Dark Energy Supernova - An Anthology of SF SD Shorts

Part 3 - Over Hill and Dale

Karse stood on the dirigible's forward balcony and stared off into the fog, his thoughts anxiously churning.  Scrounging parts and dodging giant patrols was one thing.  Actually assaulting Lord Cormoran's castle at St. Mikael's Mount and thinking they could get away with it?  That was shear lunacy!  If his sister didn't need protection from not only giants, but the smooth charm of Lord Jack as well, he wouldn't have come.  Karse sighed and pulled his coat closer about his lean form.

Despite it being summer, the typical Lantisian fog was cold and clammy.  So Karse had borrowed one of his sister's smithing coats.  Heavy and scarred from splashing sparks and molten metal, it provided a great deal of protection against both the wind and the clammy cold.

He had belted a couple of Karmie's flechette pistols over top the coat, the muscular pistols sporting newer, smaller pressure tanks and quick loading, rotating magazines just behind the barrel that could be easily exchanged once emptied.  And a back holster held one of Karmie's flechette rifles with a full charge in its pressure tank.  With thick canvas pants and sturdy calf boots, he was ready for anything.  Well, except the attack on St. Mikael's, that is.

"Why so glum?"  Karmie slipped out of the airship's main cabin to join him on the open navigation deck.  She leaned against the rail beside him and looked over at her brother.

"Here's the adventure you've been craving for years."

"I was craving adventure, dear sister,"  Karse quietly noted, "not suicide.  This attack of your friend's is going to get us all killed."  He looked over at Karmie who wore an outfit very similar to his with the addition of a pair of her welding goggles pushed up onto her forehead and her long, white hair pulled back into a functional braid.

"Since when did you care about what the blue bloods did to each other?"  Karse asked, his voice uncharacteristically hard.  "We're grim and grit, remember?  Coal and steam, that's what runs in our blood.  Not brandy and lace.  Just saying the word privilege makes me want to spit."  He glanced over his shoulder at Jack, visible through the forward windshield standing at the pilot's tiller when she didn't immediately answer.

"It's because he's pretty, isn't it,"  Karse then said, earning himself a hard look but no denial.  "You got us in over our heads because the man has a strong jaw and penetrating eyes!"

"Hush!"  Karmie's expression tightened even further.  "I admit, that swayed me.  But I also know what Cormoran's dogs do to women, both noble and low born.  If I can stop that, for even one woman, I'm going to do it."

Karse grimaced before turning to look back into the fog, clearly unhappy.  Karmie sadly sighed and joined him staring off into the shifting gray.  She had so hoped her brother would've been considerably more enthusiastic about Jack's plan.  But looking at his face filled with such anxiety now, she began to wonder if she had made the right decision to involve them.

She reached out, meaning to say something to make him feel better.  She didn't like how it made her feel to see her twin so unhappy.  Before before she could open her mouth, Jack stepped out of the cabin.

"We're in position," he announced in that smooth, quiet voice of his.  "Let's get ready!"

That meant getting the flying rigs that Karmie had built for them on.  A strap-on frame equipped with collapsible wings of canvas and metal rods and propelled via a small, stream-powered motor and prop, she called it a Sparrow.  They would use them to fly over Cormoran's giants and into his castle and back out again.

Karmie tossed Karse a pair of her welding goggles.

"For protection against the wind and the cold," she explained when he aimed a quizzical look at her.  She then pulled her own goggles into place as Jack, now wearing a short coat similar to theirs, secured his Sparrow with a tug of its straps and jumped over the rail.

"Here goes nothing," Karse muttered, copying his sister's move to pull the goggles over his eyes.  Then he was following her and Jack over the rail and into space.

For a long moment he hung in the cold, damp gray, silently counting in his head.  Then, satisfied he was clear, he pulled on the trigger cord and spring-loaded wings extended and snapped into position.  And almost immediately he felt his downward motion slow as the wings, modeled after an owl's wings for stealth and maximum lift, filled with air.  A second cord released the valve that held the steam from the miniature engine on his back and the propeller quickly began spinning.  With the Sparrow working properly, he quickly looked around for the others.

Just then Karmie appeared out of the fog, moving almost effortlessly in her own Sparrow rig.

"You okay?" she asked when she was within earshot and Karse bobbed a quick nod.

"Just glad the damn thing works is all." He flashed her a mischievous grin and, for once, got a grin in reply.

Then Jack appeared and, with a gesture of his gloved hand, pointed to where he wanted them to go.  Nodding, the two siblings angled downward with shifts of their bodies and adjustments on the wings.  And, for a long moment, the three of them soared through the air in silence.

Despite his apprehension, Karse found himself smiling.  'So this is flying,' he mused, barely resisting the urge to waggle his wings.  Then they were dropping through the last of the fog to find a heavy castle wall quickly approaching.

Killing their engines, the three reached up to grab cords attacked to the ends of the wings.  Pulling on them caused the broad surfaces to cup and capture more air, slowing them further.  Then they were over the wall's outer edge and dropping onto the top.  Karmie staggered as her legs soaked up the last of her momentum, then she was collapsing the Sparrow's wings and slipping the rig off her back.

"Leave the rigs here," Jack whispered as he glanced at a pocket watch.  "We haven't much time so we need to move."

Karse pushed his goggles up onto his forehead and drew his rifle from its place on his back.  He quickly checked it then took a couple steps to the wall's inside edge to peer down into the castle itself.  With narrow passageways and multiple walled courtyards, it was a defensive structure made for men.  But he quickly saw where the giants had used their strength to knock down walls to make some spaces larger and create paths for themselves.

"How does it look, Karse?" Jack quietly asked, joining him on the wall's edge.

"We're well clear of the giants up here," Karse replied, lifting the rifle to sight through its aiming scope.  Using the scope's magnifications he found the giants gathering in an over-sized courtyard just outside of the massive castle's main keep.

"Got them.  About a hundred, just outside the main keep."

Jack nodded as he quickly consulted a hand drawn map of the castle.

"That matches our information." The map disappeared back into his coat.  "Let's get our trap for Cormoran set."  Then he was digging explosives out of a sack.

The plan called for a pit trap, set just outside of the gathering in a large courtyard that had a cellar beneath it.  Explosives would both cause a disturbance worth investigating.  And the pit the man in black hoped to lure Cormoran into.

With their leader out of the way, the giants would be thrown into chaos.  At least until Blunderbore or Galigantus, or both took command.  Once they started barking orders, the trio would know who they were and would take them out before slipping away to rescue the duchess and any others the giants might be holding captive.  It was a daring plan, and required split second timing, courage and a great deal of skill.  'And luck,'  Karse thought as they began moving along the top of the wall in the uncertain light seeping through the fog.

'Lots and lots of luck!'