The Briefcase Blues

Chapter 1 - Sunrise in the Clouds

Chapter 1   Sunrise In The Clouds

The early sun was still hiding behind towering clouds of pristine whiteness. Scattered rays of orange light pierced the vaporous mountains and fell on a man standing in front of a large mounted rocket launcher. The man smiled as the feeble light tried to warm his face. His aviator-style scarf was wrapped tightly around his neck and he wore thick leather boots to keep his feet from going numb. In the freezing cold, warmth came only from the steaming hot cup cradled in his hands. The man stood motionless, sipping his Oolong tea with his eyes closed. Its taste took his mind back to China for a moment, to fragrant meadows and distant green mountains.
Opening his eyes, the man admired the cotton cliffs and ravines surrounding him. It soothed his heavy heart for a moment. There was no sunrise more beautiful, when seen from the bow turret of a zeppelin at 10.000 feet up in the sky. There was simply nothing that could spoil the view. It was almost as if he was flying through the air all by himself. Until two hands suddenly covered his eyes.
‘Guess who?’ said a young woman’s voice teasing.
‘Hmm, it’s six AM, so it couldn’t possibly be Alicia Vanderlubsen,‘ he replied with a calm voice. ‘She would die of shock if she ever got out of bed this early,’
The young woman, in her early twenties, chuckled and moved to stand next to him, sharing his view for a moment. Her thick clothing could not entirely hide her slender figure. Long black hair danced in de morning wind.
‘Well, a girl can change, can’t she?’ she asked, her blue eyes trained on the tall and handsome pilot. Her breath condensed in the cold, forming more clouds.
He nodded in consent, but his eyes remained serious. He tried to recapture the feeling of the sunrise again and listened to the lulling drone of the Damocles’ multiple engines. He sighed.
‘Nevertheless, even good things come to an end,’ he continued. ‘And so has your time with the Firebirds, my dear. It’s time to take you back to your father. I just received a wireless that he has finally collected the ransom and agrees to our exchange arrangements.’
The raven-haired girl scowled.
‘I won’t go back, Jason. I love my father, but I’m a grown woman now. If I choose to stay with you and the Firebirds, then…then he’ll just have to accept it!’ She crossed her arms and looked away again, lips pouting.
‘Oh, you’ll go back all right,’ the man retorted, ignoring her protests, ‘Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming. What you do after that is your own business, but if a pirate doesn’t deliver on a ransom exchange, he’s in serious trouble. Both from the law and other pirates.’ He smiled. ‘Besides, I doubt spending time with the Firebirds can have much of a growing up effect on a person.’
‘What are you talking about? What do other pirates have to do with it?’ she asked, momentarily forgetting about her initial protest.  
‘It’s one of the few unwritten laws we have. Never fail to deliver on a ransom exchange. If ransoms go sour, families will start to try funny stuff, like hiring private detectives or alerting the law. That means a lot more trouble for us decent, hard working pirates,’ he replied with a weak smile.
He felt sorry to let her go. It had been fun having her around. The crew of the Damocles, the zeppelin that formed their airborne base of operations, had enjoyed having her around too. Officially she may have been kidnapped, but for Alicia Vanderlubsen, daughter of Franklin S. Vanderlubsen, the Pacifican steel giant, it had been the adventure of a lifetime. She had learned how to fly from him, Jason ‘Jazz’ Grant, leader of the Firebirds. Marty ‘Cheesehead’ Rogier, the chief mechanic, had shown her how their airplanes worked. Walter ‘Scalpalot’ Pratt had taught her to play some tunes on the guitar. And she learned to play cards from the twins, Nora and Margaret. But she was not cut out for the life of a pirate. It was asking for trouble.
She leaned against him and looked him in the eyes. Her full lips were dangerously close to his.
‘Are you sure you want to take me back, Jason?’ Her voice became low and sultry.
He bit his lip mentally, as hard as he could. She was using every ounce of feminine persuasion she had. That’s something she picked up from Bonnie, he thought to himself. Antoinette ‘Bonnie’ Fortescue was their cargo pilot and more woman then most men could handle. He reminded himself that Alicia was just a girl. That he had to think of her as just another girl.
It wasn’t helping much. They’d be asking for trouble, not in the least because he had started to get feelings for her. He suspected she knew it too. Better to end it right here, right now.
‘Sorry dear, no dice,’ he managed in a croak.
Sighing again, she closed her eyes. ‘Your loss, flyboy. I guess I’ll see you around.’
And with that, she left him alone at the turret. He stared after her until she disappeared in the forward hatch of the battle zeppelin. As soon as she was gone, he bonked his head against the cold metal of the gun emplacement until the pain in his head surpassed the pain in his chest.

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