PART FOUR

KANE SLIPPED THE HELMET OFF and placed it carefully on an area of the control deck clear of levers. He sighed and waved a gloved hand over the panel.

His companion paced the small bridge slowly, almost casually, dragging fingertips across the control panels that lined the walls. The metal-tipped gauntlets made a hollow, metallic sound like glass marbles rolling on pavement.

Kane frowned, and turned back to the panel in front of him. Switches, levers, dials. That was fine, what he expected. But the language was odd. To be perfectly honest, he'd expected English. It had never occurred to him that it could be anything else, that there could be anything else. The letters were slanted, twisted, faded even. The whole ship felt old, worn out. Yet it floated above the Empire State's perpetual cloud deck without so much as a sound.

The laugh that emanated from the front grille of the Science Pirate's helmet was a deep, hard basso, the pitch artificially lowered to frighten people, Kane suspected. It was the same with the Skyguard's helmet, as he had discovered, but he couldn't stop himself flinching as his companion spun around to face him.

Kane's eyes widened. "Generally, yes," he answered, taking a step towards his mysterious ally. "But not just anywhere. And not with us on it, preferably."

That laugh again. Kane watched the Science Pirate's helmet bob up and down. The helmet was similar to that of the Skyguard, although more austere and compact, with fewer flourishes. He decided he liked the look of his helmet better.

"Relax, pal. I can work it out. It's all going according to plan." The Science Pirate reached out and pulled a short lever downwards without looking. The airship shuddered, and there was a whining noise coming from somewhere high above them. Kane's big eyes searched the ceiling of the dark bridge.

"OK, I've got it." The Science Pirate turned to the control panel, and after a few minutes and a few more shakes, Kane saw the view outside the front window change. The airship was rotating about its axis. Kane watched his companion at work, the armoured frame hunched over the alien controls. After a while, the Science Pirate slid one glove off to get better precision on a panel of buttons, and then moments later took the other off as well.

Kane leaned forward, jaw flopping like a wet copy of the Sentinel fished from a gutter. He was about to say something when the Science Pirate sighed mechanically and began fiddling with a hidden strap under the helmet's chin. There was a click as a buckle and popper were undone, and then the faceplate pushed up and the helmet came off, swept off the back of the Pirate's head. Long hair, deep brown, spilled out from it as the Pirate pulled the helmet free, then balanced it on the top of the control deck.

The Science Pirate laughed, this time in a beautiful, haughty female voice. She shook her hair out and swept it out of her eyes with her long fingers, and turned to look at Kane.

Kane stood dumbfounded. OK, the Science Pirate was a girl. A woman. That was fine. In fact, that was more than fine, that was... alluring. He smiled as he watched her work, his eyes undressing her cloaked, armour-plated body.

He shook his head. There was something... familiar about her. She was slim, the armour bulking her dainty frame deliberately as part of the disguise to make her look like a man. It made sense – a female hero, protector of the city, wouldn't be taken seriously. Kane was sure she was a sure-fire hit, but really, during their partnership policing the skies of New York City, how much of the heroics had been down to the Skyguard and how much down to... her?

Partnership? Kane smirked. Maybe that was just what it was. What were they? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Lovers? Husband and wife? Was it a lover's tiff that split them apart and turned the Science Pirate against the Skyguard, and against the city? Gardner – the real Skyguard, the refugee hero from the Origin – had never said anything about his home life and had never gone into detail about the big fight. This had been a major hole in Kane's newspaper story leading up to Gardner's execution, an important omission, but one he'd had to gloss over with his best journalistic purple prose, distracting the Sentinel's readers with tales of the Skyguard's wondrous exploits.

The Science Pirate hadn't got a mention either. It had taken some fancy and creative writing, but he'd excised the other half of the duo from the newspaper stories. Kane wanted to keep that part a secret. When the Science Pirate arrived in the Empire State, he wanted him – her! – to himself.

Kane blinked. The Science Pirate – she – had both hands on a large lever, something like a railway track switcher, rising up out of the deck as part of a row of big controls. She was leaning on it, and looking back at him over her shoulder, clearly requiring help even with her powered suit. Kane's mouth twitched into a smirk. She was awful pretty. She smiled back, and her hair, all loose and natural, dropped over one eye. Kane studied her face. It was small, finely boned, exquisite in every detail. Although it was hard to tell in the dim light of the airship control room, her eyes were a brown so dark they were almost as black as the pupils. Her face was… familiar.

Kane stopped short, his expression hardening suddenly. The Pirate saw his change, her own face reflecting something else. Confusion, and alarm.

"I'm talking about the fact that we found Sam Saturn's body lying behind a dumpster in an alley down there, in the city." Kane punched a gauntleted finger towards the airship window. He repeated, "So who the hell are you?"

"I don't know who Sam Saturn is, but she's no relative of mine. My name is Lisa. Lisa Saturn. Isn't that a hoot?" She stood up and rubbed the raw pads of her hands. "And this Ms Saturn is very much alive and well and trying to move this lever. So the question still stands."

THIRTY-FIVE