The Dusty Maiden had just finished landing when Jon told the dock worker to fetch a doctor immediately. It wasn’t long before James was put on a stretcher and carried off to a hospital.

“I’m going to stay with him,” Sidney said.

“Good,” Niles said. Then he turned to Walter and told him to stay with the barge, just in case anyone got any funny ideas about trying to rob her stores—not that there was much to steal right now.

“We should see about procuring more supplies for our journey,” Emma said. “I’m going to split off.”

“Be careful,” Jon said. “In fact, you should take Andrea with you. We don’t want to run into any trouble while we’re here.”

The two women glanced at each other. “That’s a good idea,” Niles said, nodding to Andrea. “Jon and I will see about getting the barge repaired.”

“She needs more than that,” Jon said.

If the Dusty Maiden didn’t get some upgrades it was likely she’d come out of another fight looking just the same or even worse than she did now.

Niles put on a jacket and stuck a pistol in his belt.

“That thing is ancient,” Jon said, patting his own pistol under his long duster.

“It shoots,” Niles said, “It’ll do.”

Indeed, Jon, thought.

The Guardian and the barge captain made their way about the city in search of a suitable repair hangar. Norstrum was a drafty settlement built within a massive crag. Steep cliffs loomed hundreds of feet above Jon’s head. All he could see when he looked up towards the sky was a thin jagged crack of sky that spanned overhead for at least a kilometer.

The city was much like Skyhook in that people traversed through the settlement using long walkways that were suspended by cables, though that’s where the similarities ended. Norstrum’s buildings were not suspended by large cables. Instead they were latched on to either side of the cliff’s surface. The landing pad which the Dusty Maiden had touched down on was positioned in the center of the city, as were the rest of the landings spaces in town. They were well protected.

The whole place was long and narrow with walkways and rope bridges. Jon looked down as he and Niles made their way to the repair hangar. All he could see was massive blackness inside the crag below them.

“Amazing.” he said.

“You’ll make great pirate, Jon.”

Raising a skeptical eyebrow as he followed Niles, he said nothing. Pirate colony or not, Nostrum, was a marvel. And the place didn’t actually seem that bad.

The hangar wasn’t hard to find. Like most repair shops, it was very large and had an open roof. “Why hasn’t this place been taken over by the Order?” Niles asked.

“Hard to say. I heard they tried,” Jon said, “but this settlement is very well defended because of where it’s built—as you can no doubt see. It’s been largely untouched by Guardian influences.”

“That’s interesting.”

“It is in some ways,” Jon said.

They were in the repair hangar now. No other barges present? Jon wondered. It was a good thing because it meant they wouldn’t have to wait.

He spotted two workers re-stitching a large gasbag with dozens of varying colors. “I imagine patching and refitting gasbags is a large industry in this area.”

Niles made a noise of acknowledgement as he surveyed the hangar area. “There,” he said, pointing at what looked like a small office area.

Jon made his way there with Niles close behind. ”It’s going to take a while to get the barge air worthy again. Assuming James survives his injuries he’s still going to need time to mend up.”

Niles shot Jon what he thought was a partially dirty look.

Was I insensitive just now? he wondered. “Sorry,” he said. “I know he’s your friend.”

“Let’s just hire these baboons and get out of here.”

“Excuse me?” A man said as he began pulling off his gloves. He was slightly better dressed than the rest of the workers in the hangar.

“Are you the man in charge?” Jon asked.

He nodded. “Uhh—yeah—I own the place.”

“Good,” Jon said. “We require your services.”

The man finished pulling off his gloves. He slapped them against his thigh and a small cloud of dust shot into the air. “Do ya, now?” he said, looking Jon up and down. The man was probably trying to size him up to see if he could get away with over charging. It was obvious he and Niles were outsiders to Norstrum.

“Yes,” Niles said, cutting in front of Jon. “My barge has been damaged and needs repairs.

“What do you need then?”

“The gasbag has a large tear and parts of the starboard and port decking have been ripped clean off,” Niles said.

“That everythin’?”

“Her underbelly has several large cracks that’ll need repaired.”

The man rubbed his chin and said, “Sounds like you ran into some trouble out there. Maybe Guardian trouble?”

“That’s not your concern,” Jon said, knowing it wouldn’t matter much even if the man really knew what had happened.

The hangar owner looked passed Niles to Jon, then back to Niles. “Goin’ to have to see the barge if I’m gonna price you right.”

“Fine,” Niles said. “Let’s go.”

The owner followed them back to the Dusty Maiden where it took him about fifteen minutes to survey the damage. They headed back to the hangar where the man scribbled on a piece of paper, then handed it to Niles. “That’s what it’s goin’ to cost you.” he said.

Niles looked down at the paper. His eyes widened slightly. “That’s crazy,” he said. “I can only afford a third of that. Not to mention your pricing is through the gasbag.”

“Take it or leave it,” the man drawled.

After arguing for about ten minutes Jon finally realized they weren’t going to get anywhere.

“It’d be half that in the capital,” Niles snorted.

“For the last time, boy,” the man said as he straightened his back. “Take it. Or leave it.”

Jon moved forward. “We can pay you a third now and the rest later.”

“Don’t do later,” the man said. He spit at Jon’s feet.

“Very well, then,” Jon said. “By decree of the Guardian Order, I being a senior within, herby proclaim that you will service our barge under the Emergency Assistance Act.”

The man took a step back, his eyes wide. The other men still working on the canopy dropped what they were doing and moved up behind him. One had a hammer in his hand, while the other man had an enormous pin that could easily skewer a person’s neck.

The man in charge was obviously no longer stunned at the sight of a Guardian standing two paces in front of him. He cackled. Then he said, “Your ‘Emergency Assistance Act’ won’t help you out here, Guardian!”

“I assure you, you will be repaid in full,” Jon lied. He was hoping not to get into a fight. But their needs were great.

“Get the hell out of my hangar or I’ll have my boys break your legs.”

Jon caught Niles glancing in his direction. He seemed unperturbed at the man’s threat, or the fact that he had two thugs at his back. Good. “We’re not leaving,” Jon said firmly.

The owner of the hangar smirked. Then he backed a few paces. “Get ‘em out of here.”

The two men moved forward on them from behind.

Jon turned to face their opponents, put out his hand. He beckoned the pin forward with his magicks. The thug was pulled forward with the object, but he didn’t let go, so was flung on his face as the pin slipped out of his hand. It connected with Jon’s palm. Then he turned to Niles, gave a slight smile, and said, “Your turn.”

Niles put out his hand like Jon had and forced the hammer down into the man’s leg. The brutish fellow bent forward and fell on his side, his hands clutching his shin and he grunted with the pain. The worker hadn’t let go, just like his peer, giving the appearance that he swung the hammer of his own volition.

“Ouch!” Niles said. “You guys need to work on your fighting technique.”

“Excellent,” Jon said.

The two workers stumbled back to their feet. The one Jon had flung to the ground in an attempt to disarm him jumped, but Jon sidestepped out of reach and pelted him on the back of the head—not too hard, but with his own exerted force, it caused the man to lose balance again and he stumbled to the floor for a second time.

The heavyset worker that Niles had hit in the shin with his own hammer charged, hitting him in the stomach with his shoulder.

He bowled over with a grunt of forced exhalation. The man on top of him lifted his large arm, his hand balled in a large knuckled fist. He swung, but Jon got there just in time, kicking the man in the ribs. He went sprawling to the floor on his back beside Niles and clutched his stomach.

“Are you all right, Niles?”

“Agh!” he noised as he reached for his back. The floor was smooth cement. His pistol must have pushed into his muscles when he landed.

As if to answer that supposition, Niles pulled the pistol out and the atmosphere changed immediately.

“Owe,” Niles said, glancing at his pistol.

“No problem.”

“Now listen here,” the hangar owner said. “There isn’t no need for that.” Neither of his two workers moved to get up. “Listen…” He had both his hands raised as if pleading for Jon and Niles not to come any closer. “Even if you force me to do what you want the authorities will show up at some point and you’re just goin’ to have to leave without your repairs, just like I told you.”

By now, other workers from the hangar were coming into the large space, curious at the commotion and ruckus.

“Norstrum might not be under Guardian control,” Jon said. “But the ruling elite here still don’t want trouble with the Order. Chances are they’d tell you to give us what we want instead of attracting the negative attention of Guardians... wouldn’t you agree?”

“I...“ the man stumbled on a furl of canvas and fell over. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll give you what you want. Just bring your damn barge on in and I’ll have her repaired and ready to go by the end of the week.”

“And we want extra compensation for this little stunt you tried to pull,” Niles said as he stood up. “No, no—you stay down on the floor,” he told the worker beside him, who made to get up as well.

“Uh... right. Course,” the man said. “So long as you give me that third we discussed.”

“Agreed,” Jon said.

While Jon, Niles and Walter brought the Dusty Maiden in for repairs, Jon had asked Niles what he’d meant when he told the hangar owner he wanted extra compensation.

“You said she’d need more than basic repairs,” Niles said.

“What you got planned, Cap?” Walter asked.

Jon looked expectantly to Niles, wondering what it was he had in store.

“I’m going to have a leather weave added to the gasbag,” Niles said. “Should help if we run into any more trouble.

It certainly will, Jon thought. “That’s good.”

The hangar owner grumbled at the extra work and the cost of the weave, but didn’t press his disappointment with Jon or Niles. He told them the repairs would be done in a week, so Niles paid him half of the third they had agreed on, promising to pay the other half as soon as the Dusty Maiden was ready to go.

“I don’t know how I feel about ripping this fellow off,” Niles said. “It’s not like he deserves it. Even his thug boys were just defending his hangar.”

“It’s for the greater good,” Jon said. He put a hand on Niles’ shoulder. He was a good man. “A man is worthy of his labor—so we can pay them back when this is all over.”

That seemed to brighten Nile’s countenance. “Well,” he said, “now we see to James while we wait.”

The Guardian had almost forgotten about the cook. It was a cold thing to be aware of, and sometimes Jon wondering if he was indeed evil. But of course not—he had other things on his mind, things that stuck in his gut. They occupied his thoughts constantly.

Jon nodded. “Let’s go.”