For Steam and Country: Book One of the Adventures of Baron Von Monocle

by Jon Del Arroz

  The engines below made a couple of clicks, and then whirred loudly. They’d fired! Harkerpal could work miracles. It was the sweetest noise I could have heard.

  The turbines above me spun, slowly at first, and then reached their full speed, but we hadn’t recovered from the fact that we were falling from the sky at an alarming rate. We passed through the clouds, which shot above us as quickly as they became fog in my face. Through the hole in the deck, I could see the trees growing larger in the distance below. Those treetops came far too close before we reached sufficient thrust to pull out of the dive. My stomach lurched again as we jolted forward.

  I let out a gasp in relief, and then focused on keeping myself alive. I swung myself, using my full body weight back and forth. One hand, then another. I was close to the deck, but not quite over it. I had to make a leap of faith. While I did so, the Liliana righted itself, and we pushed back through the clouds and went on our merry way.

  I shifted my weight once more and forced one final swing to get myself to the deck. On that swing, I lost my grip and pawed at the deck, my body half on it, and half dangling into the hole. I slipped back toward the hole, screaming. This would be my doom.

  One of the crewmen saw me as he moved to secure a nearby rope. He dove and grabbed me by the wrist. That stabilized me. A couple of other crewmen rushed over and helped pull me to safety.

  “There, there, Baronette,” the crewman said, offering a sturdy arm so I could pull myself to my feet. “Nothing we haven’t dealt with before on the Liliana.”

  I laughed. “A new adventure every day.” I gave him a thankful nod, then turned to look at the damage to the main bridge.

  A good half of the room had collapsed from the hit to its main structural components. The roof sagged toward the floor. It had completely caved in on itself, though the pilot’s side still stood.

  Which meant the area that had collapsed was Talyen’s command post.

  I ran hard at a speed I didn’t know I could muster and rushed through bridge door. My breaths were heavy, already exacerbated from hanging by my arms for so long.

  I pulled the door open, afraid of what I might find inside, ready to call for the medic.

  Talyen was inside, leaning against the wreckage, carefully monitoring the pilot’s course. They both looked at me like I was crazy.

  “I thought… ”

  Talyen knocked on the wood that had been the roof moments before, now a slanted wall to a much smaller main bridge. “I didn’t make it to the chair yet. Two feet to the right of disaster.”

  The pilot laughed.

  One of the other deck crew entered the cabin, saluting Talyen. “Commander, we’re clear of the anti-airship artillery.”

  “Very good, crewman. Please coordinate the cleanup and repairs with the others. Report back casualties when you know them,” Talyen said.

  “Aye, aye.” The crewman turned and left.

  Talyen rubbed her forehead. “I have a splitting headache,” she said.

  “At least you don’t have a split head,” I said.

  Talyen glanced out toward our heading, seemingly in thought. She paced to the window, then looked back. “Pilot, how long until we reach Devil’s Mountain?”

  “A little over an hour.”

  She walked over to me, and linked her arm with mine. “Very well, then. Zaira, I promised you we’d be able to talk about this mission, and it looks like, barring any other unforeseen attacks, that we’ll be able to do just that for the next hour. To the mess hall, then?”

  So soon after such trauma, I could hardly consider myself ready. But what was this but another day aboard the Liliana?

  “Sounds good,” I said to Talyen, trying to formulate a good argument in my head as to why I should be allowed to go on the mission. We walked over to the mess hall together.

  We’re traveling by horseless carriage to meet with Zaira von Monocle. I hope this isn’t a mistake.

  An excerpt from Captain von Cravat’s log

  Day 24 of the Month of Dukes

  19th Year of Malaky XVI’s Reign

  “I talked to Theo before the attack,” Talyen said, squeezing a mug of coffee between her hands and bringing it to her lips. She held it there for a moment, basking in the steam. “After coming so close to dying myself, it makes me grateful for the little things. To be able to enjoy a cup again.”

  “I think it’s too bitter,” I said.

  “To each their own.” Talyen shrugged. “I know we’ve disagreed about almost everything in the past regarding your involvement with this ship, how far this should go, but I’m going to remind you of something. Back in the cave, you warned us we were ill-equipped, and we needed to get out of there immediately. You were right, though with Theo, he doesn’t always listen. You both have good intuition on things at times.”

  I tilted my head to her, not sure where this was headed.“So do I, however. I kept this crew together for more than two years after your father disappeared and before you could even dream of the sky. This time, my intuition and your father’s lines up. We both believe you’re ill-prepared and too injured to come on this mission. You’ll slow the crew down with how you can barely walk, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how you hobble. We can’t risk that.”

  She was right. My father was right. But, by Malaky, I needed to help them. Perhaps I still felt I needed to prove myself after this whole ordeal, but that was silly. I’d taken out two Wyranth soldiers by myself. I convinced Marina to delay her trap, which might have saved us all. I’d been useful, and I’d learned more than I could ever imagine.

  “I wanted to inform you of the mission, figure you’ve earned at least that much. I’ve assembled the team. We’ll be taking the knights with us, two of the ship’s scouts, and six of the strongest men I could get in order to help push the device.”

  It felt strange for me to hear James referred to as one of the knights, but it brought me great pride for my friend. I said nothing, however, still thinking about my role and what would be best.

  Though I’d argued a lot with her as she had said, this didn’t feel like the time to protest. It hurt me so much to be left out, but I understood. “Okay,” I said, looking Talyen directly in the eye. “I’ll listen to you and Father.”

  She relaxed her shoulders. A tension I hadn’t noticed in her before disappeared. “Good. Thank you, Zaira. This is a big decision by you, I know. It proves you’re an adult.”

  An image flashed in my mind. The creature. The mountain. It breathed—or more accurately pulsed—and through that pulsing I could see. Wyranth soldiers surrounded it, a lot more than I’d seen before. I closed my eyes and opened them a few times, until I regained focus on the conversation.

  Talyen remained seated back in front of me, tilting her head with concern. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I blinked a couple of times to regain my focus. “I’m just seeing something strange.”

  “Strange?”

  “I don’t know.” More images flashed in front of me. The creature in the mountain pulsed, sending anger, rage at the Wyranth soldiers. They would be ready to kill on sight.

  Talyen watched me with concern. “Zaira, you’re turning pale. I should call the medic.”

  I waved her off. “It’s not that. It’s the creature. It’s projecting thoughts to me somehow. I think this mission may be a bad idea. They’re ready for us. There has to be another way.”

  “Like what?” Talyen asked.

  I thought hard on it. If I were connected to this creature, it wouldn’t help me willingly. It shifted in its chamber, causing another quake down below. Something excreted from out its backside. Gross! I could feel its bowel movements. Like its blood, its waste was different. It ate through the ground below.

  As much as that made my stomach upset, it gave me an idea. “Don’t go straight for the tunnel’s exit,” I said. “Go into the forest. There’ll be a spot close to where we were before. A big rock and a tall white flower will be there, under a tree. Ha
ve your team dig from there. I know it sounds weird, but they won’t have to dig far. There’s a huge hollow hole under the creature’s rear that reaches out to that distance. It was worried about us being there before, when it sensed Marina and me. It’s been sitting in its own feces.” I couldn’t believe I was visualizing this. “You’ll be able to—”

  Something strange tingled up my spine. I cringed. It made Talyen look at me like I was crazy. Intense pain shot all the way from the small of my back to my skull. My head felt like it was about to burst open. “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “The creature?” Talyen asked.

  Pure rage boiled inside me, so much so that I couldn’t see straight. My breathing was quick, shallow, like I couldn’t get enough air. “The explosive. Must set off the explosive.”

  As much as I wanted to control my body, I couldn’t. The creature had taken over my faculties. No matter how hard I struggled against it, I couldn’t control myself. It was like being stuck in a cell, watching through my own eyes. I bolted toward the mess hall door.

  Someone grabbed me from behind. I clawed at the person’s arms. The person cursed, but had me fully restrained with the help of a couple other members of the Liliana crew. I didn’t want to do this at all. Why couldn’t I even move my lips to tell them?

  The crewmen lifted me from the floor and carried me to my father’s quarters. I’d lost complete control, struggling against them the whole way. I squirmed, kicked, and screamed to no avail. It felt as though a balloon expanded in my skull, pushing outward. At any moment, it would pop.

  I thrashed around and scratched at the door. Then I pulled on the handle and screamed at the top of my lungs. I shouted something in a language I couldn’t understand. Was that the creature speaking?

  Visions clouded my head. A far away land that had a rocky terrain, large boulders the size of the Liliana. The sky grew dark, cold, snow hitting the ground like a rushing river. The people there had a blue tint to their skin. They panicked. Riots erupted, men with clubs smashed in the faces of other people. The violence was unbearable.

  I ran through the forest, down a slope as far as I could go. I ran for so long the skin wore off my feet. My limbs became exposed bone and muscle with blood trailing behind me. I ran across continents, across oceans. It took a millennium, more. All the time, my movements became slower. My legs lost their shape, grinding down into bulbs. The people of this land stood and stared in awe, mocking me for how slowly I moved. I froze, and that’s when the real change came. My skin expanded, draping over everything, encapsulating me. It pulsed, and I became afraid I’d drown in it.

  The skin kept expanding, changing. It had a rubbery texture, and it throbbed. It was more sensitive to everything—light, touch, the temperature of the air around me. Unable to move, all I could do was watch when it folded over my face. I couldn’t see, that skin substance becoming all I had to sense the world around me. Though I should have been smothered from my nose and mouth being constrained, I found that the throbbing and pulsing supplied my lungs with air.

  I pushed out with my mind, seeking as hard as I could to connect with anyone, anything. And I was hungry, so hungry. All that running and growth required sustenance. My mind found the small men, could reach them in their puny skulls. Whatever had changed me had given me the tools to survive. Yes, they would do well for me. So many of them gathered around me now. They could find the others, the ones from far away. It would be a bloodbath. The best part, was that the humans were on their way to me. I could sense them in the forest. So much pain would sustain me for a long time.

  My eyes popped open, and my natural surroundings returned. The Liliana. I was inside my father’s cabin. The pain lingered, strong and getting worse.

  After meeting Zaira von Monocle, I’m torn as to how I feel. Some of the crew has already taken to her. I have to admit, she does have a lot of her father’s energy in her.

  An excerpt from Captain von Cravat’s log

  Day 29 of the Month of Dukes

  19th Year of Malaky XVI’s Reign

  It took almost everything I had to push that creature from my mind, but I finally regained control over myself. My sheer willpower had been enough to overcome that ancient force. I was a von Monocle.

  Red skies filled the room with a soft light, one darker than the room I had been thrown into hours before. Despite my still groggy head, I hurried to the door and turned the knob. The creature knew that Talyen and the others were coming. They would be ambushed by Wyranth soldiers if I didn’t act.

  I was immediately greeted by a crewman who stood guard. “I’m sorry, Barronette. Orders are to keep you confined to quarters.”

  “I need to talk to Captain von Cravat, now!”

  Toby squeaked from behind me, but I ignored him.

  “The captain’s already left with the commando team,” the crewman said.

  I frowned. Even with my plan of digging through to the creature’s rear, there would be far too many Wyranth soldiers for our team to deal with. They’d find Talyen and the others and slaughter them.

  Unless I could provide a distraction. “Then let me go to the bridge. This is my ship, it’s my place.”

  “Orders,” the crewman repeated.

  “Crewman, what’s your name?” I asked, putting on the sweetest tone of voice I could muster. I tilted my head at him and smiled.

  The young man in front of me struggled to keep his composure, adjusting his neck collar. “Ah, Glenn.”

  “Glenn. You called me Baronette. You know who I am. It’s my ship. Do you know why they put me in here?”

  “Ah, said it was for your health,” Glenn said.

  “Right. And the medic did a great job. I’m fine now. But the people down below, they won’t be unless we do something to help them out. You want to save Captain von Cravat and my father, right?” It may have been laying it on too thick, but I batted my eyelashes at him.

  “Well, yeah, but—”

  “No buts! That’s not the von Monocle way.” I inserted my foot in the crack between the door and pushed it open.

  He stepped back, allowing the action.

  “Now be so kind and escort me to the bridge?” I shut the door behind me to make sure Toby wouldn’t escape.

  Glenn looked unsure, but then nodded and led me down the hall to the main mess cabin, out the door, and around the corner to the bridge. So much of the top deck still lay in wreckage, though the crew had cleared out much of the debris from the earlier anti-artillery attack. With any luck, the Wyranth wouldn’t have time to move those blasted contraptions to the base of Devil’s Mountain.

  The front cockpit still held true, and a couple of crew I didn’t recognize stood there. One manned the pilot station, and the other looked ahead through binoculars. “Ensign Matthews?” the latter man said, questioning my escort.

  Glenn saluted. “Sir. The Baronette requested to come to the bridge. Said it was a matter of urgency.”

  “Baronette?” the man with the binoculars set them down on the wooden dashboard in front of him. He saluted me. “Oh. Welcome to the bridge. How may I help you? I’m Lieutenant Colwell, and this is the pilot, Major Edwin Ral.”

  I returned the gesture. They stared at me. Was I supposed to do something else? I jerked my thumb toward the window in front of them. “I’m here to take command.”

  “You are?” Lieutenant Colwell blinked.

  “That’s right.” I tried to sound confident, like my father would be in this situation. I’d seen how he’d handled that Wyranth guard back in the cave. I could talk my way through situations like that. And this was easier because I could be honest. “The Wyranth soldiers down there are ready for our team. They’re fanning out through the forest now to try to find and stop them.”

  “How do you know that?” my all too astute escort asked.

  “I have my ways,” I said, not wanting to scare him by mentioning the cave giant taking over my head for several hours. “But we need to get everyone ready for a direct
assault on the aperture right at the base of the mountain. We can make them think that’s where our team is going to attack, and concentrate their forces there.”

  “A diversion,” Lieutenant Colwell said.

  “Exactly.” I nodded.

  “Okay,” Lieutenant Colwell glanced past me, out the window to the forest and mountain beyond. “Major, set a course. South by southwest approximately… ” He held up his binoculars again, “thirteen degrees.”

  “Aye,” Major Ral said. I watched him move the ship controls. The turbines activated beyond their standard hovering. I heard the pounding of the large gears below their shafts. He operated the controls so smoothly, so precisely. What I had done in controlling the ship on my first flight had been a mockery of his work.

  I watched him with deep concentration. Perhaps I would never fly the ship again, but if I had to, I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t make any mistakes.

  The Liliana turned and moved forward.

  “We need to make sure the cannoneers are ready to fire,” I said.

  “And the crank turret at the fore of the ship,” Lieutenant Colwell said. He motioned to Glenn. “That’s your post.”

  Glenn eyed me as if asking for permission.

  “Go. We’ll need all the firepower we can muster.” I shooed him off.

  He left the bridge, which, with the back of the room having collapsed, gave the three of us much more room to stand than we had before. I turned to watch the crew readying the deck and Glenn hustling to his station. “Now what?” I asked.

  “You’ll have to call them to battle,” Lieutenant Colwell said. He motioned to a funnel shape on the dashboard in front of him. “If you call into here, it’ll bring your commands to different listening posts in the ship. The cannoneers and deck minders should hear you.”

  “How come I didn’t hear that before?” I asked.

  Colwell shrugged. “If you were in the baron’s quarters, he had it outfitted for peace and quiet. I’ll let the deck know.” He moved and poked his head out the door, shouting to the crew. “Battle stations! For steam and country!”