Steamscape by D. Dalton Page A

Codic soldiers standing on the boxcar nearest to the engine never turned since there was no thunder from a rifle.
    A spread of heavy needles slammed into their backs, driving deep into the bones and lungs.
    Jing lifted the barrel up when he saw Solindra and Drina nearing. “Come on!”
    Drina chased the girl like a mother hen. Behind them followed a brown-haired young man that looked familiar. He lowered the barrel and idly moved the gun in the boy’s direction.
    Solindra clambered over the edge of the airship. She beat her hands against its side. “Come on, let’s go!” She waved at Theo and Drina.
    Jing swung the rifle into Theo’s face. “You can join back up with the rest of them, boy.”
    “He saved my life!” Solindra leaned over the dinghy’s railing.
    “After he put it in danger in Valhasse,” Drina said quietly. “I recognize him now.”
    “He comes with us!” Solindra swung a leg back over the railing.
    “Uh, please?” Theo slowly raised both his hands, staring cross-eyed at the steam rifle.
    “No!” Jing and Drina snapped in unison.
    Theo glanced over his shoulder at the locomotive, and the last block of Codic soldiers mounting a rotating gun. The metal bulk could fire nonstop as long as someone kept turning the hand crank and someone else kept feeding bullets into its guts.
    The Killing Train would complete its mission right here if they had enough ammunition for that thing. The tide of people flowed away from the soldiers as they started to crank out its unending firepower.
    “I can get you out of Eliponesia!” Theo grabbed the sides of the airboat. “You’re trying to run, right?”
    Jing and Drina exchanged a glance.
    “I know a bricoleur smuggler. She’s the best.”
    “We can’t trust him,” Drina said to Jing.
    “Hey,” Solindra called.
    The mechanic shrugged, also ignoring Solindra. “Recall the boiler. He’s no friend to Codic.”
    The cook turned back to the bricoleur. “Are you a Steampower spy, boy?” Her scowl fell back into the approaching spider look.
    He shivered. “No, ma’am.” He all but saluted.
    He and Solindra both flinched at the booming of the repeating gun. It spit out bullets with unending ease into the mob of fleeing prisoners.
    Solindra grabbed at the steam rifle in Jing’s hand, turning it away from the bricoleur’s face. Theo hardly noticed. The shooting Codic soldiers stole his attention. All he could see was the fire from their gun muzzles. Endless fire.
    Solindra pulled the rifle into her own hands and tugged the hose around behind her. She snapped it up to her shoulder and tried to focus on the backs of the soldiers operating the crank gun. They bobbed in her vision.
    “Cyl, no!” Drina yelled.
    The girl yanked on the trigger.
    The soft “ phoot ” of the rifle was lost in the chaos. The expanding packet of large needles rattled against the train car. Two Codic soldiers shrieked in surprise as a couple of needles bore into their ankles. They whirled in the direction of the dinghy. More soldiers crowded around them.
    Jing snatched the gun back. “Okay, it’s time to go.”
    “What about me?” Theo grabbed at the railing of the sky-boat.
    “Fine, get in!” The mechanic handed the steam rifle to Drina. “But you’ll help.” He bent low and started to heave out the rock ballast holding down the dinghy. Theo and Solindra quickly jumped in to help.
    The Codic soldiers tugged and heaved at the crank gun, trying to move it into position to face the dirigible.
    Drina’s balance never wobbled as the airship started to rise, and she coiled the steam rifle’s hose at her feet with practiced ease. Two Steampower soldiers charged for their ship. She kept her arm steady and gently tightened her finger around the trigger. They collapsed with a line of needles across their throats.
    “Get us away from that crank gun!” She looked pointedly up at their huge target of a balloon.
    Solindra chucked out the last rock and collapsed back to the center