Page 68 of Sea of Stars

"Almost all."

"I need an exact number so I can calculate..."

Enzo held up a sheet of parchment. "I already ran the numbers. We have enough wood to stay in the air another four days."

Herovinci scratched his patchy beard. Despite only being in his mid-twenties, it was already speckled with bits of gray. "But we're already nearly four days off shore."

"We are. Which means we need to turn around."

Herovinci grabbed the parchment from Enzo and scanned the calculations. "You didn't take into account that we can break down empty food barrels to feed the fire. That'll give us at least another four hours in the air. And if we absolutely need to, we can always tighten the rear valves and downshift the gear ratio."

"Good idea," said Enzo. "I'll have Sergio start breaking those down to use in case of suboptimal wind conditions."

"You misunderstand. With that wood, we'll be able to travel another two hours before we have to turn back. There's still a chance we can find land."

"But this trip has already been a success. We made it past Edge Island. We proved it's not the end of the world! We can always come back out to discover more. This isn't the end. But it could be if we don't turn back soon."

"You don't understand, do you?" Herovinci shook his head. "No, of course you don't. You couldn't. You have everything. Everyone at the university loves you. Every girl in Techence loves you. Father loves you. I have none of that. All I have is my brain. All I have is this." He gestured to the ship. "You'll go down in history as the next great Prime Minister of Techence. You'll carry on the family name. I won't. I'll just be a footnote - the crazy son who tried to fly around the world and failed."

"Hero, that's not going to happen." Enzo put his hand on Herovinci's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

Herovinci pushed Enzo's hand away, not at all calmed by Enzo's use of his nickname. "You're right, it's not. Because we're going to keep going, and we're going to find land. And then we're going to sail around the world and show everyone I was right. Now, is there anything else you needed?"

Enzo frowned. "No."

"Good, then I believe you have a job to do. Break those barrels down to use as fuel."

Enzo reluctantly left the quarterdeck while Herovinci stewed in anger. He had meant every word he said, but perhaps reason had escaped him. His legacy was important, but maybe this wasn't meant to be it. He had a dozen more inventions in various states of completion. He still had more to contribute to the world. Was risking his own life and the lives of his sailors really worth proving a few people wrong?

Herovinci looked back to where they had passed Edge Island. It was hardly visible beneath the setting sun. Was the sun also setting on his dream of sailing around the world? He spent the better part of an hour attacking the equation from every possible angle. But as much as he hated to admit it, every calculation led to the same solution: turn back and live to fight another day.

He put his hand on the wheel and prepared to give the order to turn around. Then he saw Enzo approaching.

"If you're here to tell me to turn around..." started Herovinci.

"I'm here to tell you that Lucia just spotted a storm ahead."

"All the more reason..."

"And she saw a pelican."

"Are you sure?" asked Herovinci. His heart leapt. If they had indeed seen a pelican, it meant land was near.

Enzo nodded. His pale grey eyes danced with excitement.

"How bad is the storm?" asked Herovinci.

"It's looks to be mostly nimbus clouds, but it's hard to tell in the dark. No lightning yet."

"So what do you think?"

"I think it's an awfully good thing my brother invented this airship so we don't have to deal with the waves that storm is going to churn up. Let's find land and get these ships stocked with enough wood to fly around the world."

Herovinci smiled. "You're sure? I had already resigned to turning back. I have other inventions..."

Enzo clapped his hand on Herovinci's back. The force of it nearly knocked Herovinci off his feet. "No. Just promise me I get to be there when we show those smug pipe greasers at the university the proof that we found land."

"Deal."

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