tiling about air ... tell me, what do you understand
by the words ”shooting star“?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Rincewind demanded.
“Um ... that we die an immensely horrible death”
“Oh, that,” said Rincewind.
Leonard tapped a dial on one of the tanks of air. “I really don't think
my calculations were that wro-”
Light exploded into the cabin.
The Kite rose through tendrils of mist.
The crew stared.
“No one will ever believe us.” said Carrot, eventually. He raised his
iconograph towards the view and even the imp inside, which belonged to a
species that was seldom impressed with anything, said “”Gosh!“ in a tiny
voice as it painted furiously.
”I don't believe this,“ said Rincewind. ”and I'm seeing it.“
A tower, an immensity of rock, rose from the mist. And looming over the
mist, huge as worlds. the backs of four elephants. It was like flying
through a cathedral, thousands of miles high.
”It sounds like a joke,“ Rincewind babbled, ”elephants holding up the
world, hahaha ... and then you see it.. .“
”My paints, where are my paints .. . ?“ mumbled Leonard.
”Well, some of them are in the privy,“ said Rincewind.
Carrot turned, and looked puzzled. The iconograph floated away, trailing
small curses.
”And where's my apple?“ he said.
”What?“ said Rincewind, perplexed at the sudden subject of fruit.
”I'd just started eating an apple, and I just rested it in the air ...
and it's gone?
The ship creaked in the glaring sunlight.
And an apple core came tumbling gently through the air.
“I suppose there are just the three of us aboard?” said Rincewind
innocently.
“Don't be silly,” said Carrot. “We're sealed in!”
“So .. . your apple ate itself?”
They looked at the jumble of bundles held in the webbing behind them.
“I mean, call me Mr Suspicious,” said Rincewind, “but if the ship is
heavier than Leonard thought, and we're using up more air, and food is
vanishing-”
“You're not suggesting that there's some kind of monster floating around
below the Rim that can bore into wooden hulls, are you?” said Carrot,
drawing his sword.
“Ah, I hadn't thought of that one,” said Rincewind. “Well done.”
“Interesting,” said Leonard. “It would be, perhaps, a cross between a
bird and a bivalve. Somewhat squid-like, possibly, using jets of-”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, yes!”
Carrot pulled out a roll of blankets and tried to look back along the
cabin.
“I think I saw something move,” he said. “Just behind the air reservoirs
...”
He ducked under a bundle of skis and disappeared into the shadows.
They heard him groan.
“Oh, no ...”
“What? What?” said Rincewind. Carrot's voice was muffled.
“I've found a ... it looks like a ... skin ...”
Ah, fascinating.“ said Leonard, sketching on his notepad. ”Possibly, once
aboard a hospitable vessel, such a creature would metamorphose into-“
Carrot emerged, a banana skin kebabed on the end of his sword.
Rincewind rolled his eyes. ”I have a very definite feeling about this.“
he said.
”So have I.“ said Carrot.
It took them some time, but finally they pushed away a box of dishcloths
and there were no more hiding places.
A worried face looked out of the nest it had made.
”Ook?“it said.
Leonard sighed, laid aside his pad and opened up the omniscope's box. He
banged on it once or twice, and it flickered and showed the outline of a
head.
Leonard took a deep breath.
”Ankh-Morpork, we have an orangutan ...“
Cohen sheathed his sword.
”Wouldn't have expected much to be living up here.“ he said, surveying
the carnage.
”There's even less now,“ said Caleb.
The latest fight had been over in the twinkling of an eye and the
cleaving of a backbone. Any ... creatures that ambushed the Horde did so
at the end of their lives.
”The raw magic here must be huge.“ said Boy Willie. ”I suppose
by the words ”shooting star“?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Rincewind demanded.
“Um ... that we die an immensely horrible death”
“Oh, that,” said Rincewind.
Leonard tapped a dial on one of the tanks of air. “I really don't think
my calculations were that wro-”
Light exploded into the cabin.
The Kite rose through tendrils of mist.
The crew stared.
“No one will ever believe us.” said Carrot, eventually. He raised his
iconograph towards the view and even the imp inside, which belonged to a
species that was seldom impressed with anything, said “”Gosh!“ in a tiny
voice as it painted furiously.
”I don't believe this,“ said Rincewind. ”and I'm seeing it.“
A tower, an immensity of rock, rose from the mist. And looming over the
mist, huge as worlds. the backs of four elephants. It was like flying
through a cathedral, thousands of miles high.
”It sounds like a joke,“ Rincewind babbled, ”elephants holding up the
world, hahaha ... and then you see it.. .“
”My paints, where are my paints .. . ?“ mumbled Leonard.
”Well, some of them are in the privy,“ said Rincewind.
Carrot turned, and looked puzzled. The iconograph floated away, trailing
small curses.
”And where's my apple?“ he said.
”What?“ said Rincewind, perplexed at the sudden subject of fruit.
”I'd just started eating an apple, and I just rested it in the air ...
and it's gone?
The ship creaked in the glaring sunlight.
And an apple core came tumbling gently through the air.
“I suppose there are just the three of us aboard?” said Rincewind
innocently.
“Don't be silly,” said Carrot. “We're sealed in!”
“So .. . your apple ate itself?”
They looked at the jumble of bundles held in the webbing behind them.
“I mean, call me Mr Suspicious,” said Rincewind, “but if the ship is
heavier than Leonard thought, and we're using up more air, and food is
vanishing-”
“You're not suggesting that there's some kind of monster floating around
below the Rim that can bore into wooden hulls, are you?” said Carrot,
drawing his sword.
“Ah, I hadn't thought of that one,” said Rincewind. “Well done.”
“Interesting,” said Leonard. “It would be, perhaps, a cross between a
bird and a bivalve. Somewhat squid-like, possibly, using jets of-”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, yes!”
Carrot pulled out a roll of blankets and tried to look back along the
cabin.
“I think I saw something move,” he said. “Just behind the air reservoirs
...”
He ducked under a bundle of skis and disappeared into the shadows.
They heard him groan.
“Oh, no ...”
“What? What?” said Rincewind. Carrot's voice was muffled.
“I've found a ... it looks like a ... skin ...”
Ah, fascinating.“ said Leonard, sketching on his notepad. ”Possibly, once
aboard a hospitable vessel, such a creature would metamorphose into-“
Carrot emerged, a banana skin kebabed on the end of his sword.
Rincewind rolled his eyes. ”I have a very definite feeling about this.“
he said.
”So have I.“ said Carrot.
It took them some time, but finally they pushed away a box of dishcloths
and there were no more hiding places.
A worried face looked out of the nest it had made.
”Ook?“it said.
Leonard sighed, laid aside his pad and opened up the omniscope's box. He
banged on it once or twice, and it flickered and showed the outline of a
head.
Leonard took a deep breath.
”Ankh-Morpork, we have an orangutan ...“
Cohen sheathed his sword.
”Wouldn't have expected much to be living up here.“ he said, surveying
the carnage.
”There's even less now,“ said Caleb.
The latest fight had been over in the twinkling of an eye and the
cleaving of a backbone. Any ... creatures that ambushed the Horde did so
at the end of their lives.
”The raw magic here must be huge.“ said Boy Willie. ”I suppose
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