She sighed. “I can understand wanting in on the project, wanting to make your imprint on history, but I simply cannot understand how someone who purports himself an engineer, who certainly has the mind of an engineer and the skills, can so pettily destroy anything he is not allowed to directly be involved in.”

      Ward didn’t say anything, listening.

      “I mean, it would be one thing if this was the first time he has set work back, but just at my workstation alone, three times I have found him ‘fixing’ something that didn’t need any repair before he touched it.  And it is not just me.  The other day, Timothy came in just in time to catch Mathers taking the salt-water pump home.  Of course, Mathers claimed that he had thought of an improvement to the system and was taking it home to implement his plan, but it wasn’t his project, Timothy already had it working exactly to specifications, and not even Mathers could explain why he was taking it home instead of just offering his suggestions or doing the work in the workshop.”

      “He’s ambitious.”

      Isabella snorted.  “Who isn’t?  But it is not even logical to risk sacrificing the project for his personal advancement.  He is hardly going to earn respect or fame for a failed project.”

      “But was he really risking the project?”

      Isabella frowned, putting just a bit too much pressure behind the file and deeply scoring the surface of the axle she was working on.  She clenched her jaw, threw the entire thing away and started over.  “Maybe not.  There are too many people here to catch his mistakes, but we are behind schedule, over budget, and for a while there we weren’t even sure if we were going to be able to get this thing in the water.  Mark doesn’t have to deal with this.”

      “Hmm?”  Ward’s response was barely a question, but it did not bother Isabella.  She was in the mood for complaining, and Ward was a good listener.

      “Yes, he is working alone with my father, but at least neither of them care more about their own careers than the project.  Oh, and they don’t have to worry about the budget, because all they need is an endless supply of lamp oil, pen, and paper.”  That wasn’t quite fair; both Professor Reid and Mark had taken voyages out to the farthest islands to compare dialectic elements and convincing the University to pay for that had been nigh on impossible.  “Mark is definitely going to win the wager.”

      “Wager?”

      Isabella glanced up.  “Didn’t I tell you?  Mark and Father’s project is scheduled to finish at roughly the same time as the first test runs, so we have a bet going to see who will actually get their projects done first.”

      “You mean the Three Text Stone translation?  They are making progress?”

      For a moment, Isabella did not notice the strange undertones in the beggar’s voice, but when she did, she glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye.  He looked… hopeful seemed to be the best word for it, but fragile.  “They had a couple of breakthroughs when Mark found an old book on the Island of Nones that held a rough translation of the text on that table on level three, the giant stone one, which is definitely the same language.”

      “What does it say?”

      Isabella shrugged.  “The table?  Something about swimming in the ocean.  Mark had already guessed that it might have something to do with that, but until they found the book no one had believed him.  After all, why would anyone go swimming in the ocean?”  It was dangerous and unhealthy.  So much so, that when the submersible project had first been proposed, many had opposed it vehemently until Professor Alberts had expressly said that no one involved in the project would be in any more direct contact with the water than the sailors on a traditional ship. 

      Ward frowned, and Isabella quickly realized why.  “Oh, you meant the Three Text Stone?”

      “Yes.”  That one word was strangely serious, but after months of friendship with the man, Isabella had just accepted that as one of the strange quirks of the blind beggar.

      “Well, they seem to have been right.  It is definitely a record of a treaty.  Beyond that, we are both going to have to just wait until the reading in two weeks.”

      Ward’s spine snapped straight.  “They are reading the Three Text Stone aloud?”

      He was clearly surprised, but whatever else was going on behind that blindfold, Isabella couldn’t even begin to guess.  “That would be the plan.  Of course, I am still hoping that we finish first, but that is just for personal pride.”

      “But I thought you said the reading would be in two weeks?”

      Isabella nodded, finishing up her second attempt at the gear component.  “Well, yes.”  She set the piece down and sat up straight, stretching her back.  She would need to wait for the piece to cool before she could attach it to the greater whole on the other side of the room.

      She glanced over at Ward and sat up straighter.  He was clearly upset.  “The submersible is not that close to completion yet, is it?”

      Isabella couldn’t understand his response, but in respect for his distress she restrained her initial boastful response.  “Honestly, yes.  Once we finish the drive system tonight, all the major systems will be done, and it will just be a matter of putting the pieces together.”  Ward stood, pale and unsteady on his crutch.  Isabella felt her eyebrows pull down in concern.  What was wrong with him?  She found herself trying to reassure him without even knowing why, “Of course, we will still have months of testing and problem solving… Ward, what's wrong?”