by Marty Chan
“How?” she asked.
“I’ll explain later.”
Ning Shu approached the group. “Are you all right?” she asked. “What happened to Kifo?”
“Ning Shu, we have to warn you. Kifo never left the airship.”
“Nonsense. He left with you. Where is he?”
“Ole Lukoje was pretending to be possessed. The real Kifo is here,” Ehrich said. “You’re in danger.”
“What do you mean he’s here?”
“Ole Lukoje and Kifo conspired to trick you to stay so that you’d be open to an attack.”
Ning Shu shook her head. “You did not succeed in abducting Thomas Edison?”
“No, but what does that—”
“Is Ole Lukoje still alive?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. Kifo is here. Are you even listening to what I’m saying?”
She stepped back behind her soldiers.
“Ehrich’s telling the truth,” Amina said, backing up her friend.
Ning Shu addressed her soldiers. “Surround them. They are enemies of the House of Qi.”
The crimson escorts shifted to form a ring around the trio.
“What are you doing, Ning Shu?” Mr. Serenity said. “They are your allies.”
She pushed the rotund man toward Ehrich and the others. “Take them into custody.”
“Have you lost your mind, Ning Shu?” Ehrich stammered.
She laughed. “An apt choice of words. These intruders on the ship have given me the information I needed to know. Kifo is still on his mission. These four are of no use to us. Bind them.”
The veins in Mr. Serenity’s forehead throbbed. “What are you doing? Ning Shu, this is madness.”
She grinned. “You didn’t think the House of Qi would ever side with you, did you?”
“You betrayed us,” Mr. Serenity said. “Why?”
Ehrich stifled a gasp. Ning Shu hadn’t betrayed their group. She had been taken by Kifo. In control of her body, the assassin now commanded Ba Tian’s entire army. The armed escorts grabbed him and trussed him up in a canvas straitjacket. Two men bound the straps tight behind his back. Another two crossed Ehrich’s arms over his chest and lashed him inside the restraint. They completed the trussing with a leather strap between his legs so he couldn’t squirm out the bottom. The others were also trussed in the restraints. Amina struggled but to no avail. They were prisoners.
“That’s not Ning Shu,” Ehrich protested. “Don’t listen to her. Kifo’s compromised her.”
None of the soldiers listened. They herded Ehrich’s group together.
“Open the bay doors and push them out,” Ning Shu said. “Then we need scouts to assist Kifo.”
She exited with her armed escort. Four soldiers remained behind to finish the job at hand, but they were reluctant to move, whispering among themselves around the control panel for the bay doors.
“General Ning Shu couldn’t care less about Wu Bei and Zhengfu Zhe,” the tallest one in the bunch griped.
A stocky one shushed him. “Yu, don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll throw you off the ship with this sad lot.”
“General Xian cared about the soldiers. She once told me we were the true progeny of the House of Qi.”
“Orders are orders,” another soldier said.
Another one piped up. “I heard there was dissension in the Council of Arch Generals. Chaos reigns in Ba Tian’s absence. What should we do, Yu?”
“I’m a soldier of the House of Qi. I will obey Ning Shu’s orders, but I’ll be damned if I ignore my comrades in arms. Wu Bei and Zhengfu Zhe need medical attention first. Let’s get them out of the skiff.”
As Ehrich struggled against his restraints, a twinge of guilt seeped into his marrow as he saw the reflection of Wilhelm, Margaret, and Gino in this crimson soldier looking out for his comrades. Yu climbed into the boat while his companions glanced around nervously.
“Are you going to help me or not?”
They shuffled to the skiff. Yu rolled Wu Bei out of the ship and into their outstretched arms.
Ehrich didn’t have much time. He had to escape, but the restraint had no locks to pick. If he could reach the buckles, he could loosen them, but he was bound up within the canvas jacket with no way to reach the back buckles. His arms had been pinned against his body and tied up. He began to squirm in the straitjacket, trying to find a way to loosen the straps and gain some slack.
Beside him, the others struggled as well with no luck. Ehrich felt some give in the sleeve. He hoped to create enough slack so he could stick his head under the sleeve and unwind his arms, but to do so would require him to dislocate his shoulder. He heaved and thrashed on the ground.
“Don’t knock yourself,” one of the soldiers taunted. “No one’s ever escaped from the straitjacket.”
Yu growled. “Hurry up with Wu Bei, Zhengfu Zhe’s heavy.”
The three men laid Wu Bei just beyond the bay doors, then headed back to the skiff to receive the other injured warrior.
Ehrich felt his arm start to give. He felt a stab of pain as he dislocated his shoulder. The right sleeve gave a little. He worked the canvas sleeve over his head, but the pain fired up. He gritted his teeth until he looped the canvas sleeve over his head. He pushed his face into the small opening and squeezed through until his head poked through. His arm burned from the pain, but he was free.
He used his left hand to undo the buckle between his legs. Then he reached up to the collar and yanked the jacket over his head. His right arm felt numb. Two of the soldiers were taking Zhengfu Zhe from Yu and lowering him out of the skiff.
“Grab the other prisoners and haul them to the bay doors,” Yu ordered the third guard.
“Time to see if they have wings,” the soldier said, grinning as he turned to Amina and the others.
Ehrich had only one chance to save his friends. He rushed to the control panel and with his one good arm pulled the lever that controlled the opening. The bamboo bay doors fell away and the three crimson soldiers plunged to their deaths along with Zhengfu Zhe. Only Wu Bei’s body remained on the floor.
The skiff remained attached to the cables and Yu remained inside the craft, glaring at Ehrich. He prepared to leap out of the skiff, but hesitated at the sight of the drop. Instead, he swung the suspended boat side to side to build enough momentum so he could clear the opening when he jumped out.
Tesla, Amina, and Mr. Serenity squirmed and kicked on the floor, trying to get free of their restraints and get further away from the windy opening.
Ehrich slammed his right shoulder into the control panel and set his shoulder back right. The pain was excruciating, but he gritted his teeth and shut out the searing pain in his arm. He turned the crank on the controls and started to lower the skiff. Yu nearly lost his grip but was able to hang on to one of the cables. Finally, he jumped out of the swaying skiff and landed on the floor, missing the opening by inches.
The giant approached Ehrich, drawing his razor-sharp discs from his bandolier. He licked his lips, relishing the impending drubbing he planned to give the boy. He unleashed one disc after the other, forcing Ehrich to fall back and dodge the deadly projectiles.
Ehrich ran to the left, scooped up the straitjacket and jumped up into one of the skiffs hanging from the cables. A disc slammed into the wood inches from Ehrich’s leg. He stayed low in the boat, forcing the armed man to switch tactics. Yu climbed into the skiff, but Ehrich vaulted into another one before the man could grab him. The giant chased him to the next boat. The game of cat and mouse took the pair across the deck and away from his friends.
“You’re running out of space,” Yu yelled.
He was right. Ehrich was now at the far wall. Only one skiff left to hide in. He jumped out and doubled back across the deck. Then he hopped into a skiff near the bay doors. He unbuckled the back of the straitjacket as Yu sprinted toward him. Ehrich leapt out of the boat and wrapped the canvas jacket around Yu’s head, blinding him. The giant struggled to pull off the jacket, ope
ning his midsection to attack, which Ehrich took advantage of with a well-placed knee. Yu doubled over and Ehrich jumped on his back. He grabbed the sleeves of the straitjacket and twisted them around Yu’s neck, trying to steer him like a wild horse.
Yu thrashed his arms around. Ehrich pulled hard on the right sleeve, turning the man’s head and causing him to step to the side. Yu tried to straighten up, but Ehrich shifted his weight forward to keep the crimson giant bent over. He pulled again on the right sleeve until Yu staggered over and faced the opened bay doors.
“Get off me,” Yu shouted, his voice muffled by the jacket.
“You want me? You’re going to have to fight harder than that.”
Ehrich pulled back on both sleeves. Yu responded by jerking himself forward. Ehrich let go at the same time. The sudden momentum propelled Yu forward to the edge of the bay doors. He tripped over Wu Bei and tumbled headfirst through the opening.
Ehrich tried to shut out Yu’s screams, but he knew another person had died because of him. He moved to the control panel and pulled the lever to close the bay doors. He rushed to his friends’ aid and freed them from their straitjackets, taking care with Amina’s sore wrist. Once she was out, he helped Mr. Serenity.
“I thought Kifo was Xian,” Amina said. “How did he possess Ning Shu?”
“Ling Po shot Xian at a meeting of the generals. He killed her.”
“Then how did he possess Ning Shu?” Tesla asked.
Mr. Serenity slipped the canvas top off his arms. “Kifo must have been controlling Ling Po all the while. He asked for a private meeting with Ning Shu after the shooting. I’ll wager my life that’s when he took over her body.”
“Why did Kifo kill Xian?” Amina asked.
“She fought for control of the House of Qi. With her out of the way, Ning Shu could claim all the power.”
Ehrich freed his mentor. “Mr. Tesla, the only way to save you was to kill those soldiers. I wish there was another way.”
Mr. Tesla rubbed his arms. “Ehrich, we are alive because of you. I’m sure if you could have found another way you would have, but the soldiers left you no choice. Sometimes, life gives you no alternatives and you must make the most of what you’ve been given.”
“What do we do about Ning Shu?” Amina asked Mr. Serenity.
“I’m afraid she is a prisoner of the Infinity Coil now. Kifo has the power to release her, and I doubt he will want to do that anytime soon.”
Tesla scratched his head. “What if we just destroy the Infinity Coil? Wouldn’t that send all the souls back to their bodies?”
Mr. Serenity shrugged. “I don’t know. The coil is a storage facility for the souls of all the people Kifo has taken. You destroy the coil, and you wipe out the only thing that was holding everyone together. They may just wink out of existence.”
“Or they may find their bodies again,” Ehrich said, grasping for any kind of hope.
“I don’t know enough about the device to say for certain, but you would be making the assumption that there’s a tether between consciousness and form. I can’t tell you one way or the other.”
“Then if we’re going to save Ning Shu, we have to take Kifo alive,” Ehrich said.
“What do you propose?” Amina asked.
“Find a weapon.” Ehrich searched the deck. He decided against the bandolier of discs on Wu Bei and Zhengfu Zhe. A user had to be skilled to hurl the projectiles with any kind of accuracy.
After rummaging around the room, he soon found a locker filled with weapons used by the previous crew of the airship.
“Over here,” he announced.
The others rushed over and equipped themselves with crossbows and quivers of bolts. The handheld weapons were sleek and wooden. They were light enough to carry and aim, but the bowstring was taut and powerful enough to fire barbed arrows a fair distance. The double bowstrings allowed the wielder to fire twice before reloading. Ehrich wasn’t sure about the weapon’s overall effectiveness—he would have preferred to have a dynatron or a teslatron—but he wasn’t about to get choosy.
The group slipped out of the deck into a narrow hallway that led to the back section of the gondola. Mr. Serenity led the way.
“Are you sure this is the way, Mr. Serenity?” Amina asked.
“Positive.” He reached under his shirt and pulled out a paper scroll. He unrolled the parchment to reveal his calligraphy artwork—a crude map of the ship he had pieced together.
“Remarkable,” Tesla said. “I could have employed you to draft the schematics for my induction motor.”
“This corridor will take us back to General Xian’s office and quarters. I’ll bet we’ll find Kifo there,” Mr. Serenity said.
Tesla questioned their strategy. “What do we do once we capture him? He’s not likely to confess to the soldiers.”
Ehrich armed his crossbow. “We’re taking Kifo and leaving. Then we’ll force him to release Ning Shu and everyone else he’s ever possessed.”
They skulked along the bamboo hallways and headed toward the rear of the airship. The narrow corridors offered little space to manoeuvre. The lighter weight of the bamboo allowed the designers to distribute more weight across the ship, but space was at a premium. Outside the porthole windows, the propulsors jutted out of the gondola and stabilized the airship.
Mr. Serenity slowed down. “We’re getting close. Down these stairs.”
“What about the other stairs?” Tesla asked, motioning at a set of bamboo steps leading up.
“They’ll take you to the engine room!” Mr. Serenity shouted over the roar of the engines.
“Intriguing,” Tesla said. “I wonder what type of engines the airship employs.”
Mr. Serenity pointed out. “Steam-powered rotors that spin the propulsors. I’m not sure how efficient they are. ”
“Nothing an electromagnetic oscillator couldn’t fix.”
“You know of such technology?”
Tesla cocked his head to the side. “I saw yours. Impressive.”
“If you two are done admiring each other, we have work to do,” Ehrich said.
“My apologies,” Mr. Serenity said. “Xian’s quarters are the second door to the right.”
Ehrich advanced down the steps, followed by Amina. Tesla and Mr. Serenity remained on the landing. Ehrich stopped before descending further and peeked ahead. Three warriors were stationed in the hallway.
Amina shouted, “The tight space gives us an advantage. They can only come at us two at a time.”
“If one of us stays on the stairs, we should be able to pick them off. Amina, you’re a better shot than I am.”
“I don’t suppose you have a magic trick that can make the soldiers disappear.”
Ehrich shook his head.
“What if there are more inside the quarters?” Amina asked.
“Then we’d better reload fast.”
Ehrich raised his crossbow and continued his descent. A soldier spotted Ehrich creeping down the steps. Before he could reach for his throwing disc, Ehrich leapt at him and kneed him in the groin, then grabbed the man’s tunic and drove his forehead into the man’s nose. Blood squirted out.
The other two soldiers reached for their weapons, but the lanky one at the rear dropped to the floor, clutching Amina’s crossbow bolt in his neck. Blood spurted from the wound, and he wheezed for breath, unable to catch air. He died on his knees. The other one took aim at Ehrich, who used his stunned opponent as a shield. The disc struck the soldier in the back, and the man howled in pain. Ehrich fired from under the man’s arm and grazed the other soldier in the leg.
The soldier with the bloody nose pushed Ehrich back against the wall and staggered to one side. Ehrich was now open to attack. The soldier with the injured leg drew a razor tael from his bandolier, but before he could throw it, a bolt imbedded into his chest. He wheezed, clutching the arrow, then slumped against the wall.
The remaining soldier slid along the wall, leaving a bloody smear from the tael that had pi
erced his back. He reached for his weapon, but Amina was faster. A crossbow bolt pierced the man’s eye and he collapsed, dead. She rushed down the steps as she and Ehrich reloaded.
“Good job, Amina,” he said, clapping his hand on her back.
But their celebration was short-lived. A klaxon alarm blared.
“Kifo must have heard us!” Ehrich shouted. He kicked the door once, twice. The door cracked. A third time. Another crack.
Amina reloaded her crossbow. Tesla and Mr. Serenity descended the stairs as Ehrich finally kicked the door open. In the chambers, Kifo hid behind the mahogany desk with a crossbow aimed at Ehrich. Though the body belonged to Ning Shu, its murderous gaze was all Kifo. She fired.
Ehrich angled his body into the bolt, and his shoulder lit up from the pain of the projectile striking home. He dropped his weapon and staggered back against the wall. Kifo adjusted her aim.
Amina slipped into the room and took cover behind a divan. She aimed her crossbow at the assassin. “Lower your weapon,” she ordered.
Kifo refused. “Would you destroy the body of your friend?”
Amina hesitated. Though she knew this was Kifo, she could only see Ning Shu standing before her.
“Would you lose the only chance of saving Ehrich’s brother from the Infinity Coil?” Kifo asked.
Ehrich gripped the bloody bolt in his shoulder and gritted his teeth. Killing Kifo would cut off his best chance to save Ning Shu or recover Dash. As much as he hated to admit it, the assassin was right.
“Lower your weapon, Amina.”
A PERILOUS CHOICE
The trio was at a standoff. Kifo only had one bolt in his weapon. He couldn’t take out both Ehrich and Amina, but they couldn’t kill the assassin while he possessed Ning Shu’s body.
“You’re leaving the airship with us, Kifo,” Ehrich said, applying pressure to his wound to stop the bleeding.
“You’re in no position to make any demands. The more time we stand here, the more time my soldiers will have to come to my rescue.”
Ehrich yelled, “Mr. Serenity, Mr. Tesla. Go to the top of the stairs. Shoot anyone who comes.”
“On our way,” Tesla shouted back.
