Daughter of Wine

Leo

I blame the Windex. I should've known better. Now my entire project, two months of work, might literally blow up in my face.

I storm around Bunker Nine, cursing myself for being so stupid. Jason, Calli, and Piper are trying to calm me down.

"It's okay." Jason says. "We're here to help."

"Just tell us what happened." Calli urges.

Thank goodness they answered my distress call so quickly. I can't turn to anyone else. Having them here with me makes me feel better, but I'm not sure they can help stop the disaster.

I take a deep breath. "Okay, guys. This is serious. Buford's gone. If we don't get him back, this whole place is going to explode."

Piper's eyes lose their usual smiley sparkle. "Explode? Um... okay. Just calm down and tell us who Buford is."

I know she doesn't do it on purpose, but her charmspeak is hard to ignore. I feel my muscles relaxing, and my mind clears a little.

"Fine." I say. "Come here."

I lead them across the hangar floor, carefully skirting some of our more dangerous projects. In my two months at Camp Half-Blood, I have spent most of my time at Bunker Nine. It feels like home to me, but I know it still makes Jason and Piper nervous. I can't blame them. The whole thing is part weapons-depot, part machine shop, and part underground safe house, with a little bit of Area 51-style craziness. Tool cabinets, storage closets, cages full of welding equipment, and stacks of construction material make a labyrinth of aisles so vast, I think we've only explored about ten percent of it all. Overhead runs a series of catwalks and pneumatic tubes for delivering supplies, plus a high-tech lighting and sound system that Calli is working to figure out. She spends quite a bit of time in here with me too, usually talking to me about nonsense, making jokes, or playing music, but sometimes helping me too. It's nice to have the company, even if she is distracting sometimes. And ever since that conversation with Nyssa and Piper, I find myself watching the door and waiting for her. The fact that she could actually, genuinely like me is mind boggling to me. But hey, who am I to question it? I'm just happy it's a possibility.

A large magical banner hangs over the center of the production floor. I recently discovered how to change the display, like the Times Square JumboTron, so now the banner reads Merry Christmas! All your presents belong to Leo!

I bring my friends to the central staging area, where I'm working on the engine that'll run the warship.

"See?" I ask.

Fixed to the keep, the engine apparatus looks like a high-tech jungle gym made from pipes, pistons, bronze gers, magical disks, steam vents, electric wires, and a million other magical and mechanical pieces. I point out the combustion chamber.

It's a thing of beauty. Calli had found the design, and I've been so excited to build it. A bronze sphere the size of a basketball, the surface bristling with glass cylinders so it looks like a mechanical starburst. Gold wires run from the ends of the cylinders, connecting to various parts of the engine. Each cylinder is filled with a different magical and highly dangerous substance. The central sphere has a digital clock display that reads 66:21. The maintenance panel is open. Inside, the core is empty.

"There's your problem." I point.

Jason scratches his head. "Uh, what are we looking at?"

I think it's pretty obvious, but Piper looks confused too.

"Okay," I sigh. "You want the full explanation or the short explanation?"

"Short." Jason, Calli, and Piper say in unison.