by SM Blooding
I walked over to him. Several more people filled the space, all of them communicating in some form or another.
“We’ll be sendin’ someone out there,” Joshua said. “Can you tell if there are any survivors?”
My heart raced.
“Understood.” He took his headphones off and tossed them onto the narrow table, glaring at me. “Tell me your queen isn’t here anymore.”
I shook my head. “What do you have?”
He took in a deep breath, stood, and headed toward a board in the back with a rough map drawn across it. X’s littered the areas around the Koko Nadie islands, some of them in groups. “We were able to contact Ryo and a couple of others, and spread the word of what’s goin’ on. We have several airships down.”
“Have we accounted for everyone yet?”
“No.” He turned back to the line of consoles, his hand out.
Someone handed him the list.
“The ones who’re down, includin’ the Kowka and the Jeng Fu, have no communication. Whoever orchestrated this was good.” He drew out the last word.
I took the list from him. “How many ships have we spotted?” My eyes were on the map, looking between it and the lists. “We’re missing a lot of ships, Joshua.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “I know.”
It was time to act. “Contact the Yusrra Samma. I need her on the dock.” I hurried to the elevator. “I want you to be the center of communications. We need—”
“Hey, Synn.” Joshua looked chagrined.
I turned to him. “Joshua. Those ships don’t have a lot of time. If they’re taking on water, if they’re on the ground, they’re helpless. I have to go now.”
He held up a hand. “Just take . . . ” He put his hand on someone, pulling her up by her shoulder and giving her a not-so-gentle push in my direction.
I raised an eyebrow at Carilyn.
“She’s the best communications officer ye’ve go’. An’ she’ll need to be in the air.”
“What are you doing here?”
She rolled her eyes and walked toward me, her steps small as dictated by her tight, knee-skirt.
I ground my teeth. “Don’t make me regret this. Now, Joshua, pay attention.”
His eyes were on Carilyn who stood somewhere behind me. “I hate that bloody woman.”
That’s not what his face said. “Joshua.”
His gaze met mine. “Yeah.”
“Tell the other letharan that can relocate to do so. Contact the Leblancs. Ask for their assistance. Send an order to the Samma’s. I want all available ships in the immediate area to head to those coordinates. Ask any other airships to follow if they have a mind to do so.”
He quirked his lips. “Anythin’ else, oh great and wondrous leader?”
I gave him a dirty look and turned toward the elevator. “No.”
His hand fell on my arm.
I frowned at him.
He handed me my raincoat.
“Thank you.”
“Do you have any idea what yer doin’?”
“I’m saving people who need it.”
He pulled his lips in and bit down on them nodding. He stepped back, releasing me. “Right. Best get on i’ then.”
The Yusrra Samma arrived as I stepped out of Asim City. Carilyn and I raced over to the air ship docks.
It seemed as though my message had gotten out. Airships lined the piers as additional crew leapt through the raging winds.
“Guard your jellies!” I bellowed above the gathering crowd of airmen. “Choose only those you trust!”
I didn’t wait to see if anyone heard me. I pushed my way through the press of people to the Yusrra Samma and gestured for the loading platform to be lowered.
Someone grasped my arm. “El’Asim!”
Carilyn took the offensive hand off me and it around the other man’s back. “Name your intentions,” she growled.
I stared at her incredulously. “Let him go.” I turned to the man still forced to kneel. “Marko Dudyk, what do you need?”
He pulled himself out of her grasp, and towered over me. “You will stop this. You have people in a frenzy over unsupported data and a gut feeling.”
I wasn’t backing down. “I have confirmed communications. We have sightings of downed airships. Some are in the water. Two appear to be on land.” I took a step toward my ship. “If you want to stand here and pretend everything is all right, then I can’t stop you, but we are going to save as many as we can. These are supposed to be peaceful games.”
I left him glaring at my back.
I hopped onto the platform, grabbing the rope and tugging it twice.
Carilyn leapt on with me.
“No one’s supposed to die out there, Marko Dudyk. I need you to consider that in the next event you organize.”
As soon as the platform began to rise, the Yusrra Samma took to the air. The higher we got, the more the wind pummeled us.
My feet hit the deck. Isra was already issuing orders, letting out the sails. I headed for the command center and gestured for Carilyn to lead the way through the door.
She was drenched, but she didn’t complain. She peeled off her short suit jacket, revealing a thin, white blouse that was practically see-through thanks to the rain.
I cleared my throat and reached for the closest jacket I could find.
The man I took it from started to say something, but stopped, his eyes glued to her chest.
I thrust the jacket at her.
She didn’t say anything as she put it on. “There are a few of the ships I wasn’t able to get into contact with.” She walked toward the back wall and pulled out some ancient gear I’d never even seen before.
I frowned at her. “Just get in touch with them if you can and get us bearings. Is someone in contact with Joshua?”
Sammi, one of my communications officers and a girl I’d grown up with, raised her hand, but didn’t stop listening to the headphones.
I walked to her and waited. She peeled the headphone away from one ear.
“We’ve found another, sayyd.”
I nodded. “I want one airship assigned to each one that’s down. We don’t need chaos down there once we hit. We’re already battling a storm. We don’t need to be dodging each other as well.”
She put the headphone back over her ear, and pressed a button, speaking into a square mic.
“How many ships do we have on the assist?”
“The entire El’Asim Fleet,” Amber, Zara’s old friend, answered, “the Kowka Fleet and several others I’ve never heard of.”
It was still odd to issue orders and demands of people who used to pick on me as a kid. “Good. I want to stay under the storm. We need spotters on the water. There are a lot of airships still unaccounted for.” There was nothing more I could do in here. I headed for the deck. “Let’s find a way to keep them sky-worthy.”
The rains slowed to a drizzle, almost a mist, but the winds beat against us. Isra watched the sails, issuing the orders to keep our masts safe while using these winds to our advantage.
I walked up the stairs to the quarterdeck, leaning over the rail, my eyes on the water. They churned. If there was an airship down there, I had no idea how they’d survive. The waves were vicious, chomping down like a sky cat with its prey.
I could see several white bubbles of letharan traveling through the waters close to the surface. They moved nearly as fast as we were.
A large sky cat vessel pulled even with us, a tall man in a gray long coat standing calmly on the quarter deck. He saluted with two fingers.
I returned the gesture and went back to my search.
“Sayyd,” Isra said, stopping beside me. “Let the others search. You have other things to do.”
“Like what?” I muttered over the wind. “Look pretty?” I straightened, watching the waters further back. “We need as many eyes as we can spare, Isra.” I grasped her arms and set her out of my way. “Just because I am the leader, does not mean
I’m above looking.”
Respect shown through her eyes, even as she shook her head and grudgingly followed suit.
“Keep your attention on the sails, Isra.” I ran down the stairs and ran to the starboard rail.
A woman approached me. It was Amber. “We have communications coming in from several of the vessels in the air, and several of the letharan who have arrived at the wreckage.”
I continued to scan the waves.
“The letharan are taking as many survivors as they can. Most of the ships are in bad condition. The survivors have asked us to save their ships. They’re refusing to leave them.”
“Give the order to save the ships if we can. With these winds, it might not be possible. How far away is El’Asim Station?”
“Directly above us.”
“Good.” I sighed. “Tell them to clear the flight deck. If there isn’t room on Ino City, we’ll take the recovered ships to the Station.”
Amber hesitated. “Sayyd, the station says they’re running out of fuel.”
I was going to have to talk to the queens. “How much fuel do they have?”
“Enough for a few more days. It’s the reason they headed to Ino City.”
“Tell them I’ll figure something out tomorrow.”
“Very good.” She disappeared.
This side was free of anything other than wind and drizzle and roiling ocean waves.
A shout came from the other side.
I ran to the port-side rail and looked over. The ship was staying just above the ocean waves, but barely. Between the pounding waves, I could see a white hull. I was willing to bet it was a Kowka vessel. Someone handed me a telescope and what I saw confirmed my suspicion.
“Get me the bearing on that ship.” I headed toward the command center. “Get Novokshorov on the comms.”
Most everyone ignored me as they were busy communicating with others, or writing down important information. Carilyn talked to the wall while tapping something on a handheld device.
Amber motioned for me to join her at her console and offered me the mic.
I leaned over her and pushed the button. “Novokshorov?”
“El’Asim,” came the thick voice.
“We’ve scouted one of your ships on our portside.”
“Heading?”
Someone scrambled in and read them to me. I repeated them. “I’m guessing you’d like this one.”
“I vould. And, El’Asim.”
I waited, my hand hovering over the button.
“Thank you.”
“Prepare for a meeting after we get back. I want both you and your brother there.”
“Understood.”
I turned to the radar. “What do we have?”
The green screen showed several black dots, just now entering the circle. It appeared as though most of them were being taken care of.
One, however, flickered way off course.
I narrowed my eyes, watching it. I caught one of my men’s arms and pointed toward the flickering, black blip. “I want eyes on that vessel.”
The man ran out the door.
“Do we have sonar?”
There was an unspoken no from several of the surrounding people.
“Is there a lethara available to assist?”
No one had an answer.
That decided it. “Get a message to the Leblanc. Tell her that we need assistance at this heading. Isra, take us down, a hundred and thirty-seven degrees.”
“Yes, sayyd.”
The blip flickered again, and almost didn’t come back.
“Isra, we need more speed.”
“We’re already risking our masts.”
“They’re not going to make it in time.”
She ground her teeth and issued the command to drop additional sail.
The storm’s rage intensified, lightening crackling all around us. Thunder vibrated the consoles. The radar screen flickered and then went blank.
“Sayyd!” The technician watching the radar looked up me, her eyes wide.
I ran to the deck. “Give me eyes on that vessel!”
The winds hit me as soon as I crested the door. This was going to make rescue attempts even harder. There was no way to rescue the downed ship, not with these winds. Both ships could be crippled if we weren’t careful.
“Sayyd!” someone shouted high above me, the cry carried down via others. “There!”
I ran to the railing where everyone pointed.
I saw her. Most of her body was in the water, being pummeled by high waves. Her blue sails seemed to be the only thing keeping her afloat.
I turned to Amber who stood practically in my hip. “Did you get a hold of the Leblancs?”
Amber nodded, staring over the rail. “Who would do such a thing, sayyd?”
My heart felt like a cannonball in my chest. “I don’t know. Isra!”
She nodded. “I see her.” She shouted orders, bringing the ship closer.
Men and women flailed in the water, barely keeping their heads above the surging surface. As I watched, several of them slipped under the waves. I only hoped the Leblancs had arrived and were assisting.
The men still on the ship waved their arms like madmen.
I’d never attempted anything like this in my life. I didn’t know the best way to save the lives of those in the water. Catch a falling ship? Yes. I knew how to do that. But to pull a sinking ship from the ocean? No.
We were close enough that the tall, rolling waves licked at our hull. I twisted around and motioned for a platform. It was much louder at the water’s surface. Rain fell in buckets, slapping against the waves. People shouted in a language I’d never heard.
The ship sounded as if she were dying.
Their air jelly was nowhere in sight.
I and a few others leapt onto the slippery platform, holding onto the ropes. The wind tossed us around like toys.
Another person disappeared beneath the surface, followed by a large fish tail. I grinned. The Leblancs had arrived.
I twisted around again and yelled up to the Yusrra Samma, “Toss down the ropes!”
I hoped they heard me, but I’m pretty sure they were already doing it because the ropes fell.
Men and women scurried to latch onto a rope.
One man, his blue clothes pressed against his body by the water, came to me as soon as my feet touched the hull of his ship. She was on her side.
I couldn’t understand anything the man said, but he gestured to the ship, his expression urgent and impassioned.
If I were him, I’d be asking the same thing.
This thing had taken a beating. I could see where parts of the hull had been ripped away by mortar. There were deep gashes where the sky cats had attacked them. The ship was in pieces. It was amazing it was still afloat.
The ocean heaved, the ship dipping with it.
I turned, the bottom of my stomach falling. A huge wave towered over us, coming closer and closer. The damaged ship rose with the wave.
I took the strange speaking man and pushed him to the platform.
People shouted. Everyone scrambled, seeking a rope or anything that would take them out of the wave’s reach. Several people were in the rigging along the hull of the Yusrra Samma already.
The wave hit us, engulfing us. I held onto the rope as the powerful force of the wave pulled me away. My hand slipped. I couldn’t breathe. The ocean was winning.
Finally, air touched my face and I was dangling over the edge of the platform as it cleared the rail of the Yusrra Samma. I leapt onto the safety of my own deck and checked the waters again. There were fewer survivors still in the water. The last of the blue sails disappeared into the black waters.
I couldn’t believe what I saw. Why would anyone do this?
Anger burned within my chest.
I didn’t know. But I was going to find out.
CHAPTER 23
MIDNIGHT COUNCIL
Rescue operations continued long into the nigh
t. When we’d saved as many people and ships as we could find, we all flew back in one huge fleet.
The refueling station glowed at the edge of Ino City, which towered over the high waves. The storm grew in fury. We couldn’t survive this much longer.
I gave orders for all the airmen captains to meet me in the arena after we were docked. I didn’t have Mother’s approval and I didn’t know what she would say. I didn’t care. Someone had sabotaged nearly every competing airship.
Why? We needed to compare notes, see if we could discover the culprit. I was certain it was Iszak Tokarz, but I had no proof. It could have been my mother for all I knew. Or Marko Dudyk. Something had to be done, but it had to be done right. Justice without proof was revenge, and our world didn’t need more of that.
Refugees consoled one another along our deck, mourning the loss of their ship. Little could be heard over the pounding of the storm, but my heart ached for them.
Several of the airships flying around us had other ships dangling from their hull, the powerful gusts of wind tangling the lines and spinning the wreckage. We were watchful of them, our ears peeled for the sounds of splintering wood.
The Zarifa had already been forced to cut her cargo. My heart clenched at the sight of that dark shadow falling toward the ocean. The cries of her crew, safe on board the Zarifa, filled the wind as they watched their home splinter and become engulfed by the raging waters below.
We needed justice.
We weren’t able to make as speedy a return as I had hoped, either. With the winds this strong, full sail wasn’t an option, and with several of the other ships carrying others, we weren’t about to abandon one another for the sake of speed. So, it was long into the darkest part of night when we landed in Ino City. Although the runway was clear, there wasn’t enough room for all the ships we’d saved. Most of them were unloaded on the station.
All the docks were clear. I didn’t remember ever seeing that before.
Someone threw a rope to the Yusrra Samma as we came in.
I took the rope and tossed it back to the dock. “Isra, I want you above the storm. Get our people to safety.”
She caught the next rope thrown over the rail and tied it off. “All captains and seconds are to gather at the arena per Ino Nami’s orders.”