Chemistry, Chaos & Steam: A Magistery of Dunces

A Magistery is Born

"Lower the anchor!" yelled William. They were now directly centered over Gilliard's Jewelry Exchange.

Tom grabbed hold of a large wooden handle linked to a cable and began lowering the nose anchor (a powerful magnet) while William kept things steady, adjusting for pitch and yaw. Once the nose anchor was connected to the roof plate—with Sally's help—another jerry-rigged anchor, this time attached to a rope rather than a steel cable, was tossed from the rear of the cabin. It landed on the roof with such a clank that it could be heard even over the roar of the airship's propellers. With a nod from Ediwin, William cut the motors. For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of light winds buffeting the side of their ship along with some ambient noise from the street life below. They all listened intently for approaching sirens – to their great relief, none could be heard. Had this been a normal docking, the Zeppelin would have been drawn down further until a cone on its nose locked into a cup on the roof's mast. A telescopic arm would've then centered and held the Zeppelin in the vertical position freeing it up to rotate on a vertical axis. That way the airship could swing, nose to tower, in any direction the wind blew. But this was no ordinary docking (with no ground crew, save Almost Silent Sally, to receive them). And theirs was no ordinary Zeppelin. The second anchor may have been inelegant, but it worked since they only needed to secure the ship long enough to scurry down its ladder, set the timer on their flying bomb and then get clear of the building.

"So let's go over this one more time," said Ediwin to the group, now that they were safely assembled in an alley next to the store. "Our little Zeppelin goes boom." He said this while bringing his hands together and then breaking them apart slowly to mimic an explosion. "It should be a relatively small blast, but big and strange enough to draw the attention of every copper and firefighter in the vicinity."

"And that's when we rob G&S, right?" asked William, referring to the Griffin & Sons Jewelry Boutique three blocks away.

"Yes," confirmed Ediwin, clearly annoyed at having been interrupted. "That's when we rob G&S."

"Boss," squeaked Miniscule Mike, looking up nervously toward the roof of Gilliard's, "shouldn't we get going?"

Ediwin glanced down at his pocket watch and was about to answer when William piped in. "We should stay and watch, boss. I feel I kind of owe it to the old girl. After all, she was my first Zeppelin."

Ediwin smirked. "Your first Zeppelin? Please. You're not fooling anyone, Mad Dog. You just want to see something explode."

William's teeth flashed into a wide angelic grin. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Can we, Boss?" asked Miniscule Mike, now changing his tune. "That is, if we're not in any real danger."

Ediwin looked around at the rest of the group, eager anticipation reflected in all their faces.

"Fine," he answered, "but we stay here in the alley. You can peek around the corner but the moment it's over we're out of here, agreed?"

The small chorus "yeahs" and "thank you, boss" faded as Ediwin once again flipped open his pocket watch and began the count. In a voice pitched just above a whisper, he began, "Ten, nine, eight...." The gang rushed to the corner and looked expectantly up towards the roof. Right on time, the airship began to swell and just as suddenly burst into flame. Seconds later it came crashing down onto the rooftop. Its now burning carcass sent flames leaping skyward, giving a macabre yellow/orange glow to the growing plume of smoke rising up into the night. There was no shockwave to speak of but a few windows did manage to shatter. Moments later, the entire building disappeared.