Fianna Kelly Versus the Jeebees: A Collection of Steampunk Stories (20 page)

"You
are correct. The British Army let someone steal a weapon from them. I recovered
it and have sworn to return it. That's all I can tell you."

Mary
knocked on my door lightly and entered with a tray of tiny biscuits and a pot
of tea. I introduced Mary to the Captain, explaining that she and Felix were
passengers.

We
had barely time to enjoy the refreshments before Gerald knocked on my door and
entered the room. I told myself the next time I was negotiating with pirates, I
will close and lock the door. "The Captain's crew may be looking for
another fight," he said. "They replaced the white flag with the
pirate flag."

"What
do you think, Captain?"

"I
think they need to see I am okay and still in command."

I
addressed Gerald, "Would you escort the Captain to the cargo hold so he
can keep his men from doing anything stupid. They will be transferring some of
their plunder to our ship per the terms of their surrender. I believe Bradan
can be of assistance as well."

I
looked at the Captain. "Should we ever meet on the ground, where honour
does not control our actions, I would be pleased to share drinks and swap
stories with you. For now, this must be our farewell."

"One
last thing," I said to Gerald. "Before you send him back to his ship,
make sure his crew hears him swear that these are now my skies. He knows the
right words." I went to the other side of my suite and closed the
partition, planning to sleep away the rest of this day.

The
pilots had dropped Gerald off in London while I slept. None of them dared
disturb me. I would have liked to see him before he left to thank him for
everything he taught me. I didn't know if we would have survived either
crossing without those lessons.

As
the sun rose, we landed near where we lived to let Mary and Felix off. I had
one more obligation. I had to show my girlfriends my wonderful airship and how
nicely it flew now.

End

'Tis always
unexpected.

I
came out of the fabric store to see a tall, thin man talking to Bradan. This
was not as unusual as it sounds. Bradan can attract people just by being
himself. I've gotten accustomed to him being the centre of attention when we go
into town.

He
asked me, "Is this mechanical beast yours?"

I
replied, "I don't own him. He's my friend."

"Then
you are the one I am looking for. We have need of your services again."

I
thought about it and realised that I was easy to find since Bradan and I were
seldom far apart. We'd probably be lost without each other. People tell me that
he paces about whenever I am out of his sight. I know that there is no grass
outside my bedroom window anymore.

I
asked, "Do you need my services or his?"

"Just
yours, but I have no issues with it coming along."

I
handed my bags to Bradan. They weren't heavy, but he didn't object.

"I've
finished my shopping so we can talk on the walk home... If you guys keep
dropping by without warning, it would be nice to have some kind of
identification so I know who you are."

"Do
I look like a jeebee?"

"That's
a start. But I'm not the kind of woman who goes off with just any guy who walks
up... My name is Fianna, what is yours?"

"My
name is Reginald. I work for Mr. Balfour."

"I
haven't heard from you guys for months. You could send a postcard periodically
to let me know what is happening.  I thought I was joining a team and would be
working with it."

"We
consider you more like the person we call on when we have no other choice.
There are many articles we read that turn out to be nothing. We'd be wasting
your time to involve you on issues such as families leaving the country for the
colonies without informing their neighbours."

I
asked, "Why didn't Mr. Balfour send Gerald? At least I know what he looks
like."

"That
was his first choice, but Gerald refused; something about too much
excitement."

I
had to laugh. "I am pleased to meet you, Reginald. Are you going to teach
me something too?"

"It
wasn't part of my assignment. Gerald did say that no-one thought it odd for a
young lady to travel with a private tutor. I have been writing a paper
comparing Oriental stage fighting with European dance if you are
interested."

"I'm
very interested in hearing about that," I replied. "I presume this
involves a trip for the both of us."

"It's
a short trip and I will be going along to assist you. Before I forget, Mr.
Balfour sends his appreciation to you for clearing out the pirates along the
East coastline. Gerald won't tell us how you really did it though. He keeps
making jokes about Irish stew."

"I'd
rather not talk about that. It was very stressful dealing with pirates... Where
do we need to go and how soon do we need to be there?"

"We
will be travelling to Northern Ireland and can leave whenever you are ready.
We'd like you to look into some strange events that happened last month;
families that disappeared and haven't been seen."

I
asked, "Wouldn't this be a job for the constabulary or one of the great
detectives?"

"Would
you be surprised if I told you that we went to one of those detectives and he
suggested that we'd be better off with you?"

"That
is a surprise... Is my airship all ready to go?"

He
said, "When you are ready, it will be."

"Where
is it this time? The last time it was in London waiting for me."

"Have
you seen the new aerodrome by the train station? We had a hangar built there."

"I
noticed it and heard some rumours. You guys are spending too much on me."

"Your
Dutch friends paid for half of it. What do you think about that?"

"That
isn't as surprising as you might think. People feel they are indebted to me
when all I did was what I had to do. All of you guys are perfect
examples."

"Don't
think that everything we do is out of gratitude. We discussed the fringe
benefits of loaning you an airship for days. You haven't taken advantage of
being able to go anywhere, anytime, and not needing to find a place to eat or
sleep yet."

"I
thought it was just to take me where you guys needed me to be."

"That
is just part of its usefulness. We saw even more benefits after the Dutch
engineers installed the railway gun on it."

"It
sounds like you left the gun installed. I expected that would be removed
immediately after my luggage."

"That
was another long and heated discussion. The army would have taken the gun and
locked it back up. We reminded them that they didn't have any facility more
secure than where it had been. The navy would have been happy to give you your
flag back before sending the ship out to patrol the coastline. They thought
they were being funny. We thought they were joking too. A few politicians
thought the airship would be ideal for personal trips. We didn't like the idea
of armed lords that can't hold their liquor."

"How
did it manage to end up in a hangar within walking distance from my
house?"

"Without
even being allowed to voice your opinion, you got to keep it. I think it was an
act of spite. You embarrassed the army twice and we suspect they are hoping the
jeebees will steal it from you. Part of the agreement was keeping it as close
to you as possible. Another part was removing the explosive shells."

"I
think I understand. This is like what Gerald taught me; they say they want me
to have it, but they really don't. If anything happens to it, they can take it
away without protest. They say I am to defend the gun, yet remove the ability
for it to defend itself."

"That's
the situation, all right. We had the hangar built next to the train station and
hired guards to watch over both buildings day and night."

"Speaking
of night, our guest room is available if you haven't arranged a place to stay.
Next time, you might consider sending a telegram before you arrive so I can
look out for you."

"Thank
you for your hospitality. My plans were to sleep aboard your airship and
looking back on them, they don't seem that pleasant now. When were you thinking
of leaving?"

"There
is no point in delaying longer than required. How about after breakfast
tomorrow? Do you have any luggage to fetch?"

"My
bags are already stowed on the Clover."

I
had finished packing and we were having a leisurely meal when I saw four faces
pressed to the kitchen window. I motioned for them to come in. My brothers ran
off leaving enough chairs for my friends to sit down. It didn't take much to
guess what was about to happen. Darina said, "We heard you were flying off
again and we'd like to come along."

I
looked at Reginald who was concentrating on buttering his toast... I waved a
hand in front of his face. "Would you care to voice your opinion?"

He
looked up as if just noticing a change in the breakfast party. "Good
morning, ladies."

"My
friends, this is Reginald. You can get to know each other while I see what's
left in the kitchen." It had to be obvious that I was avoiding the
question. Hopefully, they'd get an answer from Reginald if I waited long
enough. As long as I was in the kitchen, I checked if my brothers had left
anything edible. I was rewarded with a small bowl of assorted berries. I ate
half of them, slowly... I sat back down at the table with my berries.

I
said, "Do I need to ask if you have already packed enough clothes for a
week and your parents are glad to be rid of you for a while?"

They
stared at each other, and then Melissa replied, "'Tis not like that at
all. We had to bargain with them, and make promises, and plead for spending
money."

I
thought for a moment and said, "This is work for me. Are you willing to
help?"

Melissa
said, "We don't know much about shooting rifles..."

Darina
added, "...or those creatures that we've heard about."

I
said, "But you are experts at rumours and finding out things people want
to keep secret, even without my little brother's help. That's what this trip is
all about."

Darina
said, "Was that a compliment or a jibe?"

"'Tis
a fact; no denying it. If you all will get both wagons loaded, I will see about
getting them brought back later."

I
found Peter sitting quietly on the steps listening to what we said. "It
looks like your plan failed. You and your brother will need to walk into town
and bring the wagons back. The girls can't do it for you this time as they are
going with me."

He
just looked at me with that defiant expression while he tried to figure another
way out of the situation. I stared back at him, daring him to say something.
After a minute or two, he relented under the pressure. He said, "Okay, I
will do it."

"Don't
race the wagons either. You know what father will do if he notices the horses
are sweating when you get home."

We
could fit three people and Bradan into one wagon, but not six people, Bradan,
and our luggage. Bradan had loaded the girls' bicycles before I thought about
how useful they'd be. Reginald drove one wagon with Sheela and Bradan while I
drove the second one. Of all my friends, Sheela was the quietest and least
likely to bombard Reginald with questions.

It
was a short drive, but long enough for me to realise that I had been outsmarted
by my brother again. There was no way they could have brought that much luggage
on their bicycles. All of that had to have been in the wagon already when they
arrived. I wondered what he was asking for all the favours he did and decided
it was best if I didn't know.

I
remembered all the gossip when the land was cleared for the aerodrome and the
rumours about the hangar, but I had no idea it was for my airship. The doors at
each end were open and the aviators were in front waiting for us. We pulled up
near the cargo door and let Bradan out of his wagon first so he could unload
our things from the other wagon.

"I
called to everyone, "As soon as Bradan has finished, grab your bags,
choose an empty room, and unpack. We'll be staying on the airship when we
arrive instead of paying for lodging locally."

That
resulted in a few minutes of them fighting over the rooms. I didn't understand
the fuss as the rooms were all identical, except for mine. It wasn't really
fighting anyway. Each one had her own preferences and wanted to make sure the
others knew them.

Reginald
introduced me to Benjamin, the day guard. I told him how much I appreciated the
work he did. He just nodded and went back to the station.

We
unhitched the wagons and used the horses to pull my airship out of the hangar.
Asher and Ethan were at the pilot chairs keeping the ship from scraping the
hangar floor or ceiling. I didn't understand why we couldn't just fly it out,
but they insisted we do it this way. I walked around the ship, checking that
everything looked okay and that Bradan had secured himself. I entered last and
the pilots engaged the fans; sending us straight up into the sky. We had a good
view of our little town until we got above the clouds and headed North.

I
said, "I'd like you all to check the galley and see what we need. We'll be
doing the cooking the same way we do at home; alphabetically. Bevin and Darina
will do lunch, Melissa and I will do dinner, and so on. The men will help clean
up. Anyone who doesn't want to help may leave now." I laughed a little but
they didn't think my joke was funny.

Sheela
asked, "What will we do now?"

"I'm
going to unpack and make myself at home. You can do pretty much anything you'd
like."

I
had plenty of places to put what little I had brought. They were good for organising
my clothes. I found one small drawer just the right size for my bracelets and
one next to it that held all my socks. I secured my rifles in the racks and
hung my dresses in the closet. This was going to be my home for a few days and
I was going to treat it that way. Plus, I wouldn't have to worry about
forgetting anything when I left like in a hotel.

I
could hear my friends unpacking their portmanteaus and steamer trunks. Their
rooms only had a small closet with two drawers beneath it. Hopefully, they were
big enough for everything that the women had brought with them.

I
looked out my windows at the countryside passing beneath us. Unlike previous
trips in my airship, we were moving at a respectable pace today. I expected us
to be back on the ground in just over two hours.

I
thought that I should share the view from my suite. I found my friends in the
sitting room with their faces pressed against the windows while Ethan worked
the Aldis lamp. I tapped Melissa on the shoulder. "What are you looking at?"

"Ethan
is teaching us Morse code. We are talking with the Captain of the Red
Hawk"

"You
are talking?"

"More
like we are winking at him and he is winking back," she said. I thought
that was funny and smiled.

"How
much have you learned?"

"They
all tell us who they are, the name of their ship, and where they are docked.
Ethan says that's the proper greeting. Then we do the same. We share where we
are headed. They wish us a safe journey, we reply, and that's it."

"I
was trying to ask how much code you learned, but I like your answer."

"Oh.
I can only remember a few letters and they go so fast it is hard to keep
up."

"You
said something about 'all of them'. How many have there been?"

Sheela
said, "This is the seventh one."

I
chose a seat by one of the tables. It was easy enough to keep track of what was
passing between the ships. They tried to figure out each letter and then they
added it to the previous ones trying to make a word. It was like a party game.
Sheela wrote down each word and read them back once she had a full line.

We
passed several more before Asher asked Ethan to assist him. We looped around a
town. It had a fountain and a statue of someone on a horse in the centre. The
view from here was wonderful. I noticed a rainbow in the mist that got brighter
and then vanished as we passed by. Reginald directed Asher to a spot that I
guessed was a mile away from the town; close enough to walk, far enough not to
intrude.

We
landed at one corner of a level plot of land about four acres big. I barely
felt it when the airship touched the ground. The aviators grabbed a pair of
long metal poles that resembled giant corkscrews from a locker. "What are
those for?" I asked.

"When
there aren't convenient posts to tie the mooring lines, we screw these into the
ground."

"How
about I ask Bradan to help?"

"We'd
appreciate that as they take a lot of work after they get a foot down."

After
Bradan finished helping tie down the airship, he unloaded the bicycles. I
walked with my friends to the road and pointed with one hand while holding some
pound notes in the other. "The town is that way," I said.

Darina
said, "Sure it is. We can see the church spire."

Bevin
asked, "What would you like?"

I
replied, "Go make friends, collect rumours, and buy enough food for eight
people and drink for a dozen."

"What
kind of food?"

"Get
what you like to eat... Get meat and potatoes for the men." I looked at my
pocket watch. "Be back in three hours."

Darina
said, "Aah. It's just like shopping at home."

"One
last thought," I said. "My travelling expenses are covered so you
don't need to buy day-old bread or cheap cuts of meat."

They
had just gotten out of sight and I was wondering what to do next. I hadn't made
any plans for the rest of today. I guess I had gotten accustomed to settling
into a hotel room when I arrived in a new place. This time I had brought my
room with me.

I
surveyed our landing site. It was a bit wild, but the grasses were below my
knees. The men had brought some chairs and a table outside. They looked like
the ones from the sitting room. I said, "I thought these were bolted
down?"

Asher
replied, "These are a different set."

"Really?"

"No,
I'm just kidding. They are the same ones. They can be removed from the deck
easily if you know the trick."

I
looked up to the skies, noticed a few puffy clouds, and counted seven airships
headed in different directions. One was headed toward us and was getting lower
as it approached. "This must be a popular spot to land," I said

Reginald
looked at it and said, "That's a Royal Navy ship by the markings."

I
asked, "We are on the same side, right?"

He
replied, "Yes, they agreed to the compromise."

"I
am guessing they couldn't wait for me to do something wrong to steal the Clover
away from me."

"Let's
not make any rash judgements," he said. "They may just need a cup of
sugar to make cookies."

"If
you believe that, you are more gullible than Gerald."

They
stopped about 100 yards out and 20 feet up. One man opened a window and
shouted, "Ahoy on the ground! May we have permission to land?"

I
looked at Reginald. "Did we get permission to stay here?"

He
just nodded to me. I thought for a moment and realised we likely had approval
to land anywhere in the United Kingdom except Buckingham Palace.

"Ahoy
on the ship. Permission granted!" I called back.

They
flew another 100 yards down the clearing before descending. Their ship was a
medium blue; not as light as the sky or dark as the sea, but somewhere between.
It was half again as big as mine and had a long, wide gondola affixed below it
with the name H.M.S. Constellation in large white letters. It had two huge fans
at the tail end just ahead of the fins. Instead of a cloth flag like mine, the
Union Jack was painted on its rudder.

Reginald
and I walked down the field to greet them. The Captain and two sailors had
already disembarked and were coming our way. I noticed other sailors working to
tie down their airship. I was unsure about offering Bradan's assistance to
them, so I didn't.

"Hello,
I am Fianna Kelly and this is my tutor, Reginald."

"I
am Captain Plumer... Is that your airship?"

"I
say she's mine, but Reginald might point out that she's on loan to me for
unofficial use only."

"I've
had standing orders for months that should that airship ever leave her hangar
to seize her and detain all of her crew."

I
stared at him for a second; stunned. "Captain, do you have someplace we
can sit and talk?"

"No,
my ship is lacking most human comforts."

"Then
you are in luck as mine excels in being comfortable. The aviators have already
set out some chairs and a table."

The
Captain and his two sailors followed us back to the Clover. I noticed that he
was uncomfortable. Either he had a stressful day or was expecting it to get
worse.

I
asked the Captain, "Did the one who gave you the orders tell you why to
seize my airship?"

"No,
Miss. My orders seldom provide much detail."

I
motioned for the men to sit, but they stood awkwardly waiting for me. I sighed,
and chose a seat with the sun to my right. Reginald and the Captain sat in the
other two while the sailors stood. I don't know where Ethan and Asher had gone.