SirPercival was slowly stirring on the floor. I was unutterably gladhe’d not turned to dust in the bright sunlight.
“Miss Lovelady?” he said groggily.
“Yes?”
“Why are we still alive?”
“Fortitude, Sir Percival. Fortitude.”
“Ah.”
Seven
Eventhough the vampires were smoke blowing behind the airship we stillhad the airship crew after us. Several of whom were apparentlyattempting to gain entry through the coke-sack covered hatch.Luckily no shots had been fired – they seemed aware of the dangerof the explosive aether. Just to be on the safe side I hefted afurther bag on top of those already holding the entrance hatchdown.
SirPercival sat up on the floor and cast his eyes to the mysteriouswhite box.
“If there were some way to discern its secrets or take it withus…” he mused to himself.
I wentand sat on the floor next to him enjoying the lack of imminentdeath, the solid metal beneath me, and the bright sunlight on myface.
“We happen to be inside a workshop, Sir Percival.”
It waslike throwing a firecracker into a bonfire as he leapt up andrushed over to the other end of the room into the workshop area.Quickly he scanned the available tools and then spied the shatteredsapphire on the workbench.
His bushy white eyebrows climbed up so far that they hidunder his correspondingly white hair. He looked over at me, aquestion seemed to be burning its way out through hisbrain.
Beforehe could say anything I cut him off with, “It was for our ownsafety and that of Her Majesty. And that’s all I’ll say upon thematter.”
I couldsee further questions forming up like waves ready to break upon abeach, but I turned away and found a comfy bag of coke to lean backagainst.
Wavingmy hand tiredly at the white box I said, “Strange aethermachine.”
He tookmy hint and soon the sounds of tools being put to use lulled me tosleep.
Eight
A handshook me from a dream of kissing Katherine, her soft lips tastingof the juicy apple we shared. Blearily I looked up and, for thesecond time that day, my heart burst into a sprint as a monsterlooked down at me.
My eyesgot accustomed to the light and I realised it was just SirPercival, his eyes covered by brass goggles.
“Time to go, Miss Lovelady.”
A strongfeeling of déjà vu swept over me.
I swallowed to wet my dry throat, “Not before time, SirPercival.”
He helped me to my feet. Sunlight was still coming throughthe skylight that seemed to have a much larger hole in it. Leaningagainst the wall leading up to it was a ladder, which I had a verybad feeling about.
Surreptitiously I glanced around the engine room for anyundead vampire remains, and breathed a sigh of relief in the coldair at not seeing any.
As we were singularly notsurrounded by Russian crewmen I assumed thatthey’d decided to just leave us here and capture us when theairship landed.
Thisappeared to be quite a boon as Sir Percival had certainly been busywhile I snatched a well-earned forty-winks to recover from myvampire slaying antics.
Thelarge white box was no more; instead large pieces of the whitematerial that contained the aether-generating device were proppedup against the walls of the room.
“How does it work, Sir Percival?” I said, looking at thestrange metal and glass structure that used to be hidden within thewhite box.
“As yet I’m not sure, but felt that I wouldn’t be able tocomplete my examination in the time permitted.”
He stilldidn’t know? But what were we going to do? Then I spied somethingthat made my stomach sink.
SirPercival noticed where I was looking and smiled happily at me. “Youlike it?”
“No, Sir Percival, I don’t. It is untested and singularlydangerous.”
Proppedagainst the wall was a large metal and canvas contraption in theshape of a filled V. Strapped in with torn pieces of canvas was amisshapen lump the size of a bedside cabinet.
Theflying V was something Sir Percival’s mind played with in thelaboratory. Several times when we were between aetheric experimentsI’d found paper darts scattered around the laboratory floor. Itappeared that Sir Percival had now constructed a very large one inthe hope it would aid our escape. Perhaps his hair served as anant-like antenna for receiving insane idea pheromones, or perhaps Iwas still a bit tired.
“I’ve created harnesses for both of us and taken what Ibelieve is the heart of the device and strapped it in. I hope it’llbe safe,” he added musingly, looking at the lump.
But whatabout me? Didn’t I deserve to be safe?
“Oh, and I’ve set the steam engine to explode in fiveminutes.”
“WHAT?”
“I felt it best if we cover our tracks. Here,” he handed me agolf ball sized piece of the sapphire I’d smashed earlier. “Youseemed most adamant to see it.”
“But where’s the rest of it?”
Henodded towards the steam engine’s firebox.
I’dkilled two vampires who happened to be members of the Russian royalfamily and he’d thrown a fortune’s worth of sapphire into a steamengine’s firebox and then set it to explode to ‘cover our tracks’.The sooner our visit ended the better.
“Time, Miss Lovelady.”
Icouldn’t agree more.
QuicklyI secured the sapphire fragment in a pocket and girded my loins tobrave the heights. I’d done it before, I could do it again.Although my trusty umbrella was no more at least this time therewas more of a plan than jumping and hoping (although not bymuch).
Wehefted the flying V up the ladder and out onto the skylight. Thecold wind blew the last vestiges of my forty-winks away. Fear hitme again as the London skyline surrounded us and I noticedBuckingham Palace in the distance. I hoped I’d done enough to saveHer Majesty.
We stoodon the skylight and Sir Percival held the flying V up.
