The Mighty Airship Kaede. (The Mighty Airships of Earth. Book 1)

by Gary W. Feather

  So many new things have happened.

  There had been a long war in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century between several nations on Earth’s land and sea. Japan, Prussia and Britain on one side and France, Ottoman, and Spain on the other. His family, like many Japanese, had lost plenty of kinsmen in that war and a few kinswomen. Japan took the Philippines and California from Spain and the British had taken Canada and kept Egypt from France. Then the Martians conquered the British Isles and Queen Victoria was executed. The surviving British government regrouped in India and Canada with the new Queen Victoria II and united the surviving empire with the empire of Empress Noriko of Japan in a pseudo-marriage between the two young women though their enemies complained that it wasn't pseudo.

  "Hello," someone said in English.

  Hirohira jumped. He hadn't heard anyone enter and cursed himself for being distracted, for he had been taught to be aware of his surroundings. Doctor Sakura stood behind him. Her dainty, full figure, for a Japanese woman, was shown off quite well by the western man's clothes that she wore: a yellow shirt, trousers and boots with a tarnished hat. Of course she also carried an oxygen mask. In contrast, her hair was tied back in a feminine French braid. She carried a big sack and dropped it on the floor. Thump!

  He bowed with a pause in mid-bow and she nodded in reply.

  "I didn't hear you--"

  "Sorry about that, Hirohira-san," Doctor Sakusa said. "I was wondering how you were doing. Have you gotten settled in?"

  "Hai.”

  "I know we haven't had a chance to talk. I have been very busy getting things ready."

  "Ready for what, Sakusa-sama?"

  "Well, how should I start? Our new Imperial Union government has been secretly trading with the planet Venus. We hope to gain enough tech to hold our own against the Martians and their allies. Recently a group of diplomats was sent aboard a Venusian spaceship to create an embassy there. Sadly the spaceship went down in Confederate territory."

  "Spaceship? Venus?” Hirohira paused to clear his throat. “Didn't we nearly go to war with the Martians over us not relinquishing refugees from the fallen United States?"

  "Yes. Happily they backed down and we all stood strong together. A great hope for our new nation." Doctor Sakusa gently tugged on her braid. "They crashed near a town in Illinois called Wayne City. We plan to land there and save them. You do know how to ride a horse?"

  "Yes, Doctor Sakusa." He bobbed his head.

  "Good, let's go to the stables, Hirohira-san."

  "This airship has stables?"

  "Hai. And get these American clothes on for yours will draw too much attention. Oh, there's an old LaMat revolver and holster in it, so wear that, not yours."

  Hirohira pulled out the LaMat. It had a second barrel underneath the main one.

  "That's a small shotgun barrel," Doctor Sakusa said. "I'm not sure how you fire that so just use the regular one."

  "Yes, ma'am. The LaMat company makes most of the guns for the Confederate military, doesn't it?

  "Mainly revolvers. Most CSA army rifles come from the Lee-Carmine Company in Richmond. Oh, and your English is pretty good, but let me do the talking out there."

  "Hai!"

  #

  Sakusa Momiji sat on a cushion reading from a book by Basho when there was a knock at the door. She set the book on the short table and smoothed out her clean indoor kimono as she stood, her maid had laid it out for her.

  Momiji found the gleaming eyes of young woman waited on the other side of the door. Momiji casually looked her up and down.

  "Hello, Wendy," Momiji said in English. “Still dressed in your uniform?”

  Wendy Montgomery was dressed in the uniform of an Auxiliary woman officer including; a mid-calf length blue skirt with a blue jacket over a white blouse last of all a black bowtie. She still wore very little make-up much like most respectable English women.

  "Hello, Doctor Sakusa."

  "Is this a formal visit?" Momiji asked. "Does the captain want to see me?"

  "Uh…" Wendy blushed and twirled her wavy blonde hair with a finger. "No. I--"

  "Then just call me, Momiji, in private.”

  "Hello, Momiji," Wendy said.

  "Better and I love a woman in uniform," Momiji growled and waved Wendy in with an amused look.

  Wendy walked inside. Momiji's quarters were decorated in the traditional Japanese style with no chairs nor European style furniture. Instead it had tatami mat flooring with short legged tables and cabenits that could be reached while sitting. Momiji's futon had already been rolled up and put away by her maid, who had a nearby room.

  "Oh! I almost forgot your Japanese traditions." Wendy sat to take off her boots.

  "We can't have that." Momiji admired Wendy's leaf-green eyes as she helped with one boot. Her eyes always reminded Momiji of cats and tales of forest spirits.

  Momiji leaned over and kissed Wendy's calf while rubbing it. Why does the heavy scent of a western woman who took few baths excite me so? At least she keeps the dirt from out of her fingernails and cuts them short I do. Momiji felt Wendy’s hand cup the nape of Momiji’s neck as Momiji rose up to kiss her lips. Momiji slowly untied Wendy’s blonde hair to let her wavy blonde hair flow down. Momiji pulled off Wendy’s jacket as Wendy kissed her neck. Wendy stopped and pulled back.

  “Shouldn’t I take the other boot off?” Wendy teased.

  Momiji pulled and Wendy pushed with socked foot.

  “We seemed to be having some trouble, darling,” Wendy giggled.

  “One foot seems to have grown while the other hasn’t,” Momiji teased. “We might not be having this trouble if you bathed more.”

  “Oh,” Wendy said. “I bathe a lot. You Japanese are just way too crazy of being odor free and clean. It’s like a religion.”

  “We call it Shinto,” Momiji laughed as she fell backwards as Wendy’s boot came off.

  “You fine?”

  “Minus my dignity, but I’m not broken.”

  “Good,” Wendy jumped on her.

  “Ouch!”

  “Did I hurt you, darling?” Wendy teased. “Show me where and I’ll kiss it to make it better.”

  Momiji pointed at a spot. Wendy kissed her elbow. Momiji pointed at her finger and Wendy kissed it. Momiji pulled back her kimono to point at her bare shoulder. Momiji felt her heart beating faster as Wendy kissed her shoulder. They continued the game, until both of them were bare of any clothes.

  Momiji slowly tasted the salty sweat of Wendy’s inner thigh with her lips. As she edged closer to Wendy’s hamaguri Wendy moaned and gripped Momiji’s hair. I want this! I love this! Momiji clutched Wendy’s hips then butt cheeks as she kissed, licked and lightly nipped at Wendy’s hamaguri. Do I love her?

  "Iki iki!" Wendy shouted.

  Later Momiji laid her cheek on Wendy's shoulder and her finger playfully circled Wendy's belly-button as she thought of the first time that they had been introduced by Commander Matsuo. Just another new frightened ensign to break in for the senior officers on Kaede. Not really any of her business, until the moment she looked into Wendy’s eyes. She had forget to breathe. So beautiful. Love or lust? How could you tell the difference?

  Momiji looked around at the mess in the room. Clothes had been tossed around the room, trouser-skirt, drawers, bodice, chemise, corset, kimono and under-kimono. Her maid wouldn’t be happy about cleaning this up.

  "Happy?"

  "Yes," Wendy laughed and Momiji laughed.

  "Iku iku?" Momiji said. "Where did you learn that?"

  "I heard it from the grapevine," Wendy said. "I think I know what it means."

  "I guess I need to teach you some slang words," Momiji laughed and Wendy joined in.

  "Naughty ones. Like?" Wendy said.

  “Hamaguri.”

  Wendy crawled on top and began kissing Momiji on the mouth.

  “What’s that?”

  #

  Hirohira nearly fainted when he saw the flying horse, or rather
giant horned bee. It stood in the stall like a horse. It looked like the mad drawings of an opium addict with insane shapes and colors. There were also a lot of horses, for the stable was huge. There were three stable workers: two boys and a girl. He had come here after changing into the American closes that Doctor Sakura had given him.

  "Pretty things," said Paul, one of the airship's stable boys, said in English. "Don't you think, sir?"

  "Yes, Paul-chan," Hirohira replied. "They're pretty and huge."

  Hirohira touched the creature's reptilian skin. It felt soft like fawn fur. Its nostrils sniffed his hand looking probably for food or danger. It found neither and didn't seem to mind when Hirohira's fingers brushed its forehead and touched one of its two large horns. He neither felt nor saw any hair on the animal, but he had been told that it was part mammal and part insect. How it was able to be both, he had no idea at all.

  "We call them rhino-bees," Doctor Sakusa explained. "It, along with one of their warriors, is on loan to us from a powerful confederation of Indios tribes called the Nez Perce. For some reason, the Venusians--who are very good at genetic manipulation--gave some rhino-bees to the Nez Perce to raise on Earth. The Nez Perce have used them to keep their lands free of unwanted foreigners."

  "Did you say genetic manipulation?" Hirohira said.

  "Never mind. We can talk about that later."

  "These, on the other hand, are just your typical Kentucky breed." She gestured toward the horses. They were brown and already equipped with American style saddles. "Thank you, Paul-chan."

  "You're welcome, mum," Paul said.

  Hirohira touched the fur on the horse's neck and enjoyed the familiar warmth and smell from an animal that didn't seem so alien.

  "Now this I understand. I've been riding longer than I've had a top knot."

  "A what, sir?" Paul said.

  "Mr. Izumo is a samurai, Paul-chan" Doctor Sakusa said. "They keep alive an old traditions from China where boys have their hair fashioned into a topknot when they reach a certain age."

  "Oh, I didn't understand, Sakusa-sama." Paul bowed. "Thank you."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Go!

  The airship floated down over a forest. Occasionally one of the Venus-made thrusters adjusted its position, while the doors to the stables hung open. Doctor Sakusa stood near the opening holding the reins of her horse. Hirohira stood nearby doing the same. They, of course, had left their masks behind with their regular clothes. He watched as the trees disappeared and were replaced by a cornfield. They slowly got closer and closer.

  "Okay," Doctor Sakusa shouted. "Mount your horse."

  Hirohira patted the gelding's neck and stuck his foot in the stirrup. He swung his leg over the saddle and he was on. The gelding backed up. "Easy, boy. Here we go, Tom," he said to the horse in English. Does it understand English better, he pondered. They readied to get off the HMS Kaede.

  Paul pulled a lever and a ramp slide out of the stable. Doctor Sakusa nudged her horse with the heels of her boots.

  "Yeeeeeeehaw!"" Doctor Sakusa shouted and her horse dashed down the ramp.

  "Ahoka! Come on, Tom!" Hirohira shouted at his horse. It jumped and nearly threw him, but he gripped with his legs as his father had taught him. He smacked its rump and it bolted down the ramp. I thought this was a gelding? And what was that strange word that she yelled yeihau?

  Hirohira looked up. The HMS Kaede rose over the treetops. He could barely hear the ignition of her Venus-made rocket engines.

  Doctor Sakusa held up a metallic object the size of a standard hardback book with glass covering one side.

  "What is that?"

  "A gadget we got off the Venusians. We call it a MAM or Mini-Analytical Machine. It can do several things, but for now it can communicate with anyone of the planet Earth." She tapped on the glass with her right fingers. "It can also locate similar devices that the Venusians, and our people have."

  Doctor Sakusa paused and twisted around on her horse's back a few times, eyes focused on the MAM. She stopped and looked up. "This way.”

  Doctor Sakusa twisted back around and moved her horse between the tall rows of cornstalks. Hirohira rubbed the strange gun on his hip and followed her out of the field, onto a dirt road. On the other side of the road was a forest. They road on for a mile before coming to a barn beside a shack.

  "Strange. The readings are showing we're near one of the MAMs," Doctor Sakusa said. Maybe it's in that barn."

  "Do you need a break, Doctor Sakusa?" Hirohira said.

  "No. I just thought I heard something. Nevermind."

  "Of course," he said.

  "What does that mean?"

  "Uhm...nothing, Doctor Sakusa.” Kami! I shouldn't have said that.

  Doctor Sakusa laughed and much to Hirohira's surprise raced toward the barn. Hirohira followed as the barn's doors burst open and men with rifles rushed out. Four men and a woman armed with revolvers and sabers galloped from the nearby forest.

  “Don’t move! Raise yar hands high!” shouted one of the soldiers with sergeant stripes.

  Dr. Sakusa and Hirohira were ordered to raise their hands and not were told to dismount.

  The woman hopped off her horse and walked up to them. She was white like the men with her raw sienna hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a saber, as did the other riders. All of the men wore gray enlisted men's uniforms, while she had on an officer's uniform of the same color.

  "Major Ellie Jackson..." Doctor Sakusa spoke in English.

  "It's a pleasure to see you too, Doctor Sakusa Momiji," Ellie Jackson said in excellent Japanese, with a polite bow. She held Doctor Sakusa's chin in her hand. "I'm a full colonel now and I have captured you again, Momiji-chan, my dear."

  Hirohira watched helplessly as Doctor Sakusa pulled away and the other woman giggled. Ellie Jackson turned to Hirohira and gestured to the men. His arms were seized from behind and bound with rope. Someone kicked the backs of his knees and his legs crumpled. Hirohira tried to struggle in frustration.

  "Is he a replacement for the last man I killed?" he looked up at the arrogant white woman and realized she was talking to Doctor Sakusa not him. "That was when we crossed paths in Morocco last year."

  "Hai," Doctor Sakusa said.

  "You won anyway, but not this time."

  "I'm sorry. You should have listened to me."

  "Oh, really?" Ellie Jackson said in Japanese. "A misunderstanding among old friends. Is that what I'm supposed to believe?"

  The white woman laughed sarcastically and in English told her men to bring out the wagon.

  Hirohira cursed out in Japanese as he was seized and tossed into a wagon. The wagon with a team of mules must have been in the barn for he hadn’t seen one around earlier. Doctor Sakusa was dumped beside with a little more gentleness and he hoped she would continue to be treated like that. Hirohira heard Colonel Jackson give the order to go. He looked around and saw a white man sitting in the driver's seat give the mules a smack with his whip. One of the soldiers pushed him back down with a boot as the others laughed. Hirohira was let up so he could see Doctor Sakusa beside him and saw their horses were tied to the back of the wagon.

  “Be careful, Hirohira-san,” Doctor Sakusa whispered to him. “I don’t want you dying for nothing. Understood?”

  “Hai!”

  "These things are lovely." Ellie Jackson rode beside the wagon. Hirohira saw that Doctor Sakusa's MAM was in her hands. "The Martians have a similar thing. We of course found the Venusian's MAMs and were able to use them to lure you here. Amazing how easy it was, Momiji-chan."

  "Should have known it was a trap, Ellie-san," Doctor Sakusa said. "Where are you taking us?"

  "To town. A place called, Wayne City. Small. Not really a city. We have a building where we're keeping the prisoners. The ones you were wanting to see."

  Doctor Sakusa leaned back and looked at Hirohira with an elfish grin. "Looks like we've found the survivors of the crash after all."

  Great! Hirohira thought, but
kept quiet.

  The trip into town was uneventful. They crossed two bridges. Jackson pointed at the water under the first bridge. "That one is called, Skillet Fork." They traveled a little further down the road to a second bridge. "That is called Shoe Creek. Though it isn't shaped like a shoe and there is a local mill. All very boring."

  The party rode through the main part of the little town that strangely reminded Hirohira of home. They turned down a road that took them to a wooden building beside a large tent. There were also smaller soldier barracks, campfires and a number of strategically placed cannons and Gatling guns, and some others adjusted for anti-aircraft firing.

  Doctor Sakusa and Hirohira were taken inside and nudged into a large jail cell along with the survivors of the crash. Hirohira got his first look at an alien. The Venusians were blue skinned, and very tall--almost seven feet--and slim, with green or orange hair that looked like kelp. Their only jewelry was three purple lip-rings that each Venusian had in the same spot in the center of the upper lip.

  Doctor Sakusa bowed and shook hands with the human diplomats and staff; they consisted of three Japanese and three British citizens. The guards gave them each old tin cups of water to drink.

  "I am Ambassador Randall Webster," a British man said. He was stout with a mixture of aged muscle and fat, and hair that was all white with a bald spot on top. He introduced them to the other humans.

  "I am Doctor Sakusa and this is my secretary and bodyguard Lieutenant 2nd class Izumo. We were sent to find you."

  "It looks like you did. Thank you," grumbled the Japanese diplomat named Fujiwara, who had very little fat, but very little muscle either. He held his empty cup to his chest.

  "Take it easy, Jotaro-san," Ambassador Webster said. "They've come a long way and have tried their best. I'm sure it was very dangerous for them. We should appreciate it."

  "Well, at least we haven't been forgotten," Fujiwara said.

  "That's the spirit." Webster took a sip of water and cleared his throat. "Oh, and this is Captain Flowing Shadow of the Venusian spaceship Swift River."

  She held her hands in front of her face with her right thumb touching her left thumb and her right index finger touching her left index finger, thus making a triangle. The tallest Venusian responded with the same gesture. Hirohira copied the Venusian greetings as best he could. The Venusians were all over six foot and skinnier than Fujiwara.