The Reckless Skies (The Society for General Inquiry Book 1)

PART FOUR

PART FOUR

Though the Victorious Skies would technically commence her maiden journey from the airfield at Hyde Park, for now she rested safely in her hanger located on the north side of Primrose Hill. Owned by the Burnaby Ballooning Company, the hangers housed many of the pleasure balloons and airships frequented by airborne members of Society. Regular excursions set off from the top of Primrose Hill itself, allowing wealthy Londoners a view of the city they had never seen it before.

As Jonathan Farrow arrived at the Burnaby complex, a group of men struggled with the mooring lines of one of these recreational balloons, coaxing it out of its hanger. Stepping quickly out of their way, he crossed the great graveled expanse toward monstrously large building hunkered down on a piece of land once home to a cricket patch. The Burnaby Ballooning Company had been kind enough to allow the Victorious Skies project the use of their largest hanger. Constructed using the latest technology, a skeleton of steel beams supported a pitched metal roof. Many small windows dotted the walls, flooding the hanger with natural daylight. The massive structure loomed almost as tall as the hill itself.

With construction finally complete, Farrow found the hanger abandoned except for a pair of painters who stood on a rickety mess of scaffolding, painting the airship’s name onto the side of the balloon.

Farrow never tired of admiring the Victorious Skies. Her sleek lines and simple design appealed to him on a personal level. Besides the application of the name on the side of the airship, she was completely devoid of decorations, and Farrow very much liked it that way. She was beautiful in her simplicity, and he felt it best not to guild the lily, as the saying went.

A playful humming caught Farrow’s attention and he rounded the gondola of the ship. Henrietta Nakamura sat in ship's doorway, the lift of the hydrogen in the ship’s balloon envelope causing her feet to dangle a few feet off the ground. Henrietta kicked her boots back and forth as she hummed her merry tune. Her eyes were glued to the pages of her favorite penny-dreadful, Skypirates. The cover of today’s issue featured an flamboyant airship racing through the jungle at breakneck speed.

“Ohayo, Mr. Farrow,” she greeted her senior pilot, never taking her eyes off of the page.

“Are you working on something, Miss Nakamura?” Farrow asked, curious as to why she was there.

Henrietta shook her head, her short hair brushing against her cheeks. “Nope. Just getting a feel for her, that’s all. I picked up the latest issue of my story on the way. It’s one heck of a gripper, this one. Want to borrow it when I’m done?”

“Thank you for the offer, Miss Nakamura, but no.”

Henrietta finally pulled her nose out of the magazine. “Oh, hey, Mr. Boyer was looking for you earlier. He was crosser than a cat dunked in water.”

Farrow cocked his head at the diminutive pilot. “Oh?”

“Mr. Farrow!” came Mr. Boyer’s bellow, startling one of the painters into dropping his brush. The man cursed as he hopped down to retrieve it.

The president of the London Polytechnic Institution marched across the hanger floor, the corners of his mouth plummeting into a deep frown, and he focused his glare on Jonathan Farrow. “Mr. Farrow, I’ve come to expect this sort of thing from Dr. Duncan, but I must say that your behavior recently has been simply unacceptable. It will not do at all!”

Farrow stuttered. “Sir?”

Mr. Boyer puffed out his cheeks, sending his mutton chops wafting about his face. “First you almost completely missed the presentation yesterday, and then you failed to show up to this morning’s tour for the press. I am not ashamed to say that I am disappointed, Mr. Farrow. I thought you were a man of integrity.”