xiii   

“Well, Monsieur Darras?”

Remy adjusted a valve on his torch and the bright flame reduced to a small blue light. He pushed up his goggles with his gauntleted hand. He was the most untidy she had ever seen him.

“Two hours to get the new piping in place, Capitaine.”

“And the balloon envelope?”

Remy nodded to where Beatrice, Fanning and Ichiro were working on the cloth, replacing an area that had been burnt away by the lightning strike. “Perhaps a similar time. Then we must attach it and test it.”

“Very good.”

Qi walked across the top deck to the railing and looked down over the side. Captain Reynolds was there with a dozen of his men. Mrs Ruane stood apart from them, dressed in travelling clothes and staring out across the valley.

“I do not think Mrs Ruane has come to see us off,” said Dingbang at her side. She had not noticed him arrive.

“No, she is coming with us.”

“Into Kerala? To the Fortress?”

“We have a side job.” Dingbang was silent so Qi continued. “It’s five hundred pounds.”

“That is a great deal of money.”

“That’s why I agreed.”

“And what must we do for this money?”

“Rescue a woman from the bandits.”

“We are traders, not fighters.”

“We fight when we must, and besides,” she said, “they will be the ones doing the fighting. We carry them to the rendezvous, show superior fire power and they get the woman back.”

“I do not think this is wise, little one.”

“Think of the money.”

“I am thinking of your father.”

Qi felt a burst of anger. “I am the captain.”

Dingbang gave her a bow just on the wrong side of politeness and headed for the hatch. She frowned at his back.

* * * * *

The bridge was crowded. The expected crew were there, along with Beatrice, Fanning, Mrs Ruane, Captain Reynolds and one of his men to act as runner if he needed to communicate with the rest of his men in the cargo hold.

Steam pressure was up and the generators were running smoothly. Qi sounded the klaxon for the one-minute alert to engaging the Faraday. She caught herself stroking the helm and quickly looked to see if anyone had noticed. There were so many people around her, yet she had almost forgotten about them, so strong was the pleasure of being in command of the Beauty once more.

The chronometer clicked through another minute. It seemed as if the people on the bridge held their collective breath until she reached out and engaged the Faraday.

The lightness washed through her. She could feel Beauty straining to be aloft. She checked the wind gauge; there was a breeze running down the valley but that was no risk. It would only push them out across the valley, which was entirely acceptable. Using the communication pipe she gave Remy the order to complete inflating the envelopes. “Make your height 1000 feet, Monsieur Darras.”

“Aye, Capitaine,” came his tinny reply.

If they had been at an official air-dock the envelopes would have been tied down until given the command to release. But in this situation they would simply lift when the buoyancy exceeded their Faraday weight.

The stern lifted a fraction and the Beauty slid sedately across the river bed. The bow hit a boulder, and the ship turned. The view through the bridge viewing ports angled round until they were looking up the valley.

Qi smiled to herself. Almost as if it were planned. She sent the order to engage the main propeller and felt the familiar vibration as it spun up to speed. The river bed dropped away from them at an increasing rate.

“Oh my goodness,” breathed Mrs Ruane from where she stood to the side of the window. She took a step backwards and grabbed at a pipe in the wall for balance.

Qi held back on the forward thrust to maintain their position against the breeze and allowed the ship to drift backwards until they could see where the river fell over the drop-off into the fields below.

“Course please, Herr Kröne.”

“North by northwest, Captain,” he shouted. “Along the valley.”

The captain applied half thrust and moments later felt the Beauty push ahead, reaching perhaps fifteen knots against the headwind. Qi unhooked the communication tube again and whistled to Remy.

“Oui, Capitaine?”

“How are the repairs?”

“All good, Capitaine, but I would not wish to apply excessive pressure at this time.”

“I’ll keep things easy until you’re happy.”

“Merci.”

Mrs Ruane turned from the bird’s-eye view of the valley and took the few short steps to the helm.

“You have an excellent crew, Captain.”

“I am very proud of them.”

“Can we go up on top?” the older woman asked.

“Would you go with her, Dingbang?” He nodded. She returned her gaze to Mrs Ruane. “You must stay out of the way of Monsieur Darras, and follow the orders of my first mate.”

Mrs Ruane raised an eyebrow. “His orders?”

For a moment Qi considered modifying her statement but caught the frown in Dingbang’s face. “His orders, Kathleen. This is not a cruise ship. It is not designed for safety or, indeed, any passengers.”

Mrs Ruane hesitated and then acknowledged with a nod of her head. “His orders.”

“Would you like accompany them, Captain Reynolds?” Qi asked, hoping she could get all the passengers off her bridge.

“How long to the rendezvous?”

“Two hours I believe.” She looked across to Otto.

“Two hours and twelve minutes under current conditions, Captain.”

Qi turned to Captain Reynolds, who nodded. “Then I will accompany Mrs Ruane.”

As the group left the bridge, Qi heaved a sigh of relief. She did not like strangers on her ship.