by Craig Zerf
And like the death of a massive mythical beast, the cruiser bellowed out its last as it sank to the desert floor, breaking up as it struck, leaving a twisted pile of steel and little else.
The blackened and broken skeleton of a once magnificent thing.
And thus the third battle for Lincoln Vale came to pass.
Chapter 41
Nathaniel sat up, blinked, rubbed his eyes.
Cherry trees.
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I’m back here.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Fulcrum. ‘You are.’
‘Why,’ asked Nathaniel. ‘I mean, I haven’t been killed again, have I?’
‘I suspect that you may have noticed if you had been,’ quipped Fulcrum. ‘No, I’ve brought you here to offer some advice. Perhaps advice is too strong a word, let’s say, I’d like to offer my opinions on a few things.’
‘Offer away,’ said Nathaniel.
‘I’ll start with a question,’ said Fulcrum. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
The marine raised an eyebrow in surprise. He’d never actually seen Fulcrum angry before and, although this wasn’t quite anger, as such, it was definitely close to it.
‘I’m starting a revolution,’ answered Nathaniel. ‘Trying to get humanity to overthrow their alien masters, so that they can all build a better life for themselves. Why, what do you think that I’m doing?’
‘I think that you are reverting to type. I think that you are not thinking like the leader that you are. You’re thinking like a marine sergeant as opposed to thinking like a king. And I think that you had better stop it before you get everyone killed.’
Nathaniel didn’t answer for a while. Then he spoke. ‘Well you know what they say - if you absolutely, definitely have to have something destroyed by the morning, then call the Marines.’
‘This is not a joke,’ roared Fulcrum. ‘Start thinking. You tell me what the problems are. Come on.’
The marine took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry, sir. You’re right, I’m simply reacting not proacting. I’m trying to start a revolution without any real grass roots level support. All that I have is one airship and a single fortified town. My assets column is tiny and my liability column is vast.’
‘Right,’ agreed Fulcrum. ‘So then, given your current circumstances, what outcome do you foretell?’
‘We’re gonna get our asses kicked.’
‘Succinctly put,’ agreed Fulcrum. ‘So what are you going to do about that? Remember Sun Tzu, remember the dictates. Think. What does he say about fighting an enemy who outnumbers you?’
‘It is the rule in war,’ said Nathaniel. ‘If ten times the enemy's strength, surround them; if five times, attack them; if double, be able to divide them; if equal, engage them; if fewer, defend against them; if weaker, be able to avoid them.’
‘So?’
The marine shook his head. ‘I cannot avoid them and I cannot beat them in battle. I cannot win.’
‘Agreed,’ said Fulcrum. ‘What would Sun Tzu say about that?’
‘To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.’
‘Correct.’
The marine stood still for a long time, thinking. ‘I need to beat them without direct confrontation.’
‘Carry on,’ encouraged Fulcrum.
‘The stone,’ whispered Nathaniel. ‘The stone that connects them to the Earth power. If I could destroy that. Break the connection, then I could weaken them.’
‘It’s a thought,’ agreed Fulcrum.
Nathaniel thought for a while longer, attacking the problem from every angle that he could, judging different outcomes and different paths. ‘Could I reverse the process?’ He asked hesitantly. ‘Could I use the stone to take the power from the Highmen and give it back to the land?’
Fulcrum shrugged. ‘It’s worth a try.’
‘It could finish them,’ continued the marine. ‘And it might cure the land, re-energise the blight. Reverse the damage done by the chem-wars.’
‘Perhaps,’ agreed Fulcrum. ‘Perhaps not. But one can be assured – it certainly beats getting everybody killed.’
‘But can it be done?’ Insisted Nathaniel.
Fulcrum smiled.
Time and space folded.
Chapter 42
Nathaniel, Ethan, Brett, Leon and Torville stood around the chart table. The marine told them the news regarding the airship captain’s parents being arrested and scheduled for a dawn execution in a couple of days time.
‘But they had nothing to do with this,’ said Ethan.
‘You’re looking for logic where none exists,’ commented Leon. ‘The Highmen are making a point. A spectacle and a warning. Punishment.’
‘I have to do something,’ said the captain.
‘There’s nothing that you can do,’ replied Leon. ‘Look, I don’t mean to sound harsh but the odds are too overwhelming. And you can’t simply take the Leviathan in and attack everyone. Firstly they’ll be waiting for you and, secondly, the cost to the movement would be too high. We cannot afford to lose the ship.’
Ethan hung his head. ‘You’re correct,’ he mumbled. ‘We can’t take the chance of losing the ship. However, I shall try without the Leviathan. Perhaps I can steal into the citadel. Bribe some people. I’m not really sure. But I have to try. It’s my family.’
‘We cannot allow this to happen,’ stated Nathaniel. ‘Ethan, there’s no way that you can save your family by creeping into the citadel and trying to bribe your way past the Highmen. It simply won’t work and you’ll finish up at the end of a rope, just like the rest of your family.’
Ethan paled at the thought.
‘That’s what I’m saying, man,’ agreed Leon. ‘It’s harsh but there’s nothing that we can do, my friend.’
‘Not true,’ contradicted Nathaniel. ‘That’s not what this is all about. Ethan, you need to take the Leviathan, go in under the cover of night and hit the place hard at first light. Do whatever it takes to rescue your family. You see,’ he looked at all around the table. ‘We are fighting for humanity. And there is nothing humane about leaving a man’s family to die, simply because it may be detrimental to the movement. In the marines we had a saying, “Leave no man behind”. It doesn’t matter if it’s militarily expedient. It doesn’t matter whether it makes strategic sense. It doesn’t matter, because it is what we do. Ethan goes to get his family or he dies trying. Because that’s what we do.’
Ethan shook his head. ‘I can’t ask the crew to do that,’ he said. ‘In all probability it’s a one way trip. I have no doubt that the entire fleet will be waiting for us. Not only that, every citadel has at least six to eight ground-to-air steam harpoons. Massive variants that can take out a battleship from the ground. I know for a fact that Lostvega has four on the walls and two next to the town square. The risk to the crew is unacceptable.’
‘The crew are with you,’ said Torville. ‘They’re new but they love and respect you, captain. You tell us where to go and we’ll go. Simple as that.’
‘I think that it’s a suicide mission,’ interjected Leon. ‘But if you’re all going then you can count me in. Who knows?’ He added with a small smile. ‘Maybe we’ll be able to do it. Maybe.’
‘Unfortunately, I won’t be accompanying you,’ said the marine.
‘Oh great,’ interjected Leon. ‘You tell us that we gotta go on a suicide mission but you’re taking a rest.’ He laughed. ‘What’s the matter, boss? Things getting too hot for you?’
Nathaniel shrugged as he went along with the gag. ‘Yep, you guys go and do something heroic. I’m gonna snatch a bit of R&R. Go to the chief Highman’s place in Sanfrisco for a quick visit. Maybe help myself to a memento or two while I’m there.’
Brett laughed but Leon and Ethan simply stared.
‘You’re serious, aren’t you,’ said Leon.
‘Yep,’ stated Nathaniel ‘And I’m not sure why Brett’s laughing,’ he added. ‘I’m going to need her
help to get there.’
The mood of the group became somber once more.
‘What’s your plan, my lord?’ Asked Ethan.
And Nathaniel explained to them his theory about the Arkane stone and how he planned on stripping down one of the powered gliders, adding more compressed air tanks to increase the range and then landing on the roof of chief Highman Alou’s residence. The stone was in a special chamber on the top floor and, as far as the marine could make out via his far-seeing, it was guarded only by a handful of Highmen. The reason being that it was sacrosanct and no other Highmen would steal it or do it any harm.
Then he would fly into the interior, as far into the blight as he could. There he would attempt to join with the stone, cast his net of power over the land and reverse the bridge between the Anima Mundi and the Archeus.
‘Even if it can be done,’ added Nathaniel. ‘It won’t be easy and it won’t be quick. I figure that it’ll take me at least two, maybe three days simply standing in the open. So I’ll be awfully exposed. Whatever, I’m confident that I can make it work.’
‘My lord,’ said Ethan. ‘I mean no disrespect but your plan seems to be tenuous to say the least. There are many, perhaps’ and maybes’ and even stealing the stone itself is fraught with danger and uncertainty.’
‘Smacks a bit of clutching at straws, you mean,’ said Nathaniel. ‘I agree, but I must be honest with you all. We need to do something like this. To be frank, we’re in an untenable position. We’re not so much a movement as a small uprising that is about to be stomped on by an army that is so superior to us that it’s like it’s from a different planet. Which it actually is, but you know what I mean.’
‘Oh well,’ said Leon. ‘As Tobias would say, we’ll win or we won’t. So let’s just do it and do the best that we can.’
‘You said that you needed my help,’ said Brett to the marine.
‘Yes. There’s no way that I can fly all that way and land on the top of a building. I simply don’t have the finesse that you do, the ability to see the thermals, keep the plane aloft for extended periods of time. I know that you’ll be extra weight, but hardly and your skill will more than compensate for that. Will you do it?’
Brett nodded. ‘Of course. When do we go?’
‘As soon as we’ve modified the glider.’
Chapter 43
Ethan took the Leviathan down to fly nap-of-the-earth, or hedgehopping as it was sometimes called. This was to break up the silhouette of the airship and avoid any ‘skylining’. People tended to look heavenwards if they were looking for an approaching airship so, if one approached at almost ground level and traveled at flank speed then it was possible, with a bit of luck, to surprise a defender.
Nathaniel and Brett had set off an hour before, after Brett and Ethan had said a tender goodbye. They had launched the craft from the top of the envelope at the limit of the airship’s flying ceiling, almost ten thousand feet. This was because Nathaniel wanted to get as much height as possible so that he could fly as far as he could using only thermals and altitude, thereby conserving his compressed air power tanks.
Then Ethan had taken the Leviathan down to sixty feet and started his dash for the citadel of Lostvega and his family.
The gibbous moon lit the snow covered land with a blue graveyard glimmer as Ethan and his helmsman strained to maintain a safe passage as close to the ground as possible. A palpable tension filled the ship and it drew as taught as piano wire as they approached the citadel.
An hour out, Ethan instructed Leon to ensure that all boilers were brought to a full head of steam and all weapons were taken off safe. Ready to rock.
Then the captain used his astrolabe to predict the exact time of sunrise. He figured that they would hit the citadel as the sun rose in the east. The Leviathan would come in from the west, traveling at flank speed, coming out of the shadows at wall height.
Then they would fly straight to the central square where all of the executions took place. If the Highmen stuck to the usual custom, those destined for the noose would be paraded out into the square as the sun rose. Ethan planned to drop a pair of chain ladders down as he hove the Leviathan to. Leon and three other crew members had volunteered to scale the ladders, collect the Thomas family members and get back into the airship as quickly as they could. Then they would high-tail it out of there as fast as mechanically possible.
In reality, Ethan knew that Leon and the three crew members had most likely volunteered for a one way trip. And even if they did manage to grab the prisoners and get them into the airship, the entire Highman fleet was waiting to smash them from the skies and the massive ground-based steam harpoons would surely take their toll as well.
The captain knew it. Leon knew it. The crew knew it.
But no one had even hesitated to do their duty. If they were going down, then they were going to go down fighting.
The lion man walked onto the bridge followed by the three volunteer crew members. Leon was dressed all in leather and slung over his shoulder was the automatic pneumatic weapon that had been stripped off the powered glider. The compressed air canister was clipped to his right thigh and the ammunition hopper was strapped to his back. Over one thousand rounds of rapid-fire death on two legs.
The rest of the rescue team carried two repeating pistols each.
‘How long, skipper?’ Asked Leon.
Ethan glanced at the astrolabe. ‘In two minutes and seven seconds we will fly over the west wall. Twelve seconds after that I will deploy the chain ladders and heave to over the central square.’
Leon nodded. ‘Right men,’ he said. ‘Let’s go kick some serious butt.’
The team lined up next to the open hatch that the ladders were due to be dropped from and waited as the seconds counted down.
Ethan peered into the night sky in an attempt to pick up the enemy battleships that he knew would be waiting high above them, their boilers stoked and their steam harpoons and mallet guns ready and primed.
Then he pulled a lever that unleashed the ladders. They rattled down with a sound like a thousand boxes of cutlery being dropped from a great height.
‘All engines full stop,’ he shouted into the speaking tube. ‘Zero bubble. Maintain boilers at full.’
The ship groaned to a halt as the sun burst over the horizon and bathed the citadel in its blood-red light.
The rescue team clambered down the fifty foot long chain ladders, half sliding and half climbing as they went to ground as fast as they could. Ethan looked down and noted that their timing was perfect. A row of prisoners were in the process of being marched to the central gibbets. In the lead, a vastly obese man dressed all in black. The executioner. At the rear of the column a drummer beat a slow tattoo on a muffled drum. Ten soldiers, five on each side, walked next to the condemned, long pikes in their hands.
The square itself was lined with soldiers, both human and Highmen and, in front of the gibbets, were four Highmen seated astride horses. They were all dressed in full ceremonial gear.
As the rescue team hit the ground, Ethan could hear the muted pop of their pistols firing. He saw the executioner fall. The pike men reacted first, leveling their weapons at the rescuers and charging. There was a sound like a giant piece of paper being torn in half as Leon opened up with his automatic weapon and the charging pike men were scythed down like so much wheat, their blood filling the air in puffs of pink mist as the lead chewed through them.
And then the prisoners were being shepherded onto the ladders and they began their precarious climb skywards.
Leon remained at the foot of the ladders and faced the ring of guards as they ran to stop the escape. His weapon juddered and spat lead at a prodigious rate, chewing into the ranks of the enemy. But they were threatening to overwhelm him by mere force of numbers. He jumped onto the ladder, firing with one hand as he tried to climb but his progress was far too slow and, within seconds, the guards were at his feet.
Then two of the mallet guns on the starboard side of
the Leviathan opened up, firing short controlled bursts past the lion man and into his attackers. Leon used the opportunity to stop firing and start climbing.
Ethan pulled the lever that started the winch to pull the ladders up, calling down to the engine room as he did so.
‘Give me all speed to the engines, Torville. Top of the red. Let’s take her out of here.’
The chain ladders clattered up and into the cabin, throwing the rescue team and prisoners alike onto the floor in a jumbled pile of bodies. Ethan pulled another lever and the hatchway slammed shut with a hiss of steam as Leon fell onto the bridge.
One of the prisoners stood up and walked over to Ethan. He was a man of advanced middle age. Five ten, snug fitting dark woolen clothes, short military hair cut and a short, neatly trimmed beard and moustache.
He grasped Ethan by the shoulders. ‘Son.’
The captain leaned forward and hugged the man. ‘Father.’
‘We can talk later,’ said the older man, his voice low and gruff. ‘But right now I think that all concentration needs to be applied to getting the hell out of here before the fleet tears us to shreds.’
‘I agree, father,’ said Ethan as he stood back. ‘Please, father, the ship is yours.’
‘No, my boy,’ answered Ethan’s father. ‘It’s your ship.’
‘Please, sir,’ insisted Ethan. ‘You are the superior officer.’
The man nodded and stepped forward into the position of command.
Ethan grabbed the speaking tube and whistled into it. ‘Torville. Admiral Thomas has the con.’
‘Aye, aye, sir. Welcome aboard admiral. We are top of the red.’
‘Thank you, chief,’ acknowledged the admiral. ‘Give me fifteen degree up bubble. Vent aft ballast tanks and pump ten percent hydrogen. All hands prepare for crash climb, let’s pop this girl.’
There was a sound of rushing air as the Leviathan tilted upwards at a crazy angle and the engine shuddered and throbbed as they pushed the tons of metal and canvas skywards like a whale breaching the surface of the sea.