Stories in the Ether #1 Now Available! Thirteen compelling stories and original inspired art for your favorite eReader! Available in ePUB and PDF from RPGNow.com or direct to your Kindle Reader from Amazon for only $2.99.
Illustration by J Lonnee
McKenna Blackstone heard the cannon blast a second too late.
Her body flew into the cargo boxes, spilling gunpowder everywhere. She grabbed the thick cords along the siding and pulled herself up. Another cannon blast resounded and she clung tight, bracing for the impact. Three days of non-stop battle had left her airship battered and bruised, much like her body.
“Thaddeus isn’t backing down,” yelled first mate, Leif.
“He’s never forgiven me for turning him down,” McKenna quipped. “Since I didn’t rock his world, he wants to rock mine.”
She clenched her fists around the cord, wincing as it sliced her palms.
Leif staggered over, crimson streaks trailing his leg. “I don’t think Arianna can take more of this.”
“Don’t underestimate her. She’s a sturdy airship.” Blood dripped from her fingertips onto the deck as she gestured. “She’s made to fight.”
The lines around his eyes softened. “But you aren’t.”
McKenna’s lips tightened. She’d been assigned as a Promise of Peace Voyager on a mission to keep the skyways safe from pirate and gypsy raids. Not to wage war. For six months she’d done just that.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ll do what I have to.”
Leif clasped her hands and kissed each knuckle, the brush of his whiskers a welcome touch.
“He won’t stop until Arianna falls,” he rumbled.
McKenna met his gaze. “No. He won’t stop until I fail.”
Thaddeus Silveria, the brooding son of New Cambridge’s council, signed onto the Voyagers touting peace, though secretly sought battle. She believed him responsible for selling information that only the councilmen were privy to, and taking part in illegal trades. She confronted him and he denied his involvement. He then went on to claim his affections for her. His hands did most of the talking. She’d heard the callous ways he treated his previous conquests and made her dislike for him clear.
A change in his demeanor followed.
When Thaddeus learned the council awarded her the Airship Arianna, its highest honor, he denounced his citizenship from the floating city, and vowed a bloodbath in the skies.
The skyway hadn’t been safe since.
Shouts from the crew snapped McKenna to attention.
She dropped her hands from Leif. “Go see what they’re upset about.”
The creases around his eyes deepened.
“Aye, Captain.”
#
McKenna surveyed the airship’s damage. They were low on ammo, supplies, and spirit. Like her, the crew hadn’t enlisted for battle. Those who volunteered expected a victory. Despite her best efforts, Thaddeus refused to entertain any peaceful negotiations.
She glanced to the upper deck where Leif waved her over, his face ashen. Her body groaned with each step.
“What’s wrong?”
He handed her the brass telescope.
“His airship is breaking in two.”
“What?”
McKenna looked through the lens and watched an exact replica of her enemy airship part from the original. With uncanny speed it moved to the rear of Arianna.
“Damn. We’re surrounded.”
“That’s not all.” Leif mopped his forehead with his tattered sleeve. “He has a weapon on board that the council banned.”
Blood drained from her face as she focused the lens on the nightmarish object aimed in their direction. Her breath caught.
“What the hell is it?”
“A missile launcher. We won’t survive.”
She focused the telescope on Thaddeus. He pushed his blond hair from his face and fixed her with a death-is-coming stare. Her confidence bottomed out.
McKenna motioned toward the crew.
“Get everyone onto the glider.”
Leif’s eyes narrowed. “Not a chance.”
“I’m not negotiating here,” she snapped. “You’re to carry out my orders. Get on the glider and head for New Cambridge.”
“And leave you behind?”
“Damn straight.”
His jaw clenched. “I can’t.”
“But you will. Go.”
Leif didn’t look back as he gathered the crew onto the emergency craft. She’d miss their quiet moments alone. There hadn’t been near enough.
McKenna watched the glider tread slowly between the airships. In her heart she knew they’d survive. Thaddeus didn’t want them.
He wanted her.
With her crew at a safe distance, she hurried below deck and outfitted herself into an iron suit. The helmet fit snug, plastering her scarlet hair to her face. She then crawled inside the ship’s center column and squeezed into the copper cage. There she fastened her body with leather straps.
Secured tight, she flipped a switch on the console. A device dropped down and unfolded into a small screen from which she could monitor Thaddeus’ airships. Only one registered. McKenna smiled at the intimidation tactic. He’d used a hologram. But she had a surprise of her own.
She wrapped her bloody hands around the handheld controllers, thumbs poised above the buttons, and waited.
The first hit rocked the airship and blew one entire side of Arianna apart. Shrapnel showered down like confetti.
She imagined Thaddeus with his arrogant smile that melted the hearts of the women in New Cambridge, except hers. She imagined his fist in the air, claiming a solid victory, his crew chanting his name. And she imagined that in the next moment, all of that would forever change.
McKenna pressed the buttons.
The battered shell of Arianna split and dropped away, leaving the center column intact. From the column, two slabs of iron extended with latticed tips curved like wings. Steam erupted from above and below, keeping her suspended inside the copper cage. She felt ant-like and vulnerable despite the massive size of the contraption that she had personally designed.
Sweat drizzled down her chest inside the sweltering suit.
She pressed the buttons again and the iron wings moved forward and back. The fluttering motion propelled her toward Thaddeus at a rapid pace. A magnifier on the screen offered a close-up of his profile. Fear had replaced arrogance, and for a moment she hesitated. Through the mouthpiece she asked, “Ready to negotiate?”
His lips screwed up, his brows two angry slashes. He shouted orders to his crew and they loaded another missile into the launcher. His only recourse was death. But it wouldn’t be hers. A thunderous boom sounded and McKenna watched three missiles hurtle toward her. Shield engaged, she watched each one hit and disintegrate.
She advanced.
The wings swept forward, encasing her enemy airship within its iron clutches, locking them in. A toggle of the controls pressed the iron tighter together. Faint shouts echoed around her while pieces of the airship crumbled below. McKenna tapped the button to open the wings and moved back a fraction of an inch, enough to note the blood-stained iron.
Using the magnifier she surveyed what little of the ship remained. A gasp escaped her lips when Thaddeus filled the screen.
She flipped the mouthpiece down and asked, “Ready to surrender?”
Thaddeus placed a mid-size cannon blaster over his shoulder and aimed in her direction.
“It doesn’t have to end in death,” she reasoned.
He raised his hand toward the blaster’s lever and delivered a bone-chilling smile.
Head down, she acknowledged her only recourse. “Damn.”
McKenna switched off the screen and punched the button to crush him flat.
After several silent moments, she turned her attention to the twin ship. As expected, the hologram had disappeared.
With her prototype a success, she’d design more iron butterflies to keep the skyways safe.
McKenna set the controls for New Cambridge, and for the first time in days, closed her eyes.
#
The thunder of applause roused her from a deep sleep.
Her crew cheered from the port dock. Leif stood in front, his arms crossed, expression stern. Port officials tethered the iron butterfly with sturdy cords and she carefully climbed out from the copper cage. She removed the helmet and iron suit, her muscles sore from the added weight.
Before she had the chance to move, Leif stormed forward and embraced her.
“You looked magnificent. I didn’t know about Arianna’s secret.”
Her shoulders bunched. “I knew what I was doing.”
“I still say you’re not made to fight. But you’re the bravest woman I know.”
She brought her mouth to his ear. “Think we can find somewhere quiet?”
His lips curved into the kind of smile that made her want to curl against his body for eternity. A place where expectations didn’t exist and the steady tick of his clockwork heart lulled her into a peaceful state.
“Lead the way.”
McKenna didn’t budge. “I’d rather you gave the orders.”
“Then, my iron butterfly, you’re coming with me.”
He picked her up like she weighed nothing more than sackcloth and hoisted her over his shoulder.
Though he couldn’t see, she put two fingers to her lips and saluted him.
“Aye, Captain.”
Quite an engaging story, I enjoyed reading it very much.