by Raven Bond
“However, I can promise you that with Gustupha's aid in Calcutta we can install the right equipment to make it, oh, a death-ray, as I suppose you would call it.” Tesla said to Will off-handedly.
“Why not promise us a way to board ships from a distance, or make the Dancer invisible?” Rogers said dismissively.
“Forgive me sir, I know that what you and Lady Hadley did saved us, but even I know what you are offering us is impossible,” Rogers retorted stiffly. “Perhaps you would care to add a pony as well?”
Tesla's face took on that faraway look that Abigail had learned to indicate that the Savant was thinking at top speed. She held her breath while he frowned and petted his mustaches, as was his wont.
“Those things can be done, I believe,” Tesla answered after a bit. Tesla blinked, frowning up at Rogers. “I fail to see how a pony would be of use on an airship, Mr. Rogers. Pigeons, now,” he enthused, “Pigeons could be very useful as couriers. They are quite intelligent animals, you know.” Will interrupted the non-sequitur before it could go further.
“Tesla, Abigail,” Will said quietly, “would you be good enough to step outside for a moment? I think I need to talk to my First Officer and Arms master about this.”
“Of course, Captain,” Tesla said with a glance at Rogers. “We will await you outside. “Once the door was closed Will looked at Rogers calmly.
“So, Lawrence,” Hunting Owl said. “I take it that you have an objection to Tesla's offer? A real objection this time?” Rogers crossed to stand across from Will. The First Officer folded his hands behind him. Saira remained where she sat, watching silently.
“I do not quarrel with the notion that there is a need here,” Rogers began. “These No-Men are a definite threat. But why should we come to the call? We had our own mission before we ever knew of any of this, as I should not need to remind you.”
“You do not,” Will said darkly. “I never forget it, I promise you.”
“I apologize for that remark, Will. I do know it,” Rogers looked at him contritely. “But besides the fact that frankly, I think Tesla is a barking mad man, I fail to see how this can lead us closer to Them.” Rogers leaned his fists on the desk. “Listen, I fought the Invader all my bloody life. I lost more friends to them than I care to remember. If they landed tomorrow, I would be the first to say we should go after them. But zombie men with supernatural abilities? Ancient Invader wars fought in the distant past? It is all a bit much; you have to agree. I think that the connection is tenuous, at best. It leads us no closer to the Black Airships “
“Maybe,” Will agreed. “Or maybe that is what the Invaders want us to all think.” Hunting Owl leaned forward in his wicker chair. “Lawrence, I know that you are a practical Englishman, but this is what my Dream was telling me. I am sure of it. The Invaders are behind the Black Air Ships;
I feel it.” He looked up at his looming friend. “Besides, great evil needs to be challenged because it is evil, not because we expect to win. Not only because the fight serves our own cause, come to that. Now will you stop standing over me like some vulture?” Rogers let out a great sigh, his shoulders slumped, before he wearily stood straight again.
“Alright,” Rogers said, grudgingly. “That is difficult to argue with, damn your eyes.” The First Officer looked down at Saira. “And what do you say?” Saira stirred in her seat. She looked up at Rogers, clearly startled to be asked by him. They had so often been at apparent odds before now.
“I feel the Captain is right,” Saira replied simply. “Great evil needs to be challenged because it is evil.” She shrugged. “Demons, No-Men, or whatever we call them, we have proved they can be killed. Let us go kill them. Really, you both think too much.” The two men laughed at this. Rogers shook his head, ruefully.
“Demons and No-Men,” Rogers said disbelievingly. “Now I know that I should be wondering if I am barking mad to agree with this adventure.” Rogers shook his head, “But I cannot bring myself to disagree with it either.” Rogers looked from Saira back to Captain Hunting Owl.
“I have followed you for five years now Will,” Rogers said quietly. “It would be faithless of me to kick it over now I suppose.” He stuck out a hand. “My apologies, Captain. Shall we go fight the good fight?” Will clasped his outstretched arm.
“No apologies needed my knife brother. We will find Them, I promise. let the wizard back in?” Rogers nodded at this, and began moving towards the door. “Lawrence, Saira, let me do all the talking this time.” Rogers looked over his shoulder at him.
“As the Captain wishes,” Rogers said to him dryly.
When Tesla and Lady Hadley were seated again, Will pulled out his pipe and tobacco from their drawer. He filled it in the growing silence of the cabin, then lit the bowl. As the fragrant smoke curled out from his mouth, he turned finally towards Tesla.
“So, wizard,” Captain Hunting Owl said, as clouds of smoke surrounded his words. “You were talking about a Shield that could fit on a ship, and some other things? Keep talking. . .”
Chapter 23
‘The Mercury’, Government Air Tower, Hong Kong
Graves focused his attention on the knock at the door. He had been deep in communion with the Master from Beyond, his conscious floating in the ocean of that vast and cold intellect that had saved him decades before. That had been when Graves had worn the body of an old man and the name of a small poet. He looked down at the hands in his lap, the hands of a man much younger than the century he had been alive.
“Enter,” he spoke aloud. At the same time, he vibrated his vocal chords in a sub-sonic signal to the lesser servant he had whimsically named Treacle, to instruct him to stand ready at the door. It opened to reveal Nathaniel Bates, the captain of his personal air yacht.
“We are ready to depart, Milord,” the captain said while standing at attention. As Graves was still in deep communion with the Master, Bates appeared to Graves as if moving flares of light slipped over the physical body of the man. The flares told the Master that Bates had eaten his usual lunch of a hard-boiled egg chased down with whiskey, as well as every fact of the man's biological and mental life. Graves gave to Mr. Treacle the sub-sonic signal to stand down, while he spoke to Bates.
“Is Petrov situated, Captain?” Graves asked.
“Yes Milord,” the man replied. “There has also been no Aetherwave message from the asset you contacted earlier. Do you wish to wait longer, or shall we apply for clearance from the Port Authority?”
The Master with whom Graves was in telepathic rapport, informed him that there was a 78% probability that the Warlord allies would not respond before nightfall. He waited for news of the destruction of the airship carrying target one, Tesla. It also showed him a projection of 98% that if their departure was delayed until nightfall, they would not make London until after the Lux Invictus meeting. It was imperative that Lord Graves attend that meeting in person.
“We shall depart now,” Graves replied. “Please use the heading I gave you. We will catch a favorable tail wind if we leave as soon as possible.”
“Very good, Milord,” Bates had learned to never question these pronouncements. Bates assumed the knowledge came from his ability as a Master of the Lux Invictus. The captain raised his fist to his chest in the Order’s salute. “Lux,” he said.
“Invictus,” Graves replied, returned the salute, as the man turned and marched away. Mr. Treacle closed the cabin door. Yes, Graves thought, it had been a useful journey. Operation Jade, which would have given the Moscow Circle a power-base in the Orient had been stalled, and the most powerful second-circle agent of the Moscow Master had been suborned into Graves's personal service. The Master Beyond approved.
As Bates closed the door, a chittering sound from Mr. Treacle filled the room. Graves frowned at the sound. From Graves’ mouth came a deeper answering response. The sound caused Mr. Treacle to cower against the wall, as if being beaten by invisible clubs.
“That will be enough of that,” Graves said to
the servant, sternly. “Bates has his uses, and is not to be touched. Your hunger is of no concern in this.”
The dwarf slowly crawled across the Persian carpet on his hands and knees towards Graves. As he came near the seated man, there was another wave of rattling sound, much like the murmur of black beetle wings, from Lord Graves’ mouth. There was a rustle of cloth, and a silver-grey tentacle snaked across the desk top. Lord Graves held up his hand towards it.
“Be at ease,” Graves said soothingly to his servant. “Soon, you will have a whole city to feed on. It is the natural order of things.”
Chapter 24
Wind Dancer Bridge, Calcutta Air Tower
William Hunting Owl walked on to the Bridge from his day cabin, Saira and Guang trailing along behind him. After what the Chin swordsman had done for Will during their time in Calcutta, Will was inclined to let him stay aboard. Guang had made a home for himself with Saira’s Tigers. That made arrangements for his presence on board easier. The bustle on the Bridge paused, as Will was announced by Lawrence Rogers.
“Captain on deck!” The Englishman called ceremoniously. Will waved away the pause, one-handed.
“As you were,” he ordered. “Keep doing what you’re doing.” He crossed the Bridge to stand by his First Officer. Saira and Guang stood together across the room.
“Well, Lawrence,” he said taking a sip of Wu’s special chai blend from his mug, “are we about ready to get out of here?”
Rogers nodded.
“I believe so, Captain,” he replied. Rogers raised his voice, “All right you Air Devils! Bridge Stations Report!” the first to speak was Naomi Walters at the ship switchboard.
“All ship stations report ready for lift,” she announced, in her poised, British voice. “Oh, Bridge Talker ready!” Naomi added, almost as an afterthought.
The next to speak was Michael McGuire.
“Aetherwave station ready! We have clearance to undock from Calcutta Authority,” he added, while adjusting knobs on his console.
“Helm ready to lift,” Jarro growled. The Wheel looking like a toy in his hands.
“Elevation ready! Awaiting orders!” said Sukoto Matori. As the ships Elevator, she controlled the ballast and the ship’s trim. The last to report was a new station built to handle Tesla’s additions to the ships abilities.
“Gadget Station ready!” Lady Hadley reported. The brass badge of the Wind Dancer crew was still shiny on her vest. Tesla stood at her side. He walked over to Will and Lawrence.
“Are you not going to try the chairs, Captain?” Tesla asked, inclining his head towards the raised dais on which stood three wicker chairs. They were light-weight, with swivel bases that were bolted to the deck. Will looked at Tesla in surprise.
“Well, I suppose I could,” Hunting Owl allowed. He climbed up, sitting down gingerly at first. His back relaxed into the cushions.
“Say, you might want to try this, Lawrence,” Will said. Rogers shook his head wordlessly, preferring to stand.
“Well, suit yourself,” Will said. He gestured at Tesla to take the other seat. Hunting Owl approved of the command chair. He could see the whole of the bridge from here. There was even a place for his mug in the chair’s arm.
“Mr. Rogers,” he said formally.
“Yes, Captain,” Rogers replied.
“Let’s cast off,” Hunting Owl ordered. “We have a Patron to get to London,” he looked sideways at Tesla, “and a schedule to keep.”
“Aye Aye Captain,” said Rogers, “Casting off.”
Acknowledgements
They say that while writing is a solitary profession, publishing is not. That certainly is true of this current volume you hold in your hands. Without the work of my editor and publisher, Ria Loader, this book would not exist; it would also not be nearly as good.
I want to thank Joshua Books for his ceaseless enthusiasm and input on electrical aerial fighting. Any faults in the science are purely my own.
Thank you to Stephen from GearCon, both for inviting me, and for his help in getting my writing out there. My appreciation to Lupa for helping the wandering author. Appreciation to both of you for your care.
Finally, I want to thank you for reading this. Your support and reviews on Amazon are what keep me writing.
Thank you all!
Author’s afterword
Thank you for living for a while in the world of Wind Dancer. If you liked this story, I encourage you to help others find it by adding a review on Amazon. Writing a review is one of the best ways to be part of making my next book better. Writing is a bit of a solitary profession; I treasure every piece of feedback – write a little, write a lot – I will read every word.
A list of my other stories can be found on the following pages, together with a bonus story from my other book series.
My blog can be found at ravenbond.com
Raven Bond
July, 2016
STRONG ADEPT
Episode 1
(where Jinhao, renegade Imperial Adept, meets Owen Strong, Sorcerer)
The Resting Lion Inn, Lou Hu, China, 1884 A.D.
“The Trader has decided that we shall stay the night here and go on in the morning,” Lee Shen said to Jinhao. “You can take first place in the stable loft. I shall lodge in the main house.”
Jinhao nodded wearily at the old trail boss. He was looking particularly tired this evening. It had been a long day of travel that started at dawn in their last camp. Everyone was ready for the ease and relative safety of an established rest stop.
She had examined the ancient inn with approval in the flickering light of the oil lanterns. It had seen better days but was still respectable, with a strong wall around it and plenty of oil lanterns to banish the darkness from the main areas. Shadows still lingered in the corners of the warren of buildings. She dismounted, handing her reins to the stable boy who stood attentive in the courtyard.
She turned, giving the dismount order to the other caravan guards, together with their individual special tasks for the evening. The more routine tasks would take be taken care of without her supervision. The pack attendants began unloading the Trader’s boxes under the watchful eyes of the guards who would see the goods placed safely in the stables.
She doubted, however, that anyone would be interested in the Trader Chen Lu’s dyed silks, which made up the bulk of their cargo. To her eye the tightly packed bales looked much the same as must a hundred other such parcels. However, she set a careful watch over the travel cases in the same way as she had on the long road journey, more in an attempt to assuage the nerves of the old Trader than out of necessity.
Chen Lu, Master Trader from the Imperial City, had assured her during a long night watch that the dye patterns were exceptional enough to command very high prices among the foreigners, and should be guarded with particular care. As those were anonymously rolled up and out of casual view, she took precautions but was not particularly concerned. The guards knew their job and she could leave them to it. The few pieces of silver and fine amber jewelry the Trader carried were in a small strong box that rarely left his side.
The merchant caravan had traveled many miles over the last five days, traveling down the Imperial Road from the capital to the border town of Lou Hu, stopping at camp sites along the way. The town of Lou Hu was regarded as the gateway from the Middle Kingdom of Han to the outlying province of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was its own special city. It was the demesne of the Great Dragon, Lohan, who in his wisdom, and for his amusement, allowed a mixture of government. The Government comprised both Chinese lords and the foreign British, all advising, and definitely answering to the Dragon, rather than the Imperial Court. It was said that many years ago the Dragon had greeted and allowed the British Traders to enter the covered bay because of their Magia and their sorcery, both of which made for shiny things to intrigue him. The Dragon had then, it was said, ordered the Imperial Emperor to open the area to the British. Whatever the truth of it, Hong Kong prov
ince was the only Imperially sanctioned trading port for foreigners in all of China. It was also true that Hong Kong was ostensibly administered by a joint Government of the Han and the British Empires and had been so for many years. And Jinhao knew of the Dragon.
In the distance Jinhao heard the whistle of an approaching steam train. The train would travel all the way to the city of Hong Kong. The Trader Chen Lu, not being wealthy enough to make use of the steam railroad, still led a trade caravan down to the province of Hong Kong every spring, as did many others. This meant pack horses, attendants, and, in these uncertain times, more guards than was usual to protect against bandits. The increased requirement for experienced guards afforded Jinhao the perfect disguise for her to flee the Imperial City. After all, she reasoned, who would remark on one more swordswoman caravan guard?
She had quickly displayed the acumen and discipline that had caused Lee Shen to appoint her guard leader. Unknown to Jinhao, the canny old trail boss had recognized in her the training of an Imperial Adept. Despite her best attempts, Jinhao stood out like a wolf among the sheepdogs. The Trader intended to have a smooth trip with no dominance issues among the guards, and he had readily appointed her to ensure that none occurred. Jinhao had picked up the reins of authority without any difficulties. Given that Imperial Adepts were usually held close to the Throne as bodyguards, he wisely said nothing of his suspicions. He was simply glad that she was along. If she was pursuing her own clandestine interests at the same time, he could respect that. Should bandits attack the caravan, he was sure that Jinhao would deal with them in short order.
Adepts channeled a mystic force into martial prowess beyond the capabilities of ordinary folk. Surely everyone knew that. Aside from that, he did not care if he inconvenienced the Dowager Empress by borrowing her Adept. His disregard for the feelings of the Dowager Empress was a sentiment that, if Jinhao had known it, would have caused her less worry on the journey. Although he had accorded her the loft sleeping space, as befitted her rank as guard boss, rather than accept it, she would keep her usual practice and take her sleep in a place where making a quick response to danger was assured.
