Author's Notes:
And now, finally, we can get back to our beloved Leviathan :)
Again, this chapter is a bit long because of the prodigious use of excerpts. Alek will make his appearance in a few chapters.
His Majesty's London Zoo was squawking like a bag of budgies on fire. Deryn skidded to a halt at the entry gate, stunned by the tumult of hoots and roars and shrieks.
To her right a troop of monkeys clung to the bars of their cage, howling into the air. Past them a netted enclosure was full of agitated birds, a blizzard of plumage and noise. Across a wide moat a giant elephantine stamped the ground nervously, sending tremors through Deryn's boots.
"Barking spiders," she swore softly.
She'd made Jaspert take her to the London Zoo five weeks ago, fresh off the train from Glasgow. But on that visit she'd heard nothing like this ruckus.
Obviously the Leviathan had put the beasties in a state.
Deryn wondered how the airship must smell to the natural animals. Like a giant predator coming to gobble them up? Or some long-lost evolutionary cousin? Or did its tangle of fabricated species make them think a whole island was floating past overhead?
"Are you my airman?" a voice called.
Deryn turned to see a woman wearing a long traveling coat, a valise in one hand.
"Pardon me, ma'am?"
"I was promised an airman," the woman said. "And you appear to be in uniform. Or are you simply here to throw peanuts at the monkeys?"
Deryn blinked, then realized that the woman was wearing a black bowler.
"Oh… you're the boffin?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Guilty as charged. But my acquaintances call me Dr. Barlow."
Deryn blushed, bowing a little. "Midshipman Dylan sharp, at your service."
(Excerpt from Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, chapter 16. The rest of the chapter incorporates many other excerpts.)
"So you are my airman. Excellent." The woman held out the valise. "If you would be a dear, I'll just fetch our cargo. My colleague should be here soon as well, with my traveling companion."
Deryn took the bag and bowed again. "Of course, ma'am. Sorry to be so thick. It's just that… no one told me you were a lady."
Dr. Barlow laughed. "Not to worry, young man. The subject has occasionally been debated." She patted the top of her bowler hat. "Do keep an eye out, since my colleague does not like to wear bowlers."
With that she turned away and disappeared through the gatehouse door, leaving Deryn holding the heavy valise and wondering if she were seeing things. She'd never heard of a lady boffin before — or a female diplomat, for that matter. The only women who had anything to do with diplomacy were spies, she reckoned, and this Dr. Barlow seemed too loud for that sort of undercover yackum. And what was this business about a boffin not liking his bowler hat? Deryn had always reckoned a bowler was a mandatory part of a boffin.
A laugh drew her attention back towards the zoo gate, and Deryn saw the door burst open, followed by a young woman pulled along by a the strangest-looking fab she had ever seen. She barely had any time to observe the situation before the fab went straight towards her, as if it were a blood-hound seeking the scent of the hunt. Deryn froze up, noticing the creature's sharp teeth and its gaping mouth. It looked rather like a huge tan dog with tiger stripes.
It walked in bounds, a little like a kangaroo, but Deryn put that random thought aside. She figured she had about half a second to decide whether or not to drop the lady boffin's valise and move out of the way, or risk getting…
Nudged. The beastie nudged her hand, yipped once, then bounded happily like a giant flea. Its fur was coarse but silky.
Deryn frowned.
Yipped?
"Oh, my goodness," the woman holding the leash said. She had a flat accent that was somehow familiar, though Deryn forgot where she had previously heard it. "I am so sorry. Tazza is usually quite shy. It's completely uncharacteristic for him to go straight for someone."
Deryn wasn't quite sure what to say. "Er, it's alright, ma'am," she managed in the end.
The woman waved her hand. "I hope that didn't startle you! Tazza doesn't bite, truly."
Deryn flinched as the beastie licked her hand, its raspy, moist tongue leaving behind an itch on her skin. "Uhm, ma'am, I'm sorry to say so but, may I suggest you take your uh, beastie, elsewhere? There will quite a bit of ruckus around here in a bit."
Tazza let out another excited yip. Deryn had always thought that it was forbidden to give names to any fabs — but then again she'd thought there weren't any lady boffins either. Deryn was about to ask the woman how the she got into the zoo in the first place, since it was closed to civilians for today, when she noticed her staring strangely.
Deryn blinked, looking back. The woman was even younger than she had first guessed, perhaps only two or three years older than herself, though slightly shorter. She had mahogany hair tied into a loose bunch, and a beautiful face with strong brows and a hint of temper. Her intelligent grey eyes were narrowed in a frown.
"Elsewhere?" she said. "But am I not to follow you?"
"Follow me? Whatever for?"
"What do you mean, what for? I thought Dr. Barlow said you knew I was coming."
Deryn looked about, confused. "You know the lady boffin?"
"Of course I know her. Remind me why we are having this conversation again?"
"Well, she just said her colleague would be out with her travel companion. I don't think she mentioned you, though, Miss, or —"
"Oh, for heaven's sake. I'm her colleague," the young woman — barely out of girlhood — said, a slight annoyance in her tone. "And you are?"
Deryn blinked, and blinked again. Then she felt her mouth drop open.
"You're her colleague." she said stupidly. "You're a boffin?"
"Yes, I am."
"But, your bowler…"
The girl sighed resignedly, as if anticipating this, and fished out from somewhere a battered and quite-squashed bowler hat. She waved it in front of Deryn. "Yes, I'm a scientist," she repeated with every evidence of a patience wearing thin. "Why does nobody in this country believe it unless I wear this ridiculous hat?"
"But you're just a girl!" Deryn blurted before she could smack herself. Immediately she wanted to curl up into a ball and burrow into the concrete. Her cheeks flushed red. "I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean —"
The girl gaped at her, but then her nostrils narrowed dangerously. It looked extremely intimidating, and Deryn took a half-step backwards.
"Listen well, boy," she said coolly. "My name is Dr. Katherine Cruse. I am Dr. Barlow's research associate. I may be only a bit older than you, but if you ever dare call me a girl again, your captain will know of this, and you will lose your position aboard your ship. Do I make myself clear?"
Deryn gulped spikes down her throat. "Yes, ma'am," she said, badly shaken. "My d-deepest apologies, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am. But, but then, the travel companion the lady boffin — I mean Dr. Barlow — mentioned…"
"She was referring to Tazza." Dr. Cruse hefted the leash in her hand, nostrils still narrowed. "Now, as I was asking, and you are?"
"Er, I'm very sorry, ma'am. Midshipman Dylan Sharp, ma'am, at your service."
The girl — the young lady — the young lady boffin — the barking scary young lady boffin — peered at her for a moment, which made Deryn stand straighter than she ever has in her short cross-dressing military career, before nodding, apparently satisfied. To Deryn's shock, she then smiled, as if she regularly narrowed her nostrils and made someone feel like they were going to clart their uniform. "Well, now that we got all that unpleasantry out of the way, Mr. Sharp," she said breezily, holding out her own valise for Deryn to take, "I must apologize for being so stern."
Deryn struggled to grab the second valise as the first one trembled in her grasp, her fingers complaining of the weight. Terrified now of the boffin — who had the power to terminate the best career prospects she'd ever dreamed of by kicking her off the Leviathan — Deryn quickly answered. "Er, it's no problem, ma'am. Not at all."
"Oh I'm glad," Dr. Cruse said with that same smile as Deryn grunted and heaved up the valise. "I just hate people who think I should be wearing a bowler when it looks so horrible on me, you understand. And of course, I abhor being called a girl. Come along now, Tazza — Mr. Sharp, if you will be so kind as to lead the way?"
As they started to walk towards the Leviathan, Deryn couldn't help but feel as if her world was becoming a little bit unraveled. Barking spiders! As if one lady boffin weren't enough, here comes another, and this one barely older than her, and bringing a strange fabricated guard dog which did not seem the least bit intimidating nor useful, with a name like 'Tazza' besides! It was all a bit much to handle, and Deryn almost wished that she weren't the one to reach the airfield first — let that bum-rag Fitzroy deal with these boffins; he was from a posh family, she seemed to recall, and would know about these things. But then again, it must be pure dead luck that she got to meet their guests first. Deryn took a longing glance at the airship hovering over Regent's Park, and felt determination filling her again. If she could get through all of this, and leave a good impression on the two boffins, she was sure she'd be allowed to stay. If anyone was going to lose their place over two absurdly heavy valises and a daft beastie named Tazza, it was not going to be her!
They hadn't taken more than ten steps, however, before Dr. Barlow's booming voice came from behind them.
"Careful now, gentlemen," she said, emerging from the gatehouse and carrying… a covered bird cage. Deryn decided to ignore that. "Gently does it!"
Dr. Cruse smiled. "There she comes," she said. "Let's wait for her."
"Of course, ma'am."
"Miss is fine. I'm not half so old as a ma'am."
Whether Dr. Cruse wanted to be called ma'am or miss, Deryn was certainly glad for the opportunity to let the two valise land on the ground, and rest her already screaming arms a little. She shook them around, trying to get some barking circulation back. What were in those valises?
"Ah, Dr. Cruse! I see you have met our airman," Dr. Barlow said, walking over.
Seeing her, the strange zebra-dog bounded over and jumped. Deryn knew enough now to realize that it posed no danger whatsoever, and she watched as the woman ruffled the beastie's fur and tickled its ears as it licked her. "Hello, Tazza dear, yes, yes, I've missed you for the past twenty minutes as well. Did you bully our airman?"
"No, he went straight for her," Dr. Cruse said. "Almost lost his leash."
"My, that's certainly strange behavior from you," Dr. Barlow said. Then she turned her head and yelled back at the gatehouse: "Oh for goodness' sake, hurry up please. We have a schedule to keep."
Deryn wondered who else was coming along. Between Barlow and Cruse, and their valises and Tazza, that was probably four middies gone. Any more weight and they'll have to start tossing off officers!
A speck of white creeped out slowly. At first Deryn didn't know what it was, until abruptly she recognized a man in a white lab coat, who she thought might be a young boffin. He was walking backwards like he had arthritis and weighed three hundred pounds, each small shuffle literally inching him in their direction. It took several seconds just for him to clear the doorway, and then Deryn saw that he was holding something.
It was an ordinary-looking box, long and square, packing straw poking out here and there. Eventually, the other end of the box emerged, followed by the other young boffin who carried it. The whole thing was like watching a slow agonizing birth, punctuated by Midwife Barlow's incessant encouragements — or reprimands, depending on how one heard it. But Deryn wasn't sure the young boffins took heed at all, they were concentrating on the task so hard.
Now she understood why they had to land in the middle of Regent's Park. This box, whatever it was, held extremely precious cargo; it would never have survived the trip from the zoo to the airfields outside the city.
Finally, the box reached the three of them. Deryn thought she might offer to help, but hesitated when she felt a squick of warmth from the box. Warmth, and moisture.
"Is something alive in there?" she asked.
"That is a military secret," said Dr. Barlow.
"Or not so military, as it were," said Dr. Cruse. "Though a secret nonetheless." She handed the leash back to her colleague and offered Deryn a smile. Despite herself, Deryn was starting to like the young lady boffin's character; easy to anger, but easy to laugh.
"So, shall we get going then?" Dr. Barlow asked, more of an order than a question. Reluctantly Deryn picked up the two valises again, with a light grunt, and the party continued on the road to Regent's Park. Two lady boffins, a midship(wo)man in disguise, two surly boffins carrying what must a barking sand castle in a box, and a daft beastie named Tazza; Deryn had no doubt that they were definitely the oddest little bunch to have ever left His Majesty's London Zoo.
ooo
Dr. Barlow clicked her tongue. "Your airship looks unhappy."
The Leviathan was still about fifty feet up, the captain bringing her down with infinite caution. The cilia on its flanks were rippling, and flocks of fabricated birds roiled across the park, driven from their nesting coves by the airship's twitchiness.
"It's too crowded here," observed Dr. Cruse. "But oh, what a wonderful form. You must feel proud, Doctor."
"Nonsense," said Dr. Barlow, though Deryn thought she did sound a wee bit pleased. Not that Deryn had any idea what the two boffins were talking about, of course, but she was starting to get used to it. Along the way they had chitchatted about all sorts of things, and Deryn could understand none of it. She was beginning to wonder if this was part of being a lady boffin — Dr. Busk had certainly never sounded half so mad.
"I think it'll be better once we're higher up," Deryn ventured. "I mean, I reckon Miss — Dr. Cruse is right."
"I imagine she is," Dr. Barlow said. "All the same, Mr. Sharp, my cargo requires a smooth ride."
"Well, the airflow gets messy down here, ma'am. There's nothing the captain can really do."
Dr. Barlow sighed. "Especially in the middle of London, I suppose."
"Aye ma'am," Deryn said, excited to talk about something she knew, for once. "The streets tangle up the wind, and the big ships get nervous coming down on unfamiliar fields. You see those wee grassy bits on the ship's flanks? They're called cilia, and they look shivery to me."
At this, Dr. Cruse burst out laughing. It was a tinkling laugh, and Deryn glanced back at her, wondering what she had done. Was cilia a funny word to boffins?
"I'm sorry," the young lady boffin said, sensing her questioning stare. She covered her mouth. "It's just that —"
"It's just that I believe I ought to know what cilia are, Mr. Sharp," Dr. Barlow smiled. "I fabricated this particular species, in fact."
Deryn felt herself go red from her neck to the tip of her scalp. Now that earlier comment made sense too. She felt like a barking ninny; lecturing to the creator of the Leviathan on the subject of cilia and airflow! She reminded herself that these two women were probably dead clever to be sent on a secret diplomatic mission like this, and resolved to not say anything more and stop looking like a bloody idiot.
The three of them settled into silence as they watched the airbeast's descent. Or at least Deryn settled back into silence — the two boffins were whisper-talking to each other, discussing national secrets most likely.
What was the great beastie so nervous about anyway? It might have to do with airflow, it might have to do with people, but the Leviathan has seen plenty of both. Deryn looked up, remembering the storm that had almost ended her Air Service career on the first day, but the weather was perfect. Perhaps it was the zoo, as well, all them natural animals going bonkers so close by. She thought about asking the two boffins if that were possible, but decided against it.
She still remembered her absolute awe at the airbeast as it glided stately towards her, growing and growing and growing from a speck in the sky above the Channel, until it took up the entire view. That had been a month ago, after she'd been rescued from an eternity of drifting on a Huxley, and Matt had invited her to stay on the bridge at least until the Leviathan got close. Then it was standard aerial transfer procedures — a flimsy rope bridge had been made to close the gap, and Deryn had only to skip merrily over like a lassie on a picnic, two thousand feet in the air, from one massive airship to the next. The bosun Mr. Rigby had even complimented her on how well she handled heights. Not a bad way to start off her career, if she does say so herself.
Then, of course, once she had gotten past the initial shock (she was on HMS barking Leviathan, for crying out loud!), she had begged shamelessly for them to let her take the middy tests on board. They relented eventually, something about a duke fellow getting himself killed and the Service needing men. After that, it was off to join the Leviathan's other middies as they all (very boyishly) punched and jostled and jeered and stole-breakfasted their way through each day of new challenges and things to learn. Then its a glorious month of combat drills, combat drills, combat drills.
Until yesterday, which was when they said, 'oh aye, now let's go pick up two fancy-pants lady boffins and kick a couple of our loyal middies off due to weight!'
Deryn sighed and pulled herself from her memories. It was no use bemoaning that now. She considered mentioning her dilemma to the two lady boffins, who no doubt had the power to solve it, but decided against it. It would make her look so selfish, even though she wanted with all her heart to stay onboard the airbeast. To taste only a short month of this grand life would be too cruel.
She gazed back at the airbeast. With no mooring mast in the park, ropes stretched in all directions to squads of men clinging to them. The constables could hardly keep the landing oval open, the crowds were so enthusiastic. Deryn thought they were all behaving a bit like hydrogen sniffers who'd caught the scent, and laughed secretly at the analogy.
"Your airship looks a proper Gulliver," Dr. Cruse remarked, gesturing to the hundreds of ropes struggling to bring her down.
"Huh? Oh, aye, that's for sure," said Deryn. Then she spotted a few people who shouldn't be holding the lines, and then a few more. She cursed.
"What's the matter, Mr. Sharp?" asked Dr. Barlow.
"Fitzroy must be daft! Er, it's the men on the ropes, ma'am. If a squall comes up quick, they won't know to let go — and fast — or be carried up into the air…"
"Where they will eventually fall to their deaths," concluded Dr. Cruse. Deryn grimaced.
"Aye. One strong gust can carry the Leviathan up a hundred feet in seconds." It was the first thing they taught ground men: Don't hang on. The trees rippled overhead, sending a shiver through Deryn.
"What would you recommend we do, Mr. Sharp?"
Deryn frowned, wondering if the ship's officers knew what was going on. Most of the untrained men were back at the stern end, out of sight of the bridge.
"I imagine we shall have to tell your captain," said Dr. Cruse.
"Perhaps Clementine can help," agreed Dr. Barlow. She hefted up the covered bird cage she's been carrying, handed Tazza's leash to Deryn, and took out a large parrot-like bird with gray feathers and a brilliant red tuft as its tail.
"Good morning, Dr. Barlow," the bird said in Dr. Cruse's voice.
"Oh heavens, Clementine," the young boffin said, shaking her head. "She loves to imitate my voice for some odd reason."
"Good morning, dear," Dr. Barlow answered, suppressing a light smirk. Then she said in a slow, clear voice, "Captain Hobbes, greetings from Dr. Barlow. I have a message from Mr. Sharp: You appear to have some untrained me on your ropes. End message. Now, off you go, dear, and find the captain. Captain."
She pushed the bird out towards the airship.
As it swept up and away, Deryn murmured, "What was that?"
"A message parrot," Dr. Barlow said. "We've trained it to read airmen's uniforms and gondola markings."
"Trained it, ma'am?" Deryn frowned. "But I thought this Constantinople business came up all of a sudden."
"Not quite as sudden as your captain might have you believe," said Dr. Cruse. "We've known for a month or so that this was eventually going to take place." A faint look of annoyance marred her features. "Although, personally, I had counted on a departure date after August."
"I'm sure we'll be back in time for your trip, dear," said Dr. Barlow. "But alas, things are moving quicker than we've expected." She gestured at the box and sighed. "I hadn't anticipated our hasty start, either, but we can only do our best."
There was a sudden splash, and as Deryn watched, the Leviathan's ballast sphincters relaxed. A spray hit the ground, to startled yelps.
"Blisters," Deryn swore. "Why's he climbing?"
Neither of the boffins answered her, but instead watched as the ballast water rained down on the ground men's heads. It sparkled prettily in the sunlight, but Deryn knew where that ballast came from — it was straight from the gastric channel, clart and all.
The civilians among them thought something had gone wrong. A squad of men drafted from the nearby cricket fields to help had dropped their ropes and were covering their heads, retreating from the unexpected rain of smelly water. The ship rose higher as their weight left the ropes, but the proper ground men, who'd had clart hit their heads a hundred times, hung on. In a few moments all the untrained men had abandoned their ropes, and Deryn saw the hydrogen sniffers on the ship's topside going into a frenzy. The captain was also venting gas.
The ship steadied in the air, and slowly resumed its descent.
"Very clever, your captain," Dr. Barlow said.
"Nothing like a bit of muck to clear things out," Deryn said happily, then added, "So to speak, ma'am."
Dr. Barlow let out a laugh. "Indeed. I shall enjoy traveling with you, Mr. Sharp."
"Thank you, ma'am." Deryn glanced at the two boffins' massive pile of luggage. A barking steamer trunk was now in their midst, probably brought over by one of the boffin's assistants after they'd put down the mystery box. "Perhaps you could mention this to the bosun? You see, the ship's a wee bit overweight."
"I shall," the woman said, taking back her beastie's leash. "We'd like a little cabin boy all to our own, wouldn't we, Tazza? Of course, Dr. Cruse here already has her cabin boy waiting back home," she added, with a wry smirk. Deryn had no idea what that meant, but Dr. Cruse actually blushed, which she thought must be a rather rare occurrence. She wanted to explain that midshipmen certainly weren't cabin boys, but Dr. Barlow had already called over her assistants, and was once again shouting precautions as they lifted the strange box.
Deryn sighed. At least she'd earned her place aboard the Leviathan. And after his blunder with the ropes, that bum-rag Fitzroy might finally get what he deserved. Not bad for a day's work.
Of course, now there was a fresh worry to ponder.
As females, both of the boffins might notice a few odd things the other crewmen hadn't. And they were clever-boots who knew all the business about the human body that there was to know, or at least Deryn imagined they did. If anyone was going to guess Deryn's little secret, it would be either one of these two lady boffins.
"Brilliant," Deryn muttered, taking hold of the two valises and hurrying for the ship.
