Aethosphere Chronicles: Winds of Duty Read Free Page B

Control Technician, Cecil Temberly, with a
crow-like cackle. “Nothing up there but peasants, muck, and
potatoes anyway.”
    “Hey, ease up on that sort of talk,
especially with the company you’re keeping…petty officer,”
suggested Brandon Tanner, one of the old-timers, and a gunnery
skyman himself, as he hauled up a heavy barrel-swab to rest over
the corded muscles of his mahogany brown shoulders.
    “You’re out of line, Skyman ,” spat
Cecil. “I’ll damn-well talk anyway I please, especially when it
comes to wasting our time defending common born offlanders.”
    “I’m a common born offlander ,”
replied Tanner, throwing the Fire Control Technician Second Class a
contemptuous glare.
    “As am I,” yelled out another greasy skyman
from the engineering ranks, covered in the day’s hard labor and
looking ill at ease. Cecil Temberly just smirked back at them all,
condescension outweighing any remorse, or regret, even when several
more men stood up, looking put off by his crass comments.
    Bar could see the young Kinglander’s pride
starting to stir. The hothead had been assigned to his department,
and so Bar had the misfortune of experiencing that arrogance first
hand. Predictably, Cecil scoffed. “ Glenfindale .” He shook
his head. “Doesn’t matter what the issue is, or how wrong one of
you might be. The capital is in danger, but do you think that
matters to any one of you? You cranked up snowploggers all
stick together, no matter what, don’t you?”
    “ Snowplogger !” Tanner dropped his
load and turned, snarling in anger. In an instant his magenta
irises turned fiery, and most of the skymen on the gun deck froze
at what they were doing, to turn and gaze on what would come of it.
Skyman Tanner added, “Perhaps you oughta take off those petty
officer stripes and try saying that again, sir .”
    “Sir?” repeated Cecil glaring.
    Abner Tolle stepped in, using the barrel of
his gut as a barrier between the two combative crewmen. “As much as
I like a good fight, unfortunately we all got places to be, and a
captain to kowtow to,” he tried explaining in good humor, offering
a placating smile to each man in turn.
    But when it came to Cecil, he just couldn’t
let it go. “I ain’t afraid of this man,” he snarled back with a
challenging nod to Tanner. “If he wants to settle this outside our
naval rate so be it. I got no issues mopping the floor with this
ignorant plogger .”
    “Oh Cecil, Cecil, Cecil. I’m trying to help
you, chum,” offered Tolle with a knowing smile, “I’d hate for
Tanner here to get all my guns dirty with your King’s Isle
blood—especially after the work it took to get them looking so
magnificent in the first place, you privy?”
    “Last I knew the Combat Department overrides
Weapons, and that puts me a step above you; so stay outta this,
Roly Poly!”
    “Roly Poly?” remarked the rotund peace-maker
in mock upset. “ Roly Poly —why that’s so very clever of you,
Cec.” Abner Tolle backed up to stand beside his seething Glenfinner
subordinate. “Don’t you think he’s a clever one, Tanner?”
    “Aye, that he is, Weapons Officer Second
Class.”
    “I’m thinking maybe you should go ahead and
thank him for being so clever while I turn my back to maintain an
acceptable level of plausible deniability.”
    “Yeah, teach this crowny prawn a lesson in Finny manners, Tanner,” urged a disgruntled gunner.
“For my family and all the families of the north being left out to
dry by these selfish pricks.”
    “Ease up, Frasier,” griped a skyman in an
engineering smock, “no need to start throwing around insults at us
all; we’ve got no quarrel with you Finnies.”
    “Seems Cecil was throwing out insults left
and right and that didn’t seem to bother you none, Morgan,”
retorted the gunner. “ Psh . Seems us snowploggers aren’t the only ones who stick together…eh, crowny ?”
    “That’s how you want to play it?”
    “I got five coin says, our man