London Calling

by Sorcha Mowbray

  “What about supplies?”

  “The ship should be ready to fly. Normally, they are prepared for re-launch as soon as they come in. But again, my dock master can reconfirm that in the morning. I assume you want to make the trip there and back in one day?”

  “If that is possible.”

  “Unless a storm blows in, I think so. I check with the dock master to see if he’s heard of any weather between here and there.”

  “I want it noted that I do not like this plan very much.”

  “I didn’t expect you too.”

  When they returned to her office he gathered the files he had brought. “If we are to leave first thing in the morning, we should probably go home.” He put his hat on. “I’ll escort you.”

  She gathered her reticule and jacket. “I believe that is a sensible suggestion.”

  “Glad to know I have them from time to time,” he mumbled under his breath making her grin even more.

  Out front he hailed a hackney. When they reached her parent’s home he helped her down and escorted her to the front door. Her heart fluttered nervously in her chest.

  “Shall I pick you up in the morning or would you prefer to meet at Panhurst?”

  “Perhaps you should just come to Panhurst. I’m not certain how long it will take me to coordinate everything.”

  He gave her a brisk nod. “Very well.”

  “Thank you for seeing me home tonight. And for bringing the files. And well… for everything.”

  Finally, he smiled. “You’re welcome.” He took her hand and softly kissed her knuckles.

  As before, a shiver of delight ran through her.

  “Good night.” His voice held just a hint of intimacy.

  “Good night.”

  He waited while she stepped inside. Boldly, she held his gaze as she slowly closed the door. After it latched shut she slumped against the solid wood surface and took a steading breath.

  “I don’t suppose that grin you’re wearing has anything to do with Peter, does it?” Mrs. Ellison asked.

  “Not directly, no. But Mr. Dennison has agreed to help me find him.” She pulled herself away from the door. “Would you mind packing a basket of food for us for tomorrow? We’re going to Edinburgh to look for information on Peter’s whereabouts.”

  “To Edinburgh? By one of those air machines, I take it?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “I assume I don’t have to tell you how improper that is?”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Mrs. Ellison harrumphed. “I’ll have it ready for you first thing.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Is there anything else you’ll be needing?”

  “Everything else we need will be related to the ship and I’ll take care of that in the morning.”

  “Very good. Just… have a care. I don’t want to lose you too.”

  Trixie hugged Mrs. Ellison. “I will.”

  The next morning Trixie waited anxiously for Nathaniel to arrive. She had made all the necessary arrangements with Mrs. Anderson and the dock master. Neither of them were fond of her plans, but didn’t refuse to help.

  As she made her entry in the shipping log, Nathaniel arrived at the port.

  “Were you able to secure the ship and a pilot?”

  “I have. Everything is ready.”

  “Which ship will we be taking?”

  She gestured to the Valkyrie.

  He looked it over then glanced at the ships on either side. “It’s quite a bit smaller, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Her instinct to defend the Valkyrie surfaced. “That means it’s lighter, faster, and more nimble.”

  “Yet, it carries cargo?”

  “Not as much as the larger air ships. But Peter designed it to move smaller cargos faster.”

  He nodded. “And our pilot?”

  “The Valkyrie is mine,” she said with pride. “I’ll be piloting her.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  His attitude pricked at her temper. “I am quite serious.”

  He took several steps closer. “I know I said I was worried about your pilot being trustworthy, but I didn’t mean for you to go to this extreme.”

  “This isn’t an extreme in my book.” She turned on her heel and stomped up the ramp. As expected he followed. “I have been flying since I was fifteen. I learned to fly solo several years ago. I have logged as many hours as half of our pilots.” She glared at him. “More than Peter.”

  “Just because you can fly doesn’t mean that you should.”

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t be the one to operate this ship?”

  “Because you’ll be aboard this ship with an unmarried man and no chaperone for the better part of a day.”

  She slammed her fists on her hips and faced him. “Are you afraid that I’ll ravish you while we’re alone?”

  He scowled. “No.”

  She advanced on him. “Are you saying you’re not certain you can control your baser instincts and that you’re likely to ravish me?”

  “Certainly not.”

  “Do you think that I’ll return home and accuse you of improper conduct and demand that you marry me immediately?”

  “No.”

  “Then what is your concern? Because from where I stand, I don’t see a rational one.”

  He growled. “If you were my sister, I would tell her she couldn’t do this.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing I’m not your sister.”

  He gave her an odd look.

  She gentled her tone and moved closer. “I understand your concern. Really I do. But please understand that I do not share them. Society turned its back on me at a crucial time in my life. A time when I needed friendship and support, yet there was none to be had. I am beyond giving a damn what those rule makers and followers think.”

  “I’m sorry you had to deal with your parent’s deaths on your own. It shouldn’t have been that way.” He touched her cheek. “I should have been there for you.”

  The last of her irritation evaporated. She covered his hand with her own and gave him a sad smile. “You were chasing your own dream. You didn’t know what was happening.”

  “I was running. It just happened to be in the direction of a dream.”

  “Well, it still worked out for you.”

  He motioned to the deck of the ship. “Perhaps for you too, in a strange way.”

  She shrugged. “Perhaps.”

  He withdrew his hand. “What can I do to help ready the ship?”

  Relieved he was going to be reasonable about their trip she said, “First, you need to stow anything you brought with you down there.” She pointed to a storage cabinet in the center of the cabin. “Then you can help me check all the lines.”

  As soon as he added his bag to the cabinet, she showed him how to check the lines. They each took a corner and worked their way around. Thankfully, they found nothing amiss. Not that she expected to. Her dock master ran a tight ship —literally— and checked everything himself. As soon as she was satisfied everything was as it should be, she gave the dock hands the signal to say they were ready for departure. While they waited she showed Nathaniel which ropes he needed to loosen for launch. A few minutes later they received the signal that they were cleared to leave the dock.

  She wished she could watch his face as they rose higher in the air, but there were too many other things to monitor during launch. She’d have to satisfy herself with questioning him later. With Nathaniel watching their tail, she navigated them out of the port and out of the city as if she had been doing it her whole life. Once she adjusted their altitude she motioned him forward.

  “What did you think of your first takeoff?”

  “Breathtaking.” He regarded her with a new look in his eye. Perhaps a new level of respect? “I may not know much about flying ships but you seemed to have executed that perfectly.”

  Her cheeks grew warm at his praise. “I had a good teacher.”

 
“Peter?”

  “No, actually, Father taught me the basics, but after he disappeared one of our senior pilots felt sorry for me and let me fly with him. It helped to have something to focus on something other than my grief.”

  “Do you still fly with him?”

  “No. He retired a few months ago.” Her eyes twinkled. “There have been a few bets made around the docks about how long he’ll stay retired. The larger wagers are split evenly between his wife getting tired of him being underfoot and him getting bored.”

  Nathaniel chuckled as he leaned against the center cabinets next to where she managed the helm. “You said your brother designed this model?”

  “He did.”

  “We’ve established it’s faster than the train. Which is faster than horseback or carriage. But how does it compare to other airships?”

  “He matched it against a couple of our own ships and it came out ahead every time. But like the larger ships, its speed is impacted by the weight of the cargo it carries.”

  “You mentioned it was meant for smaller loads.”

  She nodded.

  “So why hasn’t this become widely known?”

  “It is a relatively new model. We’ve been keeping it somewhat quiet. Only a couple of our established customers have been told of it. However, word is spreading. Peter had been in the process of obtaining financial backing to expand the fleet when he disappeared. The bankers showed up yesterday and made it quite clear that my signature on the documents will not do. I’ve been holding them off saying he’s out of the country on business, but I’m afraid we’re going to lose them if I can’t find Peter soon and bring him home.”

  “We’ll find him.”

  8

  About half way through their journey Trixie offered to lock the controls in place so they could break into the picnic basket Mrs. Ellison had packed. He spread the blanket he had found in one of the cabinets on the deck and coaxed her to come and enjoy the moment with him. They stood at the railing and watched the passing landscape.

  “The views are spectacular from here,” he told her. “I can see why you like to fly.”

  “It is peaceful up here. I guess because it’s just me and the occasional bird.”

  He faced her. “I should think you would get lonely.”

  She shrugged. “Sometimes. But I’m able to see things, do things, and go places very few people have a chance to. And I’m out of reach of the ton and their rules and harsh opinions. It not a bad trade off if you think about it.”

  They fell silent until he spotted an odd shaped gray mass off to his left. “That’s a strange cloud. Do you think it’s a storm blowing in?”

  A V creased her brow. “I don’t think that’s a cloud.” She ran to the cabin and returned with a telescope. She held it up to her eye and studied the mass. “What do you think it is?”

  Using the scope she handed him, he peered through the long lens. It took a moment to find the strange cloud but when he did nearly dropped the glass. “Is that…” He blinked to clear his vision. “Is that a flock of birds?”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Birds don’t usually fly like that.”

  “None that I know of.”

  He handed the glass back to her so she could look again.

  “We need to get inside. Now.”

  He glanced at the mass but followed her into the cabin. “Why? What wrong?”

  “I think they’re automata.”

  The gray cloud had flattened out and now appeared to be as wide as the ship.

  “You mean like yours?” He pointed to Squeaks and Wings where they had perched on the Captain’s post near the navigational controls.

  “Do you have a better explanation?”

  He grabbed the glass and looked again. The mass had gotten close enough that he could make out smaller individual shapes.

  Trixie flipped a few levers, then turned the steering wheel and altered their course away from the mass.

  “If they are automata, what do you think the odds are that they will be friendly?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I have no idea what to think right now.”

  They watched through the window as the mass came closer.

  “Your father knew how to build those, right?”

  “Yes.” She glanced his way. “Do you think they are some of father’s creations?”

  “I think it’s possible. Would you be able to tell by examining them?”

  She grimaced. “Maybe. I could tell you if they resembled my mechanicals. Peter would know whether or not they were Father’s designs.”

  “Perhaps we should let them catch up to us,” Nathaniel suggested.

  “And if they attack us?”

  “What’s the worst they could do?” he asked.

  “Puncture the balloon. In which case we would be lucky to land safely.”

  “This is your ship. What do you want to do?”

  Her eyes darted from the quickly approaching mass to the horizon and back again. “If it were only one or two, I’d say let them approach. It’s the fact that there are almost a dozen.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to think about what they could do together.”

  “I don’t either. Can you outrun them?”

  “Maybe.” She pointed to a metal handle sticking out of the center console. “Flip that lever there.”

  He did as she asked without a second thought.

  He headed for the cabin door as a flame flickered to life inside the console. He ran to the ship railing in the area closest to the mass. A couple of the automata had gotten closer than he liked.

  Their ship picked up speed but it wasn’t fast enough to get away from those in the front.

  Two of the bird-like mechanical dove toward one of the lines running from the balloon to the deck. Nathaniel pulled his pistol out and fired at them. One bird jerked to one side, hitting the other, then spiraled downward. The other bird mechanical righted itself and zoomed toward them again.

  Nathaniel fired another shot but missed this time.

  Trixie shouted from one of the now opened windows of the cabin, “Don’t hit the balloon!”

  The bird landed on one of the ropes and began to peck at the threads.

  Nathaniel grabbed a pole he found hooked along one side of the railing and rushed back to the where the bird had landed. The pole was just long enough that he was able to swat the bird away from the rope. It didn’t look as if he’d done any real damage to the bird but it was enough to make it stop pecking at the ropes.

  He dropped the pole and reloaded his pistol. When the bird zoomed in again he fired. This time his shot was true. That bird shuddered, then dropped backwards before beginning its spiral descent.

  “Hang on,” Trixie shouted from her place at the wheel inside the cabin.

  He pocketed his pistol and grabbed the closest set of ropes. The ship tipped as she altered their course. Nathaniel had to work to stay on his feet.

  He kept one eye on the gray mass behind them and waited for the ship to level out again. The wind picked up as their speed increased. As soon as he could keep his feet beneath him he hurried into the cabin and slammed the door closed behind him.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. “If your father is alive, why would he send mechanicals after you?”

  “I think it’s more likely that someone took my father’s research and created their own version of the automata. At this point, I’m wondering if someone isn’t trying to wipe out any evidence that my father was the original creator.”

  He grimaced. That same thought had already crossed his mind. He just hadn’t verbalized it for fear of causing her unnecessary worry.

  “I wish we had a way of getting our hands on just one of them,” she mumbled.

  “We might have the opportunity.”

  She raised one brow in question.

  “It’s likely that we will run into them on the w
ay home,” he said with false cheer.

  She gave him an odd look. “Wonderful.”

  When they finally pulled far enough ahead of the mass, Nathaniel relaxed his stance and moved away from his post at the rear window. He moved his pistol from his pocket to its holster and joined Trixie at the wheel. “How long can you maintain this speed?”

  She checked one of the gauges. “Not much longer.”

  “I don’t see those mechanical birds any more but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still out there somewhere.”

  “I altered our course a couple of times in case they know our destination.”

  “Is it possible for them to know something like that?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe.” She gestured to her mechanical pets. “Mine are able to reason though basic concepts like turning left versus right to get to an object. I’m convinced they have learned and stored new information over the years.”

  “Amazing,” he murmured.

  9

  They arrived at the Edinburgh port without further incident. The peaceful calm they enjoyed for the first part of their flight never returned. They both remained on alert, constantly scanning the sky for threats. Yet, she still enjoyed Nathaniel’s company.

  He demonstrated that he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty by helping her ready the ship for landing. Somehow he’d avoided picking up the snobby behavior his mother, and even occasionally his eldest brother, displayed. Just because the Dennison family held a Viscount’s title didn’t make them better than anyone else. At least not in her book.

  Nathaniel watched everything. And, unless she were mistaken, he enjoyed himself immensely. Once they docked and the lines had been secured, he followed her down the ramp.

  “I’m going to dash over to the port office and fill out the arrival documents. You’ll wait here?” she asked.

  He scanned the bustling piers around them. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

  “If you are planning to visit the local RIO, I believe you would be better off spending a few minutes cleaning up.” She ran one finger down his cheek then showed him the soot covered tip.