Killing the Machine (Aboard the Great Iron Horse Book 2)

by Jamie Sedgwick

  River immediately began towing herself back towards the boat. As the line went taught, the others realized she had caught it, and they began to reel her in. Two minutes later, they heaved her frozen body up over the edge of the boat. Kale hurried to remove his cloak and wrap it around her. Several other men did the same. Within seconds, they had her covered in several layers of warm cloth. Pirate crawled onto her lap, and River separated the fabric to let his warm fur press up against her body.

  River tried to thank them, but she was shivering so violently that she couldn’t speak. She closed her eyes and sat quietly, trying to will her shaking bones to stillness. River leaned back against the transom, and her heavy eyelids slid shut. Kale exchanged a nervous glance with Rowena.

  “She’s not out of the woods yet,” Rowena said in a quiet voice. “River has hypothermia. Unless we get her warmed up in a hurry, she could die. Our best hope now is to get her to the ship as quickly as possible.

  Chapter 14

  River woke in a warm bed piled high with luxurious blankets and pillows. Just a few feet away, a merry fire danced behind the glass door of a small pot-bellied stove. Her clothes hung on a line behind the stove, and her gun belt had been hung over the back of a chair.

  For a moment, River wasn’t sure where she was. Then she saw the shape of the room, the awkward tilt of the floor and the walls, and felt the gentle sway of the ship, like a hammock between two trees, and knew she was in the captain’s quarters of the Lady Fair. She pushed upright and found Pirate curled up on the bed next to her.

  River slipped out of bed, ignoring the ache in her bones and the stinging of her wounds as she dressed. Her clothes were still slightly damp, but they were warm from hanging next to the fire. After pulling on her boots, she retrieved her gun belt and pulled out the revolver, examining it for damage. She saw moisture, but no rust whatsoever. Thankfully, River had always faithfully maintained the weapon. Without the coating of oil, the steel barrel and internal springs would almost certainly have been destroyed by the saltwater. River wiped the moisture from her weapon and left it to dry next to the stove. There was no danger in doing this, since her revolver was spring-powered, rather than the black powder charges used by most firearms.

  River stepped out of the captain’s quarters onto the main deck, and only then realized that they had already taken flight. River’s stomach fluttered a little as she realized they were airborne, and she wondered just how high they had flown. All she could see around the ship was drifting fog. The balloon stretched high overhead, blocking out most of the sky. It was a cylindrical bulbous shape made up of hundreds of brightly colored sails. Three burners -located fore, midship, and aft- fueled the balloon with hot air. The burners’ flames illuminated the interior of the balloon, giving it an unearthly multi-colored glow.

  “There you are!” Rowena said. River turned to see the captain marching across the deck in her direction. “I see you’ve pulled through. That’s excellent, because we need your expertise.”

  “How long was I asleep?” River asked.

  “Four hours. It’s nearly midnight. Hurry, come with me.”

  Rowena led River to the aft end of the ship and pointed over the port side, at one of the propellers. It was attached precariously to the long drive shaft, which was spinning wildly, but the propeller remained motionless.

  “We weren’t sure how to connect it,” Kale said, appearing behind them. “I tried, but I think I did something wrong. We’ve been adrift ever since takeoff. Do you know how to fix it?”

  River pressed her lips together. “Yes.”

  “What do we have to do?”

  “Somebody has to climb out there, and bolt the coupling into place.”

  They both stared at her with confounded looks.

  “The worm gear isn’t engaging,” River explained. “It’s a differential, a worm gear-driven axle. Do you understand?”

  They blinked in unison.

  “Forget it,” she said. “I’ll do it myself.”

  “Is that safe?” said Kale. “I don’t think you should risk climbing out there after what happened to you tonight.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  “What about him?” said Rowena, nodding at River’s feet. River glanced down and saw Pirate looking up at her. He was wearing a shoulder pack, but not the one from the train. River lifted him, and examined the pack.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “He found it below deck,” said Rowena. “Every ship has a few of those lying around. Coons use them to carry lengths of rope, and tools.”

  “Perfect,” said River. “I’m going to climb out there. When I’m ready, send Pirate out with a wrench.”

  Kale and Rowena exchanged a glance as River climbed over the edge of the rail. Kale started to object, but River silenced him with a glare. She lowered herself onto the propeller’s driveshaft housing -a metal pipe thrusting out of the ship’s hull at a ninety-degree angle- and started the hair-raising walk out to the propeller. A gust of wind immediately struck her and River wavered, arms outstretched, her balance wavering. She glanced down into an ocean of swirling fog. A terrible fear knotted up her stomach, and River froze.

  Through a break in the fog, River saw the black mass of the sea stretching out to the west and north, where it vanished into the black shadows of the mountains. Behind her, she saw the lights of the sail makers’ village along the shore. Kale shouted something behind her that sounded like “Come back!” but the wind bore his words away, and the drumming sound of her heart filled her ears. Until that very moment, River had forgotten her fear of heights.

  No, she hadn’t actually forgotten the fear, but for some reason felt she had conquered it. River had faced her fear down in the past, and had overcome it when she needed to.

  This is no different, she told herself. I’ve done this before…

  But when River tried to take another step, her legs wouldn’t move. The cold chill of the icy sea crept back into her bones, and she realized she was shivering. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Kale waving for her to return to the ship. Rowena watched her with a blank stare. As River saw them together, she remembered seeing the two of them locked in an embrace. How appropriate it was, she thought, that the two of them would be together to watch her plummet to her death.

  River glanced up and saw the clouds whirling overhead, the stars blinking through like jewels in a billowing white curtain. A long support strut came into her vision, a length of metal rod that stretched out overhead, reaching from the ship’s hull toward the end of the propeller shaft. It was just out of reach, but if she took a step or two away from the ship, she could use the strut to stabilize herself. As she was looking at it, a dark shadow flitted down the strut. Pirate scurried past her, all the way down to the prop, and then turned to wait for her there. The wrench she needed was sticking out of his shoulder pack.

  “Good boy,” she said in a whisper. “That didn’t look hard at all.”

  Of course not. Pirate was fearless. River, on the other hand was terrified. She thought about the first time she’d felt that fear, and the way her half-brother Crow had helped her to overcome it. It was all in her mind. It was a deep-rooted irrational fear, one not created through a traumatizing experience but simply by her overactive imagination. She knew this, and yet couldn’t seem to break free of its paralyzing grip.

  Nothing to fear, she told herself. If I close my eyes, I’m only one foot off the ground…

  River took a moment to regain her balance, and then took two terrifying steps away from the ship. The icy wind swirled around her and tiny snowflakes flashed through her vision. The strut was just out of reach. One more step…

  River closed her eyes, willing her foot to move forward. She reached up, latched onto the strut with both hands, and opened her eyes. She took a deep breath and felt the movement of the ship underneath her, the rise and sway of her footing, and the strut in her hands. Compared to a moment before, this felt oddly safe.


  One cautious step at a time, River began making her way out towards the propeller. As she reached the end of the propeller shaft, she had to lower herself down. This was difficult, but River kept her eyes focused on Pirate, and the coon kept his on her. Staring at one another in profound silence, tiny crystal flakes of snow swirling around them, River slowly lowered herself to a seated position. With her legs dangling over the edge of the pipe and one arm wrapped around the strut, River began her work.

  She began by twisting the housing to the appropriate angle, so that the gear would engage correctly when tightened. Then, with her free hand, she pulled the wrench out of Pirate’s pack and started to tighten the bolts. This process was slow, and complicated by the fact that River’s fingers were numb with cold. At one point, she nearly dropped the wrench. The only thing that saved her was the fact that as it dropped, it wedged into the narrow space between her leg and the propeller shaft. She snatched it up and cursed under her breath.

  Pirate crawled into her lap, his warm body pressing against her belly, and began to purr. River frowned down at him.

  “You do realize that at any moment, the wind could blow us right off of here, right?”

  He made a sighing sound, and continued to purr.

  “Or a bolt could break, and this pipe would go right out from under us?”

  Pirate yawned.

  “Or something else could happen… anything could happen.”

  River drew her gaze away from the napping coon. A wisp of cloud floated by. She caught the scent of burning firewood, the sharp odor of grease on the propeller. Overhead, the twinkling stars peeked down through a break in the clouds. The wind gusted and then went calm. River tossed her head, flipping her bangs out of her face.

  “At least it would be quick,” she murmured. “Better to die all of a sudden than to go on and on, like someone stabbed in the gut. This just might be the second best way to go, next to dying in your sleep.”

  She turned her attention back to her work, and secured the bolt she had been working on.

  “It’s not so bad. It’s actually sort of nice up here. You can see forever. No one could sneak up on you. Not like on the train, where you’re always surrounded by mountains and trees.” She moved on to the next bolt. “In fact, this is way better than the balloon I rode on with Crow. We’ll even be able to steer the ship.”

  She finished the last bolt and the propeller blades began to rotate slowly in front of her, making a low whoosh, whoosh, whoosh as they passed. River felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

  “You know Pirate, I think my mother would like this. She’s a pilot, but I bet she’s never flown anything like this before. Maybe someday I’ll build a ship like this and go to see her. Do you think she’d like that?”

  Pirate had nothing to say. He was snoring. “All right, get up you lazy coon.” She picked him up and set Pirate on the prop housing. He sat up on his hindquarters, blinking at her lazily. River tucked the wrench back into his pack and scratched him between the ears.

  “I’ll see you shipboard.”

  River pulled herself back up, and made the quick trek back to the ship. When she reached the end of the overhead strut, River felt a moment of panic, but it wasn’t enough to stop her. She took the last few steps in a leap, her hands clamping down on the railing as she landed. Kale caught her by the shoulders and helped pull her back on board.

  “Well done!” said the captain. “Only one more to go.”

  “Five minutes,” River said, heading in that direction.

  “Hey!” Kale called after her. “What were you talking about out there? We couldn’t hear a word you said.”

  River smiled. “Pirate and I were sharing war stories.”

  Kale gave her a twisted grin as she climbed over the starboard rail.

  River tackled the next prop fearlessly. Somehow, she felt different from before. Perhaps she was more confident because she had already performed this task once. Or perhaps, she had overcome her fear altogether… All River knew for sure was that she had no problem crawling out there a second time. When she was done with the prop, she was tempted to sit out there for a few more minutes just to enjoy the view. She did just that.

  Pirate crawled back into her lap, but this time he didn’t go to sleep. He knew that they would be moving again any minute, so instead, he just curled up with her and allowed River to stroke his fur and scratch him behind the ears. They quietly watched the snowflakes twisting through the fog, listening to the sound of the prop slicing through the air and the low hum of the gears in the housing. It was the most peaceful thing River could remember experiencing in her entire life.

  Eventually, Kale called out and disrupted her thoughts. River reluctantly made her way back to the ship.

  “Enjoying yourself?” he said as she climbed back onto the main deck.

  “I was. Is there a problem?”

  “Yes, the captain doesn’t know how to steer the ship.”

  River glanced at the rudder wheel and saw Rowena trying desperately to change the ship’s direction. Rowena noticed her and frantically waved her over. River had to suppress a grin as she joined the captain.

  “That won’t work,” she said.

  “I see that!” Rowena said, her eyes wide. “If we can’t turn this thing, we’ll crash right into the mountains!”

  River looked ahead and saw one of the peaks rising up in their path. It was about a mile in the distance. “We didn’t have time to engineer controls,” River explained. “You’ll need two men: one to relay your orders below deck, a second to operate the controls at the motor. Follow me and I’ll show you how it works.”

  River proceeded to teach Rowena and several of her crew how to transfer power from one prop to the other in order to turn the ship. With a series of simple levers, it was possible to increase or reduce speed to either prop, or even cause one or both to run in reverse. Rowena was grateful, and immediately gave the order to correct the course of the ship.

  River also explained that, using the ship’s sails, they could improve their airspeed or even travel long distances without using the engines at all.

  “That will reduce your fuel requirements,” she said, “and greatly increase your travel range.”

  “Incredible,” said Rowena. “This is going to make me very wealthy. How can I repay you?”

  “Get us that starfall,” River said. “Once I have that, and Burk’s head, I’ll be happy.”

  River turned to leave, but Rowena stopped her. “There is one more thing, if you wouldn’t mind…”

  River frowned. Rowena led her across the main deck, to one of the sailors who was sitting at the base of the main mast with both arms wrapped around it. “He’s terrified,” she explained. “He won’t move from that spot. I have several more like him below deck. They’ve never flown before. None of us have. Can you help them?”

  River blinked. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I don’t know. I saw you out there. I saw you struggling. I thought you might understand their fear, and know how to help them cope with it.”

  “I suppose I can try.”

  River took a few minutes to formulate a plan. Looking back on her own experiences, River decided that there were two things that had helped her. First, she had overcome her fear by talking to Pirate. She knew the creature didn’t understand anything she had said, but the fact that she knew she wasn’t out there alone had helped. Second, she had faced her fear. River realized that if she had turned back at any point, her fear would have never gone away. It would probably have become worse.

  River brought the men over to the starboard side of the ship. They exchanged nervous glances and one of them looked like he was about to faint. River decided that rather than risking their lives as she had, that it would be better to tie them to a rope. That way, if one of the men did slip, the others could simply haul him back.

  Their nervousness increased as she handed each a length of rope and ordered him to tie himself off. Then she picke
d out the man who seemed the least uncomfortable, and ordered him to follow her over the rail. It took some coaxing, but eventually the man climbed over. He settled down on the propeller shaft and stood there as River urged him forward. It took a minute to build up his courage, but he eventually lurched out to where he could grasp the strut. River clapped her hand down on his shoulder, grinning.

  “How do you feel?” she said.

  “Cold. Frozen.”

  “It’s not that cold.”

  “Then why am I shaking?”

  “Fear,” she said. “Take a deep breath. A slow breath. Don’t hyperventilate.”

  He did as she ordered, or at least attempted to.

  “Good. Now tell me, are you afraid of dying?”

  “Of course. Isn’t everyone?”

  “Have you ever been to war? Ever seen a man shot in the gut?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I have,” she said. “I’ve seen it take a man two weeks to die. I don’t think there’s anything in the world worse than dying like that. Do you?”

  “I suppose not,” he said between chattering teeth.

  “Now, look down.”

  He did, and winced. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and then fixed his gaze on River. “Why did you make me do that?”

  “You’re not going to fall,” River said. “Even if you did, that rope would easily hold you. You might as well be two feet off the ground, because that’s how safe you are.”

  “But it… it could break,” he stammered.

  “Sure, or the ship could crash, or the entire crew could go crazy and cut our ropes. But even if something ridiculous and improbable happened, we’d still die quickly, wouldn’t we?”

  “As long as it takes to fall,” he said with a grimace.

  “Right, and then we’d die on impact. We wouldn’t feel any pain. We wouldn’t suffer for two weeks while our own blood slowly poisoned us. We’d just die, and wake up in the next world. There’s no easier way out than that.”