In the little shack next to the hangar, Viola swore and grumbled. The little rat, Molly had disappeared after tea service, and she hadn’t returned. Florence was in a right state looking for her. That left her to do the dishes the brat had left behind. It would probably be better for her not to return at all, she thought with a nasty little grin.
Above her there was a sharp crack, and she looked up just in time to see a pencil fall through the roof and plop into the sink, soaking her, but missing her head by inches.
The Voyage 038: Viola
June 17, 2015
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The Voyage 037: Lewis
June 16, 2015
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Lewis stood with the noisy crowd as well, although he didn’t cheer along with them. We simply watched The Indomitable rise in the morning sun, her filigreed envelope sparkling. Occasionally, he would consult a small mechanical device on a chain, and make notes in a pocket notebook. He stayed long after the crowd stopped cheering and drifted away, leaving only a few dedicated loved ones to watch the vessel’s slow rise over York. As morning turned to afternoon, the propellers finally repositioned themselves, and the craft steamed east. After one last check of his instruments, he disappeared like a shadow.
The Voyage 036: Erzabet
June 15, 2015
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The viewing stand was quite far from the airstrip, on the other side of the field. Erzabet stood in the crowd, watching the massive lighter than air craft ignite her propellers and lift off from a safe distance. She gripped her belly nervously, and watched the great ship rise into the sky like some fantastic beast. She wished that her beloved Isaac was the engineer on a train instead. It wasn’t that she feared for his safety more, but that she could have held him longer, stayed closer, and heard his voice calling to her rather than the cheering crowd.
The Voyage 035: Hattie
June 14, 2015
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Hattie was dying for a cigarette. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no place on this accursed vessel for her to smoke. They were barely off the ground but she had already been repeatedly harangued about the flammability, and the inflammability of the hydrogen gas that kept the airship aloft. It seemed perfectly daft to her. The rudeness was galling. Eventually, she ventured out onto the rail. The wind would do, she reasoned, to hide the smoke. She paused when she saw the young couple talking next to one of the roaring turbines. With a faint smile, she withdrew back inside.
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The Voyage 034: Nelson
June 13, 2015
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A dozen meters below them, a young man lay on a railing, sketching a propeller. He moved his pencil lightly but with precision, absorbed in his work.
“Aren’t you cold?” A voice asked. making him jump and drop his tools. He managed to grab the notebook, but the pencil slipped over the side and tumbled end over end to the ground far below. He rose and turned to see a beautiful girl of his own age wrapped in a shawl. “Oh, dear. I apologize,” she said. He smiled.
“I have others. I’m Nelson Pembrooke.”
“Penelope Hamilton.” She smiled dazzlingly back.
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The Voyage 033: Hedwig
June 12, 2015
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“Well I will have you know that there is a,” Hedwig paused for effect. “Resonance. I felt it the moment I stepped on board. There’s a doom about this ship.” Arthur scoffed.
“I’ll have you know my cousin is a very talented medium. We are traveling to London for the exhibition,” Lula said.
“As entertainers?” He was a skeptic, a man of reason. But they were the most fun to reel in, and she had a week. Business was waiting for her in England, but this would be for pleasure. She dismissed the itch at the back of her skull.
The Voyage 032: Arthur
June 11, 2015
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Arthur shrugged. “Stuff and nonsense,” he said, but Lula shook her head, vehemently.
“The stone has been nothing but trouble since it came out of the ground. It was mined out west, and it left a trail of death and tragedy all the way to York! Poor Lady Hamilton lost her son and daughter in a fire, and I heard the man who mined it out was crippled in a collapse!”
“I heard about the first. They caught the fever as I recall. Certainly tragic, but hardly supernatural. As for mining, it’s a dangerous profession.” He was a serious man.
The Voyage 031: Lula
June 10, 2015
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Lula watched the man get up, rattle the door, and pace the aisle of the windowless room. “Poor sod,” she whispered to her traveling companion, her cousin Hedwig “Still I’d rather be locked safe in here than down at the bottom of the ship with that thing.” Her mouth twisted like a corkscrew at the last word. “Whatever are you talking about?” she asked. “I saw her coming aboard. The Lady Hamilton and her granddaughter. I bet you anything they brought that cursed jewel of theirs with them!” “Cursed jewel?” A man behind them interrupted. “The Wendigo Diamond, of course!” Start from the beginning! Support Hugh on Patreon!
The Voyage 030: Raymond
June 9, 2015
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Raymond sat in his seat and scowled at his weak tea. He hated the voyage already and they had barely left the ground. He could feel the massive turbines spinning through the thin plates of the deck and up his feet. The vibration was driving him mad. He had to get out for a bit of air. The little theatre was too close, too full. Even if he wasn’t a rich man, he refused to travel to England packed in like a canned sardine. He drained the tin cup and rose. When he reached the door he found it locked.
The Voyage 029: Magda
June 8, 2015
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Magda thought of The Indomitable as a sort of colossal, unpleasant sandwich. All of the beautiful parts were either on the top or the bottom. Above her there was the majestic bulk of the envelope. Below were the first class accommodations of polished metal and spotless glass.
She was here in the middle, serving watery tea and biscuits in the Third Class Sitting Room. The low, windowless room somewhat resembled a theatre, which it occasionally became in the evenings. The First Class passengers had the run of their decks, but the cheaper births were confined during ascension, ‘for their safety.’
Hugh J. O'Donnell 