Every item in the cabinet had a small plaque on the wall behind and above it bearing a few lines of incomprehensible alien script, and Thomas copied each letter down in his notebook for later translation. "I'm betting they say what each item is and where it came from," he told Matthew as the others were examining the dead Master. "If we can find a set of the Masters' star charts, their version of the charts the Felisians gave us, it'll lead us straight to the Shipbuilder world."
"That's great," replied Matthew, "But if these Masters are scavengers, if they only visit dead worlds, then that would mean the Shipbuilder civilisation is as dead as the Ringbuilders and the Citybuilders. I think the Masters are the danger now. We know they're still around, or at least they were until very recently."
"You're right," agreed Thomas, "and I think Saturn thinks so as well, but it would be nice to be able to dismiss the Shipbuilders first. You saw the size of their ship! Knowing for sure that they're not around any more would really help me sleep easier at night. Besides, the star charts'll probably show the location of the Master's homeworld as well."
"And what do we do when we've found it?" asked Matthew nervously. "Go there in the Jules Verne? Pay a visit to the race that enslaved the entire felisian race? We don't dare risk letting them know where Tharia is!"
"I'm sure Saturn'll have thought of that," said Thomas reassuringly. "We'll be taking precautions."
"Like setting the ship to blow up if we're boarded?" suggested the soldier. "I've seen what happens when magic's explosively released, and there's a lot of magic aboard the Jules Verne. I don't want to die in some final valiant gesture. I want to go home to Heather and the kids."
"Me too," agreed Thomas, thinking of Lirenna and Derrin, who hadn't known for over a month now whether he was dead or alive. He would have given one of his spellcasting hands to send them a single reassuring word! "We've got to get off this planet first, though, and that means getting that silver ship working. I don't know how much hope there is of that..."
"Tim says the felisians are pretty confident," said Matthew. "The big problem will be getting back to the portal before we're blown up like the Bescot."
Thomas nodded sombrely, and then went back to copying down the symbols.
They did indeed find what looked like charts of some kind, but even with translation spells they could make nothing of them without being able to compare the worlds marked on them with worlds they already knew about. When they got home they would compare them with the felisian charts, and hopefully that would unlock them, revealing their secrets. For now, though, all they could do was stow them away in the silver ship for transport back to Tharia and continue with its repairs.
When they'd supplied the felisians with all the equipment they needed to repair the bit of the ship they were currently working on, there was nothing for the humans to do but leave them alone to get on with it. Saturn settled down with Thomas's spellbook to study the younger wizard's spells and Thomas, feeling lost and naked without it, sat nearby and watched him like a dog hoping to be tossed a treat by its master. Saturn studied the book for over two hours, turning page after page and scowling at the lack of high level spells, but finally the strain on his single eye was too much for him and he closed it. Thomas waited expectantly for it to be handed back to him, but to his surprise Saturn instead tucked it away in one of the pockets of his robes and settled down for a nap.
"Master?" ventured Thomas hesitantly. "Master?"
The elder wizard opened his eye a slit and looked at him. "Yes? What do you want?"
"My spellbook!" protested Thomas. "I also need to study it."
"Oh yes, very well," said Saturn grudgingly, sounding as if he was putting himself out to do a great favour. He dug the book out and handed it across, and Thomas accepted it with as much grateful relief as if it were a child being released by kidnappers. He stroked its cover lovingly, then opened it and turned to the spells he needed to re-read.
It didn't take him long. Only one spell had changed since he'd last read it and he soon had the new version memorised. He closed the book and put it back in the pocket of his robes where he'd carried it for the past several weeks.
Saturn, however, who'd been half awake throughout and keeping a slitted eye on him, now sat up alertly and reached out a thin, bony hand. "Give me the book," he snapped.
Thomas found himself obeying automatically before he knew what he was doing. Maybe there's another spell he wants to read, now he's had a chance to rest his eye, he thought as he handed it across. To his shock and horror, though, the elder wizard simply placed it back in the pocket of his own robes, after which he promptly forgot about it and settled back to sleep.
"Master?" ventured Thomas, his guts twisting up in fear.
Saturn opened his eye and looked at him again. "What?" he snapped irritably.
"My spellbook!"
"Ah yes. I will carry it from now on, but don't be afraid. I'll let you borrow it whenever you need it."
"Borrow...?" gasped Thomas in mounting shock and anger. "It's my book! You're borrowing it, not me!"
"Don't be impertinent. I suggest you get some rest before..."
Thomas was jumping back to his feet, however. "Give me my spellbook!" he demanded angrily.
Saturn stared at him in astonishment. "Don't take that tone with me, young man! The fact is that I need the book more than you do. Be grateful I let you borrow it at all."
"I said give it to me! Now!"
Thomas heard the words coming out of his mouth with astonishment, hardly able to believe what he was saying but helpless to stop. It was as if someone else had taken control of his body. Someone firm and assertive, full of the natural confidence of a wizard. Someone outraged at Saturn's treatment of him and determined not to stand for it any longer. "Now I said!" He held out his hand under the elder wizard's nose, his bright blue eyes blazing with anger and fierce determination.
His furious gaze was met by Saturn's single eye, widening with surprise and a matching anger. Neither of them noticed the other humans gathering around, curious to see what all the noise was about.
"I warn you, young Gown," hissed Saturn through clenched teeth as he also rose to his feet. "If you think you can take advantage of my temporary weakness, I remind you that I still possess great power in the form of various artifacts carried on my person." He drew back a fold of his robes to reveal the wands hanging from his belt. It made him look like a gunfighter about to draw. "Sit down, shut up, and I'll forget that this incident ever happened. A temporary aberration, understandable considering the stresses of the past few..."
"Last chance, Saturn!" warned Thomas, and there was absolutely no give in his eyes, absolutely no room for concession. "You know what it means to take a wizard's spellbook. Give it back or I will take it."
Matthew started forward, afraid for his friend, but Drenn held him back. "Best not to interfere in the affairs of wizards," he whispered quietly in his ear. "Wise men leave them alone to settle it among themselves."
"But he's my friend!" protested Matthew, remembering all Thomas's warnings regarding the dangerously unpredictable older wizard. Remembering also everything he'd seen for himself since the mission to the Southern Continent. He allowed the priest to hold him back, though, but with grave misgivings and one hand on the hilt of his sword.
Saturn was staring at Thomas with open astonishment, hardly able to believe he'd actually been threatened by the younger man. "You dare...?" he gasped, but one look in Thomas's eyes was enough to tell him that he did indeed dare. Thomas would allow himself to be pushed around in almost any other way, but when all else was said and done he was a wizard and Saturn was trying to take his spellbook. The elder wizard had finally gone too far and suddenly he knew it. Thomas would not back down. He was ready to fight to get back what was his, and it was likely that the fight would end with one of them dead.
And not necessarily Thomas! Saturn was getting old, and beginning to feel the strain of spellcasting. As the years took their toll, the very act of casting a spell became a heavy drain on a wizard's body, sapping his strength and damaging his health, and although Saturn was only just beginning to approach this dangerous phase of his career he was getting to the point where he was thinking carefully every time he was faced with the choice of whether or not to cast a high level spell. A wizards' duel was just about the biggest strain that an elderly wizard could place on his body, and was definitely not something to be undertaken lightly.
And what was more, Saturn knew that Thomas was no mean spellcaster. He would give a good account of himself even against Saturn himself, especially with blind fury lending strength to every spell. He was fighting to defend his spellbook after all, possibly the only thing, apart from a threat to his family, that could have roused him to such a berserk rage.
Painfully aware of the other humans staring at him, therefore, he reached into his pouch and handed the book across. "Very well," he said matter of factly, as if Thomas had only just asked, very politely, for the first time. "Here you are." Then he sat back down and closed his eye as if nothing had happened, but Thomas could see that he was clamping down hard on the blazing fury eating him up inside. Knowing that any further protest would only make him look more foolish.
Thomas beat a hasty retreat before the elder wizard changed his mind, followed by the other humans, all of them aware that Saturn in his present mood was more dangerous than a dragon with toothache. Thomas was beginning to tremble violently, the strength that anger had given him draining away like water through a sieve, but he continued to walk, almost running, until they were well out of earshot of the elder wizard. By then he was shaking so hard that Matthew had to put an arm around him to hold him up.
"You did it!" cried the soldier jubilantly. "You made him back down!"
The reminder of what had just happened made the wizard tremble even harder.
"Well done," agreed Drenn, a smile on his hard, angular face. "I admit I didn't think you had it in you, but we servants of the God of Righteous Warfare enjoy seeing a battle well fought. He will treat you with more respect in future."
"He'll kill me!" moaned Thomas in terror. "He'll blast me to ashes!"
"No he will not," said the priest, however. "I've noticed that he groups all other wizards into two categories, those he hates and those he despises. You have now graduated to the former category."
"He hates me!" wailed Thomas hopelessly.
"He also hates Pondar Walton, Seskip Tonn, the Director, just about every senior wizard in the University, but he works with them even so. You could almost define a senior wizard as someone who is hated by Saturn." He took Thomas's hand in his own and gave it a firm squeeze. "I am proud to shake your hand, sir wizard."
Thomas looked up in surprise, waiting for the punchline, and when he saw that the priest was serious he managed a weak smile.
"All the same," continued Drenn, "You might want to keep out of his way for a while."
"Yes," agreed Thomas, grinning nervously. "I think I will."
Drenn gave him a companionable clap him on the shoulder, then strolled away, gesturing for the two younger soldiers to follow him. Thomas and Matthew needed to talk.
"He's right, you know," said the Flight Leader when the others were gone. "You did great back there. I was all ready to come to your rescue, but you didn't need it."
"Thanks," said the wizard. "Gods, I don't believe I actually said all that! And I really was ready to attack him! I didn't think I could be like that!"
"There's a strength inside you," said Matthew, looking him over appraisingly. "Buried deep down inside, it's true. Almost hidden under all that nice guy stuff that lets people walk all over you just for the sake of a quiet life. Hidden so deep that most people would never suspect it's there, but when people push you too hard you can give them a big surprise. You gave Saturn a big surprise, and he won't forget it."
"That's what I'm afraid of," said Thomas, staring down at the ground. "He's dangerous, though. I mean, really dangerous, and it's not just me he's angry at. You all saw him forced to back down. He was publicly humiliated, and when we get back home you'll all tell all your friends. Saturn will suffer a loss of respect all across the valley." He looked fearfully into Matthew's eyes. "He might be thinking how convenient it would be if none of us got back alive."
"Now you're just being silly," scolded Matthew, but the Flight Leader suddenly heditated, remembering the whispered tales he'd overheard since joining the Rossem Project. Stories he'd dismissed as exaggerations. There was a look in Thomas's eyes, though, that silenced him, and they both turned fearfully to look back towards where they'd left the broodingly silent elder wizard.
☆☆☆
That evening, Saturn sought Thomas out and asked again to borrow his spellbook. There was nothing in his manner to suggest that anything had happened between then earlier that day and Thomas handed the book across without comment, suspecting that that might be the last he ever saw of it. He was too scared to protest, though. The earlier confrontation had used up all his courage and he had none left for a repeat performance.
Half an hour later, though, Saturn returned and handed the book back with a muttered word of thanks before returning to his sleeping blankets and settling down for the night, leaving Thomas feeling light headed with joy and relief. It took a few minutes for his pounding heart to settle down, and then he also settled down to sleep.