Chapter 8

When Levi was younger, he had once traveled with his father to a large plot of land in the Palouse region of the relatively new state of Washington. It was a ridiculously fertile area, according to his father, and they were going to expand their operations into wheat farming. For years, the Wyman family had been known in the region for their cattle farming but not any longer. They were moving up, his father always said. Always up.

The trip had taken entirely too long by modern standards but at the time, their clunky antique of a motor carriage had been the fastest thing on the dirt roads and Levi remembered marveling at the contraption he and his father sat in. He remembered the way the thinly padded seat used to jostle and shake at even the slightest move of the vehicle’s steering wheel and how, on more than one occasion, he had almost fallen out of the thing completely. His father, a quiet yet resolute man, would often just shake his head. It would teach him a lesson if he fell, Levi knew. It wasn’t up to a father to keep his son from foolishness; that was the son’s own task. Generally speaking, Levi managed fairly well.

By the time they finally arrived, the sun was cresting the horizon, ready to start its slow flight through the sky. Though Levi had heard his father talking about the Palouse before, he hadn’t really garnered an appreciation for the openness of it. It was a fantastically peaceful place and he instantly had thoughts of playing Indians out there with his friends forever. It would’ve been the perfect place for it, he was sure. But his father, of course, had different plans. That’s what the tractors and plows were for.

That entire day, men, machines, and animals worked side by side clearing the land. For the most part, it seemed like haphazard work to Levi’s relatively untrained eyes. For the longest time, it didn’t look like they were getting much done. They just pushed plants and debris here and there, seemingly randomly. He didn’t complain, though, as he enjoyed the time he got to spend with his father. It was well past noon when everyone suddenly shifted gears and the work became even more bizarre.

Coming from a farming community, Levi had seen plenty of furrowed fields. He had even ridden along sometimes when the tractors dug their shallow trenches. Even given this experience, though, he wasn’t really sure what was going on. They were digging furrows in the ground, just like normal, but the land hadn’t been properly cleared. He realized that they had, in fact, only cleared the land where the trenches were going. On further inspection, they really didn’t seem to be all that deep, either. Perplexed, he had asked his father what was going on. With a grin, patting little Levi on the head, he had simply told his son to wait and watch.

The kerosene had arrived a little later that day, an entire truck bed full of five gallon jugs. Levi’s eyes had gone wide at the sight. Even at that time he knew how expensive kerosene was. It hadn’t yet eclipsed whale oil and Abascal sap hadn’t even been discovered yet. He glanced at his father, but he was already distributing the jugs. In no time, the kerosene had been poured into the trenches and all the machinery was moved from the field. Then, with a few simple actions, Levi’s father set the trenches ablaze.

He remembered what happened next like it was yesterday. The fire had spread slowly enough, at first, and even went out in a few places. One of the men would run down the trench to relight it before returning to the gathering upwind. Soon, however, as the evening wind began to blow in, the fire started to spread and reach up out of the trenches. Before long, the entire field was burning in a controlled inferno the likes of which Levi had never before seen.

“It’ll clear the land and help the soil,” his father had said in simple terms as he watched his new farmland go up in flames. As the sun started to set, after that long and arduous day, the fires continued to burn brightly in the darkness. The overgrowth went quickly while the strategically placed debris piles turned to columns or red and yellow flame. Levi marveled at the sight for a time, but eventually even a massive fire couldn’t hold his interest and he eventually found himself asleep on the seat of their motor carriage. That was why, when even stronger winds began to blow across the field, he initially was not aware of what had happened.

They had done all that their experience had told them to do. Yet it wasn’t enough. Burning embers, flittering through the sky, had found their way into a nearby copse of tress and, being the dry season, it too had gone up in flames. By the time Levi was awoken by the commotion, the fire was truly out of control and spreading across the grasslands. He had leapt from the carriage, frantically searching for his father. He found him a few moments later trying as best as he could to put water from the nearby well. But even Levi knew, based off the hellish inferno behind him, that a few buckets of water would do little good.

Eventually the fire burned itself out and by the next day, Levi was home again with a fantastic story to tell his friends. But for that one night, when darkness squeezed in tighter than he had ever known while the fire burned brighter than he would have thought possible, he was filled with two emotions: fear and awe. It was, he would admit to himself later, an unsettling combination. Much like a moth to the proverbial flame, he had seen something strangely beautiful in the raging blaze; the way it fought back the darkness, perhaps, or the wild, chaotic nature of its dance. But the terror of the moment was not lost on him, either, as he knew what destructive power those flames held. It was this combination of feelings that stuck in his mind so clearly.

This fear and awe resurfaced as the Iron Dove had come down within range of the downed airships. One had obviously been leaking fuel as it fell, for a haphazard line of flame danced off a ways into the darkness away from the crash site. The ship that had leaked looked to be completely engulfed in flames, slowly burning away. The other vessel had apparently been floating in hydrogen, because the marks of explosion were rather obvious. Balloon bits littered the area, smoldering in the dark, the ship itself relatively intact. Appraising the situation, Levi decided that the explosion had actually worked to put out the fires, though it probably wasn’t the best method for doing so.

They found the survivors huddled together a small distance away, using the shell of an upturned runner as a makeshift shelter. There were maybe twenty of them, all told, and though a few were burned a bruised, they seemed to have made it through the crash rather unscathed. Levi walked off by himself, toward the burning wreckage, and looked about into the night. Though he was in awe of the destruction and feared that they would soon meet a similar fate, it wasn’t the same as when he was a child. It was the fire, he knew. It was different somehow. Were the fires of his youth had been chaotic and free, running wherever the wind willed, these flames were malevolent. They were consumers of justice. So this time around, fear was much more prevalent than awe.

“Hey Boss, you alright,” Hank asked as he walked over.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just getting a little nostalgic.”

“The war, right? Man, I wish I could’ve fought in that thing.”

“No, not the war this time. And it wasn’t something that a lot of people looked forward to doing, Hank. It was a duty, not a pleasure.”

“I just meant…” He stumbled, trying to find his words. Finding none, he changed the subject. “Anyway, this is a heck of an attack. Sure, pirates attacked every once in a while but downing two cargo ships in one go? That just doesn’t seem right. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I heard of a ship being downed by pirates.”

“That’s because they generally keep the ships. You can’t just walk into an airship store and buy one, after all. They have to get their ships and supplies from somewhere. Most pirates get their first ship be stealing it while anchored or at harbor.”

“Ah. Makes sense, I guess. Then why did the scuttle these two?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Before the other could answer, Levi turned and quickly went back to the group gathered by the downed runner. Simon’s men had brought down food and water, the two things Matthew had said the pirates had taken. Abigail, he saw, was off on the other side of the small camp, checking on the injured. She always seemed to be doing that, he thought with a smile. The majority of the people, though, seemed to just be sitting or standing about. Odd as it seemed, there was little to be done at the time. He saw Levi, Quincy, and a few others standing off to one side talking with two men, presumably the captains of the cargo vessels. He decided to join them.

“They came in fast about an hour before dusk. Ship was mighty fast for bein’ so big. They peppered the deck; put a few rounds through the undercarriage but nothing too bad. We figured we’d be boarded and after what happened in Walton Harbor, we decided to just let them on. We didn’t want any trouble and we weren’t armed anyway. They took our food, destroyed our radios.”

“Matthew said they brought in some movers. How many people did they land?”

The one man shook his head.

“Maybe fifty? Four movers came in, all told, I think. Why?”

“No reason.”

Levi and Simon traded glances. They both knew what those numbers indicated. If they had landed fifty men on a surrendering ship, that meant they had a relatively large crew. Simon’s ship had a crew of about thirty, including men who were there for no other reason than to fight if required. And despite the fact that the Iron Dove wouldn’t just stand down – and would therefore be able to take some men down on the way in – it was unlikely they could stop something like that. Unless, of course, the pirates were simply trying to intimidate the crew and left just a bare-bones crew back on the main ship. No way to know.

“Do you think you all could hold out here for a day or two,” Levi asked.

“What, why? You won’t take us back?” The captain looked absolutely shocked at the revelation.

“We don’t have room for all of you,” Simon said, which was a questionably true statement. “But we got in contact with the Colonial Guard. They started preparing to dispatch a pick-up ship as soon as they heard. But they won’t be running at night and they’ll be extra careful now because of this recent pirate activity.”

“But what if they come back?”

“What could they possibly want from you,” Simon said, looking around. “Anything worth taking’s already been had. Everything else is crispy now. I wouldn’t worry. Just keep a low profile and hope some of those big buffalo don’t come through.”

The captains giggled nervously, not having the slightest clue as to whether or not Simon was serious. Levi, of course, knew that he was not. The fire and smoke would’ve driven off any Olympus buffalo in the area and would probably keep away for some time; long enough for pick-up, anyway. Secondary scavenger pirates may be a concern, Levi thought idly as he looked about, but he doubted it. Like Hank had pointed out earlier, downed ships were rather rare and most pirate organizations wouldn’t know how to go about it properly. Furthermore, the wreckage had conveniently fallen in a depression, making it marginally more difficult to be seen from the air if they aren’t looking. They’d be safe.

“We’ll stay anchored here for the night,” Simon said, patting one of the captains on the shoulder. “Some of your more wounded folk can feel free to rest on the ship though, as I said, accommodations are sparse. Just keep ‘em calm. That’s my recommendation.”

With that, Simon turned and walked off, motioning for Levi to follow. They moved a ways from the gathering, closer to the now smoldering wreckage. The night was closer her, Levi felt, as his eyes strained to see into the darkness. It was no use, though. The smoke from the fire obscured the stars and the moon was nowhere to be seen. He had been around the ruins of airships before and it was always the obscuration of the stars that got him.

“This isn’t good, brother,” Simon said, not looking at Levi.

“I know.”

There was an uneasy silence.

“There’s something you should know.” Levi looked over at his friend, curiosity on his face. “When we were firing off radio signals back to Walton, we picked up a bit of chatter. Another ship was downed about a half day’s ride to the southwest. It was a smaller ship, nothing like these two. But the attackers just took a few things, set fire to the ship, and went on their way.”

“I see. More than likely connected, then. And it would be foolish not to think the attack at Walton the other day was isolated.”

“My thoughts exactly. Something’s going on here, Levi. Something not so good.”

“The Guard will mobilize soon.”

“If they haven’t already. They were pretty quick in sending a ship this way.”

“True. These pirates have to know they can’t stand up to the Colonial Guard in a fight, though, right? There are only so many places to hide out here, after all. If the military moves in, it’ll be put down quick.”

“One can only hope. This stuff is going to be bad for business. Know anything about them?”

“These Devilfish… they’re a pretty large organization from what I’ve seen. Easily one of the most powerful in the Reach, that’s for sure. They actually manage a number of the smaller groups, which only bolsters their numbers. But they’ve never been more than part-time thieves. It seems strange that they’d be like this now. Doesn’t make any sense.”

“Never does. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open.”

“You think things are getting a little too dicey to continue?”

Simon thought for a moment.

“I think that if we go back, Abigail and Quincy will be stuck in Meadowshire or Walton Harbor for a few months while the pirates are hunted down. I’d wager North is actually one of the safest places to be right about now. The place it bristling with guns and people who know how to use them.”

“True. Alright, we keep going. We’re just two days out, right?”

“Right.”

Levi nodded and the two of them turned and made their way back. Simon broke off and went back on board the Iron Dove; he had men of his own to watch over. Levi, in turn, decided to check on his guests. He doubted they were feeling too good about things and wanted to do his best to make them feel at ease, even if he didn’t. The first person he found was Abigail. She was sitting, chatting with another woman – a medic that had been flying with one of the ships – but stood up as he approached.

“We should take some of these people with us,” she said as he approached.

“We can’t do that.”

“And why not?” See seemed more indignant that he would’ve expected.

“Because there isn’t enough room.”

“They could be put in the cargo hold. Most of that stuff could either be left behind or just moved about a bit. I’m sure it could work.”

“And we’d fly them all up to North Mine…and then what? Leave them all there?”

“They could come back, of course.”

“A rescue ship will be here tomorrow. There’s no reason to drag them two days north and then back again.”

She paused, suddenly looking exhausted. Obviously something was bothering her.

“Abigail… what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Look at where you are.” Her arms pointed out around here, mainly toward the burning wreckage in the distance. “We’re sitting in the middle of the biggest field of grass ever conceived, surrounded by the broken husks of airships destroyed by pirates that will be more than happy to do the same to us. Just two days ago, an entire harbor exploded. And you ask what’s wrong?”

Her words had grown increasingly loud and quick. She visibly inhaled deeply a number of times in order to catch he breath. Levi gently placed his hand on her arm and waited for her to calm down. After a moment, she looked back up and met his gaze.

“These things happen,” Levi said. “You should know that. But we have to keep going. Simon just said that North is probably the safest place in Reach to be right now and I think he’s right.”

“Simon. That buffoon will get us all killed. I can’t believe you’re friends with him.”

“I thought you forgave him for his comments back at the hangar.”

“Oh, I have. But he keeps flirting with me. It’s ridiculous, in a time like this.”

Levi leaned his head back and laughed. It felt good.

“Let me just tell you, that’s Simon. Even if we were plummeting down on a burning ship, he’s try to flirt with someone. You’ll get used to him, though. He’s good at what he does, that much I know.”

“Because you served together?”

“Because we served together, yes. He’s a brave, competent man and he seems to pick like-minded crewmembers. If North is the safest place to be, then the Iron Dove is second. I promise.”

“Alright,” she said, bowing her head. “It’s just been a long day. I think I will retire to the ship. Try to get some rest.”

“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll be doing the same myself, shortly.”

“Goodnight, Levi.”

“Goodnight, Abigail.”

As the two parted, Levi mused over the fact that they only said goodnight to one another after something bad had happened. He went about finding Quincy, next. Quincy found him, however. The older man still wore his greatcoat, though the wide-brimmed was no longer upon his head. As odd as it seemed, he didn’t seem the least bit disheveled.

“Ah, Levi, my boy. I was just lookin’ for you. I wanted to see if we had any plans to take these fine folk with us.”

“I was just talking about that with Abigail. The answer’s no.”

“Glad to hear it.” Levi was taken aback. He hadn’t expected the genial Quincy to deny aid to people. The reaction was obviously not lost on the man. “Come now, you can think a lot about me but don’t think I’m a fool just ‘cause I’m old. We’d just be increasing their risk to ‘em, after all. And what would they need to do at North? Just sit there? That would be wasteful. After all, this isn’t going to be a safe trip, right?”

Levi hesitated for a moment, trying to decide if he should lie or not. The look on Quincy’s face, however, said that he already knew the answer. Levi did indeed have to admit that the older man was definitely not a fool.

“Things have become more complicated lately, yeah. But you’ve been over the Iron Dove. She’s as shipshape as any fighting vessel can be and we know how to handle ourselves. I have some experience on ships like this.”

“I don’t doubt your bravery, son. But fifty men boarded that cargo ship lying over there. That’s an awfully big number, I’d imagine.”

“Not much get’s by you, huh?”

“I’ve kept my ears open. Its how I made it so long,” Quincy said with a smile.

“Heh. Well keep them open. May be useful before this trip is through.”

“Indeed.” Quincy yawned. “We’ll talk more in the morning. An old man’s got to have his rest.”

“Right. Night.”

As Quincy walked off, Levi glanced around to see if he could locate Hank. He wanted to bring the boy up to speed on what was going on so he’d be ready for anything. Unfortunately, his cursory search didn’t yield anything. He was probably already in bed, Levi thought. No harm, though. He would simply tell him in the morning. They weren’t going anywhere until then, after all.

With a yawn to match Quincy’s, Levi stretched his neck slightly and made his way back onboard the Iron Dove. His room was taken, he recalled, so he bedded down in the bunk room and tried to get some sleep out of the night before the sun rose again.