Alkimiya - A Fantasy Mystery Series

FOURTEEN - Airborne

After a round of hugs and morning greetings, Mimi showed them to an area between the stairway and the door to the mess hall. A circular, metal lid covered a hole in the floor. 

"This here's the way below deck," Mimi told them. "Our sleeping quarters are down there. Two to a room. You were originally meant to be with Inspector Hatwig, Zenetra, but I figured you'd want to be with someone more your age, so I switched with you."

Zenetra initially felt thankful because bunking with Inspector Hatwig was a little intimidating, but then she remembered the maniacal smile Mimi had reserved for their team leader in Meeting Room Five and laughed. The green-haired constable had been told to save her physical affections for personal hours. She was about to do just that. 

"However thoughtful of you, Mimi."

When they emerged from below deck sans travel bags, the rest of their team arrived. Field Trainer Onnan grumbled nonstop about being forced to share a room with Carver and barked at everyone in warning not to disturb him until a reasonable hour. They heard the door to his room slam from where they stood above deck.

Inspector Hatwig arrived shortly after Onnan with two duffle bags in tow. "Am I the last?"

"No," Carver informed her. "Waiting on Constable Thorpe."

As he said that, a figure darted across the metal pier and up the plank to the airship. Tilde arrived out of breath and with hair still damp from her morning shower. When she stepped on deck, her foot met a patch of black ice and flew out from under her. She was on her back, gazing up at the morning sky as the crew erupted in laughter.

"Oh, bother!" moaned Tilde.

Inspector Hatwig took one calming breath and released it slowly. "Now that we're all here, I can tell Captain Inglehart to set off. Someone help Constable Thorpe to her room."

When the inspector left for the bridge, Tilde sat up and mouthed, "Stickler" to Zenetra, only for Inspector Hatwig to yell back, "I saw that, Constable Thorpe!"

Once in their room below deck, where it was warm and the walls were painted the same garish yellow as the outer hull, Mimi snuck in a bottle of whirl and a small leather-skinned bag full of cards. She stuffed both under Tilde's pillow with an, "I'll be joining you ladies tonight!" and a wink before heading off in search of Inspector Hatwig.

Tilde tossed her duffle bag onto the floor and slid it under the small cot. Her frozen hair made distinctive cracking sounds as she bunched the tresses in her hand. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

Zenetra sat on the bed across from Tilde and peered out of the porthole window. The sky had brightened considerably. "Enough. You?"

"Spent some time at Core Clinic."

Zenetra's attention snapped to her roommate. "Are you unwell?"

"What? Oh! No, no, no. I went to check on Constable Wardle." After a few seconds of confused silence, Tilde added, "I was wearing his blood when we met."

"Right. The restaurant stabbing. What happened exactly?"

"It was the craziest thing in the world!" Tilde became animated, gesticulating wildly as if someone had accused her of being the instigator of the attack. "Wardle and I were at that new restaurant down at Central Park Place. Someone tipped him off that stray dogs were being rounded up and taken off the streets. Andy asked me to go there with him. He wanted me to be a distraction so he could take a quick peek at what was going on in the back. Anyway, Andy and I—Did I ever tell you about Constable Wardle?—Oh shucks. Let me start over. Back in cadet training, Andy Wardle was my seventh desk part—"