Freedom Forged

by Alan Austin

  Thankfully, the lights of the mothership came to life up ahead of her, and she steadied her course just to the right of it. With the carrier leveled out, it was time for the next opportunity for everything to go fantastically wrong. Cora released the central charge release knob with just under forty percent of the charge remaining according to her indicator pins. She checked the wings one last time and then lifted the cover that had hidden the inner charge release knob and a lever for the black powder boost. It was now or never.

  She pulled the knob back and heard an even louder whirl from behind her as the middle pair of propellers spun to life and pushed her forward. The carrier increased speed for several seconds before it felt as though it had reached the maximum velocity that the propellers could achieve on their own.

  “Come on DaVinci,” she muttered as she took hold of the powder boost lever and gave it a hard pull.

  The release mechanism in the back of the ship began running a stream of gunpowder through a thick copper tube toward the sparking igniter. When the powder lit, the ship lurched forward and the sounds of strain in the wings returned. Cora feared that the wings would snap any minute now and she’d be forced to drop the car, and anyone who may have managed to board it, down to the water that was now far, far below her. Despite their groans, the wings held as the mounted rocket continued to fire explosion after explosion in such quick succession that it felt like a continuous blast.

  The lights on the mothership came nearer, and by the time the powder had burned out and her inner charges were depleted, Cora was nearly level with her companions.

  Mac was likely at the helm of the airship now and had begun his turn back to the west, which would allow Cora to come straight to them to dock. Her approach had been nearly perfect, and the ship’s rear lights were soon right in front of her. She pulled the central charge handle out again in short bursts to keep her speed up and not lose altitude, and she was soon lining up, ever so carefully, with the assistance of Boomer and Ticks who were waving her in from a lower platform. With the car below her, Cora had to slide two large hooks at the top of her ship onto poles designed to catch her. The others would then need to attach several cables between the ships to hold her and the massive car in the air.

  Cora adjusted her position with the stick as the guys did their best to wave her in, but her first three attempts failed, and she was nearly out of charge on her central propeller. She still had an outer pair at full charge, but they were meant to help her ascent if she needed more time and were likely too powerful for such fine maneuvering. She lowered her ship as both men waved her down, and when she saw a thumbs-up she pulled the handle one last time as the final pin fell and the sounds behind her faded. The carrier drifted forward and both men waved down at the same time. Cora lowered the ship and felt as both hooks found their marks. Sweat poured over her face from the tension, but she had done it.

  She locked the wings into position and opened her canopy. Where she would have otherwise hoped to hear cheering, there was nothing but silence, and she knew why. Sam hadn’t returned with the others.

  “Grease,” Boomer shouted while she was climbing from her ship onto the walkway.

  Before he could finish his thought, Sam’s voice called out faintly from below them, “Could someone PLEASE get us out of here!”

  “Sam’s alive!” Boomer screamed back to Ticks who went running back into the ship to tell the others.

  Now they could all celebrate their success.

  Cora leaned over the railing and looked down to see Sam’s smug smile looking back up to her with… Rosalyn. The woman with him had been Rosalyn?!

  Yes – it was her. She was standing beside him, not looking too thrilled to be there. Where had she come from? Cora suddenly wished that she’d not pushed the car back forward. Perhaps then only Sam would’ve made it.

  Hawkeye and Ticks ran back out of the ship and joined Boomer in getting a safer walkway run down to the top balcony of the car. They’d need that to offload the money anyhow. They had no intention of keeping the massive car which would be far too easy to find and far too heavy to transport all the way back to their desired landing site. Cora went inside to rest a moment as all the men went to work. DaVinci was back in the pilot seat of the airship, and he smiled wide as Cora joined him.

  “What was it like?” he asked with wide eyes, like a young child hearing about Christmas for the first time and wanting every glorious detail.

  “Terrifying!” Cora exclaimed. “I thought the wings were going to give out for a second before the car released, and they screamed again when I lit the torch on the back of that thing. You might want to check your volumes. I never even had to use the outer charges because the torch got me all the way up to you, but it damn near killed the wings.”

  “Good to know,” DaVinci replied, still grinning from ear to ear at the success of his babies. “I’ll make some adjustments before we try using her again.”

  Again??? When would they ever use her again? This was a one-time deal as far as Cora was concerned. It worked because no one expected it, but there was no way it would work again, and no need for them to rob another train after the haul they’d just taken.

  “What do you mean again?” she asked. “When are we going to need it again?”

  “You never know,” the old man replied. “You never know…”

  With a hot drink in her belly, Cora helped the others as they spent the next several hours offloading the cash, gold, and other valuables from the vault car, packing it all into their cabin and filling nearly the entire thing from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. DaVinci had given them a time limit to complete the job before they needed to unload the car to conserve enough fuel for the rest of the trip and they met it with twenty minutes to spare.

  Everyone except Rosalyn, who Cora had avoided the entire day, gathered at the rear of the ship to watch the now-empty train car fall out of the sky and into the water, but Sam shouted for Cora to stop just before she released it.

  “What is it?!” Cora shouted from her seat in the carrier.

  The wind was howling around them, making it hard to hear, but Sam was discussing something with DaVinci. A moment later all six men were smiling and she knew they’d concocted a plan of some sort. Hopping out of her seat, she walked back to join them. Sam gave her a look that she knew meant trouble.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “Activate the last charges on the carrier,” Sam responded.

  “What?!” Cora shouted. “Why?”

  “Because we’re only an hour from the coast and your remaining charge will give us enough speed to hold onto the car that long.”

  “But why do we want to do that?” Cora asked.

  “Because we’re going to go right over the British shipyard,” Sam said, his grin crawling even further up his cheeks.

  It was brilliant. They were going to drop the car right onto their shipyard. If they got a lucky shot, it could cause untold amounts of damage. Having one of their largest trans-Atlantic trains dropped on them from the sky would give them plenty to think about!

  Cora dashed back to her carrier seat and pulled the final charge knob, locking it into place. The familiar noise roared to life, even louder with her canopy open, but the increase in speed was far less noticeable while docked to the mothership.

  Rosalyn appeared at the rear door of the airship looking rather confused. Cora couldn’t help but feel a desire to toss her overboard when they released the car. That bitch had no right to be here and was probably already sinking her claws into the men, trying to eat into their score. Rosalyn McAdams was the only member of the gang – former member now – not to get a nickname. Cora had a few colorful nicknames in mind.

  With the drop delayed by an hour, everyone went back inside and closed the doors. The cabin was ice cold after airing out, but the furnace warmed it back up in no time at all. Everyone began shedding layers, although they sat around in awkward silence. Their unexpected guest had changed the dynam
ic and no one knew quite what to say. What should have been a time of celebration was now a waiting game. Waiting to get home and waiting to see what scheme might unfold from the bitch.

  DaVinci finally broke the small talk and came right out with the question on everyone’s mind.

  “What the hell are you doing here, and don’t try selling me that horse manure about coincidentally running into Sam. You were on the exact trans-Atlantic express that we were on; one of three to launch today. Then you were on the same car we robbed, and not only that, but the same floor as Sam, who’s the only one who wouldn’t have left you behind… On top of it all, you run into him in the window of five seconds as he’s leaving the car? That’s one in a million odds, sweetheart. If no one else will say it, I will – you planned this.”

  Rosalyn looked around the room with what appeared to be a nervous glance, but it was likely just another part of the show.

  “It might be hard to believe,” she said, “but it’s the truth.”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Ticks interjected to everyone’s surprise. “She had her ticket for the train when we were still planning the heist. I never imagined we’d run into her and didn’t want anyone distracted so I kept that to myself.”

  Everyone was stunned. The odds seemed impossible, but Ticks would never lie, and if he did, one of his nervous ticks would give him away in an instant. Rosalyn could lie her ass off all day long, but not John.

  What the hell were they going to do with her now?

  Chapter 4

  Baggage

  Nothing could change the past. Everyone was acutely aware of the pain that Rosalyn had caused, and while Sam had been the one hurt the most, he wondered if he wasn’t the most forgiving of the bunch too. Grease looked like she wanted to rip the other woman’s throat out, and the other men sat in their obvious silent judgment. Sam reasoned that he’d blown her cover and owed her the escape, but maybe he should’ve just left her back on the train. With her skill, surely, she could have spun a tale to get back in someone’s good graces. But Sam hadn’t left her. He’d made his decision, and he couldn’t change it now.

  Finding her looking back at him, Sam nodded toward the back of the cabin and both he and Rosalyn stood and walked back to the sleeping area. There was only just enough room to navigate between the many crates that had been offloaded from the vault car, but the crates offered a measure of privacy that he was grateful for. It would allow the others to discuss the situation freely and would give Sam time to talk with Rosalyn.

  “Not the warmest welcome,” Sam chuckled as he sat down on the edge of his bed.

  Rosalyn sat on a bed across from his and nodded with an awkward laugh of her own. “I expected nothing less,” she said. “They see things the way they do, and I’m not going to try and change their minds.”

  “Do you think there’s another side to the story?” Sam asked, letting his tone reveal some frustration.

  “You don’t understand,” Rosalyn said, looking off to the side.

  There was little Sam disliked as much as that response.

  “It was a really hard time for me,” she continued, “and I just couldn’t stay any longer. You weren’t ready, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “Wasn’t ready for what?” Sam asked. “I loved you, Rosalyn.”

  She shook her head and continued, “I needed something more serious than you were ready for. I can’t explain it Sam, we just weren’t in the right place to be together and I didn’t know how to stay if we weren’t together. It was too hard to say goodbye.”

  “So, rather than say goodbye, you just took off without a word and left us high and dry on the job. You pulled a scam in the middle of the heist and just abandoned us. I almost died.”

  “I’m sorry it went down that way,” she replied with a softer voice. “I never intended for you to get hurt. I assumed the job would just fall through. I was hurt, Sam. You hurt me.”

  “And you returned the favor,” Sam added, before lying back in his bed. “I guess we’re even. In any case, your safe for now, and we can part ways as soon as we get back to town.”

  “Thank you,” Rosalyn replied, lying back in Ben’s bed for a moment as well.

  Of all the familiar faces he could’ve run into on that train – why did it have to be hers? There wasn’t a soul alive who muddied Sam’s thoughts the way Rosalyn did. Even after all this time, she still looked as beautiful as ever, and he was right back in his own head, questioning whether or not he’d made a huge mistake. If he’d just married her, what might things be like today?

  Boomer passed by and went out the rear access door with two large bags. He made no effort to hide his scowl toward the woman whose eyes were still closed, and Sam just smiled back at him, trying not to laugh. It was nice to have a family who had his back!

  Sam closed his own eyes a moment, and the next thing he knew, Grease was shouting his name.

  “Get up sleepy-head,” she shouted with a kick to his legs. “It’s time!”

  Rosalyn was still lying on the next bed over. Her eyes were open, but she made no effort to move at all. Sam guessed that she was trying to give them some space.

  “You can come too,” Grease grumbled. “I’d feel bad making anyone miss this show.”

  Everyone went out through the small access door to keep the larger ramp doors to the cabin closed and preserve the heat. Without the open door to walk across, Grease walked down the ramp they’d made to the top balcony of the vault car and then climbed the ladder. She climbed into the carrier and fastened a rope to the release lever before exiting the vehicle again. Rather than trying to carry the rope, she tossed the bundle across the gap and Boomer caught it from the rear catwalk they were all lined up along. Grease came back to the airship catwalk the way she’d gone over and Ben and Mac pulled the ramp back up.

  DaVinci checked his watch just as Ticks did the same and both men nodded to one another. “Ten seconds to go,” the older DaVinci said excitedly.

  Ticks counted down the last five seconds and Boomer pulled the rope hard when they reached zero. A loud clang rang out, and everyone stumbled when the airship seemed to rise fifty feet in a second at the loss of such a significant weight. They all watched as the enormous train car plummeted down into the dark abyss. The lights of the coast came into view just as the massive falling object passed over the beach. A very large building came into view, surrounded by lights. By pure luck, it seemed that the car was going to hit the building; they couldn’t have asked for a better target.

  The car smashed right through the roof and east facing wall, but they were so high above that no sound reached their ears. Sam was startled, however; when a large fireball erupted from the roof of the building, sending flaming scraps of wood and metal in all directions. Sam could cover the entire scene with his thumb from this height, but he was able to see the scope of the devastation quite well as fires raged all around.

  Boomer started to say something when another explosion lit the sky in a brilliant red light. It was much larger, and Sam thought that it looked like it had come from underground. It was too hard to make out in the night, but the way the lights had vanished, it looked as though a crater had opened up. Dark smoke obscured the fires from their view, and all they could see was the glow around the edges of the smoke as the sound of one of the explosions finally made it to them and sounded like a deep thunder.

  “WHAT WAS THAT?” Ben shouted, looking at Boomer. “You said a SMALL explosion!”

  Apparently, Boomer had rigged the car before they let it go. Sam should’ve seen that coming.

  “That second explosion wasn’t me, but I bet I know what it was,” Boomer replied with his eyes wide in excitement. “I’ve heard rumors that they had a massive store of weapons, explosives, and gunpowder at the docks, but no one knew exactly where. Nothing else could have gone up like that. I think we just destroyed the Empire’s largest cache of weapons this side of the Atlantic!”

  Everyone stood in silence,
dumbfounded by what they’d just seen and heard. Could they have really just leveled that significant a blow to the occupying Empire… by accident?!

  As cold as the air was outside, no one moved for the longest time. The glow of the fire faded as they sailed on past it, high above the world below, and completely invisible to anyone wondering what the hell had just happened. Rosalyn was the first to head back inside. She hadn’t been prepared for airship travel and her dress did little to keep her warm out in the cold air at their elevation.

  Everyone else soon followed. They sat in a circle in the cabin, talking about the epic explosion that they’d caused and how far reaching the news would be. They would be hundreds of miles away, but DaVinci was sure that they’d hear or read about it within forty-eight hours. Sam wondered whether he would’ve gone through with it had he known what would happen.

  As awesome as it was, and as much as the British deserved it – this had the potential to draw a lot of attention to their gang. They were well known already as bandits and robbers, but they’d done nothing to hide their identity on the heist, and everyone would soon know where that train car had come from. The Rosecrans gang was about to become the British Empire’s enemy number one. Sam had never planned for that.

  A nuisance or a pain in their side was all he ever wanted to be. The job on the train had been about as far as he ever wanted to take things; just annoying the piss out of the bastards while getting rich enough to disappear. There was little chance of being able to vanish with the kind of heat that was sure to come now.

  “You realize that they’ll figure out that was us?” he asked as the others continued reliving the scene.

  “Sure – but who cares?” Mac said. “Let them tell the world what a band of outlaws did to them!”

  “They are going to hunt us down,” Sam added. “There won’t be anywhere we can hide from them. If we just did as much damage as it looked like, they’ll chase us to the ends of the earth.”