Sky says, "Is there any way we can find some marks to wager on the outcome of this combat, say from a nearby town? If we lay them sucker bet odds, we might be able to net some scratch. I figure we ain't gotta pay if we're dead."
Richter: "Good thinking, Sky. Seems to me we could be doing that often, the way things are going."
Kaze and Belle find an excellent place to hide from overhead detection, but Belle can still see the sky through gaps in the thickly needled pine boughs. They can also see Voinovich, who is off to the left under an overhang, and both outposts can see the still where everyone else is.
A drone of motors high aloft and a swirling in the high rain clouds herald the arrival of a smallish airship, although its colors cannot be made out yet. The gondola is long, covering almost the entire keel from bow to stern. It is lined with windows on both sides.
Belle notes the brass (and therefore rust-proof) hinges on the lower edge of the gondola. Those are not windows, but downward-hinging doors. The length of both sides can be swung open, but glass is an impractical material for a ramp. Clearly they are intended to disgorge cargo while the airship is at altitude. Perhaps bombs?
Peering through her pocket spyglass, Belle sees human forms moving slightly. The gondola is packed with men.
The motors roar as they shift from forward to reverse, ponderously slowing the great gasbag. It will take them a few miles to come to a halt, which will put them right over the mountain. Our heroes, for reference, are in the valley or hollow beyond the mountain, in the direction the airship is pointing.
There is almost no wind, and light cloud aloft. Good zeppelin weather. Unless Belle prefers it were otherwise.
Belle takes a moment to enjoy the sky, the quality of the light, the feel of the wind outside. Like C.S. Lewis and children, Belle loves weather. Any kind of weather.
ReplyDeleteThen, she glances toward Richter and Kaze. "You just tell me where you want it to go."
Then, she frowns slightly and raises a finger. "Just a moment. It occurs to me to ask: outcome do we want, ideally?
"Are there innocents on board? In which case, I want it to come quickly but not violently?
"Or, are we not concerned about innocents at this time?
"Basically, whatever I do, their weatherman, if they have one, will try to compensate.
"Now, not to toot my own horn, but. I'm rather good. I also have an intimate knowledge of air ships...which not all weathermen do.
"But, that doesn't mean that in a straight out tug-of-war--weatherman to weathergirl--that I'm a guaranteed winner.
"So I'd like to act quickly, slam the ship to where we want it ...so it goes where we want before their weatherman can compensate.
"But slamming and landing safely are two entirely animals.
"So before I blow this beauty earthward, I'd like a quick rating on where I should try to shoot for in the range between speed and safety."
er...that should have read "what outcome do"
ReplyDeleteRichter: "That's no passenger liner -- it's a cargo ship, and an express job to boot. They won't have any innocents, except maybe the crew. But that's a whale of a lot of men standing in the gondola. If they make it down safely, they might could overpower us. No, seems to me that we have to take the chance and crash them so hard they aren't in any condition to pursue on the ground."
ReplyDeleteBelle gives a quickly little nod and begins whistling cheerfully.
ReplyDeleteModerator, using her Weatherman skills and her knowledge of air ships, she carefully calculates whatever will give her the best chance of crashing the ship quickly...and the best place to crash it. (For instance, if there is a cliff side where falling might do additional damage, she could blow it toward the cliff side.
She will prepared to do this in two parts...an initial super-energetic burst. Then, if that isn't enough, she'll be ready to wrestle the other Weatherman (magically speaking)...and to try to use the fact that they are trying to wrestle the winds to try to damage the vessel more.