<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0156</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0157.txt">Next (Page 157)</A><BR><P><P>"Okay," Ferrajalt said, moving to the door. "I'm pretty sure it holds two people."<P><P>"Yeah?" Treyess said, following him.<P><P>They walked into the main chamber of the Warhome, and Ferrajalt let Treyess climb the ladder on the central shaft first.<P><P>"Okay, now to figure out how to get in here," Treyess said as Ferrajalt looked up at her.<P><P>"Need help?"<P><P>"No--I got it," she said, planting her right boot on a small foothold on the plane and lifting herself up and over the edge. "Yeah--I've got it."<P><P>"Is there room for me?"<P><P>"Um--wait a second," Treyess said as she sat down and settled herself in. "Well, it's a tight fit, but there's room."<P><P>Ferrajalt began climbing the ladder.<P><P>"Wait a second," Treyess said. "I need a key. Weren't there some other keys on that keyring you found?"<P><P>The Prince stopped.<P><P>"Oh yeah. I guess there must be one for each vehicle. I'll go get it."<P><P>"Cool."<P><P>Ferrajalt went back to his driver's seat and tried to figure out what to do--he didn't want to shut the Warhome off, but he couldn't see any easy way of getting the other keys off the ring. As well, there were seven keys in all--and he wasn't sure which one was the right one.<P><P>So he sat down in the seat and took a close look at the keys. And upon this closer examination, he saw little engraved pictures of the various vehicles--the Warhome, the biplane, the submarine, the motorcycle, the speedboat, a door, and one--one which just had a little circle on it. Also, he saw that each key had a little latch on it where you could disconnect it from the keyring. So he carefully flicked the mechanism, and released the biplane key. With it in hand, he rush back to the ladder and back to Treyess.<P><P>"Got it," Ferrajalt said, as he climbed up to the biplane docking area. He saw that Treyess was wearing some sort of police helmet.<P><P>"Great," Treyess said, taking the key from him. "I think I got this thing figured out."<P><P>Ferrajalt looked for where he could sit, and saw that it was just one long seat inside the plane, and not much room to spare.<P><P>Treyess saw the Prince contemplating the seating arrangements.<P><P>"Hop in," she said. "Pretty close quarters, but it'll do."<P><P>So Ferrajalt climbed in, and straddled the seat--with Treyess sitting between his knees.<P><P>"Here," Treyess said, handing him a helmet. "And strap in."<P><P>Ferrajalt put the helmet on and fastened a couple of safety belts over himself.<P><P>"Well. Here goes," Treyess said, inserting the key and turning it. Instantly, the cockpit control panel lit up with a number of display panels, and the dome above them began to recede, revealing the black, starless sky above.<P><P>"So far so good," Ferrajalt said.<P><P>"Okay. I think I have the hang of this. So if I hit--this!" Treyess said, and all of a sudden the plane began slowly moving upward.<P><P>Ferrajalt looked down to see what was lifting them up, but in a moment, they were high enough for it to be clear that the plane was hovering on its own power. After a few more moments, a chime sounded and a deep mechanical sound reverberated through the aircraft.<P><P>"Okay," Treyess said. "Now we can point it in any direction--see?"<P><P>She moved the control stick, and they rotated, while remaining perfectly level. She went back and forth a few times, and then pointed it back straight ahead.<P><P>"And with this," she said, easing forward the throttle, "we should be flying!"<P><P>And slowly, they started moving forward.<P><P>"Somehow, I don't think that propeller is doing much of the work," Ferrajalt said, commenting on the silently spinning propeller on the front of the plane.<P><P>"Just decoration, maybe."<P><P>"Yeah."<P><P>Treyess increased the throttle and they began to fly faster. Then she pulled back on the stick.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0157.txt">Next (Page 157)</A>