by Paul Kater
Tension on board rose, again, as they scanned the area. But as with the previous two places, there were no pirates.
"This is not going to work," Aldrick said as he massaged his sore feet. "There are a million places where they can hide!" Abnezer and Phorlis tended to agree with him.
"Only thousands," Daniel grumbled, "and we're going to search each one of them until we find the rats." That earnt him some unfriendly looks, but he didn't care. "You can get off right here if you want. Just swim that way for a week, or hitch a ride on a Fringy, and you'll be fine."
The crew had been flying for six days already, and slowly there were situations developing and things happening that started to chew on people's nerves.
"People, come on. We have searched half the spots now," Tomlin said, "three more and we call it off, okay? You all knew this was going to be tough. It is tough. Deal with it, or, as Daniel said, get out now."
There were grumbles, but nobody wanted out.
The skipper told the sailor men what course to take and the sails were set. Tomlin added lift to the balloons to take them over the pointy rocks, and the flight went on.
"We're off to the coast now," the skipper said. "We're going there as it is an option, although a strange one. It's close by."
Close by proved to be relative. It was already approaching dusk as they sailed along the coastline. Daniel sat on the side of the airship that looked out over the ocean, the colours of the setting sun was setting the water on fire. He thought of Rhonda and of the strange short visit of Ombra Hozteng.
"Daniel?"
He turned his head towards Abnezer who looked out over the bow."Yes?"
"I see boats."
Daniel got up and stood next to Abnezer. He saw boats too. At least he saw parts of boats. He alerted the crew who readied themselves for battle. Several had Polychlon sticks with hooks. Aldrick held one also, as his sword had ceased to be. The inventor did keep to the back of the airship, as Daniel had told him. The man was precious in flying the airship, he should be kept away from fighting as much as possible.
Daniel took his special suitcase from under a bench. Tomlin stood next to him, his eyes glistening as Daniel opened the box.
"Oh my God," said Tomlin. "You took that with you? Did they know?"
"I think they knew," said Daniel as he hooked several of the appliances to his belt and handed some to Tomlin. "I guess they wanted me gone rather than count their bombs and artillery. I just hope the things still work."
Tomlin nodded. He was very aware of the problems the water caused.
"This is the real thing, folks," Daniel said. "If this isn't, we're going home. Aldrick, take us in low. We'll jump off and then you get the hell out of here until you see us wave. Or if you don't see any of us anymore. Then go home. At least you know where the pirate's nest is then."
"Yes. Daniel." It was the first time Aldrick called Daniel by his first name. This was not the moment to be courteous. "Be careful. I don't want to go home alone."
Everyone put an improvised mask over their nose and mouth. Abnezer was handing out sticks that they had brought with them. It was not the best thing to fight with, but better than nothing.
Daniel and Tomlin stood at the bow, each holding two grenades, the security switches already off.
The airship's slant wings almost touched the water as it sailed towards the strip of beach where people were walking back and forth from a stranded ship to a cave and back. They were obviously carrying goods. There were a few people on the narrow strip of beach who did not seem to work. Those probably were pirates supervising whatever was going on.
"Please, let that be them," Daniel whispered. Then he cautioned the others. "Hit the deck!" He flung a grenade and aimed it towards the pirates. The thing exploded with a shock wave that made all people on the beach tumble and eat sand and gravel. Two of the pirates got the full blast of the grenade and got ripped to shreds by it. The grenade had become unstable very quickly.
Tomlin threw one of the sonic grenades also, causing more unrest and devastation and taking out a few more pirates.
They did not wait any longer. The airship had almost no speed anymore so they jumped, sticks at the ready, as dozens of pirates with whips and handsful of powder came running from several caves.
The men from the airship ran straight towards the pirates who flung the coughing powder at them, before grabbing their weapons. The masks worked, and the pirates, surprised that their preferred defence failed so gloriously, faced retribution from five very angry men.
Daniel and Tomlin fired their weapons as fast as they could, killing handsful of pirates in less than two minutes. They had enormous advantages: the pirates had not expected this attack, and they had never done battle against men with advanced automatic weapons.
Daniel fought a pirate off, who tried to use a club against him. The club hit him full on the arm, but the Glandrine skin seemed to resist most of the blow. Daniel shot the pirate and fired at will at all the others he got in sight. Most of the fighting and shooting would be his share and Tomlin's, as they had the main fire-power. As long as it lasted.
The skipper, Phorliss and Abnezer, sticks in their hands, headed for the people that had fallen down near the ship. "Pricosine!" they shouted, "Pricosine! Over here!" It was a strange battle cry, but Daniel had suggested they'd shout the name of the ship. That would be something the sailors would recognise. The three men lashed out at the pirates that got in their way.
Several enslaved sailors got up. "Yes! Pricosine!" The skipper and Abnezer handed out the sticks they carried, and the prisoners turned against the remaining pirates who still fought like maniacs.
A large shape suddenly stormed through the ranks of fighting people, hitting at everyone it passed, taking down several of them with vicious blows.
Daniel saw it go and recognised it. "Watch out over there! That's the Bonto! It's dangerous!" He aimed and fired, but at that moment his handgun had decided it hated the chemical environment.
The Bonto charged towards the skipper. Abnezer took a swing at it with a stick, hitting it full in the head. The impact made the stick fly from his hands and the beast rammed the skipper who went down like a sack of salt.
Tomlin managed a good shot, taking the gamble he might hit the wrong target. The Bonto staggered on for a few more feet, then it collapsed.
Abnezer cursed and picked up the skipper, half carrying him and half dragging the unconscious man through the water, to get him away from the fighting on the narrow strip of beach. He knew they would need the skipper to get back home. Leaving him on the beach, with a Bonto that might wake up again, was not an option.
Phorliss and many of the Pricosine crew were bashing away at the pirates, who were forced to withdraw into their cave. In the first minutes of the attack, their numbers had dwindled like brave snowflakes in a scorching desert.
"Down, everyone!" Tomlin screamed as he tossed his last grenade after the pirates.
The device did not explode to its full extent, but still a respectable amount of rock came down, sealing off most of the cave's exit.
A strange silence spread over the beach. Daniel and Tomlin quickly assessed the situation. Phorlis and three sailors lay dead in the sand, as did many pirates. Many of the sailors were hurt, either from the fight or from bad treatment.
"Daniel..."
Daniel recognised the voice. "Ulaman."
The captain looked awful. He missed a hand, there was a rag around his head that was meant to be a bandage. The pirates had gotten to him badly. The man staggered towards Daniel but fell down after a few steps. Some sailors hurried forward to help him up.
Daniel was there too, to lift the fallen bear. "We're here to take you home," he said. "Tomlin, go and signal Aldrick."
Aldrick had not gone far. With only little sail, the only way available was up, so he was able to set down the airship quickly. The rescued sailors, most of them from the Pricosine, some came from other ships, boarded the boat. The attac
k force followed, as Daniel and Tomlin secured their safety with what means they had. Sticks and stones. The pirate's cave however was still closed, there was no danger coming from there yet, and the Bonto had not moved yet either.
The soldiers jumped on board, after which the airship rose into the air. Slower than usual, but it worked. Daniel stared at the massacre they had left on the beach, a last grenade in his hand. He saw the small merchant ship that had started all this.
He flicked off the security and threw the grenade at the ship. Nothing happened; the grenade had been affected already. After a curse he turned and worked on the sails, as the others from the crew were taking care of the wounded.
-=-=-
They had been flying for a few hours already, following the coastline. After making sure everything was in order, Daniel had looked for Draiky and talked to her. He had told her about Ombra's visit. It seemed to bring power back to the woman.
"She really came to see you? For me?"
"Yes." Daniel told her about the unfortunate short visit and the strange end, but Draiky seemed to miss most of that. For her it was important only that Ombra had done something.
Daniel smiled and let Draiky bask in the surprise. It made him feel good. He went round to see who else they had on board. He found most of his friends, but walked around again in search of Bilk, the alien. Finally he kneeled down with Ulaman and Xandree to ask.
They filled him in about how Bilk had tried to fight himself free and met his end that way. They also told him how a several others of the crew had been killed, just to set an example, to crush morale and anyone's desire to try an escape or revolt.
"This man, Birkle, is very good at breaking people, Daniel," Ulaman said. "I have yet to see someone who can be as cruel as he is. He actually whipped his ape for not killing someone slowly enough."
Daniel shuddered. It made him feel sick, but also even more glad that he had done all what he had, to save his friends. He looked around the airship and his heart cringed. The state these people were in was awful.
He went back aft and checked with Tomlin and the skipper, who was too stubborn to stay unconscious. The man was already working on where they were and how long it would take them to get back to Skarak.
Abnezer went round and round, making sure people were okay, handing out food and water to drink. Daniel had not thought the wrestler had that in him. At the same time he felt bad about the people they had lost in the fight. He did not have much time to feel these things though...
"Twanngggg..." The sound was accompanied by a shudder that went through the airship, causing many people to get up. That again made the airship sway.
"People, all sit down!" Tomlin yelled. He and Daniel went around the airship to see what could have caused the unnerving sound. Tomlin found the problem in one of the floaters that held the airship in the air: one of the cables that held the thing to the ship had ripped. It was still there, it was just flapping about, out of reach.
They made several attempts to grab the line, but it mocked them, staying out of reach of their fingers. Daniel looked up, estimating the danger. So far the floater was still captured in the net of five cables, but there would be a serious problem if one of the two cables next to the ripped one would go also.
38. Win one, lose one
Over the days that followed, they made a few attempts using a stick and a hook to get to the flying cable. They all failed, the only result one of the sticks falling down.
"Leave it," Daniel said. "I don't want anyone going down after that stick. We'll just have to be careful and pray that no other cable snaps." It worried him that they were flying so high up to catch the proper wind. A problem here, at over nine hundred feet high, would immediately turn into a disaster. Also, nobody had thought of bringing thick clothes and more blankets, and the air temperature up there was uncomfortable. Daniel, and also Tomlin, had not considered that. Their experience did not cover those things.
Shivering, Aldrick and the skipper were conferring about their course. Following the coast line was their safest bet. Going over sea was the shortest route, but the idea of flying at this altitude with nothing but water underneath, with so many people on board, and the problem with one of the floaters, gave safety right of way.
Sitting at the bow Daniel looked down. He saw some ships sailing far below. Ulaman and Stroro, who had by now recovered enough, sat next to him. "Wind's wrong down there," Daniel remarked.
Ulaman nodded. "Yes." He put his handless arm on Daniel's shoulder. "I don't know how to thank you, Daniel."
"No need to, Ulaman," Daniel said. "I had to do this. Anyone would have."
Ulaman's silence could mean anything.
"Still, you did it, and you got us out of there," Stroro filled in. "We all owe you our lives."
"Let's first see about getting home," Daniel said. "We're not there yet." He looked to where Xandree was taking care of two sailors who had gone feverish. These two, and the ones most badly hurt, had been put as close to the steam cylinder as possible. They had even taken some of the cabin around it apart, to make the warmth easier accessible. The others on the airship took turns near the hot engine.
"Daniel?" Aldrick half askingly said.
Daniel got up. "Yes?"
"I think the skipper is not well..." Aldrick pointed at the man who was lying on the floor.
Daniel hurried over to the man, who did not react to calling, shaking or splashes of water. That was the last thing they needed. "Do you know where we are?" Daniel asked Aldrick, as Abnezer and Stroro put the skipper somewhere out of the way. One more patient for Xandree to watch over, he thought wryly.
"He was just explaining that to me," Aldrick said. The look on his face already told Daniel the bad news. "But before he could point it out, he collapsed."
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment. Not that too. "Ulaman, can you come over here?"
The big man, holding on to the lines with his remaining hand and avoiding to look down, came to the cabin.
"Can you tell where we are?"
Ulaman carefully looked around and then at the map. He muttered something, looked a few times more and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I can't make this out. Air navigation is not the same. Things look wrong."
The coast line, far below, was a long straight line. Trouble was that the coast line on the map contained many straight lines. They could be over any one of those.
"Aldrick, when did you last see a large town?" Daniel asked.
The man looked surprised and lost. "Uhm... I didn't really pay attention... I'm sorry."
Daniel looked around. "I want everyone who can look from his or her eyes, to look out for the next town. We have to get down, and near a town is the only option that we get anywhere. Once we are-"
"Daniel, you mean like there?" Abnezer said, pointing, his teeth clattering from the cold wind..
The man's eyes were amazing, Daniel thought. In the far distance, almost impossible to make it out, was a little blob that might indeed be a town. Together with Ulaman he started calculating how far the town might still be. Then, after discussing things with Aldrick, he decided that they would keep their current altitude for another half hour.
After that time, Aldrick started releasing steam from the floaters, gently taking them downwards. The change in altitude quickly brought about a change in temperature, and everyone relaxed. As the airship came in lower air-levels, Daniel, Tomlin and Abnezer worked the sails like madmen, to keep the ship on course, while Aldrick did what he could on his end.
The crew members of the Pricosine that would be able to help had to grit their teeth, as they could not do a thing except sit to keep the airship level.
At one point, the airship dropped down hard, as if a layer of air just gave way. Everyone grabbed something or someone, many fell to the bottom of the boat. Abnezer hung from a line, Draiky holding on to his legs to prevent him from falling down.
"Crap, what was that!" Daniel cried out, his worry venting. "I
s everyone okay?"
From everywhere voices said they were okay. Xandree looked worried but gestured that her patients were no worse than before.
The town came closer and closer, as the airship flew at no more than thirty feet at best.
"Damn it, Daniel!" Ulaman then yelled out, "that is Boragov!"
"What?!" Daniel could not believe it. Boragov was a town only some forty miles away from Skarak.
It did not take them long to reach Boragov. Aldrick proved to be a master of landing: he let the airship's hull touch over the water and slowed it down as Daniel and Tomlin released the steam from the floaters. They kept enough hot air in them to keep them hovering. Aldrick had warned them a few more times that they had to remain dry. As the boat reached the shore, they were near the harbour of Boragov, where dozens of people had witnessed the approach of the strange flying object and its landing, and now were cheering at their approach.