They’re
no more dangerous than any given human.”
Emily put away her
dagger and bowed in apology to the Fizger.
“Please forgive me. I’m
an Otherworlder.”
The Fizger nodded in
acceptance.
Kallen showed them her
ID, they nodded, and she passed between them. This was the private airship
hangar. Everyone from the local lord to visiting adventurers docked here. It
was small and bare-boned but brightly lit with floodlights. There were only a
handful docked here at the moment, but even in a crowd, it would be easy to
spot Kallen's. With its golden-brown paint job, it shouted, “Look at me!”
As big as a Threan
trailer, it stood on four hydraulic legs. Slits in the belly around them
implied that they could be retracted while in flight. Expanding from the
center-rear of the ship was a pair of folded wings. Although they resembled an
eagle's, Eric doubted they worked the same way. A segmented tail ending in a
club sprouted from the back and rested on the ground. The face of a lion with a
sculpted mane looked proudly into the distance.
“Subtle much?” Eric
asked.
“It belongs to my
parents,” Kallen said. “Blame them if you don't like the color.”
“Your parents?” Emily
asked excitedly. “Are they waiting for you at the presentation?”
“Maybe...” Kallen said
with a shrug. “Welcome to Albatross IX .”
Albatross IX was
composed of four main rooms. The cockpit had four seats and a variety of
gadgets, dials, and screens for piloting, all of which was scratched and
chipped and faded. The cargo room contained supplies and equipment and freeze-runed
boxes of monsters. It also bore slash marks, acid stains, and the ambiance of a
dungeon. The final two, a tiny bedroom and living room, contained all the
comforts of home: foldout bed, closet, mini-fridge, microwave, bathroom, and a
computer on a desk. Instead of “worn out” like the other two, the damage here
gave it a cozy “lived in” atmosphere.
“Kallen, is this thing
your home?” Emily asked.
Kallen shrugged. “Why
would someone that's constantly traveling need a house?”
“All by yourself? What
about your parents?”
“My parents don't work
anymore and the other grunts have their own tiny airships.”
“Don't you get lonely?”
The subtext was clearly: “Where are your parents now ?”
“I wouldn't be...” She
glanced sidelong at Eric. “…if someone joined me.”
He shook his head. “The
only nuthouse I need to be in is the Dragon's Lair.”
“I'll go with you!”
Emily blurted. Eric looked at her in surprise and she blushed. “Uh...I mean...I
need a steady job and... I might run into Ta-The Trickster.”
“Well...” Kallen slung
her arm around Emily's shoulder and pulled her face close to her own. The move
intensified her blush. “I can't offer you much in the way of pay...but the
fringe benefits are pretty good: See the world at taxpayer expense, hunt
exotic monsters, and all in the name of science.”
Eric had never seen
Emily light up like that before. The image of her beaming at Kallen while under
her wing burned itself into his memory.
“Deal!”
“Welcome aboard! Second
Mate Emily Tompson. Cabin boy, take care not to break anything.”
“I'm not a cabin boy!”
Nevertheless, Eric
loaded what little baggage they had between them and cooked the morning's ramen.
Kallen was too busy teaching her new protégée to do anything of that sort.
There were mechanics, navigation, best practices for trekking through hostile
environments, etc. Emily ate it up.
Like all airships, Albatross
IX was powered by mana. Panels on its wings and chassis drew mana from the
surrounding area and channeled it to the fuel tank, where it was redistributed
to the engine and basic appliances. In case of an emergency, two tanks of
liquid mana waited in cargo. The airship’s claws allowed it to land on uneven
surfaces but required time to slow down. At the end of the briefing, Emily
asked, “Why's it called the Albatross ? It
no more dangerous than any given human.”
Emily put away her
dagger and bowed in apology to the Fizger.
“Please forgive me. I’m
an Otherworlder.”
The Fizger nodded in
acceptance.
Kallen showed them her
ID, they nodded, and she passed between them. This was the private airship
hangar. Everyone from the local lord to visiting adventurers docked here. It
was small and bare-boned but brightly lit with floodlights. There were only a
handful docked here at the moment, but even in a crowd, it would be easy to
spot Kallen's. With its golden-brown paint job, it shouted, “Look at me!”
As big as a Threan
trailer, it stood on four hydraulic legs. Slits in the belly around them
implied that they could be retracted while in flight. Expanding from the
center-rear of the ship was a pair of folded wings. Although they resembled an
eagle's, Eric doubted they worked the same way. A segmented tail ending in a
club sprouted from the back and rested on the ground. The face of a lion with a
sculpted mane looked proudly into the distance.
“Subtle much?” Eric
asked.
“It belongs to my
parents,” Kallen said. “Blame them if you don't like the color.”
“Your parents?” Emily
asked excitedly. “Are they waiting for you at the presentation?”
“Maybe...” Kallen said
with a shrug. “Welcome to Albatross IX .”
Albatross IX was
composed of four main rooms. The cockpit had four seats and a variety of
gadgets, dials, and screens for piloting, all of which was scratched and
chipped and faded. The cargo room contained supplies and equipment and freeze-runed
boxes of monsters. It also bore slash marks, acid stains, and the ambiance of a
dungeon. The final two, a tiny bedroom and living room, contained all the
comforts of home: foldout bed, closet, mini-fridge, microwave, bathroom, and a
computer on a desk. Instead of “worn out” like the other two, the damage here
gave it a cozy “lived in” atmosphere.
“Kallen, is this thing
your home?” Emily asked.
Kallen shrugged. “Why
would someone that's constantly traveling need a house?”
“All by yourself? What
about your parents?”
“My parents don't work
anymore and the other grunts have their own tiny airships.”
“Don't you get lonely?”
The subtext was clearly: “Where are your parents now ?”
“I wouldn't be...” She
glanced sidelong at Eric. “…if someone joined me.”
He shook his head. “The
only nuthouse I need to be in is the Dragon's Lair.”
“I'll go with you!”
Emily blurted. Eric looked at her in surprise and she blushed. “Uh...I mean...I
need a steady job and... I might run into Ta-The Trickster.”
“Well...” Kallen slung
her arm around Emily's shoulder and pulled her face close to her own. The move
intensified her blush. “I can't offer you much in the way of pay...but the
fringe benefits are pretty good: See the world at taxpayer expense, hunt
exotic monsters, and all in the name of science.”
Eric had never seen
Emily light up like that before. The image of her beaming at Kallen while under
her wing burned itself into his memory.
“Deal!”
“Welcome aboard! Second
Mate Emily Tompson. Cabin boy, take care not to break anything.”
“I'm not a cabin boy!”
Nevertheless, Eric
loaded what little baggage they had between them and cooked the morning's ramen.
Kallen was too busy teaching her new protégée to do anything of that sort.
There were mechanics, navigation, best practices for trekking through hostile
environments, etc. Emily ate it up.
Like all airships, Albatross
IX was powered by mana. Panels on its wings and chassis drew mana from the
surrounding area and channeled it to the fuel tank, where it was redistributed
to the engine and basic appliances. In case of an emergency, two tanks of
liquid mana waited in cargo. The airship’s claws allowed it to land on uneven
surfaces but required time to slow down. At the end of the briefing, Emily
asked, “Why's it called the Albatross ? It
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