A Tale of Two Airships (Take to the Skies Book 2) (10 page)

Chapter Ten

“Are they after us?” Jack asked, hand already leaping to his pistol.

The way they sailed in our direction might suggest so. Not like they couldn’t be drifting innocently through the skies, but we’d had enough bloodstained encounters with their kind for us to risk mucking around while they were in our crosshairs.

“Spade, I’m going to the engine room.” He nodded, understanding, and no one else bothered protesting as I turned on my heel and marched to the main deck. The iron hatch I spotted in the middle of the things had to lead below, and that’s where I’d be the most useful. I could stand there shouting commands ‘til my throat grew hoarse, but it wouldn’t be worth a credit if the Morlock ship ramped up the speed and we couldn’t compensate.

While I might not know north from south without help of a compass, one thing I navigated better than most was an engine. I hadn’t wasted my time learning from Seth in my early years. After his guidance, working with airship parts made a hell of a lot more sense to me than the jiggery pokery involved with navigation. Grabbing hold of the iron rung, I lifted the hatch open, relieved by the gasp of steam filtering from the bottom.

Not bothering to search around the dark depths, I descended. Time was of the essence, and if I didn’t find a way to speed this ship up, we might catch enough incendiary interest from the Morlock ship to get blown from the sky. Creaks and groans came from all over, but the aether pulsing through the tubes lit the place with their emerald glow. My grip tightened on the ladder rungs as I made my way down until my boots slammed against flat, cold ground.

Down here, the ship sang in her own language, the same way the Desire always spoke to Seth. The hiss of steam had a melody of its own, and the vents near the top sucked out the tufts as they poured from the top of the aether tubes. I couldn’t perform miracles and add in parts we didn’t have, but I at least knew several tricks to make sure the Fireswamp’s engine operated at top efficiency.

Above, footsteps pounded along the planks, sending a jolt of urgency through my veins. If my crew assembled upstairs, it wouldn’t be due to bouncing up and down in excitement at the Morlock ship’s sudden detour. Any quick movements would be the result of self preservation.

Apart from the large tank of an engine and the glowing tubes down here, the rest of these quarters were shrouded in shadow. Taking several adventurous steps forward into the inky black, I groped around in front of me, hoping to find what belonged in any engine room: a tool kit.

My shin bumped against something hard, upon further investigation a work stool, and I winced as I stumbled, palms slamming against the wall. The scent of steam, grease, and metal flooded my nostrils like a familiar embrace as I crouched, grabbing at the air in an attempt to find something useful. I fumbled forward a couple steps until my knees met a sharp metal corner. Reaching out, I examined my find, ignoring my battered legs.

A latch fell to my fingertips. As I flipped the box’s lid open, my palm skated across cold metal. Bingo. It took several seconds before I located the wrench and tugged the toolbox across the concrete floor with a loud scraping that competed with the sounds of the engine.

Above, a shout drew my attention. Adrenaline shot through my veins, and in my concern, my legs almost took off towards the ladder without permission. I had to stay on task though—in a ship like this with no proper cannons or ways of firing back, running became our sole option.

Gripping the wrench tight, I approached the towers beside the aether tubes. She was in good repair, tubes clean and pistons sparkling. However, I needed those pistons cranking faster, meaning I needed to increase the flow of the exhaust to compensate. While I didn’t spot many spare parts lying around, I could make do with what I had. Mechanics didn’t often waste parts, and Seth had taught me the trick with the gaskets around the tower buttons. Using the wrench, I unscrewed the spares left on the lower notches and pulled the woven kineso-steel fabric from where it’d been bunched between.

Slipping on gloves from the box, I cranked away at the exhaust pipes, opening one of the closest to be greeted with steam that curled my hair and heated my skin. I bunched the fabric around the circle, widening the gap and extending the length of the pipe and frame. Using the gasket, I screwed it into place. With one of them optimized, it took several minutes before the rest followed suit, but minor adjustments made all the difference. With the exhaust prepped, I moved on to the knob regulating pressure.

I dialed the notch several degrees up, drawing more air into the tubules and causing the aether to flux faster. Sweat beaded my brow, and I wiped my forearm across it while watching the girl adjust.

Another shout drew my attention—this time I prepared to act. Time to take out as many Morlock bastards as possible.

Racing up the rungs, I emerged on deck in the matter of seconds.

The heaving obsidian giant of a Morlock ship closed a lot of the distance and sped up. Their freighter ships were the ugliest things in the skies, even uglier than the humdrum redcoat ones. Morlock scout ships were compact, but their freighters worked more like moving fortresses, behemoths with ample cannonry, and plenty of space to house their factions. Timber painted black to enhance the stupid logo they plastered all over everything created one eyesore on the horizon.

Isabella and Mordecai wrenched open a couple crates and were toting the Red Oak weaponry they’d found inside—sleek assault rifles with electronic sights and cog-released chambers to hold spare ammo below. Hence where most of the thumps must have come from. Jack in the crow’s nest was a familiar sight, but this time, he toted a rifle, testing his aim at the Morlock ship. Despite my urge to grab one and join the rest of them, my place was with Spade, trying to get this girl to sail the skies as fast as possible even if I made a rubbish navigator.

Taking off at top speed, I raced to the helm where he stood, a drop of sweat crawling down the side of his face. Spade concentrated on the cloud-laden skies ahead, ignoring the behemoth making a fast beeline for us. Smart man, as he needed every ounce of focus to keep us zooming ahead on the right path. While he kept his hands on the wheel, I crouched beside him, smacking around the navigation console. While some of the functions were beyond me, I understood all the ones connecting to the engine—that’s where I could help.

“We can accelerate—she’ll be moving faster, at least temporarily.” I shot him a glance. Spade nodded in confirmation. The breeze increased the closer the ship got, and I couldn’t help but notice the glint of dozens of cannons lining the side. Blasting us out of the sky would be effortless.

I pressed on her bursters to give her the push. We surged ahead, the way I hoped we would. Would it be enough though? The Morlock ship had showed no signs of aggression so far and just happened to be trailing us—until we pushed away. They’d gotten so close the folks scrambling around on deck grew clear, and as I lifted my scope to check them out, a low groan hit my lips. The same rutting bastards from the bar.

Unfortunately for us, they had binoculars, scopes, and all other manner of checking us out, and I guaranteed they’d recognize. If the Fireswamp’s crew had a bounty on their heads, it paled in comparison to our value in the Morlock database. The cannons shone under the sun as they rose. Morlocks scurried about the deck, some of the bounty hunters loading bores into the muzzles, since the lot of us categorized as kill on sight.

My crew turned to me again, with a glance from Isabella, a look from Jack—even Spade met eyes with me—they awaited orders. Gone were the days where I waited for my captain to bark them out and rushed into danger. I had to come up with plans now.

The Morlock ship was bigger, badder, and outclassed us in every way. We were the small fries with no firepower, and sniping barely made a dent in the hundreds who boarded those ships. While we’d accelerated our speed, we weren’t moving quick enough to outrun their cannons. However, backed in a corner with no options had been my modus operandi for far too long.

“Isabella and Mordecai, guard the sides. I’ll need you on point,” I called out, attempting my best bellow. “Jack, shout out the second you see those cannons fire.” As much as my fingers itched for a trigger, I planted myself at the navigation console. “Ready to have some fun, Spade?”

He arched a brow, and I received a small quirk to his mouth in response. Geoff should be here with him, navigating us out of this hell and commanding the helm with the same competency he always did. But sans Adelle and Geoff, Spade had me—and I could press buttons and read a compass, but beyond those nifty skills, I was useless.

“We need to do an about turn.” I directed, grabbing her thrusters to prepare for his shift. Though I saw the initial questioning on his face, the best thing about Spade was his loyalty. The man did his job, regardless of the crazy shit we asked of him. He wheeled the Fireswamp around, and the ship followed with a groan as I pressed on the thrusters to help smooth the turn. We shifted, easing her into the motion.

Until we sailed straight for the Morlock ship.

Why? Because no one else would be crazy enough to fly their ship towards cannon fire. Which meant they’d never expect it.

“They’re scrambling for the cannons, Captain,” Jack called from above. “Gearing them up to fire.”

As they should. I pressed on the thrusters, gunning our ship towards the monstrosity as fast as possible. Time to use our ship’s advantages in our favor.

We sailed towards those cannons at top speed, the black muzzles glaring at us. If we misjudged this in the slightest, we wouldn’t have a hope or prayer. The air prickled around me the closer we got, and the scent of iron tinged the air from all the metal onboard the other vessel. Close enough to see the whites of their eyes.

Closer.

Closer.

“They’re about to fire Captain!” Jack called, the urgency straining his voice.

“Down, Spade,
now
.” I threw the command and set the thrusters at maximum capacity.

The Fireswamp plummeted at the sharp response.

Seconds later, cannon fire pierced the air, those explosives causing clouds of smoke to obfuscate the area. We dipped at a dangerous pace, air dragging liquid from my eyes and forcing our crew to cling tight to whatever fixture they could.

“Level her,” I barked the command. My fingertips pressed white against the console as I allayed on the thrusters. Spade pressed buttons and flipped knobs faster than I could blink, and his other hand never left the wheel, working her until the Fireswamp righted.

I stared at the bottom of the Morlock ship, far above us in the skies as we sailed through on the shipping levels. We’d only dodged the first volley though.

“Spade, let’s turn our girl around,” I commanded, palms pressing against the cool bronze veneer of the navigation console. Jitters raced through me, but I didn’t let them see my hands shake. Not their Captain. “Full speed ahead, following the coordinates from before.” Down in the shipping lanes we’d be under much higher scrutiny for any officials looking out for the Fireswamp, but I’d take projected risk over immediate danger any day.

He set to turning her around at once, spinning the wheel as the beams creaked and groaned. Still, the engine responded without much complaint to our fast demands—looks like she was of better construct than I first guessed. The second we’d aligned with our original direction, I pressed the thrusters down, watching the tubes of aether in the console flux in time with the motion. Wind streamed across the ship as we surged ahead, sending loose shredded paper from the crates to scatter all over the deck, several bits fluttering past my shoulders.

Just because the first volley sailed overhead until those projectiles dropped didn’t mean our skies were clear yet. If we wanted to shake this Morlock ship, we’d have to pull the insane sort of maneuvers I wouldn’t dare attempt if Spade hadn’t been onboard. Already, as we shot forward like a loosed arrow, I caught sight of the Morlock ship beginning the slow descent to where we sailed at shipping level. A large beast like theirs couldn’t pull any flashy dives like we did, not without risking severe damage to the ship. One of the many reasons I loved the sleek form of the Desire and could at least appreciate this girl.

Still, the Morlock ship descended with an unsettling speed. Other airships puffed along in the skies, manufacturers with their logos printed on the overhead balloons. Those cheery little things were plodding along on an honest day’s work, oblivious to the chase happening around them. As we continued to rocket along at our accelerated pace, the Morlock ship strained to shorten the gap between us.

One lane of traffic flowed to the east, the other to the west, and all the airships maintained boring ol’ regulation speed in this sector of the skies.

“Captain, she’s speeding up again,” Jack called, giving me the alert.

I heaved a big sigh. This would bite us in the ass. I was one hundred and ten percent sure this wouldn’t win us any friends, but we needed an actual chance to lose these guys. Otherwise, we’d lead a horde of big nasties straight to the ship we were trying to save.

“Spade, let’s slow her down,” I said, releasing my foot off the thruster.

He winced as he passed me a glance. By the Gods, I think he already started to pre-empt my crazy. The man wasn’t a brilliant helmsman for nothing though.