by SM Blooding
The man’s shoulder’s twitched.
I nodded, my lips tight. “Do the others follow you?”
“They do, sir.”
“Then . . . ” I offered him a smile. “That would make you the one in charge. I would like you to take me on a tour, show me how things work. We will look at the books, and then I will need you to tell me what you require in order to keep her afloat. Lana,” I gestured behind me and she stepped forward, “and her father, Ferran Jabbir, will be assisting us with the books.”
The other man nodded.
I looked at him expectantly. “Should we start off with introductions?”
The blonde man blushed. “I am Commander Wesley Domitius, of the House of Swords.”
So he was keeping his House’s last name. I cleared my throat. “Are you still with the House of Swords?”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You are a knight of Wands, but . . . ” He let his voice trail off as he took in my lack of House uniform.
“I am not a knight, and as of right now, I don’t see that changing. So let me ask you again, Wesley. Are you of the House of Swords?”
He pulled his head forward. “Not anymore.”
I clicked my tongue. “Then I recommend we find you some different clothes and you take on a different name. You are no longer marked by the House of Swords. You are marked by whatever family name you choose.”
Three men broke away from formation, glancing at one another in surprise as they ran toward the deck.
I turned and frowned. Several planes of many different types flew in from the other refueling station. They landed on the runway, wheeling toward the parking areas, or simply landed in their proscribed parking spot. “Is this normal, Commander?”
The blonde man’s eyebrows rose. “Not since we defected.” He skipped a step and jogged to the tower.
I had no idea what else to do so I followed him at a more leisurely pace.
Wesley met me just outside the door to the control dome. “So, apparently, we just inherited a whole fleet of planes.”
What? From who?
He narrowed his eyes at me. “How does this work, you not being a knight yet?”
I clawed my fingers along my scalp. I was being played. At least, I was pretty sure of it. “What do we know of the people joining us?”
“Only that they’re some of the best. Captain Bennen and Leftenant Rose are legendary. They’re still on their way. They’re checking something out up above.” He shook his head in exaggerated surprise. “I don’t know or understand why they’re here.”
I tightened my lips. “Me either. Do you trust your crew?”
His look said that was a stupid question. “We’ve been the only people we’ve talked to for months while our fearless leader nearly flew us to the ground.”
I winced. I deserved that.
“So, yeah. I trust them.”
I studied his shoulder, grinding my teeth. Really. What was I going to do with this? I met his gaze. “Then I want you to go through the new people coming in and tell me if you trust them.”
He narrowed his eyes. They could have been blue, maybe green. I couldn’t tell, especially not in this light. Finally, he nodded and disappeared behind the door.
I stepped into the control dome behind him, walking up the many flights of stairs.
It was massive. I hadn’t realized we were so high above the platform, but I could see the entire flight deck on all sides. The housing area rose out of the deck and split it in two. There were just as many planes landing on the other side. I closed my eyes in amazement. What was Nix trying to do? Burden me to the point I went crawling back to her, pleading for mercy?
I studied the consoles and equipment, talking to the techs. We and the other refueling station were deeply entrenched in cloud cover. I studied the radar screen. It didn’t have the range Joshua’s did, but this one was clearer, crisper, easier to read. I’d have to talk to him about that. Later.
I rubbed by head, staring at everything. I had a lot to learn.
CHAPTER 31
JUSTICE IN SILENCE
I had to admit. The station was impressive. If it weren’t for the fact that I was a natural airman and appreciated a vessel that could fly without wasting energy, I would love being on this thing.
However, it was ridiculously loud and entirely too stable. It didn’t move with the air currents. That just felt wrong.
I’d been in the control dome for several hours. Wesley was a good enough man, if a little wary of me. I couldn’t blame him. I was just as wary of him. We had a lot to learn about one another, but at least I had a sense that it could happen.
“Mr. El’Asim,” the radio technician said, removing one massive headphone from her ear. “I have Queen Nix requesting to land.”
I frowned and turned my attention to the world around us. We were still bathed in clouds. We’d seen sun for a little bit in the morning, but for the most part, we’d been surrounded in dreariness. “Where is she?”
“One hundred eighty degrees and two kilometres out, sir.”
I sighed. There was no way to see her in this cover. I turned to the radar. “Do you have her on screen?”
“I do, sir,” the radar tech said, pointing to the black dot. “But we have several more barely within radar range.”
“Do you have an elevation?”
“No, sir,” he said with a quizzical frown. “We don’t get that kind of information from the radar.”
I nodded once and turned away. Joshua’s did, but I wasn’t about to share that. Not yet. “It’s probably the Novokshorovs. No one else is willing to fly in the clouds with us.”
The radar technician wrote something down, his attention on the screen. “Because they can’t see, sir?”
Did the Hands keep their people naïve for a reason? “Because of the sky cats.” I turned to the communications technician. “How do I talk to Nix?”
The radio technician handed me another set of headphones. “Just speak. She’s on the other end waiting for vector and clearance.”
Why would a queen be on the mic asking for clearance? The hairs on the back of my neck rose. “Nix.”
I could almost hear the smile in her tone. “Synn, how pleasant to hear your voice.”
I sighed. “What do you want?”
“To land.”
“Find somewhere else to go.”
A concussion of sound filled the headphones.
“What was that?”
She paused. “That is the reason we need to land. The refueling station we were on is being gunned down.”
“What?” Who had the ability to gun down a refueling station? Who had the balls?
“Synn, we don’t have much time.”
“Who is it?”
She paused. “The Tokarz.”
Sky fell it! “Do you need assistance?”
“I have planes in the air with me. We’re fighting them off. I just need to land my ship.”
In the middle of an air battle? “Has your ship been damaged?”
“Yes.”
I rubbed my forehead, prepared to give her permission to land, but stopped, my gaze falling on the planes parked on the deck. I pulled the microphone away from my mouth and asked the commander, “Do those birds have weapons?”
“They do,” he answered.
I nodded to the radio technician and set the headphones on the desk. “Tell her she has permission to land. Commander, I want those planes in the air. If Tokarz wants a fight, I’ll give it to him.”
Wesley issued the orders and stepped up to me.
I watched the pilots run along the deck, climbing into the cockpits of their planes. “What is on your mind?”
He rubbed his hand hard along his jaw. “It’s just that, with everything I’ve learned about you so far, and knowing what Queen Nix is like, I think there’s more to this than we’re seeing.”
“What do you mean?”
He took in a deep breath and turned to m
e. “Don’t you find it the least bit odd that we were refueled again today? So soon after she already gave us enough fuel to fly with?”
“This wasn’t standard procedure? Even after I nearly flew you to the ground?”
He shook his head, staring out onto the deck again. “She emptied that station to fill this one. It’s literally running on fumes. And now you have an entire company of planes on your deck? That sword station carries two companies. The Ace of Swords is already in the air in another skirmish, presumably with this Tokarz. Chatter’s all over the radio.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Skirmish?”
“About fifteen minutes ago, a squadron was called out to investigate an anomaly just off radar.” He walked to the communications console and unplugged the technician’s headphones. Voices crackled through the air.
“Mayday, mayday,” someone shouted over the radio. “I’ve lost electrical!”
I looked to the commander as static filled the air.
“That’s Captain Bennen’s squadron,” Wesley said. “About five minutes ago, he and Leftenant Rose called for backup.”
“Stay . . . range of their cannons!” a voice commanded over the radio.
“Like anyone needs to be reminded of that,” a brassy, female voice muttered over the loudspeaker.
Wesley crossed his arms over his chest, listening.
“Captain,” the brassy, female voice shouted over the radio. “This—” Static interrupted the transmission. “—repeat. This is—” Static. “—ambush.”
“Where are you?” the captain demanded.
Static crackled. “In the storm.”
“What’s your heading?”
“If I had that, don’t you think I’d have given it?”
“Get out of there!”
The transmission cut out again.
I turned to the door. “We need to assist!”
“You’re not listening, sir.” Wesley blocked my path.
I stopped and stared at the man who actually had the nerve to stand up to me. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized just how many people stayed clear of me, and just how few were brave enough to stand up to me. That was a scary thought. I gave him my undivided attention, even though everything in my gut told me to go.
He gave me a level stare, holding his thumb to his forefinger as he made his point. “When a captain calls for reinforcements in what we call a skirmish, another squadron is sent out, maybe ten or twelve planes. Your Nix sent three squadrons, the rest of his entire company.”
I shook my head. I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me. Those people needed our help.
He took a step closer. “That refueling station, the one that’s now empty and directly above us and under attack?” He nodded, his blue eyes wide. “There are no planes on it anymore. There is no fuel in it anymore, and we haven’t been able to hail it for several minutes. There is no one on board.”
I pulled back finally understanding what he was saying, though it’s true impact wasn’t sinking in yet.
“Something a lot bigger is going down.”
I clenched my fists. “That’s Iszak Tokarz. You don’t understand what he’s capable of. He’s attacking that station. Empty or not, we need to—”
“Ask yourself,” Wesley shouted, interrupting me, “what Nix would gain by having your known enemy attack her refueling station!”
The pieces fell into place. I felt all the color drain from my face. “Call the planes back and get us out of this cloud bank.” I turned back to the control consoles. “Give me something I can see.”
“Sir,” one of the technicians said. “The fuel becomes unstable at a certain altitude.”
I turned to the man. “The other refueling station gained in altitude. Why can’t we?”
Wesley sighed. “We need to repair one of the fuel chambers. It was damaged. We have a temporary fix, but—”
A loud, thunderous metal clang filled the air.
Ferran and Lana looked up, their eyes on me.
Everyone else froze.
“What was that?” I asked quietly.
Wesley didn’t answer. He walked deeper into the rows of consoles, shouting questions and orders.
The station groaned and then leaned to one side.
I grabbed a console to remain upright. “Commander.”
He barely glanced at me. “We appear to have lost one of our engines.”
“Are we going to lose altitude?”
He shook his head. “We shouldn’t. I have a—”
Another loud pop, like a cannon going off, sounded. A deeper groan followed. The world tilted again. It evened out for a moment, then spun.
The tips of my fingers were white as I held onto the console. I pulled myself along its edge to get closer to Wesley.
He was stooped over a console, one hand on the technician’s chair to keep her in place. “I need you to focus. What’s hit and how?”
“I c-c-c-can’t tell you much, sir,” the woman said. “Only that we’ve lost another engine and appear to be losing altitude.”
I looked over the radar. More dark marks dotted the green screen. “Where are they?”
The radar technician fought to keep his chair in front of his screen. “Under us? Above us? I just don’t know, sir.”
If I decided to keep the station by some miracle, we were going to have to fix that. “What kind of weapons do we have on board, Commander?”
“Weapons?” Wesley stared at me like I was insane. “We’re a refueling station. The fuel is flammable.”
“So none.” Fantastic.
He turned his attention back to the information he was gathering.
I turned and pulled myself toward the door. I was useless in here. “Keep us in the air, Commander! You have control.”
He didn’t acknowledge me.
Out on the deck, two people in partial uniforms came up to me, fighting to remain upright. “What do you want us to do, sir?” one of them asked, shouting over the wind.
The station dropped below the bottom of the storm. Ferocious winds slammed into us, made worse by the fact that we were spinning out of control.
“We need to get as many people evacuated as possible.”
The female slashed with her hand. “We can’t take off in this, sir.”
Of course not. What could I do? What could I do? Sky fell it! I searched the dock line.
The Yusrra Samma was gone.
Good.
Someone ran to me, stumbling and falling several times. She slid several metres backward before regaining ground. “Sir!”
When she was within reach, I grabbed hold of her. “What is it?”
“Commander Wesley says there are ships approaching.”
“Fast?”
She shook her head. “They appear to be airships.”
It was possible they were trying to assist.
Highly probable.
Or it could be Iszak Tokarz.
The spin fought itself. I could feel the change of force in my gut, like someone was playing tug-of-war with it. Had the crew been able to fix one of the missing engines?
We all looked at one another, waiting.
The station stopped spinning with such force, we all fell to our knees. I was pretty sure my stomach was trying to taste my teeth.
The male grinned, bracing himself on hands and knees. “We appear to be stable.”
I staggered to my feet. I had no idea what to do or how to help those on board. I was useless. I jogged back to the control dome.
The world rocked again.
I found myself pushed flat to the deck by an invisible force, almost like a wind. I couldn’t breathe or move. The planes groaned and slid. The station tipped.
A boom followed, so massive it shook the metal under me, the bones in my chest, my sword in its sheath.
The pressure released and the station hopped, and then we were rising to meet the storm ceiling.
My ears popped as I got to my feet. Again. “W
hat was—”
I heard it before I saw it. It whistled.
Shrapnel. Pieces of long, burning metal fell from above.
I ran into the control dome, pulling myself up the metal grate stairs. “What’s attacking us now?” I asked as soon as I cleared the door.
“We don’t know, sir.”
I went to the communication’s officer, picking up the headphones I’d left behind. “Open it up to all frequencies for a general broadcast.”
The officer nodded.
“El’Asim Fleet,” I called in Adalic, “are you out there?”
“Yes, sayyd,” came a familiar voice. “We’re here.”
“Talk to me, Sami,” I said, switching to Handish so everyone listening could understand. “What is going on up here?”
“It looks like the refueling station above you exploded after being attacked.”
“Are we moving away from the debris?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the radar screen, but all I had was a dim, green screen. “How big is the debris field?”
Wesley unplugged both headsets from the console, the conversation continuing over the speakers.
“It’s pretty big, sayyd. The refueling station was massive.”
“Where are the attackers? Give me a heading.”
There was a pause and then the heading came over the speakers, including altitude. “They’re airships, sayyd.”
“Can you tell me who?” I needed witnesses who weren’t Hands. I needed someone who could back up my story.
“How would they know that?” Wesley demanded.
“Who is this Sami?” a male voice asked over the speakers. “And where can I find me one?”
The female I now knew as Leftenant Rose snorted. “Bennen.”
“Sayyd,” Sami’s voice came over the air. “It’s the Tokarz. Do you want me to call in for assistance?”
What would Nix gain by having my enemy destroy her refueling station? I clenched my jaw as the answer slammed into my gut.
She would have the newly formed League of Cities fighting for the Hands. “No. Search for survivors, stay out of this fight. Sami, make that perfectly clear.”
“Yes, sayyd.” He didn’t sound happy.
Wesley took in a deep breath, a wave of relief filling his expression.
