Airship City

Chapter 31

At first the stairway led ever further down, with no doors in the walls of the stairwell. But after the third or fourth landing, Joseph could see through the railing that the landing below him had a doorway leading out into some other part of Aeropolis.

It’s now or never. He threw himself down the intervening stairs, taking them two or even three at a time, careening precariously around the landing, using the hand rail to keep himself upright, and in a few moments he had grabbed the handle and flung the door open.

Vanross was cursing under his breath and clattering down the stairs behind him, but Joseph didn’t even risk a quick glance before running through the door.

He found himself on a high catwalk, constructed of metal gridwork, and suspended from the ceiling by long bars. As he ran the catwalk bounced and moved under his feet, making him feel uneasy, and the air was hazy with steam and filled with the noise of machinery.

Ahead he could see a maze of catwalks and ladders leading over, under and through huge machinery, much of which was obscured by shifting clouds of steam. It was difficult to see a clear path anywhere, and the whine and clatter of the machines, and the insistent hissing and roaring of the steam pipes and boilers, made it hard to think. When he came to a junction, he turned at random onto another catwalk, and ran headlong down it.

But Vanross evidently knew his way around a lot better than Joseph did. His head suddenly poked up at the end of the catwalk in front of Joseph, who skidded to a halt. Vanross vaulted up the stairs and started running down the catwalk towards a transfixed Joseph.

There was a flight of stairs to Joseph's right, leading down into a cloud of steam. Forcing himself to move, Joseph launched himself down the stairs, his feet clattering on the open grid-work as he took them two and three at a time. At the bottom was a grid platform, surrounding a huge boiler: Joseph could feel the heat of it on his face, and the prickly feeling of sweat breaking out. He ran to the right around the giant globe of the boiler, dodging pipes and sudden bursts of steam.

Once he had gone some way around the boiler, he risked a glance backwards. Vanross was nowhere in sight. He slowed down, and descended a stairway to another grid platform that encircled the boiler on a lower level. There, a few paces from the bottom of the stairs, Joseph spotted a little hut, with a light burning inside.

He dashed towards it, hoping to find a workman inside, but it was empty apart from a kettle, some mugs and boxes of teabags, and a metal toolbox. Quelling his disappointment, Joseph opened the tool box and rummaged around inside. 

It mostly contained bits of wire and other junk, but there were some screwdrivers. Joseph picked the newest-looking one, with the sharpest blade.

At that moment he felt a discordant vibration through the steel grid floor. Peering out of the hut's little window, he saw Vanross heading towards him, walking cautiously. Joseph ducked under the little counter next to the door of the hut, and hugged his knees, trying to make himself as small as possible. 

The tension was unbearable, the desire to jump up and run again almost overwhelming. Fear caught in his throat. I’m not brave enough for this! 

Vanross’s footsteps shook the grid as he approached, slow and measured. Joseph held his breath, clenching his fists until the nails bit painfully into his palms. His arms shook from muscular tension, knuckles brushing the walls of the hut.

There was a pause in the rhythm of the footsteps, a long moment of excruciating fear, as Joseph waited to be discovered, every nerve straining. He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his fists against the walls. The fear was overwhelming, unrelenting. I wish I was brave!