The Apocalypse Contract

CHAPTER 44 - PETER

Peter stared as the airship grew closer. "It's Midnight Storm Clan," he shouted, "one of their marauder class ships."

Mel squinted at the predatory ship. "Midnight Storm. That's weird. You don't usually see them this close to Capitol City."

Several puffs of smoke appeared near the gondola of the pirate ship. Moments later, Peter found himself flung to the floor, his ears filled with the sound of splintering wood and rending metal.

"The bloody bastards are shooting at us," Roger exclaimed.

"They're pirates," Sydney shouted back, "did you expect them to send us a fruit basket?"

Mel spun the steering wheel hard to starboard, then began frantically cranking a valve among the tangle of pipes. "We can't outrun them, but if I can gain enough altitude..."

Roger scowled, his grip tightening on his sword like he was ready to leap across to the enemy ship and do battle. "Do we have any weapons on this crate? Can we return fire?"

"Not really," Mel answered, "unless you count a steam powered grappling hook. This is basically just a tugboat."

A memory began tickling the back of Peter's brain. Something about that grappling hook. He picked himself up and headed for the ladder leading to the lower level of the gondola. Another impact shook the airship, almost dislodging him from the ladder.

He searched, eventually making his way to a supply room. On the wall hung several metal monstrosities like giant fish hooks. They were long metal rods ending in barbs or hooks. The opposite end had metal fins like the flights on an arrow. It also included a metal ring where a chain or cable could be connected.

"Looking for something in particular?"

Peter spun to find Samantha standing in the doorway. "Yes," he answered, "help me look for it. It will be a harpoon like one of these, but with a flat disk on the end."

Samantha slid into the room. "You mean like this thing?" She pulled the device he was looking for from under a bench.

"Saints of the air, that's it!"

"Great... but what is it?" The airship shook with another impact before she finished.

"No time. Help me load the harpoon gun." Peter bolted from the supply room and headed for the floor hatch just outside its door. Yanking the hatch open, he started lowering himself toward the gun before his brain caught up to his actions, and he realized what he was doing.

The harpoon cannon was cradled in a flimsy cage dangling below the airship's gondola. Infinite sky and the swirling maelstrom churned below it. "This is such a bad idea," Peter mumbled to himself, then continued climbing down. "Hand it down," he called to Samantha.

The airship shook from an impact. The air filled with a growing droning sound and the smell of smoke. A shadow swept over them. Peter looked up at the spiked silhouette of the pirate ship forming a growing, deadly eclipse as it blotted out the sun.

"Here, take it". Samantha thrust the strange harpoon toward him. Peter grabbed it and began to attach the steel cable from a large spool on the side of the cannon. He struggled with the clasp on the cable, unable to get it open. The ship shook with another impact, and he almost dropped the harpoon.

"OK, change of plan". He thrust the harpoon into the barrel of the cannon without the cable attached. "Only one shot... better make it count." He turned the cannon toward the approaching behemoth, the sun now completely obscured by its intimidating shape. He sighted along the barrel, aiming slightly high to account for gravity, then pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed.

"What? What's happening?" Samantha called down.

Peter looked at the cannon, finally noticing a pressure gauge with the needle sitting at zero. "I forgot about the steam pressure." He located a pipe running from the cannon, along one of the cage supports, up to where Samantha peered down at him. "There, that valve just to your left, turn it."

"Ok, got it." Samantha cranked on the brass handle she found.

Peter watched the needle slowly climb toward an area marked in red. He wasn't sure if that indicated sufficient pressure to fire or warned that the gun might explode. A flash of light blossomed in the dark shape of the pirate ship. A moment later Peter was thrown against the inside of his metal cage while shrapnel rained down on him.

"Oh shit, that was close," Samantha yelled.

Peter looked at the pressure gauge. It was almost into the red. "Good enough," he asserted as he spun the cannon back around. The enemy airship was so close, aiming was hardly necessary. Peter pulled the trigger. The harpoon jetted away on a cloud of steam.

For a moment, the view was obscured by steam, but that quickly cleared to show the disk of the harpoon clamped securely to the side of the pirate vessel's lifting body. The sun peeked over the other ship's hull as it began to lose altitude. It now also appeared to be drifting away instead of approaching. While they watched, it gained speed, growing smaller as it flew away from them and sank toward the maelstrom below.

With a screech of tormented metal, the cage Peter occupied gave a lurch. Something hit him on the head, and he caught it as it bounced away. He looked at the bolt in his hand, then looked up at the twisted metal support now pulling away from the gondola. "Oh... that doesn't look good." Another bolt popped loose, and the cage lurched again. It was now dangling from only two supports. He began scrambling up the ladder.

"Hurry up," Samantha called. She grabbed his arm as he reached the top of the ladder. Metal screamed. He lifted his foot up to the next rung of the ladder and felt it fall away as he attempted to step down. He frantically grabbed at the deck of the gondola, his legs flailing in empty air. "Hold still," Samantha commanded. "There is a bit of the frame still attached on your right. Get your foot on that and push yourself up."

Peter moved his leg around until it found purchase, then pushed himself up while Samantha pulled. He staggered to his feet. "I would just like to go on the record as saying that Mel's desire for realism in her games is perhaps a bit overdeveloped."

"I'm just glad that thing you shot worked. What was it?"

"A farpoon."

"Yes, I know it was a harpoon, but what kind of harpoon."

Peter shook his head. "No, not a harpoon, a farpoon. It's a purely defensive weapon. When magnetically clamped to the lifting body of an airship, it will temporarily change the direction of lift to match the direction the farpoon is pointing, so it gets yanked sideways. It wears off in about a minute, but it should buy us some time."

"Well, I guess we are lucky you are such a big gaming nerd then." She playfully punched him on the shoulder.

"Ow. Hey, you should be nicer to heroes." He reached up to rub his shoulder, then stopped to look at the back of his hand. A '1%' tattoo pulsed through different shades of red. It changed to 0% while he watched. "Oh, this can't be good." The skin of his hand and arm turned white. The flesh seemed to shrink up around his bones, making his limb look skeletal. He could feel the same happening throughout his body.

"Pete... Pete, what's going on?" Samantha had taken a step back, a look of confusion and fear on her face.

Peter tried to answer, but it felt like his tongue had shriveled to nothing. He reached out to Samantha but was horrified to see his own arm crumble into dust. Color drained from his surroundings. The world grew dimmer.

Darkness engulfed him.