The Witches of Ne'arth (The Star Wizards Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

replaced the first 'e' with 'a' in 'effecting' and, further down on the same page, the first 'i' with 'e' in 'intrusting.'  Feeling a twinge of satisfaction, he stretched his arms and yawned.  But reading always made him drowsy these days . . . rest eyes for just a moment . . . .
    He heard the rustle of paper and realized there was someone in the hut with him. 
    He opened his eyes and raised his flattened cheek from the table top.  Silhouetted against the afternoon sunlight ( How long was I asleep? ) was a blur.  He groped for his spectacles and squinted.  A pair of large wide eyes blinked back at him.  The eyes were set in a small face that had an innocuous expression and was attached to the body of a boy that Archimedes judged to be no more than fifteen.
    “Who might you be?” Archimedes asked, self-consciously wiping the drool from his beard.
    The boy replied, “Bok, sir.”
    Archimedes found himself straightening.  It had been a long time since someone, even a child, had addressed him as 'sir.' 
    “Well, I am called Archimedes, and you may address me as such, if you don't find it to be a mouthful.  If so, then 'Archie' will suffice.  So what are you doing here, Bok?”
    “Reading, sir.”  Bok had the pilot's manual in front of him. 
    Archimedes smiled.  “I'm always pleasantly astounded that the peasantry here knows how to read.”
    “I'm not a peasant, sir.  My family lives in a fishing village.  We make sails for fishing boats.”
    “Very well, Bok.  So what do you make of what you're reading?”
    “I have questions, sir.”
    “Well, I seem to have an opening in my schedule.  Perhaps I can provide answers.”
    “Thank you, sir.”  Bok pointed to the cover.  “First, I would like to know, what is 'United States?'”
    “It's an ancient country that existed on the planet Earth about a thousand years ago.”
    “But this manual doesn't seem to be a thousand years old.”
    “No, it was printed only a few days ago.”
    Bok's eyes widened still more.  “There is a printing press here?” 
    “No, no.  The Wizard – well, it may sound incredible, but what he does is eat berries for ink, and then he passes his palm over blank sheets of paper, and then something called 'Ivan' causes the words and pictures to appear on the sheets.”
    Bok tilted his head. 
    “I am not joking,” said Archimedes.
    “I did not think you were, sir.”  Bok turned through the pages.  “I see you corrected the spelling in the excerpt from the Espionage Act.  Is there a reason an Espionage Act for the United States a thousand years ago on Earth would apply here and now to us?”
    “I suppose it doesn't.  It's just I'm in the habit of, 'I see an error, I correct it.'”
    Bok blinked and turned some more pages.  “These numbers in the tables of data, sir.  They appear to be in unusual units of measurement.”
    “You mean, feet, inches, pounds, degrees Fahrenheit?  Yes, they're in a different system of measurement that was peculiar to that time and place on Earth.”
    “I see, sir.  Are we planning to convert to this new system of measurement?”
    “Other way around.  We're converting those numbers into the metric system so that we can use that document to help us to reverse-engineer the airship technology of the ancients.  Reverse-engineering is when – well, I'm not too sure myself, but it's what we're doing.”  Archimedes frowned.  “Here now, I just realized that you seem to know already that 'Earth' is the true name of 'Aereoth.'”
    “Yes sir.  I've passed through a lot of villages and always ask about everything the Wizard has taught.”
    “Word gets around, I suppose.  Wait . . . you say you passed through a 'lot' of villages.  Where exactly do you come from again?”
    “I didn't say exactly, sir.  But it's a village called Cod Cove.  It's on the coast, sir.  Almost due south of here.”
    “We are far from the coast.  You came all that way?”
    “Yes sir.”
    “With your