Storming: A Dieselpunk Adventure

by K. M. Weiland

  What he wanted was to pull her into the shadows, take her by the shoulders, and kiss her like she’d never been kissed before and never was likely to be again. He clenched his teeth to keep back another groan.

  Confound it. He couldn’t possibly have been so stupid as to fall in love with her, could he? He knew better. He’d warned himself—Earl had warned him—the Berringers had warned him. Everybody had. Was he the only one who’d failed to realize how much he hadn’t had this thing under control?

  But maybe that wasn’t all bad. Just because he had to go didn’t mean she couldn’t come too. Maybe she’d forgive him about the pendant. Her heart was big enough for it, Lord knew.

  They reached the plane, and he did pull her into the shadows. But he didn’t take her by the shoulders, and he didn’t kiss her.

  They stood in the darkness, facing each other. The silence grew.

  He shifted his weight and opened his mouth.

  She beat him to it. “Have you said any words to Walter?” Her voice was clear and level. If she was anywhere near as confused and upset as he was, it sure didn’t show. “He has distress about something.”

  Walter was someone else he couldn’t leave without talking to.

  “About that,” he said. “That’s my fault, I reckon.”

  “Well, you will say something to him?” She came a step nearer. “He thinks you are hero.”

  “I’m no hero, Jael.”

  She moved nearer still. “Yes, you are. I think you are.” A smile pulled up the ends of her words. She raised her face. The flickering light from the bonfires slanted across her features and deepened her eyes impossibly. “You have done good things here, Hitch. Things no one else could have done.”

  “Kept you away from Zlo, I reckon. But I didn’t get you home. I’m sorry for that.” Sort of.

  She lowered her voice. “I am glad you did not. If we had not stopped Zlo, I would have duty to go back. But I find I do not want to go back now. My decision is that I am staying here.”

  “Here?” Exactly what he’d been afraid of. But why not? She was starting to fit right in. Her English was getting better all the time; even her accent wasn’t quite so thick.

  She lowered her gaze from his eyes, to his mouth. Her lips parted.

  Dear Lord in heaven, why did this have to be so hard?

  The corner of her mouth curved up, half-smiling. “I would not slap you. Maybe.”

  And why did it have to be this easy? He lowered his face to hers. He touched her cheek and pulled her to him. Kiss her and have done with it. Get at least that much to carry with him, even if she did decide to slap him after he told her all of it.

  But he couldn’t. Before his mouth could reach hers, he made himself say it.

  “Jael, I already decided. I’m still leaving.”

  For a second, she remained as she was. Then she flicked her eyes back up to his and drew her eyebrows together. She leaned away. “Why?”

  “Because I should never have come home, and that’s the truth.” He shook his head. “Campbell says we’re even, but we both know he can still chuck me in jail anytime I don’t do what he wants. I had to give him your pendant.”

  “You found it? Under Schturming?”

  “If I don’t do what he tells me, then people get hurt. People I care about. Including you.”

  Her features remained still, like she was waiting to hear it all before judging.

  “I’ve done nothing but cause more trouble since I came back here. I’ve raked up all of Nan’s hurt over Celia’s death and Griff’s hurt over my leaving the first time. I upset Walter when he needed somebody to be on his side more than ever.” He looked away. “Got my dog killed.”

  She nodded, slowly, realization dawning. “You are flying away.”

  He turned back to her. “I am sorry.”

  She shook her head. “I forgive you—about pendant. I understand why you did what you did. You were protecting people, and you did not have choice. I do not blame you for that.”

  From the sounds of it, she blamed him for something.

  She sighed. “But... you are leaving.”

  His heart flipped. If that was all, then maybe this thing could still end happily.

  He touched her arm. “Come with me. Fly around the world on my wings. You were born for that life as much as I was.”

  “You would be leaving more than just me.”

  “They’re better off without me.”

  “That is not true.”

  “They can’t wait for me to leave. You can read it on their faces.”

  She pulled her arm free. “That is excuse. They are your family! It is not for them you are leaving. It is for you that you are running away.”

  His guts twisted. He took a step back. “If I knew how to do it any different, I would.”

  She looked him in the eye. “You do know. I heard you tell Walter.”

  He waited.

  “You said... to be brave, you only have to pretend.”

  He had said that to a scared little kid who didn’t yet know what he was capable of. Hitch wasn’t a kid any more. He’d been to the limits of himself and back again more times than he could count. Pretending didn’t work anymore. Or at the least, it was a fool’s game. He was what he was, and he only knew how to do what he knew how to do.

  He started to shake his head. “I’m sorry—”

  From beyond the party, deep in the field, a woman screamed—and then the scream was cut off.

  Jael turned. “That was Aurelia.”

  The band kept playing. A moment ticked by.

  And then another scream jagged through the night—on and on, higher and higher. It sounded strange, reedy, unused.

  Hitch’s neck burned cold. It sounded like Walter.

  Forty

  HITCH AND JAEL started running at the same time. They headed for the back end of the field, toward Schturming. He overtook her, in her party shoes, almost immediately. Already the deep thrum of Schturming’s engines rumbled in his chest.

  He shoved through the party. “Move! Get out of the way!”

  His brain scrambled to catch up with his legs. Campbell had launched the thing? Why? Campbell had nothing to prove to these people. And he wouldn’t hurt Aurelia or Walter. Hitch had done what Campbell’d wanted. Campbell didn’t have a single reason to hurt them. His heart exploded energy through his body with every stride.

  Ahead, the white cloud of Schturming’s envelope floated up from the ground. She was aloft, the bright moon showing every detail. The tethers had been cut, the propellers already repaired thanks to Campbell. She powered right over the top of the party.

  People started looking up. They pointed. Some of them laughed and waved. But then uncertainty swept over them. Conversations ceased. The dancing stopped. A second later, even the band petered into silence.

  Above, the engines cut out.

  Hitch stopped, panting. Behind him, Jael skidded to a stop.

  From above, a voice shouted down: “You are enjoying your party, yes?”

  Zlo.

  Rumbles of astonishment and confusion washed through the crowd.

  How had this happened? Campbell knew Zlo had some gambit up his sleeve. He had men on guard. Surely, Zlo couldn’t have hidden away enough people to overpower them all. Hitch balled his fists. Or maybe he could. Maybe in allowing Schturming to be captured, what he had really done was cleverly get rid of all his deadweight—all the people from Schturming who’d disagreed with him. That would leave him with just those men who were loyal to him and his notions of what he wanted to do with the dawsedometer.

  Hitch looked skyward—up and up, until there. Zlo and half a dozen other shadowy figures stood on the railed walkway atop the envelope.

  Zlo laughed. “You tried your best, and you have lost. And now again, we are going to play this game by the rules I give you. Except this time, you need motivation maybe. I have two of your people as my passengers.”

  “Gospodi pomiluy,” Jael breath
ed.

  “Say your names,” Zlo said. “So your people know who they will lose.” He shook one of the shadows flanking him. “Say it.”

  A whimper floated down. Then: “Aurelia Honoria Smith—and Walter.”

  The party erupted. People started shouting and screaming. Mothers started running for their children, husbands for their wives. Standing near the food tables, J.W. shook his fist.

  “Two of your people,” Zlo’s voice deepened. “One each for two days—tomorrow and the next day. You have until then to give my ransom. Wave red flag on top of your bluff when you are ready.” He turned to the shadows of his men. “Otpustite nas!”

  The engines throttled up. The propellers started pummeling the air.

  This whole thing was another setup. Zlo wouldn’t give Aurelia and Walter back, no matter what the town did from now on. He’d chuck them overboard at his own good pleasure and in his own good time, just to show who was boss.

  Walter and Aurelia’s only chance was a rescue right here, right now.

  Hitch turned and ran to the Jenny. He stopped at the rear cockpit long enough to stick his hand inside and feel for the fuel switch.

  He turned back, and Jael practically smashed into him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. But he already knew.

  “I am coming with you.”

  Protesting would be a fat lot of useless at this point. So he just plain didn’t. Besides, a little help would be more valuable than not about now.

  “Get in! You know what the magneto switch is on the panel? As soon as I tell you, flip it.”

  She kicked off her heeled pumps and jumped from the wing into the front cockpit. “All right!”

  He raised his leg, like a pitcher ready for the game of his life, and cycled the propeller. “Contact!”

  “Contact!” she hollered.

  He hand-propped it again. The engine roared to life, and he ran back to swing himself into the rear cockpit. Feet on the rudder pedals and the stick in his hand, he opened the throttle and taxied the plane around to take off into the darkness. The wings caught air, and he pitched for a maximum rate of climb.

  Ahead, Schturming’s inner lights winked through her portholes. Paired with the moonlight, that would have to be enough. So long as they were in sight, he could find the ship. The moment those lights winked out, she was as good as gone.

  He puffed in breath after breath, his lungs working too frantically. Calm down. Think. He regulated his breathing. First thing that had to be done here was to keep Schturming from gaining altitude too fast. The lower it stayed, the better the chance it wouldn’t get away from him. He opened the throttle and careened past the airship, all the way to its prow.

  Next thing would be to somehow get Walter and Aurelia out of there. Another of the rope ladders he and Rick used for car-to-plane transfers—like the one they’d used to clog Schturming’s propellers earlier today—was already secured and rolled up under the wing, just waiting to be of use. If he matched speed with Schturming—and if Zlo still had his hostages up top—maybe Jael could climb down the ladder and help them into the plane. It was risky. Insane, actually. But it was better than nothing.

  He knocked his fist against his windshield and waved his arm until he got Jael to look back at him. Then he mimed unfastening the ladder and climbing it.

  The Jenny reached the front of the dirigible. With a yell, he slipped her in closer than was good for anybody’s nerves. He nipped right under the front of the envelope, athwartships, and practically right over the top of the bow. The wind pressure shifted momentarily, and the sound of people yelping in surprise made it to his ears.

  Ever so slowly and ever so slightly, Schturming edged down and to port.

  Wasn’t much. But it was something. He allowed himself a tight grin.

  He swung the Jenny back around to the stern. They’d make one pass over the top to scope things out. Then, with any luck, Jael would get the same idea and chuck the ladder over the side.

  He swooped in low, barely twelve feet above the envelope. The Jenny’s forward bulk kept him from seeing straight ahead, so he kept the walkway under his left wing where he could monitor it.

  In the front cockpit, Jael leaned over the side to see past the lower wing.

  He held his breath and strained his eyes.

  Nothing but white and more white. Maybe Zlo had already taken Walter and Aurelia down to the ship.

  Then Jael stood up so fast the whole plane flinched.

  He looked from her to the walkway. There. A large blot of black separated itself into half a dozen smaller shadows. Six pale faces looked up toward the Jenny.

  Hitch bared his teeth. “Got you now.”

  That was when Zlo’s men threw both Walter and Aurelia over the railing.

  Every vein in Hitch’s body seemed to explode. The Jenny roared on past, and he whipped his head back to see over his shoulder.

  For an instant, they both clung to the railing. Walter was better visible against the envelope, thanks to his dark suit and his dark hair. He seemed to be reaching for Aurelia. She was slipping, slipping. He was grabbing for her hand, trying to pull her back. But her weight was too much for him. Both of them lost their grip and skidded down the side of the envelope.

  “No!” Hitch shouted.

  Zlo and his men glanced from the empty railing up to the Jenny. Then they turned and ran back down the walkway, headed inside.

  Still standing in the front cockpit, Jael waved her arms and moved her mouth. But the wind swept away her words.

  Hitch’s mind spun in blank circles. His hands and feet seemed to operate entirely on their own. He turned the Jenny around and made another pass down the side of the envelope.

  The mountain of white stretched forever. And then—the two shadows appeared against the endless envelope.

  He exhaled hard.

  Somehow, by some outright miracle, Walter and Aurelia had caught one of the ropes that were still slung over the top of the envelope from when Campbell had moored her earlier that evening. The rope must have caught on something on the other side, but it wasn’t secure. Walter and Aurelia were descending: a few inches every minute. Twirling, they clung—Walter above Aurelia’s head. Even if the rope could hold, they couldn’t.

  In front of him, Jael flung first one stocking and then the other out of the plane.

  For the love of Mike, what now?

  Then she stood up, and it all made sense. His heart kept right on galloping. But if anybody could pull this off, she could.

  The ladder was their only chance now. If he could get the ladder within reach, maybe Aurelia and Walter could grab on to it. Maybe. He growled. That kind of trick was scary enough with a seasoned professional, much less an addled woman and a little boy.

  Jael gripped the cabane struts holding up the top wing. She swung out first one bare foot and then the other. As soon as her toes touched the canvas, she leaned forward and grabbed the guy wires. Hand over hand, she passed herself from the wire to the strut near where the ladder was affixed. She looked a whole lot more like a monkey than that society belle she’d been imitating earlier.

  She unfastened the ladder and it exploded out into the wind.

  He applied opposite stick to compensate for her offsetting the center of gravity, then eased the Jenny around for one more pass. All he had to do was get the ladder in close enough for Jael to help Walter and Aurelia onto the ladder—and then keep the plane steady while he matched pace with Schturming.

  Sweat trickled down the side of his nose into his mouth. He licked it away.

  Walter and Aurelia still clung to the rope. They’d already slid halfway down the envelope. That rope could give at any second.

  He rammed the Jenny in close to the envelope. And then closer yet.

  Only Jael, crouching on the wing, held steady. Her skirt whipped around her thighs. She gripped the heavy strut with one hand, then swung herself under the wing and down onto the ladder.

  Let
her make it, just let her make it. Hitch held his breath.

  Between the wings, Aurelia blinked into view.

  Hitch throttled back just a little and rose until Aurelia was beneath him, hopefully right where Jael could reach her and guide her hand onto the ladder. Nope, too much. He gunned the engine the tiniest of smidges, then held steady.

  Aurelia’s wails filtered to him. Jael shouted something.

  Aurelia rose out of view above the top wing.

  That was bad. Schturming was climbing. Hitch nudged the stick back and added a little power to match the climb. Ahead, the sky was a black wall. If he lost Schturming in this, that’d be it for good and all.

  Once more, the Jenny’s wingtip hung steady beside Aurelia.

  Still wailing, Aurelia pried one hand loose from the rope and lowered it toward Jael. Immediately, she slid a good five feet down the side of the envelope.

  Hitch pitched down and reduced power to keep up with her.

  She reached again—and let go of the rope with her other hand.

  His heart somersaulted in his throat for a second.

  But then the Jenny took the full brunt of Aurelia’s weight on the ladder. Jael had caught her. The plane’s whole frame shuddered. Hitch overcompensated, and the Jenny yawed hard left, away from the dirigible—and Walter.

  Hitch fought with the controls. The weight beneath him swung around, first one way, then the other.

  Jael had to get Aurelia under control, or they were all in big trouble.

  He gritted his teeth. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, baby.”

  The Jenny howled for all she was worth. She shook beneath him. The stick bucked like a wild thing in his hands, and he strained against it.

  A bare thousand feet off the ground, Jael suddenly heaved herself up onto the wing in front of Hitch. She gripped the forward cockpit’s rim and crouched to reach back down for Aurelia.

  Hitch hauled on the stick. Every muscle and sinew in his arms felt like it was tearing.

  Jael hooked her elbow over the cockpit rim for extra leverage and leaned back, straining to pull Aurelia up. She threw her head back, and her mouth opened in a silent shout.

  Hitch’s heart stopped beating altogether. The wind rushed cool against the sweat on his face. His own breaths whistled, echo-like, in his head.