by Jeffrey Cook
There wasn't any great chance to keep up, but the last three days had captured the town's attention and much of its sympathies. Few things inspire people like common cause, so as long as there was some hope, even faint, they were prepared to offer it. Miss Bowe and Eddy were among the first to board fishing boats; Eddy had some hope of getting a clear shot with Franzini above decks, but did not.
Franzini's men, perhaps to dissuade pursuit until they were out onto fully open waters, threw Matthew and some of the less cooperative sailors overboard as soon as they thought themselves out of Eddy's easy range. A mad scramble followed to get to them, and thanks to the skilled boaters and a few strong swimmers, we lost only one of the ship's crew. Saving Matthew, it turns out, was somewhat easier. Even in his starved and weakened condition, he swims fine. We all thank God that he is not added to the tally of deaths for which our Italian traitor is responsible. Giovanni Franzini has not only earned our own company's hatred, but the ire of much of the colony itself.
From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,
February 9th, 1817
33º51' S 151º12' E
We now have some further information on what led to this series of events – and on Giovanni Franzini himself – straight from Miss Penn. Before they ever signed on with us, they were traveling through England as performers with another company. After the war, there was significant demand for entertainment, and whatever else there is to the gypsies, they have a significant reputation as performers so long as you keep an eye on your pockets and pouches.
As such, they were easily able to take their act to most traveling shows due to Miss Penn's presence. Her mixed heritage made her not entirely welcome among the gypsies due to scorn for her mother's indiscretion, but she was gypsy enough. In the interest of being honest – and since Miss Bowe was occasionally saying it in front of us anyway – Miss Penn admitted her birth name was Jewel Tshilaba.
Franzini, too, lives under a chosen name. He was born Joseph Frank in Eastern Europe. The entire Italian persona is a matter of showmanship and personal affectation.
When they met in Italy, she had worked with two other men previously performing a similar magic act, with her talents as a fortune teller and capable assistant being a good part of the draw. Indeed, she was much of the act. In better circumstances, I would have been fascinated to learn as much as I now have about how the showman's craft is done. Many of his tricks are her ability with sleight of hand and distraction, though his quick hands and skill with misdirection certainly have some part in the act. His capabilities as a gambler, skilled and knowledgeable even when he didn't cheat, were a great help in adding to their income as well.
The owner of one of the traveling shows had connections in higher places. Her ties to the superstitions of her own people and piecemeal study of the lore and histories of others caught their attention. That Giovanni Franzini had a way of allying with the worst sorts of people, who often have useful information, also aided them a great deal.
They were approached well ahead of time by Lord Montague's agents, who asked them to work for him. Not wishing to be in the service of a gentleman of England, especially in the company of English soldiers, given the reputation of foreigners immediately after the war, they refused. When Lord Montague would not accept refusal, they were able to escape and make their way to America. This was when Montague had Mr. Toomes bring Miss Penn to the attention of Lord Donovan, who was at the time looking for people with a working knowledge of the places rumored to have some mystical connections or other. Soon Mr. Toomes and I were sent after them at Donovan's expense.
From the beginning, though they were hired by Lord Donovan's money, they were working for Lord Montague. They were to help us in our general adventure, but mostly steer us to start a war with New Spain and to help allow York chances to seize the battle suit or information about it. This was made doubly clear in New York when Mr. Franzini first stepped apart from our group and to his previous favored haunts, where he was met by some of York's associates. From that time, whenever he had the chance, Mr. Franzini was reporting to York about our plans and progress. Miss Penn was left out of these meetings and expected mostly to hold her tongue.
This was also the source of much of the argument between the pair of them, first heightened when Miss Penn backed Miss Bowe's failed argument against our initial attack on Florida. Miss Penn claims that though she was complicit in the spying from the start, she had a change of heart some time ago and truly supports our efforts now.
She still felt she could not tell any of us about any of it because she was not certain that we would not imprison her or worse. Mr. Franzini repeatedly guaranteed her that if she spoke against him, he would do everything in his power to kill her – or at least make sure she 'went down with him.’ Apparently she holds herself as enough of a gypsy that until she had the solitude of all of Australia between herself and Franzini, and only her most trusted friend for company, she could not bring herself to speak against him and risk the loss of her freedom or her life.
It is to her credit that she has now submitted herself to our judgment and holds herself fully responsible for Mrs. Fisher's death, as well as that of the drowned sailor. Though she feared Franzini, and had known him to be dangerous at times, she never believed he'd fall to murdering old women and threatening children. Even without any loyalty left to him, she claims he felt 'cornered.'
The rest of us are uncertain what to do with Miss Penn now. She has served us well at times, and by her own admission, she was not supposed to help us in the Maori wars. She simply knew that she could be of some help against the Moroccan. Indeed, she has been most helpful in this regard, apparently having researched his style of superstition in the time since we first learned his origins. Such superstitions and tricks certainly make him quite the fearsome figure to some native peoples, apparently. Despite this, his belief in such things has also made him vulnerable to the widespread beliefs in a gypsy's capacity for powerful curses, which explains his reactions in New Zealand.
There is some thought that she should at least be tried for not telling us information which might have saved Mrs. Fisher's life, but she claims to have not believed Franzini would stoop to murder, or letting himself be injured, and her coming forward now almost certainly saved the dirigible and those of us who had been aboard. No one doubts that for most people, fear can be a powerful motivator, and that she finally came forward at all is admirable. Miss Bowe also speaks on her behalf, of course.
From the little we have been able to determine from the prisoners we took aboard the ship and those other people from the tavern where Franzini ran his game, he was quite afraid that Miss Penn would eventually give him up, and as such, he was preparing to take action before the two women got back. Their accounts also credit Mr. Edwards with helping push him towards this plan of action, lending some credence to Miss Penn's comments regarding outside influences on Franzini. None of them are certain if Edwards had any links to Montague or York.
The women had made a great deal of haste on the way back, moving in short, faster jumps using the ornithopter to get back as quickly as possible, as soon as Miss Penn had steeled herself enough to inform Miss Bowe of the treachery.
On a note which will, in the long run, be important on a larger scale than any of us, they did reach well into Western Australia, close enough that Miss Bowe believes had they continued, they would have reached the regions mapped by the Dutch and the French along the western coastline within a couple of weeks. They mapped most of the region, though I cannot give either of them a great deal of credit for their map-making skills. On the other hand, it is a good enough map that we should be able to verify the majority of it, and do a better job with the cartography on our own passage out of Australia.
In a nice inversion of a small part of Giovanni Franzini's plans, we will be taking on new crew members, after their bravery during the traumatic events. When we depart, Sir James has agreed that Mr. Carver and Mr. Heller should join us. I a
m fast becoming acquainted with these men, who, like most of the locals, are a bit rough around the edges. Eddy, of course, has taken to both of them quite well. Sir James is, even now, introducing them to his idea of a card game while he learns more of them, and makes certain he wishes to have them aboard.
Mr. Carver, admittedly, is a convict and exile, sent here for stealing food, though we, at least, have forgiven him that much after all he has done on our behalf. It is all the more forgivable with so much of the world, it seems, starving during the past year. He is also friendly with the local reverend, exile having apparently made him particularly reflective.
Mr. Heller is both African and Dutch, born in the Cape Colony. At some point in the French wars, as that strategic location was passed back and forth between Britain and the occupied Dutch, he took the opportunity to leave it, joining the Royal Navy. When the end of the war brought less need for sailors, he recently decided to try his luck in Australia. His birthplace led to a most bizarre curiosity from Miss Bowe. She questioned him in the most unrepeatable string of noises to which I have ever listened – and I have heard the woman speak the Maori tongue. Mr. Heller smiled calmly and said “Sorry, I don't. But you sound just like my grandmother.”
Miss Coltrane, Miss Wright, and Dr. Mitchell have gone to work on repairing the damage done to the ship in the exchange, getting it back to the prime working condition they had worked so hard to achieve. I did hear Miss Wright speaking to herself, stating that in memory of Mrs. Fisher, she would ensure they at least started this journey with no soot, ash, coal-powder or black powder darkening their clothes.
For the time being, Miss Penn is with Miss Bowe. I cannot venture to guess what she might be thinking or worrying about, other than knowing she is quite distraught over all of these events. While much remains to be discussed among our company, I intend to settle on the side of Christian charity and forgiveness, and acknowledge that she did come forward in the end.
From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,
February 10th, 1817
33º51' S 151º12' E
Sir James announced that he was calling a meeting among the lot of us. His first words were that he had spoken to all of us in privacy, save for his sister's presence in some cases for advice and propriety. After all of it, he had determined our course. I have attempted to reproduce his speech as best I am able, for I think he put it far better than I would in simply trying to sum it up.
“I have spoken with each of you, together and apart. In that time, I not only found out something of what we all wish to accomplish in going forward, but have confirmed what I already knew when I was rescued from Col. York: that you are men and women of exceptional quality. You pursued a man through two wars and around the world in order to rescue me. You have been through hardships most people can't even dream of. You have pulled together through such adversity as would humble some of the greatest men of our time. You were chosen for this journey because of those qualities, but have since exceeded the wildest dreams Lord Donovan or anyone else could have imagined. And I am honored to serve with each and every one of you.
“After all that has happened, all you have learned of what I am and am not, you have still shown a willingness to serve, whether out of loyalty to me, loyalty to England, or some other goal. This quite simply humbles me beyond words. I can imagine no greater aim than to try to do right by each and every one of you – and in some way try to thank you for your faith and all that you have endured.
“I know that we have our orders from England, from Toomes and Parliament and all the rest. And to this, I say damn the orders and priority as they were given. We will travel to Japan, and to Africa, each in their time. But we were not hired simply to be diplomats. We were not all brought aboard to be traveling soldiers. No! We are here because a good man thought that together, we might be able to do the amazing, the inspiring, the impossible. And so we will. We are explorers in addition to whatever else we may call ourselves – or, if you prefer, followers along Dr. Bowe's routes.
“To this we shall return. For there is one feat upon the list which was, from the outset, thought unlikely. We will have to do it without much assistance from the dirigible. We will have to conquer this obstacle without much aid from my sister and her machine, though she will certainly play some part. We will have to travel to a country where we are not entirely certain to be welcome and enlist the aid of people who may be reluctant. In Dr. Bowe's journals, there is talk of a great mountain near the country of Nepal. The locals and the journals call it Chomolungma. Dr. Bowe claims to have established a camp a significant distance up the mountain before he had to turn back.
“Climbing that mountain and finding Dr. Bowe's highest camp would, without a doubt, prove to England that the doctor made his journeys and was every bit the explorer he claimed. Miss Bowe has assured me that he did make that trip, though she was too young to actually climb it with him. She knows something of the locals, calling them Shar Khombo. She believes she can enlist their aid, and I, for one, believe her, though she also admits she recalls only a few words of their tongue. We will have to practice and prepare ourselves for some time, those who wish to make the journey, but we happen to have a skilled climber with us, access to a great many tools, ability to make more if we need them, and a smaller mountain range on which to practice our skills.
“But I am not content, I am afraid, to merely find Dr. Bowe's camp. I believe with such people and skill as are in this room, we can see the peak, or at the very least, above these damned clouds. I should very much like to see the sun after all of this past year in darkness. I will not demand anyone come with me, but I believe we already have a couple of volunteers. Gregory, I would ask that you come, at least to Bowe's camp, so we can establish proof of our journey. I will take any other help I can get. Should we fail, then we do not risk anything that each of us have not already risked a dozen times or more on this journey. But should we succeed, then perhaps we will earn the name given us by the Maori, in jest. Make no mistake: you are already heroes to me and to many. If we can achieve what Bowe did not, climb above the clouds, conquer this mountain as surely as we have conquered war – and seemingly the world against us at times – we shall no longer be just men. Lord forgive me my blasphemy, but any other words do not do it justice. We shall be gods of the sun. Do I have enough faith here still that anyone will join me?”
After that, I'm not certain anyone could refuse the man, or the honor. And this is how we now find ourselves in the position of preparing for the sanity-defying feat of conquering what Dr. Bowe claims to be the highest mountain he has seen in any of his journeys.
From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,
March 2nd, 1817
33º58' S 150º18' E
We have been at the practice of scaling the mountains near New South Wales since only a few days past Sir James's recruitment speech. Miss Coltrane and Miss Wright will not be traveling most of the way up the mountain with us, but instead are helping by creating a device to help keep the camera heated so it will still function at a high altitude. They are also working to make our necessary gear as lightweight as possible and devising new gear which may help us on our way. We will be following Dr. Bowe's route as nearly as we can, having his specific listing of the obstacles he faced at several points along the mountain in his three documented attempts to scale it.
Miss Bowe has scaled numerous mountains before, by her accounting. In both the American west, and now Australia, we have seen some evidence of this, so her advice, as well as Dr. Bowe's, has been our guide in preparation. The training aboard airships and Oxford's studies relating to the craft have also given us some information. Sir James's books are quite helpful about the effects of flight at differing heights, the maximum height which an airship can be flown safely at, and the best means to deal with these effects.
Between these sources, the Captain's training at altitude and his advice, and the best technology we can obtain for the purpose, Sir James, Eddy, Mr.
Heller, Miss Bowe, and myself will be attempting the full climb. For the sake of propriety and experience, Miss Penn will be accompanying us as high as she feels comfortable with, but does not believe she is in any condition to make the full climb. Provided we can get some aid from the Shar Khombo, the dirigible will then be taking us as high as the Captain feels he can safely climb, and dropping us off partially up the mountain. There was some discussion on this matter, with some feeling that may have taken some of the challenge from the feat, but it would also take significant time. Besides, the early climbing poses little risk compared to the higher elevations, if the accounts from Bowe's journals are correct.
Miss Penn's status among us was ultimately decided by the Captain. He elected to forgive her for what happened to his wife, with thanks for her help in saving his ward. It was a difficult scene for anyone to watch, but if Captain Fisher can hold a grudge over it only for Franzini and Larkin, the rest of us were not going to second-guess him. That she also risked her life to help with the Maori Wars went a long way in speaking on her behalf. After going through that with the rest of us, even as afraid as she still was of Franzini, there could be little doubt where her loyalties lay.
We also must face the Moroccan again, and no one doubts that she will have a great part to play in that confrontation. She continues to believe that he is the reason that York has so accurately predicted our actions. Of course, there is nothing to this, but he gives her as much credit for magical craft as she gives him, so each side at least has its own share of tricks. I almost wish for some superstition now, for I would very much like to believe that the enemies who have so vexed us are under some manner of curse. They've certainly earned it.
The training is most definitely difficult. We are all aware of past problems with my shoulder, the uncertainty of its reaction to the intense cold, and that while I am a healthy young man, I am not the champion athlete that Eddy, Miss Bowe, and Sir James are. I am training at the full intensity of the others now in hopes it will help me make the trip, but they will be taking as much of the load and difficulty off of me for the trip that they can. Even as much as Dr. Mitchell has been able to lighten the camera from the device I carried in the war years, it is still one of the heaviest and most cumbersome pieces of equipment we are taking with us, so they will be trading it among themselves whenever it is not in use, and I will be responsible for a minimum of gear. I would remain on the ship, so as not to slow them or cause other difficulties, but Sir James asked otherwise. He considers documentation of the feat ahead of us almost as important, for our purposes, as performing it.
