Alkimiya - A Fantasy Mystery Series

TWENTY - An Ocean of Ghosts

Nibbs sat down on Healer Pilluck's other side. He loosened the belt strap as far as it would go but even at the longest length, it was too tight to fit around his waist without cutting into his skin. The deckhand and the steward took the open seats beside Nibbs.

"Where's Inspector Hatwig?" asked Carver.

Delwyn pointed at the door.

Carver spun and came face to face with Zenetra, who stood frozen at the threshold. He directed her to the open wall of foldable chairs nearest James. "Strap in, Cadet. Inspector Hatwig is working on getting us out of here. She'll be alright on her own."

He did not wait for a response and turned to Mimi, who gave him a serene smile and patted the chair beside Raoul. Carver sat down, his massive figure blocking half the mucker's body, and when he put his arm across Raoul and Mimi's torsos, he became a secondary belt of protection.

Zenetra wobbled into an open seat adjacent to James, locking the belt strap around her waist with trembling fingers. When she had succeeded, she glanced at the side profile of Captain Inglehart. It did not bring her comfort.

The steering wheel shook uncontrollably despite the captain's deathly grip. Annoying beeps, blinking red lights, and harsh buzzing came from the readerboard. Out of irritation, James yanked some wires and the warning noises went silent only to be replaced by a more ominous sound.

Over the heads of Tilde, Mimi, Carver, and Raoul was a long and narrow, horizontal window. Zenetra could see the cause of the sound and was glad she had managed to lock her belt first, for all her strength fled at the sight of the massive wave. Like an upside-down waterfall, white foam surged with the Ghost Sea far up into the clouds.

The door to the navigation room opened and a worse-for-wear Inspector Hatwig entered. Hair tousled out of her trademark bun, she held a slip of alchemic paper against the latch and muttered an incantation. The symbols seared into the metal and the lock reinforced. Having seen the twisted hunk of metal that had been Scalawag's door, Inspector Hatwig seemed to take no chances with Sunray's access. She placed two more slips of paper on the hinges and viewed the navigation room with severity.

Zenetra waved to get Inspector Hatwig's attention. "The glass!" she yelled, but even then, she could hardly hear herself over the noise. She pointed to both the broken windscreen in front of James and at the back window.

Inspector Hatwig crossed to Captain Inglehart's windscreen and slapped a slip of paper over it. The window turned to steel, dimming the navigation room. Under the back window, the faces of Tilde, Mimi, Raoul, and Carver became shadowed. The narrow window above them rattled.

Inspector Hatwig reached into her waist belt to turn the strip of glass to steel but her fingers came away empty.

Sunray, now caught in the choppy current leading to the giant wave, rocked side to side. Outside the window, water filled the horizon.

Inspector Hatwig took one more look out the window and dove for the available seat next to Zenetra. She fought for control of the belt, untwisting the thick fabric until it was smooth and manageable, and locked the metal latches together with deft fingers. From an inner breast pocket, she extracted a slender pen. Silver ink spilled out of the metal tip to form a complex symbol on the fabric part of the belt and then the cloth strap transmuted to unyielding metal.

There was movement at the bottom trim. The flakes had reached the top of the bridge and climbed over the narrow window, sticking like smoky hoarfrost over the last pane of glass. As the navigation room plunged into absolute darkness, Zenetra learned a vital bit of information.

The magnetized flakes were not magnetized at all. They stuck to glass as easily as to metal.

A soft white light drenched the navigation room. On Mimi's arm was a bracelet that glowed.

Zenetra had never seen one in person, but she knew what it was. Moonstones were rare and expensive. They showered light infinitely.

A hand brushed her thigh, the metal tip of an alchemic pen grazed against her abdomen, but before Inspector Hatwig could turn Zenetra's belt to metal, Sunray smashed against the massive wave.

The airship shot up stern first, carried upward by the current. Sunray shook, metal hull and bridge screaming in protest, tipping vertically as it had before. The flakes swept away from the window, unable to cling to the glass any longer as Sunray folded into the wave. Water surged against the bridge and sprayed into the navigation room from the window trim. As the airship plunged deeper into the rising wall of water, the narrow glass ripped away.

Water poured in, drenching them in seconds. Zenetra closed her eyes and clamped her mouth shut so as to not swallow any saltwater. She held her breath as the airship flipped and rolled, pressing the tanzanite necklace closer to her chest, thinking of her father all alone at the mansion.

There was no way to tell which direction the airship was facing or how high they were, but if they didn't get out of the wave soon, they would all drown.

A screeching noise that was almost inaudible over the sound of water forced Zenetra to open her eyes. Mimi's amulet twinkled even under the water, the light not such a welcomed addition.

Between strands of floating hair, she saw the metal roof of the navigation room peel at the corner. A few well-placed bolts held the ceiling for a few seconds longer, until the metal plank twisted and ripped free.

The deluge was savage. Without the ceiling to protect them, water swirled around the navigation room. Sunray rolled and rolled with the uneven weight. When Zenetra blinked and refocused, it was to a frightening sight.

Captain Inglehart and his chair were gone.

James' own chair rocked on its hinges. The screws and bolts anchoring it to the floor popped up. Spotting the empty space where Captain Inglehart should have been, he seemed to realize his own fate if he remained strapped to the winger's chair and sought out the nearest person. His gaze locked with Zenetra's. A pleading look flitted across his freckled face and was replaced almost immediately by an expression of helpless resignation, as if James had asked for help many times throughout his life and been denied at each request.

Weak as she felt herself to be, Zenetra held out her hand.

Hope returned to James. He readied himself to unlatch his buckle, but as he reached for Zenetra's splayed fingers, the airship broke free of the rising water and the intense shaking stopped. Water spilled out of the navigation room, leaving those gasping for breath. There were a few seconds of calm as they floated away from the gushing water until Sunray smashed into something solid and tumbled.

Metal ground against stone. Jagged rocks flew about the navigation room. A stone bounced off the floor and struck Inspector Hatwig in the head. The alchemist went limp. A trickle of blood oozed from a large wound on her temple.

The wall opposite Zenetra bent inward, breaking open above Delwyn and Lothar, and before she could scream, a slab of dark rock flattened the two men where they sat.

Sunray hit the ground hard, landing on uneven terrain. The slab of rock that killed the deckhand and the steward inched further into the navigation room, grinding its way toward Zenetra and an unconscious Inspector Hatwig.

The airship tilted one final time, and Zenetra's side of the navigation room rose marginally higher than the other. The slab of rock slid back, out of danger of crushing anyone else, and left streaks of blood in its wake.

Zenetra let out a breath of pent up fear. She had just escaped certain death. From the look of James' pale face, he knew he had too.

When the airship came to a complete stop, metal hull creaking as it settled into place, it was hardly more than a pile of scrap metal.

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Preview for next chapter:

Zenetra wakes alone and injured, and on a strange island hidden in the middle of the Ghost Sea.

Mimi thinks you should leave a star just for her.