The Shipstone

Vanessa looked down in shock at this sudden act of devotion and humility. Suddenly she realized that she didn’t know what to say or do. She shot a glance at Flynt who nodded at Michelle and grinned.

            “This would be your first oath of fealty, Milady. There will be many more. Tell our captain that you accept your chair –the rest will fall into place.” He said. “Seriously, walk up to her, place your right hand on her head- your other right hand.”

            She was doing as he suggested, she suppressed an urge to giggle and carefully laid her right hand on Michelle suddenly bare head. The woman’s hair was so soft. Her own hand trembled and she searched for words.

            “I accept your fealty Michelle.” She carefully took away her hand and looked down into Michelle’s face as it turned up to her.

            “Thank you Milady.”

            “As long as it is the last Milady I have to hear from you. My friends call me Van and I want us to be friends.” She said suddenly, then she reached out her hand and pulled as Michelle took it in her own. The woman came to her feet and they were standing face to face. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?”

            Michelle’s eyes lit up as she returned. “Permission granted, Van.”

            “If you girls are ready?” Flynt quipped.

            They ignored him as they looked into each other’s eyes carefully. Vanessa felt the bond between them snap into place. She was not sure if it actually made a noise, but Flynt grunted and stood and sat back in his seat without looking back.

            Michelle started with a smile as if she too now realized that something had formed between them that was more than just friendship. She stepped back and gestured at the large oval stone device that sat in front of the center chair. It looked like a azure blue egg resting on its side, narrow point forward in a large egg holder flush with the flight deck.

            “This is our Ship Stone- the heart and soul of the Freya.”

            Vanessa looked at the stone in awe, it was after all the first object she could remember seeing that she was sure was magical or something like magic. The Azure hue of the stone glowed faintly and seemed to pulse with an inner life. There were ornate carvings around the outer edge- no not carvings but markings that seemed to flow across the surface as if on some strange kind of feed. Michelle reached out and took Vanessa’s hand, guiding it to the stone.

            “Place your hand next to mine.” She said and she turned to look directly at the stone. The flight deck filled with an audible hum as the azure hue deepened to an agate color. Vanessa was sure now that it had been humming the whole time she had been standing on the deck.

            “Freya, This is Michelle- are we ready to fly?”

            The stone pulsed in a bright flash of light and Michelle smiled and nodded.

            “Yes, it is.” Michelle said. “Freya let me be the first to introduce you to the Queen-apparent- Vanessa Morgraine. My Queen, this is the First Flight Freya.”

            Vanessa felt a warmth spread through her hand and into her body from the stone. Then the flight deck faded from view and in a vision she was sure that Michelle was sharing they stood in an open field touching the stone, touching the sky, she could feel the other crewmembers and knew that the Freya thought of them as her children as tey went about their work inside of her. That she was experiencing the plane as what the airplane felt about her crew and life and the eternal expanse of sky. Vanessa wondered if the Freya has started life as a bird before becoming a air plane. The vision faded and she looked over to Michelle who grinned back.

            “Freya likes that idea, but she began life as a stone cut from a rock high in the sky above the world in which we will be traveling to.  The shipstones are cut out of these floating rocks by a group of people who call themselves the DeSomer- Stonegrim is one of them.”

            “The Freya was fitted into this plane and took its name as her own. The bomber was rebuit around her by Stonegrim’s people and Stonegrim himself had a hand it it. She does think of us as her children though.”

            “Wow.” Vanessa managed “This is so amazing and almost impossible- but I am standing here touching her- touching the sky and wow….wow.”

            “I know,” Michelle said. “I felt much the same way the first time I touched her as well.”

            “What does she do exactly?”

            “She does a lot, but primarily she gives us lift- which is no small thing; since it keeps us from smashing into the ground. Scientifically speaking she is both our power source and provides fuel from her excess energy she expends- which in turn drive the engines on the plane.”

            “Lift?”

            “It’s a Desomer term for aerial buoyancy- meaning that the rock she is made from is lighter than air and causes the plane to stay aloft when fully charged.”

            “Charged with?”

            “Light- which is good for us as it is the most abundant fuel source in the Universe.”

            “And completely un-trappable.” Flynt says “Although some have tried.”

            “The Freya can recharge herself quickly in sunlight or direct starlight and even slowly in moonlight. But mostly at night we land somewhere and camp when we can land of course.”     

            “This is so much to take in.” Vanessa said releasing the stone, the warmth of it remained in her though.

            “It is a lot for me too.” A voice said. Michelle laughed.

            “I am sorry Mother, we have been rude and talked about you indirectly.”

            “Quite alright, my daughter.”  The Ship said, it voice resonating in the cabin- in her head. “I gather from Quest that we are now ready to depart.”

            “Well then.” Michelle said and gestured to the central chair. “Time for you to take your seat Van and see what this bird can do.”