Part VIII

Kali’s captors dragged her into the bowelsof the airship. Though the bag over her head stole her sight, thestifling heat told her where they were. The boiler room.

The man carrying Kali dropped her like asack of corn meal, and her shoulder hit hard, sending a fresh stabof pain through her. While men shuffled about, and chains clackednearby, Kali fantasized about commandeering the ship, sailing tothe North Pole, and making these louts walk the plank. She’d leavethem on a sheet of ice where they could become a nice snack for apassing polar bear.

Someone grabbed her by the head and pulledoff the sack, removing numerous strands of hair at the same time.It was hard to glower effectively from one’s back on the floor, butKali gave it her best.

The men ignored her icy stare. A burlypirate clapped a leg iron around one of her ankles. Its chain ranfive feet to an eyelet in front of a bin of coal and two furnaces.The pirate cut the rope that tied her ankles together. Kali liftedher bound wrists, hoping he would do the same for them. He didnot.

“We don’t allow anyonefree passage on our vessel,” a graying reed of a man said. Scarspeppered his face, and he wore an eye patch like the pirates instorybooks. He lacked only a parrot to perch on his shoulder,though such birds were probably hard to come by in northern climes.He took a shovel from a scruffy man cloaked from head to foot insoot. “Everybody here works, ain’t that right, Chum?”

“Oh, aye, Cap’n,” thesooty man said.

Kali remained quiet. Working in the boilerroom sounded far better than being mauled by that Sparwood, but shewasn’t about to say so. The other woman the pirates had kidnappedwas nowhere to be seen, and Kali scowled at the realization ofwhere she must be. Would she be next?

“Take all of her things,”the captain said.

Invasive hands pawed at Kali, and shegritted her teeth. With her wrists tied and her leg chained, shecould do little to fight the intrusion, though she stood with oneleg slightly in front of the other, blocking the view of the anklethat held her vial of flash gold. She hoped the man wouldn’t thinkto check her socks. Maybe she should have taken the vial back toher workshop and locked it in its safe, behind a series of boobytraps. Too late now.

Unfortunately, the man searching her provedadept at finding things. He removed her remaining smoke nut, hergun, and every single tool in her pockets.

“Tarnation, girl,” thepirate said, “you rob a tool shop?”

“Your murderers caught mewhen I was in the middle of a project,” Kali said.

“I ain’t murderedanyone.”

“You let it happen on yourship.” Though she was responding to the man searching her, Kalilooked the captain in the eyes when she spoke. She thought of theairship hovering above the alley behind the Aurora, and of thatladder dangling down. “You even help out, don’t you?” Thatexplained why Cedar hadn’t found a trail at the murdered woman’shome. “You drop that bastard down and pick him up when he’s done,don’t you? You help him perpetrate the idea that there’s somethingotherworldly involved in these murders, since there’s nothing butthose fake bead patches to be found.”

Kali was surprised the pirates had chosensuch a public target this time, a woman getting ready for a show ina saloon full of people. Maybe it’d been a last hit before the shipcleared out of town. Or maybe they’d counted on Sparwood getting into steal the girl without anyone up front hearing about it. Kali’sstomach clenched at the idea of him leaving a bead patch in thechanging room and people blaming “spirits” for the girl’sdisappearance.

The captain lifted his chin in response toKali’s accusations. “Sparwood’s my best worker and fights betterthan ten men combined, and he doesn’t ask for a cut of the loot. Hejust wants the leeway to pursue his…hobby.”

“That’s loathsome,” Kalisaid, “and so are you if you help.”

“What’s this?” The mansearching her had found all of her tools and weapons, and moveddown to her ankles. Kali winced when he patted at the lump there.Having these slimy pirates running around with such power was thelast thing she wanted.

The man pulled out her vial and held italoft. The flakes inside the clear container appeared no differentfrom regular gold, but they glowed softly, sending occasionalstreaks of yellow lightning coursing through the glass tube.

“That,” a new voice saidfrom a hatchway leading to an upper deck, “is what I was hopingshe’d have, and it’s why I’ve offered you more money than the Scarof Skagway for her capture.”

The owner of the voice climbed down aladder, boots ringing on the metal rungs. He clasped his handsbehind his back and strolled toward the furnaces to join thecaptain and others in regarding Kali.

A pale-skinned man, he wore an all white,expensive suit, tailored to fit his body. His boots were likenothing Kali had ever seen. Snake skin? Or maybe alligator orcrocodile? She’d read about such creatures. The man bore noweapons, but all the pirates, the captain included, offered subduedgreetings and touched their knuckles to their hats or foreheads inpolite salutes.

“Mister Conrad,” thecaptain said, and Kali’s head jerked up. Cudgel Conrad? Cedar’s nemesis? “Weweren’t expecting you until morning,” the captain went on, “so Iwas fixing to get some work out of her. But if youwant-”

“No, no,” Conrad saidpolitely, as if he were passing on an after-dinner dessert offeredby a waiter in some classy restaurant. “Work her all you wish.There’ll be plenty of time for questioning later.” He hadgreenish-blue eyes, the only spot of color on him, and theyhardened then, reminding Kali of marbles as they bore into her.“First, there remains a spot of business to which I must attend.It’s time to make sure that dear detective gets hisman.”

Kali curled her lip.“You’d best be more worried about that man getting you.”

Conrad yawned.

“Mister Conrad, sir,” thecaptain said. “One of my men was wondering about her usefor…entertainments.”

A woman’s scream echoed from a higher deck.Kali tried to keep a defiant sneer on her face, but the timing ofthat scream, and the amused snort of one of the pirates, leftlittle doubt in her mind as to what the captain meant.

“What are your orders asto her person?” the captain finished.

“Ensure she’s able toanswer questions in the morning,” Conrad said.

“That’s it?”

“Indeed. In fact,encourage your man to make the experience memorable. Women rarelyresist my interrogation techniques, but it can make things easierif they’ve been broken already.”

Kali glowered. She wished she could do more.This fellow deserved a good kick in the bear cubs. No, he deserveda lot more than that for tormenting Cedar and killing countlessothers.

Conrad took a step toward the hatch, butpaused, raising a finger. “Actually, I do have one requirement.Don’t let your man damage her face. Should the Pinkerton detectivefail, I may need to dangle her as bait to lure in a particularlytroublesome fish.” His marble cold eyes found Kali’s again.“Despite this fish’s efforts to minimize contact with her of late,I do believe they’re close.”

“Yes, sir.” The captainknuckled his forehead again.

When Conrad left, the captain stood taller,losing his diffident manner. He pointed to the fellow smeared withcoal dust. “Give Chum your shovel, and show her the ropes. Denny,stow her gear. Malcom-” he pointed to a bearded man with a shotgun,“-you’re on guard. Stay alert, and keep her working. I don’t wantour boat lingering over downtown Dawson. Look cheery men. We’ve anice pay day coming up.”

The captain left, takingthe men he hadn’t named with him. The one who had conducted hersearch looked around, probably trying to figure out what he wassupposed to do with the armful of weapons and tools. He shuffled tothe far end of the boiler room, dropping a screwdriver on the way,and dumped everything except her gun onto a metal table bolted tothe wall. Toolboxes were secured there, and an empty crate on thefloor read propellerblades. Machine shop, Kali guessed, eyeingit speculatively as the pirate headed out. If she could free herankle and get over there, maybe she could build something usefulfor escaping. And then what? She eyed the bulkheads, looking for adoor that might lead to the engine room, but the pipes from theboilers disappeared through solid walls behind the equipment, andshe didn’t see any exits except for the ceiling hatch Conrad hadused.

The sooty man thrust his shovel into Kali’shands, distracting her from her thoughts. He drew a knife and cuther wrist bindings. “That goes in there.” He pointed at the coalbin and the furnace door.

“Excellent instructions,”Kali said. “I’ll be sure to recommend you for apromotion.”

It was hard to read a face coated in coaldust, but he curled a lip and growled at her, and she got the gist.He ticked a finger against a gauge on the adjacent boiler where aneedle hovered at the low end of the operational zone. “Make surethat stays between here and here. If it’s here, add more coalfaster. If it gets up here, you can slow down for a spell. There’sa safety shutoff, so don’t get any bright ideas about gettingthings too hot.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,”Kali said.

Which was true. Sheought to be concernedsolely with escaping, maybe finding that girl and getting her outtoo, but the fact that she was within the bowels of the veryairship she wanted to claim for herself kindled ideas in her mind.Maybe she could yet take it over somehow and keep it for herself.Unless she ran out of other options, she wouldn’t risk blowing halfof the hull off in a boiler explosion.

“Now, I reckon I can getsome sleep, though the night seems young for that.” Soot-face threwa smirk at the guard, then considered Kali through slittedeyes.

She tensed. With her hands free and a shovelin her grip, she thought she could defend herself, leg iron or not,but the guard standing by the hatch was watching, his shotgun atthe ready.

“Don’t see why Sparwoodgets all the girls,” Sooty grumbled.

“’Cause he can pound youinto pieces,” the guard said. “You better leave her be and findyour hammock.”

“Guess you’reright.”

Given his defeatist words, Kali wasn’texpecting Sooty’s hand to lunge in. He squeezed her breast, mashingdown with the subtlety of a jackhammer. Kali swung the shovel,cracking him in the side of his head.

He staggered back while the guard laughedand said, “You deserved that.”

Kali dropped into a crouch, expectingretaliation. Sooty clutched at his head, but he was grinning.

“Worth it,” he said andsauntered to the ladder. “Sparwood’ll find his goods bruised up.”He snickered as he climbed and disappeared through thehatch.

“Idiot,” Kalisaid.

A woman’s scream sounded, then was cut offwhen the hatch clanged shut. Kali’s indignation faded. Kali couldbe experiencing a far worse fate at the moment. And she might stillhave to worry about that, if she didn’t escape.

The guard jerked his shotgun toward her.“Get to work.”

Kali opened the furnace door and squinted asheat rolled out. Next to the gloom of the boiler room, the flamesthrew off an inferno of light. While she scooped coal from the binand into the firebox, she debated her options. She could fling ashovelful of burning embers at the guard, but he was too far awayfor her to launch a follow-up attack. She hadn’t seen the captainpass him the keys for her leg iron either. Something on theworkbench might help her escape, but it too was well out ofreach.

Kali eyed the heavy black chain attached toher ankle and didn’t see any weaknesses. It would take a blacksmithto break one of the thick links. At the other end, the chainattached to an eyelet secured with a hinge to an iron plate mountedflush in the deck. She couldn’t have been the first prisoner to bechained in the boiler room.

She kept scooping coal into the furnacewhile she contemplated that hinge. In its present state, shedoubted she could wedge the tip of the shovel into the crease topry the eyelet free, but she’d loosened many a rusted old bolt byapplying heat to break the bond.

The next time she dumped fresh coal into thefurnace, she slipped a few burning red embers out. The guard waswatching her, but the door hid the shovel, and the furnace itselfblocked the eyelet from his view. Kali laid the glowing coals onthe metal plate around the hinge. Making certain not to take toomuch time and rouse suspicions, she repeated the process until apile of hot coals lay all about the eyelet.

Kali continued to load the furnace for acouple more minutes, giving the iron time to heat. Even if she wasable to loosen the hinge and pull the chain free, she still had todeal with the guard.

“It’s getting prettyfull.” She paused to mop sweat from her brow. “How much more shouldI put in?”

“When it’s full, close thedoor and start loading the other one.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”Kali considered her words, then added, “I don’t suppose there’sanything I can do to talk you into letting me go?” If she was toogood of a worker and didn’t try to wheedle her way out of her fate,that might make him suspicious. “I’ve got money stashed at home.How much do you make as a pirate?”

“More than you’vegot.”

“I doubt that,” Kali said.“My partner is a proficient bounty hunter, and he shares hisearnings.”

“Men who give money towomen are stupid. Get back to work.”

Kali rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. Shecertainly wasn’t going to explain what she did to earn her half. Noneed for him to think she might have a crafty side.

“It’s powerful hot inhere.” Kali wiped her brow again and leaned on the shovel. “Anychance I can get some water?”

“You’ve barely beenworking five minutes. You’re fine.”

Kali made a show of letting her shouldersslump and tried to look weary as she went back to shoveling. Aftera few more rounds, she said, “I just need a little break.”

She slipped between the furnaces, nudged thecoals off the eyelet with her shovel, and eased the tip into thehinge crease. She wiggled the blade in deeper, relieved when therewas enough give to do so. Then she leaned her weight onto it. Thehinge pin eased upward, but it made a telling creak.

“What’re you doing overthere, woman?” Footsteps thudded on the deck.

Kali shoved downward with all of herstrength. The hinge popped free. Kali scattered the hot embers,smacked the shovel against the furnace, making a loud clang, thendropped to the floor on her back, hiding the popped hinge with herbody. She closed her eyes and didn’t move.

The guard stomped around the corner. Kaliwatched through her eyelashes as he surveyed the mess. “Stupidwoman, what’d you do?”

Passed out from heat exhaustion, or so shehoped he’d think.

The guard came close enough to kick her bootwith his foot, then, when she did not respond, he leaned in closer.He reached down, probably intending to take the shovel from herreach. Before he could grab the shaft, Kali whipped it up andslammed the pan into his face.

The pirate reeled back, but the blow was notenough to drop him. He lunged for the shovel. Kali hit him againand scrambled to her feet. The guard, blood running in twinrivulets from his nose, started to lift his gun. She jammed herheel into his shin, and he yowled and went down. Kali snatched theheavy iron chain from the floor and swung it at his head. Itconnected with a solid thud. The man’s shotgun drooped in hishands. Kali tore it free and backed away, aiming it at hischest.

“On your belly,” shebarked.

The man groaned and slumped to the floor,eyes crossing. She found the rope the pirates had tied her withearlier and hurried to bind his hands and legs while he was stillwoozy. If she could find the key to her leg iron, she’d stick thaton him as well and see how well he liked being tied up.

“You have any morebuckshot?” Kali asked after checking the shotgun. She could fire itonce, but that was it.

“Not down here,” thepirate growled, his eyes focusing again. “Why don’t you wander upand look for some above decks? I’m sure someone can help youout.”

“With a bullet to thechest, I’m sure,” Kali said.

Figuring she didn’t have much time, sherushed over to the work table. She decided the iron band on herankle wasn’t a priority and left it on while she searched throughher tools for, yes, there was the vial of flash gold. She wassurprised the captain hadn’t taken it with him, but maybe Conradwas the only one who knew what it was, or maybe he’d warned themnot to take it. Now if Kali could come up with something useful todo with it before someone came and checked on her….

Another feminine cry of pain echoed throughthe ship, muffled by the closed hatch, but not muffled enough. Kaliclenched her jaw. She had more than one reason to hurry.

Kali checked the machine shop drawers andtoolboxes. She doubted she would stumble across something asobviously handy as ammunition for the shotgun, but maybe she couldfind raw materials to make-she did not know what yet. But she hadthe flash gold, so she could power something. She just had tofigure out what.

A tin of kerosene sitting in a bottom drawermade Kali pause. A slow smile curved her lips. That certainlyincreased the possibilities. Another drawer offered a bunch offunnels and strainers of various sizes. They must fill the ship’srunning lamps down there.

Kali tapped the shotgun thoughtfully. “If Icould find some kind of pressurized tank…the flash gold could beturned into an ignition system. It’s an energy source, after all.”While she muttered to herself, she rifled through the rest of thedrawers. “Piping, hm. I could make a pump to pressurize a tank withair…like with my spud launcher.” She snorted, imagining herselfracing through the corridors, pelting pirates with potatoes. Thisnew weapon would have to be a little more inimical. She grabbed ascrewdriver and started disassembling the shotgun’s firingmechanism.

Minutes ticked past as she hunkered over thetable, sweat dribbling into her eyes and dropping from her chin. Ithad to be over a hundred degrees in the boiler room. Still, she’drather be there than in Sparwood’s cabin.

Muffled grunts came from between theboilers, and Kali jumped. She’d forgotten about her prisoner. Withher new project in hand, she rushed over to check on him. He wasstill bound, though he looked like he’d been trying to saw hisropes off using the corner of the coal bin.

He gaped at Kali when she came into sight.Actually he gaped at the shotgun in her hands. It still had thesame body, but the two salvaged tanks attached under the barrelwere definite upgrades. One held kerosene and the other pressurizedair. A slender tube fed the flammable liquid into and through thebarrel. The flash gold flake was tucked out of sight, inside themuzzle, but she’d imprinted it with a command to ignite thekerosene when the trigger was pulled.

“Whuf iff it?” the piratedemanded, his words almost indistinguishable through the gag Kalihad stuffed into his mouth.

Kali doubted her weapon would work on thefirst attempt-given the way the day’s luck had gone, she might evenblow herself up-but she pulled the trigger, figuring she had to tryit eventually anyway. And wouldn’t it be great if it worked withthis stunted vegetable looking on?

The weapon issued a soft gurgle as liquidtraveled from the tank and through the gun. Though she had takensome care to hide the flash gold from view, streaks of yellowlightning escaped, coursing along the weapon, creating a rivetingdisplay. Kali rolled her eyes. The stuff always seemed to want tosteal the show.

Then the fuel ignited.

Kali had been expecting a flame-that was thewhole point of the design, after all-but the three-foot-long,six-inch-wide inferno that whooshed out of the barrel surprised herwith its size and power. She nearly dropped the gun. Even with theflame shooting out of the end, heat crackled in the air, beatingagainst her hands and face, and she eyed the wooden stock withconcern. It ought to be all right, for the short term. Shehoped.

“What is it, you ask?”Kali said, trying to cover her surprise with nonchalant words. “Ihaven’t thought of a name yet. Got any ideas?”

“Shit,” the pirate said,sort of. The gag made elocution difficult.

“That won’t impress anyoneat the patent office.”

The air buzzed around the weapon, andlightning continued to dance, streaking along the outside of theshotgun shaft to mingle with the flame. The stink of burningkerosene arose, and Kali wondered if she should have made a switchthat could modulate the amount of fuel sent to the flame. Ah, well.Next time. If nothing else, this ought to scare some pirates. Shelet go of the trigger, and the flame died out.

Thus armed, Kali jogged for the ladderleading to the upper decks of the ship.

“Whar…goin’?” the piratetried to call through the gag.

“To put a wrench inCudgel’s wheel.”

Kali clanked her way up the ladder, the gunbumping and tangling in the rungs, the leg iron adding weight toher ankle.

“Perhaps not the bestweapon for stealth,” she muttered.

Nonetheless, she made it to the top andmanaged to juggle her gear long enough to ease the hatch open andpeer out. She didn’t see any feet in the narrow door-filledcorridor above, but the hatch blocked half of her view. Shelistened. Muffled voices came from somewhere nearby, someone’scabin most likely, but no footsteps thudded toward her, so shehoped that meant the corridor was empty. From her point of view,she couldn’t see the steps or ladder that ought to lead to the opendeck up top. All of the doors in view were shut, including one atthe far end.

If Kali could find the navigation areawithout anyone spotting her, maybe she could surprise whoevermanned those controls and take over the ship before anyone knewwhat was happening. Except that she feared a ship like this,designed like a naval vessel, would have its navigation bridgeabove decks where lots of people could see it. Well, it was themiddle of the night. Maybe the crew would be sleeping or down inthe city, enjoying their ill-gotten earnings on gambling andwomen.

Kali lifted the hatch the rest of the wayand climbed out.

“You!” a pirate barkedfrom narrow stairs that had been hidden from view by the hatch. Hecharged her, a cutlass raised overhead.

Kali cursed in her mother’s tongue andwhipped the modified shotgun up, pulling the trigger.

This time, with the weapon already primed,the flames leapt to life immediately. The pirate ran right intothem. They poured against his chest, incinerating clothing andsearing flesh. He screamed, an ear-piercing cry of pure agony.

Kali pulled her weapon to the side andreleased the trigger, half because she couldn’t hold those flameson a man, and half because she was afraid she’d catch the woodencorridor on fire. The pirate’s scream only grew louder. Knowing sheneeded to quiet him, she slammed the butt of the shotgun into hishead. It was cruel to beat a man already so wounded, and she hatedthat she had to do it, but she couldn’t have him carrying on,alerting the entire ship. The pirate crumpled to the deck,clutching his chest, and sobbing. The air stank of burning flesh,and Kali’s stomach roiled. Frustrated with her lack of options, shepushed him so that he fell through the open hatch and into theboiler room below. There was a lock on the hatch, and she threw itinto place. It blocked out the man’s sobs, but she would neverforget the sight of his flesh and muscle being burned off beforeher eyes.

What have I made?” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. Sheshould have found a way to make more buckshot for the gun. It’d bea more merciful way to kill someone. Even a pirate didn’tdeserve-

A door in the corridor flew open, and abarefoot man stumbled out, gun belt clenched between his teethwhile he fumbled to fasten his trousers.

No time for self-doubt. Kali stood, foot onthe closed hatch, and aimed the weapon at him. Cruel or not, it wasthe only one she had.

The pirate stared at her-no, at the strangegun in her hands-and didn’t immediately run toward her. She thumbedthe flames on again, judging him far enough away that he’d feel theheat without being burned. Fire leapt from the end of the barrelwith surprising flair. Narrow streams twisted and twined in theair, shifting intensity and direction, like dancers on a stage.Watching it gave Kali a chill, as there was no mundane explanationfor that. The flake of flash gold had to be affecting it, as if ithad a mind of its own and was taking artistic license. Showingoff.

After a long, stunned second, the piratestumbled back, his belt falling from his mouth.

“Go back inside yourcabin,” Kali said, “and don’t come out until the sun’sup.”

She had no idea what she looked like afterthe rough night, but he stared at her, mouth agape, as if he’d seenthe Grim Reaper. Then he lunged back inside and slammed the doorshut.

“That’s a better solutionthan maiming people,” Kali said, then shut her mouth, because therewas a tremor in her voice. Her hands were shaking too.

Somewhere above her, people shouted. Thewhole ship had to have been roused by that man’s scream. Kali wassurprised pirates weren’t already charging down the stairs to gether. Sneaking to navigation was out of the question now, and shefeared she wouldn’t have much time to come up with a plan beforeshe found herself in a firefight.

Another door opened, this one behind her.Kali spun, weapon at the ready. This time, she recognized the hugeman who ducked to poke his head into the corridor. Sparwood. Hisbeard and hair stuck out in all directions, and a knife in his handdripped blood. His button-down shirt was open, showing black matsof chest hair as tangled as the snarled locks on his head.

Like a bear, Kali thought. An animal. Not ahuman being.

She held her finger on the trigger, butdidn’t pull it yet, not when he might easily duck back inside forcover. He smirked, eyes gleaming as he watched her. There was nofear in them. The cotton-for-brains lummox didn’t even look at herweapon.

He stepped into the corridor and raised hisfree hand, beckoning her with his fingers. He held the knifeloosely in the other, like he didn’t think he’d need it. If herweapon failed her, he wouldn’t. But, no, she couldn’t think likethat. It had worked before; it would work again.

As if in response to her thoughts, theconverted shotgun hummed in her hands. In the back of her mind, sheacknowledged that that was strange-she hadn’t pulled the trigger toturn the weapon on yet-but she had to stay focused on Sparwood.

Kali walked closer, slowly, steadily. A softsob came from within the beast’s quarters, but she didn’t letherself feel any relief at hearing the girl alive. She might wellbe beyond help at this point. Kali forced herself not to think, notto feel anything.

Then the bear leaped for her, his massivebulk filling the entire corridor. Kali pulled the trigger, even asshe realized there’d be no evading him. He’d crash into heranyway.

Flames burst forth, a massive inferno thatlit the corridor like a sun. She didn’t aim for his chest, but forhis prick. Even if he survived the burns-and she hoped hedidn’t-she’d make sure he didn’t rape anyone else again.

The fire flowed into him, engulfing him,wrapping about him and bathing him fully. He didn’t scream, but heroared, all pain and rage.

Though Kali had thought to stand her ground,to brace herself for his weight tumbling into her, she foundherself backpedaling as his huge form filled her vision. She wasn’tfast enough, and he slammed into her legs, sending her tumblingbackward. She hit the deck hard, the shotgun flying from her grip.The flames winked out, and Sparwood was on top of her.

His roar filled her ears. He thrashed about,and she thought he was grabbing her, that his knife would come inand eviscerate her any second, but he had dropped the blade. He wasclutching at himself, at horrible burns that had seared throughflesh and muscle, all the way to the bone. He found his feet andjumped off of Kali to pound up the stairs, yelling strangled criesfor water.

A shot fired on the deck above, and Kalicursed. She doubted she could hope that was one of the pirates,accidentally shooting at their own comrade. She’d probably have menpouring down the stairs in a second.

Trying to ignore the sick stench of charredflesh, Kali grabbed her weapon and charged into Sparwood’s vacatedcabin. Her first thought was to find the girl and get out of there,but footsteps thundered on the deck above. Kali shut the doorquickly. The tiny cabin seemed a pathetic place to make a stand,but she couldn’t take the time to open the rest of the doors in thecorridor to see if any hid better spots, and she wasn’t about to goback down into the boiler room, where she’d left the angry, woundedpirates.

The cabin was dim, lit only by a singlecandle in a storm glass lamp, and it took Kali a moment to pick outthe figure huddled in the corner. She was naked, clothes torn offand dumped in a pile. Blood darkened the floor around her, and Kaliheld her breath, afraid to approach. What if…. What if she was toolate?

She couldn’t help but feel she owed thisgirl a debt, if only for being a distraction for Sparwood.Otherwise, it might have been Kali in there. She never could havefought off Sparwood one on one, and she wouldn’t have had time tomake her weapon.

A sob escaped the woman, and Kali releasedher breath. Still alive.

“He’s gone,” she said,wishing she had something more comforting to say, but there wasn’ttime for anything but the practical. “Can you stand? We’re going tohave to run if we’re going to have a chance of escaping.” ThoughKali hadn’t quite figured out how to make that happenyet.

The girl didn’t respond. Kali flexed herfingers, wondering if she should creep forward and touch her on theshoulder or leave her alone. Being touched might send her over theedge. Kali looked around the cabin for inspiration, but the placeonly made her stomach churn.

Different colored patches of hair werenailed to the walls. Clumps cut free from the man’s victims?Mounted above them, a strange glove with long brass claws gleamedin the candlelight-the tool he’d used to make people think ananimal had killed the women.

“Deranged beast,” Kalimuttered.

Shouts came from above decks. Sparwoodrousing his comrades to fight? Kali was surprised men hadn’t rusheddown the stairs already. Her dream of commandeering the ship seemeddestined to fail unless something up there was distracting thepirates. Maybe that was why they hadn’t charged down yet. Hopestarted to sprout, hope that Cedar might be up there, but shesquashed it. Because she’d run off without telling him herdestination, he wouldn’t know where she was, and, even if he didknow, the airship was likely flying high enough that nobody couldboard it. No, she’d be better off finding some rope, sneaking up toa railing on the main deck, or maybe into that cargo area with thetrapdoor-wherever that was. Of course, she didn’t know if her newally was in a condition to hold onto a rope and climb down whatmight be dozens of feet or more.

Kali cursed again, wishing she had a betteridea.

Though she didn’t lift her head, the girlstirred at Kali’s cursing. Strange. It had been in Han, notEnglish. Was it possible she understood? Kali didn’t think any ofthe dancers were from her mother’s tribe, but the northernlanguages did have a lot of similarities.

“Do you understand me?”she asked in Han. “I’m…Kali. Tsul Gah,” she corrected, using thename her mother had given her.

Finally the girl looked up. And stared.“Tsul Gah?”

Kali almost stumbled. Though blood smearedthe side of the girl’s face, and her lip and cheek were swollen,Kali recognized her, not just as a Han, but as someone from thetribe she had grown up in. Keitlyudee, the name came to her, a girlthat had been a couple of years older than she. They hadn’t beenfriends, exactly, but Keitlyudee hadn’t been cruel either. Shesurely didn’t deserve this fate. She-

The cabin door slammed open.

Kali jumped, whirling in the air to landwith her flame weapon pointing at the man in the corridor.Cedar.

“What’re you…” Kalistarted, but stopped and grinned. She couldn’t imagine how he’dgotten up there-she wasn’t even sure where the ship was in relationto the city and the saloon any more-but she was relieved to seehim.

“I’m here to rescue you,”Cedar said, raising an eyebrow at her modified shotgun. “Though itseems that, as usual, you don’t need my help.”

Kali didn’t know about that-she had lockedherself in a tiny room with no escape after all-but Cedar’sattention shifted before she could think of a good response. Hiseyes grew grim, his face somber, as he looked around the cabin. Henoticed the girl, who was still huddled in the corner. She hadburied her head in her arms and wasn’t moving.

Cedar winced. “Is she…?”

“She’s alive,” Kalisaid.

Shouts and heavy footfalls sounded from thedirection of the stairs. Cedar lunged into the cabin and spun tolean back out into the corridor, a six-shooter in his hand. Kaliskittered back. In his other hand, Cedar gripped his sword, andrivulets of blood ran down the long blade to drip on the woodenfloorboards.

“Problem?” Kaliasked.

Cedar fired the revolver twice. A salvo ofreturn gunshots thundered through the corridor. He ducked back intothe cabin a split second before a bullet hammered into thedoorjamb, sending shards of wood flying.

He slammed the door shut. “I thoughtshooting that giant burned man and decapitating a couple of otherswould make them pause. Not long enough it seems.”

“You killed Sparwood?”Kali asked.

“Is that who that was? Iwondered. Yes, shot him square between the eyes.”

“Good,” Kali saidgrimly.

Cedar took a closer look at the modifiedshotgun in her hands. “Are you the one who…”

Kali swallowed and forced herself to nod andacknowledge her actions. Admittedly, she didn’t feel that bad aboutcausing Sparwood such pain. The other pirate…. She hoped he hadcommitted heinous crimes of his own, so there might be somejustification for torching him. Her insides still twisted at thememory of that flesh, seared and melted like candle wax.

“Good work,” Cedarsaid.

Kali winced, not wanting praise formutilating people, but Cedar had turned toward the corridor anddidn’t see her face. He yanked the door open, leaned out for aheartbeat, fired twice, and ducked back inside. A scream and astring of curses bombarded the corridor. Return fire came, but toolate. Cedar was already back inside, though he left the door openthis time. He fished bullets out of his ammo pouch and reloaded thesix-shooter.

“They’re on the stairs,”he whispered. “I think I can hold them at bay, but only if there’snot another way down here and they can’t come at us from bothsides.”

At that moment, clangs came from the hatchin the corridor floor. Eyes wide, Cedar started to lean out, butKali caught him before he could risk his head.

“After I escaped from theboiler room, I left a couple of men down there,” Kali said, “butthe hatch is locked. I don’t think they’ll be breaking out any timesoon.”

“Ah. Excellent.” Cedargrinned and grabbed her for a one-armed hug made awkward by theweapons in his hands. He planted a kiss on her temple, surprisingher, mostly because that was the last thing on her mind, but he hadan adventurous gleam in his eye again, like he was having a goodtime. Crazy man.

“There’s a pirate in hiscabin a couple of doors down though. I convinced him to go backinside-” Kali twitched her flame weapon, “-but he might decide tocheck on things at some point. I suppose there could be otherscowering too.”

“Understood.”

In the corner of the cabin, Keitlyudeestirred, peeking over her shoulder to look at them. Cedar liftedhis hand, as if to tip his hat, but seemed to remember he had asword in it. He lowered his arm and simply said, “Ma’am.”

The girl shrank back into herself. Kalicouldn’t imagine that she’d want anything to do with a man for along time. “That’s Keitlyudee. She’s Han. I want to drop her off atMoosehide after we take over the ship.” Kali glanced at the girl,but she had her head buried again. “I reckon her kin will take bestcare of her.”

“Take over the ship?”Cedar asked. “When did that become the plan?”

“Recently. I was thinkingI’d just grab her, and we’d escape, but then the reinforcementsburst in.”

Cedar’s eyebrows rose. “Should the wordreinforcements be plural when there’s just the one of me?”

“There’s you, thesix-shooter, and the sword,” Kali said. “If you and your team of weapons theremanaged to cut off the captain’s pants, then taking over the shipshould be a simple matter.”

“I see. What do you needme to do?”

Something in the corridor drew Cedar’sattention, and he went down on one knee and leaned out to shoottwice. The return fire came instantaneously, but it pounded intothe jamb where his head had been the first time. He’d thrown themoff by firing from a lower position, and he withdrew before theycould hit him.

Gasps of pain followed the gunshots alongwith the sound of someone tumbling down the stairs.

“Is there any chance I canget to navigation without being shot?” Kali said.

“It’s out in the open, ina little room with windows on all sides.” Cedar leaned out andfired again.

“Oh, so even if I couldget inside up there, I’d be target practice for pirates on accountof all the windows.”

“Essentially.”

Kali drummed her fingers on the barrel ofher weapon. If not navigation, maybe she could take control fromthe engine room. If she could manually control those fans, thepirates would be at her whim. Of course, she wouldn’t be able tosee where they were going, but-

“Can you do anything fromthat machine closet at the end of the hall?” Cedarasked.

“The what?”

He waved toward the corridor, at the endopposite from the stairs. “I took a wrong turn during my previousvisit and ended up in there. Had to fight my way out. There were abunch of pipes and controls.”

“What’d they say?” Kaliasked.

“There was a passel ofpeople shooting at me. Perusing the wall literature wasn’t foremostin my mind.” Cedar leaned back out, pistol at the ready, to checkon the situation.

Kali chewed on her lip. Pipes leading fromthe bowels of the ship to somewhere up above. Could they behydrogen and pressurized air lines that fed the balloon? If so, shemight be able to force the ship to land.

“He’s just one man,” camea voice from the top of the stairs. “If you don’t get your blightedasses down there to shoot him, I’ll have you walk the plank on topof Mountie Headquarters.”

“He’s got a gun,” adissenter cried.

“You’veall got guns. He’ll runout of ammo eventually.”

“I haveplenty of ammunition,”Cedar called back. “I came prepared. Show your heads down here onlyif you want them blown off.”

He ducked back inside before the answeringshots were fired.

“Are we still above thecity?” Kali asked.

“Yes, above the TraplineHotel when I came up. I ran into Lockhart and almost didn’t makeit. I was busy looking for you, and he caught me by surprise.”Cedar gave her a significant stare, and Kali lifted a hand inapology.

“Sorry about that. Ishouldn’t have gone off without telling you, but I was hoping Icould explain things to Lockhart and that he’d realize you weren’tresponsible for those murders.”

“Yes, and how’d that go?”Cedar asked sarcastically.

“Poorly. He waved his gunat me and told me only your death would bring peace to those whowere murdered.”

Guns fired, though they sounded far away.Down below them somewhere. Cedar cocked his head but dismissed thenoise. It filled Kali with hope. Maybe Mounties were even nowtrying to figure out a way to eliminate the pirates. If she couldbring the craft down, there might be an armed force waiting to takeon the criminals that had been plaguing the claims along the YukonRiver. Of course, landing in the city would be a problem,especially if she was steering from a closet. The citizens mightnot be happy with her if she crashed the ship into one of thepopular saloons.

“Wait until you see what’sin the closet before making plans,” Kali told herself.

“What?” Cedar asked. Hewas checking the corridor again.

“Nothing. Just thinking.How’d you get from the hotel onto the ship?” Kali didn’t see anyspecial climbing gear on Cedar.

“After I evaded Lockhart,I circled back to the saloon, grilled some of the patrons, learnedabout the kidnapping and that you’d been there. I saw the ship andhad a hunch you’d be up here too. I made a grappling hook, ranacross the rooftops until I could get close enough, threw it overthe railing, and climbed up.”

“Sounds like a lot ofwork. I appreciate you coming.”

“I figured you could useme for…. What’s the plan again?” Cedar pressed his ear to the door.“They’re being quiet. That can’t be good.”

“I’d like to check thatcloset you mentioned, see if I can give the pirates some trouble todeal with. Can you distract them long enough for me to run to theend of the corridor and shut myself in?”

Cedar frowned at her. “That door won’t stopbullets. I don’t want you running for it if they’re still shootingin this direction.” He thunked the tip of his sword onto thefloorboards thoughtfully. “Though if you had some of your smokenuts or some such, I reckon I could charge on up there and keepthem from looking down here for a while.”

Kali deposited her lone smoke nut in hishand, then handed him her flame weapon. “I expect you can make alot of smoke with that. Just don’t burn anything important. I stillaim to claim this ship for my own.”

Cedar frowned. “As much as I’d be tickled toput your latest invention to use, I don’t want to leave you withouta weapon.”

There wasn’t time to go into why she didn’tparticularly want to use the deadly flame-maker again herself, soshe simply said, “I’m sure we can find something here.” Kali gavehim a quick demonstration on how to use the weapon. Between it, thesword, and the blood spattering his clothing, he would look likesome hell-spawned demon bursting into that group of pirates. Ifthey were smart, they’d jump overboard while they could.

A concerned furrow crinkled Cedar’s brow,but Kali gave him a firm it’s-settled wave, then pulled open a seachest and threw out clothing that stank of sweat and blood. Sheshoved candles and matches out of the way and, at the bottom, founda pair of six-shooters and ammunition. She stuffed one revolverinto her overalls and held the other out. “Keitlyudee, can youshoot?”

The girl lifted her head and stared at theweapon without answering.

“Look,” Kali said,switching to Han, “if we don’t get out of here, you’re going tosuffer more torment at the hands of these pirates. We all will. Ineed your help.”

Keitlyudee closed her eyes, took a deepbreath, and stood up. She turned her back to Cedar and wrapped herarms around herself. “I understand,” she whispered, also in Han,though she surely had to understand English if she’d been on theroad with that dancing troupe.

Kali gave her the gun.

“I need…” With a shakinghand, Keitlyudee waved to encompass her naked state.

Kali looked away from the welts and blood.Seeing what Sparwood had done made her want to fry him again. “Lotsof clothes to pick from.” She kicked the heap of shirts on thefloor.

Keitlyudee’s back stiffened. “I will shoothis gun, but I will not wear anything that monster touched.”

“They’re planningsomething,” Cedar said after another corridor check. “I can hearmuttering at the top of the stairs.

“You’ll have to go nakedthen,” Kali told Keitlyudee, this time in English.

“Why wouldthat be a requirementfor distracting them?” Cedar looked over his shoulder. “Oh, youmean her.”

“You’re welcome to strip,too,” Kali said. “I’m still waiting to see if you havehammertoes.”

“I do not. My toes arehandsome. Like the rest of me.”

Cedar set his weapons aside while he removedhis shirt. He handed it to Keitlyudee and reclaimed his gear. Sheregarded the shirt briefly before pulling it over her head. Itdangled to her knees like a dress.

“Looks like we’re ready,”Kali said.

A metal tin clinked down the stairs androlled to a stop near their door. Blue smoke hissed into thecorridor. Cedar looked like he might lean out and kick the thingback the way it had come, but a gunshot rang out, and a bulletsmashed into the door frame, inches from his head.

Cedar drew back, flinging an arm over hisnose and mouth, and grumbled, “Smoke grenade.”

“That’s not a smokegrenade.” Kali pointed to the smoke nut in Cedar’s hand.“That’s a smokegrenade.”

“Yes, right. I’ll put itto good use.” Cedar nodded to himself. “You two ladies, go takecare of bringing the ship down. I’ll give you the time youneed.”

“Be careful,” Kali said.“If we land-” she decided to be optimistic and not use the wordcrash, “-Lockhart could be there waiting. And Cudgeltoo.”

Cedar had been readying the smoke nut tothrow, but he froze in the middle of arming it. Slowly, veryslowly, he lifted his eyes to meet Kali’s through the haze waftinginto the cabin. “Cudgel is here?”

“I assume it was him. Theycalled him Mister Conrad, and even the captain was deferential. Hewanted me and was interested in the flash gold, but he said he wasgoing off to set things up, so the Pinkerton detective would besure to find you.”

Cedar was statue-still. If not for thesubtle rise and fall of his chest, Kali might not have known he wasalive.

“He wore a white suit,”she went on, “and had green-blue eyes. Seemed more like the slick,gentlemanly type than a ‘Cudgel,’ but I reckon you can’t go bylooks.”

It was smoke billowing into the room and around of coughing from Keitlyudee that finally bestirred Cedar.“No, you can’t. That’s him.” He offered Kali a quick smile, thoughit did not reach his eyes. “I better survive these pirates, so Ican get him. I’m not going to fail when I’m this close.”

“Be careful,” Kali urgedagain. She was thinking that she ought to give him a kiss for luckor elicit a promise that he’d return to her, or one of those otherthings women always did when men they cared about went into battle,but she was too slow, and Cedar opened the door and slipped intothe smoky corridor. The haze swallowed him.

“What’s that?” a pirateblurted from above.

“He threw our grenadeback-no, wait, it’s-” The speaker broke off with a cry ofpain.

“Time for us to go,” Kaliwhispered to Keitlyudee.

She trusted Cedar to give her the time sheneeded; now she had to make use of it. She tied a kerchief aroundher nose and mouth, then slipped out of the cabin, heading towardthe door at the end of the corridor.

Though the pirate smoke grenade was spewingits last gray puffs, the acrid air stung her eyes, so Kali hustled.Behind her, gunshots fired. This time, they weren’t near thestairway, and she knew Cedar was on deck with the pirates.

When Kali opened the door, she almosttripped over a man sitting on the floor inside a closet full ofpipes and levers. He stared up at her with bleary eyes and a bottleclenched in one meaty paw. Almost as surprised by his presence ashe clearly was by hers, Kali scrabbled for her revolver.

For a man in a drunken stupor, the piratereacted quickly. He hurled his bottle at Kali before she could tugthe gun out of her overalls. She ducked, and it skimmed past herhead and crashed against a wall of vertical pipes. Cheap alcoholand shards of glass flew. The man lunged to his feet, reaching fora gun of his own, but Kali kicked him in the knee to buy herself asecond. She jumped back into the corridor, finally yanking hersix-shooter free.

Kali aimed it at his chest. “Drop yourgun.”

Her kick had thrown theman off balance, and he slipped in the spilled alcohol. In theconfining closet, he couldn’t fall far, but his head smacked thewall and he dropped his gun. It hit the ground and went off. Kaliflung herself to the floor. From the clang, clang, thunk that followed,she guessed the bullet never left the closet. A hiss of gas roseover the clamor coming from the deck above.

Kali winced. “On second thought, mysuggestion to drop the gun might have been flawed.”

After hopping to her feet, she aimed herrevolver at the pirate again, but he hadn’t moved since his headstruck the wall. She grabbed the fallen gun and patted him down forother weapons, but didn’t find anything else. She eyed hiscorpulent form with a grimace. As tiny as the closet was, she’dhave to move him out in order to step inside herself.

Kali grabbed his arm. Farther back in thecorridor, Keitlyudee was watching with her own revolver pointedloosely in the man’s direction. Kali thought about asking for help,but the girl barely seemed to have the wherewithal left to hold thegun. Kali dragged the two hundred pounds of dead weight through thedoorway on her own, her legs and back trembling from the effort.Grunting and straining, she finally managed to tug the pirate outof the closet. Smoke lingered in the corridor, and she had to fightnot to break into a coughing fit.

A door creaked open behind her. Damn, shehad forgotten about that pirate.

He had found shoes, and he wore his weaponsbelt around his waist now instead of between his teeth. He hadalready extracted a six-shooter from it, and he pointed it at Kalieven as she pointed hers at him.

“Who told you that youcould come out?” she growled, putting all the steel she couldmuster into her voice, knowing that, without the flame gun, she didnot have as fearsome a weapon with which to cow him.

“Put down your guns,girls,” the pirate said.

Keitlyudee dropped her weapon and pressedher back against the wall, though she was farther down the corridorand not the focus of the pirate’s attention.

Kali flicked her gaze toward the stairwelland lifted a hand, as if Cedar had appeared and she was beckoninghim for help. For a split second, the pirate’s eyes shifted. Kalifired.

Anticipating a return shot, she droppeddown, almost landing on the unconscious man. The return fire cameamidst curses, the bullet zipping over her head so close it stirredher hair. It clanged against metal behind Kali.

Her bullet had clipped the pirate’s ear, andblood streamed down the side of his head. It had to hurt, but hewas lowering his gun to fire again. Still on her back, Kali shotfirst, this time leaving a smoking hole in his boot. The man howledand dropped his gun. Kali kicked it down the corridor and trainedher weapon on the pirate again.

“I said, who told you to come out?”Yes, she was flat on her back, but she would shoot him again, in amore vital spot, if he didn’t back off.

Hopping on one foot, the man gave her a wildglare. Had he not expected a woman would actually shoot him? Aftera long, considering moment, he stumbled back into his cabin.

Kali yanked his door shut and scrambled toher feet.

“Stand here and watch thisone,” she told Keitlyudee, then stepped over the unconscious pirateand returned to the mechanical room. “Shoot him if he getsup.”

“You’re not afraid of themat all, are you?” Keitlyudee asked.

Kali’s heart, still pounding after havingthat gun pointed at her face, belied that notion, but all she saidwas, “I’m sure I would be if I’d had your night.”

She focused on the levers, on/off wheels,gauges, and pipes running from floor to ceiling in the cubby andscowled. Not only were there two holes in one of the pipes, but shecouldn’t identify which gas was flowing out from them. The labelplaques were in…“Persian?” she guessed. Her father had had bookswritten in European languages, but he had never taught her how toread any of them, and everything inside the machine room wasgibberish to her. “Why couldn’t these oafs steal an American orBritish airship?”

She leaned close to one of the leaks andsniffed, though she promptly rolled her eyes at herself when shedidn’t smell anything. Both oxygen and hydrogen were colorless andodorless, so what had she expected?

“The holes are good,aren’t they?” Keitlyudee had edged closer. “We wanted to sabotagethings, didn’t we?”

“We want to bring down theship. If the air supply is leaking, that’s not going to happen. Weneed to make sure they run low on hydrogen up there, but I’m notsure which one is which. How’s your Persian?”

The girl gave Kali a blank look.

“That’s about what Iexpected.” Kali picked up the alcohol bottle. Only the neck hadbroken, and the body appeared to be intact. “Will you get me thematches in Sparwood’s chest?”

Keitlyudee paled, probably not wanting toreturn to that foul room, but she whispered, “Very well,” andheaded down the corridor.

Kali drained the remaining liquid from thebottle. Gunfire sounded somewhere overhead. She wondered if anyonein navigation had noticed the pressure drop on the gas boardyet.

“Here.” Keitlyudee handedher a couple of long wooden matches with bulbous phosphorousheads.

Kali lifted her hand, but paused. “Betternot do it in here.” Her dead father would cringe with embarrassmentif she blew herself up by lighting a match in a closet full ofhydrogen. “Wait for me by the stairs. I’ll have you light one overthere.”

“All right…”

Kali decided not to explain the dangers ofher little experiment. They would only worry the girl. She turnedthe alcohol bottle sideways and pressed the jagged opening as closeto one of the holes as she could. Gas whistled past, cooling herfingers, and she hoped enough of it got into the bottle for herexperiment.

When she judged the bottle to be as full asit would get, Kali plopped her hand over it as tightly as shecould, given the jagged glass lip. “Light the match.”

She jogged up the corridor and placed thebottle on a step near the exit, hoping enough cool air was swirlingdown from above that they didn’t need to worry about hydrogen inthe corridor. Keitlyudee lit the match. Kali took it and, wishingfor goggles, slid the flame over the bottle opening at the sametime as she removed her hand.

The flame was sucked into the bottle with apop.

“That’s it,” Kali said andran back to the closet, tearing tin snips out of her pocket as shewent. As soon as she reached the leaking pipe, she went to workbroadening the holes so the gas would flow out morequickly.

“Uh?” Keitlyudee said fromthe corridor. “What did we just prove?”

“This is the hydrogenline,” Kali said. “That pop we heard was the sound of the gascombusting really fast and the pressure equalizing inside andoutside of the container.”

“Oh,” Keitlyudee said, notsounding any more enlightened than before.

Kali worked on the pipe until she’d nearlytorn it in half. “There,” she murmured. “That ought to bring thisboat down.”

A shot fired in the corridor.

“Are they coming?” Kalistuffed her tin snips into a pocket and stepped out.

The smell of black smoke tinged the air, andKeitlyudee stood, looking at her gun. “No. I mean, I thoughtsomeone ran past the top of the stairs, and I fired. They weren’tcoming down though. I guess.”

Kali rubbed her face. The girl was as likelyto shoot an ally in the back as an enemy. “Let’s go up and see ifthis hole is causing a problem for the navigator yet.”

Before they reached the stairs, the scent ofsmoke came to Kali’s nose. At first, she thought it might belingering from her experiment or the gunshot, but it was waftingdown from the deck above. She hoped Cedar wasn’t running around,lighting things on fire up there. She still had hopes for claimingthe ship.

Kali eased up the steps, her revolver at theready, and poked her head out. Darkness blanketed the stern of theship, but toward the bow firelight pushed back the night andhighlighted bodies-at least a dozen-littering the deck. The flamesdanced around an enclosed cabin where Kali could just make out thewheel of the ship and a bank of levers through windows reflectingthe fire. Navigation. If any pirates were still inside, shecouldn’t tell.

Her eye followed those flames upward, andshe swallowed. If the fire grew a few more feet, it would bebathing the bottom of the balloon. If it burned through the outershell and ignited the hydrogen, the fiddling she’d done with thepipe wouldn’t matter an iota.

“Cedar,” Kali groaned.“What have you been doing up-”

An impact jolted the ship, hurling Kalibackward, amidst cracking wood and groaning metal. She tried tocatch herself on the stairs, but her heel slipped off, and shetumbled to the bottom, landing in a painful heap. Shudders ranthrough the vessel. They must have hit something. Were they intown? Or on a mountaintop somewhere?

The ship groaned and scraped, pulling awayfrom whatever it had struck.

“Are you all right?”Keitlyudee asked.

Kali waved the question away and scrambledto her feet. “I’m fine, but I need to find Cedar. I want you to getoff as soon as possible. If we can find his rope and grapplinghook, maybe-”

Footsteps pounded toward the entrance abovethem. The navigators finally coming down to check on what hadcaused the hydrogen to vent?

Kali dropped to one knee and braced herwrist for a steady shot at whoever burst into sight at the top ofthe stairs.

“Kali!” Cedar shouted asecond before he appeared. “I need you to-oh, there youare.”

Kali lowered the gun and ran up to meet him.Another impact rocked the ship, and a great cracking and smashingof wood shattered the night. This time the ship jerked to a halt,sending Kali flying forward instead of back. Cedar caught her andpulled her against his chest. His legs were spread, braced againstthe steps and the wall.

“We have to get off,” hesaid.

“Yes, but if we leave, wecan’t take over the ship. The pirates will get it, and thisfighting will have been for nothing.” Well, not nothing-they’drescued Keitlyudee-but Kali wanted the ship, damn it.

“We just crashed into asmokestack, and we’re on the roof of the mill, Kali,” Cedar saidslowly, like someone trying to get something through the muddledthoughts of a drunk.

“Oh.” Kali supposed thatanswered her question about whether they were in town or thewilderness.

“There aren’t any piratesleft either,” Cedar went on. “The only thing to worry about is thatfire spreading to the entire town.” He pointed at theflames.

Dried blood streaked his arm. In fact, hiswhole chest was spattered with it, though he did not appearinjured. Kali wondered if the pirates were gone because theyabandoned the ship or if he had decimated them all. She decided notto ask.

Shouts drifted up from the town below, criesof, “Fire!” and, “Get the hoses!”

“Tarnation,” Kali said, asthe new threat permeated her brain. She’d wanted to bring the shipdown, not light the city on fire. She pushed away from Cedar.“Maybe we can get the ship off the mill and dump it in the riverwhere the fire can’t spread.”

Cedar gave her a suspicious squint beforeletting her go. He probably thought she was still hoping to salvagethe ship, and maybe she was, but she couldn’t let it turn Dawsoninto an inferno, not when she’d been responsible for sabotaging thehydrogen.

Keitlyudee was lingering on the stairsbehind her. Kali grabbed her arm and guided her onto the deck.

“Is there a way for her toget off?” Kali asked.

“My rope should still betied behind that capstan over there.” Cedar pointed toward arailing on the aft side of the ship.

“Can you climb down?” Kaliasked, eyeing the woman’s bruises.

Keitlyudee nodded vigorously. She’d probablydo anything to get off the ship and away from her night ofhell.

“Go, then.” Kali wavedtoward the railing, then told Cedar, “I’m going to navigation.Cover me.”

Without waiting for approval-or dissent-Kalijogged across the flame-lit deck toward the cabin. Heat beatagainst her face, and wood snapped so loudly it hurt her ears. Ashower of sparks flew upward, dancing toward the bottom of theballoon.

“Kali…” Cedar had caughtup to her, and he grabbed her arm. “It’s too dangerous to go inthere. You need to-” He broke off with a hiss.

Kali glanced over her shoulder and followedCedar’s gaze. At the far end of the ship, a dark figure wasslipping over the railing.

“Look out!” Cedar lunged,throwing an arm around Kali’s waist and bearing her down withhim.

A gunshot fired, and a bullet skipped offthe deck inches from Cedar’s head.

“Who-” Kalistarted.

“Lockhart.” Cedar jumpedto his feet again, hauling Kali with him, and he raced around tothe front of the navigation cabin.

It took them out of the detective’s line offire, but, given the flames crackling and roaring a foot away, Kalidid not know that they were any safer there.

“Do what you have to do inthere.” Cedar leaned around a corner and fired a shot. “I’ll keephim busy.”

Kali hesitated, remembering his words fromthe restaurant. He didn’t want to kill Lockhart, so he’d beshooting only to maim. Lockhart, on the other hand, wanted Cedarmore than anything else in the world just then.

“I’ll be fine here on myown.” Kali tried to shove Cedar toward the railing. “He won’t shootme. You should get out of here before-”

Cedar darted away from her and fired twiceinto the night. With the navigation cabin blocking her view, Kalicouldn’t see Lockhart, but she imagined him ducking behind somecover. Cedar waved Kali toward the open door, even as he ran andslid behind a capstan near the railing. Fire danced on ropes overhis head.

Kali swallowed. She had best do thisquickly, for both of their sakes.

The windows allowed her to see inside thecabin. Though flames roared on the outside, they did not seem tohave damaged the interior irrevocably yet. Kali tugged her kerchiefover her mouth and nose again and edged closer to the door. Certainthe metal lever would be hotter than Hades, she pulled her sleeveover her hand.

Heat railed at her, and the wind shifted,driving smoke into her eyes. The men exchanged another round offire, and Kali forced herself to hurry. She grabbed the lever,twisting it and yanking it open. The sleeve did nothing forprotection, and heat scorched her palm, as if she had grabbed aniron from the forge. The hatch swung open. She shook her hand andmade a point not to look at the welts that had to be risingthere.

Staying low, Kali dartedinto the cabin. With windows on all sides, she knew she’d be atarget in there. Though she didn’t think Lockhart would aim at her, shecouldn’t be sure. He might decide hurting her would distract Cedar,providing the opportunity the agent needed to take his prey down.Or he might think she was trying to damage the city instead ofsaving it.

Kali dashed sweat out of her eyes as sheconsidered the large wooden wheel and the control panel sprawlingacross the front of the cabin. Waves of heat battered her from allsides, and she knew she couldn’t stay long. Even with the kerchiefover her mouth, hot fumes scorched her nostrils, seeming to burnall the way to her lungs. She’d never been inside a volcano, butshe imagined it would feel like this.

Though she didn’t expect it to have anyresult, Kali grabbed the wheel and spun it as far to one side as itwould go. The ship’s engines were still working-vibrations thrummedbeneath her feet-but they could do nothing, not with the vesselgrounded atop the mill. Indeed, Kali could see the large smokestackpressed against the bow. For all she knew, the fans that propelledthe ship were busted, smashed into pieces when the craft crashedonto the mill roof. Only achieving lift would help them.

More screams of, “Fire, fire!” came from thecity below, and Kali had a feeling the flames were alreadyspreading.

She searched the bank of levers, hunting forsomething that might help. As far as she knew, the balloon wasn’tyet compromised, so there had to be hydrogen remaining up there.What if she now vented some of the air? That would partiallydeflate the balloon, but it’d also change the hydrogen-to-airratio. If the ship wasn’t too heavy, maybe there’d be enough of thelighter gas left to lift the hull a few feet. That ought to be allthey needed to limp through town and reach the river.

Unlike with the controls in the machine roombelow, these had tape pasted below them with English translationsscrawled across the surface. There was hydrogen with its leveralready thrust to maximum. Someone had tried to get them back intothe air, but there were no reserves to call upon. Kali could havesmacked herself on the forehead for her shortsighted sabotage.Bringing the ship down had been her goal, of course, but that hadbeen before she’d known about the fire. She’d envisioned a softlanding in the middle of the Main Street mud. If they caught thecity on fire…it’d be her fault.

The smoke invading her throat spurred aseries of coughs, and Kali dropped low for a moment, gatheringherself. Black dots danced at the edges of her vision. The heat wasmaking her dizzy.

A bullet shattered one of the rear windows.It cut straight through and slammed into a charred support beam inthe corner. Broken glass pelted Kali. Already on her knees, sheburied her head and raised her arms to protect her neck. Shardstinkled to the deck all around, the soft noises oddly audible abovethe snapping wood and roaring fire. More than one piece of glassfound bare skin, and Kali winced. Warm blood trickled down herjawline.

“So much for Lockhart notshooting at me,” she muttered, her voice hoarse.

Talking only brought on another round ofcoughing. More noxious fumes invaded her lungs.

Kali squinted up at the control panel,renewing her search. There was a lever for adding air, butwhere-ah, there it was. Two wheels for emergency venting purposes,both fortunately labeled. Kali fought against the heat and her owndizziness to rise enough to grab the closest wheel. She had tosimultaneously push and twist to vent the air.

Out on the deck, the fire had spread,charring everything in its path as flames leapt into the night.Under the reddish glow, Kali glimpsed Lockhart inching closer tothe bow of the ship. He darted from one piece of cover to the next,drawing near her station.

From somewhere in front ofthe navigation cabin, Cedar fired. Lockhart ducked behind one ofthe weapons turrets. Kali shook her head. Didn’t he know that Cedardidn’t have tomiss? And would Cedar continue to miss if Lockhart became a threatto her? Being framed for murdering innocent citizens was badenough; killing a Pinkerton detective would bring the wrath of theentire agency down upon him.

After Kali left the vent controls, shecrouched behind the wooden navigation wheel and turned it all theway to starboard. Nothing happened. She held it there, hoping theballoon would eventually rise, lifting the ship free of its perch.Of course, if the ship was too heavy and the balloon simplydeflated, it might droop down onto the deck, and smother them allin a fiery cocoon of death.

“Probably shouldn’t thinkthings like that,” she muttered to herself.

A loud crack erupted behind her. Kali drewher arm in front of her face as a portion of the roof caved in.Burning wood fell everywhere, and ash clogged the air. A gapinghole in the ceiling revealed flames leaping from the cabin’s roof,their fingers licking the bottom of the balloon. If the hydrogenblew…with her this close to it….

Kali gulped and rose to her feet, tempted tosprint outside and forget the ship and the city. She didn’t want todie over this. Maybe if she could find some rope, she could tie thewheel in place, so the ship would turn away from the smokestack onits own if the hull lifted.

Wood scraped and groaned beneath Kali. Thehull scraping against the mill’s roof.

“Yes,” she whispered.“We’re moving.”

With the hot wheel gripped in both hands,she fastened her gaze to the front window. Ash stung her eyes, andtears streamed down her face, but it didn’t matter. They wererising. Slowly but surely, with much scraping and bumping, theyclimbed away from the mill roof.

Kali adjusted the wheel, trying to veer inthe direction of the river. The ship responded sluggishly, but itinched forward.

More than one bullet had assaulted thewindows, and she had to peer through a spider web of cracked glass.Despite the fire raging on the ship, the blanket of night stillcloaked Dawson. She struggled to get her bearings, and it was morememory of the city’s layout that guided her, rather than what shesaw, though dozens of lanterns swirled about below, people runningto and fro, coming to help, or perhaps simply gawk.

Nausea churned in Kali’s stomach, andlightheadedness continued to assail her. She gripped the wheeltightly, fearing she might otherwise wither under the heat andcollapse to the deck. She’d stopped sweating and was simply bakingnow, like salmon bundled in leaves and cooked beneath the embers ofa fire.

Movement stirred at the corner of hervision. Lockhart. He’d drawn even with the cabin, and gripped hisColt, his jaw set with determination, but he didn’t aim it at her.He met her eyes briefly before standing on tiptoes to peer out pastthe bow. Did he know what she was trying to accomplish? Kali hopedso. She was too hot to dodge bullets. All she wanted was-

A snap split the air, hammering Kali’s earswith its power. The ceiling collapsed.

Burning wood plummeted, and somethingheavy-a beam? — smashed into her and flattened her to the deck.

Strangely, Kali didn’t feel any pain, but agreat weight pinned her. It felt like a mountain had landed on herback, and it wasn’t moving. She tried to push and pull herselffree, but one of her arms was also pinned. With the other shereached, trying to find something to grab, some way to obtainleverage to pull herself free, but her fingernails only scrabbleduselessly against the hot deck boards. She couldn’t feel herlegs.

Kali tried to suck in a deep breath so shecould call out for help, but too much weight pressed against herlungs. She couldn’t breathe. Tears of frustration and fear sprangto her eyes. She was going to die here, all because she’d beengreedy and tried to find a shortcut to getting an airship. She’dnever escape the Yukon, never see the world, never know a winterthat wasn’t icy and dark.

“Kali!”

Hope stirred. It was Cedar. But his voicesounded far away, and flames leapt all about Kali. Could he reachher in time?

She tried to lift her head, to use the lastof her air to cry out, but she couldn’t budge her cheek from thedeck.

Boots came into view, not one set but two.Cedar and…Lockhart?

Kali couldn’t tell. Everything was sobright, so hot. Pain stabbed her head and her eyes.

Scrapes sounded, and she sensed the menpulling wood off of her. The great weight shifted on her back,lessening, and she finally gulped in a breath of hot, smoky air.She’d lost her kerchief. Dumb thing to notice.

Hands gripped her beneath the armpits, andmore rubble fell away from her as someone pulled her free. Cedar.She could barely make him out through her bleary eyes, but he swepther up in both arms, carrying her against his chest.

“Take her somewhere safe.”That was Lockhart. He stood amongst the burning debris, both handson the wheel.

Confusion swarmed over Kali. Had they madepeace? Or perhaps declared a truce until the city was safe?

Before she could ask, Cedar rushed out thedoor. In long running strides, he carried her to the railing wherehis rope was tied, the end dangling into the darkness below.

On her back in his arms, Kali had a view ofthe balloon, of the way the flames flickered all about it, burninginto the material, compromising its integrity. She stiffened.

“The balloon!” she triedto shout. Her voice came out raspy and weak. “Get out of there!”she yelled as loudly as she could.

Cedar leaped over the railing withoutslowing. Wind whistled past her face, and she thought they’d fallall the way to the ground, but he twisted in the air and caught therope. He shimmied down it and landed lightly on-a dock? Had theymade it to the river? Kali twisted her neck, trying to see.

Before she got her bearings, a massive boomshook the earth, and the sky exploded in flames. The power of theshock wave knocked Cedar down, and Kali fell to the dock on top ofhim. He rolled over her to protect her, but she still saw theairship, a great fiery ball, plunging into the Yukon River.

It was the last thing Kali saw before herworld disappeared in blackness.

Загрузка...