New World Man by Lazarus Jake

Author:Lazarus, Jake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

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The maiden voyage of Serenity was heralded with a great deal of shouting, from both observers and passengers. George had patiently explained to Lulu the airship’s capabilities. Her response had fallen somewhere between irritation and amusement, although in both states she clearly believed he had taken leave of his senses.

When the airship had crept from its hangar, she had stayed quiet despite her white-knuckle grip on the armrests of her chair. When the gentle whirring behind them had grown in volume as the thrusting engines pushed them away from the ground, and the sorcery in the bladder above them which allowed for lift took place, they rose slowly compared to fixed or rotary wing aircraft (although clearly far quicker than Lulu was expecting).

She screamed loudly and leapt into George’s arms before shrieking, “What is happening?”

“We’re flying,” he replied comfortingly. “Zelda is in complete control.”

“But how?”

“Even I’m unsure how it works. But Zelda assures me it's quite safe. She even agreed to use a non-explosive gas to provide lift.”

Zelda huffed and muttered, “Need I point out the futility of trying to explain the mechanics of something even you don’t understand to her?”

“Shut up,” he subvocalized. He raised his voice and said, “It’s ok to be frightened. I am as well. I think all people are. But I’m confident in Zelda’s abilities. Perhaps we could fly over your former village and scare the shit out of Oukonunaka.”

“As tempting as that is, I think many of the elders would travel to the spirit realm if we, as you say, flew toward them. Even though I have little doubt they can see us even now.”

“Have it your way. Zelda, where are we headed?”

“Logically, the three most likely places we’ll find settlements in this area are north and south along the coast, or upriver.”

“Then let's head south today. We’ll do the other two the next two days.”

“Very well, proceeding to two-thousand meters at sixty-nine knots.”

Lulu looked at George quite strangely when he snickered despite his best efforts. He subvocalized, “Was that your run of the mill dirty trick, or are you paying more attention to our intimate activities that you’ve previously admitted?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zelda deflected. “And I certainly care nothing for how you two decide to pass your time. All that matters to me is your safety, and your happiness.”

“Awww,” he murmured. “You getting soft on me?”

“My body, such that it is, is comprised of several hundred kilograms of a metal which has no name, but which is most certainly not soft.”

“Pretend all you want,” George teased. “Completely and totally unrelated, what’s the term for a silicon-based peeping Tom?”

“Jerk,” she snapped irritably.

Lulu’s suspicious look only grew deeper at his bark of laughter.

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