Free Steemjammer: The Deeper Truth by John Eubank

steam-powered rams - looked quite intimidating.
    Will wondered what it would be like playing a game of Steemball inside one of those heavy, tank-like contraptions. He reflected how back on Old Earth people went crazy over games where players put little balls in holes or hoops – or tagged other players with them. Here, the main sport involved teams of battle-ready war-wagons fighting over a one-ton sphere of bronze . Now that was a game he could get into.
    “That isn’t where the tournament will be, is it?” Giselle said.
    “No,” Cobee said. “That’s just a practice area. The main Steemball field’s across the street from the Steem Museum.” He glanced down. “Seems they’re having mechanical problems.”
    A white flag popped out of the top of the first steemtrap, and crew members got out of each to open service hatches and try to figure out what was wrong with the vehicle. Nearby, the kids saw another larger steemtrap that looked more heavily armored and had a powerful crane.
    “That’s for picking up the ball?” Will said.
    “Ya,” Cobee said. “That’s a carrier or ball-carrier. It’s got to lift and haul one ton of bronze back to its starting area to score.”
    They flew along on the Hemel Snoor so fast that the practice field went out of view.
    “They’re in trouble,” Cobee sighed, “if they’re having problems like that so close to the tournament.”
    “Verdoor,” Will said, remembering something. “I was going to fill you in on what happened to me.”
    “We’re not there yet,” Giselle said. “Go on.”
    Before the events at Texel, he simply would have told them everything, but now he found himself weighing in his mind which parts to reveal or not. Clearly, something had changed within him, but he put off his worries and forced himself to start talking. He began with what he remembered after his legs stopped working in the dark warehouse, when Bram and his bodyguard, Lockwood, found him.
    Before long, a loud clanking sound signaled they’d been transferred off the main line, and they felt themselves being shoved forward against the lap-bar as their chair decelerated to a cable that lead down to a station house near the Steem Museum. Will had only gotten to the point where he’d woken up under interrogation.
    “You can’t leave us hanging like this,” Giselle said.
    “I won’t,” Will said. “We’re getting off.”
    “Don’t joke. How could you have possibly survived?”
    “Obviously, I did.”
    She made a face.
    “All right, I’ll try.”
    Before he could explain much, they entered the station, which for some reason had a horse racing theme. A man in a lilac colored jockey uniform brought their chair to a stop, lifted up the lap-bar, and motioned that they should hurry. Even with all the noise, Will couldn’t risk telling them more.
    He really wanted to get to the Steem Museum and find out what Donell and Tante Stefana had in store for him, but the others wanted to find a place where he could finish the story. He got them to go with him by promising he’d do so by the end of the day. They crossed the street and entered the Steem Museum’s noisy, high-ceilinged lobby.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
    THE FAMILY TRADITION
     
     
    “About time ye got here,” Donell said, coming over and leading them quickly toward his office.
    When they got in a hallway where it was safe to talk, he asked Will what he’d told the others about his ordeal in Texel. He seemed very worried about this.
    “Not as much as I’d like,” Will said. “I’ve explained parts, but there really hasn’t been time.”
    “Well, goot.” Donell faced the others. “Listen, ye don’t need tah know everything right now.” He put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “This young man has a job tah do, and only he can do it, alone.”
    From the frightened look on Angelica’s face, Donell realized he had to say more.
    “Nay, lass, he’s not goin’ back tah that horrid place,” he