by Blooding, SM
“Where then?” I panted, my eyes open. I couldn’t make out much. Just darkness and the occasional shape.
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure somethi’g out. I need someplace soft.”
“Water.”
“No’ water tight. Synn, lad, just stay with me. I’m workin’ on a plan to get ye back.”
“Don’t want to.”
His fingers dug into the back of my neck a little before releasing me. “I know.” He set me down and bound my feet.
“Why the ropes?” Yvette. “He can’t go anywhere.”
“Ye’d be surprised what the mind can do, lass. I once saw a great white bite off his paw after being trapped in a net.”
“A great white?”
“Bear.” Keeley.
“I’ve never seen one of those.”
“Maybe if we can stay free, ye’ll have the chance to do so.”
“Haj.” It hurt to speak. I couldn’t believe how tired I was. I just had a pounding head. It wasn’t as if I’d done anything physical.
Someone knelt by me. He smelled like home. Air, wood, rope and jelly gas. “Yeah, Synn.”
I closed my eyes and sank deeper to the floor. “I’m sorry.”
He was quiet for a long time. “Me too.”
Everyone disappeared after that, which was okay by me. The roar of the engines was enough to kill me. I kept repeating to myself that we were going back, and the pain subsided bit by bit until it was a dull ache behind my eyes and at the nape of my neck.
I opened my senses to the world around me one small piece at a time and tuned them out, searching for the voices of my friends, the people who now controlled my fate.
The engines. It was difficult to drown them out, they were so loud, but I knew after living on Sky City for so long that it was possible. That was the noisiest city I’d ever visited in my life.
A squeak. I concentrated on it for a long time. It would go in and out. Sometimes I could hear it. Other times, I couldn’t, but there was a rhythm. I just had to wait for it. There. One, two, double-three.
Radio.
I swallowed and listened harder.
Something vibrated. That noise set my teeth on edge. Metal on metal. I couldn’t understand why someone would build a flying vessel out of something so heavy and loud. It made no sense.
I focused around that.
There.
A word.
I scooted closer.
Two more words. “…sand…giraficus…”
It made no sense.
My eyes were super sensitive to the light, but if I kept them open just barely wide enough to allow me to see, it didn’t hurt too badly. There was the door to the cockpit. I scooted toward it, moving slowly. Sudden movements were not good.
“I don’t know where else to land us.” Joshua.
“Safara is absolutely the worst place of all places to land a craft.” Haji.
“Why is it worse than any other place?” Yvette.
“It is very wild. Creatures unlike any you have seen before.”
“You are so hard to understand. Is he even speaking Handish?”
“Quit being so mean.” Keeley.
Quiet.
“Do you have a better idea?” Joshua asked, his voice a quiet murmur.
“What if we land on a lethara?” Haji asked. “There, we would have enough altitude to take off and not crash.”
“Tha’s a good idea, lad, but do they have city streets wide enough for us? An’ could we land without takin’ out a few tentacles?”
“I did not think of that.”
“It’s okay.”
“You know,” Yvette said, her voice low, “for someone as well traveled as you, you’re sure not helpful.”
“I do not see you being of much assistance.” Haji’s words came quite clearly that time. “The letharan are able to move their tentacles out of the way. They are quite smart, you know. I am sure that if we came into contact with one, we would be able to get it to make room for us.”
“And how would we communicate with it?” Keeley asked.
“I had a radio.” Haji’s voice grew distant for a moment. “But it is back on Sky City hidden on a ship that would have taken us safely away from here.”
“You’re safe now.”
“Oh, yes,” Haji said derisively. “I feel very safe on a ship that burns fuels we cannot replenish and that cannot land…anywhere.”
“Can you use our radio?” Keeley asked.
“I will take a look at it and find out. I do not think so. Your boxes are quite different from ours.”
“But it originated from the same notes,” Joshua reminded him. “So I’m guessing there are enough similarities tha’ you could make it work.”
“Like I said, I will look at it.”
“How do we find one of these letharan?” Yvette drew out the word ‘letharan’ like it was the first time she’d said it. “Don’t they move?”
“Yes, yes they do,” Haji said. “Mostly, they travel with the currents, but the Hands have started tracking the currents, so we’ve devised other methods of traveling that are not so good.”
“But it’s better for those who are tryin’ no’ ta be caught by the Hands.” It sounded like Joshua was talking behind his hand.
“In that matter, we agree whole-heartedly.”
There was quiet.
“Do ye know where we migh’ find one?”
“No. They cannot be seen from the air.”
“But they’re big beasts,” Yvette said.
“They’re not beasts,” Keeley said.
“They are not beasts.” Haji moved around. He kicked something metal and cursed. “But in any case of semantics, they are clear. From above, it appears as though you’re seeing the ocean.”
“But what about the cities?” Yvette asked. “Surely, you’d be able to see the cities.”
“I do not trust you well enough to tell you all the secrets of our peoples. Just know that we can hear the airboats of the Hands. They are quite loud. When the sounds find us, our letharan hide us.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I have wanted to see one for so long,” Keeley said breathlessly. “They’re like a myth.”
“They are no myth, red lady.” Haji’s tone only had respect for Keeley. “They are very real and they are respected and loved amongst our peoples.”
“Tha’ only tells me how we can’t find one,” Joshua said. “No’ how to find one.”
“Yes, you are right. You are right. You can only find one with our radio.”
“Which we don’t have.”
Silence.
“What are we going to do about Synn once we land?” Keeley.
That’s the question I wanted to ask. I didn’t want to go back, but I also wanted my head to stop imploding. I should have stopped listening. I could go along with the lies and be fine, no matter how long it took. I just needed to keep thinking that I was going back.
Thrumming started in my temples and feathered around my eyes.
I winced.
No. I needed to know.
“I know someone who can help ‘im.”
“Where is he?” Haji asked.
“She.” Joshua’s voice was quiet. “Tha’s goin’ ta be the tricky part. I don’t know. Last I knew, she was hiding amongst the remaining Great Families.”
“But the Families have been falling for years, turns, even.” Yvette didn’t sound real positive. “How do you know she’s still alive?”
The group said nothing for a while. The roar of the engines filled my ears.
“I have been in contact with the outside world for some time,” Joshua said softly, his voice a bare murmur.
“So you were the one the Hands were looking for,” Yvette accused.
“Yes.”
“What were they looking for?” Keeley asked.
Yvette cleared her throat. “Dyna pulled me into her office one day and asked me if I knew of anyone sharing secrets wi
th the outside. Apparently, the outside was coming up with technologies that only we were supposed to have.”
“Like what?” Keeley asked.
“Weapons mostly,” Yvette said. “Why do you think I was able to stay in the laboratories without causing suspicion? I made a few reports every once in a while, kept an eye on everyone’s experiments, and I was free and clear.”
“What did you tell them?” Keeley asked, her voice filled with horror. “You were spying on us?”
“No, you singe,” Yvette said, her voice crisp. “I was being near my friend and spying on everyone else.”
Joshua chuckled. “I wondered.”
“This is all superbly wonderful,” Haji said, “but it is not helping us with how to get where we can land.”
“Do you know if anyone was able to implement the radar I leaked?”
“I do not know what a ra-dar is.”
“Hmm. Wha’ was your plan had you been able to escape on your ship?”
“It was not my ship. We would work until we found safe harbor, and then I would radio the Yusrra Samma and we would be safe.”
“What is a yus-rah sah-mah?” Yvette asked.
“Synn’s home,” Keeley answered quietly. “It’s where he grew up.”
“So let’s find that and land there.”
“It is an airship,” Haji said.
I snorted with laughter at the idea of landing on an airship, then winced as pain shot through my head. This beast was huge, and from the sound of the motor, heavy.
“Je n’comprends pas.” I don’t understand. “That, we should be able to land on. We just need to hope it is long enough.”
“Ye’re thinking of an airboat, Yvie,” Joshua said. “Airships are a quite different lot.”
“We could—”
The world rocked around us.
Everyone stopped talking.
Another loud explosion rocked the air beside us, and the plane tipped before evening out again.
“We’re under attack,” Joshua shouted.
“Are there any weapons?” Haji asked. “Cannons?”
“We weren’t done yet,” Yvette said, her voice high.
“And we were never meant to fight,” Joshua finished.
Another explosion jerked us hard, leaving behind a high pitched whine.
“You’d better strap in, people,” Joshua shouted. “We’re hit.”
Keeley was muttering about something, and there was a lot of clicking.
“We no longer have anythin’ to debate,” Joshua said calmly, his bird whining and wheezing. “We’re goin’ down now. Dear Mother of Dirt, don’t let us die today.”
CHAPTER 12
NO LANDING GEAR
When an air vessel is going down, there’s one place you don’t want to be, and that’s in a cargo space tied up with no harness. Headache or not, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
I pushed with the strength of my will until the throbbing subsided to a distant dull roar, and my eyes were cognizant and functioning. I searched for something to cut the ropes.
There was absolutely nothing and, of course, I was in my uniform from Sky City, which meant that I had no weapons. Glancing at the ropes, I realized they were metal anyway. They weren’t budging, and as I struggled, they only got tighter.
That damn Joshua.
I slinked to the doorway and crawled over the raised metal step.
Another explosion rocked us.
“Climb up,” I shouted.
“What do ye bloody well think I’m tryin’ ta do?” Joshua shouted back. “Do you want ta try drivin’ this thing?”
I paused in the short hallway between the cargo bay and the cockpit. There wasn’t a lot of space.
“Yvie, Kee, go below and make sure the lab is buttoned up tight.”
The two girls stepped over me to do as they were told.
“Way to be useful, Synn,” Yvette muttered.
I glared at her and raised my hands. “Care to unbind me?”
“You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?” she asked.
“Any more stupid than doing nothing while we’re being shot out of the sky?”
“Hmm.” She pulled out a long metal stick and touched the ropes at both my hands and feet. “Don’t make me regret this.”
I nodded and scrambled to my feet, stepping over the last raised, arched door frame.
“What can I do?” Haji asked.
“Don’t know yet, lad. I need eyes,” Joshua yelled as another shell rocked us. “What’s goin’ on down there?”
I stared past my feet, which were standing on glass. “This is brilliant.”
“All compliments are appreciated,” Joshua said, “but currently not helpful. What’s got us?”
I stared below, and saw only the occasional wisp of a cloud and water.
Nope. That’s not entirely right. A flash followed by a plume of smoke.
“Lethara,” I exclaimed. “Bank portside.”
“What?” he demanded.
“Left,” I shouted. “Bank left! Now!”
He took the two-handed wheel and pulled the shaft it was attached to in the direction I called. The repercussion pushed us a little. We evened out.
“Go higher.”
“I’m tryin’, you dolt, but we’re an engine short and we’re too heavy.” He pointed to one of the many gauges in front of him. “We’re losin’ elevation.”
“Then we dump cargo,” Haji shouted before heading for the back.
“No!” Joshua didn’t look away from his control panel. “We fought too hard for those damn supplies.”
“And now they’re going to drag us down.” I nodded to my friend and pushed him out the door.
Another cloud trail plumed seemingly from the middle of nowhere.
“Star—Right!”
“Why are they firin’ at us?” Joshua grunted as he pulled up and to the right on the wheel.
“Don’t know. We wouldn’t have known they were even there if they’d just—” I stopped myself as I saw what appeared to be a flock of black birds appear from nowhere far below us. “Nix. Birds. We’ve got birds in the air.”
“We have nothin’ to fight them with.” Joshua searched the span of glass beneath his feet. “Holy dirt lovin’ pigs.”
I shook my head. “What do we have?”
“Hand pistols,” he said. “A lightning gun and—” He paused to look at me.
I raised an eyebrow. “Did you get it ready?”
He nodded. “It’s below in the lab, but, Synn, it’s not tested.”
“Where’s the lightning gun?”
“Armory’s all down below.”
I nodded. “Watch for the bursts of smoke and try to stay out of the way of the other birds.”
“Likely they want ta take you in.”
“You know Nix,” I said quietly. “I doubt she’d appreciate her most treasured possession falling in the hands of anyone else. She’d rather kill me.”
Joshua shook his head. “We’re gainin’ altitude.”
Below us, we could see several crates falling through the air.
“What a bloody waste. Get out of here. Get weapons. Keeley’ll show ye some openings ye can use. Go!”
I hopped over the lip to the door and then again, and searched for anything that would lead down.
There, on the other side of the large bay. I ran toward the metal grate stairs that zigzagged up and down, and headed down. At the end of the hall was a double arched door. I could hear the girls talking to one another, their voices heightened.
Keeley looked wild and scared. “Synn, what are you doing?”
“Weapons,” I said shortly, scanning the tables and shelves of the room, trying to ignore the dull thud-thud-thud in my brain.
“Right,” Yvette said, her hand on one hip. “And we’re just going to allow you to have a weapon, knowing that you’re compulsed and likely trying to kill us.”
“Killing you is not a good idea.” Found th
em. I walked through the room, around Keeley, and pushed one table aside to gain access to a glass case of pistols and guns. “We would all crash and likely die. The only smart thing to do is to ensure that the stupid birds don’t somehow shoot us down and take us all out.”
“Birds?” Yvette asked.
I nodded. “Planes. There’s dozens of them.” I turned to her, a lightning gun in both hands. It was heavy. “You want to see if you can hit something other than us?”
She glared, her black lashes encircling her violet eyes, and reached out to yank the gun out of my hands. “Extra cartridges.”
I glanced down and cringed. There weren’t many. I handed her two. “Keeley, Joshua says you know where we can go to use these?”
Keeley grabbed a large, multi-barreled gun and led the way.
I grabbed the other lightning gun, the other two cartridges and my pistol. It looked shiny and hopefully, this time, it would work.
Haji met us at the top of the stairs of the cargo bay. “Tell me someone has a plan that does not involve dying.”
I handed him the lightning gun, my gaze flashing with the thumping in my head. “We’ll need one lightning gun up top, if we can, and another down below.”
Keeley gave the directions where to find the top hatch to Yvette and similar instructions to Haji. She turned to me as they disappeared. “What about us?”
“One on each side, if we can.”
She shook her head. “There’s one tail side and another just below the astrodome.”
“The what?”
She rolled her eyes and gestured to the front of the plane. “The cockpit. In the hallway, there’s a door on the floor. Pull up. There’s a few covers you can pull back and use.”
“What were they for?”
“We were planning on using them for guns.” She turned and ran toward the back. “Now go!”
I rushed to the front of the bird and followed her instructions. Sure enough, there was a small rectangular door on the floor of the hallway and when I lifted it, I found a compartment underneath.
Joshua twisted around to glance at me. “We’re gaining altitude, but I don’t know for how much longer. The other engines won’t take it.”
I nodded. “Weapons are in place. Just keep us flying.”
He turned his attention back to doing just that.
I jumped into the compartment underneath.
It was cramped. I had no idea who they thought they were going to get in there with a weapon of any real size. I laid flat on my belly. One of the two ribs of the compartment jammed uncomfortably into my legs, and I was fairly certain the other one was trying to take out my spleen. I opened the exterior hatch—