by Craig Zerf
‘What do you mean?’ Asked Mayor Griffin.
‘Well, we can’t simply all sit here and wait for the next Highman attack, can we?’ Answered Nathaniel. ‘I wouldn’t exactly call that a rebellion. I’d simply call that a case of committing suicide – very slowly. It’s only a matter of time before they send an airship.’
‘But you guys will knock it down,’ argued Griffin. ‘Nothing comes close to the Leviathan. Everyone knows that it’s the premier battleship in the realm.’
‘We will,’ agreed Ethan. ‘And then they’ll send the fleet. Or at least a large part of it. And that will be the end. Even the Leviathan cannot stand against ten or even twenty other battleships. We would be torn apart. And then they would rain fire down on this town, the likes of which you have never seen before.’
‘I asked Brett to use my Calotype to take as many pictures as she could of the wreckage of the Highman column,’ said Nathaniel. ‘Dramatic shots that show our victory.’ He took a pile of the metal prints from his jacket and passed them around.
They were impressive. Brett had once again shown that she had a good eye for picture taking. The Calotypes were dramatic and convincing. Mountains of wreckage, townsfolk milling around, stripping the wrecks, carrying weapons in to the town. As well as this she had recorded pictures of the new fortifications, taken from the top of the guard towers and from a few hundred yards out of the town.
All in all she had managed to put together a picture of a well fortified town that had carried out a concise victory against great odds.
‘Brett took five copies of each picture,’ said Nathaniel. ‘I would like to put together five groups of men and women to go out to other towns and villages and spread the word of what is happening. Probably best to have three or four to a group. I must be blunt here, this will be dangerous work. It will also be a rather thankless task. These people will oft be rejected. It is more than likely they will be hunted down as dissenters. But they will be the seeds of the revolution. They will be the harbingers of the storm to come.’
‘I will find them,’ said Griffin. I know of many good people who will volunteer for such a task. And what will your next steps be?’
‘Ethan and I have decided that we need to take the fight to the enemy,’ said the marine. ‘There are two more facilities that manufacture the Agent Orange. We shall strike those down and, hopefully, at the same time start to thin the enemy’s fleet. To be honest, gentlemen,’ continued Nathaniel. ‘We face innumerable odds and our chances of success are minimal.’
‘Every day that we are still here is a bonus,’ stated Mayor Griffin. ‘By all rights we should have been Scoured by now. Those of us who escaped with our lives would either be starving in the desert or we would be food for mutants. So, whatever happens we thank you, Eternal Man. Life is precious and you have already gifted us with many more days. That is a gift without price.’
There was a chorus of agreement and Nathaniel smiled. ‘Thank you, good people,’ he said. ‘Now let us go forth and bend to our tasks. It’s time to kick some serious butt.’
Chapter 37
It was over a thousand miles to the citadel of Dalas. Two days of cruising.
Nate was thinking about his family. Father, mother, sister. He had never been close to any of them and had, in fact, volunteered for the Marines when he was still seventeen and had needed his parents’ permission. He had visited whenever possible. Christmas, Thanksgiving. The odd birthday. But after a couple of years his reasons not to come had overtaken his filial duties.
And then, one day, he realized that he hadn’t seen his parents for almost two years. That was just before the pulse.
Now he had not seen them for twenty, or six hundred or a few thousand years, depending on your particular frame of reference. Whatever, it had now been so long that they had become even less than a memory. Beyond even myth and legend. For a man with so much past, he mused, it is also as if he had no past whatsoever. Only an infinite future.
He glanced out of the port side to see Brett fly past. She saw him looking and wiggled the aircraft’s wings and threw him a salute before pulling up on the stick and bringing the craft about to land on the top of the envelope. The marine smiled. She was like a bird. A creature made for the air. She saw thermals and downdrafts like she was an eagle and her perception of the elements was in the realm of the uncanny.
‘We shall arrive over target early morning tomorrow. Just as the sun rises,’ said Ethan. ‘The plant is to the north of the citadel. The air fleet docks are on the east of the citadel. I would guess response time to be half an hour to an hour. So we hit hard and run.’
The marine nodded his agreement. ‘Keep it simple,’ he said. ‘I’m going to do a round of the ship. Chat to the men and then get some shut-eye. Could be a long day tomorrow. I suggest that you do the same, captain.’
***
They appeared with the rising sun. A vast silhouette of death and destruction that pulled to dead slow over the chem-factory before it unleashed its payload.
The mallet guns yammered out their insane chatter of devastation whilst the steam harpoons added their deeper bass notes to the song of destruction. Fires bloomed and buildings exploded as the combined ordnance of the largest warship ever constructed plowed the fields of obliteration and sowed the seeds of abolition.
With the new Dreamlander-enhanced weapons capabilities, the Leviathan reduced the entire factory in just less than ten minutes. An awesome display of military might.
Leon came running down the gangway and onto the bridge. ‘Outstanding,’ he yelled. ‘Exit one more chem-factory. Yes.’
Brett laughed at the lion man’s infectious enthusiasm and even Ethan allowed himself a smile.
Nathaniel, however, was staring out of the window. ‘Ethan,’ he called. ‘What the hell is that?’
Ethan turned to look and, coming at them from out of the now-risen sun were two airships. And the coalescing pulse-light made it easy to read the names stenciled on their massive envelopes. Invincible and Starfire.
‘Cruiser class,’ replied Ethan. ‘Not sure what they’re doing here. They can’t carry a payload of chem. And the base is all the way over on the other side of Dalas.’
‘Maybe they were waiting for us,’ suggested Leon.
Ethan shook his head. ‘If so then surely they would have attacked earlier. Before we destroyed the factory.’
‘If they had, then we would have blasted them from the sky in a matter of minutes. They wouldn’t have taken the chance.’
‘Well then, why are they attacking us now?’ Asked Brett.
Nathaniel raised his arm and pointed. ‘They had to wait for reinforcements,’ he said. ‘Look.’
And coming in from the east at flank speed were two more ships.
‘Battleships,’ shouted Ethan. ‘It’s Lady Liberty and Empire States out of Newyork. It’s a trap. They were waiting for us.’
‘There’s more,’ stated Brett. ‘There, in the south-west. Another three smaller craft. Looks like more cruisers.’
‘Ethan,’ called out Nathaniel. ‘Sort this out, it can’t end here.’
The captain grabbed the speaking tube and whistled. ‘Sound general quarters. Stoke boilers to one hundred and ten percent. Void ten tons of ballast and fill envelope another three percent. Give me full ahead all engines.’
‘Aye aye, captain,’ answered Torville.
‘Leon,’ continued the captain. ‘Make sure all gun crews are at general quarters and get the fire crews ready. We are going to take shot and that means fire. Do whatever it takes to keep those flames down.’ Leon saluted and ran off. ‘Brett,’ continued the captain. ‘Take one of the aircraft, we’re going to need all the firepower that we can muster.’ Finally Ethan turned to Nathaniel ‘If you don’t mind, my lord,’ he said. ‘I would like you in the air as well. You can’t do anything here and, after Brett, you are our best pilot.’
Nathaniel nodded. ‘Let’s go,’ he called to Brett and the two of them ran f
or the top of the envelope.
Ethan scanned the skies around him and vectored in the enemy airships approaches. They were trying to box him in but there was no way that he was going to allow that. If possible he wanted to avoid going head to head with the two battleships out of Newyork. Best attempt to break out by going through the cruisers.
They would expect him to take on the two cruisers Invincible and Starfire as they were the weakest part of the attack. He noted that the two battleships had already plotted an interception course with the two cruisers and this confirmed his suspicions. So, instead, he plotted a course to take on the approaching pack of three cruisers coming at him from the south-west.
He spun the helm and bore down on the three approaching cruisers. He knew that he didn’t need to tell the gunners what he was doing. Leon was in charge of the weapons and Ethan knew that the gunners would take every opportunity available to them.
The cruisers approached with alarming rapidity, the Leviathan’s speed combined with the incoming airships totaled up to over one hundred and fifty miles an hour. Ethan adjusted trim slightly and then called down to the engine room.
‘Give me five up bubble and increase speed to flank.’
The ship responded and they rose higher as their speed increased by another twenty percent. Ethan wanted to come at the approaching cruisers from a slightly higher aspect, thereby giving his gunners an advantage. He judged the distance and reckoned that they were almost in range. Very soon he could expect the sound of his mallet guns and steam harpoons as they unleashed.
But first he saw the puffs of steam as the cruisers opened up and he smiled. It was not an expression of amusement. Instead it was one of condescension. Of scorn. They had opened fire too soon and, without the self loading harpoons of the Leviathan, it would be at least a minute before they could fire their primary weapons again.
With a flick of his wrist Ethan spun the wheel to full lock and shouted into the speaking tube.
‘All engines stop. Zero bubble. Maintain aspect until my mark.’
The airship swung smoothly in a ninety degree arc, presenting its broadside to the advancing cruisers and opening up a clear shot for both of the steam harpoons. The ship shook slightly as the primary weapons opened fire. There was a six second pause and they fired again. And again.
By the time the first two supersonic six foot long steel rounds struck the leading cruiser, there were already another four in the air. The leading cruiser was hit by four harpoons and it simply imploded. The next ship was hit by two and burst into flame. The final ship was struck by another four harpoons that broke its back and sent it plummeting earthward in two pieces. Men fell from the shattered bridge, pin-wheeling in the sky like broken birds. Screaming. Dying.
It had been a masterful maneuver. But it had cost the Leviathan dearly as now it hung in the air like a beached whale, its speed bled out to zero, its engines idling at full stop.
And the two battleships, Lady Liberty and Empire States were bearing down at a rate of almost eighty knots.
Ethan grabbed the speaking tube again. ‘Torville, give me full speed ahead. Top of the red. Transfer twenty percent of ballast to the front tanks, vent three percent hydrogen and give me five degree down bubble.’
There was a slight pause before the chief engineer said. ‘Are you sure, captain?’
‘Do as I say, chief.’
‘Aye aye, skipper.’
Ethan watched the battleships approaching and saw their for’ard harpoon guns open fire with simultaneous gouts of steam.
But at that exact moment the Leviathan surged forward and dropped like a stone as its balance became massively front heavy due to the transfer of the ballast. At the same time the engines screamed into the red and drove the massive airship towards the ground at a speed that exceeded the maker’s recommendation. No machine was designed to run at top of the red but Ethan reckoned that it was better to run the risk of blowing the boiler than getting tagged by a harpoon.
Ethan calmly watched the ground rushing up at them before he shouted into the tube again. ‘Chief, keep her top of the red, transfer ballast to rear tanks. Give me eight percent hydrogen fill and ten degree up bubble.’
The ship shuddered as the ballast rushed to the rear, dragging the tail down. At the same time the extra lift from the increase in hydrogen levels drove the front of the ship upwards. The engines screamed in effort as they fought to gain purchase and pull the airship skywards again.
Steel beams groaned under the strain and the entire envelope twisted under the immense pressure that was being imparted to the structure as it plummeted towards the ground.
Then, impossibly, the Leviathan clawed its way back towards the heavens. The steam harpoons on the enemy battleships fired again but they sped past the Leviathan as the airship climbed and they impacted on the desert floor.
‘Keep us in the red,’ commanded Ethan as the ship shuddered and screeched back to altitude. The captain heard the chatter of the mallet guns as the starboard side battery opened fire, strafing one of the attacking battleships.
But the Leviathan still had not built up enough speed to maneuver and it wallowed helplessly as all power went into climbing. Ethan saw the Lady Liberty lining its for’ard steam harpoon up and knew that he wouldn’t be able to get his massive airship out of the way in time.
‘Brace yourselves for impact,’ he yelled into the tube. ‘Incoming harpoon off the port bow. Brace, brace, brace.’
And then Ethan’s view of the battleship was cut off as two planes flew in front of him. Both opened up at the same time, peppering the harpoon gunner with lead shot. The captain saw the gun pull up as the harpoon was fired and the steel missile went sailing overhead.
Ethan punched the air. ‘Yes,’ he shouted. ‘Go for it.’ Then he grabbed the tube. ‘Tobias, we’ve been given a reprieve, get this beauty sailing hard and straight. Give it all that you have.’
‘We’re going to blow the boilers, captain.’
‘No,’ returned Ethan. ‘As Nathaniel says, not on my watch. She won’t let us down, chief. Push her, push her as hard as you can.’
Ethan saw the two fighter planes come in to land on the roof of the envelope and then he felt the steam harpoons fire. One, two, three, four times. Mallet guns hammered away and the Leviathan climbed majestically into the firmament.
Beneath them the Empire State went down to crash into the dessert, the bridge broken and burning and two large holes in its envelope.
The Lady Liberty had been struck in its port side engine by a multitude of mallet fire and it was fast losing ground to the Leviathan. There was a final gout of steam as the Lady Liberty fired another harpoon but the Leviathan was already out of range and the missile expended itself harmlessly into the wastelands.
‘Drop speed to full, level the ballast, give me two up bubble and maintain hydrogen as is,’ called Ethan into the tube.
‘Aye aye, captain.’
‘And well done, Tobias. Very well done.’
‘You too, captain.’
Ethan took a deep breath and relaxed. The Lady Liberty would never catch them with its one engine out and the two cruisers, Invincible and Starfire, simply did not have the power to chase them down.
The captain set course for the badlands where they would heave to and spend a day repairing and checking the ship and getting a little R&R before their next step.
Chapter 38
The Arkane stone flickered in the center of the darkened room, deepening shadows and picking out the Highmen’s eyes in shades of silver-blue.
The six members of the council stood around the stone and stared into its depths. The artifact was oft referred to as The Forever Stone, because for time immemorial it had been the source of all power for the Highmen. A loadstone to their very being and a receptacle of the essential essence.
There was a time, six centuries before, when there were still a handful of Highmen that were capable of tapping the stone’s power. Three of them, two men an
d a woman. They were known as The Ancients. Highmen of such inestimable age that even they had forgotten how old they were. Or, more accurately, they no longer cared about such trivial things such as age.
When the Highmen had been forced to leave their home planet before its sun went supernova, they had been a relatively peaceable civilization, living in guarded harmony under the auspices of the Ancients. These Ancient leaders were more priests than politicians and they controlled the Arkane stone, using its power to imbue the Highmen with beneficence and longevity.
It was their dream that, when they arrived at the new world, their beneficial existence would continue.
But that was not to be.
The immense amount of power used to transport the Highman population through time and space drained The Forever Stone to such an extent that there was no longer enough power available to instill the population with the necessary feelings of mutuality that had hitherto prevented the Highmen factions warring with each other.
So it was not long before one of the Highmen chiefs declared, ‘The questions of the day will no longer be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but instead by iron and blood’.
And thereby began hundreds of years of war that eventually encompassed the original savage inhabitants of the new world, including all beings from human to animal.
When this had happened the Ancients took the stone and placed it in a chamber situated in the citadel of Sanfrisco, putting it under the care of Grah Alou, the chief Highman thereof. And here, in a last desperate attempt to get their people to once again live in harmony and concord, the Ancients used the Arkane stone as a conduit through which they channeled the earth’s power. Using their very essence to initiate the construct, they confined the Anima Mundi, otherwise known as The Soul of the World, and used it to link the Archeus to the essence of the Highmen. The Archeus being the lowest and most dense aspect of the astral plane which presides over the growth and continuation of all living beings. It is the life ether through which all vital force exists and is transmitted.