Night flying was dangerous at the best of times, but to pull off what needed to happen required a captain with great skill. Blaine felt steadier knowing Honovi was in command, and it was almost like they were back in E’ridia, flying their own airship. He could have gone on pretending for a little while longer, except a crew member shattered the daydream an hour into the flight, judging by the clock bolted to the wall.
“We got us a light below,” she said, voice muffled through the scarf wrapped around the lower portion of her face.
“The train?” Caleb asked.
“We’re en route.” Her gaze cut to Honovi. “Nearly right on top of them.”
“We should—”
“We’ll descend and come up from the rear. Warn the crew to hold tight,” Honovi interrupted, causing Caleb to scowl at him. “Make sure the soldiers are ready to jump.”
“The package is supposed to be on the second-to-last cargo carriage with their escort,” Blaine said, eyes on the engine gauges as he worked a couple of different levers. “Ballonets are prepared to be filled. Ready to descend.”
“Going dark. On my mark.”
Honovi switched off the running lights and counted down with a steady voice. When he finished the count, Blaine engaged the engines to fill the ballonets with air at a speed that normally wouldn’t be safe if the engine was Ashionen make. E’ridians were masters of the sky, though, and Blaine’s foundation was in their science, not the one he taught.
The airship shuddered, engine thrumming hot for a couple of seconds before the noise died down. His stomach swooped in the way it always did on a fast descent, the wind howling past the windows and over the decking outside.
Honovi steered the airship after the train, descending in a tight circle as he positioned them behind and to the side of the train. As the airship dipped toward the black earth, Blaine could see the glow of a headlight cutting through the dark up ahead on the ground below,
Blaine worked the engines to keep a steady level of air in the ballonets to maintain buoyancy as Honovi guided them lower and lower. At least on the Northern Plains, they wouldn’t have to worry about mountains, but trees were a concern. Running dark meant they couldn’t use the spotlight to keep clear of any risks as they aimed for the tracks and what air clearance they’d provide.
All of the risks involved with such a night flight were why Blaine had wanted Honovi captaining the airship. His husband brought them down low over the train with a skill that had their navigator giving a low whistle. The sound of the train’s wheels churning over the rails was a counterpoint to the thrum of their own engine.
Blaine checked the gauges one final time before calling Caleb over to take his place. “Keep an eye on the ballonet levels. Don’t let that gauge drop below the red line.”
Most crew members had enough passing knowledge of other stations in the flight deck to take over if necessary for a short period of time. Since Blaine was the only one the duchess had given the code word to for verifying the identity of the package, he had to get on the train.
Honovi looked away from the front-view windows, giving him a grim little nod. “Good luck.”
Blaine wanted to kiss him goodbye just in case, but they weren’t supposed to be anything more than acquaintances. Blaine left the flight deck without a backward glance, stepping onto the decking where the soldiers were prepping their grappling ropes on the railing. Anya relayed their position back to the navigator for Honovi to adjust their position over the correct train carriage.
As a professor, Blaine shouldn’t have the skill he possessed in rappelling himself off an airship. As an E’ridian, he’d done this hundreds of times in emergency training scenarios, and it was muscle memory at this point. When one of the soldiers passed over a coil of rope and started to explain what they had to do, Blaine listened with half an ear, intent on checking the gear with a thoroughness that eventually had the soldier going quiet.
“We’re ready,” Anya shouted over the wind.
With no time to lose, Blaine followed the soldiers over the aft side of the airship, pitching himself into open air above a moving train. The wind buffeted them, and the noise of the train in the darkness was a reminder of the danger below. Then the magician with them cast an illumination spell, the glow dripping from her wand like viscous fluid to the train carriage below.
It crawled across the roof, spreading like a puddle, providing enough light to see by that hopefully they wouldn’t tumble off to the tracks once they landed. The special gloves they all wore with magnetized fingertips would hopefully help with that.
Blaine relied on his upper-body strength to rappel himself down the swaying rope to the train carriage roof. His feet found the carriage seconds later, and he let go of the rope, dropping to a crouch and getting his gloved hands onto the roof. The magnets engaged automatically, providing much-needed support as the rest of the soldiers landed around him.
The train was going at a speed that would be deadly if any of them fell off. The sway of the train on the tracks reminded Blaine of an airship. Moving while balancing wasn’t as tricky as it could have been.
A soldier made her way toward the front gap between train carriages, satchel bulging with explosives. Blowing the coupling to separate the train was a last resort if things went badly. Blaine hoped it wouldn’t come to that because it would draw far too much attention to why the train was targeted.
One of the soldiers tapped Blaine on the shoulder and pointed at the side of the train roof. “Ladder is on this side.”
Blaine nodded and deactivated the magnets on his gloves with a press of the small button accessible on the inside. He stayed low, head ducked against the wind, and carefully followed the soldier over to the ladder that protruded from the side of the train carriage. Being a freight train meant the door was on the broadside, with no accessible, additional entry over the couplings.
Since Blaine was the only one out of all the cogs with the code phrase, he was the one who had to confirm the package. Gritting his teeth against the juddering of the train, Blaine carefully twisted around and over the edge to get his feet on the ladder rungs and maneuver himself down. The magician with them remained flat on the cargo carriage roof, wand in hand, eyes wide in her face.
“Be careful!” she called out.
Blaine didn’t know everyone’s names, as the cogs were tied to Lore and the duchess, not his chain. Identities were best kept secret, even amongst themselves sometimes. But the magician’s vaguely accented voice was familiar in a way he couldn’t place.
Taking a steadying breath, Blaine looped an arm around a ladder rung before pulling a key—a copy made from the master of the Clementine Trading Company—out of his pocket.
