piloting harness and made a bow. “Aye, sir. Midshipman Dylan Sharp, at your service.”
“How annoying.”
“Excuse me?”
“I specifically requested that no powers other than Russia be involved in this expedition.”
Deryn blinked. “I don’t know about that, sir. But you
do
seem to be in a spot of bother.”
“I will grant you that.” The man pointed his walking stick at the airship overhead. “But what on earth is a
British
airship doing in deepest Siberia?”
“We’re barking rescuing you!” Deryn cried. “And we haven’t any time to debate the matter. The ship willbe dropping food for those beasties a few miles from here, like a trail of breadcrumbs leading away from us. But it won’t keep them busy for long.”
“There is no need for haste, young man. This compound is quite secure.”
Deryn looked at the coils of barbed wire a few yards away. “I doubt that, sir. Those bears have already eaten one airbeast. If they get wind of another on the ground, that wire won’t stop them!”
“It will stop any living creature. Observe.” The man strode toward the fence, extending his walking stick before him. When he prodded the wire with the stick’s metal tip, a flurry of sparks shot into the air.
“What in blazes?” Deryn cried.
“An invention of mine, a crude improvisation with many defects in its current form. But necessary under the circumstances.”
Deryn looked up at her Huxley in horror, but the other men had already pulled it a fair distance from the wire. At least they weren’t
all
barking mad down here.
“I shall call it the ‘electrical fence,’ I think.” The man smiled. “The bears are quite wary of it.”
“Aye, I’m sure they are!” Deryn said. “But my airship’s a hydrogen breather. You’ll have to turn that electricity off, or you’ll blow us all to bits!”
“Well, obviously. But the bears won’t know that thefence has been disarmed. The work of Dr. Pavlov is quite instructive in this case.”
Deryn ignored his blether. “This clearing’s too small for my airship, anyway. We’ll have to get out of these trees and into the fallen area.” She turned in a slow circle, counting the men around her. There were twenty-eight in all, perhaps a thousand pounds heavier than the cargo the airship had just dropped. “Is this everyone? It’ll be tricky, making a quick ascent with this much weight.”
“I’m aware of the difficulties. I arrived here by airship.”
“You mean that dead airbeast we saw? What on earth happened to it?”
“We fed it to the bears, Mr. Sharp.”
Deryn took a step back. “You
what
?”
“In outfitting my expedition, the czar’s advisers didn’t take into account the desolation of this region. We were undersupplied, and the bears of my cargo train began to lack for hunting. I was too close to a breakthrough to abandon the project.” He twirled his walking stick. “Though, if I’d known a
British
ship would come meddling as a result, I might have chosen otherwise.”
Deryn shook her head, still not believing. How could he have done such a thing to a poor innocent beastie? And how had the czar dared to send a British airship torescue this madman, after he’d fed his own ship to the bears?
“Pardon me for asking, sir, but who in blazes are you?”
The man stood straighter, extending his hand with a courtly bow.
“I am Nikola Tesla. Pleased to meet you, I suppose.”
The
Leviathan was a few miles distant when its bomb bay doors opened. Bales of dried beef fell in ten-second intervals. As each one dropped, the airship rose a little higher in the air.
“An ingenious distraction, I’ll admit,” Mr. Tesla said. “Of course, if you’d brought this food earlier, I’d still have an airship.”
Deryn gave him a hard look. He’d spoken so lightly of what he’d done, feeding not only his airbeast, she realized now, but also the horses and mammothines of his cargo train to the fighting bears. And all to stay a
“How annoying.”
“Excuse me?”
“I specifically requested that no powers other than Russia be involved in this expedition.”
Deryn blinked. “I don’t know about that, sir. But you
do
seem to be in a spot of bother.”
“I will grant you that.” The man pointed his walking stick at the airship overhead. “But what on earth is a
British
airship doing in deepest Siberia?”
“We’re barking rescuing you!” Deryn cried. “And we haven’t any time to debate the matter. The ship willbe dropping food for those beasties a few miles from here, like a trail of breadcrumbs leading away from us. But it won’t keep them busy for long.”
“There is no need for haste, young man. This compound is quite secure.”
Deryn looked at the coils of barbed wire a few yards away. “I doubt that, sir. Those bears have already eaten one airbeast. If they get wind of another on the ground, that wire won’t stop them!”
“It will stop any living creature. Observe.” The man strode toward the fence, extending his walking stick before him. When he prodded the wire with the stick’s metal tip, a flurry of sparks shot into the air.
“What in blazes?” Deryn cried.
“An invention of mine, a crude improvisation with many defects in its current form. But necessary under the circumstances.”
Deryn looked up at her Huxley in horror, but the other men had already pulled it a fair distance from the wire. At least they weren’t
all
barking mad down here.
“I shall call it the ‘electrical fence,’ I think.” The man smiled. “The bears are quite wary of it.”
“Aye, I’m sure they are!” Deryn said. “But my airship’s a hydrogen breather. You’ll have to turn that electricity off, or you’ll blow us all to bits!”
“Well, obviously. But the bears won’t know that thefence has been disarmed. The work of Dr. Pavlov is quite instructive in this case.”
Deryn ignored his blether. “This clearing’s too small for my airship, anyway. We’ll have to get out of these trees and into the fallen area.” She turned in a slow circle, counting the men around her. There were twenty-eight in all, perhaps a thousand pounds heavier than the cargo the airship had just dropped. “Is this everyone? It’ll be tricky, making a quick ascent with this much weight.”
“I’m aware of the difficulties. I arrived here by airship.”
“You mean that dead airbeast we saw? What on earth happened to it?”
“We fed it to the bears, Mr. Sharp.”
Deryn took a step back. “You
what
?”
“In outfitting my expedition, the czar’s advisers didn’t take into account the desolation of this region. We were undersupplied, and the bears of my cargo train began to lack for hunting. I was too close to a breakthrough to abandon the project.” He twirled his walking stick. “Though, if I’d known a
British
ship would come meddling as a result, I might have chosen otherwise.”
Deryn shook her head, still not believing. How could he have done such a thing to a poor innocent beastie? And how had the czar dared to send a British airship torescue this madman, after he’d fed his own ship to the bears?
“Pardon me for asking, sir, but who in blazes are you?”
The man stood straighter, extending his hand with a courtly bow.
“I am Nikola Tesla. Pleased to meet you, I suppose.”
The
Leviathan was a few miles distant when its bomb bay doors opened. Bales of dried beef fell in ten-second intervals. As each one dropped, the airship rose a little higher in the air.
“An ingenious distraction, I’ll admit,” Mr. Tesla said. “Of course, if you’d brought this food earlier, I’d still have an airship.”
Deryn gave him a hard look. He’d spoken so lightly of what he’d done, feeding not only his airbeast, she realized now, but also the horses and mammothines of his cargo train to the fighting bears. And all to stay a
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