STEAM LONDON: Realms of Aether Game Thread

[Nigel Wetherby]

"A word to the wise." Cain interjected. "If you're planning on going aboard the Saint Elmo, might I suggest stocking up on silver and weaponry crafted from melted down church bells and crosses? You'll be up against some unsavory customers, and I speak from experience!" He recalled his days aboard the boheme and began to ponder if vampires, wendigos, and werewolves were anything like cold ones.
Sigmund looked over the side of the ship, his hand brushing Helena's as he leaned gently on the shiprail. Upon realizing this, he blushed and pulled it quickly away.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss Stood just inside the embarkation/debarkation (hereafter referred to as the EmDe) port; he had re-donned his greatcoat over the Paterson and the Saber, but with the Sombrero this time; he had been about to go out and see what kind of visitor rated conveyance via clipper, when Miss Helena suddenly appeared outside with the fellow in tow.

"You have a visitor, Dreyfuss. a fellow named Christian Leyton." Helena informed him.

"Right! I'll be right down!" and he swung out the Port, holding on to the right handrailand the inner doorpull, which he pulled to shut the doorand latch it before he descended the hull-ladder to the dock below.

One of the reasons Dreyfuss continuallyrefused to set up a regular gangway ramp was to discourage casual visits by people he didn't really want to see - such as reporters or gawkers. And, he supposed, Government inspectors. as he climbed out and down, he glanced at the newcomer and gave him the once-over. Yep; he's got 'inspector' written all over 'im. He thought. Now, now, be nice, Dreyf, he might be an affable sort, he scolded himself.

He walked over to the fellow, stuck out his hand in greeting, and said in his best 'Posh Texian Officer' accent, "Hello there! Commodore Sir Jaisen Dreyfuss of the Republic of Texas Air Fleet, owner and Master of the Armed ZeppelinSt. Elmo, and Liaison to HEr Majesty's Secret Service, at your service! What brings you to Tinker's Row Airship Dock, Mr. Leyton?" His hand seemed to tingle for a moment; this fellow had the Spark, and more than a touch, apparently.

[Duellist]

Leyton schooled his face to impassive reserve, killing the smile that was threatening to overthrow his stiff upper lip.  It was not so much the commodore himself as the overblown theatricality of the place.  Naming his allegiance and titles so formally almost seemed a defensive reflex.

He took the proffered hand in his own, holding eye contact just long enough to avoid showing any hint of doubt or subservience.  Hearing the other gentleman's accent, he greeted Dreyfuss in the cut-glass accent of the British aristocracy.

"Her Majesty's Secret Service?  If I may presume that you mean Her Britannic Majesty, then it would appear that we have something in common.  Of course, does it not defeat the meaning of the word 'Secret' to introduce yourself as such?"

Here, Leyton allowed himself a small smile and drew out the sealed letters that would explain his purpose.  He knew from his own investigations that they were rather matter of fact about his talents and uses, but he had the presence of mind to keep his show of ignorance as unquestioned as the apparently unbroken seal of Her Majesty's Secret Service.

"I did not come here to compare titles, so I will simply say that I am a gentleman whose government has contrived to place him at your service and theirs.  I have papers here inviting you to accept my aid, but I suspect that the sense of choice is as much a façade as the one that I was given."

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss had to suppress a laugh. Oh, so thats how they're going to do it, eh? send this self-righteous popinjay in here and have him try to bait me into som ekind of quarrel? oh, no, no,Mr Leyton, sorry, but it isn't that easy. Lets see how you handle an embarkation door atop a baord ladder, Mr. Man of Action, 'I didn't come here to compare titles.'

"Well, now, that's a mighty pretty speech, Insp--ah, forgive me. Funny thing about titles, people often eschew them, but its damned hard to hold a half-decent conversation without them. For example, I don't know, yet, whether you're a doctor, a knight, a cook, an airman, or a groundlubber."

"I trust that we can assume for the moment that, since no one here has seen fit to fry you as one of the recent Enemy, who nearly turned Fair London and in fact much of Tinker's Row into an inferno, that you are, in fact, a human male, and the obvious fact that you are educated enough to do more than make grunting and clicking noises, a human male who might be at least extended the courtesy of addressing him as "Mister Leyton?"

"If the above are true, sir then please follow me aboard my Vessel, which is, in fact, mine, by the good graces of both the Republic of Texas Air Fleet and Her Britannic Majesty's Government. I offer you the relative comfort of my Officer's Mess, whilst I Aether my Liaison and Military superiors to verify your claims of representativeship, so that we shall have no more facades between us."

So saying, Dreyfuss re-climbed the boards of the hull-ladder, hung onto the vertical railing, unlatched and slid open the EmDe Portal's door, and entered. Stepping in a bit further, he took up the speaking tube for full-ship address, grabbed the bosun's whistle, blew into the tube, and then played the "visiting dignitary's call" on the whistle, Captain Ishmael arriving and standing at attention at about the moment that Leyton scrambled with more aplomb than expected, up the boards, and entered.

"Mister Leyton," Dreyfuss said, formally, "this is Captain Ishmael. Please note the use of his title, as is deemed right and proper within the Manual of Arms of the military establishment of every civilized nation that I know of. Captain, please conduct Mister Leyton to the officer's mess, and make certain the stove is lit and he is well-provided-for. I must check his credentials with the  head office. Your papers, Mr. Leyton?" HE took the rather-the-worse for-ladder-climbing bundle from Leyton's hands. "Thank you. Please go with Captain Ishmael."
-------------------------------------------------
As he conducted "Mister Leyton" to the officer's mess, Ishmael spoke.  "Mister Leyton, is it?  Well, pleased ter make yer acquaintance; mercs, Sir, that's what we all was, on this ship. If you ask me, sir, there's no better man in the world than Jaisen Dreyfuss. He, I, and Sergeant Lough-Malley, our Fireman, are all citizens of said republic, not of Britain, of which we are, however, diplomatic and Special-activities military Liaisons, Sir."

He opened the hatchway to the Officer's mess, and conducted him inside, checking that the stove was indeed still lit and well-supplied with logs and kindling, and the stern-gallery windows all closed.

"Don't leave this room, sir, no matter how long it takes, not even if we suddenly get under way; we're about to conduct a test of some rather sensitive and important equipment, sir, and your adherence to the rule in this case is not just protocol, it's a military necessity, as they say. use the speaking tube, over there by the window, sir, if you need anything, or knock on the bulkhead with your cane or with a chairback if you prefer. you have the standard chamber pot to relieve yourself, sir, and the washbasin and ewer, and liquor or water in the cabinet there. " "If you require a chair, please lift it down from the hooks above, sir, and hang it back up when you're through with it. The table's on gimballs and screwed to the deck, sir. Thank you, sir." He turned and walked toward the Bulkhead, then out the bulkhead hatch, clanging it shut and spinning the latchwheel behind himself.

[Stella Gaslight]

"Must say I am not normally one for snap judgments but something about that man rubs me the wrong way." Helena said leaning over the rail and watching him be swallowed by the St. Elmo. "I didn't like the way he looked at me or the way he flaunted his posh titles.  I don't think I could have let you boys go down there.  If he had tried to talk down to either you I may of had to slug him."  Especially if he had said anything to Sigmund, she liked him too much to let anyone else bother him.  "The checks are done and if Emma has gotten the navigational cortex programed we can leave any time but I don't know if we should let that government man go with us." Helena sighed  "I guess it isn't my place to say after all it is her mission. Well we should wait until Dreyfuss tells us what bee is in our guests bonnet anyway."  She wanted to go, it had been along time since she was in the sky and even longer since she got to pilot a craft and she truly enjoyed it.

[MWBailey]

In his cabin, Dreyfuss ticker'd the Whitehall office of the HMSS regarding Mr Leyton:

(Begin transmission) New Hire having apparently arrived, request confirmation of identity(stop)Is new hire's name Christian Leyton(stop) Is new hire matching the following physical characteristics[he gave them]?(stop) IS the New hire's billet on board the Boheme or St. Elmo(stop)Does new hire have access to all or only some secrets including new hopper drive(stop) pleaseadvise ASAP as report is delaying test schedule of new device(stop(endtransmission)

The reply was very quick in coming, complete with the whitehall code for the code for the directors signature

(begin transmission) New hire info is all correct and proper(stop)Leyton is new hire(stop)Be warned, Leyton is also bit of a snob, and quite skeptical of all things not immediately scientific(stop)we trust you told him off immediately(stop)good show if so(stop)if not,do so, he probably deserves it(stop)makeno mistake he is excellent scientist and something of magical dilletante but like most of oxford society he is membe rof, disdains magic as peasant superstition regarding misunderstood science(stop) is privy to allsecrets but keep eye on him(stop)Please proceedwith tests of drive and aid for Ms. Lighton as per alreadygiven assignment(stop(endtransmission)

Dreyfuss took hold of teh speaking tube to the steering room and Captain Ishmael's quarters, and blew into it. the Capn's voice echoed through to dreyfuss and Dreyfuss said, "Start warming the reciprocators, Cap'n. I have to go inform Miss Emma and the Boheme that we are ready and Mr. Leyton checks out, and then they'll probably want to run the tests and all.

Keep Mr. Leyton in the Mess for now, however, but if we end up staying the night on the other side, put him in the port midships cabin, next to Fireman Jock." Teh faint echo of "yes sir" came through from the steering room, and Dreyfuss put the whistle back in the tube, and put the tube back in its rack, and then exited his cabin, went out the Em De Port, and down the dock to the Boheme.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"So, are we ship-shape to leave, Captain Lighton?" Cain asked, reporting to Emma's side with a stout salute and a straight posture that he had gotten from impersonating Sigmund.
"All hands are at the ready and we await your orders! Angel has made maiden-voyage cookies, but she won't let anyone have them until we've shoved off, and I fear a revolt may be in the works if action is not taken!" Cain awaited their pan-dimensional trip as anxiously as anyone, mostly because he wondered if there truely was a world where perhaps, Angel's sisters were still alive.
With shai heading medical procedures at Madame Arachne's "Establishment" angel seemed to him, as lonely as ever.

[MWBailey]

"Helena, if you wouldn't mind, please take these to Miss Emma; I want to waste no more of her time. I just want to send her these copies of Mr. Leyton's papers and the confirmation ticker from Whitehall. She and the rest of you'll need the info in order to keep from slapping him." he chuckled. "Seriously, I think he's OK, just a bit swanky for the ships, so to speak. That'll hone off over time, probably, BUT," he added a bit severely, "they at whitehall, no less, said that he's privy to all secrets, but keep and eye on him. That they would come right out and spell that out on a ticker says that something about him engenders some small bit of suspicion. I wouldnt let him just go out and buy a pack of cigars, for instance, or post any mail by himself."

[Duellist]

Leyton sat quietly in what he was assured was the officer's mess.  It seemed quite orderly and practical, which suited his purposes; the fewer distractions, the easier it would be to avoid another potential diplomatic incident like the one he had just initiated.  If Captain Ishmael (he made a mental note to remember the title, as well asCommodore Dreyfuss') was representative of the officers, he might survive long enough to make himself useful.

There was the crux of it; he was here because some fool in Whitehall decided that it would be useful to the Commodore, or to HM Government, to have him here.  If he were lucky, he may even learn in what capacity he was to serve the ship and its crew before he was called upon.  No doubt there was someone, possibly the commodore if his intuition served him, who was a practitioner in need of a scientific mind to aid him.  It was the nature of the superstitious to treat the theoretical sciences as a 'gift' or (he shuddered at an unbidden memory) a divine calling. 

Such a shame, he reflected, that it was be an unforgivable sin to actually suggest that a respectable gentleman might be a magician...

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss was beginning to second-guess himself again. a terrible character flaw, in his and others' estimation, but he did it often nonetheless. the fact that it had saved him, more than once, from disaster at the hands of the higher and mightier was the reason he didnt throw it out altogether. When he got back aboard, he went to the captain in the steering room, and told him to monitor the aether traffic for orders to begin the exercise, and told him that he was going to go and talk to Leyton. "I was a bit harsh, he said, and even if he did deserve it, we run the risk of him becoming a Regulation Reginald if I allow him to continue to think that we run on titles around here. Fellow just nettled me, is all. I should be immune to that, but apparently I'm not,' he said
"'S' really not yer fault, Sir Jaisen," Ishmael said, the old 'Superior's Familiarity' being a hard habit to break, "I may have been on the other side of the iron hull, so to speak, but I heard what was said. The fellow criticized yer usage, yer intellygence, and yer authority all in one go, like a lordling out for the yearly 'Royal Sneer' and without a diplomatic care in the world.That needs seeing to, and you saw to it pretty well, if I may say so. sir." HE smiled at his partial levity.

Dreyfuss smiled back. "Well, it may ba that I 'saw to it' abit too well, if you get my meaning. "Well, enough jawin' I'd better get in there and set things a bt straighter, before Mis Emma decides to go ahead and loft for the afternoon."

"Keep to the orders for the day, Capn, and thanks."

Dreyfuss went back, descended the tight spiral stair down to the under (gun) deck, and went back to the Engine room hatchway, open below decks since they were in Port and not in the open, adn waved and calle edto Sergeant (actually CPO) Lough-Malley, "S' Alright, Chief?
"Aye, Commodore, sir."
Airight. Keep the furnace hot, Chief, we may run on aether, now, but we still need the whistle, and backup in case the Aether reciprocators give out, as unlikely as that may be."
"Aye, sir. Give the fop what fer, Sir Jaisen!"
Dreyfuss waved at the CPO amiably and went on back to the stern...

[Stella Gaslight]

Emma looked over the papers with a frown at first.  "I suppose there is nothing we can do about it now.  Cain tell angel to brake out those cookies because we are about to get underway.  Helena take your station at the bridge and the rest of you find a rail to hold cause we are about to travel in a way that men have only dreamed of."  She brought the speaking horn down to her mouth and opened the channel to the St. Elmo.  "It is time to go Dreyfuss.  Enter in the number 35892 and then hit that orange button we have a sarcastic ghost to go save."  Emma hit the big blue button on her own console with a grin.

Everything was still for just long enough for Emma to worry that something had gone wrong when the ship blasted forward with a roar.  Colored orbs like ball lightning wandered through them as the landscape blurred and the wind howled.  Those without the strength of Cain and Angel were forced to the floor under a tremendous pressure that swelled and swelled until Emma felt like her brain was trying to leak out her ears.  Soon as they started to wander if the pressure was going to crush them it stopped and they were flying above a burned and blasted shell of a building.   "We made it." Emma said half in shock.  They were in another world. 

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund sighed, remembering the charred remains of london.
Home sweet home he thought sarcastically, remembering he was the one who helped in the destruction of this bevy of knowledge. He remembered promises of sparing his parents given to him by the queen. He felt his entire body crawl with the raw electricity of a shudder.

"It's so...quiet." Cain exhaled. "Theres...nothing left. No life, no song, no anything. It's like...this whole place is dead."

[Stella Gaslight]

Angel snapped her wings open nervously and snuggled up next to Cain.  "I don't like this place, it is all screams, blood and empty echoes." 

Emma was carefully watching the reactions on the small aetheric tuner she had brought along with them.  The heart beat was getting stronger than the signal she got in the lab. "We need to go east.  We have to get George out of this desolate place."  The ships moved along the dead streets at a crawl with Emma checking and adjusting the course as the went along. 

Angel stiffened suddenly.  "Something is moving around down there." 

[Nigel Wetherby]

The debris shuffled and rumbled, disturbed pebbles of concrete rolled about just at the corner of the eyes of the crew. Something beneath the ship prepared to strike.

we see you, half breed. We smell your fear....we are so glad you returned.
Sigmund gasped, aware of what they faced.
"RAISE THE ALTITUDE! RAISE IT NOW!!!" He screamed, making a mad dash for the controlls. Cain nodded, taking up the navigational controlls and pulling a series of levers, giving the ship a sudden burst of altitude which knocked most of the more human crewmen off their feet. As the ship soared upward, a greaty, black beast emerged from the rubble, its terrifying circular mouth spanned the size of the colesium and resembled a sea of knives and flailing tounges. The massive wyrm barely missed their ship, but left a lasting impression on each person who witnessed the beast. The monster was easily six miles long, and their ability to fly out of its range was nothing short of a miracle.

[Duellist]

Leyton silently complimented his decision to remain supine on the floor of the officer's mess as yet another display of recklessly inspired - or simply reckless - flying forced the air out of his lungs.  His new-found love of flying machines was quickly being overwhelmed by a hatred of overconfident pilots.

He had been seriously considering an apology to the commodore, now he was simply wondering if he would live long enough to express his displeasure...

[Stella Gaslight]

Helena had fallen to the floor beside Sigmund.  She was shaking now, with fear and confusion.   Emma had told tales of monsters and she had seen some of the preserved bodies but Helena had never quite though them real.  She helped Sigmund to his feet.  "Are you all right?  What was that?"  Her eyes were wide with worry as she scanned the ground.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Melda. He's an alpha between wyrm that was pumped full of drugs. He's big, tough, stupid, and loves eating anything that moves. If we stay at this height, it will only be a challenge, which he loves. We need to move and we need to move fast!" Sigmund's urgency showed that he knew a fair deal about this world, which raised a great amount of suspicion in Cain.
Your friends look so very tasty. I wonder how the little dark-skinned one tastes....
"You won't get them, you hideous monster!" He accidentally sent and yelled at the same time.

The terrible beast known as melda watched the ship from beneath the ground, taking pleasure in sensing their terror in their elevated body heat. He tensed his body up like the hammer of a pistol and let himself go, causing him to rocket from the ground. The stubby, round wings of the creature had been long ago made useless. The leathery, black beast soared past the side of the ship, just missing them. The monster was close enough to see its skin streaked and pitted with scars and burns. It fell head-first into the ground, sinking into the earth like it was but water. Leaving only an obscenely wide hole in its wake.

[Stella Gaslight]

Emma was looking grimly at the ground below them and then opened the communication tubes all over the ship. "Every one hold on I am going to use some fuel booster and we are going to go very fast hopefully that will get us out of range of that thing.  Dreyfuss you will need to hit the green button in 3  2  1."  The engines roared and they shot forward right as Melda made another attempt.  "Fire the heat shells. Emma said firing an over sized versions of the heat rounds Patrick made.

[Nigel Wetherby]

The terribly powerful shells granted by Patrick exploded on impact, sending the serpentine beast flying at an odd angle through the sky. The monster gave a trumpeting roar as it was hurned towarss the ground, the heat round shells forming glistening, red-and-black wounds on its side as it hit the ground, the beasts' body shattered and cracked as it hit the ground on the rough grey debris-ridden ground. Black, thick goo coated the ground as its broken body flopped uselessly. The mighty being lay dying.
Sigmund watched, un-nerved as a beast it had oddly enough once known personally lay gasping for air as its lungs filled with black blood.

[MWBailey]

"Emma, this is Dreyfuss reporting in; all hands alive and  mostly well; New hire ought to be moved from present cabin to more secure one with bed for use as a gravity couch." He didnt really expect anyone to undertstand the bit about the "gravity couch," but hoped they would be given a temporary reprieve. "Heat shells away; Emma, let the Elmo do escort duties and keep us on that leash you mentioned; just remind us how to use it when the moment arrives. you have the main system, and it'd be hell for all of us it got damaged. We are switching to heat goggles now. Dreyfuss out."

Even though they were only three people and a passenger, Dreyfuss stuck to the language and discipline they had all trained to in the Marauders.
"Helm, bring her about and dial down to three-quarters altitude, forward at flank, slow to one-third when within one mile of target; use autonomous best guesses when or if enemy entity reacts or attacks; if it twitches, fire on it with the coilcannons and heat shells and emergency loft to to safe altitude. all else your decision."
"Aye, sir. undertsood," Ishmael said, evenly. They had all done this kind of thing so often it was like second nature; maybe not the same monster, but the same kind of monster-hunt.
He grabbed the speaking tube for ENGINE ROOM and blew in it. A "pop!" and then a voice came through.
"Engine Room"
"How goes it, Chief?"
"That was a rough bit, sir, but we're OK. No damage to systems, and all engines and speeds available."
"Good. Keep up the good work, Chief. Dreyfuss out."
HE capped the tube with it's whistle, and then moved out toward the Mess. "You have the con, Cap'n Ishmael," he said, as he left the steering room.

Dreyfuss made his way from the forecastle to the 'midships gundeck; the hatchway to the Engine Room and the Hold was closed now, for safety during maneuvering. He stomped the first bit of the old "shave and a haircut"  ditty on the deck, and was rewarded by what he could have sworn was a sardonic "Bonk-Bonk!" on one of the main pipes from below. He grinned briefly.

The apparent silliness had a purpose; it let the Engine Room know that the ship was still in their hands and that the footsteps above were not an enemy boarding party. That had been a saving tradition on board many of the airships that Dreyfuss had served on; many an enemy party had been ambushed as they passed said hatchway or bulkhead door or whatever on those other ships, when they failed to do whatever "foot tattoo" was the accepted norm.

He reached the spiral staircase to the Aftercastle, and from there climbed the ladder to the Stern Galleries, passing the bronze plaque on the wall that read "Officer's Country." Such was a nod to tradition, but also was kept in place, because at some point Whitehall intended stationing a party of Imperial marines (probably no more than a squad or two) on board as soon as an elite unit could be formed, or to allow the RTAF to do so, under the same strictures.

HE finally reached the Officer's mess, and straightened his cap and flyaway gray hairs, twirling the ends of his moustache, and then took the faithful Boat Gun blunderbuss down from his shoulder and held it as if he intended it for defense, and opened the door, seeing Mr. Leyton laying , prudently he thought, on the floor of the  Mess.

He walked over, and offered his hand as an aid to rising, saying, "I apologize for the roughness of the exercise, Mr. Leyton, it caught all of us by surprise. the rest of the trip promises to be about equally eventful, so I offer you a choice: either face the rest of it safely on a bunk in a stateroom amidships, or be given a weapon and a chance to sell your life dearly if we are boarded. And yes, the possibility of being boarded is very real as long as we remain at this altitude in this location."
He pulled out his watch, seeing no lights lit. Either it was broken (unlikely), or there had been no aggressive response from the creature. He squeezed out a query to the Bridge, and was rewarded by a terse ticked message in response:

(begin)no activity from target, nor response to warning shots. investigation continuing(end)

HE smiled, and helped Mr. Leyton to his feet as he made his decision known, and saw his glance at the Boat Gun.
"its what it looks like, Mr. Leyton; it's a very big-bore blunderbuss, and it kills a lot of the enemy at medium to close range. I'll make no bones about it, we need every friendly armed hand we can get on this vessel."

[Stella Gaslight]

Helena had held on to Sigmund as the ship shot forward and now they were almost in one another arms.  He could feel the warmth of her heart beating through her skin and she could feel the cool touch of his tentacles on her neck.  "Damn." Helena said looking down at the destruction. She realised how close they were and stepped back nearly knocking both of them over. "Sorry."

Emma was on the tube again.  "Glad to hear you made it out.  George's signal is getting closer but who knows what else is waiting for us so be careful.  We should be nearly on top of George in another seven miles so keep an eye out because they may have him well guarded."  The ground beneath them was still but who knew what else was lurking around. 

[Nigel Wetherby]

Cain looked over the edge of the ship, looking down at the shattered body of the beast that had attempted to swallow them whole. "Why didn't we hear that beast?" Cain asked.
"He hides everything except his thoughts. He figures only those of the queen should know when he is about to strike so they can 'gather what is left'. He was a cruel thing with no mercy, and the mind of a slavering beast...." Sigmund's voice was a hard, cold eulogy for the fallen wyrm.
He looked towards helena, placing his cool hand on her warm shoulder. "Are you going to be alright?"
Cain found himself asking Angel the same thing.

[MWBailey]

Two things happened in quick succession as Leyton opened his mouth to speak, forcing Dreyfuss to forestall his reply and simply take out the Webley and thrust it into Leyton's hands.

First, the watch beeped fcrantically as the ship's Emergency and Battle Stations klaxons sounded loud and alarming, followed quickly by bullets spanging off of the hull at all points, some smashinga few panes of the glass of the Officer's Mess stern gallery, coupled with the rapid Propulsion Fan-driven and Gas-increase/ballast-blowing assisted Emergency Lofting maneuver. the 'Captain to the Bridge" bells sounded, urgently, as he led Leyton with him down to the gundeck, did the tattoo and got thr e response, and saw Leyton's incredulous and rathe rindignant look , then it was up the spiral staircase and into the steering room, even as their stomachs felt like they were about to fall out of their backsides...

"Mr. Leyton, believe me, I understand your indignation and your discomfiture, but we are under attack, and the lofting was necessary. What you just saw on the gun deck is a necessity to inform the Engineering personnel that the footsteps they hear is crew and not foes, and to assure us that the enemy does not have control of Engineering. Now, pray, hold your questions and outbursts until I can talk to Captain Ishmael. He turned, and conferred briefly with the captain,

"Sir, we were attacked by a small squad of Hopping Marties, so I had to take her up fast and far. I was about to warn the Boheme when you came in."

"Please proceed, Captain, Dreyfuss said, and then led Leyton over to one sdie as the captain conferred with the lead ship

"St. Elmo calling Boheme, St. Elmo calling Boheme, Do you copy and how, over." They answered, and Ishmael continued, "This is Ishmael aboard St. Elmo, Hopping Marties, I repeat, Hopping Marties, ascend with all possible speed, no telling how many cohorts are about., over, repeat, ascend with all possible speed, no telling how many cohorts are about., over. Request Permission to engage, repeat, request permission to engage..."

[Stella Gaslight]

Helena was a bit shaken. "I am fine, Emma told me their might be monsters but I hadn't expected anything like that. I wonder if that thing was why all the people are gone here." She frowned and thought about how horrible it must have been down below with it moving about.

Angel was visibly distressed "I want to go home.  The song is bad here, it hurts.  I don't like this."  The ground beneath them was changing becoming more clean and orderly.  Plants started to form patches of green among the black and gray, small living things moved with the harried quickness of scavengers.  Emma was watching as George's signal grew stronger and more clear not realizing that they had entered another monster's territory.  This monster knew they were coming and watched the skies with cold eyes while her lovers prepared to meet their guests.  Emmaline Black-Lewastine smiled at the containment unit in the center of the floor.  She had the bait now all she had to do was wait.  

[Nigel Wetherby]

"No...he wasnt the only reason why they were gone. They were driven from their homes by an army..." He shuddered, remembering the experience of driving women and children from their homes after killing their brothers, sons, husbands, and lovers. He turned to Helena, who's touch seemed to dilute the painful recollections almost involuntarily.

"I know, Angel. But we have to stay to find George. He did so much for us that we need to do something for him. When we save him, we'll have a party with lots of sweets and those nice little profiteroles we had at the christening party. Would you like that?" He wrapped his arms around Angel, feeling her fear pulse through him as he willingly absorbed part of it, alleviating her sadness.