Maledictus Aether (2 page)

Slipping back out, I follow the
warmly-lit corridor to the staircase that takes me topside, where
the wind plays in every deckhand’s face as they prepare to set sail
to the skies. The deck’s a gleaming sheen of wood, the railings a
darker shade of brown, and the masts are busy with activity of the
deckhands as they loosen the sails and check the rigging.

I walk up to the upper deck, where the captain of
the
Charybdis
stands at the helm, talking to the
gunman.

“
Excuse me,
but who’re you?”

I look away from the activity happening below, back on the
ground, to the man in the top hat and one-armed cape. He’s frowning
at me, every
bit the
definition of a man who has seen his share of battles and able of
holding his own in one. With the wind snapping away the cape
sitting on one shoulder, I notice the sabre sitting against his
left hip.

“
My name i
s Cephas
Kennedy Watkins, sir,” I offer, and he nods, recognition lighting
his features. “I am your Chief Engineer.”

“
Ah, yes,” he
smiles, clapping his gloved hands together. The gunman excuses
himself, peeling away to tend to the arms. “I’ve heard quite a bit
about you, Kennedy. The name’s Captain Stanbury.”

I take his offered hand, smiling at the man, and he looks
down to our clasped hands, noticing the
copper-colo
ured metal hand
clasping his.

“
Sporting
quite the hardware, I see,” he muses, retracting his hand, and I
shrug a shoulder, rubbing the skin that joins the metal at my
collarbone. “I hope you didn’t give up a perfectly functional arm
for it, the way I’ve seen a few men and women do.”

“
No, sir, I had an unfortunate accident with the
Arachnidan’
s clockwork system a few years ago,” I state, and he
nods. Another bout of recognition. “Lost my arm and both my legs in
the blast.”

“
That was
your
story floating around, wasn’t it?”
He muses, and I nod, a small laugh leaving my lips. “Take care of
yourself, Kennedy; very few men will stop themselves from openly
despising the Automechanoid – and those who work beneath you will
do so even less. You’ll have to earn their trust, and it’ll be
quite harder for you, given your history.”

“
I wi
ll do my best,
sir,” I state, and he nods, hands clasped behind his back in the
usual military fashion. “If you will excuse me, there is an engine
with my name on it.”

He laughs, nodding.

“
We’re
lifting off in five, Kennedy. I look forward to working with
you.”

I peel away then, bounding down
the steps and ducking as a deckhand swings by through the rigging,
shouting in delight. Watching him go, I continue towards the bow
and swing into the hull through a hatch in the deck, entering the
machine room.

It i
s lit up with
bare brass bulbs that hang from the ceilings, illuminating the
pipes and gauges hissing, the wiring snaking through the metal and
the cogs and gears turning. Two others are already at work
double-checking the engine, a man and a woman. Their hands are
flying at the inner controls of the engine, red and green lights
flashing as they work.

I make my way to the dials,
checking the pressure levels. Right now, the priorities are getting
this ship airborne – introductions can come later, and they
will.

Frowning, I watch the pressure
of the steam release fluctuate abnormally, and I call for the other
two engineers to pause in what they’re doing.

They a
re more focused
on releasing and closing the steam valves, which is problematic.
The temperature of the engine itself is rising far too quickly, the
red needle rising up towards the danger zone.

I a
m not very excited
at the idea of being caught in another blast, thank you.

“
Who the hell are you?” t
he man asks, easily five years older than my twenty-two. I
lower the override, pushing my way over to the release valve by
twisting between the pipes and wiring, and grabbing the metal wheel
between a flesh-and-bone and metal-and-steam hand. Gritting my
teeth, I twist it to the left.

“
Unless you want to blow us all to kingdom come, I suggest
you stop pulling every lever you see. Exactly
who
taught
you that doing that was a
good idea
?” I hiss,
eyes fleetingly slipping over to the duo. “By the way, I am your
Chief Engineer, so we will be doing things my way.”

I tighten the release valve
again, the hiss of steam echoing in the metal chamber. As I twist
my way back to the valves, the woman grips me by my left arm, and I
stare at her impassively.

“
Who the hell
do you think you are?” She snaps, and I pull my arm away. “We don’t
have to do anything you tell us to.”

“
Then I wi
ll have you
booted from the ship – is that the way you want to play it?” I ask,
stepping closer and narrowing my eyes at the shorter woman. “I
thought not. This is not a schoolyard, and I expect you do the job
you are paid to do, and to do it well. If you do not straighten up,
I will have you working landside for the rest of your days so fast
you will get whiplash.”

She glares at me as I push past
her.

“
We take to the skies in three minutes,
an
d I expect us to be on
time. We will get the bad blood sorted out later, understood?” I
ask, reaching for the controls they were messing around with.
“Right now, I want both of you to go topside and to wait further
order – I will not have either of you in here until I believe you
won’t blow us out of the skies. Are we clear?”

They stand there another minute
as my hands fly, deactivating pressure release controls and
starting up the clockwork system. It clicks into place beautifully,
with barely a sound as the steam-powered engine begins cycling the
steam through the ship. It hisses at every other interval, and I
double-check the pipes and wiring as I walk over to the gauges,
gripping the release valve for the propellers and sails. My eyes
are riveted to the pressure gauge, the needle steadily rising from
the bottom and hovering comfortably in the safe zone.

The other two are gone by now,
up the ladder and topside, and about a minute after their departure
a head sticks in through the hatch. I look up.

“
Quarter
Master Edmund, with a word from the Captain,” he announces, nodding
politely at me. I return the gesture. “Ready to sail,
chief.”

“
Roger that.” He i
s
about to close the hatch when I call his name, stopping him and
making him look back down curiously. “Both engineers I sent topside
are not to touch the engine until further notice, understood?
Please let the Captain know.”

“
May I ask
why?”

“
They almost blew this place to bits before we even set
sail,” I reply evenly, and his eyes widen. “I
figure having two graduates will not help anyone
until I am certain they know what they are doing.”

“
Good call;
I’ll let the Captain know. Would you like them under
watch?”

“
Seeing as I canno
t
watch them all the time, yes. Please.”

He salutes, closing the hatch as he calls for the order to
take to the skies. I throw the switch, turning the valve next to it
and hearing the steam release and the engine that controls the
sails and propellers shudder to life, clattering noisily before it
quiets a little. The ship lurches as it takes to the skies, its
aerostat design easily engaging the
Aether in the sails as it flies.

For a while I continue messing with the pressure release,
alternating between both as I watch
the height meter rise, until we are in airship territory
and I work at stabilising it. It is usually a two-man job and it
makes my life a tad more complicated, but it beats crashing to the
ground from over twenty thousand feet.

When it is stable and we a
re flying straight and true, I release the control valve
and give all directional control to the helm, which is where I will
be unless some engine trouble makes me go back in.

I pull myself out, shutting the
hatch with a foot and glancing around for the two engineers I
booted out. I find them by the Captain, who seems to be giving them
a firm lecture, and make my way over while avoiding deckhands going
back and forth, keeping the rigging tight as we fly.

I canno
t help but
glance over the guardrail a moment, and for a fleeting second I
wonder what it would have been like to fly on my dad’s airship
alongside him. The clouds surround us, a thin white haze as we fly
through them, and the crisp air is rather welcome after being stuck
landside for so long.

Like my father, I was made to
be in the sky.

Reaching the Captain, he
notices my approach and gestures to the two engineers.

“
Would you explain
the
situation to me, Kennedy?” he asks, and I nod.

“
I do not think they a
re qualified to work an airship’s engine, sir – at least,
they do not have enough experience to understand that flicking
every switch and valve at the same time is not how you operate it,”
I state, arching an eyebrow at the duo. The woman’s glaring icy
hate at me, and the man’s scowling.

Good, they don’t like me.

Ashe always did s
ay
that if people hate you, you are leading a successful
life.

“
So, exactly w
hat’re
we going to with them?” he prompts, and I look back to the
Captain.

“
I a
m going to spend
some time showing them exactly how an engine runs, and if they do
not shape up, well... I guess we can always boot them off at one of
the cities,” I suggest, shrugging a shoulder and slipping my hands
into my pockets. “That call falls to you, sir.”

“
Very well. Until further notice, engineers Ethel and Julian
Keyes, you are forbidden to enter the engine room. Understood?”
They nod, and I file the infor
mation about the fact that they are siblings for another
time – it might come in handy. “Furthermore, Chief Engineer Kennedy
is your superior, and you shall do as he says, without question and
without complaint. Further disruption will end in immediate
termination of your contracts.”

They nod again, this time
glaring at me, and I watch as the Captain makes his way over to the
helm, turning back to the two engineers none too happy with me.

“
Like hell
I’m taking orders from an Automech,” Julian spits, and I arch an
eyebrow. “I don’t care who you are, you’re nothing but a pile of
scraps to me.”

“
Nice to meet you too,” I
muse, smirking slightly. “Does not bother me whether not
you obey my orders – it is your job you are putting on the line.
Just remember that insubordination will have you working landside
in a jiffy, so keep it up. In the meantime, both of you head to
your quarters for the day. I will see what you know tomorrow, and
if it is even worth the time. Dismissed.”

I turn my back to them, making
my way along the deck until I reach the helm, heading straight for
the controls sitting nearby. The Master Gunner’s standing by,
Quarter Master Edmund’s at the helm, keeping us on course, and
Captain Stanbury’s double-checking our plotted course.

“
Yer our
Chief Engineer, right?”

I look to my left, where the
Master Gunner’s going over the ship’s defensive mechanics, and
nod.

“
Kennedy,
sir.”

“
Well, if yer not too busy, I reckon it’s time ya get
familiar with the
equipment
she’s carryin’, eh?” he asks with a grin, and I cannot help but
mirror his smirk. “After all, yer the one I’ll need ta turn to when
they needs fixin’.”

Stopping myself from laughing at the sound of his dialect –
obtained from years of seasoned flight in the skies – I nod, the
idea of getting to understand the properties of
defence systems sounding rather appealing to
me.

“
The name’s
Hardin’, pleased ta meet ya,” he continues, offering his hand. I
shake it, his grip firm. “Ya know, I be thinkin’ you an’ I are
gonna get along just fine, Kennedy.”

“
I hope so,
sir.”

“
Call me
Hardin’!”

Harding leads me back down topside, where we then slip down
the staircase into the hull of the ship itself. We leave behind the
daylight for the brass bulbs, weaving through the ornate hallway
and taking a right into the starboard side of the ship, with
the
defence mechanisms locked
and loaded.

They’re Tesla Bolts, one of the
defence division’s newer designs. It can shoot at
speeds that compete with ray guns and steam bolts, the kind of
handheld weapons airship crew are issued with – and I’m no
exception, the gun sitting comfortably strapped to my right
thigh.

Harding walks up to the nearest
Bolt cannon, placing a hand on the metal machine and grins up at
me.

“
The schematics are up on the wall to yer right. These pipes
‘ere, they take the collected electricity from the nets we’ll be
throwin’ down when we come across a storm. Are ye
fam
iliar with how the nets
work?” he asks as I look over the designs of the cannons, as well
as their components and what makes them tick.