Hilda - Lycadea (20 page)

"Hah, I am not sure if they know how to get
us home," Hilda countered, "even if we manage to get them back to
that black ship of theirs. Wherever that is."

"Rebel knows where it is," William said. "She
followed me here, with Maurizio in tow."

"She followed you? You did not bring them
here?" Hilda tried to recall the happenings that had gone on after
her abduction in the flying pyramid, and during the flight in the
see-through pyramid, from where she had seen William. "Oh..."

William let her sit and mutter for a while.
That was the way to deal with her. "So, Kerna, do you have some
things you would need to pack together before we leave?"

Kerna stared at the wizard. "But Davdruw
won't let us-"

"Don't worry, we're leaving anyway," the
wizard assured her. "We have long sleeves that hold a lot of
tricks."

"Eh?" Kerna clearly did not catch what he
meant. She shook her head. "I would need clean clothes. And better
shoes."

William looked at the young woman and nodded.
"Indeed. I think I can fix something for you. It might cost a few
chairs, but that's okay I guess."

As Kerna, Obsi and Grim watched, he got up
and used his magic to change a chair into a black robe, remarkably
similar to the one Hilda wore. Another chair was sacrificed to
become a pair of good shoes and a decent cloak. "Care to give that
a try?" he then invited her.

"But... that is all black!" Kerna said as she
picked up the clothes. "We always have silver clothes."

"You're going to travel with us, so you will
travel in style," Hilda said. "Looks a lot better than all that
silver stuff too, if you ask me. Well, also if you don't ask
me."

Kerna touched the soft fabric of the robe.
"It feels nice," she admitted. She popped into the bathroom with
her new clothes and reappeared all in black. Her purple hair looked
a bit off, but Hilda approved of the new look for Kerna.

"Okay, I think we should take Rebel and
Maurizio with us," the witch then declared. "They might come in
handy."

William grinned and walked to the door.
Davdruw had not taken half measures, he noticed: there were five
guards waiting.

"We have orders not to let you out," one of
them said.

"That's fine, boys. Can one of you run off to
the Palliza and tell Rebel and Maurizio we have to see them?"

The five conferred for a while. Then the
spokes guard said: "We will let someone bring them here. You are
not allowed to leave."

"Sure, just make that someone go. Getting
someone else to bring some decent wine is probably too much to
ask?" the wizard asked.

"We will find someone to bring you wine."

"Good boys." William closed the door.
"They're being called for. And I asked for wine."

"Good thinking. Did you also ask for water to
make mine less strong?" Hilda asked.

Less than a minute later the water was also
ordered.

"These guards don't look too happy having to
guard us dangerous people," the wizard grinned as he sat down on
the couch. Obsidian jumped in his lap and allowed himself to be
petted.

It did not take very long until Rebel and
Maurizio knocked on the door. They arrived almost at the same time
as the wine did.

"Hi Kerna, you look good in black!" Maurizio
commented on the young woman's new attire. She grinned, slightly
shy and slightly proud.

"Come in, sit down, have a glass of wine,"
said William. "I'll make some proper cheese from the oatmeal
machine, while the guards guard us."

Then they explained their plan to the two
from the Mimosa, with a protective bubble around them. Rebel
supplied the bubble this time.

"Wow, that is quite impressive," Maurizio
said after hearing what had been in the book. "So when are we
going?"

"After the wine," William replied promptly.
"I did not order that to let it go to waste. Pretty good wine, I am
impressed."

"And how are we going?" Rebel asked.

"Through that wall, I suggest," said William,
pointing. "From what I think, that is closest to the outside
world."

Kerna nibbled on some cheese in silence. She
did not question anything these strange people discussed. The
things she had seen and experienced with them up to now had turned
her whole world upside down, and someday they would complete the
rotation and all would be well again. Until then she would just
hang on.

Rebel agreed with the wizard. "Looks like a
good way to walk out. Good thing we have our flying thing outside,
so we have a quick way to get out of here."

"That would be necessary," Kerna added as
Obsi invaded her lap. "The place the old ones mentioned is very far
away. It would take very long to get there if we have to walk."

"Good thing you mention that," said Hilda.
"William, dear, could you ask the oatmeal machine to supply us with
water and food that we can take along while we are under way? You
know the shrinking trick, your pockets are wide and deep..."

"Try batting your eyes at him," Rebel
suggested.

"Oh no, no eye batting!" William quickly
said.

"Why not?"

"That is so not Hilda. If she does that,
there's something in her eyes. She does not bat them to get
something done. She tells you or slaps you until you do it."

Hilda laughed, scaring Maurizio and Rebel.
And Kerna. "He knows me so well, and he says the sweetest things,
doesn't he?"

William tipped over the last sip of wine into
himself and then got to work on the food fabrication, while Rebel
came to see what he was doing. She was amazed by the amount of food
he produced, and how small he made the packages so they could be
transported easily.

"I wonder if they get some kind of alarm that
this thing is spitting out oatmeal by the gallon," she whispered to
the wizard, well aware that there were listening devices
everywhere.

"By the time they notice, we'll be far away,"
William said.

On the couch, Hilda and Kerna talked with
Maurizio on how they would travel and the way they could best keep
their course. In that, the captain proved to be quite an asset. He
was used to finding his way in the strangest of places. An ordinary
planet would present hardly a problem, he said.

Once all details were clear and the food
packages were stashed away in many pockets, Hilda walked over to
the door.

"Hey witch, what are you going to do?"
William asked. As he expected, she just kept going.

"Hi boys," she said to the guards, after
opening the door. "We're going to take a nap, so can you make sure
we're not disturbed for a while?"

"We are not here to disturb you, but to guard
you, honoured witch," the spokes guard spoke.

"Very good. Have a nice - uhm - guard." Hilda
closed the door again. She came back to the other escapees in
waiting. "I think I handled that quite well. Now, can you take that
wall out quietly?"

"I think that will be possible," Rebel said.
"William, can you put up a soundproofing bubble or so? I am not
sure if I can make it all silent when I remove the wall."

William thought for a short while. He had
never done something like that before, but - then his face lit up.
"I think I have something better!"

"Better? How can something be better than a
soundproofing bubble?" Rebel wondered, looking at Hilda and Kerna,
who both shrugged.

They watched William head over to the oatmeal
machine again, and making it spit out dozens of bowls filled with
the blob. When he was satisfied he poured the contents of every
bowl on the floor near the door, making sure the layer of it was
equally distributed everywhere.

"Okay kids, now watch," he grinned as he came
walking back to the group, his wand in hand. He pointed the wand,
pronounced a spell, slowly and clearly, and then he waited. The
layer of oatmealish blob started to move. Upwards mainly, where it
expanded to the ceiling of the oddly shaped room. It also
thickened, so the layer was about five feet thick. He had created a
massive layer of Styrofoatmeal.

"I think that should work," the wizard nodded
as his wand disappeared. "And it will help in giving us a head
start as well, if they try to break through that."

"William, my wizard, you really paid
attention," said Hilda, hoisting Grimalkin over her shoulders, and
then fumbling in her pockets. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Rebel nodded. She stared at the unfortunate
wall. A few moments later, it simply fell away from them. A noise
told them it had hit solid ground.

"I'll go have a look first," said Maurizio,
taking the lead in their escape. He stepped through the hole and
looked around. "Everything is okay here. Just a little jump from
here to the ground." He jumped.

Rebel went after him. "Once I am outside I
can help you if you can't jump," she told the others and leapt to
the ground. Kerna with Obsi in her arms jumped also. Hilda
followed, and William was the last one to leave the pyramid.

"Good job," Hilda complimented Rebel, and
Maurizio as well. "Now let's get to the flying thing and get away
from here."

They walked around the pyramid. Inside things
were still quiet, nobody seemed to have noticed the wall breach
yet. And then they found the flying rig. At least, that what
remained of it.

"Holy Bejeebus," William growled, "looks like
Davdruw isn't so stupid after all."

"We can put it back together," Rebel
suggested.

"I'm afraid that will take too long," the
wizard said as he scratched his head.

"I can buy us some time," the woman in
leather said. "Just hold on."

"On to" - the scenery changed - "what?"

Rebel had employed one of her mysterious
powers to transport the group and the remains of the rig to a place
they had seen while flying the rig for the first time. "We're
behind one of the more remote pyramids. So, let's get to work."

The work came down to the magic man and the
powers of the woman. It helped that they had built this thing once
before, so the putting together was done quite quickly. As they all
mounted the thing, a somewhat familiar sound reached them.

"They've noticed we left," Hilda said as she
recognised the sound of shuttle-pyramids launching.

"Let's go then," said William. "Rebel, can
you help with keeping us in the air? Then I can focus on evasive
actions and keeping everyone on board."

Hilda felt bad.

-=-=-

The rig lifted into the air. William kept
them low. They had spotted a few shuttles already and these were
high up, so he figured that staying close to the ground would give
them an advantage. Unfortunately, the state of the equipment in the
shuttles proved to be superior to the stuff inside the pyramids: no
matter how high or low the rig flew, the shuttles picked them up
and soon they had am escort of four flying around them.

"You will follow us back to the pyramid," a
voice from a loudspeaker informed them.

"Is that so?"

Everyone looked in surprise at the man in the
red coat. Maurizio was adjusting his eye patch and said: "William,
Rebel, pretend to follow them and when I say something, don't think
or ask, but do it."

"What are you up to?" Hilda wanted to know,
hating that she was entirely out of control and unable to do
anything constructive. This was supposed to be her job, she was not
made to sit and wait for others to get her out of problems.

"Old school tactics," the captain explained
in a non-explanatory way.

"Better watch out, William," the witch warned
her wizard.

"You will follow us back to the pyramid," the
voice from the loudspeaker sounded more urgent this time.

"Okay, we're turning," William yelled, hoping
that the people would hear him.

Apparently they did. As the rig slowed down
and started a slow and wide turn, the shuttles around them followed
their movements. The wizard was not going to make this easy on
them.

They were on the way back, their destination
already in view, when Maurizio whispered something to Rebel, who
nodded. Then he asked William how fast the rig could go.

"Crikey, I don't know. We've been out on it a
few times and never in a hurry. Also remember we have no
seatbelts."

"No what?" Hilda wondered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep us in our seats,"
Rebel casually remarked. "Just hold on."

"Again? To what?"

Maurizio tapped William on the shoulder.
"Once things changed, give it all you've got. Just go forward."

The wizard nodded, wondering what would
change.

"Rebel... now would be good."

Things changed. The rig was back at the
position where it had been intercepted by the shuttles. William did
not take time to recover from the sudden change: he pushed all the
magic he had into the rig and pushed it forward as fast as he
could.

Hilda's "crappedy crap" was lost in the wind
as she felt how something pressed her down in her seat. Grimalkin
complained loudly about this treatment, but the speed of the rig
was phenomenal. The witch was not certain if William alone was
doing this or if Rebel helped a hand, but she was impressed by what
suddenly was happening around her.

"Do you think we are going in the right
direction?" William yelled back to whoever could hear him.

"No, we are going in the wrong direction, and
we keep going there!" Maurizio shouted back in the rush of the
wind. "No good leading these idiots to where we're going!"

"Any guess if hiding in the clouds here is
safe?" William wanted to know.

Maurizio advised against that, as nobody knew
what was inside them, so they sped on.

Kerna sat in her chair, almost squeezing life
out of Obsi and keeping her eyes closed. She did not want to know
what was going on.