Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

The lieutenant and the rest of the crew relaxed. “Just checking, sir!”

The navigator called out, “Heading, Captain?”

Ah, now that was a question. Captain Abelard had had a belly-full of these conspirators, but they were powerful, there was no denying that. He had to think carefully about what came next. Or so he believed.

“Whoa!” That was Van Loon, one of the wheelmen. “Captain! Clouds moving in fast out of the West! I’ve never seen—”

“Wait.” Kraddock gasped. “Hard to starboard!”

The wheels spun and the bridge crew was suddenly blinded as they were caught in a web of searchlight beams. Castle Wulfenbach’s spotters had seen them and now the enormous grey expanse of dirigible loomed before them. Apparently Castle Wulfenbach had been running dark, but now decided that this was pointless. Thousands of lights burst forth from the structures covering her hull, making it appear as if a flying city were bearing down upon them.

“Captain! We can’t let them delay us! The torchmen are still following us.” It was the new kid who suggested it. “If we slide around ’em, then the torchmen will go after them, and we can—”

Kraddock’s fist slammed into the kid’s jaw, and the other airmen nodded grim approval. Sometimes airmen fought other airmen, it was true, but that was under orders or for similarly good reasons. Until then, you were all part of the Brotherhood of the Skies.

“Heliographs,” Captain Abelard roared. “Signal flares! Sound the sirens! Warn them what’s coming and tell them we offer all aid and assistance!” He then grinned at his crew. “And I’ll bet that’s the first time anyone’s said that to the flyin’ whale.”

The crew chuckled as Captain Abelard gazed back at the onrushing wave of flaming death. And I’ll also bet they’ll take it, he thought.

On the ground below the crowd oooh’d and ahh’d as the torchmen rose after the rapidly departing dirigible. A few tasteless people were noisily taking bets as to whether or not the craft would escape.

Gil heard Vanamonde sigh with pleasure. The young man was staring upwards, possessive pride radiating from him like a beacon. He saw Gil looking at him and he pointed upwards. “Look at them! Still operative after all these years!”

Yes, Gil thought to himself. Father will be annoyed that he missed that.

Van continued, “Back then, ‘Made in Mechanicsburg’ really meant something!”

Gil pondered this as he stared upwards. Something about the patterns of the flying looked…off to him. “If I remember correctly, it usually meant ‘death and destruction.’”

Van shrugged. “That’s still something.”

The meaning of what he was seeing became clear, and Gil gasped as a dozen flaming machines smashed to earth. Instantly, Van was all business. “Fire fighters,” he shouted. “To your stations!” His voice seemed to break the spell and dozens of locals threw down their drinks and raced off into the night.

Van frowned as a few more of the torchmen hit the ground.

“I don’t understand,” Krosp muttered. “That airship isn’t shooting at them.”

Van looked embarrassed. “They haven’t been properly maintained. Not since the Castle was damaged. Since the Baron took over, we haven’t even dared test them.”

“And yet she still got them running.” The admiration and excitement was obvious in Gil’s voice. “She’s amazing. Together we will—”

Krosp batted at his ear. “Focus! We’ve got a problem!”

Everyone gasped. The Castle Wulfenbach airship had now appeared from out of the clouds. It was clear even from the ground that it was the torchmen’s new focus, and—unlike the tiny pink dirigible—the capital of the Empire was equipped to fight back.

Almost as one, a hundred anti-aircraft guns flashed. Several seconds later, the sound of the fusillade reached the people on the ground, rolling over them like a continuous roar of thunder. Dozens of torchmen exploded into burning fragments. Now the hundreds of smaller support ships that traveled with the behemoth airship could be seen, and they also began firing. Unfortunately, their presence complicated the battle. The compact group of torchmen broke apart and spread out. Weaving and ducking amidst the flock of ships attacking them, grazing envelopes, igniting gondolas, leaving trails of burning devastation behind them, they made it almost impossible for the Wulfenbach ships to fire on them without hitting their own allies.

Before long, several of the smaller ships could be seen bursting into flame and spiraling down to the ground. Luckily, it appeared that all of them would fall to earth outside the city limits.

Gil stared upwards, aghast. “This will complicate things. My father is already convinced that she’s a threat, but I don’t think he’d considered her effect upon Mechanicsburg itself. There’s no way he’ll listen to me now.”

Krosp sounded worried. “So what can we do?”