“We’ll make it!” Dashwood said. They both started running faster until they were sprinting flat out. Once through those gates, they were in no-man’s-land and no one could touch them. Everything started and ended at the gates.
The mustached guard in his leather jerkin appeared before the gates, blocking their escape with his large, hairy body. He braced his legs, ready to meet them.
“Elle, when I say so, you go for the gap between his legs. You get out of here and back to the ship, do you hear me?” Dashwood said.
“Right,” she said, even though she had no intention of leaving him behind. He was her captain, after all.
A few feet before the guard, Dashwood yelled “Now!”
Elle threw her weight to the ground and skidded on the gravel straight through the guard’s bandy legs. As she slipped through, she lifted her fist and slammed it into the man’s crotch.
Her move caught the guard completely by surprise. His eyes bulged and he doubled over in pain just in time to meet Dashwood’s right hook. The second blow finished him off and he toppled over like a fallen tree.
Elle and Dashwood slid through the gap in the gate just before it closed behind them. They kept running, because behind them a mob of angry pirates was gathering on the parapets of the city walls. Some of the men started hurling rocks down. These smashed to the ground, and Elle had to dodge them a few times before they were out of striking range. After what seemed like an eternity of running, the welcoming ladder of the Inanna came into view. Elle and Dashwood scampered up it and into the ship without hesitation.
“Evenin’, Captain.” Heller was waiting by the doors for them. “Everything all right?” He gave them both an enquiring look as he took in their disheveled states.
“All crew present and accounted for. You two were the last on board.” Heller chuckled. “Seems like no one was having any luck tonight. There has been much grumbling about empty pockets round here. But it looks like we can close her up.”
“Oh, thank the gods,” Dashwood gasped. “I was dreading the thought of having to leave crew behind.” He was leaning forward, with his hands on his knees, gasping and panting for breath.
“I’m sorry, sir, you were going to leave crew behind?” Heller looked even more puzzled.
“They’re after us. I had to stab him. He was after me,” Elle gasped as she stumbled into the hold and collapsed onto her knees utterly spent and winded.
“What? You stabbed someone?” Heller’s caterpillar eyebrows knitted together in consternation. “In Tiger City?”
“There’s no time to explain. Just get Atticus to take off!” Dashwood said.
Heller gave the captain a puzzled look.
“… Before that mob behind us have time to open the gates and come after us.”
“Aye, Captain.” Heller pulled at the wheel that operated the doors, and once they were closed, he sealed the hatch firmly.
“That should keep ’em out while we fire the old girl up, Captain,” he said. “Now you catch your breath while I sort out the orders. Shall I meet you on the bridge as soon as you’re ready?”
“Yes, carry on at will, Mr. Heller. Just get us out of here,” Dashwood said.
It was not unusual for ships to take off and berth in Tiger City at unsocial times of day and night. Pirates did, after all, keep unconventional hours. But the departure of the Inanna was an incident that was remembered in Tiger City for many years afterwards.
Many sets of eyes watched the giant ship lift off and sail to the freedom of the night sky.
“She’s heading due east,” said one pirate as he stared at her receding lights.
“Aye, heading for the Orient. I heard someone say some of the crew were talking of treasure hidden in a lost city. In the jungles of Siam, of all places. Said the whole place was built of gold.”
A few pirates said “Arr” in agreement.
“There’s a redhead girl on board. The one old Geoffrey told us about. I recon Ben sussed her and she killed him in cold blood when he went to claim his prize,” another said.
There were more mutters about the unfairness of the fight.
“I think that story about the hundred thousand pounds is true. I recon that’s why she stabbed him,” yet another said.
“Now that’s a sweet haul, if ever I’ve seen one,” a fifth pirate added. “Just imagine. A hold full of Siamese gold and a trunk full of pounds waiting for you when you get home. The man who gets all that will be richer than the king of England himself”
There were more nods of agreement.
“There’s a lot of jungle between here and China. More than you’ll ever imagine. I’d say that’s a perfect place for a bird as big as the Inanna to disappear,” a pirate named Colin said.
“A lot of jungle indeed,” old Geoffrey muttered. Someone had helped him up the stairs.
“A fine haul indeed,” someone repeated.
“The kind of treasure one could only imagine,” someone else said.
“Come, let’s get a head start before the others,” another said.
They began to walk away, nodding in agreement. “Hang on, we saw her first. We should have first dibs,” Colin said.
“No, we saw her first!”
“No, we did!”
“I say it’s every pirate for himself. Finders, keepers,” old Geoffrey declared.
By this time, more pirates had started slinking down the steps from the parapets. Not to be outdone by another, this very quickly became a scramble to get to the ground.
And so it was that Tiger City saw the biggest flotilla of pirate ships ever assembled take to the sky. All of them in pursuit of riches. And their target, the Inanna and the valuable cargo she held.
CHAPTER 18
FRENCH INDOCHINA
“Eastward ho!” Elle called across the bridge.
“What’s the weather doing, Mrs. Marsh?” Captain Dashwood asked. He was sitting in the captain’s chair, every bit the master of the ship this morning.
“Fair as is, Captain, but for a few banks of cloud east, northeast. The monsoons are more or less over, so she should be fine.”
“Very well, full steam ahead, Mr. Crow. Daylight’s a burning!”
The Inanna creaked and she surged through the sky. Atticus pulled the signal lever so that the position on the round dial read, Full steam ahead. Far below in the engine room was an identical signal linked up to the one in the bridge. When Atticus adjusted the signal on the bridge, the one in the engine room responded accordingly, telling the engineers how much power was needed for the thrusters. It was a most effective and fast method of communicating across the 800-foot expanse of the ship.
Below the hulls of the Inanna, acre upon acre of impenetrable jungle stretched as far as the eye could see. They had been traveling at a steady speed for the better part of two weeks with no major incidents. Behind them lay the subcontinent of India, and the Bay of Bengal nestled beside the Kingdom of Siam. Before them the seemingly limitless jungles of French Indochina stretched out in an emerald carpet of trees.
Elle felt a shiver of excitement. After their escape from Tiger City, the journey had been so uneventful that she had felt the first stirrings of boredom. All those miles were behind them now and somewhere in the jungle below was the city of Angkor Wat. Their destination, if Dr. Bell’s notes were accurate, was almost in sight.
She glanced over at the captain. Neither of them had spoken about their encounter behind the curtain and the escape from Socotra, but since that night things had been almost cordial between them. She had even joined him for dinner along with Heller and Mr. Crow on a few occasions and they ended up laughing and talking until late.
The crewmates were in high spirits, and she had heard laughter coming from the mess when she came to her shift this morning. Yes, the spirit of adventure and the whisper of riches were definitely in the air. Elle allowed herself a little smile of triumph. It had not been easy to get here, but for once in her life, things were going well.
She frown
ed as she scanned the horizon. The puffy white cloud bank that had been resting in the distance was rapidly growing darker. In fact, the clouds were moving rapidly across the sky toward them like nothing she had ever seen before.
“Um, aye Captain, I think we should try to keep an eye on those clouds,” Elle said.
Dashwood rose from his seat and came to stand next to her at the observation window.
“Have you ever seen anything like it?” Elle said as she watched flashes of lightning play in the growing mass. “We are out of the monsoon season, so this sort of storm should not be happening.”
Dashwood pulled out his brass telescope and studied the sky. Elle watched the good-natured smile fade from his expression.
“Aeternae. Storm riders,” he said, snapping his telescope shut.
The crew on the bridge all grew silent at the words.
“Mr. Crow, do you think you could coax a bit more speed out of the old girl?”
“Certainly can, sir,” Mr. Crow said. He too had paled in the last few moments.
“Set a course westward—back the way we came. Bring her round as fast as you can.”
“Aye, Captain.” Mr. Crow shifted the brass signal, pushing it right into the red.
Atticus and John Kipper exchanged a worried look.
“I need bearings! Now!” Dashwood snapped.
“Um, aye, Captain.” Elle scanned the compass and the charts. “Forty degrees,” she said. “Do you mind me asking—who are we running from?”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Dashwood shook his head. “I don’t have time for this.”
The Inanna creaked and groaned under the pressure as Mr. Crow brought the massive thruster engines about. Slowly, she started changing course, cleaving a wide arc through the sky.
“Mr. Heller, I want every hand on deck. Now,” Dashwood said.
“Aye, Captain.” Mr. Heller started winding the crank handle that sounded the alarm. The braying of the microphones echoed through the ship, causing everyone to jump to attention.
“What?” Elle said. “What did I say?” Elle asked over the noise of the alarm echoing through the decks below.
“Storm riders,” Mr. Crow said.
“I thought they were just made-up stories,” she said.
“Trust me, Mrs. Marsh. They are as real as you or me,” Dashwood said. “And judging from the size of the storm clouds they are brewing, they have one seriously powerful electromancer on board.”
“So what do we do—just run?”
“As fast as we can. The Aeternae mainly hunt over open ground. They brew up a huge storm to confuse and incapacitate their quarry. Then, once the ship is helpless, they board it and strip down everything they can—and that includes metal, flesh, and bone.”
“There ain’t nothing more horrible than a ship that’s been picked clean by riders,” Mr. Crow said. His eyes were trained on the gauges and instrument panel before him, his shoulders tense.
“And how is running going to help?” Elle said.
“They avoid cities because cities usually have other electromancers. Other electromancers can access their storm clouds and neutralize them. Ergo, if we make it to the airspace over Bangkok, they might just abandon the hunt.”
“But Bangkok is more than a day away, Captain,” Elle said, looking up from her charts.
“Well then, we are simply going to have to run as fast as we can, for a whole day if need be, now won’t we?” the captain said. “Now find me the shortest route!”
Elle just stared at him as fear boiled in her stomach. She still woke in the night thinking that she was on board the Water Lily with Gertrude, the sound of gunfire deafening her ears. And she also had ample experience with the dangers of those who utilized the powers of the electromancers. Being raided again, this time by creatures with Shadow power, was just about the most terrifying thing she could imagine.
“Bearings!” Dashwood barked.
Elle jumped and turned to her charts. “Mr. Crow?”
“Full steam ahead, Sir. We are going to give them a run for their money, for sure.”
“Take her up as high as you can, Mr. Kipper. I want as much clearance as we can get in case we need to dive,” the captain said.
“Aye, Captain,” Mr. Kipper said. Even he was looking slightly perturbed.
The next hour passed in tense silence. The only sound on the bridge was the creaking of fuselage and the desperate hum of the Inanna’s engines which had been pushed to their limit.
Elle scanned the horizon with her optics. Her viewfinder locked on a shadow in the distance and she froze. She turned the little wheels of her spyglass until the image came into view. An airship painted black as night was heading toward them, her dark balloon curving gracefully above the carved hull.
“Captain! Off the starboard side. Looks like a Chinese junk,” she said.
Dashwood peered into the direction she indicated. “Why are they not running from the Aeternae?” he muttered.
“They look like they are gaining on us,” she said.
Dashwood frowned.
“Captain!” Finn burst on to the bridge “Captain!” he gasped.
“What?” Dashwood said.
“Ships aft. They are in our slipstream, sir. A clipper and two schooners. One of them has just raised their colors. Pirates, sir,” he gasped.
“What?” Dashwood said.“Mrs. Marsh. With me, please.” He snapped as he strode out of the bridge and along the gangway to the poop deck that held an observation platform. By the time they reached the deck, two more ships had appeared in view.
“What is going on?” Dashwood murmured.
“I have no idea, sir,” Elias said, looking up from his spyglass. “They just appeared from nowhere. Seems like they’ve been tracking us since Socotra.”
Dashwood swore. “If we survive this, I am going to kill with my bare hands the man who blabbed about our destination!”
A tense silence filled the deck. No one even dared to breathe.
“Elias, you are in charge of the poop deck. I want someone on the communications tubes at all times. Updates every five minutes. Every five minutes, do you hear me?”
“Aye, sir!”
“Finn, man the cannons. Call Fat Paul and the Doc up here to help you. Tell Mick to keep her engines running no matter what. We are going to need every pair of hands we can find to fight off these bastards . Hopefully the riders will go for one of these other ships, if we manage to hit one hard enough to slow them down.”
No one spoke.
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Aye, Captain.”
Their answer was punctuated by the dull thunder of cannon fire. The Inanna shuddered as a blast of spark bloomed in the air beside them.
“Battle stations!” Dashwood shouted.
“Officers to the bridge!”
Elle ran after him as he strode along the gangway, his coattails flapping behind him.
When they reached the bridge, Heller grabbed Elle by her elbow. “Here,” he said as he thrust her Colt into her hand. “Found some ammo for it too.” He pushed the paper box into her other hand. “Save yourself, if it comes to that, lass. Don’t let them take you.”
“Thank you, Heller,” Elle said. She gripped his large hand.
“Bearings!” Dashwood shouted behind them. “Mr. Heller, you have orders to fire at will. Now move it!”
“Aye, Captain,” Elle said as she stowed her pistol and resumed her post.
The Aeternae were now much closer. She could glimpse the outline of their dreadnought through the clouds.
More cannon fire exploded around them. The ship recoiled as the Inanna returned fire.
“Mr. Crow, I need more power,” Dashwood said. “On Mrs. Marsh’s bearings. Mr. Kipper, take her down as fast as you can.”
They all turned and looked at the captain. “But, sir, that would place us in a headlong collision course with the pirates …”
“Do it! Now!” he barked.
&
nbsp; The Inanna groaned as her hull absorbed the pressure exerted upon her as Mr. Crow and Mr. Kipper adjusted course. Elle kept her eyes trained on her instruments while the storm rider cloud grew bigger and bigger before them. Behind them, the flotilla of airships trailed in the Inanna’s wake.
“When I give the order, I want you to dive. Full steam. Nose to the ground. Do I make myself clear?” Dashwood said.
“Aye, Captain,” they all answered.
The captain was planning a risky maneuver which intended to flick the ships behind them into the Aeternae’s storm cloud, using the Inanna’s thruster updraft when she dived.
There were no guarantees that the other ships would follow. There was also no guarantee that they would be able to level off before they plunged into the ground either, but right now the maneuver was their only option. Elle bit her lip before she could say anything. Now was not the time to question the captain’s authority. This was do-or-die time.
She checked her Colt at her side. She had loaded it in the few spare moments she had between Dashwood’s commands. She hoped Heller had taken good care of her Colt and stored it safely. If there was any dirt in it, it could misfire or jam. Though there was no time to worry about it now. They had far bigger problems to face.
The Inanna bucked forward and rocked as she took more fire from behind. There was a slight shudder as something impacted on the side of the hull just below them.
“What was that?” Elle said.
“Keep your eyes on the navigation, Mrs. Marsh. Let me worry about the thumps and knocks, all right?” Dashwood said.
“Yes, listen to your captain,” a strange voice said from behind them, followed by a snigger.
Elle turned round to see two men armed with shotguns at the entrance to the bridge. One was wearing a battered tricolor hat. She could have sworn it was the same hat worn by Salty Ben in Socotra.
“I know you. You were at my table in the tavern,” she said before she could stop herself.
He lifted his hat with a flourish. “Colin at your service, ma’am. And this is Ed. We have come to collect the bounty.”
“Bounty? What bounty?” Dashwood said. He had drawn his pistol, which caused both Colin and Ed to take aim at him.
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