Chapter 3

The Stormbreaker hung calmly in space, Venus a brilliant blue and green curved wall filling the sky above her mast. Neither the Captain nor the crew, experienced spacers all, felt any discomfort at hanging "upside-down" over the planet. Cap was at least experienced enough not to show any discomfort either, if not quite experienced enough not to feel any.

Cap looked up at the world above him. "So, what are we going to do about the barrier?"

The Captain smiled and slid her arm through Cap's. "You haven't seen the helm room since your last trip, have you? That should explain it."

They strolled to the front of the ship, and climbed down a hatch situated between the bow catapult platform and amidships ballista, and into the helm room. As always the great chair -- elaborately carved out of ancient oak and worked with quartz and silver -- that served as the Stormbreaker's spelljamming helm stood in the center of the room. And as usual, one of the many spellcasters in the crew sat in it, eyes closed, powering and guiding the ship.

What was not usual were the awkward-looking, rune-carved, massive iron boxes that stood in each corner of the room. Each had a heavily built iron door on one side, and in front of each were baskets full of fist-sized, irregular yellow crystals streaked with black.

Cap whirled to face the Captain. "Spelljamming furnaces? How in Awawn's name did you come up with four of them? And are those chunks of the Balestar you have in those baskets? What have you been doing?"

The Captain smiled seraphically, and intertwined her fingers. "Oh, don't be silly, Capability, we haven't taken service with The Uncreated. For one thing, mad gods are bad for business. And for another, it's terribly profitable hunting its ships. Just about every government in space offers a bounty! And there's all the interesting loot, like what you see here."

Cap blinked in shock. "The Stormbreaker captured four of the Balestar's spelljammers by itself? Aren't they supposed to be swarming with warlocks and mind slaves?"

The Captain laughed. "Six actually, but the other two furnaces we sold. And the warlocks they put on their standard patrol ships aren't all that tough. As for mind slaves -- once you've shattered their crystals, well suddenly they're allies. I won't say it was easy, but for a woman of my talents and with a crew like the Stormbreaker's it was simply business as usual. The hardest part was finding the many-damned thing."

Cap shook his head in amazement. "Well, I suppose you'll use the furnaces once the shield shuts down the helm?"

The Captain waved a hand negligently. "Well, we'll actually go in under power from one of the furnaces and with the helm shut down -- that'll avoid helm shock for helmsman. When the barrier shuts down the furnace, we'll start one of the other furnaces. If it doesn't work we'll try the next one, and then the next one, and finally the helm. The odds are very high we'll get one of them started before we crash into the surface!" She favored Cap with a gleeful smile.

Cap winced at the image of the Stormbreaker falling to the surface from orbit. "So when do we go?"

The Captain's smile widened. "That eager to go, are you? Well, there's no time like the present!"

Captain Van der Decken practically sprang to the ladder and swarmed up on deck, with Cap close behind her. The Captain cupped her hands in front of her mouth, bellowing, "OK you deck apes, strike the sails and topmast into the hold! Rig ship for drop! Duty mage! Prepare for invisible flight!"

In what seemed like no time, the top mast had been removed and placed down in the cargo hold along with the sails, the catapults and ballistae had been tightly roped in place and covered with shields of sailcloth, and any and all 'loose' objects had been tied down with more rope (including the lookouts), and the majority of the crew below decks in their hammocks.

Not Blackie Van der Decken, of course. She and Cap were on the deck by the hatch into the helm chamber, loosely secured with rope harnesses. At the bottom of the hatch waited the cabin boy, ready to relay any command of the Captain's to the furnace operators.

The cabin boy peered up, looking slightly nervous; Cap did not blame him in the least. "Captain? Mistress Spike wishes inform you that the helm is free, and the ship is now flying on the number one furnace."

The Captain clapped her hands together, looking gleeful. "Excellent! Tell Mistress Spike to bring the ship around and initiate descent. And tell the Ryan to activate invisibility. We're going in, lads and lasses! It's death or glory now!"

Venus swung around above until it disappeared over one side of the ship, leaving a view of only stars. The ship faded somewhat when the invisibility spell took effect, but remained mostly visible to those aboard her.

The descent began gradually enough, when suddenly, there was a flare of magic and St. Elmo's fire from the helm room and the top of the abbreviated mast, and the ship began to plunge.

If it had fallen on an even keel, it wouldn't have been so bad, but without a helm the Stormbreaker rocked violently both fore and aft and from side to side. If weren't for their rope harnesses, both the bard and the Captain would have been hurled over the side. Cap held on to the ropes grimly, muttering prayers to Bran under his breath. The Captain however, was laughing and whooping, her voice audible even over the groans of the ship and the scream of the thin air. "Have you ever had such a ride, Capability? Have you ever? It'll take us about eight minutes to fall to earth -- care to take a bet how many tries it'll take before we get a helm going?"

Cap looked at her in amazement as he clung to his harness for dear life, but then his bardic training kicked in. "It's bad style to bet against the Captain in matters pertaining to running the ship, so I'll pass this time."

The Captain grinned at him. She has amazingly enough keeping her feet with only one arm hooked through her harness. "Spoilsport! Well, it's time for the first try."

She waved a hand to the cabin boy roped to the foot of the ladder. He signaled someone further into the helm room. The ship's fall slowed and the rocking decreased, but after a few seconds there was another burst of magic and light, and the ship began fall anew."

The Captain laughed again. "You should have bet against me, Capability, because I would have bet on the first try! But there's plenty of time to try again."

Once again she signaled the cabin boy, and once again the ship slowed and stabilized. This time it lasted for a good twenty seconds before there was the tell-tale burst of light and magic and ship resumed its fall."

The Captain looked thoughtful, but not upset as the ship pitched wildly beneath her feet. "Well, only one more furnace left to try, and then it's down to the helm. Are you sure you don't want to place a little bet? It needn't be for money."

Cap tried to match her calm. After a moment's thought he whispered an offer in her ear (or as much of a whisper that would carry over the rush of the air and creaking and groaning of the ship).

The Captain smiled broadly. "Done!" And she signaled the cabin boy for the third time.

This time the ship slowed and steadied until it finally came to a stop, hovering in cool damp of Venus' upper airs. After it held steady for a couple of minutes, the Captain slipped out of her harness and smiled at Cap. "You have won your bet, sir. You can collect your winnings tonight, the gods willing. "

She turned and faced down the hatch, bellowing: "Mister Red, roust the men out of their hammocks and rig ship for normal flying. We have treasure to find!"