The mood aboard the fleet lightened. Riggs had a few theories about the food supply, the knowledge of others being out there, and the lifting of the oppressive and unnatural aura of the revenant. Even Vance and Plugger were respectful of each other. They had both agreed to put Riggs in charge of the fleet and return to their own ship. There was a tenuous truce based on the trip to the Citadel.

  Sophia agreed,

  Sophia said.

  Riggs was excited about the steam engine. The engineers, not so much.

  “There are tons of critters down there, Ma’am,” one man complained.

  “We have Marines. Not to mention, we have thousands of unemployed and bored people that would love an excuse to hurt things. If we need to line every hallway from here to the engine bay, we will do it.”

  She turned and talked with a small group, and then orders started echoing across the ship. Soon a group was gathering. They had an odd assortment of weapons, and some had purchased armor. They looked like an angry mob bristling with spears and halberds.

  Riggs mentioned to one officer beside her she wanted standardized equipment for the Sailors.

  “Look good, feel good. Feel good, fight good,” he said.

  “Exactly, but make it something affordable. We still need to buy food.”

  The way down was dark. An older man missing his left eye walked at the front with Riggs and Morgan. Every twenty feet he would touch the wall for a moment, and a squat, thick crystal would form and then glow a soft, pale light. They took the most direct path and killed a lot of undead and some goblinoids. There were a few sealed bulkheads behind which they found piles of dead creatures.

  “When they can’t fight us, the different spawns fight each other,” Morgan answered Riggs’ confused expression.

  The ship was propelled by four enormous propellers. Morgan relayed information about switching out the electric motor for a steam engine. Three of the men had already started making a steam engine to outfit a lifeboat, but were running into issues. Riggs suggested getting a list of people with either a background in this or new skills from the system.

  Once they returned to the deck, Riggs thanked Morgan again. Before he left to head back, she wanted to give him something to try. It was a small slate and metal tablet about the size of a book. She held one just like it.

  “One of the Chiefs has this crafting skill. They work well for communicating around the ship. Not sure of the range. You use this bit here,” she lifted a small metal ‘pen’ from the device. “When I write, it will make yours glow.” She scribbled on her pad, making vibrant green lines appear. His pad had a light blue glow to it. “Now, tap the stick here, and my message appears.” Her scribbles were now on both pads, copied exactly. “Then press this,” and the pad cleared. Her pad glowed green. “Message received,” she said.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Looks simple enough,” Morgan said. “This might be a game-changer if the range is good. The Citadel has small radio-like earpieces, but the range is only about half a mile.”

  “We have tested them all over the ships and they reach everywhere we have been able to get someone.” She looked around at the different ships surrounding them. “Maybe a mile at the most.”

  Riggs convinced Morgan it would be rude if he left before the Sailors could have a ceremony to thank him. He sat at the front of an extensive set of tables and benches. They brought out a feast of fresh food. Riggs thanked him formally in front of everyone and gave an inspirational speech about them having a place to go and that humanity wasn’t doomed. They cheered and shouted and threw hats and gloves and all sorts of items into the air. They created a long line, and people came and thanked Morgan in small groups.

  After the ceremony, it was late in the afternoon. The sky was alight with the burnt orange and golden yellow of the sun as it drifted into the horizon.

  “We have some bunk space if you need to rest for a bit before heading back,” Riggs offered.

  “Thank you for the offer,” Morgan said. “But I would rather get back and sleep in my bed.”

  “We owe you a lot, Warden. I don’t know how long we would have been able to hold on without the Kiosk.”

  “You can thank Corporal Nolan when you see him. He is the actual hero. I just delivered the goods.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Riggs shook her head. “So when we get back to the Citadel, will you be able to give my men a good start?”

  “I don’t run the Citadel. Actually, I have only been there a couple of days. We are currently switching to a voting system to find the next leader.”

  “We will vote for you when we get there, can almost guarantee that.”

  “I will not be running for office. I don’t want to lead the Citadel. My skills are for more… individual efforts,” Morgan said, putting on his backpack.

  “They say that the best leaders are the ones who don’t want to be leaders in the first place,” Riggs saluted. “Godspeed, Warden. And if the tablets work that far, let us know you made it.”

  As he lifted into the air, he waved at the cheering Sailors, sent Mara a message that he was on his way home, and then he flew away at a modest hundred miles per hour. An hour later he stopped, sent a message on the tablet that he was 100 miles away. The colors cycled, and then a message from Riggs confirmed it worked. Then Morgan stored all of his gear, changed the shape of his armor, and rocketed away at almost supersonic speed.

  The flight back to the Citadel was uneventful. There was a large, hulking shape in the sky as he flew past that followed him, but was much slower and soon fell behind. The mind-numbing howl of air as it whistled past was all he heard for hours. He took the time a few miles out to put his pack back on. He sent a message to Riggs, no answer, but it was two am. A short flight later, he was landing at the Citadel and walking into his room.

  Mara was waiting for him in their room. He hugged her tightly. He talked with her for five minutes. The tablet was glowing blue when he showed it to her. They worked! It was a Sailor on watch. Riggs was asleep. They sent back a message confirming the distance and that he would give his tablet to Burns in the morning.

  Then Morgan had the unpleasant job of explaining that after tonight he would spend most of the nights out hunting. He wanted to get stronger. He needed to get stronger. There are still things out there that made them insignificant. The images of Loki and his casual, overwhelming control stuck in his mind as they talked about how strong he needed to be. He didn’t have an answer to when it would be enough. She agreed, but claimed at least two hours every other night before he could go and ‘play with the monsters’.

  He slept next to her that night. Content. It was the best sleep he had had in his entire life.