Outrageous Fortune-Errant Freight Book One

Chapter 12

Within three days, the Errant came to rest above Lycos, an unsettled territory that stretched from the Cliffs of Avalon to the Oracle Ocean, a little over a hundred klicks northwest of Nike.

They'd have gone all the way into the city, but Nike Flight responded to their radio request with the information that there were no docking slips available and heavy traffic precluded high moorage over the field.

Any other time the Errant would have anchored in Faraday until Nike opened up, but John preferred to avoid the company—and gossip—of other aeronauts until after they'd delivered the cargo, so he'd set a course to the Northwest wilds.

While technically Lycos was a no-landing zone—it was one of Avon's protected wild lands—the Keepers determined flyovers and high moorage caused minimal impact to the local ecosystem. As long as the airship in question remained above two hundred meters and kept their running lights off, they would not be subject to fines or confiscation.

Keepers stationed at Lycos enforced the flight code, patrolling by land, air, and sea, but for the most part, enforcement seldom proved necessary. Interestingly, quite a few aeronauts were quite happy to fly high and dark and, more to the point, out of sight.

For his part, John appreciated the chance to drop anchor and shut down engines for a few hours, not only because of Tariq's threats, but because the three days of pushing the 'ship while watching for signs of pursuit had worn on the crew. He figured Nike's crowding would grant the crew a few hours downtime before they had to deal with...whatever they were dealing with.

Not that they knew what they were dealing with, because Rory hadn't yet unlocked the case. This despite secreting himself in the machinist's room for the entire three days.

He did emerge every so often, long enough to toss back a mug of tea and whatever food lay about the galley.

Once, he was called out to re-re-patch gas cell eighteen, but other than that, his time was given entirely to matching wits with the tri-level Kairos combination lockset.

Eitan said the case had become the young mechanic's white whale.

Jagati then asked what a beluga had to do with a briefcase.

John simply excused himself from the conversation, being less interested in ancient Earth literature than he was in the cargo.

It was the cargo on his mind now as he knocked at the machinist room door, intending to tell Rory he was free to give up on keeping things pretty and break into the damned case.

The door opened, and John barely resisted stepping back from the rumpled, wild-eyed manifestation of a Campbell Islander that appeared.

"What? What is it? Can ye nae see I'm working here?"

It was interesting, John thought, how Rory's Campbell dialect intensified under pressure. "I can see that," he said, meeting the younger man's manic gaze with his own steady regard. "I thought you'd want to know we're at high anchor over Lycos until Nike can get us a slip."

"Yes? And?"

"If you'll recall, we determined you should attempt to suss out the box's combination until we reached Nike."

"Yes, but we've not yet reached Nike, have we?"

"Perhaps not, but we are—"

The door slammed in his face.

"—close," John finished even as he heard the door's bolt snick home. A far cry from Rory's habitual deference back in their days on the Kodiak. "So, I'll come back later, shall I?" he called through the barrier.