by George Wier
“You’ve shot this before?” Garrett asked.
“Nope, but the man who did told me all you have to do is hold true.”
“That’s a long way out there not to figure in some elevation, Billy”
“Trust me.”
“All right.” Pat said, and smoothed his big moustache down with a thumb and forefinger, “Let’s commence.”
Ekka said, “I will make it easier for you to shoot at them.” She dropped her speed in half and took the straightest, smoothest path she could find that still angled them nearer the Arcadia. As she drove, Ekka looked at Merkam’s ship and worried about the ones inside.
[ 34 ]
Edward Teach made his way to the bridge, and was balked by Koothrappally.
“Get out of my way, little man!” Teach roared at him.
“The answer is being most positive ‘no’! The room of the pilot you may not entered. I will be defending it against your person.”
Teach made as if to grab Koothrappally and the man suddenly wasn’t there. There was a blur and to Teach’s right, and then there was a pain in his side. The man had jabbed him with his hands.
“Ow!” Teach nearly crumpled. “Where did you learn to do that?”
“In the monastery of the people who are the Koreans. It is most important that in order to provoke me less that you cease in your forward plunge.”
“Christ, that hurts. I need to tell Merkam to signal...my men.”
“Most certainly he will not be doing so.”
“You’re not the Captain of this ship. If I can’t go through, please bring him here.”
At that moment the ship rocked under an explosion from one of Custer’s guns.
“The estimable Mister Merkam is at this juncture attempting to engage the transmogrifier. Something may have occurred with Mister Ross in the room of the engine. Would you be being knowing about this dilemma?”
“Ross is drunk, goddamn you. At least tell Merkam we can deflect my sky pirates. All I need is to signal. I would have had Ekka or Billy do it, but they’re not here.”
Koothrappally regarded the man, weighing the expression on his pained face. Abruptly he made a decision.
“I will attempt to summon Mister Merkam.”
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Jay-Patten called from behind them.
“This bloody Punjabi hit me,” Teach replied.
Jay-Patten laughed. “The little fellow is somewhat more than he appears. I believe everyone on this ship is that way.”
“You gentlemen please to remain in the waiting,” Koothrappally said, and turned to the bridge. He turned the handle on the door and it opened.
“I’ll wait with you,” Jay-Patten replied. “How does it feel to be under attack? That is, for one who usually does the attacking?”
“It feels like...I don’t like it.”
“Good. Then you are learning something today.”
Koothrappally returned with Merkam in tow.
“What’s this about?” Merkam asked the pirate.
“Besides your clerk hitting me,” he gestured at Koothrappally, “First, I can signal my pirates to leave this vessel alone. And you’d better hurry, or they’ll be crawling all over this ship like flies on a corpse. Second, I maybe can get them to attack Custer’s positions, take some of the heat off of us.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You can’t. You can never trust me. But you can trust one thing, and that is I do want to save my own hide. And you can trust that I do want to travel with you to the Moon. What adventurer wouldn’t?”
Merkam turned to Jay-Patten, who nodded curtly.
“All right. The semaphore flags are packed in the hold. They’re in a crate next to the robots, appropriately labeled. Someone will have to climb outside and rig it up.”
“Teach and I will do it,” Jay-Patten said.
“Good. Where the hell’s Ross. I can’t do a damned thing without him?”
“Last I saw him he was drunk and saying horrible things about his wife,” Jay-Patten said. “I think he’s up on top right now. Anybody that tries to fish him off in his current condition may find themselves airborne. That is, without the advantage of a ship beneath them.”
“If you can coax him inside, that would be a good thing,” Merkam said with a sigh. “This looks bad. We can’t withstand too many more hits. We’ve almost got the transmogrifier up to enough speed for Gear One, then we can float away as we did in Colorado. But I'm worried about Ekka, Billy, and that damned Indian friend of theirs.”
“Hey!” Tesla called back to them from the bridge.
“Yeah?”
“I can see them! I think that’s them. They’re in the armored buggy about a mile away and seem to be engaged in a running firefight.”
“Denys,” Merkam whipped around toward the bridge while calling over his shoulder, “get those semaphores going and get Ross back at his post. If you can’t get him there, then you’ll have to get to the engine room and do as I tell you to. At least the speakers still work.”
“I am most apologetic for thrusting my hand against the delicate organs of your abdomen,” Koothrappally stated, then turned to follow Merkam.
“That,” Teach said to Denys, “is one odd duck.”
[ 35 ]
Two Hats used the terrain and the brush to conceal himself as much as possible as he sprinted toward the Arcadia. One soldier who had dismounted saw him for an instant before the Sioux used the butt of a Bowie knife to club him to the ground and steal his horse. He rode the remaining four hundred yards to the ship without so much as a shout at him and dismounted, then climbed up the outside of the moon rocket until he was near Ross.
“Iron Hand Jack!” He yelled.
Ross jerked his head in surprise. “Two Hats! What are you doing here?”
“You hurry inside, tell Merkam we go fast to Crockett dying place! We go fast!”
Ross shook his head to clear the alcohol fog, “Crockett?”
“Yes!” A bullet whanged off the Arcadia near Jack’s head, and Two Hats grabbed the drunk man’s good arm to pull him toward the open hatch. “We go!” Jack pulled back for a moment, then relented and allowed Two Hats to lead him inside the ship and out of the gunfire.
Abby met them as they came in and she checked Jack’s eyes. “Oh Jack, you’re deep in the sauce again.”
Jack subdued his ranting and calmed at her touch. “My Abby.”
Two Hats didn’t want to push the woman away, but he knew time was critical. He said, “Missy Ross, we need go fast-fast to Crockett dying place.”
Abby looked at the Sioux, “Do you mean the Alamo?”
Two Hats’ face brightened, “Yes! Alamo! We go fast!”
Denys joined them, “Why the Alamo, old chap? We are receiving quite enough of the barrage here without returning to the city.”
Two Hats said, “Ekka bring big wagon there, she say we pick up there. Much room there for both, but must go fast.”
“A splendid idea, but first we should wait for Mr. Teach to work his flags on the pirate ships above us.”
Two Hats understood that the man with the wild black hair and beard was able to work some sort of magic with the small pieces of cloth attached to sticks that would cause the airships to stop firing at them. “Good. I take Iron Hand to engine so he make us like bird in air.”
“That would be most helpful,” Denys replied.
After Two Hats and Ross left, Teach returned and motioned for Denys to join him as he exited the hatch. Teach positioned himself near the top, and smelled the still fragrant rum that Jack had sloshed from his bottle while ranting at the sky. Edward said, “I’ll need the use of both hands, so hold me as tight as a lover, Jay-Patten. I have no desire to imitate the last moments of Icarus today.”
Denys grinned and said, “You know just what to say, you beautiful scoundrel, don’t you?” He hooked one arm around the pirate’s waist and grasped the brass handhold on the Arcadia, and said, “Signal away.”
Edward worked his arms in quick, precise patterns, and in a matter of seconds, the pirate ships gracefully changed course and stopped firing at the moon ship. Teach signaled again and the pirates turned their sides toward Custer’s airships and the cavalrymen on the ground.
Before the ships fired, a bright red line of light appeared and disappeared as quick as a flash of lightning. It came from the Ares, some thousand yards distant, and went straight into the keel of the lowest Custer airship. The light struck between the two steaming exhausts, and suddenly the ship lifted in the back as if a great invisible tidal wave had slipped underneath it.
A second later, yellow flames and smoke rose from the keel area, and the ship stopped moving forward, floating in the air like a child’s balloon. Men yelled and tossed ropes over the side, sliding down to terra firma to avoid the fires that moved through the wooden hull like a storm of smoke and light.
Denys smiled. He knew they couldn’t hear him, but he waved in the direction of the Ares, saying, “Jolly good shooting!”
Teach said, “We’re done here, hurry inside before these airships start dropping like hailstones on our heads.”
The pirate ships fired in volley. Two of Custer’s dirigibles crumpled and fell from the sky. Only Custer’s airship escaped the withering fire, turning instead into full retreat, leaving the battle as fast as the ship could sail.
The pirates continued to rain bullets and cannonballs on the horsemen below, and they, too, soon departed the battle, racing into the oaks for cover under the trees.
Teach closed and locked the hatch door, and felt the Arcadia lift from the earth. He smiled, “We be off.”
[ 36 ]
Custer was so mad he was crying. His goggles fogged from the tears, and he pulled them down below his chin to stare at the scene before them. The pirates, those turncoat swine, drifted on the high breeze and pointed their ships toward the northwest and Colorado. The Arcadia, the prize that gave him fevered dreams of glory, rose into the air and sailed east, steady as she goes. The Arcadia’s attached cage reminded him of a carbuncle on a forearm. His great prize was escaping again. George’s teeth gritted as he said, “It is not fair.”
Captain Spence touched his arm and said, “Your orders, General?”
Custer saw the Ares speeding across pasturelands in the same direction as the Arcadia. His eyes narrowed in thought. “They proceed to the same location.”
“Yes, sir, I believe so.”
“I wasn’t asking a question, Captain.”
“Yes sir.”
George pulled a kerchief from his pocket and wiped his eyes, then the insides of his goggles. He replaced the goggles over his eyes and said, “Use stealth and follow them. Stay behind, but close enough to attack when I give the order. Custer’s Luck will out this day for us after all.”
The Captain thought, Custer’s Luck be damned! Custer’s Luck resulted in us losing three-quarters of our men! But he said, “Yes sir.” He was a soldier, after all, and knew the penalty for not following orders.
Spence steered the ship to the far side of a long, east-west running swell and stayed below the Arcadia’s line of sight. He occasionally wheeled the ship higher, to keep the moon ship’s position close, but not too close. Spence worried, too, because their vessel was sailing at maximum speed. If the Arcadia sped up, there would be no way to keep it in sight, and that would mean Custer’s wrath, not Custer’s luck for him. He wiped sweaty palms on his breeches and said a little prayer.
When the Arcadia approached the outskirts of San Antonio, Spence couldn’t hide the ship any longer and still expect to keep up, so he took a deep breath and approached Custer, explaining the situation.
Custer said, “Stay off their flank, but stay above and behind them. The moon ship’s destination is here in San Antonio. While they concentrate on where the Arcadia will land, we are going to attack from the sky. Have the men and ropes ready.”
“Aye, Sir.”
[ 37 ]
Ekka saw the Arcadia a half-mile ahead, maybe only a hundred yards or so above the earth and speeding as fast as a runaway horse toward the downtown area where the Alamo and its Plaza area were centerpieces. She had to be careful driving, because children and even some adults ran out into the street to look up and stare at the moon ship, amazed at its luminescent aura and that it had no dirigible to hold it aloft. She turned to Billy and Pat and said, “I think we will make it.”
Billy was looking up at an angle through a porthole when she spoke. He said, “Not without a fight.”
“What do you see?”
“A single ship, with Custer and lots of guns coming fast toward the Arcadia.”
Ekka pushed the throttle to Full Open and the increase in speed rocked Billy back against the wall.
Pat steadied him and said, “This’ll be pistol and knife work up close, I’m thinking.”
“Me too.”
Ekka said, “Are they ready to attack now?”
Billy said, “Looks like they’re waiting. Maybe until it lands, then they launch.”
Ekka dodged another child in the street and said, “They will attack as the Ares enters its cage. Custer’s ego will make him want both the Arcadia and the Ares as prizes.”
Pat said, “That’ll give us some extra time to prepare, but when things start, it will be close and frantic.”
“Like we’re trapped in a one-hole outhouse with a grizzly bear,” Billy said. “That’s how it will be.”
Ekka said, “Only one grizzly?” Pat and Billy looked at her. Then she winked. She said, “We have it to do, so we will carry the fight to them.”
Billy thought, The Goddess Athena has nothing on this woman. He said, “Do you have a pistol?”
“Yes, and two knives. I will come out of the Ares last and anchor it to the ship. one of you must cover me, while the other brings help from inside the Arcadia. Then we will lay waste among them.”
Pat said, “If I was a younger man…” He grinned at Billy and said, “You cover her, I’ll knock on the ship’s door and commandeer a few astron-nautes to help us.”
Billy said, “What in blazes are astron-nautes?”
Pat said, “I been doing a little reading and found some Greek words that sort of summed it up, you know, summed up what you will be when you travel through the ether to another planet. Astron-nautes means “star-sailors”.
“That is by-God perfect, Pat.”
“I thought you might like it.”
Ekka dodged a horse and buggy and entered the south end of Alamo Plaza as the Arcadia descended as lightly as a piece of eiderdown. It settled the cage to the earth in front of the Alamo as gentle as a baby’s kiss. Ekka pointed the nose of the Ares at the cage and decelerated to a speed slower than a walk so she could safely enter the opening.
Ropes dropped from the sky and draped across the Arcadia and the cage as men slid down them, armed with sabers and pistols. First among them was Custer, and he raced to the Arcadia’s cargo hatch as it opened.
Billy and Pat opened the door on the Ares and Pat immediately engaged a Sergeant who swung a saber that whistled by Garret’s head so close an inch-long lock of black hair fell to the ground. Billy leaned beyond Pat Garret and shot the Sergeant, then turned to cover Ekka as she emerged and hurried to the front of the cage. She worked several butterfly screws and tie-down locks, then moved to the next set several feet further on the cage.
Billy could see the cage adjusting to the shape of the Ares and realized the armored wagon would fit skin-tight on the moon ship’s hull when they finished. He shot another soldier who swung toward Ekka, dropping the man with a bullet to the chest. After that, he was too busy keeping Ekka safe to see what was happening on the rest of the Arcadia. When he heard Jack Ross yell, Billy chanced a glance over his shoulder and saw Custer jerk open the cargo hatch door and enter, sword flashing against some unseen foe.
Ross was at the second, smaller entrance into the ship, fighting like an iron-clawed bear at the entry hat
ch. He exited the entryway and ran across the Arcadia’s hull to attack a small group of men intent on drilling a hole in the metal skin of the moon ship. Jack ran into their midst, beating soldiers senseless with his metal arm and blocking saber slashes that sent showers of sparks into the air like those off a blacksmith’s forge.
Teach emerged from the smaller hatch and looked around, then above. He looked fierce and dark, wearing his black hat and long, black coat. He wore three pistols and two knives and the cutlass. A rope dropped in front of him and as a soldier slid down it, Teach ran the man through with the cutlass, then he re-sheathed the weapon and grasped the rope, climbing up it to the airship. The last Billy saw of him was when the pirate reached the ship and flipped onto the deck with the cutlass in one hand, swinging the blade left and right in deadly arcs, then he disappeared from sight as he moved further onto the ship.
Billy bared his teeth and shook his head as he saw more and more soldiers dropping to the Arcadia from the still-lowering airship. It was like ants pouring out of an anthill. There were too many. He fired the matched Colts until they were empty, then used one to slam against a man’s head so hard that Billy felt something internal give in the Peacemaker. As the man fell, Billy tried the pistol and found it inoperable. He holstered it and continued reloading and shooting with the remaining beautiful, shining, deadly Colt.
“Billy!” Ekka struggled with a burly soldier who had her from behind, pulling her hair to expose her throat for the knife in his other hand. Billy cursed himself and ran to the side for a better shot, but Ekka raised her knee to her chest and pulled a knife from the top of her boot. She stabbed backward under her arm several times very fast, then pulled away from him.
The instant the soldier was visible, Billy shot him six times. He reloaded his pistol, saying, “Ekka, I’m sorry.”
Ekka rolled her head to loosen her neck, then said, “It is okay, Billy. We are almost through here.” She knelt by the next tie-down assembly and went to work as if nothing happened.