Owl Dance

by David Lee Summers

  Maravilla and Billy looked down at the ship and saw steel girders they could hold onto. They descended through the gash in the hull.

  << >>

  Captain Cisneros and Larissa made a wide arc. Looking over at the captain, Larissa realized he was watching Maravilla. The sound of bullets whizzing through the air persuaded them to continue on. The captain took his owl up over the second airship’s bow. He slowed, easing his craft downward. From her position, Larissa could tell he was coming in at a bad angle. One of the owl’s talons caught, but the other missed. The owl swiveled and Cisneros jumped from his seat onto the top of the airship.

  The captain’s owl was now in Larissa’s path. She banked suddenly and leapt toward the captain. He caught her by the collar as she nearly slid past, then hefted her toward his unstable purchase. Meanwhile, her owl continued out of control toward the airship’s tail. The owl smashed into the tail and the airship lurched to the side.

  << >>

  Legion found himself fascinated by the prospect of humans developing ornithopters to attack the airships. He wanted to know more about this new group of humans and what motivated them. The Russians were angry someone had chosen to defy them. Legion expected defiance, so he wasn’t angry. What he’d not expected was for the defiance to take such an inventive form.

  The mechanical owls flitted about the airships. Although they were ascending, the airships had not risen high enough to be immune from the owls’ attack. Two flew out of sight over the Czar Nicholas. A short time later, one of those owls plummeted to the ground even though it had been too near the ship to have been a victim of the swivel guns.

  Soon after, a third owl landed on top of the Czarina Marie and a fourth plunged into her tail. The two riders sliced their way into the ship and disappeared. General Gorloff finally realized the Czar Nicholas might also have invaders aboard and he rushed up the gondola’s ladder into the body of the airship.

  The general peered around the giant gasbags, trying to see if there were any people in the ship’s superstructure. Finally, the general spotted two people working their way down a ladder that ran alongside the gasbags. The general drew his sidearm and pointed it at the two invaders.

  “You cannot fire,” said Legion. “Remember what happened to the balloon the Americans were trying to raise.”

  Gorloff swore to himself and vowed to wait until the invaders were closer. He fell into the shadows to wait.

  As Gorloff waited, Legion allowed his attention to drift to the Czarina Marie. The Marie’s captain had spotted two people in the superstructure above the gasbags. Fortunately, Captain Yudina had the wisdom not to fire his gun at the hydrogen bags. Instead, he went back into the gondola and ordered the gunners to leave their post and wait for the two stowaways.

  Without entering their minds, Legion had no way of knowing the invaders’ goals. However, if their only aim was to destroy the airships, he suspected they wouldn’t have gone to such trouble to get inside. Legion wanted to see what the invaders would do. He allowed the gunners to answer the captain’s order in the affirmative, then he sent commands through their neural pathways that prevented them from moving. If the invaders did prove violent and brutish, Legion could deal with them himself.

  Legion then sent parts of himself to hover close to the people working their way down the ladders. The human who called himself Mauricio Maravilla spoke almost incessantly about what he saw. He was fascinated by the airship, and Legion could tell he admired the builder and honestly wanted to learn more.

  The human called Onofre Cisneros was quieter and more cautious, but his eyes took in everything he saw. Legion sensed these humans possessed intelligence and imagination in great quantity. He needed time to see exactly what they would do.

  << >>

  Fatemeh looked around and tapped a glass gauge next to the steam engine that displayed the chemical supply. If the professor and Captain Cisneros didn’t get the big doors open soon, she would have to land to avoid crashing. She pushed the joystick to the side and made a loop. As she did, she realized the gunners had stopped firing. She wondered if they had run out of ammunition or if something else had distracted them.

  She reached back and tapped the gauge again. She had just enough fuel left to make a safe landing. As she began the turn that would take her back to the hill where they had camped the night before, movement from the airship caught her eye. The bay door fell open.

  Fatemeh continued in a long arc, then flew toward the bay door. The owl’s wings flapped furiously and she entered the darkened hold at the bottom of the airship. Carefully pulling the joystick back, she dropped the owl onto the floor. It skidded to a stop just before hitting the wall. Three more owls followed her in. The pirates unstrapped themselves and hopped out of their craft, drawing pistols. Billy and Maravilla grabbed hold of a set of ropes and pulled the bay door closed.

  “I was worried you’d run into trouble,” said Fatemeh.

  “No trouble at all.” Billy sported a cocky grin.

  “In fact, the only thing we’ve encountered is something of a mystery.” Professor Maravilla rubbed his goatee. “Here, let me show you.” He led Fatemeh and the pirates into an adjoining corridor. A few steps took them to a steel support brace. Hiding in the shadows was a bearded man wearing a uniform with epaulets. He held an ornate pistol in his hand, but stood absolutely still.

  Fatemeh peered closely at him. “Is he alive?”

  Just then he blinked.

  She jumped back, her eyes wide, but the man did not move. She took a tentative step forward and put her fingers against his jugular vein. There was a pulse, but he seemed completely paralyzed.

  “What’s going on?” Fatemeh narrowed her gaze, examining the man.

  “Subject of interest: Fatemeh Karimi,” said the man.

  Fatemeh narrowed her gaze. “Luther Duncan spoke that way when I first met him.”

  “It was not Luther Duncan. It was us.” The Russian was still paralyzed, all except his throat and mouth.

  “Us?” Fatemeh looked the paralyzed Russian up and down. “There’s more than one of you?”

  “We are Legion.”

  “Madre de Dios!” A pirate named Ernesto made the sign of the cross. “He’s possessed!”

  “In a sense, your compatriot is correct, Miss Karimi,” came the voice from the paralyzed man. “We reside within the humans on this ship. We are not General Gorloff. We are merely using him to communicate with you.”

  “What is your purpose?” asked Fatemeh.

  Billy tugged on Fatemeh’s shirt sleeve. “Miss Karimi, I don’t think we have time for this...weird conversation.”

  She shrugged him off. “On the contrary, I think we may have gotten to the root of the situation.” She turned her attention back to the paralyzed man.

  “We are travelers. Our purpose is to learn and explore,” said the man.

  “How do these airships help you achieve that purpose?” asked Fatemeh.

  “An experiment. We sensed the Earth was on a path to destruction. Your species shows promise. We wanted to avert destruction if at all possible.”

  Professor Maravilla’s eyes went wide. “You’re from another world, aren’t you? Mars, perhaps?”

  “Much further than that,” said the man.

  Fatemeh nodded. She couldn’t quite picture what the being that used General Gorloff looked like, but she realized it must be the same creature—or perhaps creatures—who had possessed Luther Duncan. Was it a spiritual essence or something more concrete? She yearned to know the answer, but sensed Billy was right and time was short. “The unity of the world is one of the tenets of my faith. I don’t believe you can avert the world’s destruction though war.”

  “We have come to realize it was a mistake to work through military minds. Perhaps we can revise our experiment before it’s too late.” The man’s mouth went slack.

  Maravilla tapped him, but got no response. He looked at Fatemeh and shrugged. “He doesn’t seem to have any more to
say.”

  “Then we better get to work.” Fatemeh looked at the professor. “You should find a way to land the ship.”

  The professor nodded. “I suspect the controls are in the gondola.” He turned and pointed toward a ladder that stuck up through the floor. “I’m guessing that’s the way down.”

  Fatemeh looked toward the pirates who had accompanied her. “Go with the professor, in case there’s trouble.” They nodded and the four made their way to the ladder and down.

  Fatemeh turned to Billy. “Come with me. We need to find out if Ramon is aboard this ship.”

  Billy nodded. “I think there’s crew quarters back that way.” He pointed toward the bay where the owls had landed.

  As they jogged down the walkway, she glanced up at the giant gasbags that filled most of the big chamber they were in, marveling at the ship’s immensity even as she worried about Ramon.

  Billy stepped past her, and drew his gun. “You better let me lead. Don’t know what we’ll find.”

  Fatemeh swallowed and nodded.

  Billy led the way through the door and passed through the big bay. Fatemeh reasoned the space must be a staging area for troops and supplies. At the other end, Billy eased the door open. Beyond the bay was a corridor lined with doors. Billy went to the first door. It was labeled in Cyrillic script. His eyebrows creased as he tried to read what it said. Giving up, he pushed the door open. Inside were numerous gun racks and boxes of ammunition.

  “This must be the armory,” said Fatemeh.

  Billy nodded and moved on to the next door. That one proved to be a nicely appointed stateroom. Fatemeh guessed it was probably the captain’s cabin. They continued down the corridor checking each door. Most of the rooms were empty, but in two of them, they found men frozen in mid-motion, like the other fellow they had encountered on the walkway. However, none of them seemed inclined to speak.

  As they reached the end of the corridor, Fatemeh felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She realized Professor Maravilla must have reached the controls and figured out how to control the ship. They must be descending.

  Finally, Billy and Fatemeh opened the last door at the end of the corridor. Inside, they found what appeared to be an infirmary with several beds. Cabinets containing first aid supplies stood against the walls. A man in a white jacket sat at a desk, frozen in place like the others; he held a pencil over a piece of paper.

  A man in an American army uniform lay on one of the beds, his head turned away from the door. Fatemeh took a tentative step toward the figure on the bed.

  He moaned, causing Fatemeh to stop in her tracks. She looked back at the doctor. He was still frozen. Her brows knitted, Fatemeh looked back toward the man.

  The man in the uniform threw one leg over the edge of the bed and sat up, holding his head.

  “Ramon!” called Fatemeh.

  He looked up. “Corazón? Where are we?”

  “We’re aboard the Russian airship. I’ve come to rescue you.”

  Ramon’s feet dropped to the floor and he tried to stand, but his legs gave way. He caught himself on the edge of the bed. Fatemeh and Billy sprang forward and stabilized him. Ramon looked over to the gunfighter. “Why is it that when I’m trouble, the two of you are here together?”

  “Got me,” said Billy. “I’ve yet to get anything out of this deal.”

  Ramon looked over to the paralyzed doctor. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Fatemeh. “As far as we can tell, everyone on this ship is under the control of some power, but I don’t know how long that control will last.”

  Together, Billy and Fatemeh helped Ramon move forward. They left the infirmary and made their way along the corridor and toward the bay. As they moved, Ramon was able to take more of his own weight and finally could walk without assistance. When they reached the bay, they found Professor Maravilla and the pirates.

  “We’re over a bank—Clark, Gruber and Something. Looks like Captain Cisneros has gained control of the other ship. They’re right behind us.” The professor licked his lips, then inclined his head toward the stern. “I think we better get out of here. It looked like some artillery units are moving into position near the river.”

  “What!” Fatemeh put her hands on her hips. “Surely they don’t mean to destroy the ship! Can’t we get out of here?”

  The professor took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I could probably manage to ascend, but I don’t think we could get out of range in time. Our best chance is to get out of here and keep them from firing on us.”

  Fatemeh gritted her teeth, but nodded.

  The professor tapped Billy on the shoulder and the two of them went to the ropes and opened the bay door. Wasting no time, the pirates dropped the rope ladder from the bay to the roof of the building below and began descending. Professor Maravilla and Billy followed them.

  Fatemeh turned to Ramon. “Can you make it?”

  He leaned over and kissed her briefly on the lips. “If you can, I can.”

  She took his hand and squeezed, then ushered him toward the ladder. Once he was a few feet down, she mounted the ladder and prayed the army wouldn’t fire until they were clear of the ship.

  << >>

  General Alexander Gorloff was still trying to make sense of the strange conversation Legion had with the woman when four of the invaders ran past him and back into the bay. Several minutes went by, then just as suddenly as the paralysis had come upon him, he was released. He ran to the bay and peered down through the still-open door. Seven people stood on the roof of the Denver Mint. The general aimed his pistol and fired, scattering them. Several of the invaders drew revolvers and fired back. The general leapt away from the hatch and gritted his teeth.

  Cautiously, he looked back through the open bay. The Czar Nicholas was rising. “Legion, what’s happening?” called the general.

  Silence was the only reply.

  “Legion?” he ventured again.

  Still, the alien presence refused to answer.

  With a curse, the general holstered his sidearm and ran forward. “What’s going on?” he called as he descended into the gondola.

  Captain Makarov looked around with a sheepish expression on his face. “I’m not sure what happened. We were fighting off the mechanical owls and suddenly every muscle in my body froze up. We watched helplessly as men came in and took control of the ship. They flew it like experts.”

  The general’s eyes moved from side to side as he thought. Silently he called for Legion again. As he did so, the truth dawned on him. “Legion has betrayed us.” He ran to the window. “What’s happening now?”

  The captain pointed toward the ship’s stern. “American artillery units are taking up positions along the river. We’re attempting to ascend out of their range.”

  “Will we make it in time?” asked the general.

  The captain shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  << >>

  Soon after the Owl Riders reached the tower-like roof of the mint, Billy saw the other airship lower its ladder to a nearby building. Larissa and the pirates began to descend. Billy looked back up toward the open hatch on the bottom of the airship they had just abandoned. The bearded man who had spoken to Fatemeh stuck his face over the edge. He recognized murderous fury intent on the man’s features.

  “Take cover!” shouted Billy.

  The man in the airship began firing at them. Everyone scattered toward the walls and tried to make themselves into the smallest possible targets. Billy drew his six-gun and returned fire. He smiled as the four pirates did likewise and the man’s face disappeared from view.

  “That’ll learn ’em.”

  A moment later, the airship began to rise. Professor Maravilla peered through the crenellations in the wall toward the river. “I think we better find a way inside the mint, and fast. It looks like they’re loading those guns.”

  Billy found a trapdoor in the roof. A padlock held it closed. He shot the lock, then
kicked it aside. Throwing open the trapdoor, he smiled at the sight of a ladder descending into the building. He looked toward Fatemeh. “Ladies first.”

  Fatemeh opened her mouth to say something, but a look from Ramon cut her off. She made for the ladder and he followed. The professor and the pirates were next. Finally, Billy mounted the ladder just as a series of thunder-like booms came from the river.

  Billy was pulling the trapdoor closed when an explosion from above knocked him from his perch.

  << >>

  Fatemeh cried out as the explosion sounded from overhead and Billy fell from the ladder. He hit the floor with a thud that was barely audible after the blast. She rushed to his side and grimaced at the unnatural angle of his left arm. She reached up to check for a pulse when his eyes flew open and he sucked in a loud breath. “What the hell just happened?”

  Professor Maravilla ran to a window. “There’s debris raining down outside.” He frowned and shook his head. “They must have ignited the airship’s hydrogen with an artillery shell. The airship has been destroyed.” He fell to the ground and put his face in his hands. “Such a waste.”

  “My arm!” cried Billy as though his brain had just registered the pain.

  “It’s popped out of its socket.” Fatemeh looked at Ramon. “Hold him down.” She moved to his side and grabbed his arm while Ramon got a firm grip on Billy’s torso.

  “What are you gonna do?” Billy’s eyes were wide with panic.

  Without answering, Fatemeh yanked and twisted Billy’s arm. Billy screamed as his arm snapped back into its socket. A moment later, a sudden look of calm came over his features and he lost consciousness.

  “What happened?” asked one of the pirates.

  “He just passed out,” said Fatemeh. “He’ll be okay once he wakes up.”

  Just then, the door of the room they were in burst open. Two soldiers aimed rifles.

  “No one make any sudden moves.”

  << >>

  The Owl Riders were taken to the Army encampment near Littleton. Fatemeh was relieved to see Cisneros, Larissa, and the pirates who had accompanied them. Apparently they had escaped their dirigible and took cover in a nearby feed store before the artillery began firing.