Andrea could feel her inner ears throbbing after being subjected to the high pitched alarms. It meant Jon and Emma had either been caught or were making a run for it. She believed it to be the latter, seeing as the alarm systems were still active.

She hoped they would make it back to the Dusty Maiden soon, or else Niles would probably force her to lift off.

“Get ready to cut those ropes,” Niles said to Walter over the din. “And make sure Sidney’s got that furnace packed as tight as he can get it.”

Oh, no! Andrea thought. If they don’t get back any minute we’re going to leave them behind to be killed or caught and forced to rot in some dank prison cell.

There was an explosion followed by a luminous aurora of red light that filtered under The Dusty Maiden’s gasbag and onto the deck. Andrea knew flares had been shot up from the research complex signaling any war barges in the area that there was an emergency.

Hurry up, you’ve had ten minutes already!

“Not good,” Walter said. “If Jon and Emma don’t get back in a hurry we’re going to have to—”

“I know what it means, Walter,” Andrea said, turning to look at Niles. He looked back at her, his face dire. “A couple more minutes,” she said.

Niles started pacing the deck. Then he said, “Those war barges are going to be here any minute. And that’s if they’re not here already.”

“What do you want to do, Cap?”

“We’ve got to go.”

“No,” Andrea said.”

“We have no choice, Andrea. If we don’t leave now we’re all going to get captured.” Then Niles turned to Walter. “We have no choice. Cut the ropes.”

They were leaving Jon and Emma behind. But he’s right, she thought. There was no other choice.

“Wait!” a voice shouted. “WAIT!”

“Look,” Walter shouted, pointing off to starboard.

It was Jon and Emma. They had exited the water drain just before Walter was about to cut the ropes.

Thank the gods, Andrea told herself.

“Hurry up,” Niles bellowed.

A few seconds later Jon and Emma had already jumped back aboard the barge with magically-assistend vaults.

“Do you have the location?” Niles asked.

“Right here,” Jon lifted up his hand, an electronic data pad clutched in his fingers.

“Cut the ropes,” Niles ordered, nodding to the mechanic.

Walter cut the ropes and the Dusty Maiden started to rise. Andrea could feel a slight sensation of vertigo as they ascended.

The Dusty Maiden was a hundred feet in the air... two-hundred... three-hundred. It wasn’t but two or three minutes later that the barge had reached nominal cruising altitudes of around a thousand feet. Andrea pushed the throttle forward for full burn on the props. They needed to get out of there fast before those war barges showed up.

“Look,” Walter said, pointing to stern.

Andrea turned. So much for outrunning them before they got here, she thought. The first barge would catch up with the Dusty Maiden within an hour at least. Luckily the two barges were not sailing abreast of each other. The first barge was about a mile behind. The second was at least two or three miles out. Andrea could hardly see the second one through the darkness, though she knew it wasn’t as far as she thought. The only reason she could see either of them in the first place was because of those super bright flares they kept shooting up from the complex.

“Andrea,” Niles said with a hint of fear in his voice. “Get us out of here.”

“She’s burning at full speed, Niles. This is all the Maiden’s gonna to give us.”

“Could we hide?” Walter said. “It’s still dark. Maybe we could fly low to avoid them seeing us while we change course.”

“Won’t work,” Emma said.

“Why not?”

“They’ll no doubt fire the same flares you just saw,” Jon said. “They‘d catch us easily.”

“Maybe we could hide in the clouds again,” the mechanic suggested.

“Again,” Emma said. “Won’t work. All they’d have to do is fire those flares into the sky and they’d be able to pick out our silhouette now that it’s night.

There was a delayed thundering sound. Andrea and the others turned to stern. One of the war barges had fired off two flares to either side.

“Speak of the horde,” Niles said. “Those things are bright.”

“Exactly,” Emma said. “Our only course of action is to outmaneuver them and hope to escape somehow.”

“That sounds likely,” Walter said sarcastically.

Niles moved closer to Jon. “Give Andrea the bearing to the control room.”

“Is that a good idea under the circumstances?” Jon asked. “What if they catch us?”

“If that happens then we won’t have a chance at using that weapon anyway,” Niles said. “This is our shot.”

Jon nodded, then moved up to the helm and gave Andrea the bearing. “Thanks.” She steered the barge about thirty-five degrees to port. “By the look of these coordinates we should be there in about an hour,” she said to Niles.

Niles’ brow furled. “An hour? It’s that close?”

“Apparently,” she said.

This is it, she thought. We’re going to the control room with two Guardians on our tail. We’ll probably have to fight the whole way there.

What would happen once they got there? They couldn’t fight off two barges and it was highly unlikely Andrea would be able to lose them either. Holding a position while trying to figure out how to activate the weapon didn’t sound much better, but at least they’d stand a slightly better chance. They did have two Guardians on their side, three if Niles counted.

“Here,” Emma said, laying down a large role of leather. She unrolled it, revealing the weapons and armor she had acquired while in Norstrum. “I think now is the time to utilize these.”

Emma grabbed one of the light scrorg leather vests and slipped it on. Then she picked up a large tube-like weapon with a small scope and a red tip.

“What’s that?” Walter said.

“It’s called a hellshot,” Emma said. “Fires a small rocket.”

Niles was eyeing the weapons. “How in the world did you get one of those?”

Emma smiled and said, “Guardian...” Then she added, “I could only procure one rocket though, but it’ll be worth it. Trust me.”

Jon moved to the small pile and picked up a vest. He looked at it for a moment then slipped it on. As he was tightening the straps, to Walter he said, “That’s mine.”

“Oh, sorry,” Walter said, putting down a long black rifle that looked like it had a lot of kick.

“And what’s that?” Andrea asked Emma, nodding at the weapon Walter had just put down.

“A whole lot of hurt,” Niles said, handing Andrea a vest and then slinging a machine pistol over his shoulder.

“Is everyone ready to go?” Emma said, looking to the crew.

“All good,” Walter said.

“Actually,” Niles said. “Walter I want you to ready both the hailers.”

“Okay, Cap,” Walter said.

Andrea looked back. The first war barge was much closer now, and it was obvious they could see the Dusty Maiden because she hadn’t been firing any more of those flares. “Niles, look.”

“Damn... They’re a lot closer now.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Just do the best you can,” he said. “I know you can get us out of this.”

Can I? she wondered. Those war barges were larger, faster, had more crew, and the hells of a lot more fire power than they did. And they would be in firing range in the next ten or fifteen minutes!

I hope that new weave keeps the gasbag from igniting.

Andrea felt a gust of cool wind followed by a wet sprinkle cross her face. If they got caught in that storm, it could destroy the Dusty Maiden.

“Is it raining? Niles said, holding out his hand over the railing.

“Looks like it,” she said.

“Those clouds are very black.”

“Cap,” Walter said. “Hailers are ready to go.”

“Good. Be ready to jump on either one of those monsters so you can rain the hells on those war barges.”

Walter chuckled.

“What’s funny?”

“It’s raining. You said rain the hells... Never mind.”

Jon moved up to the stern railing. He propped the large black rifle down and started peering through the scope. “A few more minutes,” he said. “And I can begin to harry them.”

“Are you a good shot with that?” Andrea asked.

“I’m proficient.”

“Good to know. I’d be glad if you could keep them off our tail. When they start shooting at us I’d prefer they weren’t aiming for my back.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks.”

Niles moved to the center of the deck. “Is everyone ready? We’re going to have a serious fight on our hands ‘till we reach that control room.”

“I’m as ready as I’ll every be, Captain,” Andrea said. She smiled at Niles and he smiled back.

“Good to go, Cap,” Walter said.

“And you two?” Niles said to Emma and Jon.

“We’re ready,” Emma said, leaning the hellshot against her shoulder.

“Good,” Jon said firmly, “Because they’re about to be on us.” Then he fired a shot.

Andrea flinched. The shot was louder than anything she’d ever heard. “Damn, that’s loud.”

Jon didn’t respond. Then he fired again. “One down,” he said, his eye still positioned in front of the scope.

Andrea had flinched a second time. Not because she’d been startled like the first shot had done, but more because she’d been anticipating the loudness of the weapon. It always seemed to be louder than she remembered a few seconds prior.

“They’re veering off,” Jon said. “Looks like they’re going to get up beside us for a broadside attack.” He fired another round, the force of the weapon bucking his right shoulder back.

“I’ll be ready,” Emma said, moving to the starboard side of the Dusty Maiden. She leaned the hellshot against the railing.

Niles turned to Andrea. “When this is all over we’re going to take a nice long break.”

“Yeah?” she said.

“Yeah... maybe we’ll stick around Norbridge for a while.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Niles.”

She knew he was trying to cheer her up. Chances are, she thought, that after all this I’ll never be able to set foot near Norbridge again—assuming any of us are still alive.

Niles nodded. Then he said, “Let’s go to work.”

Jon rushed passed, repositioning himself against the starboard railing. “A couple of minutes,” he said over the buzz of the props.

Niles moved up beside Jon, his machine pistol at the ready.

There was a flash of light followed by a delayed crack. “Damn,” Niles said. “If we get hit with one of those bolts we can say goodbye right now.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Emma said.

The Dusty Maiden’s odds had just gotten smaller. Without a lightning storm overhead there was still the chance oncoming weapons fire could penetrate the new leather weave and ignite a drylium pocket.

If that happens we won’t even know we had an accident, Andrea thought.

“Here they come,” Jon shouted.

The Guardian war barge was on an even heading with the Dusty Maiden veering in to get close. Close enough for the kill.

Andrea could see the name Predator across the enemy behemoth class war barge. It was a fitting call sign.

The Predator’s leather weaved gasbag was at least twice the size of the Dusty Maiden’s with four props instead of just two. Her crew would be at least thirty strong. And there would be a Guardian aboard.

The crew aboard the war barge started firing everything they had. Niles and the others hit the deck, but Walter kept blind-firing the starboard hailer.

Fighting back was useless—more like a distraction rather than an actual defense. The Predator had four hailers mounted on her port. It wouldn’t be very long before the Dusty Maiden was shredded apart. Luckily, Niles’ barge was much smaller than their foe’s, giving Andrea the advantage of maneuverability.

She pushed the helm inward making the props tilt downward forcing the barge to drop. Then she steered the Dusty Maiden to starboard as hard as she could. They were directly under the Predator now.

Too bad... If it wasn’t for the Dusty Maiden’s gasbag overhead Emma could fire the hellshot launcher straight at the behemoth’s underside.

They passed under their foe and then Andrea pulled back up on the helm as far as it would go. It would slow her down, the ascent, but it still gave them a slight advantage. The others knew exactly what she was doing. They lurched to the other side of the barge. Walter was on the port hailer now.

“Hit them with everything you got,” Emma screeched as she ran to the prow, the hellshot cradled in her arms.

She raised the weapon over her shoulder, took aim.

The crew of the Predator, even though suppressed by Niles, Jon, and Walter at the hailer, still fired back. Screeching energy rounds flared passed Andrea’s head. The crossfire was hampered by both sides at this angle.

What in the hells are they doing? she wondered, knowing that if a bullet happened to penetrate the Dusty Maiden’s leather weave and make its way into one of the dryilum pockets the chances of an ignition were pretty low. That couldn’t be said for energy weapons though, and if they went up, chances were the explosion would destroy the Predator as well.

“Shoot,” Jon bellowed to Emma. ”Shoot.”

Emma didn’t fire the rocket. She had to make her one shot count and it was likely wind shear could knock the projectile off course, missing the Predator entirely. Why else wouldn’t she fire the damn thing?

Andrea heard a cry of pain, a shriek. Her eyes immediately darted to Emma. The Guardian was lying on her back. She clutched her shoulder with her free hand.

Dammit! She wheeled the helm to port. If she could just get the Dusty Maiden directly behind that behemoth, Emma wouldn’t be under fire, and there’d be very little wind that could cause that rocket to go awry.

“Come on, old lady, you can do it,” she muttered. The Dusty Maiden slowly made way. She was behind the Predator.

Emma rolled to her stomach.

There was a moment of respite but they were under fire from the Predator’s stern now. Niles lurched behind the furnace chimney, Walter down the companionway with Jon right behind.

Andrea crouched behind the helm wheel as the glass shields shattered.

The Predator had two mounted hailers firing away from the behemoth’s stern. They’d run out of bullets in a few seconds firing away like that.

Any second...

Then the bullets stopped cracking against the deck. Andrea peered above the shattered windows of the helm booth. She could see Emma. The Guardian was re-positioning herself for a shot. She raised the launcher, shrieking in pain as she did.

The Dusty Maiden was too close to the Predator. If Emma fired now the explosion from the war barge’s gasbag might ignite their own.

Emma had taken aim just as Andrea started to pull back in an ascent which would slow the Dusty Maiden down enough to present a large enough space so that they were safe from any blowback effects.

Andrea heard a loud hissing sound, and then she noticed Emma had fired the hell shot.

A tracer of billowing white smoke chased the rocket as it left the launch tube. It split into five smaller projectiles flying straight at the Predator’s gasbag. They hit the behemoth with multiple small bursts erupting close together.

There was a quick moment before the explosions were able to sear through the Predator’s leather weave, then there was a bright blaze of burning light and the Predator went down.

“Yeah,” Niles shouted, making a triumphant movement with his fist. “We did it!”

Walter poked his head up from the companionway stairs and looked around. “It’s over?”

Andrea rushed across the deck in Emma’s direction but Jon made it first. He lurched forward, dropped on his knees, and slid to Emma who was on her back again. “Let me see.”

He looked at the wound. Then, in an urgent and slightly quivering voice he said, “It penetrated the vest.”

“Mmm,” she moaned as Jon removed her armored vest.

There isn’t very much blood, Andrea thought.

“Is that... the projectile?” Niles said.

Jon breathed out. “Yes it is. It didn’t penetrate very deep.”

“Does that mean Emma’s going to be okay?” Andrea asked.

“She’ll be fine,” Jon said.

“Doesn’t feel that way,” Emma said.

Jon smiled. “It’s your first time. Next time you get shot you’ll know what to expect.”

Emma rolled her eyes, and then she winced again. “I guess... I guess it’s a good thing I got these vests, huh?”

“Come on,” Jon said. “Let’s get you below deck so we can get this slug out of your shoulder.”

“Uh...” Andrea turned around. “Yeah, we still have another behemoth on our tail,” she said.

“Let’s just focus on that control room,” Niles said. Then to Jon he said, “Go on down. We can manage for a bit without you two.”

Jon nodded to Niles. Then he slung Emma’s good arm around his neck.

Andrea blew a lock of hair out of her eye. “That was way too close, Niles.”

“I know,” he said. Then he made his way behind the helm. “Let’s get to that control room. Walter, get up on the prow and keep a look out.”

“What’s it even supposed to look like?” Andrea asked.

“I have no idea,” Niles said.

About fifteen minutes later Jon came back up on the main deck. His eyes were looking past Andrea. She turned, said, “They’ll be on us soon.”

“Have we reached the coordinates yet?”

“As a matter of fact I was just going to have Niles go and get you.”

Jon moved to the side of the barge. He looked down at the thick swaying trees of the jungle below. “Everyone, keep an eye out for any unnatural formations or structures,” he said. “The entry to the control room will most likely look like some kind of an excavation site.”

Niles was coming from the prow, excitement on his face. “We see something.”

Andrea followed Niles and Jon to the prow. There was something down there, but it was hard to make out being just past the beach line obscured by thick jungle.

“That’s it,” Jon said.

“Are you sure?” Andrea asked.

“I know a Guardian dig site when I see one. You can set the Dusty Maiden down on the beach.”

“What about the Dusty Maiden?” Niles said with a slight tone as if he were mildly affronted. “What’s going to happen to her when those bastards show up?”

Jon ignored Niles’ protest.

“Alright,” Andrea said. “Setting her down on the beach.” She could tell Niles wasn’t pleased.

Our pursuers might not destroy her though, she thought. Why would they waste time doing that when they could be using that time to catch up with us?

She thought about what they’d have to accomplish just to get back. They’d have to fight off a crew of soldiers five times their number, lead by Guardians... “Don’t worry, Niles. I’m sure you’ll see her again,” she said, trying to pacify his worry.

Afteer they staked her down, Andrea shut the props down and they died to a standstill. The beach was beautiful, but the distant tumble of angry clouds forboded a coming storm—and not one of weather.