A Tale of Two Airships (Take to the Skies Book 2) (15 page)

With a sigh, I began unscrewing the connecting port. Even though I tried to focus on the task ahead of me, my mind kept drifting to how bad of shape we were in if anything happened to Seth. Apart from me, not another soul had a clue about dissembling an engine. Neither of us expected I’d end up as captain. Using the wrench, I gave the port one last hard turn and it popped off from the tube.

We’d gotten lucky with Mordecai finding an instant replacement for Jensen in the recon field, but Jack had taken several years and still learned by the day. Did a captain have to constantly worry about replacing crew like parts? How much of the crew had Morris replaced over the years when we were new recruits? My insides tightened.

Another shudder from the Desire brought my attention to the port. The current feed needed to be shut off. A red wire traveled the length, the conduit to receive the signals. I’d left the wire cutters down at the floor. The ship bucked, a hard shift almost throwing me off the ladder and forcing my hands to the rungs. I snagged the knife from my boot—no time to dally. Slipping it underneath the wire, I used the leverage to slice the thing in two.

The connection severed, and for a second everything darkened.

Shit. Had I blown the system?

The ship didn’t stutter to move now, and the one faint motion beneath my feet was the slight sway as the storm surged around us. I clattered down the ladder, my boots slamming against the floor. I could think of one potential fix, but it was a longshot. The simplest of attempts, and the one we’d never tried while aloft. A power flicker—on and off again. Seemed so simple, but in the skies, everything worked in tandem to keep us aloft. The second we shut down the power, we’d lose navigation, plasma shielding, propellers—everything for a split second.

In that moment, we’d be defenseless. And if the power didn’t flicker on at once—if anything took too long to restart—we might end up tipping down to earth. Sailing for the ground with no failsafe.

However, if we didn’t risk it, we were scuppered out here amid a storm with two people’s lives on the line if we didn’t make it to Shantytown in time. A hysterical laugh bubbled within me, fed by the mad sort of danger we’d gotten ourselves into. Captain Beatrice, perpetual attractor of trouble, willing to walk the line when no one else was insane enough. I had to try something. Even when I failed, I’d never stop trying on the hope I’d someday get it right. And in this situation, I didn’t see any other fast way out. I grabbed my comm and switched channels to navigation. “Geoff, we’re doing a total power shutdown. Prepare for it.”

“What?” his voice crackled. “Bea, are you insane?”

“Always,” I responded, shutting off the communicator.

Chapter Fifteen

The dozens of switches spanned out before me, but my gaze honed in on the important one. Of course, the biggest was marked in red to make sure no idiot haphazardly flipped it. Yet, here I was, Captain Idiot, and I was going to flip the big dangerous switch. My heart thudded a tattoo in my chest, and I sucked in a deep breath to settle my nerves. We didn’t have time for hesitation. Time to power down everything.

I grabbed the switch and shoved it down.

In an instant, everything blackened. The noises thrumming through the ship, the residual energy pulsing through the place, all of it quieted. With the tension threading through the air, an undercurrent of energy evaporated. Even the aether tubes, a constant glowing presence dulled for a moment. For a single, eerie second, all I could hear was the pounding of the rain against our planks, distant compared to the vacuum within. A shudder rolled through me, and the moment it settled—fully shut off—I flipped the switch back on.

My gaze didn’t stray from the aether tubes as they flickered again. A hum radiated through the place as our power returned, right in time for another clap of thunder to quake the floorboards. The Desire, still powering up, shook with it, and the movement caused the entire vessel to drop an inch. The sharp decline sent my stomach plummeting, and fear fluttered through me. We had one chance to get the engine back and running—the restart she needed. But whether it worked or not would be evident in these next couple seconds.

The whir of the propellers kicked up again, the distant sound familiar and welcome. I kept watch on the engine, waiting. All around, the invisible tension of energy poured throughout our girl, even with the engine on standby. The first surge filtered in through the main source, which would then trickle to the cylinders, sucking from the aether to begin the cycle.

My hands clenched into fists at my side as the first tube shifted aether, then the second, then the third. The fourth was the damaged one. Would it bypass the cycle, or shut down into failsafe again? My insides clenched as I waited on the fourth tube. Nothing. A wave of anxiousness cascaded over me, and for a second I forgot how to breathe.

Until the fifth tube began to pulse, then the sixth—the damaged one had been skipped over. My heart soared with the aether bubbles as they rose and fell, returning to motion. We might not be winning any airship races in this condition, but we could move fast enough to leave this storm. My curls chilled against my neck, but I’d have to wait to dry them. We had a storm to navigate through. I patted down the engine console, making sure everything screwed into the proper place. Those regular once-overs made a world of difference and kept this delicate mechanism in balance.

I stepped over the puddle of spilled aether—no time to clean up yet either, before making my way to the door. Casting a glance behind, I half-expected to see Seth standing there, but my stomach soured with the empty room. The second we hit clear skies, I’d need a briefing on what the hell happened while we were scuttling about on the ground.

The sound of the pounding rain echoed above me as I cleared the steps, getting closer and closer to the deck. Now that the Desire didn’t shudder with a faulty engine, we could sail our way out of this storm. Bracing myself for the shift, I returned topside.

Our lanterns cast a faint gleam against the swirling darkness of the turbulent clouds. Cold droplets slapped my face, slithering down my neck, my arms, and soaking into my clothing, weighing it down. Though the Fireswamp had a lead on us from our momentary setback, we sailed through the storm, closer to the break in the clouds where the starlight shone and the calmer winds dwelled.

Isabella manned the sails, while Mordecai had gone to monitor the propeller. Given the restart, it needed attention to ensure it returned to proper function. My crew scattered all around the deck tightening cables, and a couple joined Geoff at navigation to help him. Though the fierce winds knocked us back and forth, we had enough momentum to press forward past this gale. Despite the sodden chill of my clothes and the way the rain threatened to choke me, warmth swelled in my chest watching my crew work together.

We would conquer the storm like we had conquered so many before.

Marching across the deck, I approached the navigation rig. Geoff caught my gaze and gave a salute.

“Done playing around below?” he called over.

I slid under the canopy again, returning to his side. “You know me, always ducking out of duty. So level with me, how much longer until we’re out of the storm?”

“Almost there, doll. Hold on a little bit longer.” Though he smiled, I caught the strain evident in his gaze. We’d all been through hell and could use a little smooth sailing.

I surveyed the deck ahead of me, resuming my position in the forefront of things as a proper captain should. All my worries aboard the Fireswamp, and my girl had been suffering. Even though the static rain hissed in my ears and the lightning flashed, the quaking thunder lessened. The winds had slowed. As Geoff said, we were almost free from the grip.

“Good,” I responded, my eyes trained on the stormy skies ahead. Relief should’ve been coursing through my veins, but given all the unknowns buzzing through my head, foreboding settled there instead. “When we’re out of this mess, you and I need to discuss where the hell my mechanic and junior navigator are.”

***

The time dragged on forever until we sailed steady enough for me to step away. I could only do so much standing and looking bossy with my arms crossed. Edwin appeared long enough to attack my seeping shoulder, applying a new salve, so strong the wound numbed. And reeked of dill for some hell-if-I-knew reason. The gaping absences on the ship coursed through my head the entire time, but until we exited the storm, I had to keep a sharp eye on the course we traveled. As the rain began to sputter away and the winds died to gentle streams, the first threads of gray pierced through the dark horizon. Dawn would be upon us, meaning we had until sunset to get the Fireswamp to Shantytown.

Tonight we had a dinner date with Morgan Blackwind and crew. However, right now, other matters took precedence.

“Nathaniel,” I called. He lumbered over, one of the few on the ship to come close to matching our former shipmate Jensen’s bulk. His dark eyes held a gentleness in them though, and he nodded upon approach. “Take over on the wheel for a moment—keep her following the Fireswamp, and we’ll be fine.”

I tapped Geoff’s shoulder, and he took the cue. As we made our way to his old navigation cabin—as good a place as any to converse—I tilted my head to Isabella, who followed suit. The two of them were my oldest, closest friends aboard, and since I needed answers, perhaps they could help me sort through the nonsense in my head.

The second we stepped into the navigation chambers, I tugged off my hat and wrung my hair out, spilling water all over the floor. I didn’t miss Geoff’s grimace and gave him a sugar-sweet smile in return. Isabella switched on the aether lamps, and he turned on the heating globes, both the light and warmth doing wonders to ground me. I stripped a couple layers until I wore my sodden slacks and the loose chemise I’d had on for days now. Sucking in a deep breath, I readied myself for a course of questioning I wouldn’t like.

“Most importantly, who’s missing and why?” I met Geoff’s gaze, his reflecting the same seriousness that thrummed deep within me.

“Seth and Adelle, but they’re not dead as far as I know.” He crashed into the seat beside his old desk, running a hand through his wet strands. “Bea, that bastard’s back. Our ex-employer’s responsible. The gypsies were sending the Desire to a buyer while they retained Seth and Adelle for him. While her clan was leaderless, he took advantage of the situation and seized control by force.”

I already guessed as far—looks like we hadn’t shaken the shark who’d tasted blood.

“What does he want with Seth or Adelle?” I leaned against the wall until my legs protested, and I slid to the floor. “Not like both aren’t valuable, but their skills aren’t widely broadcasted.”

“My clan aligned with the asshole?” Isabella jumped in, her eyes flashing. “Is that why they’ve been after me this entire time?”

“All comes down to money.” Geoff shrugged, slouching in his seat. “From what I overheard, they got a hefty sum for Seth and Adelle, plus an extra bonus for selling the Desire off.”

“
Merde
,” the curse slipped out low from Isabella as she stood there, legs apart, arms crossed and lightning sparking in her gaze. “While we’ve resorted to trickery to survive—any wayfaring camp has had to—you didn’t sell out your own to strangers. I might have been banished, but I’m blood.”

“We protect our own,” I agreed, those words engraved onto my bones. This wasn’t the sort of behavior she expected—I got that. But our ex-employer had a way of stirring up trouble and changing convictions wherever he walked. He’d been responsible for the whole disaster three years ago, one that forever dwelled in the recesses of my mind. At the reminder of the Captain and his words, a connection clicked into place. “Old Germany. That’s the one connection he and Seth have.”

“Do you think they fought in the war together?” Geoff asked, trying to wring droplets from his shirt.

“Stands to reason they might have. Though Captain Morris never mentioned knowing him, they also hadn’t met in person to my knowledge. Who knows what might’ve been discovered had they.” My legs ached, my unhealed shoulder throbbed, and my brain hurt, but we had to persist anyway. If I hid in the corner waiting for the storm to blow over, it’d never pass.

“If it’s explanation time, I’d like one for how we scored an extra airship.” Geoff lifted a brow at me.

“Another of your darling Captain’s hare-brained schemes.” Isabella’s lips curved in a genuine smile as she shook her head. “We teamed up with bounty hunters to claim the bounty on this ship and crew…which rather backfired.”

I heaved out a sigh. “The plan sounded so perfect in my head too.”

“It always does.” Isabella smirked. “But there’s a reason we tell you over and over to ignore the voices inside your head.” Geoff snorted and didn’t bother hiding his wide grin.

I gave her the side eye. “Not everyone’s prepared for my genius. Because of the whole debacle, we’ve got a slight hiccup in our dashing off to save Adelle and Seth plans. Our bounty hunter friends may have their lives on the line due to getting captured by the remaining crew of the ship we stole. And I might have bartered said lives to ‘borrow’ the ship so we could save the lot of you.”

Geoff blinked at me. “I—I don’t know why I’m surprised. I should know better by now.”

I leaned beside him and patted his head. “Yes, you should.”

Isabella switched on the sink in the room and began filling the electric kettle on the floor up with water. Leave it to the gypsy to begin preparing tea during our strategy meeting. Within seconds, the water boiled and steam poured out the kettle’s spout, adding to the warmth in the room. Even with the wet clothing clinging to my skin, the heaters began to work their magic until I stopped shivering every two seconds.

“Please tell me you have tea stashed in this room.” Isabella cast a glance to Geoff filled with so much judgment his answer had the potential to alter their friendship forever.

“What do you take me for? This one?” He jerked a thumb at me, and my brows knitted together. “It’s in the drawer.”

“Oh thank god.” Isabella exhaled, plucking a teabag from the drawer and a mug from Geoff’s old bin.

“Hey,” I exclaimed. “I’m not that bad. I just happen to prefer my beverages of the knock your teeth out and steal your liver variety.”

“Okay, Seth,” Geoff joked—everyone knew of Seth’s infamous relationship with his flask. Our eyes met, and a somber silence descended upon the room at the mention of him. We didn’t know where he went, but I hazarded the guess if he and Adelle were being taken to Isabella’s tribe, it’d be some time before the ex-employer retrieved his cargo.

“Your people wouldn’t give over the goods until they were paid in full, right?” I caught her gaze. She nodded. “So, until they’re wired the money for the Desire sale, they’re not going to be contacting our darling ex-employer—whose name I’d kill to find out—any time soon.”

A smile spread on her lips. “Correct. Meaning we’ll have the time to return your borrowed ship.”

“Providing everything goes according to plan,” I murmured, clutching the back of Geoff’s chair.

He let out a groan. “You had to say it, didn’t you? Those words are the nail in our coffin for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.”

I shrugged. “Bring it. I’ve had a bad couple of days. My friends have been beaten up or kidnapped, my ship has been stolen, and the asshole who caused the nightmares of my past has resurfaced like some ghost who won’t move on. I’m itching for another fight.”

Isabella’s laugh cut through the room as she picked up her mug of tea, letting the vapors curl and infuse the air with the comforting scent. “Color me crazy, but I think you’ve got the right mindset. Some payback would feel real good right now, and I’ve got more than a little score to settle with Julian.”

A grin still lingered on Geoff’s face. “Not going to lie, I think the crew would appreciate it too. After getting tied up and tossed around, I know I’m itching to wring some of their scruffy necks.”