by Craig Zerf
‘Yep,’ agreed Nathaniel. ‘What heavy weapons do you have?’
‘You mean apart from the rifles and pistols?’ Asked Griffin.
Nathaniel nodded.
‘Nothing.’
The marine raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t want to recount?’ He asked with a grin. ‘No worries,’ he continued. ‘Let’s see what we can salvage off the battle wagons that we destroyed. There’s every chance that we can get all four of the mallet guns working again. Then we start by placing them on the corner watch towers. That will give us a massive range of overlapping fields of fire. Then we dig two large dry moats, basically deep wide trenches, one some twenty yards from the walls and another about sixty yards away. Drawbridges, or mobile bridges of some sort, across them so that access can only be had if you give permission. That will stop any direct threat from battle wagons. We need to rally the townsfolk, form regiments, write up a roster of patrols, supply acquisition, fresh water...’
The mayor held his hands up. ‘Whoa. Enough. I get it. Before we start I need to discuss this with the town committee. This is a democracy after all.’
Nathaniel nodded in agreement. ‘Fine. But remember, you are making a life and death decision here. They will send another battle column, that is a given. If you allow me to help you prepare then you stand a chance. At least in the short term. And right now...well, that’s all that one can ask for.’
The marine stood up. ‘Mayor. I will take your leave,’ he said as he walked to the door, followed by his small entourage.
‘Give me an hour,’ asked Griffin.
‘Of course,’ agreed the marine.
‘Oh, Nathaniel,’ said the mayor. ‘One last thing. If they send an airship and you aren’t here to protect us, have you got any ideas on what we would do?’
The marine looked at the chief engineer. ‘Torville?’ He asked. ‘What would the townsfolk do?’
The thick necked man shook his head before he spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
‘They would all die.’
Chapter 28
Nathaniel sat astride his horse and oversaw the teams of townsfolk working on the dry moats. In the distance more men were working on the wreckages of the battle wagons, stripping them of all and any equipment that may be of value. An earlier survey had shown that three of the mallet guns were still in working order and the forth one would need some work done on its boiler and steam pipes before it could be up and running once more.
Floating just above the marine’s right hand was a small, spluttering ball of orange fire. It waxed and waned, growing as large as a pumpkin and shrinking to the size of a baseball. Nathaniel had been practicing whenever he had the chance, spreading his net of power as far as he could, drawing it in and then releasing it as fire. But there was so little life-force left in the land that all he could create were mere parlor tricks. Cigar lighters and fire starters. Small balls of plasma to cast some light in the night.
He banished the flame as he looked up to see the shimmer of something approaching in the far distance. Using his far-looking powers he trained his focus on the image and smiled.
It was his friend, Captain Tobias and his Landship, the Gwendolyn, complete with outriders.
The marine spurred his mount and galloped towards the approaching wagon. As he drew closer one of the outriders moved towards him and, as they got closer, Nathaniel realized with a shock that he knew them.
‘Jethro,’ he called out in greeting to the first man that he had met after he awoke in this new time and place.
‘Raggedy man,’ returned Jethro. ‘Looks like you’ve gone up in the world.’
‘Looks can be deceiving,’ countered Nathaniel. ‘So, you ride with Captain Tobias now?’
‘Yep. He’s a good man. Told us about you, the hero of Cutter’s Pass. Always knew that you were carrying that axe for a reason.’
‘Jethro, what are you and Tobias doing here? You knew that the town was going to be scoured so why come?’
‘We knew,’ confirmed the outrider. ‘That’s why we came. Reckoned that the people would need help. Women, children being cast out into the badlands. It’s not right.’
‘Good man,’ said Nathaniel. ‘As you can see, “The Scouring” didn’t quite go as the Highmen planned.’
Jethro grinned. ‘I would venture to say that it went about as far wrong as any event could possibly hope to ever go. What actually happened to them?’
The marine turned in his saddle and pointed at the Leviathan that hung over the town. ‘That happened to them. In a big way. Now we’re busy fortifying the town, scavenging the mallet guns and ammo. Creating some serious defenses.’
‘You’ll need some, raggedy man,’ added Jethro. ‘When the Highmen council find out about this they are going to come down on you like the proverbial ton of crap. You have earned yourself a world of hurt.’
The marine smiled ruefully. ‘It’s nothing that I haven’t dealt with before, Jethro. I can assure you that. And I have prevailed.’
The outrider nodded. ‘I believe you, raggedy man,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I believe you. In fact, I suspect that the Highmen may be in for a big surprise, and I can’t say that it’s overdue. Time that things got shook up. Time that someone stopped children being sacrificed on the altar of greed and power. It’s high time.’
‘I agree,’ affirmed Nathaniel. ‘We shall talk later. I need to touch base with Captain Tobias.’
Jethro saluted and the marine rode towards the Gwendolyn, reining in as he reached the side ramp entrance.
The Landship ground to a halt, steam panting from its brakes and smoke boiling from the stack on the topdeck as the side ramp lowered with a mashing of gears and a squeaking of un-oiled guide rails. Standing at the top was Captain Tobias, his lit pipe in his mouth and his top hat pushed back to a precariously sharp angle.
‘Hey, Hammerman,’ he shouted. ‘Come aboard.’
Nathaniel dismounted and ran up the ramp, shaking hands with the captain at the top. The steel ramp squealed upwards as the marine walked inside, following Tobias through the bowels of the ship and upwards to the topdeck. They didn’t speak until they were out in the open once again, an unfettered view of their surrounds.
Tobias gestured to the hulks of the battle wagons that were seething with workers who were cutting and sawing and breaking parts off them. Stripping the carcasses of anything of value.
‘I see that someone kicked some serious butt out there,’ commented the captain. ‘Looks like it was a massacre. Did you suffer any casualties?’
Nathaniel shook his head. ‘I must admit, the firepower of the Leviathan is beyond awesome. I had no idea that the contact would be so one sided. To be honest, it was a massacre. And we’re working with a skeleton crew so over half of the guns couldn’t be brought to bear.’
Tobias puffed contemplatively on his pipe before he answered. ‘No more one sided than they expected their “Scouring” exercise to be. At least they got a chance to fight back.’
‘True,’ admitted the marine.
‘So what now?’ Asked Tobias. ‘You do realize that you have opened Pandora’s Box. The Highmen are going to come after you like a pack of rabid long dogs. They will leave no stone unturned, they will sift through the land with a fine-toothed comb, search high heaven and commit every other cliché known to man in their quest to hunt you down. You are a dead man.’
The marine grimaced. ‘I’ve been dead before. It’s a minor inconvenience but I always get over it.’
‘You have a strange sense of humor,’ noted Tobias.
The marine took a deep breath. ‘Tobias, my friend,’ he said. ‘I need to talk. And you need to listen.’
And The Forever Man told his story. From the very beginning.
It took over two hours and Tobias listened without interruption. When Nathaniel had finished talking, neither man spoke for a while. Tobias repacked his pipe, lit it and then puffed furiously for a while, billowing almost as much smoke as the Lan
dship’s boiler.
‘I believe you,’ he said. Finally.
‘You do?’ Responded Nathaniel.
‘Yep. I mean, who would make up a story like that? It’s simply far too convoluted and unbelievable to be anything but the truth.’
Nathaniel laughed. ‘That statement doesn’t make a great deal of sense.’
‘Sensible is as sensible does, my friend. And I’ve already told you, you’ve changed. There is a power in you. It was there when we first met but now it has been exposed. So then Eternal Man, what now?’
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at Tobias’ form of address. Then he shrugged, figuring that Eternal Man was preferable to Lord. ‘Are you with me, Tobias?’ He asked.
The mustachioed man nodded. ‘I am. Although I will have to talk to my men, as I fear that being your friend may become rather terminal. What sort of commitment are you talking about?’
‘I have as good as declared war against the Highmen through my actions,’ stated the marine. ‘And, as such, you are either for me, or you are my enemy.’
‘I understand,’ said Tobias. ‘Give me an hour alone with my crew, then I will give you my answer.’
Chapter 29
The marine stood on the guard tower and surveyed the town.
The townsfolk of Lincoln Vale had worked tirelessly for the last six days and the town now bore little resemblance to the sleepy enclave that it had once been. The desperate effort had not been without its fair share of problems though. The major one being that of dissent. A small handful of townsfolk had decided that they wanted no part of the new revolution that had been birthed in their town. They claimed that it was a one way ticket to a cemetery and that there was no way that anyone could ever prevail against the might of the Highmen.
The town council had declared the dissenters as traitors and, as such, had passed a sentence of death upon them.
Nathaniel knew that the reason they had declared such a harsh sentence was because it was all that they knew. Inured to death and violence by concepts such as Scouring and hangings the towns leaders had reacted as they had been programmed to. But the marine had overridden the council’s decision and transmuted the traitor’s sentence to that of banishment. He had decreed that they be cast out of Lincoln Vale with transport and supplies and weapons enough to reach another town.
There had been some grumbling but Nathaniel had simply said. ‘Not on my watch.’ And that was the end of the discussion.
And now Lincoln Vale was surrounded by two deep and wide dry moats complete with draw bridges that could be slid over to allow access. On each corner guard tower stood a steam powered mallet gun surrounded by sandbags and steel plate. Mini pill boxes on high steel stilts.
All of the walls had been strengthened via the use of all of the excess steel plate scavenged from the four destroyed battle wagons. And the weapons from the downed soldiers had been added to the town’s arsenal.
Inside the gates stood the Landship Gwendolyn, its mallet gun trained on the approach, adding its prodigious fire power to the mix. Nathaniel reckoned that the town would not be taken, save by either overwhelming numbers or by airship attack.
Behind him Tobias clambered through the trapdoor and stood next to him. ‘Well, Eternal man,’ he said. ‘It is finished.’
‘No,’ disagreed the marine. ‘It has just begun.’
‘So when do you leave?’ Asked Tobias.
‘Now. I told the mayor earlier. With your help he should be able to cope.’
‘And you are taking Joshua and his men with you? Stealing my new outriders?’
Nathaniel laughed. ‘Borrowing, my friend. I shall attempt to return them in a less than shop soiled condition.’
Tobias clapped the marine on the back. ‘Take them with my blessing, Eternal One. The Leviathan needed crew and you would have to look far to get a tougher, brighter bunch than Joshua and his men. And, tell the truth, you do them great honor. Great honor.’
The two men shook hands. ‘Take care of this town,’ said Nathaniel. ‘Mayor Griffin is a good man but unused to combat. I have spoken to Ethan and he is relatively sure that the Highmen will not be sending any airships to take Lincoln Vale.’
‘And what makes him so sure?’
Nathaniel grinned crookedly. ‘Because he says that, after our next stunt, all of the airships in the fleet will be coming after us.’
Tobias didn’t laugh. ‘Goodbye, friend,’ he said. ‘I will see you again.’
‘You will,’ agreed The Forever Man as he climbed down from the tower.
Nathaniel jogged out of the main gates. As he had told Tobias, he had already said his goodbyes to Mayor Griffin and left him with a long list of things to do, including patrols, guard duties and stock piling of food and water. Now he simply wanted to get away before he became bogged down with the day to day minutia of preparing a town for war. He headed towards the chain ladder that hung down from the stern of the Leviathan, clambering up it at speed and entering through the hatchway. One of the new crew members wound up the ladder behind him and then turned the crank handle that pulled the hatch shut and locked it in place.
The marine walked down the port side passageway, passing the six mallet gun emplacements as he did so. Unlike the mallet guns on the Landships, these weapons were larger and were serviced from one of three central boilers. Also, their ammunition hoppers were vast funnel shaped containers that swung on gimbals above the weapons and the lead balls were fed via a large tube into the breech. They also possessed a complex system of water cooling so as to keep the barrels from overheating during long fire exchanges. As such, these awesome machines were capable of laying down continuous fire for periods of up to an hour before they needed reloading. Each one also needed only one operator, making them a seriously efficient weapon. The starboard side of the ship also boasted a further six gun emplacements.
There were another two mallet guns forward, one at the top of the envelope and the other hanging from the belly. The same was repeated at the stern of the ship.
Finally, there were the steam harpoons. One at each end of the ship. These monstrous weapons needed two people each to operate, a gunner and a loader. They too were powered by the central boiler systems.
Ethan had taken his new crew out over the last four days and drilled them in gunnery and sailing and he had reported to Nathaniel that he was pleasantly surprised. Joshua’s riders had proved to be quick witted, motivated and physically adept. And due to the fact that they had already ridden together for many years, they already had a built in esprit-de-corps.
Brett had been installed as Ethan’s co-pilot and navigator and the airship captain professed that he had never before come across anyone with such a natural gift for the art of flying. Indeed, Nathaniel noticed that Brett spent every waking moment studying the charts, talking to the engineer and milking Ethan for all the information that he could offer. He also noticed that she watched the Captain constantly without even seeming to notice herself that she was doing it.
But that was another matter.
Leon had been named as Chief Gunner and had also been put in charge of forming a repelling party in case anyone happened to attempt to board the ship. He had taken to his new duties with alacrity and roamed constantly about the ship, checking on the guns and their every need.
Just before Nathaniel reached the ship’s wheelhouse he passed one of the spiral stairways that led to the top of the ship. This particular stairway led to the pair of the ship’s reconnaissance gliders. The Leviathan was possessed of a two wood and canvas winged gliders capable of carrying up to three people. They could be launched from the top of the short wooden plank runway on the top of the envelope and, providing a skilled pilot was flying, landed back on the same runway that ran from the stern to the nose cone.
Nathaniel, had gotten his private flying license on an antique, single engine Piper J-3 Cub when he was only sixteen, courtesy of his uncle Jake who owned a flying school. So flying the gliders wasn’t difficult. Tr
uth be told, he didn’t particularly enjoy it but he was a more than adequate pilot.
Brett, however, had fallen in love and had already flown twice, with Ethan in one of the passenger seats. Like her other flying skills, her gilder piloting abilities were already off the chart, despite the short time that she had spent in the air.
Ethan had called her ‘Flightborne’ and he had explained to Nathaniel that, in the airship culture, people such as Brett came along once every few generations. And when they did they were respected, nurtured and venerated.
Nathaniel had also noticed that the Captain constantly watched Brett whenever time allowed it and that he did so without even seeming to notice himself that he was doing it.
But that too was another matter. Or perhaps not.
The marine pushed open the hatch and burst onto the bridge. Brett was at the helm whilst Ethan and chief engineer Torville pondered over a map on the chart table. Both of the men stood to attention, only relaxing after Nathaniel had greeted them.
‘Gentlemen,’ he said. ‘Are we ready?’
Torville nodded. ‘Engines fired up. All crew at their points. Read as ready, my lord.’
‘Shall we then?’ Enquired the marine.
Ethan walked over to the speaking tube, picked up the small brass whistle attached to it and blew. There was an answering whistle from the engine room.
‘Cast off all hawsers, half ahead,’ he ordered. ‘Fill envelope six percent. Up one bubble.’ He turned to Brett. ‘Helmsman, steer us Northeast by East.’
‘Aye, sir,’ acknowledged Brett as she turned the wheel, her eye on the compass.
The ship creaked and a slight shiver ran through her as she came alive, rising majestically into the air, its two huge spinning wooden propellers glinting in the pulse light and showers of snow cascading from its envelope as it shouldered its way skywards.
‘What’s our ETA to target?’ Asked Nathaniel.
‘Estimated Time of Arrival over target will be nineteen hundred hours.’
