by Adam Dreece
“That’s what I was wondering,” replied the engineer.
Amami scanned about. “This bloated flying pig, is this as fast as it goes?”
“Unless there’s a strong gust of wind, yes,” he replied, glancing at the captain.
“We need to get close to one of the other airships, see if we could throw some of those bombs over on them and take them out before them destroy everything. Look,” said Egelina-Marie, pointing at the destruction taking place.
Amami pulled a sword off her back and pointed it at the engineer. “Make this ship go faster.”
“I can’t! I’m giving her everything she’s got,” said the engineer. He put his hands up defensively as sweat ran down his round face.
Bakon walked over and grabbed the captain’s belt. “I’m sure we can figure out how to make this fly. Any motivational words for your engineer, or do you want to see if you can fly on your own?”
“Do as they ask, Mister Scott!” ordered the captain.
“You’re right, Richy. I like your friends,” said Amami.
Tee and Elly yanked off the camouflage tarps, revealing their two prototypes and several large wooden trunks.
“Tee, don’t look back there,” said Elly, turning back to their equipment.
Glancing over her shoulder, Tee steadied her sudden surge of emotion. From high on the forested hill, she could see the old ruined castle, parts of it streaming smoke. The scene instantly reminded her of her Grandpapa’s place burning, and then seeing all of Mineau burning in the distance. Two of the Skyfallers were circling, dropping fiery vengeance, while another approached. “Elly, this… this is too much.”
Elly snapped her fingers in Tee’s face. “Hey, stop looking at the reality. If I’ve learned anything from you, it’s that you don’t let how insane the real world is get in your way. For a minute back in that lab, you were you again. Giving orders, thinking in a crisis. That’s one of the things you’re great at.”
Tee stared at her best friend. Her face held so much determination, so much conviction, that it was hard to argue with. Hard, but not impossible. “Elly, I’m just going to get more people killed.”
Elly punched Tee hard in the shoulder.
“Ow! What the heck, Elly?”
With a finger in Tee’s face, Elly said, “You stared into the abyss to save me. You never need to fear about falling in. You didn’t with me dying beside you. I know you to your core, you would have never killed that man. And with me saved, I will forever be your unbreakable rope. You can jump into that abyss, and I will always, always, pull you out.”
Tee stared at her, the seconds ticking by. “What if you lose me because I do something stupid? What if I sent you into the abyss? I couldn’t handle that.”
Elly’s eyes glanced around thinking. With a wicked smile, she stared back at Tee. “You’d be dead. You’d get over it.”
Laughing, Tee nodded. “Okay.”
“Really?” asked Elly.
“Yeah.”
Alex ran up, out of breath. He looked about. “Where’s Mounira?”
“Wasn’t she with you?” asked Tee.
Bending over to catch his breath, he replied, “I lost her. Thought she came here.”
Tee looked at Elly.
“That girl’s going to find her way out. She’s tough,” said Elly. “Alex, let’s get these things working. Tee, what’s the plan?”
For an uncertain moment, Tee looked at them each in turn. “First, let’s get the chemicals and everything set, then haul these two rocket-packs to the edge of the forest, so we don’t have to dodge trees. Okay?”
Alex and Elly nodded.
“Does anyone else think this is a crazy idea that’s likely going to get someone killed?” asked Alex.
“Nope,” replied Tee and Elly in unison.
After getting the first of the rocket-pack ready, Tee and Alex hauled it out carefully to the edge of the forest.
“They’re getting pounded,” said Tee, gazing at the battlefield below.
“I hope someone arrives to help. I mean really, what can we do?” asked Alex, heading back.
Elly continued working furiously until she saw Alex. “Where’s Tee?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “She should be right behind me.”
“Oh, no,” yelled Elly, bolting past him. “Tee! Wait!”
With the heavy rocket-pack strapped on, Tee put her cloak on over top. She stumbled under the weight before hitting the ignition.
“Tee, wait! The wings, they aren’t—” screamed Alex as Tee shot into the sky.
Elly and Alex watched, aghast, as Tee spiraled in the air, and then sighed in momentary relief as she moved straight for one of the Skyfallers. Suddenly, the rocket pack broke apart.
“The wings mechanism—” gasped Alex.
Elly stared in horror.
Suddenly, Tee jerked in the air and started moving towards the Skyfaller quickly, one arm leading the way.
“What the—?” said Alex, dumbfounded.
“Her armband! That’s my girl! That’s MY GIRL!” yelled Elly, fist pumping the air.
“Wait, the thing she made? The thing she was wearing on her arm?”
“Yeah. It’s a little piece of her Grandpapa. Inspired by what saved her months ago when she needed it most,” said Elly, wiping away her tears.
Alex’s expression suddenly went stony. “The people on that ship, they’re going to have guns.”
“I need to get up there,” said Elly, running back.
“Sorry Elly,” said Alex, running up to her and pushing her over. He bolted out of sight.
Arriving precious seconds before Elly, Alex slipped on the rocket-pack and pulled out its wings. Slapping on some goggles, he took a deep breath and pushed the ignition button. Immediately he launched into the air.
“Alex!” yelled Elly, as she watched him make a beautiful streak straight to Tee’s airship. She laughed, shaking her head. “You might just be a Benjamin, Alex.”
Elly looked at the spare parts and chemicals. “I’ve got to help them…” she snapped her fingers and started filling her backpack.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
To Air is Human
“What’s that?” asked Bakon as a yellow-tipped white streak rocketed into the air in front of them. It spiraled and bent its arc, heading roughly in the direction of the airship they were pursuing. Suddenly, the white part separated from the yellow. “Wait, that’s a person…”
“That hair, the yellow… that’s Tee!” yelled Richy. “She’s falling out of the sky!”
Egelina-Marie cupped her mouth with her hands. “Oh, my—”
A little black line shot out from Tee and into the side of the Skyfaller.
“Huh? She’s reeling herself in? What have I missed? Tee, that’s awesome!” yelled Richy, knowing she couldn’t hear him.
“That girl,” laughed Egelina-Marie.
Out of the corner of her eye, Amami noticed the captain slowly reaching for something. With a quick two-step, she had her blade on his chest. “I wouldn’t do that, Captain. I am certain I can fly this ship of yours. Having you alive is a convenience. Do you understand?”
He nodded, nervously.
“Did I mention I like her?” asked Egelina-Marie. She searched around, finally finding a rifle in one of the long boxes that lined the edge of the deck, most of them filled with ropes and tools.
“Look, another one,” said Richy, pointing at a second white streak flying through the sky. This one arced beautifully and landed on the ship that Tee was just climbing aboard. “Whatever that is, I need one.”
Bakon laughed. “Okay, that’s probably Elly.”
“Without a yellow hood?” asked Richy.
Bakon shrugged. “Who else is crazy enough to go after Tee?”
“Good point,” replied Richy.
“Eg, can you take shots yet at the soldiers over there?”
She shook her head. “I know we’re around a hundred yards, but given the win
dows up here, and how they’re moving and we’re moving, I don’t want to risk hitting our friends. I’ll try when we hit fifty yards.”
“I have a better idea,” said Amami. She turned to the engineer. “Bring us up. I want us above and beside that airship.”
The engineer looked at the captain and received a reluctant nod. “We’re going to run out of fuel quickly if we keep doing this type of nonsense,” he grumbled. He walked over and spun a set of wheels, and the airship’s front balloon pulled the ship up on an angle. The captain then threw the wheel, titling the ship to one side.
“Hang on, Eg!” yelled Bakon, grabbing the edge of the ship and her hand as she started to slide away.
The captain pulled out a pistol and shot, hitting Richy, but the bullet bounced off his yellow cloak. Before he could fire again, Amami plunged her sword into him, removed it and kicked him off the ship. She stabbed the deck with her blade and took the wheel. “Riichi! Get your friends’ attention. Eg, prepare those bombs. Soldier-throwing-man, get the ropes ready.”
“Is that me?” asked Bakon.
“No, it’s the other ruffian,” replied Eg, giving him a sarcastic slap on the arm.
Something flew past them, narrowly missing the two giant air balloons.
“What was that?” yelled Amami.
Bakon looked over the edge. “Richy, your eyes are better than mine. Is that Elly?”
Richy rushed over and laughed. “Elly!” he yelled, futilely.
“I think she shot something at us,” said Egelina-Marie.
Richy took off his cloak and waved it at the small figure below. A yellow cloak waved back at them. “Phew… okay, so hopefully Elly won’t shoot us out of the sky now.”
“That’s a relief,” said Bakon laughing.
Snapping his fingers, Richy turned to Eg. “Do you still have that small mirror you had back in Mineau?”
“I think so, why? Oh, I get it.” Egelina-Marie reached into her small pack she’d been allowed to carry with her. “Here!” She tossed it to Richy.
Tee stood there on the hillside with the rocket-pack on her back, staring up at a Skyfaller. The destruction it was raining down was unlike anything she’d seen. Her thumbs rubbed on the leather shoulder straps as she imagined all the memories and lives being destroyed. “Those poor people,” she whispered.
She glanced back at Alex who was running to Elly. In a moment Elly would realize she was missing, and would know something was wrong. They both knew the idea of flying was insane, and as much fun as the project had been, they’d silently known that common sense would prevail and they would do something else. As bombs exploded, Tee couldn’t shake a particular thought. “These people need the impossible.”
Holding her breath, she nervously checked she was wearing her goggles. She looked tearfully at her grapple armband, her little piece of Grandpapa she had on her, and nodded to it, as if approval had been given. With a yell, she flipped the switches along the side of the rocket-pack and shot into the air.
The rocket-pack had a mind of its own, and reluctantly relented to Tee’s attempts to steer it. Finally, with herself pointed at an airship and with ten seconds of estimated flight time left, she felt something give in one of the straps. Before she knew it, she saw the rocket-pack fly away from her as she started to tumble through the air.
Time seemed to slow as Tee’s mind raced, and she fought back the images of her life flashing before her. Catching a glimpse of her armband, she thought back to how her Grandpapa had saved her life by putting the same type of mechanism in her sail-cart that had saved her life at the last minute. Doing her best to stop spinning, she pointed her arm at the airship’s hull and pulled the trigger of her armband. She didn’t breathe as the bolt and cable shot out and finally bit into the dense wood. Laughing, she pulled a lever and the armband started to bring her of the left side of the ship.
Tee peeked over the back edge. There were six soldiers on the main deck, a captain at the helm and an engineer leaning over the far edge. Curious, she studied the two soldiers who were also leaned over. “Don’t have the stomach for it, boys?” she wondered, quickly crawling onto the deck.
With her shock-sticks charged, Tee ran past the captain, smacking him in the head to distract him as she flipped forward and shocked two soldiers. The two soldiers she’d thought were being sick had really been dropping bombs. They grabbed her by the arms and hauled her into the air.
Just then, a white streak came and crashed onto the deck. As wood splintered everywhere, Tee took advantage of the moment and got herself clear of the soldiers.
“Alex?” she said, helping him up. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you?” he offered as he fell to one knee, stunned. He was seeing double.
“Ah, sure. Why not,” she replied with a wink.
Alex swallowed hard at the sight of four soldiers with their pistols pointed at them.
“Shoot them and throw them overboard,” commanded the captain. “We have a job to do!”
Suddenly ropes fell onto the deck.
“Who’s that?” asked Alex, pointing.
Tee followed his gaze to another airship that was dangerously close and slightly higher in the sky. “Friends! Come on!” she said, pulling him over to one of the ropes and tying him to one. Suddenly the ship started to bank and Tee slid away.
“Tee!!” yelled Alex. “What are those?” he wondered as he saw light black balls being dropped onto the deck. “Bombs? Those are bombs! Tee!!!”
She held on to the mast as the ship started to veer away at a sharp angle. Alex hauled himself up to the edge of the ship and untied himself.
“What's he doing?” wondered Egelina-Marie as she prepared to shoot another soldier.
“No way,” said Richy as Alex carefully ran along the edge of the ship and jumped at the captain. “I think I just found my new best friend.”
Surprising the captain, Alex threw the wheel in the other direction, making the ship go back in the opposite direction.
“Eg!” yelled Richy, pointing at the captain. “Tee’s got the rope, she’ll get to him if you can take out the—”
BLAM!
“If I take out the captain? Got it,” replied Egelina-Marie with a smile.
Richy hugged Tee the instant she was on board, and grabbed Alex’s hand. “I’m Richy, and that was amazing.”
“Oh, thank you,” replied Alex.
Suddenly, the third airship exploded.
“What was that?” yelled Tee.
“I think Elly hit them with one of her rockets,” said Bakon.
“Rockets?” said Tee and Alex, looking at each other.
“Grab on to something!” yelled Amami as she steered their airship quickly away from the other just before it exploded.
“We’re hit!” screamed the engineer, pointing at one of the balloons. “We’re going to die!”
“No, we aren’t!” yelled back Amami. “Everyone, grab on to something tightly. We’re going to land very soon.”
Elly’s mood flipped from jubilant to horrified as she shifted her attention from the airship she’d just blown to bits to the one with her friends that seemed to be dropping out of the sky too quickly. “Guys, what’s going on?” she said to herself. She looked at all of her rocketing supplies that were strewn about and shook her head, taking off in the direction of the troubled Skyfaller.
As she rounded a corner of the castle, she saw dark cloaked figures come into view. Reaching into her yellow cloak, she pulled out her shock-sticks and prepared for battle. She slowed to a stop as an old woman and several of the dark grey cloaks closed ranks, boxing her in.
“Elly,” said the old woman.
“Get out of my way,” she replied.
“I was hoping to find you here.”
“I don’t know who you are, but I have to get to my friends. In case you hadn’t noticed, they’re falling out of the sky,” said Elly pointing.
The woman glanced up and leaned on her cane. “Unl
ess you’re able to fly, there’s nothing you can do for them. And I’m certain Amami has everything under control.”
“Who’s Amami?” asked Elly, eyeing the strangers surrounding her.
“Richy’s sister,” the woman replied. “These are Moufan-Men, and I am—”
“Sorry, out of my way,” said Elly, springing forward.
One of the Moufan-Men stepped forward and parried every blow Elly could throw at her. With elegance and grace, she threw Elly to the ground time and time again.
The woman gestured to Elly’s opponent. “The Moufan-Men are experts in many things, and hand to hand combat is one of them. Please, you need to stop and listen. I’m not your enemy,” said the woman. “You may give her back her shock-sticks.”
The Moufan-Man handed Elly her sticks and helped her up before returning to stand beside her colleagues.
“Who are you? And why do you look… proud? Because your people beat me?” asked Elly, glancing up at the sky as the ship fell behind the castle ruins.
“I am Eleanor DeBoeuf, the Butcher of the Tub, and I am your grandmother,” said the woman with a tearful smile.
“What?” replied Elly, taking a step backwards. “Is this a trick?”
“You are Eleanor DeBoeuf, Junior. Well, I am the senior to your junior. Come,” she said, offering her hand. “Your friends are going to be okay, but let’s go make sure. Though battle is won, we have much to do if we are to win the war.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Journeys Ahead
Christina felt a dampness on her face. As her eyes opened, she saw the grass of the clearing. She sat up and oriented herself, rubbing her pounding head. There were voices coming from a creek behind some huge boulders a dozen yards away. She gazed above the forest’s tree line at the plumes of smoke in the sky to the south, finding herself thankful that she couldn’t see the ruins of her life’s work.
Forcing her weary body up, she steadied herself and ran fingers across her belt pouches, counting them as always. Half way to the creek, she saw a familiar face come around a boulder.