trees.” She pointed at a fallen pine asbig around as a rum barrel. “The bigger the better.”
“But we won’t be strong enough to pull the ship down.”
“Aye, the ship pulls
itself
down, with winches inside the gondola. Once it’s low enough, we’ll go aboard and cut the ropes, and the ship pops back up like a cork in water.”
Deryn paused, listening. Low growls rolled through the forest, setting her small hairs on end. The bears sounded a squick closer now, or maybe it was just her nerves.
“If you hear a Klaxon ringing in pairs, tell your men to throw anything they can out the windows—including your precious samples—or the bears will be having us all for dinner!”
The man nodded and began to instruct his men in Russian, waving his walking stick as he called to them. Deryn guessed he was leaving out the part about the ballast alert, but there was nothing she could do about that. She pulled out a short length of line and began to tie herself a friction hitch, in case she needed to climb.
Soon the airship was overhead, its engines rumbling as the crew pulled it to a halt. Heavy cables fell from the cargo deck portholes, a swaying forest of rope tumbling into place around them.
The Russians began to scramble about, gathering the cables and tying them onto the trees. Deryn could tell the airmen among them by their knots—at least a dozen of the men had been in the fallen airship’s crew. Surely they would understand that if the bears were on their way and the ship wasn’t rising, the boffin’s precious baggage would have to go overboard. And no decent airman would hesitate to disobey Mr. Tesla, after what he’d done to that airbeast.
When the last man had stepped back from his knots, Deryn pulled out her semaphore flags and sent the ready signal. The ropes went taut, shuddering and creaking as the winches started to turn.
At first the airship didn’t seem to move at all. But a few of the smaller trees began to stir, shifting along the ground. Deryn ran toward the nearest and jumped on to add her weight to it. The Russians understood, and soon all the nervously stirring trees had men standing on them. Mr. Tesla watched impassively, as if the operation were some sort of physics experiment and not a rescue mission.
It was almost noon, and the
Leviathan
’s shadow lay over them all, slowly widening as the airship descended.
Deryn listened again, and frowned. The sounds of bears in the distance had faded. Were they so far away she couldn’t hear them anymore? Or had the last scrap of beefbeen found and eaten, and now the creatures were charging toward the scent of airbeast?
“Quite large, your hydrogen breather,” Mr. Tesla said, then frowned. “Does that say ‘
Leviathan
’?”
“Aye, so you’ve heard of us.”
“Indeed. You’ve been in the—” The wind gave a violent start, and the tree Deryn was standing on was pulled into the air, knocking Mr. Tesla to the ground. The
Leviathan
drifted twenty feet or so, dragging along a small host of Russians on their fallen logs.
They clung on gamely, though. Soon the wind died, the airship settling earthward again.
“Are you all right, sir?” Deryn called.
“I’m fine.” Mr. Tesla stood, dusting off his traveling coat. “But if your ship can lift these trees, then why complain about a bit of extra luggage?”
“That was a gust of wind. Do you want to bet your life on getting another one!”
Deryn looked up. The
Leviathan
was close enough for her to see one of the officers leaning out of the front bridge window. There were semaphore flags fluttering in his hands. . . .
B-E-A-R-S—H-E-A-D-E-D—T-H-I-S—W-A-Y—F-I-V-E—M-I-N-U-T-E-S.
“Blisters,” Deryn said.
The airship was still a dozen yards up when Deryn spotted the first fighting bear.
It was loping through the area of standing trees, huffing coils of condensation into the freezing air. The bear was a small one, its shoulders barely ten feet high. Perhaps the others
“But we won’t be strong enough to pull the ship down.”
“Aye, the ship pulls
itself
down, with winches inside the gondola. Once it’s low enough, we’ll go aboard and cut the ropes, and the ship pops back up like a cork in water.”
Deryn paused, listening. Low growls rolled through the forest, setting her small hairs on end. The bears sounded a squick closer now, or maybe it was just her nerves.
“If you hear a Klaxon ringing in pairs, tell your men to throw anything they can out the windows—including your precious samples—or the bears will be having us all for dinner!”
The man nodded and began to instruct his men in Russian, waving his walking stick as he called to them. Deryn guessed he was leaving out the part about the ballast alert, but there was nothing she could do about that. She pulled out a short length of line and began to tie herself a friction hitch, in case she needed to climb.
Soon the airship was overhead, its engines rumbling as the crew pulled it to a halt. Heavy cables fell from the cargo deck portholes, a swaying forest of rope tumbling into place around them.
The Russians began to scramble about, gathering the cables and tying them onto the trees. Deryn could tell the airmen among them by their knots—at least a dozen of the men had been in the fallen airship’s crew. Surely they would understand that if the bears were on their way and the ship wasn’t rising, the boffin’s precious baggage would have to go overboard. And no decent airman would hesitate to disobey Mr. Tesla, after what he’d done to that airbeast.
When the last man had stepped back from his knots, Deryn pulled out her semaphore flags and sent the ready signal. The ropes went taut, shuddering and creaking as the winches started to turn.
At first the airship didn’t seem to move at all. But a few of the smaller trees began to stir, shifting along the ground. Deryn ran toward the nearest and jumped on to add her weight to it. The Russians understood, and soon all the nervously stirring trees had men standing on them. Mr. Tesla watched impassively, as if the operation were some sort of physics experiment and not a rescue mission.
It was almost noon, and the
Leviathan
’s shadow lay over them all, slowly widening as the airship descended.
Deryn listened again, and frowned. The sounds of bears in the distance had faded. Were they so far away she couldn’t hear them anymore? Or had the last scrap of beefbeen found and eaten, and now the creatures were charging toward the scent of airbeast?
“Quite large, your hydrogen breather,” Mr. Tesla said, then frowned. “Does that say ‘
Leviathan
’?”
“Aye, so you’ve heard of us.”
“Indeed. You’ve been in the—” The wind gave a violent start, and the tree Deryn was standing on was pulled into the air, knocking Mr. Tesla to the ground. The
Leviathan
drifted twenty feet or so, dragging along a small host of Russians on their fallen logs.
They clung on gamely, though. Soon the wind died, the airship settling earthward again.
“Are you all right, sir?” Deryn called.
“I’m fine.” Mr. Tesla stood, dusting off his traveling coat. “But if your ship can lift these trees, then why complain about a bit of extra luggage?”
“That was a gust of wind. Do you want to bet your life on getting another one!”
Deryn looked up. The
Leviathan
was close enough for her to see one of the officers leaning out of the front bridge window. There were semaphore flags fluttering in his hands. . . .
B-E-A-R-S—H-E-A-D-E-D—T-H-I-S—W-A-Y—F-I-V-E—M-I-N-U-T-E-S.
“Blisters,” Deryn said.
The airship was still a dozen yards up when Deryn spotted the first fighting bear.
It was loping through the area of standing trees, huffing coils of condensation into the freezing air. The bear was a small one, its shoulders barely ten feet high. Perhaps the others
Similar Books
