Drowning Utopia

Chapter 38: Vendettas of the Dead

"How do you know if they received the distress call?" Donny asked next to Tessa.

"You don't," Vain said. "You can only hope that someone did...and that they reply."

For a long moment, they all sat there silently, waiting. Abruptly, a buzzing noise rang as the telegraph started to beep and whine. A long strip of paper from the side of the machine spat out in quick succession. Miss Briggs eagerly took it and started to read, but her face grew grim, "It's from the manor."

"They got their telegraph working as well?" Captain Brine asked, surprised.

"Then what was the point of us going all the way out here?" Donny complained.

"We still needed to get the power up to even send a message in the first place," Tessa pointed out.

Miss Briggs's brows furrowed. "They're under attack. The Boomers have regrouped and are trying to take the manor. It says they won't last the morning."

"Are we to sit on hands or we going to do something?" Representative Pechkoff stated with bravado. "How soon can we be off to the manor?"

"Now," Vain said as she stood up from the captain's chair. "Colonel Veers, do you think you and your boys could help us once more?"

"If it means slapping around those coal-faced cultists—no offense—then we are your men. The only problem is that the Royal Justice won't be joining us."

"Why? What's wrong with your ship?" Tessa asked.

"Oh, she fared well I should think, right up until she took a direct hit to her boiler." He spat over the side of the airship through an open window. "She wasn't designed to take heat from above like that, especially against a modern airship's main gun at point blank range. The old girl is afloat, but she won't be battle ready for a while. However, I do believe that we could make do with this piece of hardware," he said slapping the side of the airship's inner wall. "Let's turn this beast against its master, shall we? A right old surprise attack from behind should stir 'em up real good."

"I'll go grab Gray and the others," Donny said as he ran out down the gangplank.

With most of Colonel Veers's boys staying behind with their wounded home trying to fix it up enough to come to the aide of the others when they could, Tessa and the others loaded up and familiarized themselves with the interior and the systems of the war vessel.

Tessa had only ever been on an airship once on a trip to Tripletail in northern New Albion, and that was a meager single-engine civilian craft. This ship of war was far more advanced. Housed in pairs along the length of the aircraft in two adjoining gondolas on each flank where a set of four-cylinder reciprocating steam engines half built into the armored frame of the main envelope. Between the engine pods on the bottom side of the airship were the bridge, the adjoining gun deck, and the main forward gun. The bridge was built into the frame, acting like the keel for the ship, providing both stability and protection behind which were a series of cargo holds and a bomb bay.

Gray covered engine maintenance along with Diana and the Marlow twins. Colonel Veers and the few of his boys with him staffed the various gun positions. Miss Briggs was tasked with the helm with Vain in overall command of the ship as acting captain.

Tessa was tasked with keeping an eye on the buoyancy and pressure gauges, as well as acting as a lookout along with Sir Cornwall. In her opinion, she would have been far more useful elsewhere, but there was not much time to protest as they had to get back to the manor as soon as possible.

Vain, who had just finished adjusting the controls to the forward gunsights asked Colonial Veers, "Are you and your crew ready back there?"

"They're all set," he said as he took up a seat next to the captain's chair, usually reserved for the first mate. "It took them a moment to figure out how to load the darn things, but they are not terribly different than the breach loaders we have on our ship."