"State your identification," a voice on the radio barked. Everyone had fallen asleep in the Globetrotter's cockpit shortly after leaving the Mumba behind. Sail and Cog passed out in the pilot and copilot seats, covered by blankets Sprocket had raided from his room. The rest leaned against a wall or rested on the floor.
"Come again?" Sail requested, a little foggy. The sun was peeking over the city skyline below them.
"You're within twenty-five miles of Washington, D.C. Provide identification, or we will open fire."
She was a little more awake now.
"Uh, we're the A.S. Globetrotter, and we just escaped a Nazi ship. Please, don't go attacking us, too." Autopilot had taken them all the way from Baton Rouge overnight, apparently.
"Ma'am, if you're on the Globetrotter, where's Captain Steampipe?"
"Like I said, Nazis. Hey, uh, could we have a place to land? I'm exhausted. And hungry."
-=[ ]=-
At eight in the morning, Sail docked the ship at the D.C. International Airport. Government vehicles spilled into the area surrounding the docks, which were clearly not made for a decommissioned warship like their own.
"Sorry to interrupt your sleep," she communicated over the PA system, "but government agents will now be boarding our ship. Please listen to them and follow their instructions."
"Government agents?!" Cog repeated, finally fully awake. She jumped up and out of the room.
"Usually, if the government gets involved, people run the other way," Sprocket commented.
Cog threw open the door and ran outside, searching for a specific familiar face in a mess of black suits and flashing lights.
"Girl, get back in the ship," one of them demanded, standing in between her and the nearest building.
"I'm trying to find Ike," she explained, trying to slip around him.
"He'll get here when he gets here," the man said, forcing her back into the ship. There was almost no way the man knew who she was talking about.
The man continuously ordered everyone in the pilot's cabin to go through checklist items for a few minutes until a group of ambulances finally appeared outside. Two pairs of medics boarded, each with a stretcher to carry Amp and Gogs away. They avoided the massive blood spot on the floor from Gogs' fatal wound as best they could.
At ten o'clock, everyone on board was finally cleared for exit, ordered out room by room. "All of you in the cockpit, follow me," one agent said, leading the way off the airship. The group followed, but the Black Horizon had disappeared from both sight and mind.
-=[ ]=-
"Status report."
"They escaped, the Mumba experienced moderate damage, the Black Horizon was not apprehended, and the shield was—"
"Anything good, General?"
The general leaned backwards in his chair. "No, sir."
"Too bad Himmler had to go. He would've completed the mission perfectly."
"Yes, sir."
"We need to move on to our backup plan, then. Have the soldiers ready and dispatched by tonight. And don't mess up this time, Uhrwerk. You have already cost us America. We cannot lose our base, either."
"Of course not, sir." He saluted, arm outstretched, as the feared Nazi leader's face disappeared from the screen.
"Just kick the bucket already, old man," General Uhrwerk growled, moving two pegs on his global map. He was defeated by a bunch of stupid, lucky kids. He had to make sure that never happened again.
-=[ ]=-
"Coggles!" a voice called out, astonished. She peered down the hallway they'd been ordered to stay in and saw a familiar man in a suit running her way.
"Ike!" she yelled back, standing up and running towards him.
"To think we saw each other just two weeks ago," he pointed out. They embraced in a hug. "Things have already changed." She clung to him, tears starting up again.
"I missed you so much," she cried. "We have so much to talk about."
A door in the entryway opened up behind them. "Let's get out of the way for a minute."
Sprocket stood up, staring at the man in the newly opened doorway. He put out his hand, offering a handshake. The man accepted the offer.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. President," Sprocket said. "Gogs would've loved to see you."
**A/N:
This is the end of the road! Thank you for reading, and I'll see you soon with The Brass Dove!
**
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The Steam War (The Steam War #1)
Science Fiction"Secrets don't keep once they're airborne." On board the Globetrotter, a steampunk flight school for aspiring airship crews, Cog and her closest friends gear up for their third year of classes. But when a mysterious transfer student threatens to roc...
