Half a Soul Apart, page 4
“You’re highly respected wherever you go. Travelling through the sky and having people look up to you and be in awe of you. Who doesn’t want that?”
“And how do you feel about war?”
Hessy hesitated. “Well, the war is over, there’s no more fighting. Besides, I would have been an engineer designing airships for the militia, I wouldn’t be involved in the fighting, if ever there were fighting.”
Lieutenant Halcrow looked out her cracked window. “The fighting is never truly over.”
He looked back at her firm now, and full of authority.
“And if anyone is serious about joining the Caelum Militia, don’t come to us naïve. You will be there as a soldier and all soldiers must follow orders.”
Hessy leaned away by his abruptness. “Alright, fine… but you should be telling this to Nattie and the rest. Not me.”
“It seems your old instructor has put in a good word for you and General Rudyard wanted as many apprentices as possible,” Lieutenant Halcrow said. “So, we’ll be expecting you aboard the Darkturnalus, along with the rest of them. We’ve seen what you can do, it’d be a shame for that to go to waste.”
“Striking Jupiter, are you serious?” Hessy demanded, feeling excitement bubbling inside her.
“I meant what I said though. Being part of the militia is serious.”
“No, I know. I won’t let you down, lieutenant,” Hessy said.
“If you ever change your mind, head to Starsland, I know that they welcome people like you to continue the progress of advanced machinery.”
Hessy couldn’t help the laugh that escaped out her mouth. “Where all the pompous, fur wearing snots come from? Don’t worry, I much prefer your offer,” she assured him.
Lieutenant Halcrow handed his empty bowl back to Hessy and strode over to her door. As he walked out, he stopped and faced her.
“I happen to come from Starsland, just so you know.”
Before he went, he left behind an amused smile.
Hessy shut the door, threw her head back and gave a groan.
***
With excitement and nervous hands, Hessy finished getting dressed. She fastened her tool belt onto her waist and lastly pulled on her green aviation coat. It was a man’s coat, so she had to roll the sleeves up twice for it to fit. The name Fairbird was stitched to the pocket in white thread, the only thing she had of what would have been a parent. Hessy packed a knapsack filled with clean overalls, underwear and her yellow and green crocheted scarf. She also packed a satchel with her lucky spanner, her best sketches, maps, a handful of charcoal pencils and scrap parchment.
Once she was all set, she paused in the doorway before heading out.
“Bye room,” she whispered.
The last thing she needed to bring with her was her tool chest from the workshop.
The other apprentices were gathering up their stuff as well when she entered.
“Hessy?”
Nattie came over. She had separated her dark hair into two neat pleats and a blue kerchief was tied on her head. She eyed the knapsack and satchel on Hessy, and her face broke into a grin. “Are you coming?”
“I’ve been selected.”
Arky Gruber came shuffling over, his nosy ears picking up their conversation. “How’s that? Wasn’t your drone destroyed?”
Nattie whacked him on the arm. “Don’t remind her.”
“Guess they took a shine to my pure talent, Gruber.” Hessy shrugged.
Arky puffed out his lips, unconvinced. “You’re not trying to stow away, are you?”
Nattie pushed him.
“I bet it was the lieutenant. He was asking Mr. Arman questions the other day, namely about you.”
Hessy scratched her cheek to hide her blush. She didn’t tell Nattie that he had personally come to visit her.
Hessy walked round to her station and shut her tool chest after counting all ninety-eight pieces and padlocked it. Luckily for all the apprentices, their tool chests were on wheels. Only Abe Hall was struggling with his one with the broken wheel.
They walked together into the main hangar. Gas lights had been lit, framing the deck in a straight line towards the Darkturnalus which was preparing to sail off into a violet day break.
“Are you nervous?” Nattie whispered.
“Who wouldn’t be. We’ve never left the mountain, and this is it. I’m terrified.” Hessy grinned.
Madam Mayor Analisa was there along with Mr. Arman and Mr. Jerry as they saw their former apprentices off, wishing them well.
The mayor looked like she hadn’t slept in a month. She was young for a mayor, barely into her forties but handsome. Her black hair was touched with white here and there and her brown eyes were bright, sparking with intelligence. She had taken the title of mayor with no complaint when her father had died after a long reign. Hessy rarely saw the mayor, just at major events. She kept checking her pocket watch like she had some where better to be, which was probably true. Hessy wondered why she even bothered leaving her gold nest at all.
“Well done Miss Fairbird,” Mayor Analisa said, the same thing she’d said to the other nine.
“Thank you, Madam Mayor,” Hessy replied, releasing the cold handshake first.
Mr. Arman limped after Hessy, tapping his cane on the back of her legs. She turned to face him, bracing against his disapproval or another scolding. But his eyes were strained. She didn’t think his face could support one more wrinkle and yet there were fresh ones round his mouth.
“If there’s trouble, don’t be a hero.”
Hessy rolled her eyes, smirking. “I’m not a hero, Mr. Arman. I’m just a mechanical engineer.”
He stepped closer. She leant back from his intensity.
“If you see a white airship…”
Hessy felt a chill. “You really did see an airship, didn’t you?”
“It’s out there in Jupiter’s Domain,” he whispered. “The same one that-”
“Hurry up Hessy,” Nattie called from the foot of the gangplank, cutting off what he was about to say.
“What is it about this ship?” Hessy asked.
Mr. Arman glanced around him, and she thought he didn’t want to be overheard. He pushed her forwards. “Just, stay out of trouble.”
As soon as the gangplank was heaved shut, Hessy tried to shake off what Mr. Arman had said. She walked with the rest into their new home.
Pipes and dials ran over head leading them down the long corridor. Every now and then steam would rise from below, through the grate floor. Hessy could smell hints of oil and Sulphur. It was a strange scent, like bad air that she would have to get used to. Judging by Nattie’s wrinkled nose, she smelled it too.
At the end of the main corridor was a circular, open doorway. One by one, they ducked through, legs first, and into the large oval bridge.
Hessy wasn’t the only one who gasped in awe at the sight before them. It was a surprisingly sophisticated bridge, with brass, triangular lamps evenly spaced right around, lighting it brightly. In its center were three large, dark blue globes gently rotating round each other. One of the globes looked like some sort of clock without numbers.
They saw General Rudyard and Lieutenant Halcrow were inside, along with several other soldiers including two pilots. Behind them was a great, round glass window that pushed outwards giving a clear view of the never-ending sky ahead.
“Welcome to the Darkturnalus,” General Rudyard said loudly. “We have time for a quick tour, before we put you to work. Petty Officer Fijne here will show you around the important parts of the ship, after that we expect you to find your own way.”
General Rudyard said more words of welcome before leaving with Lieutenant Halcrow.
Petty Officer Fijne, a stocky bald soldier with thick arms didn’t look so happy about being left with ten apprentices. He wiped his thumb across his blonde, brush moustache, groaning. “Come on.”
***
The last stop on the tour were crew quarters. A long corridor lined with symmetrical rooms, each with a single iron bedstead, a wooden table, a stool and a bench along the wall.
“Choose one, whichever one. Breakfast in the mess hall is at seven ‘o’ clock. Dinner at five. If you’re late, no food. Understand?”
“Yes sir.”
Officer Fijne waved off their pathetic attempt at saluting out of rhythm and left them to it.
“Let’s get a room next to each other,” Hessy said to Nattie.
There was no need to be fussy, every room was identical. But Nattie picked the corner rooms at the end of the corridor. Hessy left her door open as she walked into her new room. An oil lamp sat on the wooden table and two blankets and a rug were neatly folded at the foot of the bed.
“Pretty boring,” Nattie huffed, already out her room.
“No windows,” Hessy said, looking around.
“Good thing for you, you might die of fright when you realize how high we get,” Nattie teased.
The next morning, she woke early and tapped on Nattie’s door but there was no answer. Hessy pressed her ear against the wood and could hear her softly snoring inside. She passed the sleeping quarters and found her way through the large airship without too much trouble and into the mess hall.
Soldiers were queuing to get their helping of blueberry porridge, freshly baked scones and coffee. Hessy joined the queue to get her breakfast. The cook, a strong looking woman with short dark hair and no-nonsense brown eyes, splattered a hefty helping of porridge into her bowl.
Hessy couldn’t sit down fast enough as she began spooning the hot porridge into her mouth, not realizing how hungry she was. Sweet berries burst against her teeth and she could taste something bitter that melted on her tongue.
Nattie saw her as the only recognizable face in the mess hall and came instantly over. They were joined by Arky after a while, but not Rich or Abe or the other apprentices.
“This is great here, isn’t it?” Nattie said, glancing round.
“I don’t think it will be like this every day,” Arky told them. “Today we start pulling our weight.”
“You mean the assignments?” Hessy asked.
Arky rolled his eyes. “Why are you excited about them?”
“I would have liked to have a few more days just getting to know everything like this, nice and relaxed,” Nattie said.
“Don’t you miss working on crafts and what not?” Hessy asked her.
“As long as I get paid for it,” she replied, stretching her arms out.
***
Lieutenant Halcrow was waiting for the new apprentices in the airship’s hangar. They stood in a line-up; their hands clasped behind their backs.
Sitting, some in different stages of disrepair, others in apparent good condition, were three small aircrafts just waiting for Hessy to get her itchy hands on.
“Your first assignment, as you might have guessed, is to get these aircrafts in order. If you can manage it before we reach our next replenishing stop, then you can upgrade to building a glider,” Lieutenant Halcrow said pointing over to a tarpaulin.
“How long will it take to reach our next destination?” Nattie asked.
“At most, a week.”
“So, we have only seven days to fix three aircrafts and also build one from almost scratch,” Abe said.
“It’s what you all wanted. This is what you’re here to do.”
The apprentices all looked at each other like they thought they would have more exciting projects given to them. Obviously, all that would have to wait. But this was right up Hessy’s alley as she rolled up her sleeves. She accepted the challenge.
“It’s hard to say no to that lieutenant,” Nattie huffed an hour later as she lay flat on her back underneath a shabby belly of a craft as Hessy handed her tools.
“What do you mean?” Hessy asked.
Nattie wiggled so that her head poked out the side and gave Hessy a raised eyebrow. Her blue kerchief now stained dark with dust. “I’ve seen the way you look at him.”
“Shut up Nattie,” Hessy said, placing a spanner in her hand.
Nattie gave an annoying grin before disappearing again.
The week went by fairly quickly. All the apprentices had split up to fix the aircrafts. Hessy, Nattie and Abe Hall had been busy with one of the Darkturnalus’s lifeboats. The girls had taken on the task of building a new left wing for it while Abe took care of welding the broken boiler inside.
They were the first group to finish just as Lieutenant Halcrow came to see how far they had all gotten.
Hessy rubbed her hands on a cloth that was already stained black with oil and stood beside Nattie as they admired their handy work.
“Not too bad, right?” Nattie said.
“I think our wing is better than the original,” Hessy agreed.
Abe Hall emerged and started to remove his goggles. He looked tired and his eyes were bloodshot.
“How much longer will you be?” Nattie asked.
“Do you want a hand?” Hessy offered.
He pulled an unattractive face at them both.
“As if you could do a better job,” he said. “I don’t need help, I’m done.”
Nattie shook her head at Abe when he left them to rejoin his friends.
Lieutenant Halcrow came over then, touching the left wing of their craft. He looked impressed with their work.
“And inside?” he asked.
“In perfect working order,” Nattie said.
He smiled at them both. “Good job. Keep it up.”
Most of the apprentices had finished their assignments as well and had been dismissed. They would be arriving at Talerea tomorrow morning and they had gone back to their quarters for a much-needed rest. Hessy didn’t think she had been asleep that long when she was roused, Nattie already knocking on her door telling her to hurry up.
Hessy changed sleepily and walked through the airship, following the rest of the crew and just when she had nearly caught up with Nattie and the other apprentices, a voice stopped her.
“Pardon me, but I must ask you to clean up your face. The Caelum Militia must maintain a certain appearance when replenishing at our supporting towns.”
She was a stern looking soldier that spoke to Hessy. She had an impeccable red uniform with a single gold badge which was overly polished with pride. She was obviously someone of respected rank.
“We’ll be docking at Talerea in precisely ten minutes, you have time to gather yourself.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Hessy said with a salute that she hadn’t practiced enough with as the female officer looked unimpressed.
“What division are you from?”
“Oh,” Hessy said. “I’m an apprentice from Craggen.”
“Yes,” the woman agreed, looking Hessy over with knitted eyebrows and an upturned nose. “That explains it. Don’t let me catch you like this again.”
“Yes, ma’am, thank you,” Hessy said, walking away as fast as she could towards the female lavatory.
When Hessy looked in the mirror of the washroom, she admitted that she needed a good scrub. Her cheeks had dried oil on them, and her hair was starting to get as greasy as the oil. She washed with a bar of lavender soap, lathering her face and hair and scrubbed till it hurt. She made do with icy water from the tap. Once she was finished, she admitted it was an improvement.
The Darkturnalus had docked in a vibrant colored valley cupped by Craggen sized mountains with snow already on their peaks, and a dark green lake lay still at its center, reflecting the sky. Strong pollen from wildflowers flew up Hessy’s nose as she stepped down the gangplank and onto a long, reed filled grassland. She stood straight and solid. She had never been this close to level ground before. The wind felt heavier; warmer.
She followed the rest of the soldiers towards a bustling marketplace at the side of a village. A large wooden sign read Talerea in bold red letters.
It was a sparkling village with red and yellow banners flapping in the wind between tall timber houses. Hessy could smell wood smoke at the nearest stall which had a pig on a spit, the keeper selling its fresh, warm meat. A hyper group of five-year-olds rushed by, all holding red and yellow flags in their fists. Hessy almost got a flag in her face as they ran down the length of the marketplace, weaving in between the stiff military.
“Get your fresh trout here! Caught this very morning sirs!”
“Baked raisin cake, two for three coppers!”
Hessy walked amongst the stalls, wishing that she had some money to buy one of the delicious looking milk tarts.
“Miss! Miss, you want to try this rose apple!” a girl called out to Hessy.
Hessy approached the stall as the girl took out a pocketknife, grinning.
“Nice and sweet miss,” the girl promised, preparing to peel and slice the apple.
“I’m sorry but I don’t have any coins,” Hessy confessed.
The girl looked around before tossing the rose apple into her hands. “On the stall.”
“Thank you,” Hessy smiled. She bit into it, wiping the juice off her chin as she walked from stall to stall, crunching on the apple.
A desperate stall keeper tried to sell her lake pearls, but she had to politely refuse. Soldiers from the Darkturnalus easily stood out amongst other airmen and locals as they dotted about the market, attracted to many appealing stalls. The largest stall was one selling ale by the barrelful. It drew in most of the customers offering free samples.
After a quick wander round one end of the marketplace, Hessy went out and headed into the town’s center. The houses were made from white timber with red wooden brackets and beams. The village held a certain charm and was bursting with life at every corner she rounded. Children of all ages played in the streets, laughing, enjoying their local festival. In the distance she could hear long winded notes of a musical instrument and the steady beat of drums.
Hessy found a local café, a tall rectangular building with pink flowers crawling up the white timber and a yellow sign presented; Talerea Chocolate Dreams. She stepped inside, and the tinkling of a bell sounded, announcing her arrival to a sweet, round faced boy with yellow hair and a missing toothed smile. He only looked about twelve and yet, he was manning the shop all by himself.
