Revenge of the Mad Scientist (Book One: Airship Adventure Chronicles) by Lara Nance Page B
Authors: Lara Nance
Ads: Link
more completely. When he returned to the pilot station, Sam went below and retrieved two large mugs of steaming coffee. He handed one to Rett and both men wrapped their gloved hands around the warm cups.
“Drink it quick, it won’t stay warm long in this weather.” Sam chuckled.
Rett gave a half smile and raised the mug to his lips. The scalding coffee spread welcome warmth through his limbs and the pounding in his head subsided to an irritating peck. His heart finally slowed to a normal rhythm and he began to hope everything would be okay. If they could just make Eagle’s Peak before the storm hit, they had a chance of making a good profit on the cargo run. He eyed the sky, but in the darkness and clouds there was little visible past half a mile ahead.
He glanced at Sam, glad to see his old buddy had recovered from his fright over the steam engine. Rett didn’t take his concern lightly. Sam was the best engineer in the business as far as he was concerned. He used to have his own ship until it was hit by another airship and went down off the coast of Jenta. He’d lost a hand in the accident, but at least he was alive. Now he had the mechanical hand, which in some ways served his purposes better when it came to maintaining the big steam engines and helium tanks on an airship.
A hint of moisture swept across Rett’s face and the wind suddenly changed course. He turned the wheel to adjust the rudder to the new direction. A shiver ran through him. Those were bad signs and he knew they meant one thing, a storm was coming…a big one.
He turned to Sam and his friend’s expression indicated he had detected the signs as well. “Stoke up the engine, mate. We need to beat this storm to Eagle’s Peak.”
Sam nodded and drained his cup of coffee, then opened the hatch and climbed down into the engine room. The shovel crunched into the coal as Sam added more to the burner and a rush of hot air wafted up when he opened the hopper.
Rett eased the throttle forward to increase the speed of the fans. Wind rushed past him and he spread his feet to maintain his balance.
Sam stomped back up the steps and closed the hatch. “All right then. We’re good for half an hour at this speed.”
“That’ll do.” Rett nodded, his eyes focused on the sky before them and hands clamped on the wheel. “Hang on, it’s going to be a rough ride.”
Chapter 4
It had been three years since Belle had been to Cross Roads. She eagerly joined Benji at the rail to view the sights as they approached the large city. Poor Jasper fought a bout of airsickness in his berth and hadn’t peeked his head out in over an hour.
The beams of large gas-lit skylights circled in the air as they approached the aeroport. As predicted by Captain Joe, they had reached the gateway to the east by midnight. Other than the gas lights, only the moon provided any illumination, and right now that was covered by a thick bank of clouds.
Stretched out beneath them glowed lights of houses and businesses in the busy city. Even at midnight a place of such convergence stayed active with carriages, steam carts and people moving about on the streets.
Fantasy Flyer soared gracefully through the air only a few hundred feet above the ground as they approached the aeroport. Captain Joe had already sent a flyer pigeon forward to the control tower announcing their intention to land and awaited their reply.
“How long will we be on the g, g, ground?” Benji asked.
“Not long. We’ll take on coal, that’s all we need according to the captain. He hopes to make Eagle’s Peak by morning so we can cross the Kaspan Mountains in daylight.”
A flutter of dark gray streaked by them and Arabella turned as the flyer pigeon returned to its perch beside the piloting station. Captain Joe reached it and removed the paper from the tiny leather pack on its back. He read the note and then motioned to his pilot to proceed as he made his way down the steps to the main deck.
“We’ll be on
“Drink it quick, it won’t stay warm long in this weather.” Sam chuckled.
Rett gave a half smile and raised the mug to his lips. The scalding coffee spread welcome warmth through his limbs and the pounding in his head subsided to an irritating peck. His heart finally slowed to a normal rhythm and he began to hope everything would be okay. If they could just make Eagle’s Peak before the storm hit, they had a chance of making a good profit on the cargo run. He eyed the sky, but in the darkness and clouds there was little visible past half a mile ahead.
He glanced at Sam, glad to see his old buddy had recovered from his fright over the steam engine. Rett didn’t take his concern lightly. Sam was the best engineer in the business as far as he was concerned. He used to have his own ship until it was hit by another airship and went down off the coast of Jenta. He’d lost a hand in the accident, but at least he was alive. Now he had the mechanical hand, which in some ways served his purposes better when it came to maintaining the big steam engines and helium tanks on an airship.
A hint of moisture swept across Rett’s face and the wind suddenly changed course. He turned the wheel to adjust the rudder to the new direction. A shiver ran through him. Those were bad signs and he knew they meant one thing, a storm was coming…a big one.
He turned to Sam and his friend’s expression indicated he had detected the signs as well. “Stoke up the engine, mate. We need to beat this storm to Eagle’s Peak.”
Sam nodded and drained his cup of coffee, then opened the hatch and climbed down into the engine room. The shovel crunched into the coal as Sam added more to the burner and a rush of hot air wafted up when he opened the hopper.
Rett eased the throttle forward to increase the speed of the fans. Wind rushed past him and he spread his feet to maintain his balance.
Sam stomped back up the steps and closed the hatch. “All right then. We’re good for half an hour at this speed.”
“That’ll do.” Rett nodded, his eyes focused on the sky before them and hands clamped on the wheel. “Hang on, it’s going to be a rough ride.”
Chapter 4
It had been three years since Belle had been to Cross Roads. She eagerly joined Benji at the rail to view the sights as they approached the large city. Poor Jasper fought a bout of airsickness in his berth and hadn’t peeked his head out in over an hour.
The beams of large gas-lit skylights circled in the air as they approached the aeroport. As predicted by Captain Joe, they had reached the gateway to the east by midnight. Other than the gas lights, only the moon provided any illumination, and right now that was covered by a thick bank of clouds.
Stretched out beneath them glowed lights of houses and businesses in the busy city. Even at midnight a place of such convergence stayed active with carriages, steam carts and people moving about on the streets.
Fantasy Flyer soared gracefully through the air only a few hundred feet above the ground as they approached the aeroport. Captain Joe had already sent a flyer pigeon forward to the control tower announcing their intention to land and awaited their reply.
“How long will we be on the g, g, ground?” Benji asked.
“Not long. We’ll take on coal, that’s all we need according to the captain. He hopes to make Eagle’s Peak by morning so we can cross the Kaspan Mountains in daylight.”
A flutter of dark gray streaked by them and Arabella turned as the flyer pigeon returned to its perch beside the piloting station. Captain Joe reached it and removed the paper from the tiny leather pack on its back. He read the note and then motioned to his pilot to proceed as he made his way down the steps to the main deck.
“We’ll be on
Similar Books
