down several of them with vicious blows.
Daniel saw it go and recognised it. “Watch out over there! That’s the Bonto! It’s dangerous!” He aimed and fired, but at that moment his handgun had decided it hated the chemical environment.
The Bonto charged towards the skipper. Abnezer took a swing at it with a stick, hitting it full in the head. The impact made the stick fly from his hands and the beast rammed the skipper who went down like a sack of salt.
Tomlin managed a good shot, taking the gamble he might hit the wrong target. The Bonto staggered on for a few more feet, then it collapsed.
Abnezer cursed and picked up the skipper, half carrying him and half dragging the unconscious man through the water, to get him away from the fighting on the narrow strip of beach. He knew they would need the skipper to get back home. Leaving him on the beach, with a Bonto that might wake up again, was not an option.
Phorliss and many of the Pricosine crew were bashing away at the pirates, who were forced to withdraw into their cave. In the first minutes of the attack, their numbers had dwindled like brave snowflakes in a scorching desert.
“Down, everyone!” Tomlin screamed as he tossed his last grenade after the pirates.
The device did not explode to its full extent, but still a respectable amount of rock came down, sealing off most of the cave’s exit.
A strange silence spread over the beach. Daniel and Tomlin quickly assessed the situation. Phorlis and three sailors lay dead in the sand, as did many pirates. Many of the sailors were hurt, either from the fight or from bad treatment.
“Daniel…”
Daniel recognised the voice. “Ulaman.”
The captain looked awful. He missed a hand, there was a rag around his head that was meant to be a bandage. The pirates had gotten to him badly. The man staggered towards Daniel but fell down after a few steps. Some sailors hurried forward to help him up.
Daniel was there too, to lift the fallen bear. “We’re here to take you home,” he said. “Tomlin, go and signal Aldrick.”
Aldrick had not gone far. With only little sail, the only way available was up, so he was able to set down the airship quickly. The rescued sailors, most of them from the Pricosine, some came from other ships, boarded the boat. The attack force followed, as Daniel and Tomlin secured their safety with what means they had. Sticks and stones. The pirate’s cave however was still closed, there was no danger coming from there yet, and the Bonto had not moved yet either.
The soldiers jumped on board, after which the airship rose into the air. Slower than usual, but it worked. Daniel stared at the massacre they had left on the beach, a last grenade in his hand. He saw the small merchant ship that had started all this.
He flicked off the security and threw the grenade at the ship. Nothing happened; the grenade had been affected already. After a curse he turned and worked on the sails, as the others from the crew were taking care of the wounded.
They had been flying for a few hours already, following the coastline. After making sure everything was in order, Daniel had looked for Draiky and talked to her. He had told her about Ombra’s visit. It seemed to bring power back to the woman.
“She really came to see you? For me?”
“Yes.” Daniel told her about the unfortunate short visit and the strange end, but Draiky seemed to miss most of that. For her it was important only that Ombra had done something.
Daniel smiled and let Draiky bask in the surprise. It made him feel good. He went round to see who else they had on board. He found most of his friends, but walked around again in search of Bilk, the alien. Finally he kneeled down with Ulaman and Xandree to ask.
They filled him in about how Bilk had tried to fight himself free and met his end that way. They also told him how a several others of the crew had been killed, just to set an example, to crush morale and anyone’s desire to try an escape or revolt.
“This man, Birkle, is very good at breaking people, Daniel,” Ulaman said. “I have yet to see someone who can be as cruel as he is. He actually whipped his ape for not killing someone slowly enough.”
Daniel shuddered. It made him feel sick, but also even more glad that he had done all what he had, to save his friends. He looked around the airship and his heart cringed. The state these people were in was awful.
He went back aft and checked with Tomlin and the skipper, who was too stubborn to stay unconscious. The man was already working on where they were and how long it would take them to get back to Skarak.
Abnezer went round and round, making sure people were okay, handing out food and water to drink. Daniel had not thought the wrestler had that in him. At the same time he felt bad about the people they had lost in the fight. He did not have much time to feel these things though…
“Twanngggg…” The sound was accompanied by a shudder that went through the airship, causing many people to get up. That again made the airship sway.
“People, all sit down!” Tomlin yelled. He and Daniel went around the airship to see what could have caused the unnerving sound. Tomlin found the problem in one of the floaters that held the airship in the air: one of the cables that held the thing to the ship had ripped. It was still there, it was just flapping about, out of reach.
They made several attempts to grab the line, but it mocked them, staying out of reach of their fingers. Daniel looked up, estimating the danger. So far the floater was still captured in the net of five cables, but there would be a serious problem if one of the two cables next to the ripped one would go also.
38. Win one, lose one
Over the days that followed, they made a few attempts using a stick and a hook to get to the flying cable. They all failed, the only result one of the sticks falling down.
“Leave it,” Daniel said. “I don’t want anyone going down after that stick. We’ll just have to be careful and pray that no other cable snaps.” It worried him that they were flying so high up to catch the proper wind. A problem here, at over nine hundred feet high, would immediately turn into a disaster. Also, nobody had thought of bringing thick clothes and more blankets, and the air temperature up there was uncomfortable. Daniel, and also Tomlin, had not considered that. Their experience did not cover those things.
Shivering, Aldrick and the skipper were conferring about their course. Following the coast line was their safest bet. Going over sea was the shortest route, but the idea of flying at this altitude with nothing but water underneath, with so many people on board, and the problem with one of the floaters, gave safety right of way.
Sitting at the bow Daniel looked down. He saw some ships sailing far below. Ulaman and Stroro, who had by now recovered enough, sat next to him. “Wind’s wrong down there,” Daniel remarked.
Ulaman nodded. “Yes.” He put his handless arm on Daniel’s shoulder. “I don’t know how to thank you, Daniel.”
“No need to, Ulaman,” Daniel said. “I had to do this. Anyone would have.”
Ulaman’s silence could mean anything.
“Still, you did it, and you got us out of there,” Stroro filled in. “We all owe you our lives.”
“Let’s first see about getting home,” Daniel said. “We’re not there yet.” He looked to where Xandree was taking care of two sailors who had gone feverish. These two, and the ones most badly hurt, had been put as close to the steam cylinder as possible. They had even taken some of the cabin around it apart, to make the warmth easier accessible. The others on the airship took turns near the hot engine.
“Daniel?” Aldrick half askingly said.
Daniel got up. “Yes?”
“I think the skipper is not well…” Aldrick pointed at the man who was lying on the floor.
Daniel hurried over to the man, who did not react to calling, shaking or splashes of water. That was the last thing they needed. “Do you know where we are?” Daniel asked Aldrick, as Abnezer and Stroro put the skipper somewhere out of the way. One more patient for Xandree to watch over, he thought wryly.
