Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! :(
Chapter 1
Alek stood, staring out at the land far below. He tried to image just how far he had come, from Austria to here. Japan was to their east, and the Captain said it was only a few days away.
Alek had always known about the world. It had been part of his heritage to learn about it. But he suddenly realised just how little he actually understood. He knew about the people and the places, but now, sitting here on the Leviathan, everything he had ever learnt seemed insignificant.
The sound of breathing beside him brought him out of his thoughts. Dylan stood there, looking entirely at home.
"Barking spiders, it's cold" Dylan muttered, pulling his regulation airman's jacket closer. Alek nodded, realising that he had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed how dark and cold it was getting. He stood up.
"Yeah, let's get inside. It looks like there might be a storm."
"Aye, I don't like the look of those clouds."
Together, they turned and headed back to the indoors.
Dr Barlow sat in her quarters, studying some maps. If all went well, they would arrive in Japan just in time to continue her plan on schedule. She sighed, pushing the maps away. It was impossible to concentrate with everything that was going on.
From the corner of the room came an odd, crackling sound. Dr Barlow turned to see her loris perched on the windowsill, staring at the approaching storm clouds. The loris made the sound again, and it was then that Dr Barlow recognised it, it was the sound lightening made when it struck. And sure enough, she could see a flicker of light in the clouds. She felt her throat tighten. An airship filled with hydrogen, heading straight for the lightening.
Dr Barlow made a decision, stood up and headed for the bridge.
The Captain stood next to the viewport, gazing at the sky ahead of them, and continually issuing orders to his men. Dr Barlow walked in when he was ordering all the hydrogen sniffers to the dorsal area. She could feel the airbeast shifting, trying to get away from the storm.
"I see you've noticed the lightening, my dear Captain."
"What do you want, Doctor? Can't you see that I'm busy?"
"I just came to advise you to change course. Just entering the lightening field is dangerous. The storm isn't travelling very quickly, if we changed turned around now, we might just outrun it" Dr Barlow stated as calmly as she could.
"I know what you are thinking Doctor, but it would just delay us. The storm would catch us eventually; it would just be easier to get through it now, rather than halfway back to England. Now if you don't mind, I believe we shall need all our mechanics to the engines, so I must issue the order..."
"If you don't mind Captain, I was on my way to see Mr Sharp, whom I believe is with Alek. I can tell him for you, so the message lizard could be put to better use." With that, she turned and left
Alek caught the ball in one hand, took a few steps back, and threw it as hard as he could down the corridor. Dylan ran as hard as he could after it, jumped, and caught it in mid-air. Bovril, perched on the windowsill, clapped as hard as his little paws would let him.
Alek had suggested the game to distract Dylan from the lightening. He knew it scared him, and every time there was the slightest flash visible through the porthole he flinched, as if expecting to catch fire every time. But playing a game was better than sitting and hoping for it to go away.
Dylan threw the ball half-heartedly back to Alek, but the ball hit the floor halfway between them, bouncing back up only to be caught by Tazza.
"Finally" came Dr Barlow's cry from around the corner. "Alek, the Captain is sending all the mechanics their engines, so you better head off. Mr Sharp, you had better go help with the hydrogen sniffers. The Captain refused to turn around, so I believe he wants to make sure there are no leaks when we go through the storm."
Alek and Dylan both nodded, and headed off in separate directions.
The engines thrummed as Alek stepped into the pods. Mr Hirst was standing over the controls, with Master Klopp watching over his shoulder. Alek and his men had been teaching some of the Darwinist mechanics how to control the engines, but Klopp still didn't trust Mr Hirst at his precious engines.
"Ah, Alek, finally. Please, take the engines before this man ruins it and ends us all." Klopp grumbled. Alek nodded and shivered, he was already cold and had been out there for only 5 minutes. He took the saunter, keeping it level to where Mr Hirst had left it. They were almost at the clouds now, and Alek could see the rain coming down.
A flash of lightening made him jump. He suddenly realised just why Dylan was so afraid of it. In an airbeast full of hydrogen, every flash was too close. He shivered, this time not from the cold.
They were now entering the storm. The makeshift covers that had been rigged up over the engines did their best, but the wind and the rain quickly overpowered them. Most of the electrikals had been covered more securely, but Alek was a bit worried about the sparks flying out of the engines. He was no mechanik, but he knew that it wasn't good.
Thunder and lightning overtook Alek's senses. He was blinded by the huge flashing light, and deafened by the deep grumbling that followed. His face was numb from the wind, and he almost didn't know what he was doing.
And then, through the racket, he heard the sound that they had all been dreading. The bark of a hydrogen sniffer. They had sprung a leak.
