleanly, and hit the ground with a deafening explosion. The shock from the impact drove them back, and they fought for their balance, diving for the edges of the patch.
Lyones and Myklos reappeared. They were pushing one of the hand trucks before them. It wasn't designed for speed; the wheels were too small and low to the ground. It was meant to slowly transport things too heavy to move by hand. It wobbled and careened wildly, but the two muscled it under control. Euphrankes leaped to his feet and gripped the edge of the patch. The hole in the veil was clean, but it was beginning to spider at the edges, and he felt the pressure of the air being sucked out, forced through that one small exit into the gaping void beyond.
The others regained their footing and helped him lift the patch. They all saw the problem at once. They couldn't get to the veil! The debris, still burning, lay between them and the hole, and there was no way to get the huge patch around one side or the other in time.
Then Lyones and Myklos hurtled in front of them, pushing the hand cart crazily. It had a platform with a beveled edge, and they had it lowered as far to the ground as possible. The front of the cart struck the burning projectile and dug in underneath it. Flames shot up and sparks flew. The flames fed on the richer atmosphere of the city, and the fire sucked back toward the hole in the veil. With a scream, Lyones drove into the rear of the cart, Myklos at his side. At first, nothing happened. Slowly at first, and then at a fast skid the cart, and the burning bit of space debris started moving. In only a moment they had rolled it to the side.
"Now!" Euphrankes cried. The group of them lifted the Imperium patch and raced to the veil. As they placed it over the hole, the pressure of escaping air sucked it flat. Aria slammed her hand down on the valve that released Freethion into the membrane. The reaction of the seal was instantaneous. It snapped tight over the hole and sealed to the veil. The splintering, spidering cracks around the edge of the rift stopped spreading. There was a palpable release of pressure as the leak was patched and the city's pumps began restoring pressure.
They all stood back and waited, but the patch held.
"Hey!" Myklos called out. "A little help!"
They turned and saw that the cart had caught fire, burning along with the space debris. Myklos and Lyones had backed away. The heat was too much now, and if they allowed it to continue burning there would be an entirely new threat to the atmosphere. Open flames were outlawed in Urv for very good reason. They ate oxygen.
Slyphie and Bonymede were already rushing to the tracker, and a moment later the others heard it starting up and backed out of the way. Moments later, the big vehicle pulled up beside the flaming cart, and a nozzle extended from the side. The foam it released doused the flames.
They all stood in silence, watching as steam and smoke rose against the side of the veil, leaving a gray-black stain. Then, very slowly, they walked closer, surrounding what appeared to be a jagged bit of metal.
"What is it?" Zins asked. "Gods, it looks like…"
"Part of an airship," Euphrankes said. "But not one like any we've ever seen."
More voices sounded from the direction of the city. A crowd was gathering, and at the front of it, Euphrankes saw the High Priest, Myril, and High Councilor Cumby, being born forward on carts that operated similarly to that they'd just used to save the city.
"We'd better get our victory speech ready," Euphrankes said. "Then we'd better figure out what to say when they try and blame this on us."
Zins laughed. "Sometimes," he said, turning to meet the oncoming crowd, "you scare me."