Widows of the Empire by JD Byrne

Author:JD Byrne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, steampunk, epic
Publisher: JD Byrne
Published: 2021-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Aton had expected some fanfare before Tenacious got underway. Instead, there was just a blaze of activity, five short blasts of horns, and the sudden feeling of motion. Most of the activity Aton had nothing to do with. He assumed that was because he was hired to work on the away missions, but he knew that wouldn’t last long. He did his best to stay out of everyone’s way as they ran up and down the crowded corridor outside his quarters.

It didn’t take long for him to be joined by the others that would share his room. Vaska was an oversized Islander who talked endlessly, but seemed good humored. He was also hired to work away missions. Adnan was a new deckhand who had to dash off after stashing his things in the storage area of the bunk on top of Aton’s. Farak turned out to be from Dewford in Medzo and was hired to help keep the Tenacious airship flying. He was more serious than the other two, but Aton thought they would get along.

Aton was sitting on his bunk, talking with Vaska and Farak, when there was another blast of horns. This time it was a different pattern—three short, two long—and so must have been a different signal. He looked to the others. “Any idea what that means?”

His two roommates shrugged.

Aton got up and poked his head out into the corridor. A few men were making their way toward the stern. Aton reached out to grab one as he passed by. “What is it?”

“General assembly,” the man said, jerking his arm from Aton’s grip. “Captain wants to talk to us.”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone who isn’t engaged in a critical function.” He looked down at Aton. “You never served on a ship before?”

Aton shook his head.

“Always too many new faces. Come on.”

Aton got the others and they followed the other man up onto the deck. To this point Aton had been aware that the ship was moving, but hadn’t given it much thought. There were no portholes in his room, only grey bulkhead walls. Now, for the first time, the isolation of being on a ship like this was hitting him. He looked in every direction when they got up on deck. Land was swiftly disappearing, and there were no other craft. This was his life for the foreseeable future.

The crew had gathered on the wide, open part of the deck between the superstructure and the hangar where the airship was kept. There were about fifty of them, by Aton’s count. Since that didn’t include at least some others who were running the ship, Aton estimated there were seventy of them altogether.

The back of the superstructure was studded with ladders, platforms, and hatches. Ilyndra stood on one platform about ten feet off the ground, high enough to survey the crowd. She watched as the crew milled about, waiting for something to happen. Finally, she said, “Is that everyone?”

“Think so, sir,” Erland said from a few feet away from Aton.

Ilyndra nodded, then disappeared through a hatch at the far side of the platform.

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