Wind Dancer: Secret War Steampunk Series - Adventure, Mystery + Mad Science (20 page)

“Yes,” she inquired simply, “and what strange circumstances
are we dropping into this time?” She commanded one of the wicker chairs and
composed herself to listen. Will told her of his conversation with the voice
over the Aetherwave and what his thinking was, Rogers interrupting only occasionally.
Saira nodded solemnly when they had finished.

“I would recommend Tikku to accompany us,” Saira said without
hesitation. “She knows Cantonese as well as Mandarin. She is also very good
with the shotgun should we be needing that. I will think on who else.” She
paused then held up her own bracer.

“If we have two of these present, than it is much more likely
that one of them will work,” she pointed out. “Still I am with Rogers on this,
and would have every member of the landing party carry flares as well in case
we need them.” Both Will and Lawrence nodded agreement at this.

“What were you coming to see me about?” Will asked her. Saira
leaned forward in her chair, eyes moving from one of them to the other.

“I am glad to be talking to you both,” she began. “I am just
leaving Lady Hadley from target practice with a sparkie.” Rogers frowned at
this, but said nothing.

“How is she doing?” Will asked curiously. Saira shrugged.

“She is not bad,” the Arms-Master opined. “I am surprised at
her abilities given that she is a silver-spooned mudfoot. In fact I feel that
we should offer her a place on the staff of the ship.” Rogers startled at this.

“What?” he exclaimed. “No! Out of the question!” The Arms-Master
turned towards him.

“And why would that be?” she demanded. “The Lady Abigail can
shoot, she is quite educated and Devi thinks she is a great asset to the Engine
Room. Besides,” she finished with a glance at the Captain, “I have a feeling.”
Rogers raised his hands to the heavens in mocking supplication.

“God help us,” he said. “Now the Arms-Master has a feeling
too!” He turned back towards Will. “You surely cannot take this idea
seriously.”

“Why not?” Saira asked archly. “It would not be because she
is one of your Lilly-white Ladies would it?” Rogers sputtered at this.

“No!” he said heatedly. “Besides the facts that she is both a
Scholar and a peer of the realm, she is a mudfoot!” He turned towards Will. “We
do not have the time to train someone so green.” Will had turned his face down
towards his chin listening to them both. Now he turned his face up towards
Saira.

“What makes you think that she would accept an offer where we
to make one?” He asked her calmly. Saira shrugged.

“My feeling is all,” she said calmly. “I know that she will
be important to this ship in some manner I have yet to see. I urge us to take
her on board.” Will nodded.

“She is used to living a very different kind of life, you
know,” he said to her. “How about this, I will think on the idea, and see if I
think she would welcome it. You don’t say anything to her one way or the other.
The only way I would take her on is if she really wants on.”

“That seems only sensible,” Rogers said agreeably. “I just
wish that there was some other way I could follow where you are going from
Dancer
.”
Saira shrugged.

“If wishes where fish, we would all cast nets,” she said
philosophically. “Know that we shall keep the Cap’n safe and succeed in the
mission.” She frowned at them both. “This is all that there is to the mission
yes? There is not more that I need to know?” Rogers spared a glance towards his
Captain.

“I believe that it is past time that I relieved the deck,” he
began to rise from his chair. Will held out a hand.

“No Larry,” Will said to him, “I think that you should stay
right here. It is only fitting’ to my mind.” He turned in his chair to look at
the Arms-Master.

“Saira, there is more to this mission than a simple drop off.
It is the information we hope to get from An Fong.”

Saira nodded enthusiastically on hearing this.

“Good,” she said approvingly. “It is about time that you
shared what your secret mission is.” She laughed at the look of amazement on
both of the men’s faces.

The laughter turned solemn as she listened to Will’s story of
receiving that last Aetherwave message from his father as their merchant
airship, and Will’s home, was destroyed by the Black Airships. She listened
while Rogers described his encounter while in command of HMS Defiant,
describing the enemy airship with an emotionless tone that spoke more loudly than
screams every could. She sighed into the silence that followed.

“So,” she said finally. “If I am understanding this, we are
hunting a legend which is not a legend at all but shadowy real.” The two men
nodded. “We have no idea who they are, or where they may be, but we are
thinking that they must sell their booty as other pirates do, so we are taking
a valuable possession of a Chinese underground leader back to him in hopes that
he will tell us more about these shadowy figures in exchange for it.”

“That about sums it up,” Will said dryly. “So, now that you
know, are you still in?”

She looked at him almost angrily.

“Why should that even be a question?” she asked. “Of course I
am ‘in’. I have given you oath to the Articles, yes?” She shrugged. “If we are hunting
demons then it is easy. When we find them we kill them.”

“It is not quite that easy,” Rogers objected. “We have been
hunting them for five years now. Nor do I think that they are some sort of
supernatural beings, merely murderous and invisible to authority.” Saira
nodded.

“As I said,” she pronounced with satisfaction, “Demons.” She
looked at them both, “This is in keeping with my visions. Is there anything
else I need to be doing?” Will shook his head.

“No Saira, I do not think so.” He pulled on a braid,
regarding her thoughtfully. “I must say though, that you are taking this all a
mite easier than I thought you would.” She shrugged again.

“I was thinking that your secret purpose must be something
truly unpleasant,” she said. “To find that it is merely hunting mysterious
enemies across the world is so much better than what I thought.” Will started
to open his mouth at this, then thought better of it and closed it.

“Well, I am glad to have you in on everything at last,” he
said instead. Saira smiled at him

“And glad I am to be included in everything.” She replied
brightly. “Although there is much more that I wish to know, I will wait for the
moment as we are coming up on watch change.” She looked at Mr. Rogers
pointedly. “Is it not?” Rogers stirred himself up out of his chair.

“Indeed,” he grumbled, “I had best go see to turnover.”
Hunting Owl waved him back.

“A minute of your time there, Larry,” he requested. “I’ll see
to the watch change.” Although neither Rogers nor Will were on the bridge watch
list, as they were always on call, it was customary for one of them to be
present at the Bridge turn-over. Saira raised her hand, as she was already near
the door.

“I will oversee the turn-over,” she volunteered. “It is clear
that you have more to discuss.” Will nodded at her.

“Thank you, Arms-Master,” he said formally. “Inform the
officer of the watch that I will be there shortly.” Saira turned and ghosted
out the door, closing it firmly behind her. Will looked at Rogers.

“Well,” he said easily to his First Officer, “that pretty
well don’t you think?” Rogers nodded briskly.

“Not exactly the time and place I would have chosen,” Rogers
said, “but it worked. You are about to go into the proverbial lion’s den this
time Will, and someone else on the ground who knows what we are up against, and
what we are trying to accomplish could mean all the difference.” Rogers
continued, “The
Dancer
won’t be right there to back you up, and I am
truly concerned.” He looked down at the watch still in Will’s hand and then back
up to his eyes. “Getting killed won’t bring him back you know,” he said softly.

“No, it won’t,” Will replied just as softly. “But there is
something bigger going on here, something awful and mean. You know as well as I
that there’s more here than a bunch of renegades out to pirate. They’re too big
for just that.” Will looked down at the watch, caressing it, and then at Rogers
soberly.

“My real fear is that a whole bunch of kids will wake up
without a father someday soon if we do not stop them. So we are going ahead
with this. Besides,” Rogers noticed that the watch had vanished into Hunting Owls
vest. “I promised his ghost I’d see them all dead,” he said simply. “I’ll be on
the bridge if you need me.” Will walked out, closing his cabin door behind him.

“We all have ghosts, son,” Rogers replied sadly to the closed
door.

Chapter Fifteen

Wind Dancer, Hong Kong Harbor

The next morning, Abigail donned her travel dress for the
first time since boarding
Wind Dancer
. While it had been repaired and
cleaned, she had not felt the need to wear it while on board. Her tunic, vest
and pants had seemed quite the right thing. Now though, as she was re-entering
the formal world, it was time to wear the proper dress for the occasion. It
took some time to lace her corset; a task that was normally difficult enough to
do on one’s own, was made even more difficult by the after effects of the
previous evening’s soirée.

While it hadn’t seemed planned to her, most of those whom she
had come to know had appeared in the mess to wish her well.

There had been Devi, Saira and the Captain of course, but she
was surprised how many others had come as well. She frowned, trying to remember
the evening, an effort that made her head hurt. She recalled tiny cakes
presented by Doctor Wu, with little thimble-size glasses of a clear liquor.
Many glasses, she recalled. There had been songs, and jokes, then more little
glasses. She hazily recalled that she had been warned that the little glasses
had contained a much more potent liquor than the usual ration, a Chinese brew
that Doctor Wu had introduced whenever there was a leave–taking on the ship, or
she had been told. It must be the after−effects of that she was feeling.

As she finished struggling into her short dove grey traveling
jacket, she frowned. It wasn’t as if she was likely to see any of them ever
again, she realized. She found that the thought made her suddenly very sad. She
had never really felt as if she belonged in any group of people before. She
almost wished…but such thoughts were absurd; besides she was soon to see her
father, and wrestle with a greater destiny. A knock at the door interrupted her
thoughts. Saira breezed in, a mug of tea in one hand, an electric pistol in the
other.

“Ah, good morning! I see you are already dressed,” she said.
“Good. Here,” she held out the mug. “Did you put on the holster as I showed
you?”

Abigail gratefully took the mug from her hand as the Arms-Master
knelt in front of her. She drank deeply from the mug before replying, savoring
the strong ship tea filled with spices and milk.

“Yes,” Abigail replied, “although I still don’t see why I
can’t simply—hey there!” She yelped as Saira lifted her skirts and underskirts,
checking the fit of the holster against her thigh. Abigail decided to stop
moving, and drank more of the tea. “As I said yesterday, if you carry it in a
bag, it will take you too long to reach when you need it,” Saira said patiently.
“This is not buckled tight enough. Hold still.” She pulled straps tighter for a
few moments while Abigail struggled not to move.

“There,” Saira set back on her heels. “Now move your leg.”
Abigail did so, finding to her surprise that it actually felt better. When she
said so, Saira nodded.

“Always pull it that tight, believe me that you do not want
it chafing.” She explained to the Scholar while standing up. She held out the
pistol to Abigail.

“Here is your weapon, a Webley Thunderbolt,” Saira continued
in the dry voice of a professional. She pointed as she spoke. “It is fully
charged, meter here. Switch set to off, here. You check it,” she ordered,
handing it butt first to Abigail.

Abigail took the pistol, setting down her mug. It had a short
‘barrel’ with two smaller barrels projecting from it. These housed the
invisible light projectors on which the current was guided to its target. The
pistol felt heavier than it looked, as most of the weapon was simply a large
battery. She checked the lenses and dials herself under Saira’s watchful eye.

“Right then,” Abigail said finally. She moved to place it in
the holster on her leg. Saira had arranged for slits in her skirts that were
cleverly concealed by hooks which closed along the outer fold. Abigail slid the
gun through the slit, and then drew it as quickly as she could. While the
pistol did not catch on anything Abigail felt clumsy doing so. Saira shook her
head at the attempt.

“Try again,” Saira ordered, in her professional role as Arms-Master.

This time it felt faster and smoother. Abigail flushed as she
placed it back in its holster, and smiled at the other woman. She felt as if
she was some heroine in a serial. Saira returned the smile.

“Better,” the Arms-Master said. “You will improve as you
practice. Although you must not think that carrying a weapon makes you
invincible,” she warned. “What does help you is if you realize that when you
decide to draw it, it must be to defend your life or the life of another. Then
there must be no thinking, no hesitation. Draw and fire that is all. Think on
this and try again.”

Abigail nodded at her words, which sobered her considerably.
She settled down, and then imagined her father in danger. She drew swiftly,
thumb already on the selector switch before she was aware that she had done so.
Saira nodded approvingly.

“Much better,” the Arms-Master said. Will poked his head
through the door and grinned.

“That’s what I like to see,” he said, “a Scholar who’s armed
as well as smart! I stopped down because I thought you might like to see us
dock.” Abigail ruefully returned the gun to its holster. She had learned that
airdevils had a different sensibility when it came to privacy.

“I am not convinced that going armed to the necessity is
particularly ‘smart’,” she greeted the Captain wryly. “But I bow to the
knowledge of the experts in the field.” She gave a small curtsy, which both of
the others returned with a bow. She laughed in surprise.

“Come now!” she objected. “Please do not go all proper on me
at this junction! And yes, Captain, I would love to see docking if I may.”

Abigail noticed that Will was wearing a long dress coat
instead of his usual vest and gun belt. He still wore his goggles around his
neck, and the large knife called a ‘Bowie’ was still visible at his waist. It
was then that Abigail noticed that Saira also wore a long coat as well. Her
pants covered legs brazenly sticking out of the long folds.

“You both seem to be rather formally dressed today,” Abigail remarked.
Will pulled a breathing mask out of a pocket.

“Disembarking togs,” Will said shortly. “Rogers thought that
you might find this an easier way to breathe in that muck they call air
outside,” he said, handing the breather towards her. She held the face covering
device awkwardly in one hand.

“Thank you,” Abigail said distantly. “If it is all the same
to you, I shall wait until I need it, before putting it on.” Saira nodded at
her.

“They can be uncomfortable,” Saira said easily. “They only
stopped wearing them in Calcutta with the armistice, when they kept the Shield
down. Shall we go to the docking then Milady?” She asked Abigail with a drawl
and an exaggerated sniff. Will held out his own arm as well. Still laughing Abigail
placed a hand on both arms.

“By all means then, my gallants,” she cried. “Do lead on!”

“Very good, Milady, Will drawled with a sniff of his own.
“This way if you please, do watch out for the grouse, don’t you know?” Laughing
the three of them swept down the corridors.

Upon reaching the bridge, Abigail looked around in fascination.
She had not been here since the meeting in the Captain’s day cabin. At the
time, she had not felt she could indulge her curiosity. It was as large as the
engine room, easily some thirty feet across. She saw the stations at which sat
various people she knew. Occasionally one of them would silently wave at her,
and then turn back to their boards. Mr. Rogers stood at the front, looking
through an electric lens. Then, she looked beyond him out the large windows,
and gave a soft gasp.

The view before her was of a toy city nestled in a harbor,
encased in a shining soap bubble that was shimmering all the colors of the
rainbow. She knew that the shimmer was the city’s Shield, but she had never
seen one from this perspective before. The ring of what looked like tiny
mushrooms that surrounded the city were the Shield towers. Around the bubble,
like minnows, swam airships either coming or going. What looked like a small
school of ships floated before the bubble as if waiting to be let inside the
shield. Rogers turned at her gasp and briefly smiled at her, then turned
towards Will.

“Captain, Lady Hadley,” he acknowledged. “We have just
received word that the shield will open in about ten minutes.” Will let go of Abigail’s
arm and strode down the short ramp, then between the stations to stand beside
his First Officer.

“I have the bridge, Lawrence,” he said bending to look
through the lens that Rogers had just been looking through.

“Aye, Aye, the Captain has the bridge,” Rogers acknowledged
formally. He pointed out towards the city, speaking to Hunting Owl in a quieter
voice.

Saira poked Abigail in the arm, miming walking with her
fingers. She next pointed to where the Captain had moved, and then held a
finger against her lips. Abigail startled, then quietly nodded, and they made
their way across the floor to stand behind the two men.

“Looks good to me,” Will said. Without turning he called out
to the wave station, “Michael,” he called out, “what does Hong Kong Port
Authority say?”

“HKPA has just given us instructions for approach,” the wave
operation reported headphone held against one ear. “They say everything is
fine. I’m not picking up any trouble from the public Aetherwave or from any
connection I can reach.” He frowned, turning a dial. “There is a lot of fuzz though,
and some connections that I should be getting, I’m not.”

“What are the instructions, Mr. McGuire?” Rogers asked.
McGuire read them off a paper at his station. Rogers and Will exchanged a
glance.

“Sounds normal to me,” Will said. “Let’s take her in,
Lawrence.”

“Aye Aye Captain,” Rogers began issuing a series of commands.

Abigail looked back out on the city, seeing that they had now
arrived much closer to the ‘school’ of airships she had noticed earlier. They
all seemed to be floating in stillness before the rainbow sheen.

“If I may ask,” she said, “do you know why the city has its
Shield raised? Most cities that I am familiar with only raise them for drills.”
The Tesla Shield was one of the great inventions of the War. A city-sized force
field that rendered it virtually impenetrable to attack. Shields had almost
returned humanity to a series of feudal states, where it huddled inside the
shield wall.

“Well,” Will explained, “here in China beyond that Shield
what you mostly find is penny-packet warlords that all pretty much hate it that
the British still hold one of the only two real cities left in the country. The
Chinese hold a grudge something powerful. As some of those warlords have
airships of their own, the Shield stays up.” Will continued, I’m told that
things are so bad in the countryside that people work real hard to be able to
live under the protection of it.”

“How horrible,” Abigail said. “But surely they must drop it
sometimes; else the air would become extremely unhealthy with that many people
inside.”

Rogers came back to stand with them.

“I have been here before, Milady,” he said. “The air is so
foul in the city, coal smoke, cooking fires, not to mention the number of
people that breathing masks are common among the citizens. While they do open
it for traffic a few times daily, it is on an irregular schedule, and never for
long enough to clear the air, so to speak. We are fortunate that we have
arrived close to one of those times. Of course, they could be telling us the
wrong time,” he smiled without humor. He glanced at his pocket watch again and
turned to Will, “Shield opening is in seven minutes, Captain. We are holding
station until then.”

“Very good, Lawrence,” Will acknowledged. “Please advance us
to berth when it opens.”

“Aye Aye, Captain,” Rogers replied. He walked over to Naomi
Walker, the bridge talker, leaving the three of them standing before the sight
of the huge rainbow in front of them.

“I’ve always found Shields to be very beautiful,” Saira
remarked.

“It is a pretty sight that is for a fact,” Will agreed. “I’ve
always wanted to ask someone who might know,” he said, looking at Abigail,
“What makes it so colorful?” Abigail opened her mouth to answer, than closed it
again with a frown that Will recognized as the same kind of frown that Devi
wore when asked about the engines.

“How much do you know about Shields?” Abigail asked. It was
Will’s turn to frown.

“Well,” he said scratching his chin, “I know that anything
solid that touches one gets ripped apart, whether it be a ship, a rocket, or a
person. I know that things like the Invaders heat rays and smoke can’t get
through them either. That they take really big Tesla engines to power, which is
why we can’t make smaller ones. Oh,” he said snapping his fingers, “and that
stuff like coal smoke and the like can’t get through it either, but that air
can.”

“Right,” Abigail sighed. “Well, you know that a Tesla engine
takes the energy of the earth and transfers it into a form that we can channel
into electricity? We call it the Tellurian Effect.” Both Will and Saira nodded.
“What a Shield tower does is take that same energy and runs it from one tower
to its opposite in the ring. The way the energy is run causes the towers to
create a ‘dome’ of highly energized air which illuminates in the colors of the
spectrum.”

“Like the gas in light tubes,” Will said. Abigail smiled,

 “Exactly. Only instead of being certain gases that create
light in one color, this is exciting the air itself.”

“And this energy is like electricity which is why it stops
everything,” Saira nodded. A look like pain crossed Abigail’s features

“Not exactly,” she said. “The ‘rainbow’ is the air itself
becoming energized. There is simply so much air that some interpenetrates.” She
paused, “Do either of you have any understanding of Aetheric theory?”