Chapter 13
Nita stood at the prow of the airship, recovering from the past few hours of work, as the sun set two days later. It would have been nice to suggest that much of the preceding forty-eight hours had been spent sketching out a detailed and nuanced plan. Such was not the case. The entirety of their brilliant plan came in the form of the captain announcing, “We’ll drop down when we’re scheduled for repair, hit them fast, take anything it looks like they don’t want us to take, and if anyone tries to stop us, we’ll discourage that.” The rest of the time had been spent preparing the ship for the worst.
For Coop and Lil, that meant scouring the ship and the local supply houses for all of the wood and envelope material they could get their hands on, first to repair and then to reinforce the gondola hull. They slopped a layer of tar onto the envelope to provide a measure of self-sealing, then stitched on an extra layer of material in the most vulnerable spots. Glinda had made a few trips to Keystone’s market district to stock up on medical supplies in expectation of casualties. The captain spent his time testing various repairs and literally keeping Wink on a short leash. Now that the little scoundrel’s secret had been discovered, it quickly became clear that he was far more intelligent than anyone had suspected. Whether it was out of genuine shame or simple self-preservation, the aye-aye had proved himself quite willing to render whatever aid he could.
With the rest of the crew otherwise occupied, that left the most crucial aspect of the preparations to Nita and Gunner. Their time was entirely devoted to reconfiguring the boiler into something fully functional and adding in some other accessories. Gunner, after some initial reluctance, grew rather enthusiastic about the endeavor.
“So this valve keeps the pressure from reaching the pipe you’re repairing, right? And this chamber builds the pressure?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this boiler nonsense isn’t so hard after all. It is just heat and pressure. Not so different from a bomb, really. Just a bit slower.”
“Once again, I wish you would stop comparing the boiler to something that is supposed to explode. Explosions are what we are trying to avoid.”
“If I’m ever going to bridge my skills, I’ll need to start from some common ground.”
“Just so long as you don’t start getting them confused,” Nita said. She applied a torch and some solder to a final permanent joint and stepped back. “Turn on that valve and let’s see how it holds.” He did so, and after a shudder and hiss failed to reveal any leaks, she brushed off her hands. “That’s everything.”
The repairs had consumed almost every piece of the salvaged wailer, and they had repurposed many of the seemingly needless odds and ends that the fug folk had included. She looked over the pressure gauges.
“It isn’t pretty, and we’re running a little lower on pressure than we were when it was purely as designed by the fug folk. Maybe two notches, but I’ll bet with a bit of tuning we can get that back. I’d also like to do some firmer connections down in the—”
“If you stay on this ship long enough, you’ll learn that pursuing perfection does nothing but steal time from things that desperately need work. The policy of this ship is ‘Good enough is good enough.’ You try to do any better than that and—”
The captain’s voice bellowed over the speaking tube: “Time is up. I’m seeing full pressure on the turbines. It is time to head out. Coop, Lil, lines in.”
“You see? Now, mask on, and stay below deck.”
The Wind Breaker shuddered and pulled away from the dock. Nita and Gunner moved out to the hall and found their way to the nearest porthole. It was strange, but listening to the turbines above hum with the healthy rhythm she’d heard when they first left filled her with a flash of pride. After only a few days, she’d come to feel rather protective of the little ship. It had already been responsible for the greatest adventure of her short life, though the next hour was likely to eclipse every danger that had come before.
Captain Mack took the ship into a steep dive, plunging quickly down into the fug. It flushed through the ship, forcing itself through cracks between boards and belching through hatches and halls. A wave of purple fumes rushed over them, instantly stinging their eyes and chilling their skin. Nita looked closer to the porthole, her heart beginning to pound. There was nothing but darkness. Even after the dense surface of the fug was above them, there was nothing to see. The captain must have selected a route that would keep them far from any of their facilities and structures.
“I’ve had to stay with the ship once or twice during repair runs,” Gunner said. “It’s a shortest-straw sort of situation. They only allow ships to come down for handing over goods, picking up goods, and getting repairs. All three are handled by the Fugtown Lower Docks, over on the other side of town. We’re not supposed to be here. There will be patrols.”
“What happens if they see us?”
“Then the shooting starts early.”
“How does the captain plan to avoid them?”
“The captain doesn’t plan. He just dives in.”
She smirked. “I thought there was something about him that seemed familiar. I do the same thing.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
The thump of footsteps came from above, then Coop and Lil joined them in the hall. Lil was rubbing at her eyes.
“Hoo-wee. I forgot how much that smarts. This is only the second time I been in the fug, you know,” she said. “Last time was back when Cap’n Mack rescued us.”
She was still rubbing her eyes when she came upon Nita in the narrow hallway, bumping into her.
“Sorry, I—” She looked up. Her face hardened a bit. “Oh, it’s you.”
Aside from the initial gathering of the group to announce the plan, Lil and Nita had been kept apart by their duties, but even so it had been clear that she felt a good deal more betrayed than the rest. Gunner glanced up to see the tension between the two of them. He then turned to see Coop picking at his ear and generally being oblivious to the pregnant silence.
“Coop,” Gunner said. “Maybe you and I should go down to the gig room.”
“What for?” he asked, digging a little deeper and rolling his eyes in something between ecstasy and irritation.
“Just come with me, you oaf,” Gunner said, snagging his arm.
The two men vanished down the hall. Lil crossed her arms.
“You gonna apologize?” she asked.
“Will it do any good?” Nita replied.
“Worth a shot.”
“I wasn’t thinking about you or anyone else. I just wanted to do what I could to save my mother, and I ended up doing something foolish, disrespectful, and wrong.”
“And you did it on my watch.”
“Yes. I’m sorry for all of it. I don’t know if it is forgivable, and frankly I won’t dare expect you to forgive me. We’ve got a big job to do right now, though, and so if you can’t accept my apology, perhaps we can at least call a truce.”
Nita held out her hand. Lil looked at it thoughtfully, then knocked it aside. “Aw heck. Truces and handshakes are for politicians and such. Come here.” She threw her arms around Nita and gave her a hug, thumping her on the back before stepping away. “You did something stupid that you thought you’d get away with. I of all people can’t fault you for that. And the way I figure it, no matter how low he busts me, I was already at the bottom of the ladder before you showed up, and he’s gonna have to bust you lower, so we’re back where we left off. I ain’t got time to stay mad anyway. We got a job to do that could kill us. I’d hate to go to my grave holding a grudge. So I’ll forgive you, but on two conditions.”
“What are they?”
“First, you gotta let me try that dress on.”
Nita smiled. “Tough but fair.”
“And second, don’t you go doing something stupid like that again.”
“Of course not. We’ve got a much stupider situation to deal with.”
“You’re darn right, so let’s get to it.”