The plan starts to take shape

Do you know the immense satisfaction that comes, when all the necessary information is falling into place, so that you can build a coherent strategy upon? I felt such an enormous relief that I was actually close to hugging Lily (afterwards, I was sure, she would tear me limb from limb!)!

But I restrained myself. One of the first things you learn when living among people…

I left my hammock as gracefully as I could under the circumstances (higher gravity!) and told Lily to come closer.

“What do you want?” she asked suspiciously. “And what solution do you mean?”

Oh, how I reveled in the feeling for once to know more than the locals! Well, from the perspective of an otherworlder…

“I think it’s time to introduce you closer to my Munchie.”

The beast girl shot me a look that surely must’ve been reserved for absolute lunatics. But she surprised me by showing restraint.

“Context, please!” she just said icily and crossed her (impressively muscular) arms.

But I shook my head.

“Later, when Al’Reeza and Illyára can join us. For now let me just say that I found a solution to leave this place undetected and drive a few hundred miles south, before switching vehicles!”

The beastess looked unimpressed.

“And how are you planning to just do that?” she asked, oozing disbelief from every pore.

Again I shook my head.

“The other girls have to hear it too.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they are listening in.”

Was I mistaken, or did I hear just an ounce of bitterness?

She cocked her head. Then she added:

“Correction: They are listening in!"

“Al’Reeza and Illyára now can hear exactly what you are hearing?” I made sure.

Lily nodded.

“Yes, you made them curious. And me too. Although I can’t believe they’d take you seriously!”

I chose to ignore the insult.

“Well, we have two, no three advantages and just one disadvantage!” I started my explanation.

“First, the area outside the caldera goes downhill and becomes flat afterwards. That will help immensely in saving energy consumption. Second: we are four people that can pedal which helps saving further energy. Despite that, we’ll probably need at least one stop to charge the batteries. But here comes our last advantage: Al’Reeza and Illyára are great at cloaking. I think, the dragons shouldn’t detect us, when we are just standing motionless on the ice with unfolded solar panels, am I right?”

Lily cocked her head again.

“And what is the disadvantage?”

“Can’t you tell? The snow cover is deeper around the caldera. That makes driving more difficult and energy consuming.”

She stood there, motionless.

“Illyára just suggested to find a slope steep enough, so we can use the iceboat as a sledge first.” she said after a while. “Al’Reeza is doubtful if there is a suitable one, but she will scout discreetly as soon as she hunts the dragons in the caldera down.”

She looked at me with an unreadable expression on her hairy snout.

“They want us to stay put, until it’s safe outside again.”

I nodded.

“I understand, but what do they think of my plan?”

“Well, to call that a plan is a little bit of a stretch.” the beastess dampened my enthusiasm. “But it looks like they want to give it a try.”

“What about you?”

“Me? Personally I have serious doubts. I don’t know anything about you or the capabilities of your vehicle. But I also don’t have a better solution. So I’m willing to trust my teammates.”

Brutally honest, but fair enough.

I gestured towards my Munchie.

“So, as long as we have to wait, 'may I show you its features'?”

The beast girl looked sceptically at the long, streamlined body with its top-heavy looking solar roof.

“How do you even move that thing?”

I stowed the hammock away and then showed her the inside with the four seats and their respective pair of pedals. Most of it was full with supplies, but that didn’t matter.

“You sit down here, put your feet on the pedals and just push forwards.”

I made the motion of pedaling and Lily frowned again.

“But nothing is happening.”

“Of course not! It's in empty gear. Otherwise I’d be driving away.”

Her frown deepend.

“Show me!” she demanded.

I sighed.

“Alright, but let me change seats. You can only steer from the left side.”

She followed me to the other side, her curiosity piqued. Deliberately I chose to let the side door open so she could see everything.

Her wild yellow eyes widened in surprise, when the Munchie slowly started to roll. I just put in the first gear, so we really moved at a snail's pace. Lily followed just as slowly, her maw open, fangs visible, but in a very nonthreatening, in her bafflement almost amusing way.

After a few feet I steered slightly to the left, then to the right again. The beast girl was at a loss of words.

“How does that work?” she finally managed to ask.

I showed her the chain, the gear train, the middle motors, pointed to the hub motors, the batteries, the solar roof. It was a hard task, because Lily knew from her experience mostly just natural workings and magic. Even a simple drive chain or a gear train was an unbelievable technical marvel for her, and electric motors were beyond her comprehension. It was just another magical tool to her, despite being based on completely different principles. Well, think about Clarke’s third law: ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’

From my observations so far it seemed, the approximate reverse was also true: Most magic is indistinguishable from sufficiently advanced technology…

After driving back in reverse I offered Lily a ride together, which put her in a little bit of distress.

“It doesn’t fit, it’s way too small!” she complained.

“Don’t worry,” I tried to calm her down. “I’ll adjust the length of the pedal drive.”

No easy task, I’m telling you! Lily towered at about seven foot height with accordingly long legs, so it was a really tight fit. She was also very bulky, so the seat had some difficulties holding her frame, when I could finally persuade her to try it out.

It was quite a funny sight to see how reluctantly she entered the unknown vehicle. Of course she wouldn't admit her fear against the unknown, but at least she overcame it!

For our first try together I told her, just to put her paws on the pedals without really pedaling. She should just feel the motion before actively trying it out. Of course after a short trip in the lava tunnel I had to put on the brakes, because Lily couldn’t hold it and started pushing the pedals too hard and we nearly crashed into the tunnel wall.

“Careful!” I scolded her. “You have so much strength, you have to be gentle!”

Just ten minutes earlier I wouldn’t even have dreamed of daring to criticize her! She even remained silent, probably ashamed. Since the tunnel came to an end we had to drive back anyway, so I put in reverse and we inched slowly and very carefully back towards the ledge.

It was a very odd experience to sit in such a close space next to a furry giant like Lily, but our little trip showed at least that my Munchie could hold her frame. She didn’t even need to bend down her head to fit, but her hairy arms and shoulders constantly constrained my right side. I shuddered at the thought of driving next to her for hours, maybe even days out there in the skîbærian ice plains, since she certainly didn’t fit in the back and I wouldn’t allow anybody else on the steering wheel than me.

Her demeanor had completely changed when we got back to the lava lake. Gone was the grumpy, distrustful attitude from before. She was friendly now, even a little bit enthusiastic, since she felt the value my Munchie held for all of us.

I was happy too. The mighty leg muscles of the beast girl could spare us a lot of battery charge and I was sure, the other girls would provide their share too!

Despite that, I was itching to finally unfold the solar panels for recharge. Without full batteries we wouldn't get far enough. Unfortunately the dragons still seem to roam around, because clearance still hasn't come.

Fortunately I already had a plan for that too!