Airship Stowaway

The Plot Thickens

She left her cabin and walked forward. Lawson was at the controls again, and Monmouth was in an easy chair at the rear of the flight deck, enjoying a cup of tea and a book. 

"Ah, Jo! Would you like some tea?" he asked, putting down his book. 

"No, thank you." Joanna sat in a chair opposite. "I've been meaning to ask you. How did you happen to be in Lhasa?"

Monmouth smiled broadly. "Lucky for you, eh? I'm on my way back from Australia. I usually stop off in Lhasa, stock up on provisions and so forth."

"What were you doing in Australia?"

"I have a few investments there. Sheep stations. Small gold mine. That sort of thing."

"Wow."

Monmouth waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing major. I have bigger investments in Europe. But I do like to take a personal interest. Besides, I like to travel. It's fascinating to see different places and cultures, don't you find?"

Joanna nodded. After her time in Tibet, she could certainly see the attraction. Exploring strange places in an airship must be a great way to live. 

Monmouth continued. "That's why I was down on the streets of Lhasa, I wanted to see the Buddhist new year celebrations."

"So that's what the holiday was!"

Monmouth nodded. "Quite something, wasn't it?"

Joanna nodded. Despite getting lost, it had been an experience. 

"Anyway, I should probably get back to piloting the ship. Break over!" And with that he was up and walking over to Lawson. 

Afternoon wore into evening, and Lawson served supper in the dining room. Joanna and Monmouth ate in silence again. After they had finished, Monmouth announced that he was turning in, so that he could take over from Lawson after midnight. 

 Joanna returned to her cabin as well, and lay on her bunk again, staring out at the lights passing by below. Sometimes there were entire constellations, as they passed over cities and large towns. At other times, there were only a few lights scattered across the blackness, lonely farmhouses, or campfires, she presumed. She wondered if anyone down on the ground was looking up at the lights of the airship, and wondering about her. 

Eventually she must have fallen asleep. She woke around midnight, groggy, and made her way out of the cabin to the bathroom. 

Except when she opened it, she realised that she had made a mistake. The bathroom on the Lotus Flower had been on that side. But in this ship she found herself in a completely different room. It contained a small desk, and some bookshelves, with bands to keep the books on the shelves during turbulence. It appeared to be Monmouth's study.  There was a light burning on the desk, illuminating some papers scattered across it. She turned to go, afraid of being caught where she shouldn’t be, but a symbol on one of the papers caught her eye. She turned back, to look at it more closely, closing the door quietly behind her. 

The symbol was definitely that of Aeropolis, the winged A standing bold. It was on the corner of a large drawing that took up the entire surface of the desk. She walked around the desk and stood between it and the chair, to get a better look at it.

The drawing was a very detailed plan of Aeropolis, with each of its decks shown in plan view. There was also a side view showing how the decks fit together to make up the whole. Other sections showed the lift gas envelopes— these had been outlined in red china marker by someone.

She stared at it, perplexed. What was Monmouth doing with these plans? He hadn’t said anything about being an engineer, or being associated with Aeropolis in any way, and she had mentioned Aeropolis many times in her tale of how she came to be in Lhasa. It was most odd.

Just then the door to the study opened, and she looked up to see Monmouth on the threshold, staring at her with a grim expression on his face.