xxiii
Sellie pulled the hatch closed once they achieved level flight.
Harry tried to relax. That was the worst take-off they had ever had. But we’re aloft, she said to herself. Now all they had to do was fight a Zeppelin. How hard could that be? They’d done it before, and this one did not have a squadron of fighter planes to protect it.
Should be a walk in the park.
She found her own argument to be unconvincing.
There were plumes of smoke rising from behind the ridge ahead. The Zeppelin must be firing on Bakari’s men to keep them away while they repaired their engines. Cutting lines was effective but relatively easy to fix.
The Pegasus was approaching the ridge at high velocity. Harry changed her mind. The moment they crossed the ridge the Germans would be able to hear her engine. She pulled the ship round in a hard turn to the right. It banked so much they lost a good percentage of the Faraday and side-slipped towards the grass cropped short by herbivores.
She headed southeast, hoping that no one would spot the smoke from their stack.
The ridge was lowering and they would soon become visible, so she cut the power to the propeller and glided just below the ridge line. She hopped the ridge and dived into the shallow dip in the landscape picking up speed again.
Adjusting the attitude of the wings slightly, she brought the Pegasus into the long slow turn heading northwest back up the valley.
A sound close by alerted her that Bakari was at her shoulder. His fingers gripped the rail tight as he said something she did not understand, but it sounded encouraging.
They were now gaining altitude and without the propeller the air speed was reducing. She skimmed the surface of the river, jumping its meanders and sliding round the larger boulders. Ahead of them another explosion erupted from the slope leading up to the ridge.
There was no way Bakari’s men could keep the launches on the ground if they were that far away from the Zeppelin. She would have to keep an eye out for them; one of those Maxims could rip out enough feathers to stop them flying.
The airspeed of the Pegasus had dropped to the point where she needed the wings. With regular strokes she kept them aloft over the river bank. The top of the Zeppelin became visible above a small escarpment down which the river cascaded in a waterfall.
Harry pushed power back into the propeller and they rocketed over the ridge.
The airship was still on the ground; she could see a group of men gathered around the rear port engine. Several bodies lay on the grass, not moving. But what made her heart skip was a battery of half a dozen artillery pieces that had been mounted in the grass.
“We just need to disable it, Harry,” said Sellie in her ear. “We don’t need to take it down permanently. Bakari will do the rest.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” said Harry. As if to echo her words, one of the launches emerged from the Zeppelin’s hull. It had short wings for extra lift and twin diesel engines driving pusher-propellers, just like the Pegasus. This was no slow coach.
At over one hundred miles per hour the Pegasus flashed past the airship’s envelope, making it billow in the plane’s wake. Harry pulled round in a wide turn to the right, skirting the ridge on that side and losing speed.
“How’s our Maxim?” asked Harry, referring to the gun Khuwelsa had purloined from the town and mounted under the fuselage.
“Wet and probably clogged with weed,” said Khuwelsa.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” said Harry. “Great. The day we really need a gun we haven’t got one that works. Should have boiled up some tar and screws.”
“I did,” said Khuwelsa. “And I have a delivery chute for them.”
“Remind me to shake your hand when we get out of this.” And at least no one will drown this time.
“I’ll get it ready.”
They were coming at the ship broadside but away from the deployed guns. That didn’t stop the guns on the ship itself from firing at them. Harry knew it was very unlikely they would be hit so there was little point in trying to avoid the attacks. If they were hit, they would probably know very little about it.
Khuwelsa gave two quick whistles. Weapon ready.
Harry wondered if the Germans were ready for this trick. It didn’t seem likely, because if Johannes was right this ship had disappeared before their unofficial battle of Zanzibar. Shooting one or two of the helium bags had little effect, but burning through a swathe of them with hot tar worked a treat.
The Pegasus was not at the right angle. They would be better attacking along the spine as they had before, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. The sooner it was disabled, the sooner they could get out of artillery range.
She whistled, two short and one long. It really meant Attack dive but they would not be diving in this instance.
The Pegasus roared towards the Zeppelin. Three hundred yards out she killed the power to the propeller and flicked out the wings in a braking manoeuvre. Though the plane was slowing, Harry flinched.
The nose was coming up. If they lost too much headway they would crash tail-first into the ground. Their airspeed continued to fall; she flapped hard to gain a little height. Artillery shells and rippling gunfire filled the air around them. From the left the launch suddenly appeared from behind the balloon, the tracers from its twin Maxims tearing lines of destruction through the air.
They had to get out of its way but were, by now, almost motionless in mid-air. Harry cursed under her breath. She engaged the prop at full power to keep them up as long as possible. But the Pegasus was almost vertical, nose up. The only compensation was that the Faraday grid went up the rear wall to some extent, simply because the ornithopter had to tilt upwards to get into the air.
If the grid covered the entire ship it wouldn’t matter what angle they were at. She pushed the thought away. The Pegasus could not do that.
The launch was still coming at them from the left. Harry pushed the port wing forwards and the right one back as hard as she could. The Pegasus spun in the air so the Zeppelin was to the side of her. Harry beat upwards with the wings flat. The fuselage turned as if the propeller was a fulcrum and was now horizontal, the Faraday fully effective again. Harry operated the wings madly to keep them aloft while the propeller gave them speed.
The launch was directly ahead, still spitting bullets. It was closing fast. Harry dived beneath it with an upstroke and then beat down hard. The iron bird came up under the launch. The deafening crash of metal against metal battered her ears, followed by horrendous scraping across the roof which stopped abruptly. The Pegasus lurched.
xxiv
The mass of the Pegasus far exceeded that of the launch. She could feel the additional weight now attached to the top of the plane.
The sound of the wind grew loud as the hatch opened. Harry turned to see to see Bakari’s foot disappearing upwards as he climbed onto the roof. There was another ear-battering screech. Harry worried that the launch might affect the propeller. If that happened they would all be dead. She adjusted the wings into a dive but reduced power to the prop.
The wind noise returned to normal. Harry risked another glance. Khuwelsa was dogging the hatch closed. They exchanged a momentary glance and Khuwelsa raised her eyebrows before heading back to her station.
Harry dived the Pegasus towards the ground, then brought the nose up and did a quick flip to the side. The sound of the launch scraping its way from the roof made Harry wince in pain. Her bird would need a good bit of repair. She paused, anticipating the sound of the propeller being ripped off. When it didn’t happen she increased power to maximum.
A glance down into the rear-view mirror showed the blurry image of the launch hitting the ground. Someone with brown skin rolled off.
She hoped Bakari was not hurt.
An explosion erupted from the ground ahead of her. She gritted her teeth and brought the ship round in the tightest turn she dared. The artillery pieces were being dragged back inside. They must have repaire
d the engines. The top-mounted gun was firing at her; as she watched, the muzzle flared again. Harry growled.
Like a winged demon the Pegasus gained height with powerful beats. Harry whistled again: two short, one long. Khuwelsa responded with two short just to make sure Harry knew she was ready.
The Pegasus roared along the line of the Zeppelin, perfectly positioned. Its rear propellers were a blur of spinning wood to Harry’s view. She wished she had the Maxim working as they rocketed towards the rear gunner. The muzzle flashed again. She imagined she felt the wind of the shell as it passed them. She whistled: one short, one long.
It took them barely three seconds to cover the length of the Zeppelin. She could see the faces of the men at the forward gun as the Pegasus whipped over it. Khuwelsa gave one short and one long whistle to indicate she had deployed the tar.
Harry kept up the speed and let her ship turn in a broad curve around the far side of the ridge. She powered down and reduced their speed, then brought them down to a gentle landing out of sight.
Staring at the motionless ground outside, Harry listened to the propeller wind down. She kept the Faraday engaged but folded in the wings. Khuwelsa went to the door, opened it, and kicked out the steps.
Harry took a deep breath and released the controls. She clenched and unclenched her fists, spreading her fingers wide. Her hands ached. She slipped out of the chair and onto her feet, feeling a little unsteady. Bakari’s spear lay on the deck. She climbed under the bar and picked it up, then followed her sister outside.
She staggered slightly as she stepped down into full gravity. Khuwelsa had already reached the top of the ridge and was peering over. Harry caught up and looked. The middle section of the Zeppelin’s balloon had collapsed, and its loose envelope flapped in the wind.
“We did it,” said Khuwelsa.
Harry found she had nothing to say; her mind still felt numb.
The Germans were in the process of deploying the artillery again. Harry was not sure if they knew where she had landed, but she ducked down again, pulling Khuwelsa with her.
“We need to move,” she said, and took a few steps down the stony ridge back towards the Pegasus.
“Wait,” said Khuwelsa. “We should wait.”
“What for?”
“Bakari.”
Harry gave a slight smile. “You’ve got a pash for him.”
“I have not!” said Khuwelsa.
“I wouldn’t mind, he is quite handsome,” said Harry. “In a rugged, unrestrained sort of way.”
“Sounds like you’re the one with the pash,” said Khuwelsa.
Harry laughed but without much energy. A movement along the ridge caught her eye and she wished she had brought the shotgun.
Two of Bakari’s men appeared, grinning with their wide and toothy smiles. They were full of congratulations that Harry could not understand.
Exhausted, she sat down and then lay down. She would just close her eyes for a minute.
* * *
“Coffee, Harry?”
She smelled it before she opened her eyes. Seeing that the sun was in a different position, she sat up in a panic and then felt dizzy.
“How long was I asleep?” she demanded. “What are the Germans doing? Why didn’t you wake me?”
Khuwelsa was crouching a couple of feet away holding a steaming mug.
“An hour. Consolidating their position. Because you were tired and needed to rest,” she said. “Bakari’s here and preening like a peacock. I think he’s told the story of how he killed the men on the launch five times so far.”
“He’s all right?”
“Oh, he’s fine. Some cuts of which he seems inordinately proud, and bruises, I expect, but he’s not complaining.”
“Men,” said Harry.
Khuwelsa nodded and held out the coffee. Harry took it and sipped it, feeling its energy revitalising her mind.
“They’ve been quite complimentary about you too,” said Khuwelsa.
“That’s nice.”
“Apparently it is. They’re not big on female warriors, and apparently I don’t qualify because all I did was tend the engine and drop the tar that actually did the damage.”
“Sorry.”
Khuwelsa shrugged. “I don’t mind. Who wants to be in the limelight?”
“Not me,” said Harry.
“Quite, but you have no choice,” Khuwelsa said with a grin. “You get the fame and I’ll get the fortune.”
“Which fortune would that be?”
“No idea, but I think it’s a fair division if it ever turns up.”
Harry put down the tin mug and climbed to her feet. She glanced at the ridge, but resisted the temptation to see what the Germans were doing.
“We better be getting on,” she said, almost to herself. “Come on, Sellie.”
She glanced at the warriors who were all looking in her direction. She turned to Khuwelsa. “How do you say goodbye?”
“Sala hantle, I think.”
Harry turned to the men. “Sala hantle.”
They repeated the words although she was sure there was something of a laugh in their voices. Sellie and she probably had not got it quite right. Never mind; it was the thought that counted.
The sun was sinking in the west as they powered up the Pegasus again. Harry launched her down the ridge away from the Germans and hoped once more they would not notice the thin smoke trail. She swept low across the rocks and then the grass, scaring a small herd of goats. Turning northwest she kept the revolutions in the propeller low to reduce noise.
“What’s Bakari going to do?” Harry asked Sellie after they had put a few miles between them and the Zeppelin.
“He’s sent one of his men back to their home which is only a couple of days away now,” said Khuwelsa. “He’s mainly after his man, but he’ll kill any Germans they can catch alone. If the man they’re after makes a break for it, they’ll go after him. Otherwise they’ll wait for reinforcements.”
“The Germans are a bit stuck, I suppose,” said Harry. “They’ll have to send out to get rescued.”
“They might be able to lift if they abandon all their cargo.”
“Or dump the cargo and leave an armed guard.”
“Which would lighten the load even more.”
They both thought for a minute.
“We better hurry,” said Harry.
“Yes, we had,” said Khuwelsa.
xxv
During the next hour the ground dropped away and they passed over some small lakes. This gave on to wide grasslands teeming with wildlife. The plains of the British and German protectorates were busy places when it came to nature, but this place was astonishing.
Herds of wildebeest, elephants, zebras, different types of gazelles, and giraffes roamed the plain. But at the speed the ‘thopter was moving this soon gave way to swampier land. As that, too, came to an end, Harry blinked at what lay before her; it looked as if they had somehow reached the sea.
With the low sun reflecting from its calm surface they were faced with a wide expanse of water stretching to the horizon. Although, from their altitude, they could see mountains on the far side.
“Lake Victoria,” said Harry almost in wonderment. It had been discovered over twenty years before by one of the early expeditions using balloon-lifted Faraday machines. The explorers had been searching for the source of the River Nile. This was it.
There was no time to think before they were across the coastline, dotted with herds of hippopotamuses, and then had nothing but water below them.
“Perhaps we should have stopped on the coast,” said Khuwelsa, eyeing the setting sun.
“We’ll be across in no time,” said Harry. Dark shapes of islands grew from the shadows ahead. Then she saw lights on one of them. So bright, they could only be electric. Harry reached forward and pulled back on the throttle. The propeller’s noise died away. Harry angled the wings and curved away from their northwesterly course that would have taken them directly acro
ss the island.
She headed west, reduced speed and kept them aloft with the occasional stroke of the wings. If they were spotted they might, just possibly, be mistaken for a predatory bird because there was no way to judge their actual distance.
They passed to the south of the brightly lit island at an altitude of a thousand feet, and a distance of ten miles. More than enough to be safe, Harry thought with her fingers firmly crossed.
They flew across the beach of the opposite coast at less than two hundred feet. Harry spotted a village and its natives staring up at the great metal bird flying over. She hoped they were not on friendly terms with the Germans, although they were a good fifteen miles away from the island and that was by boat.
She saw an open space in the middle of a forested area and without engaging the propeller made it to the ground with only a little bump. She switched off the Faraday and the Pegasus settled with a gentle groan from her metal bones.
Khuwelsa lit an oil lamp instead of the electric ones.
Harry got up and stretched.
“What’s to eat?” she asked.
“Oh, so I’m your skivvy now as well?”
“Never mind,” said Harry. She went to the wall rack that held the rolled-up camp beds. “Do you want yours?”
“I suppose so.”
Harry pulled them both out and handed one to her sister.
“Roast gazelle sandwiches? Some pies. More sandwiches. Cooked meats. Fruit. Lots.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Cold tea or water if you want it now, otherwise we can heat it all up.”
While Khuwelsa sorted out the food Harry assembled their beds and pulled out the blanket rolls. Khuwelsa handed her a warm sandwich and a mug of cold tea which Harry consumed without really noticing the taste or the temperature.
“Do you think we could get a camera for next time?” Harry rested her chin on the rim of the mug. “Then we can take some pictures and just fly home to show Dad.”
“You think the Germans will hold still for their portrait?”
“It’s better than the alternative.”
Harry in the Wild: Astounding Stories of Adventure (Iron Pegasus Book 2) Page 9