Prelude to Anarchy - Princess of Steam

Ditzy

Daisy hopped over her hammock, rolled onto the balls of her feet, spun around, and smacked the side of an offending carburetor. The engine under it spluttered, rumbled and protested, then began to run smoothly.

She grinned while huffing in big breaths of foul smelling air. Here, in her room at the very bottom of the Crusader's lower gondola, she was really at home. At both ends of the room were two small engines, both turning exposed shafts that, in turn, spun chains that fed out of the cabin and to two propellers on the airship's exterior.

The Crusader was an old ship, equipped with three engines instead of a normal compliment of six or twelve. Her design allowed for the two smaller ones at the bottom to maneuver, while the largest at the centre pushed her forwards. Daisy rather enjoyed the setting. She only had to fix three frequently abused motors instead of six.

Daisy pulled a rag out from a back pocket, wiped her hands with it, then patted the grimy, greasy motor on its warm side. "Good girl, you're doing fine," she whispered.

The young woman stood a little taller and looked out towards the fore of the ship where three head-sized portholes allowed her a tiny view of the world outside her dark and dingy cabin. She moved over to them and leaned forwards, putting her weight on an elbow as she looked out.

A town was forming below them. Old houses built of raw lumber circled around a few newer and more impressive brick structures at the centre. The air was filled with little columns of smoke spewing out of homey little chimneys. People moved about here and there, some sitting on carriages stacked high with hay or feed, while children ran with wild abandon underfoot, slipping through familiar allies.

There were only four impressive buildings in all of Plumage. One was the inn near the town's edge, a massive three storey edifice of stone and wood, as rustic as it was efficient. A sign hung out in front of it, too small for Daisy to read yet, but she could almost see the image of a feather carved on its side. The other noteworthy buildings were the two skyports, one commercial and one private belonging to the Crown navy, and a large, grey building of steel placed in the dead centre of town. It too belonged to the Crown.

This was where she was born, and where her family had lived for the better part of four generations.

She was home.

With a great moan, Daisy stretched her arms back and out while sighing contentedly. It had been a long flight, especially knowing that this was going to be her destination. Against her wishes, a grin cut across her features.

She returned to the back of the room, slowly making her way around while tossing tools back where they were supposed to be, and trying her best to tidy up. Guests were coming. Well, one guest, anyhow. She found herself blushing and smiling as she finally reached the opposite end of the room and grabbed onto the ladder there.

Daisy climbed up to the next floor of the ship, a corridor that ran the length of the vessel, from the lower observation room at the front, to the cargo hold at the back. She looked both ways, then bit the tip of her finger before deciding. She ran up to the front with long strides of her short legs, only stopping after she barged into the room.

Elizabeth was there. The young lady started when she barged in, then glared at Daisy and made a sign for her to be quiet.

Daisy understood with a look. Elizabeth was holding an earpiece to the side of her head and a sheet of paper in her other hand. With a quiet voice, she was reading off a list of numbers into a receiver built into the table.

She decided to leave her alone and walked towards the windows taking up one wall of the tiny radio room. Scaffolds were everywhere, crisscrossing across her field of view and blocking sight of the little town. She assumed that Katherine was already moving them in towards the sky port to moor.