Terror of the Sixth Spire Preview #5
Tomas arrives in Parn to investigate a jail break and the corrupted’s attack. With no signs of the lords still in the area, he questions a local skydock manager.
“What do you want?” the large man said scratching his long beard. He never looked at the imperial guardsman. Instead, he continued scanning the top sheet.
“Supervisor Esller, I am Lord Commander Tomas and I seek your help in investigating a disturbance,” Tomas said. He maintained a formal stance and tone, but the man didn’t seem to notice or care.
“Son, I am covered in disturbances, and I don’t need anymore rat dung covering my paperwork or docks.” When Tomas didn’t reply, the man continued his tirade. “This is a skydock. Guess what? All it is is a disturbance. If it isn’t drunken sailors or soldiers, I have to chase around smugglers and thieves. For some reason, captains think the dock is responsible for securing their goods when, in fact, they should have done a better job in locking up their own stuff. Now, can you clarify what kind of disturbance you want my help with?”
“Several days ago, a woman snuck on board one of the imperial airships. I need to determine which airship she stowed away on.” He kept his tone as flat as possible. He hated dealing with overworked, grouchy managers. They were too honest despite the political nature of their station.
“You are talking about one of your elf slave ships.”
“The elves are prisoners charged with crimes against the empire. We are not enslaving them but punishing them like any other criminal.”
“Call it what you will. Last time I checked, being an elf wasn’t unlawful, but I could be wrong. Those lying bureaucrats are always changing something.”
“Be careful, sir.” Tomas’ tone became darker. “As an officer of the empire, I can arrest you.”
“I see. You are one of those.” Reluctantly, he stood up while pulling up his oversized trousers. “Don’t worry, lord commander. I will see what I can find.”
He pulled down a large brass horn connected to the wall. “Hey Waggler, get in here,” Esller yelled into the horn. A few moments later, a short man covered in oil-stained overhauls raced into the office.
“What can I do you for boss,” the short man said. Esller motioned towards Tomas. When the man noticed Tomas’ uniform, he bowed while keeping his eyes on the floor. “Sorry, lord, didn’t see you there. It’s an honor. May the emperor forever… I mean live long and forever… or something like that.” Annoyed, Tomas shook his head.
“Now, Waggler, the lord commander is looking for reports about a woman sneaking around on the docks. Have you seen anything?”
“Nothing has been filed.” The short man said tapping his chin. “The soldiers and a few ethaerium technicians are the only ones up there. They usually don’t report anything since they can take care of most problems. Although, one of the technicians did report another technician abusing his panels. I wasn’t really sure what that meant.”
“When did this technician bother the man’s panels? Was it a woman?”
“He said something about twisting and pulling his knobs and increasing the flow.”
“I think we have heard enough about the man’s panels,” Esller said.
“When he was ranting, I think he called the other technician a ‘she’. But, she damaged nothing. He said she stopped right before anything exploded and left with a soldier.”
Esller groaned and shook his head.
“When was this?”
“It was several days ago, but I can get you the exact date if needed. I was planning on destroying the report since it didn’t amount to anything.”
Tomas knew it was Calais.
-Excerpt from Chapter 13, Terror of the Sixth Spire, Fallen Spires Book 2