The Steam War (The Steam War #1)

Chapter 7: Sailing On

Another day, another incorrectly configured volume. Cog's alarm quietly chimed its melody, waking Sail up almost immediately. She waited a minute to see if Cog was going to get up and turn it off, but she never even stirred. With a groan, she trudged out of bed and disabled it herself.

"Your alarm's been going off for a while now," she said, shaking her friend awake. Cog panicked, confused by the figure standing over her, before realizing it was just a sleep-deprived Sail.

"Sorry, Sail," she apologized, sitting up. "I just can't find the right volume for this thing. One day I'll figure it out."

"It's okay. I'm just not used to an alarm is all." Sail flopped back onto her bed, face-first. She was snoring three minutes later.

Despite Sail sleeping in, the two still managed to get around and leave their room by seven. On the way out, Sail opened up the light switch and grabbed their goggles.

"Do you remember which one is which?" she asked, weighing both pairs in her hands.

"Mine's got the green lenses," Cog answered, "and yours has the blue." She let the goggles rest on her hat. Sail put her own back in the receptacle, deciding that the attention attracted was too much to bear. Besides, she wasn't wearing a hat this time, so she couldn't really wear them that well.

The two received no welcome when they entered the study hall, even though they arrived right on time. Instead, Gogs motioned with his finger to remain quiet. A radio sat in the middle of the table. Its speakers emitted static and a voice in equal parts.

"We're also receiving reports of quite a few potential issues, folks," the voice revealed. "This is huge. It appears Nazi activity may be increasing in New Germany and over small parts of international waters. While officials in New Germany are doing their best to stop Nazi marches, witnesses say the Nazis are 'undeterred' and continue to march. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about sightings over international waters, unless we want to start a war again.

"We don't know what's happening here, but the global market has become unstable. Some believe it could be the increase in Nazi sightings, like economics expert Rob Yu, who says that 'people fear the Nazis and are pulling out money.' More on that as it develops.

"Word is that some of our allied countries are now struggling to stay in stable relationships with each other. That means that if war breaks out, the Allied Powers would have to get their act together or risk breaking worldwide structural bonds, making the war a lot more chaotic. The president is expected to make a statement about all of this in his coming press conference, which you can watch worldwide."

Gogs had a map spread out on the table, with two map markers where nearby Nazi ship sightings were. The nearest one was over Brazil.

He finally switched the radio off and let out a deep sigh. "Good morning, ladies," he greeted.

"Hiya, Gogs," Sail returned.

"I really hope that the radio guy is wrong," Sprocket said, trying to go back to the previous topic. "There could be a third world war, or a continuation of the Steam War. Or both."

The four sat quietly at the table, staring between the map and the radio on the table. Nobody really wanted to think about what that meant. War meant that Sail would have to continue classes, while the other three would all be put in a lottery and most likely drafted as soon as they turned eighteen. War meant that the four would all be separated from each other and sent to different airship crews.

And, more importantly, war meant that Hitler would get a second chance at taking over the world, at killing and enslaving people again, and at enacting his twisted vision of persecution and ethnic cleansing.