Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight — Avianation
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight — Avianation Once, a long time ago, I’d gone on a field trip with my school to an aerospace museum. It was only a half-day trip, coordinated by a bunch of parent volunteers, and it was free so my parents didn’t have to sit me down and explain why I couldn’t go like they had with other trips.I had loved every minute of it. The planes were so big. The newer ones were all sleek and shiny and the old ones just had so much panache and this weird aesthetic that screamed ‘functional yet pretty’ that I’d never seen in modern stuff. Best of all, everything was so big. It was enough to make a small Broccoli gape all day.My neck hurt for half a week from the strain of looking up so much! It was wonderful!The memory of that day came back in force as Rosaline pushed open a pair of doors and led us into the front of a huge building. The Albatross Aeronautics main building was a big blocky thing with a lot of windows on its front. Behind it was a huge compound surrounded by metal fencing that stopped people from wandering into a yard where two dozen baby airships were coming together.“This,” Rosaline said as she spun around, her wings held high around her. “Is the showroom!”I gasped.The entrance room had ships in it. Not full-size airships, but a dozen or so airships the size of vans, with teeny tiny rigging and itty bitty sails and little figurines glued onto their decks and sides. They were tethered in place by some cords, but still bobbed and juked around in the air.There were little podiums below each ship holding up a brass plaque. I skipped over to the first and leaned over it to read.Presenting the Albatross Aeronautics Astute-Class Destroyer!This light destroyer is a fearsome warrior of the skies! Capable of speeds up to fifty-five knots, the Astute can keep up with any modern cargo vessel and its four weapons platforms will give even the most daring pirate a reason to think twice!I looked up to the ship above me, noting the plaque on its side that read Astute in pretty gilded letters. The ship looked to be half wood and half metal, with a sleek pair of balloons above it and two metal platforms jutting out of the front with a big ballista mounted atop each of them.“So cool,” I said.“Isn’t it?” Rosaline said. “I wanted to name them something nicer, but the board is filled with boring old birds who want things sounding bland and officious. Apparently warships shouldn’t be named after birds or flowers or some dog I petted that morning.”“That’s too bad,” I said as I spun around to take in the other ships. Some looked a lot more utilitarian and a bit square, while others, especially the warships, had sleek prows and a lot more metal on their bodies. They even tended to have more gilding and railings with shiny trim along the sides and especially at the back where the castle was.“This room was my idea,” Rosaline said with obvious pride. “The old ones whined and complained until it started to drive up sales, then I rubbed the fact that they complained in their faces so that they couldn’t pretend that they were onboard with the idea the entire time.”“Um,” I said. That sounded a bit too political for me. “It sounds like you have to do a lot of work.”“She does,” Amaryllis said. “And yet she manages to not do half of it.”“I work very hard to find the best ways not to work and yet still get things done,” Rosaline said. “It’s why I only hire the best, most hardworking people to do my work for me.”I blinked at that. “Okay,” I said. “How much for a ship like that one?”Pointing up, I gestured to the biggest ship in the room. It was an Adamant-Class Battleship. It was, judging by the hundreds of inch-tall figures on its many decks, the size of a small castle. Unlike the other ships, it didn’t have a balloon above it, but it was rather bulbous, so I figured the balloons were probably inside it.“We never actually built one of those,” Rosaline said. “Though we have started negotiations for one. It’ll cost nearly twenty-thousand gold just for the materials to start the project.”I winced. That was more than the eight I had. “Darn. I bet that one’s big enough to build a house with a fence on the deck.”“Uh,” Rosaline said. “Probably?” She shook her head. “Nevermind that! Come on, we can take one of the movers over to the wrecking yard. I’m sure I can bug my engineers into fixing up one of those smaller ships for your trip in no time flat.”I skipped after Rose, my other friends following after at a more boring pace. “What’s a move?” I asked.“Well, we installed these big platforms a few years ago that go up and down and carry materials. The shipyard is built in a dozen levels, you see. Anyway, I asked if we could have platforms that move from side to side too, and the answer was, as always, ‘if you have the gold for it.’ So now we have moving platforms. I named them moves because they move you, and the ones that go up and down are called lifts because they lift you.”“Don’t they also bring you down?”“That’s what I said! But they said calling them ‘drops’ would be a bad idea.”I nodded. That made sense.We crossed the building, Rosaline waving and sometimes even hugging the occasional office harpy until we stumbled out of the back and walked over to a place that had a bunch of moves all lined up atop some rails. Moves, as it turned out, had rails all around them and a small engine at the back.Rosaline flagged down a young harpy boy in a newsboy cap and grease-stained overalls and he jumped onto the move’s controls.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.With a hiss of steam from the move’s engine, we were off at a blistering pace that I could have outwalked.“These aren’t very fast,” I pointed out as I hung off the edge and watched the rails slide past below.“Nope,” Rosaline said. “But they can carry a lot. Real handy for moving parts around the yards.”I hummed agreeably and decided to just take in the sights. There were cranes overhead, some of them moving big pallets covered in stuff, others were holding onto the skeletal frames of airships coming together bit by bit.Those frames had entire teams of workers crawling over them and laying out tarps and wooden planks with easy efficiency. There were flashes sometimes as little welders went off, and the constant pinging clang of hammers meeting metal.Even the air smelled like new stuff, probably from the piles of fresh lumber and the long sheets of folded tarp being moved around on dollies by burly harpy men.“You work in the coolest place,” I said.Rosaline grinned, then she pointed to the side. “That’s our lift!”We hopped off the move and walked over to a place where a few lifts were waiting. I slowed down so that I was between Awen and Amaryllis. “This place is great, isn’t it?”Amaryllis nodded. “It’s an impressive use of the clan’s logistical might, a symbol of our current prosperity and one of the ways that the Albatross are making a mark not only in the Nesting Kingdom, but across Dirt.”“Aw... I think it’s very nice? The ships are a bit bigger than Uncle’s Shady Lady though.”I nodded. “Yeah, I guess the Shady Lady is more of a personal sort of ship, made to go on adventures and such, while those big ones are all big important ships for big important things. Do you think we could man a ship with just the three of us?”“Woman, more like,” Amaryllis said.I blinked, then let out a giggle. “Did you make a pun?” I asked.“No, I merely corrected you,” she said.“With a pun.”“It wasn’t a pun,” Amaryllis said.“Awa, I think it was.”“Puns are crass and a kind of humour reserved for fools and idiots,” Amaryllis declared.I wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her in for a side hug. “We still love you, even if you’re a fool and an idiot who makes puns.”She broke out of the hug with much wing flapping and protesting. I shared a look with Awen and we both worked hard not to laugh too much.Rosaline was smiling as she waited by one of the lifts. It looked like she’d shooed off a bunch of workers so that she could use it herself, which I guessed was a perk of being the boss.The lift brought us down with a rattle of chains and a few bumpy little skips, but it seemed sturdy enough. That all faded from my thoughts as we came down a level and into a huge room, the biggest I’d ever seen in my life. As it turned out, the ground level of the shipyards was built off of the side of the mountain, and now we were heading under it in a world filled with pillars and struts that held up the shipyard.Large hangers held airships, some looking brand new, while a few were going through some repairs. As we dipped lower, the ships started to look a bit rougher.“This is the shipbreaking level,” Rosaline said as she gestured. There were maybe a dozen airships in all, which was still an impressive number of ships to see. “These are all decommissioned ships that will be stripped for parts. There aren’t all that many yet. The business is too new for that, but I’m sure by the time we’re all old, the first and second generation of ships will all pass away in a place like this.”“That’s a bit sad,” I said as I took in the ships due to be broken down. They did look older, with more wooden constructions and a lot less flair in their appearance.All except for one.It caught my eye like gold glinting atop fresh snow.It wasn’t the biggest ship. Far from it, in fact. The thing was maybe half again as long as the Shady lady, though it was quite a bit wider. It probably owed that to the fact that it had two hulls instead of just the one, each one connected to the one next to it by a web of gantries and pipes and ropes.At the end of its twin prows were two figureheads. Not of pretty naked women, but of a pair of stately, top-hat wearing ducks with their wings outstretched and holding up a pair of rusty... knives?There had been a coat of yellow paint over its hull once, but it was chipping off all over, as if the ship had spent too much time in the wind and weather, and the back end, with its two little cabins, had more rust on it than was probably proper.There was only one big oblong balloon, and it was deflated. The only thing holding the ship up was a large gantry crane beneath it, but that didn’t matter. I could still imagine it resting in the air in defiance of gravity.“Broccoli? Broc?”I blinked and looked over to Amaryllis. She pointed to one side where a nice, simple ship was resting. It was... plain, but functional-looking. “We’re going to check that one out.”“What about that one?” I asked as I pointed to the ship that had caught my eye.She stared. “Broccoli, I might not know as much about ships as my dearest sister, but that thing looks like it very much belongs here.”“I don’t know. I think it’s beautiful,” I said. “It has character.”Rosaline made her way closer. “Yeah. That class never took off though. Too many problems.”“See, it’s problematic. Now, that one over there only needs a bit of repair work to get going,” Amaryllis said.“What’s her name?” I asked Rosaline.She grinned. “Her name, dearest Broccoli, is the Beaver Cleaver.”
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Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine — The Party Boat is Already Split
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine — The Party Boat is Already Split We reached the gantry next to the Beaver Cleaver and paused. “Did you want to get aboard first, Captain Bunch?” Rosaline asked. Her big smile only grew bigger when Amaryllis harrumphed from somewhere behind me.“I’d love to!” I said.With a hop, I bounced up and onto the deck, landing on it with a dull thump of shoes meeting wood.The Beaver Cleaver was an interesting ship. There were two decks connected together in the middle, with only a bridge allowing for passage between them. It meant that while the ship was actually pretty wide, it didn’t have all that much space atop it.It was definitely bigger than the Shady Lady though not nearly as big as the Silver Boot. I liked it. There weren’t any weapons aboard, but there were lots of spools and ties for ropes and sails tucked into the sides.“Broccoli!” Rosaline called out. “Lower the gangplank!”“Right!” I called back.Rosaline walked up the plank without a care in the world, but Amaryllis and Awen came together, with Awen clasped on tight to Amaryllis’ side.Was she afraid of heights? Or was it the way the plank was swaying a lot over a hundred-foot drop that worried her?“Captain Bunch welcomes you aboard!” I said while giving the girls a salute.“Idiot,” was Amaryllis’ quick reply.“Awa, I’m glad to be on your ship, Captain Bunch,” Awen said. “It’s very... nice?”Rosaline shook her head. “It needs a lot of love, but it has some good... ah... ideas behind it.”I lowered my hand and took in the state of the Beaver, it could definitely use some cleaning up. “It’s a cool ship, but yeah, it needs some help. Do you think we could fix it up?”Rosaline’s anwer was a huge grin. “Why not? It would be interesting, at the very least. This ship never even had a maiden voyage you know? It would be a shame to wreck it without at least knowing how the design handles.”“Huh? It was never used?”The harpy shook her head. “Nope.” She patted one of the rails, then grimaced as some paint flaked off and stuck to her. “This ship has a bit of a weird story. More like a joke among those in the know.”“Tell us!” I cheered. If I really was going to be a captain, and of the Beaver Cleaver no less, then I certainly wanted to know the ship’s story.Rosaline pointed to the other side of the ship. “Want to talk on the port deck? It’s got benches.”We ambled over to the other side of the ship, crossing the narrow bridge that covered the gap between the two decks until we were on a similar but not entirely identical deck on the other side.The opposite one, the starboard I assumed, had been all utilitarian. The port side was a bit different. There were benches along the edges and the railings were a lot prettier, with engravings and tooled bars.The back had what looked like a bar of all things, and the cabin was also a bit bigger. I wondered if the port side was meant to carry passengers while the starboard held the crew and such? It would kind of make sense. There was only one propeller on the ship, right in between the two cabins. It was obvious that the engine was on the starboard side though.“So, the Beaver Cleaver,” Rosaline began. “It was commissioned some seven or eight years ago by Lord Edgar Corvus of Clan Corvus. It was meant to be a party boat, of all things. So that he could parade around with some strumpets and curry favour with other lords and ladies and so on. This ship wasn’t actually built in our shipyards.”“There are others?” I asked.Rosaline nodded. “The Owl clan has one, as do the Hawks. This one was Owl-built. Their engineers are actually quite good, their other departments... not so much. See, Lord Corvus wanted the front to have a pair of beavers as figureheads for the world knows what reason.”We all turned to stare at the tophat wearing ducks at the front. “Um,” Awen said. “Those are ducks.”“Yes. Yes they are,” Rosaline agreed. “See, the sculptor they hired didn’t know what beavers were, so he asked around, and somehow got it in his head that they were just furry ducks.”I snorted, then pressed a hand over my mouth as a giggle escaped. A look at the figureheads did show a distinct lack of feathers. Instead, the ducks had thin furry carvings all over. “Oh no!”“Oh yes!” Rosaline said. “And then it got worse! Lord Corvus wanted this thing painted black and gold. The clan colours, you see. The balloon was meant to be a nice stately green.” We looked up and the balloon was indeed quite green. “They got that right.”“But this ship is yellow,” Awen said.“Yup! They ran out of black paint, so they figured they’d paint it all gold. But gold paint is expensive, so the painters went with yellow.”“Did the lord know?” Awen asked.Rosaline’s grin said it all. “He found out the morning of the ship’s unveiling. It was a big spectacle, of course. He had a pretty girl break a bottle of wine on the side, and then they pulled the tarp off and... voila!”Awen slapped a hand over her mouth. “What did he do?”“He walked off in quite the huff and refused to pay for the ship. It made the Owl yards look quite bad. Good for our business though. We ended up buying the ship for a pittance and dragged it over here to look at their engines and the like. Some parts were a bit better than what we had.”This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.I ran a hand over the railing, some cleaning magic keeping the paint shavings off of me. “Do you think we could restore her?”“I think that this ship might be a ‘him’ actually,” Rosaline said with a snort. “And I don’t see why not. You need a ship, we have a shipyard. This isn’t too big a vessel that it couldn’t be manned by a small crew that knows what they’re doing.”“What about a crew that doesn’t?” Amaryllis asked.Rosaline dismissed that with a wave. “We can get a few people to go with you, teach you the ropes while you’re heading over. Just... what, two or three experienced sailors or so? I think this ship needs a minimum crew of five to run.”“That would be wonderful!” I said. “Could we repaint her-him ourselves?”“Awa, I’d love to see how the engine works too,” Awen said. “And some of the rigging too.”Rosaline nodded. “Certainly. I’ll put in an order to have him refurbished, at least the basics, and then we can park him at the estate so that you can tinker away.”“You’ll park this abomination at our home?” Amaryllis asked.“Did I mention that the entire port side is nothing but one big flying home for rich patrons? Three smaller bedrooms with en suites, a master bedroom at the fore, a smoking room and a small kitchen. It’s basically a yacht with a strange design.”“I suppose it can’t be all that bad,” Amaryllis changed tacks.Rosaline clapped. “Perfect! Now we just need to get you girls all nice and dressed up for a proper diplomatic mission. It’ll be wonderful. I know all the best shops!”“Don’t you need to work?” Amaryllis asked. “I doubt even you can avoid work this many days in a row.”Rosaline’s good mood crashed. “But work is lame.”I patted her on the back. “It’s okay? You seem to enjoy your work though.”“Not the paperwork part of it,” she said. “Some of it is alright, but I’d rather go with you.” She perked up and slid next to Awen. “Say, love, wouldn’t you want me to be there when you pick out something nice to wear? The kind of thing that will have all the ladies looking at you with envy?” Rosaline asked.“Awa, I, I wouldn’t mind if you were there, I guess,” Awen said. She was growing a little red, especially when Rosaline squeezed her close and squee’d into her ear.Amaryllis stepped in to save Awen. “We can wait until after you’re done for the day to head out. The shops will still be open by then. At least, they will if I send Gen-Gen out to ask.”“Ohh, that’s why you’re my second-favourite little sister!” Rosaline cheered.“Second favourite? I’m your only little sister!”“Broccoli is my favourite now.”“Hey!” I said. “What about Awen?”Amaryllis turned to me with a look of complete betrayal on her face. “You’re not even going to try and defend my position after usurping it?”“You called me an idiot,” I pointed out.She huffed most huffily. “That was just me pointing out the truth.”Rosaline giggled and pulled Amaryllis into a hug that she didn’t react to. “I still love you. And Awen is too precious to be a sister; if you know what I mean.”“Keep your degenerate talons off of my friends,” Amaryllis warned as she poked Rosaline in the stomach.We left the deck of the Beaver Cleaver in high spirits. I imagined the ship would appreciate a bit of laughter on his decks after so long being unused.Our trip backup to the Albatross Aeronautics main offices was faster than our trip down, and soon Amaryllis and Awen and I were saying farewell to a teary-eyed Rosaline who really didn’t want to get back to work. But there were a bunch of important-looking harpies waiting for her, and she was dragged away without too much protest.“Are we walking back?” I asked.“Certainly,” Amaryllis said. “The exercise will do us good.”I grabbed onto my friend’s hands and talons as I placed myself in the middle of them. “Great!” I said. “So, Awen, what do you think about Rose?”“Awa?” Awen asked as she looked up. “Miss Rose? W-what about her?”“Oh, I don’t know. She seems to like you a lot.”Amaryllis sighed. “The subtlety of a Sylph in a goldsmithy.” She shook her head. “My kinder sister is very... open about her relationship status. She’s been looking for the perfect partner for years. If you think you fit the bill Awen, do try your talon.”“Awa?!”I tried not to smile at how flummoxed Awen looked. It... might not have been too nice to play matchmaker, but I wanted Awen to be happy, and Rosaline seemed like a very caring, if a little flighty, person. She wouldn’t hurt Awen, at least not on purpose.And, best of all, it might help Awen come out of her shell a little. It was a neat solution to a lot of little problems.That didn’t mean it would work.Love wasn’t something I was well versed in. I loved my friends lots, but I didn’t love them that way. I hoped that this was a better solution than hurting Awen’s heart. For all that she was a tough girl, I didn’t want to see her hurt. Worse, Amaryllis and I were the only support she had in this place.“I, I don’t... I don’t know what you mean,” Awen said.I let out the tiniest little sigh and pulled her into a sidelong hug. “That’s okay too,” I said.
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