Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon Page A

Matt asked.
    â€˜Always,’ she replied.
    â€˜That’s the spirit. We got a little battered last trip, and some of the plates are sticking. Nothing serious,’ he added in response to Alice’s worried look. ‘We’ll have it fixed no problem. Ben, just do your best to keep us out of the worst of it, if you can.’
    Ben smiled, his brown eyes meeting Matt’s gaze confidently.
    â€˜Sure. There’s a relatively clear patch to the West that we should be able to squeeze through, if it’s still around when we get there. Besides, when have you known me to fly us into a rough patch?’
    Matt merely raised an eyebrow, bringing a faint flush to Ben’s pale cheeks.
    â€˜Where are we going, anyway?’ Cat blurted out without thinking. ‘I mean, I know we’re headed to Siberene, but … how do you manage to smuggle goods in without being noticed? I know Siberene isn’t particularly involved in the war, but surely there are Anglyan guards at every shipyard,’ she said. It was customary to have Anglyan soldiers present in every country under Anglyan rule, to monitor trading.
    Her question earned a shared look from everyone in the crew, giving her the impression she was missing something.
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜He’ll learn when we get there. It’ll be easier to explain then,’ Fox said from across the table.
    â€˜What will I learn? What’s going on in Siberene?’
    Matt smiled at her, somewhat apologetically.
    â€˜You’ll see when we get there, sprog. Just … remember that things aren’t always what they seem, and the newscasts don’t always tell the whole truth.’ His statement only served to confuse Cat, who looked around the table for clarification. When they all stayed stone-faced under her gaze, she gave up and went back to eating the last of her porridge.
    â€˜I’d better go and relieve Harry,’ Ben declared, getting to his feet.
    â€˜You coming, then?’ Matt asked with a glance at Cat. Standing, he leaned down to press a kiss to Alice’s cheek. ‘Delicious as always, sweetheart. I’ll see you for lunch.’
    Alice tutted.
    â€˜You and your stomach, Matthew Wylde,’ she muttered fondly. ‘Go on, the lot of you. You’ve got work to do. We’ll need to have something to show for ourselves at Syvana.’
    Cat followed Matt from the room and down the manhole to the floor below.
    â€˜I’ll start you off with the basics,’ Matt told her, leading her through to the engine room. ‘Most of the steering system’s parts are kept here.’ He gestured to a large gear plate with a clear glass casing, right next to the furnace, and Cat almost groaned. She couldn’t remove any more layers than she had already or she’d give herself away, but the heat was sweltering. ‘They connect to belts that run through the walls, from the struts of the wings to Ben’s control panel. The propeller motors are over there.’ He pointed across the room, where Cat could see four large cog towers, one of which was rotating.
    â€˜What do you do if one of the belts in the walls breaks?’ she asked curiously.
    â€˜Send a wee brat like you in the gaps to fix it,’ he retorted.
    â€˜But surely I wouldn’t fit!’ Her eyes widened, making him chuckle.
    â€˜Calm down, brat, I’m only joking.’ Matt rolled his eyes, amused. ‘You Greystone lot are an odd bunch. Always taking things so seriously.’ Cat tried to look offended at his words. With any luck, her so-called Greystone background would account for any other oddities they might notice. Most folk thought people from Greystone were strange, in an odd limbo between the commoners and the government.
    She heard a creak, and Fox walked through the door. Unbuttoning his waistcoat, he draped it over a low-hanging pipe, rolling his flared sleeves up to his elbows.
    Matt was