Haven

FOUR

They didn't get far.

Even though The Water Angel was superior in speed to The Sentinel, Walcox was able to utilize his long range bow canon to its maximum potential.

Dales was blown to pieces when the shell ripped through The Water Angel's gondola, forcing the airship down.

While Troy and the others clutched the wreckage, the Captain attempted to finish them off by having his crew fire small arms down on them, riddling officer Yanis with bullets by the time a passing steamship took notice.

The Sentinel left them for dead and Troy, Jimmy and Sargent Hanson were fished out of the water. It was a miracle they had survived the crash, an even bigger miracle that Walcox hadn't managed to kill all of them.

Now they stood on the ship's outer deck, surrounded by people who looked at them with suspicion. Troy raked his hair with his hand to get the water out, and then thanked the woman in charge.

Mabel Daisy was a black woman with grey streaks in her shoulder length hair. Probably in her early fifties. Troy recognized her. She and her family owned Daisy Shipping, an import-export company, though they were one of the smaller ones in Haven.

"So," Mabel asked, "what was I seeing just there?" She crossed her arms over her jacket, a look of concerned curiosity on her face.

Jimmy cleared his throat, coughed. "Shot down."

Mabel pursed her lips. "Obviously. It looked to me like the Guard really had it in for you, so I took the liberty of lettin' them know people were watching."

If she hadn't shown up, Troy thought, they'd be dead right now. He glanced toward Haven, though he couldn't make out The Sentinel among the other airships. The shorter structures of the city were beginning to silhouette in the setting sun that cast an orange-gold light upon the horizon. "Thank you for helping us."

Mabel stood close to a tall man in work pants and a heavy brown jacket, his hand in his pocket where he obviously had a pistol. Probably in the case they were on the lam or something. "You said that already."

Troy assured her that they were not criminals, but they'd been fleeing the Citadel Guard after all. Mabel moved her hands to her hips, looking skeptical. "Tell me why they were tryin' so hard to kill you."

"We had orders from the Mayor to bring in a man called Karl Raven—" Troy began, but Mabel cut him off.

"Oh, I've met him."

Another woman who had lingered a few paces back, came closer. Obviously another Daisy by the way she resembled Mabel. She looked concerned, but not for them.

"I think, once or twice," Mabel continued curtly. "He's a big competitor in the shipping business, you see." The younger woman whispered something in her ear but Mabel seemed to ignore her.

"He stole a confidential file from the Mayor's office," Troy said. "We brought him in, but it turns out what was in the file isn't in the best interest of the city." More like circumstantial evidence for treason, but Troy decided not to say that. "When we confronted the Mayor about it, he tried to have us whacked, as you saw."

Mabel looked like she was about to respond when Jimmy spoke. "The Mayor is committing treason by making secret deals with Xui'Guan."

Did she need to know that?

The woman smiled, crossed her arms again as she shifted her weight onto her other hip. "Let me guess. He's trying to give Haven to the Xui'Guani or something?"