| Chapter Fifteen - A Close Encounter |
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I admit that I must bow to William's memory of the events after my firefight, for I have very little recollection of it. However, I remember the smoothness of our trip to the flying craft, along with the ease of loading up all our goods with the help of Fred and his associates. Once Will and I were alone in the craft we ran through the same checks and take off procedure as before and I was delighted to find that Will was a little easier on the controls this time, as we took off loudly into the pre-dawn sky. I sat back in one of the leather crew chairs behind William as he lazily piloted the flying machine through the open skies. In front of me on the table I had laid out one of our maps and was busily plotting the course whilst eating the delightful breakfast Annie had prepared for us, pausing occasionally to sip one of Wills excellent cups of Earl Grey tea. The hum of the engines was now a familiar and soothing noise. Will and I were trading a few of our usual in jokes when I heard a strange whooping noise from the control panel "What on earth is that noise Will?". He looked to me with a tinge of fear in his eyes. "Its the proximity sensor, it would appear we have something approaching us at a fair old speed - may I suggest we ready the cannons Cap?".The look in his eyes told me all I needed to know about the seriousness of the situation; in a second I was on my feet and running towards the nearest cannonport.
My heart was starting to pound as I cast loose the gun from its holding ropes and pulled the great brass lever that pushed the cannon forward through the skin of the craft and engaged its aiming gears. I climbed into the leather seat next to the gun and strapped myself into the harness in preperation for the fight. My gaze drifted to the front window and I observed a familiar and terrible sight looming in the distance - we had chanced upon an alien vessel. I watched in fascination, unable to tear myself away from the alien craft as it dived towards us. I had never seen one this close before and what appeared from ground level as quite a sleek vehicle, now showed its true colours; the red slits that made its windows, the gilded nozzles that stuck like fangs from its front, which I had seen fired as some kind of energy weapon in my last encounter with these monsters, and its wings with their reinforcing bars running their width giving the enemy vehicle the look of a giant bat. The fight began in earnest as Will spun the steering column making us curve away from the first blast from the enemy ship, though we had avoided the shot we felt the heat even as we dived away to pick up speed. My eyes fixed on the targeting reticle in front of me as we dived, feeling our ship bank and awaiting the moment when the other ship crossed my line of fire. Then there it was, my first shot, I took my time and eased back the handle feeling the recoil as the cannon beside me fired with a tremendous boom. The shell flew through the air and missed the other craft by a good yard, I couldn't believe my eyes, they had simply sped up to outrun my shot. Their rate of acceleration shook me and made me realise just how fast human technology would have to advance in order to catch our foes. I was drawn from my moments reverie however by a shockwave passing through the ship. "We're hit Cap. We need to get out of this fight and soon - I won't be able to keep her up if we're hit again" My mind raced with a jumble of thoughts, we needed a way out and fast. I swung the gun as far as I could and caught sight of the enemy coming in for a second attack to finish us off. The sweat beaded on my forehead and holding the reticle at its extreme range I lit my pipe and clenched it between my teeth. They finally began to edge into the firing range, my hands shaking as I gave them a fair bit of leading and unleashed the shell. Almost instantly I felt the rising excitment as instinctively I knew the shot was on target. The enemy ship lurched as the shot struck and then after what seemed to be a moments hesitation it began to fall; no explosion, no great fuss, it simply plumetted from the air and crashed into the water hundreds of feet below. Unstrapping myself from the aiming rig I hurried back to Will and looked over my instruments, scanning them for some idea of the damage that had been done by the shot. All seemed ok until I gasped and swore as my eyes fell on the steam pressure gauge which was rapidly falling."We're losing height Captain, we need to make repairs but I cant see anywhere to land that wont get our feet wet...". "Well Will, its not always necessary to land. I did make one alteration to your design just in case we needed to use this old crate as a base". Leaning forward I pulled open a panel on the desk and pulled a knife switch around. A strange grinding noise issued from above us and Will looked at me questioningly before running to one of the observation windows. Taking a key from my chatelaine I placed it into an otherwise unremarkable hole nestled amongst my instruments and turned it, immediately a loud hissing noise could be heard echoing through the cabin. I walked over to join Will and we both watched as above us a great balloon drifted out from the top of the craft. Unfolding as it filled with gas, hovering in the winds above billowing like a giant jellyfish in the sky. The balloon finally inflated, stabilising the ships dropping altitude, turning our craft into an airship. We were safe for now floating gently above the Ocean, with time to make our repairs before continuing our journey. I turned to Will and smiled, "tragedy averted old chap. Time for a spot of Brandy I think?" Will grinned and nodded. We filled our glasses, sat in our leather chairs at the bridge and struck a toast as we glided quietly through the air watching the sun dip below the horizon and spread its hazy orange glow over the ocean below us. |
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