With her hands tucked underneath her arms, Andrea watched the last vestiges of ice that had formed around the Dusty Maiden’s gasbag melt away. The furnace room sounds really good right now, she thought. The worst of the weather was over now that the warmer air of the desert was flowing in. Her teeth clattered for a moment. It would be another two days before they reached Norbridge so she could see Kate and Joey before moving on to the capital. She thought it would be nice if the captain took a contract that would take them south after they delivered their cargo. But since being away from Kate and Joey had taken on a longer stretch than was usual, she was sure that if the decision rested with her, she would have them travel back north to the melting refineries for a second time.

Andrea could feel the direction of airflow begin to change a little as the Dusty Maiden slowly lost altitude. She thought about pulling back on the helm a little to let the props do some of the work, but that would have required her to throttle up a bit, and Niles liked to use as little battery power as possible. “Juice is expensive,” he’d say. No, the captain liked to cruise along nice and slow until his sky barge reached her destination. Then again, she thought, so do most barge captains. It wasn’t an overly lucrative trade, anyway.

She would have told someone to go below deck to tell whoever had furnace duty to stoke the fire a bit, but right now she seemed to be the only one on deck besides Walter who she didn’t want to wake. With nothing better to do, Andrea decided to tether the helm on an automatic course and go below deck. It was a good excuse to stand next to the furnace for a minute or two.

The companionway steps creaked under her feet as she made her way down towards the heated room to find Andrew, feat on a crate, reading a book. “Hey,” she said. “I can feel her sinking.” Andrea waited a little longer than she usually would have for a response. She wanted the heat to have a chance to soak into her coat before going back on the main deck.

Andrew moved in his seat as he turned a page in the book he was reading.

What a lazy rat, sitting cozy by the fire, she thought. But it was time to get back to her station now. “Are you comfortable?” she asked, swiping his book and bringing it back down on his head “I said I can feel her sinking!”

“Alright, alright,” he said sullenly, rubbing his head and getting out of his chair. “How much heat you want?”

“A steady flow. And keep her coming, but ease off a bit after twenty or thirty minutes. We got a while to go before we reach Norbridge. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it,” he said as he started loading the furnace with chopped wood.

Andrew wasn’t a large man, but his muscles were toned and he was quick—when he wanted to be. He was from the west, with blonde hair and blue eyes, the complete opposite of Andrea.

She turned and went back up the companionway stairs onto the main deck. She could hear the hot air from the furnace as it flowed faster through the chimney and into the gasbag. The barge would stop sinking in a few minutes after the drylium pockets had time to raise in temperature. Then the barge would probably start a slow ascent. It was always better to be going up than down.

She moved to the edge of the deck, put her hands on the rail, and looked out at the view. Most barge hands probably got used to these sorts of views after so many years, but to her they were always enjoyable. Night flight was some of the best.

The sky was a dark blue, nearly black. The stars were shining bright, just like on most nights in the desert. There was a wisp of clouds here and there, but not nearly enough to obscure the view. Andrea could see miles into the distance, the dark sky becoming brighter further out on the horizon where the sun had set behind some rocky mountains. Their peaks were gilded with orange light that cast a shadow over the dry plains. She wondered how far those mountains really were. They always are farther than they look, she thought.

There was a violent snort. Andrea turned to find Walter still asleep, his head lay back and his mouth open. She smiled wryly and shook her head. Then Walter moved a bit. The toolbox sitting in his lap fell to the deck and everything came crashing out. He jumped. “Getting right on it, Cap,” he said, addressing her wrongly.

“You’ve already fixed it,” Andrea told him.

The mechanic glanced around. “Oh... right.” He chuckled as he started picking up his tools. Walter was a fumbling fellow with shaggy brown hair, thick arms and somewhat of a paunch.

Andrea looked at her compass and realized they were slightly off course. She moved into the booth which housed the helm.

“I’m off to bed, then,” Walter said, scratching head had.

Looking up, Andrea told him to have a good night while she fiddled with untying the helm. She steered the barge a few degrees in the right direction towards Norbridge before hopping up on her stool. She was hunching lazily as she gazed out the half-frosted windshields.

After their mother and father had died in a pirate raid, it was up to her to take care of Kate and Joey. She didn’t see them often, but that was because it was difficult to get steady work in the cities. It’s difficult to get steady work anywhere these days, she thought.

To Andrea it felt like it had been yesterday when Niles Wentworth, captain of the Dusty Maiden, had offered her work aboard his barge. It was a gift from the gods at the time. The captain must have known her parents had captained a sky barge before they were killed and that she had some related experience in the industry. But why had he offered her work? There were plenty of skilled individuals the Captain Niles could have turned to, but instead he had asked her. At the time she had had decent experience on sky barges, but not what was really required. She recalled asking the captain why he had hired her. With a private-looking smile on his face, all he’d said was that he was “returning the favor.” She never fully understood what he meant by that, but she never pressed the matter. It hadn’t been important. What was important was that she had steady, decent paying work so that Kate and Joey would have a decent life. They needed the best upbringing they could get.

She started feeling guilty. The last time she saw them was when Niles took the Dusty Maiden to Bernare about nine days ago. Hardly the parent figure they needed, especially right after the time when their parent’s had been murdered. This was why she did her best to persuade Niles to stop at Norbridge as often as they could spare. Most barge traffic went to and from the capital, and that’s what the Dusty Maiden did. It would be at least another four days before they reached Daura city where they could off load their cargo, so why not stop at Norbridge on the way to pick up food and other supplies? Niles didn’t make supply stops all the time, but Andrea seemed always able to persuade him as she hinted here and there about stopping at her home city. The captain was generally a pretty nice guy—to all the crew—but he went out of his way at times to let her have some of her personal wants.

Andrea was pulled from her reverie when she spotted a small object in the sky, or more likely a large object far off. She pulled down the power switch making the main deck go dark. She grabbed her binoculars and went over to the railing to get a better look at the other sky barge.

Most of their lights were dark, making it hard for her to see whether or not it was a cargo hauler or a pirate barge. It was far off enough not to worry about, but if it got any closer she would have to wake up Niles and the rest of the crew.

Pirates were almost common out in the wilds. Their barges were usually indistinguishable from any other. The trick was to watch them and see how they acted. If they started moving in too fast then the best course of action was to prepare for a fight. But the other barge was still cruising like any normal cargo hauler and she wasn’t changing course either. Both good signs, she thought, though sky pirates were a crafty bunch—always looking for new ways they could take their prey off guard.

She would keep watching, and not just the other barge, but everywhere else, too. It wouldn’t be the first time that a pirate barge would distract a cargo hauler’s crew by looming in the distance while the second moved in unawares to make the capture.

The sky barge was much smaller now. Whoever they are, Andrea thought, they obviously aren’t pirates or maybe they’ve just decided not to bother with the Dusty Maiden. Andrea shrugged off the thought of pirates. They were on course for Norbridge and they would be there inside two days. As soon as they landed she would go home to see Kate and Joey while Niles took care of other business. Then maybe she and the captain would meet up later for a cup of coffee. He seemed to like that.

Although Andrea was happy that she would be back in Norbridge for a day, she was still concerned about the rumors she had heard while at the ice melting foundry at Bernare. What she’d heard were only rumors, but even rumors had truth at times. The talk was that there was unusual pirate activity near Norbridge. Some of the foundry workers even went as far as to say they heard that pirates were massing for an attack on the city. But that was highly unlikely since the cities were protected by the Guardian Order.

It would take fifty pirate barges to successfully raid the city and actually get out alive, she thought. Still, even though it was extremely unlikely, she couldn’t help but feel her stomach churn when she thought about it. Sleep would help the pilot forget about it. In a few days she would be in the city and see that everything was completely normal. Then she would feel stupid for even worrying about it. Walter would take the helm in a few hours, she would turn in, and the next day they would continue onwards.

Andrea checked her compass to make sure the Dusty Maiden was still on course as she walked the length of the deck. Niles’ barge was slightly smaller than the average hauler with a crew of six instead of the usual eight or ten. The barge could easily support two more crew members, but there was no need. Besides the captain would probably complain about how expensive it was to feed and pay crew.

He’s kinda cheap.

She smiled. At times Niles was a funny man, which made it easy to forget the respect a captain and employer was entitled to, especially when he owned the barge he captained on.

She heard a flapping sound. Andrea looked around to find out where the noise was coming from when she spotted the starboard hailer half uncovered. She moved to the large mounted machine gun and put the tarp back over it. She looked over to make sure the port gun was also covered. It was.

“Hey.”

Andrea turned. She couldn’t see Nile’s face since she’d turned off the deck lights. “Hey,” she said.

“I hate having to uncover those monsters,” he said, nodding at the covered hailer.

“Yeah, I know, but they’ve gotten us out of more than a few scrapes though.”

Niles breathed in a lungful of fresh air. “Scrapes we probably could have avoided. Speaking of which, what are you doing out here all by yourself? You know I don’t like it when there’s only one person on watch.

“Oh, come on, Captain,” Andrea said. “I’ve got the deck lights off. There’s no problem.”

Niles put his hands on the side railing as he looked outward. It was her intention to tell him she’d seen another barge, but with the turn of conversation she thought it better not to. If there was going to be a time when the captain decided not to take a supply stop, it was now.

Something seems off with him, she thought. Is he going to change his mind? She wondered if he’d make an excuse and pretend Norbridge was nothing more than a simple supply stop therefore avoiding her need to visit her brother and sister. “Is everything alright?”

Niles exhaled as he turned around to face her. He was a lot taller than she was. “Well...”

Don’t do it. Nine days was too long before being able to see them. And before that it had been an even longer wait.

“With these rumors of so many pirates hanging around...”

“Come on.”

Niles shrugged. “It is what it is.”

There was a moment of silence. “Really?” Andrea said, knowing there was too much frustration in her voice. “We’re not going to run into any pirates and even if we did... Niles, we can take care of ourselves.”

“That’s true, but even Guardian war barges go down sometimes.”

“But, Captain—“

“And we’re not Guardians,” Niles interrupted in a firm tone, but not unkindly. “What if we were to come under attack? There’s no saying what might happen. Any of us could be killed. As captain, it’s my responsibility to keep this crew out of harm’s way.”

She was about to interject when he caught her and continued. “Whether or not the crew, even you, thinks it’s necessary.”

She couldn’t help huffing.

“I’ve made up my mind, Andrea.”

She didn’t have anything else to say that might help her worm her way into having the advantage in this conversation “Dammit!”

“I’m sorry.”

She turned her back to the captain and bit her lip. She could hear his footsteps heading back for the companionway. Then he stopped. “Listen,” he said. “When we get back to Daura I’ll check around to see if any of the rumors are true or not, and if they aren’t I’ll see about getting another contract to haul from Bernare. Alright?”

Andrea didn’t respond. She was searching through her mind for ways to argue with him but thought better of it. “Thanks,” she said, a little more harshly than she intended.

After Niles went down the companionway she started to pace briskly across the deck. She could feel warmth rising in her face. She kicked the side railing. A dull throbbing in her toes followed. Andrea felt as though she could punch Niles in the nose right now. But punching the captain wouldn’t change anything. Besides, she wouldn’t really punch him. She tried to think objectively as she gripped the side rail.

It was true. The Niles was acting in the best interest of the Dusty Maiden and her crew. But she still thought it felt unfair. Maybe, she thought, once he finds out the rumors are a load of scorg dung he’ll change his mind. He said he would. If he didn’t, Andrea knew she might just go through with assaulting the captain. Then suddenly she didn’t feel so angry anymore. In fact she nearly laughed at the thought of actually punching Niles in the nose. She felt a little sorry for thinking like that. She didn’t dislike him. In fact it was the furthest thing she thought about him.

Maybe, if Niles changed his mind, they could stop in Norbrige and stay there for two or three days. It would be pushing it, but she knew Niles would want to make it up to her. She would keep that in mind for when the time came.