When they reached the stateroom Roycroft inquired, “Do you really think they are in there?”
Ian braced himself. “One way to find out,” he said as he kicked the door with a bang. The door swung wide to reveal the room was empty. After a quick look around to make sure the room was indeed unoccupied, Ian proceed to kick the doors open on all of the remaining staterooms in the hallway. All of the rooms were empty. Either no one was sleeping in this section other then the Sloakums or they all disappeared in some manner.
Ian Grey finished searching the last room, when Captain Barclay appeared with several crewmen as well as Sir Jasper and Lady Victoria. Ian brought his attention to the ship’s captain. “Greetings captain, I do apologize for the mess here.”
Captain Barclay looked at the row of broken doors, “That is quite all right Colonel, I will make sure you receive the bill. Now what is this I hear about Mrs. Sloakum being the killer and Mr. Cooper and Mr. Sloakum are dead?”
“That is the gist of it,” replied Eddie Roycroft.
Ian knew he needed to act quickly before Mrs. Sloakum could do any more damage. “Captain the first thing we need to do is wake the other passengers and get them to a place of safety. I do not want Mrs. Sloakum to have the opportunity to kill anyone else or take a hostage in a bid to secure release from this ship.”
Captain Barclay issues a series of orders to Mr. Stanley. The Boson took the crewmen and headed in the down the hallway in the opposite direction when they reached the end of the hallway the group split up with some of the crewmen going up and the rest going down the stairwell.
Satisfied that the rest of the passengers were being taken care of, Ian inquired about any way off of the airship at this height. Captain Barclay answered that there were indeed air skiffs stored on either side of the front of the ship. They were attached to helium tanks and could be inflated in an emergency. However the skiffs were attached to the hull on the outside and can be seen from the bridge and there has not been any activity out there all night.
“What if she wanted to destroy the ship?” asked Lady Victoria, “What would be the best way?”
Captain Barclay paled at the question, “Destroy the ship? Is she that mad?”
“I would not rule anything out at the time, captain,” answered Ian.
Barclay had commanded the Cygnus for five years; he knew every system and bulkhead on her. “There are three ways to destroy this ship; lower the temperature of the ammonia bags in the back of the envelopes with the sulphagne tanks, cut the support struts to the envelopes, but that would require an explosive and someone would have to climb the struts to do it, or use the pressure from the sulphagne tanks to blow the engine room, the resulting explosion would do enough damage to send us to the sea below.”
“The engine room is located on the lowest deck next to the cargo hold, correct?” asked Ian.
Captain Barclay nodded, “And you requested that Big Bill remain down there to guard the hold. He should have no problem holding Mrs. Sloakum at bay.”
Ian was not as sure as the captain about that and decided that the cargo hold and engine room was the best place to start looking.
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Fear began to tighten Ian Grey’s throat when he and his motley band entered the cargo hold. Instead of finding Big Bill in the cargo hold, they found the body of Dr. Felton facing up in almost the exact spot where Miss Brinks’ body was discovered. The group split up to each venture down between the three rows of containers in the hold. Ian and Lady Victoria proceeded to the body of Dr. Felton. No one made a single sound.
Unlike the body of Amelia Brinks, Dr. Felton did not have any outward signs of violence. His open eyes stared at the ceiling of the hold and his mouth was open. Lady Victoria cautiously examined the body, “His tongue is black. He might have been poisoned.” Ian grunted in acknowledgement and made his way past the body towards the engine room door on the far end. At his approach a banging noise could be heard from the other side of the closed door. At first Ian thought the sound was part of the machinery but he soon realized it was not rhythmic enough and probably the work of human hands. Roycroft and the others met up with Ian at the door to the engine room. Ian gave the handle on the door a tug but it did not budge. “Locked from the inside,” Ian whispered.
Captain Barclay reached his hand out to the top of the door and pulled a tool hidden on the lintel. He then slipped the tool into a slot next to the handle of the door and twisted counter clockwise. The lock released and he swung the door open.
The light inside the engine room was weak compared to the light in the hold. The shadows were deep and held the promise of any number of possible dangers within them.
Ian gestured to the rest of the group to stand back from the door and then motioned for Eddie Roycroft to follow him in. Silently the two armed men entered the engine room. The banging noise stopped as soon as they stepped across the threshold.
The main engine of the ship was located directly in the back of the room. A massive oiled black machine, it was lined on either side by smaller systems and what appeared to be the main power source. Tanks of various sizes were housed in cages and wrapped in some kind of padding. Ian moved his eyes around the room as he slowly made his way deeper.
Ian Grey looked over at Eddie Roycroft and made a gamble, “Big Bill?” he called out loud and clear, “Are you in hear?”
Seconds ticked by before a familiar Liverpool accented voice called out from the shadows, “I am back here Colonel Grey.”
Ian and Eddie stood their ground, “I would prefer Mr. Budd that you present yourself so that I may see you.”
Big Bill stepped out of the shadows a small sledge hammer gripped in one hand and a chain dangled from the other. His eyes were completely black without any trace of the irises. His lips were frozen in a cold smile. “Well now Colonel Grey, did I do something wrong?” Big Bill said with mock surprise. “You might want to be careful with those guns. You could hit the wrong thing in here and blow us all up.”
Ian tightened his grip on his pistol, “And you would like that wouldn’t you?”
The cold smile grew larger on Big Bill’s face. “It would save me a lot of bother, to be sure.” Bill looked past Ian Grey at the rest of the party slowly entering the room, “Ah Doctor Dallas, my dear,” Bill said, but the voice that came out of his mouth was that of Dr. Felton, “It is so good to see your pretty face again.”
Victoria’s gasp elicited a hollow laugh from the large crewman. “Look at you little people. And by little I mean little. I have never even seen such a fine vessel as this.” Bill held his arms in front of his body and gripped his weapons tightly, “The wonders that I can do with this body. It may be more then even I can imagine.”
Lady Victoria raised her shock weapon at the demon possessed man.
“Uh, uh, uh,” Bill said, “If you shoot me I can just take another vessel. Perhaps the lovely Doctor Dallas here, it has been so long since I have been a woman.”
“I think we can chance it,” said Roycroft.
Bill glared at the American, “Yes I believe a cowboy like you would relish shooting an unarmed man.” Before Roycroft could reply, the demon threw his sledgehammer at him. Roycroft barely dodged the incoming hammer. In the same instant the demon whipped his chain at Ian Grey. It caught him under his forearm and sent his pistol flying across the room. Ian’s arm would have broken had he not been wearing his back up weapon strapped on a vanbrace under his coat. Ian heard and felt the vanbrace crack under the force of the blow from Bill’s chain.
Lieutenant Stokes fired his pistol at Big Bill, but Yussef pushed his arm straight up and the gun fired the bullet into the ceiling instead. “No guns!” he cried.
“Very good,” Big Bill said in Dr. Felton’s voice, “You can be taught.”
Ian had enough of the demon playing with them like toys and charged towards Bill. The demon brought the chain up like a whip and was surprised when Ian dodged it at the las
t minute and caught the demon’s wrist with his right hand followed by a strike to the demon’s elbow with his left. The demon howled in surprise and pain and dropped the chain he was holding. Ian kept his advantage during his attack and threw a series of rapid punches into Big Bill’s face. He was rewarded with a crunching sound as he broke Big Bill’s nose. By instinct the demon reached up to protect his face from the series of punches. Ian drew back and slammed a heel kick into Big Bill’s diaphragm.
The demon doubled over and began to laugh, “Oh very good. I have not had this much fun in ages.” As the possessed body of Big Bill stepped back and began to straighten, Eddie Roycroft slammed into it and drove his knee into the Big Bill’s groin. Again the demon doubled over. Ian and Eddie attacked in unison. Ian grabbed Bill’s right arm and twisted it into a viscous lock while he jammed his foot into the back of Bill’s knee. Roycroft grabbed the arm and pinned it behind Bill’s back.
“Hold still, damn you,” cried Ian as he and Eddie wrestled with the demon. The demon ignored him and tried to stand up. “I said hold still, KHARIS!” The mention of his true name immobilized the demon in an instant. Ian was not finished, he leaned towards the demon and hissed into his ear, “That is right you bastard. I know your true name.” For the first time fear crept across the Big Bill’s face. His mouth opened but all that came out was a strangled cry.
While Ian and Eddie held the possessed body of Big Bill still, Harish Singh began chanting and held the phurba dagger in front of him. Yussef stood behind the Sikh and intoned in a loud and clear voice,
“Hail Osiris, cometh to the pylon and hold an inquisition of Kharis, hacker in pieces. Hail Isis, slaughterer of fiends, hold your two hands and arms above this and hold an inquisition of Kharis. Hail Ra, pour your divine being into this knife and hold an inquisition of Kharis. Hail Thoth, bring your wisdom and hold an inquisition of Kharis.”
Big Bill’s body became cold to the touch, his mouth opened wide and a distant wail rumbled from somewhere inside him. Everyone in the room looked in horror as the possessed crewman began vomiting up a black mass onto the floor of the engine room. The pitch black mass reformed into the shape of some beast unlike anything anyone in the room had seen before. It stood upright like a living shadow, not even its eyes could be seen. The demon swayed on its feet briefly. Harish finished chanting and lunged forward with the phurba dagger. The dagger sank deep into the center of the demon which then let out an unearthly howl. Harish held onto the dagger and began chanting over and over again in a voice growing ever louder, “Kharis I sent you to oblivion. Kharis I sent you to oblivion. Kharis I sent you to oblivion.”
Kharis screamed in agony as his extremities caught on fire. The fire burned a bright green but left neither ash nor smoke in its wake. A strong smell of brimstone was all that remained after the green fire consumed the last of the demon Kharis.
“Noooooooo!” Mrs. Sloakum leapt out from behind the massive engine with her knife glinting in the dim light. She rushed towards the group and her eyes bore the telltale blackness of the possessed. Harish brought the phurba dagger up in defense. Mrs. Sloakum caught Harish on the arm with her knife and sliced him from wrist to elbow, and without breaking stride, she rushed past Harish and slashed at Yussef as she bolted out of the engine room. The Egyptian staggered back holding his bleeding face.
Victoria pivoted on her foot and fired her shocking gun at the fleeing Mrs. Sloakum, but the demon possessed woman was too quick and the darts struck harmlessly against the side of the door.
Ian Grey, Eddie Roycroft, and Lieutenant Stokes rushed after Mrs. Sloakum, while Sir Jasper and Captain Barclay helped Lady Victoria tend to the injured men.
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Mrs. Sloakum pushed aside startled crewmen as she made her way to the upper decks. Ian followed closely behind her and cursed himself silently when he realized that he had left his pistol back in the engine room. Mrs. Sloakum paused long enough to throw open an outer door to the promenade deck. Ian Grey, Eddie Roycroft, and Lieutenant Stokes scrambled out of the door in pursuit.
The outside temperature at 9,000 feet is normally around 30 degrees, but the main propeller of the air ship dropped the temperature by another ten degrees. By the time the men reached the promenade deck, Mrs. Sloakum was nowhere to be found.
“This can’t be good!” yelled Roycroft over the drone of the main propeller.
“She is probably heading for the air skiffs!” Ian yelled back.
The three men made their way forward to the front of the ship where the air skiffs were housed. Lieutenant Stokes lagged behind the other two as his mechanical leg began to seize up under the harsh freezing conditions.
Ian Grey slowly made his way to the starboard side air skiff while Eddie Roycroft worked his way to the port side air skiff. Now that they were below the main propeller they were no longer buffeted by its gale like winds. No matter where they looked Mrs. Sloakum was nowhere to be found.
Ian looked over the railing of the ship, but all that he could see below him was empty sea. Mrs. Sloakum crept up behind him, her knife raised above her head. A sixth sense developed over the years warned Ian of the impending attack. Before he could react Lieutenant Stokes rushed at her and pinned her against the railing. Mrs. Sloakum stabbed her knife into Stokes shoulder. Stokes smashed his forehead into Mrs. Sloakum’s nose and hugging her close to his body he pushed off with his legs and sent them both hurtling over the railing and down into the black sea below.
Ian looked over the railing at the rapidly disappearing bodies and hung his head down. By the time that Eddie Roycroft reached his friend there was no sight of Mrs. Sloakum or Lieutenant Stokes. Ian took a step back from the edge and pulled out his pocket watch, barely able to make out the watch face in the dim light, Ian saw that the hands were moving normally once again. Roycroft looked over at Ian, “So what are you going to say in your report when we reach Malta?”
Ian glanced up at the night sky, “I do not know. But I will try not to put in too many unnecessary embellishments.”
Roycroft gave a short laugh, “Yeah, as opposed to the necessary embellishments.”
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It was just two days before Christmas at Warwick Castle, a light snowfall the night before blanketed the grounds and parapets in white. Colonel Ian Grey sat at his desk in his office completing various paperwork required for running his unit. A fire crackled in the far corner. Ian picked up a bound folder and opened it up. It was a report on the Teutonic Order in the German Empire. As he began to read there was a knock on the door followed by Regiment Color Sergeant Napier bearing a large parcel.
“Beggin’ yuir pardon sir,” said the Color Sergeant, “This just arrived for you.”
Relishing the break from reports and paperwork Ian graciously took the package. It was wrapped in plain brown paper and in bold handwriting it was addressed to Colonel Ian Grey Warwick Castle. The return address simply said, ‘Cygnus.’
Ian drew his navaja knife out and cut away the paper wrapping. Under the wrapping was wooden box with intricate carving on its lid. Intrigued Ian opened the box to reveal an oddly shaped object wrapped in silk, with a silk purse and a letter on top. Unfolding the letter, Ian began to read;
‘Ian,
I hope all is well with you this Christmas season. Harish and I have been hired out by a Professor Challenger to help him explore part of the Amazon. He even chartered the Cygnus for the trip, so I will be sure to say hi to Captain Barclay and the other crewmembers. I hope this package arrives in time as I had it special ordered from some friends of Harish back in India. Hopefully you will never need it, but at the least it should be a reminder of our little adventure together.
Sir Jasper added something in the box as well but he only told me it is a surprise for Lady Dallas.
I will tell you all about our adventures in the Amazon when we get back.
Your friend,
Captain Edward Roycroft.’
Ian put the letter aside as Lady Victoria entered the office. “There you are Ian, I thought you were going to be done with all of that paperwork an hour ago.”
“I am done for the day,” Ian replied, “We received a parcel from Eddie Roycroft and Sir Jasper it seems.”
Victoria’s eyes lit up, “Oh! Early Christmas presents?”
Ian handed the silk purse to Victoria and then turned his attention back to the silk wrapped object. As he reached in and pulled it out of the box, he heard Lady Victoria exclaim. “Oh my, he should not have!”
“He should not have what?” Ian asked.
Lady Victoria held a jeweled Egyptian necklace to the light. “It is beautiful. And there is a note with it.” Victoria read the note out loud:
‘My dear Victoria,
Yussef and I thought that this necklace would fit you perfectly. Legend tells that this is the necklace of Isis herself. And we could not think of a better person to have it then you.
With Sincere Admiration and Regard, Your Affectionate Friend,
Sir Jasper Kingsley.’
“Oh Ian is this not a gorgeous necklace?”
Ian looked upon the simple yet elegant necklace, “Perhaps it will protect you against the things that go bump in the night.”
Ian looked at his own gift and removed the silk around it. In his hands was a phurba dagger. But this one was much different than the one Harish had used against the demon Kharis. This dagger was almost two feet long and more slender, with incantations or blessings inscribed on each of the three blades in several different languages and scripts. Ian recognized Chinese, Sanskrit and even the Egyptian Hieroglyphics, but there were several others that he didn’t recognize. The blades were made of brass the same as Harish’s but they were also edged in jade. The overall effect gave the dagger a very beautiful and dangerous quality over all.
Monsters, Magic, and Machines (The SteamGoth Anthology Book 1) Page 8