And Stay There!

…

As stated before, the standing rigging of a ship rarely saw wearing because it never had to be moved or adjusted. So when a piece of standing rigging failed, it came off as a terrifying surprise. It could be a cheap thrill for airmen who were not scared out of their wits. While failure of any running rigging was generally an inconvenience, standing rigging was an indication that part of the airship's structure could collapse at any moment. Without standing rigging, the masts of a ship could fall off and render a ship unable to sail.

One occasion saw the failure of two of the Grand Sails' backstays. This scared the hell out of the pilot because the chainplates holding the stays to the transom pulled off a large chunk of the transom. Captain Alfonzo ordered the pilot to drop the galleon out of the Sky Line before the loss of support caused the mizzenmast to collapse from the powerful winds inside. Then he immediately ordered nearby airmen to grab the loose stays and put their weight them while someone fixed new chainplates to an area of the transom which had not been damaged. To make sure the wind did not pull on the mizzenmast while it was being repaired, the captain ordered all the sails stowed.

The job of repairs fell to Link and Line after new holes had been drilled into the transom. Link was first, dashing into place with the necessary bolts and taking the new plate from the airman who had drilled the holes. He fit the bolts into the plate first, then he put it into the transom. It felt unusual because the chainplates were fastened to the top of the transom by screws. Since that part of the transom had been torn up, the crew had to improvise using some of the replacement bolts for clewline block clamps (which were sized perfectly for the chainplates while being just a little too long to put through the transom). This meant that the holes had to be drilled through the side of the transom. It was a temporary fix with potential for tearing the transom further, so the captain would have to bear sailing slower until they reached the next port.

Link had to be lifted onto the transom since he was just a little too short to reach one arm around the transom to put the nuts on. While he straddled the transom, another airman held his trouser leg to make sure he did not go far if he fell. It had to be Link to put the nuts on because his fingers were small enough to fit between the bolts. When he was done, he dropped to the deck and handed the airman assisting him a socket to fit over the nuts while he turned the bolts with a screwdriver.

"Time!" the captain demanded behind them.

"One minute," Link said, already turning the second bolt.

"I got two!" Line called, still fixing nuts in place while straddling the transom.

"You've each got half of one!" Alfonzo told them. He glanced up at the mast and shouted at the airmen holding the loose stays, "Keep fast, men, we're almost done."

"Shit!" Line shouted.

"What?" the airman assisting him asked.

"I dropped a nut!"

Link immediately dug into his pocket. "Here!" he shouted, passing a spare nut to Line's assistant.

"Thanks, Link!" Line shouted as he received the nut.

Link finished his bolts and pulled the anchoring end of a bottlescrew from his pocket. He had to think about the device's position before attaching it and securing it with his screwdriver. "Got it!"

"Line, where the hell's my other anchor point!?" Alfonzo demanded.

"Half a minute!" Line replied, tightening the last bolt for the chainplate.

"Get ready to pull those lines tight, men!" Alfonzo shouted. "They're gonna hurt like hell! Take the old screws off!"

Link watched Line fumble with the bottlescrew and told him, "Up, Line, point it up."

"Thanks, Link," Line replied. He fit the bottlescrew in place and tightened it down fast. "Got it, Captain!"

"Hook 'em up!" Alfonzo immediately ordered.

The airmen holding the stays tugged hard, having discarded the broken piece of hull. Link and Line took the middle pieces of the old bottlescrews and waited near the new chainplates while the larger airmen hauled the stays toward them. When they were close enough, the boys began twisting the pieces of the bottlescrews together.

"You got it, Link?" the airman holding the stay's end of the bottlescrew for Link asked.

"Just abouuuuuut… there it is," Link said, giving the bottlescrew a few turns. "It's good."

"Okay, let me have it," the airman told him. Link stepped back so the airman could start turning the bottlescrew with his superior strength. "Let me see that screwdriver."

"Whoa, whoa, I don't have it yet," Line shouted at the airmen holding his line. "Just a little more, guys."

"How's this?" one of the airmen holding his line asked.

"Jus—shit. Just a little… Got it. It's in!"

"Tension those stays now," Alfonzo ordered as he watched the standing rigging between the main mast and mizzenmast. "Come on, men, we've already lost enough time. That's it, just a little more." Then he clapped his hands. "Good work. Set all courses and top sails. Fallon, get us back in that Sky Line." Saluting and calls of "aye aye, sir" rang across the bridge, and Link and Line joined in even though they were not even on duty. But as the crew dispersed to take care of their jobs, Alfonzo held up a hand. "Line, Link, wait a moment."

"Yes, Captain?" Link asked.

He approached them, arms crossed, and looked down on them. "That was some pretty fast thinking," he said. "Any longer, and we'd be sailing to Lighthouse Island with only two masts."

"That was all Link there, Captain," Line said, giving Link a friendly nudge. "He knows the dimensions of these small parts; he sleeps with an engineering manual under his pillow."

"And he also knows our stores," Alfonzo said. "So he knows what he has to work with."

Link, trying not to grin, scratched the back of his head. "I-I just thought it could come in handy one day."

Alfonzo chuckled. "I may tell you two how much of a pain in the ass you can be," he told them. "So just know that I still appreciate having you two around. Go get your tunics; you'll be on duty when we reach the island."

Both saluted, unable to suppress their grins anymore. "Aye aye, sir!" they chimed together.

As they walked down the steps to the weather deck, Link said in a low voice, "You're lucky those stays broke before anyone could find us dueling in the hold."

"I still say I won," Line replied in a similar voice.