An Airship Named Desire (Take to the Skies Book 1) Read Free

communicator will pick up signal from here?” I asked. Our footsteps glanced off the aluminum floors. Yellow stripes followed the walls like guiding lines.
    “You could try.” Jensen shrugged. I unfastened the copper buckle on my brown leather pack and rummaged for our communicator. My hand landed on the ribbed, black device with its copper antenna and metallic buttons. I struggled one-handedly to turn it on.
    “Thank you ever so much for your assistance, Jensen.” My sarcasm flowed like the ale I’d drink upon returning home. “I’m glad one of us is capable of multi-tasking.” The mesh over the speaker had rusted, and the machine’s buttons had been re-glued multiple times, but we couldn’t afford to spring for new communicators. The copper antennae vibrated with the low hum from the speakers as I flipped the metal knob on the side to power the communicator on.
    “Spade, do you read?” I lifted the speaker to my lips. Crackling sounded from the other end.
    “I don’t think our connection’s stable,” Jensen said.
    “Well, it has to be, or we’re sunk.”
    He placed his hand up in front of me at the turn and peered past first. The loud beating noise was either my heartbeat or the guards’ footsteps, but I was long past being able to distinguish the two. I snuck a peek. A couple men in officer red coats stood attentive by the stairwell, and my blood surged at the sight of them. Maybe a little because I was sick of being on this ship, but maybe a lot because Captain used pictures of the British military as targets when we practiced on board. Old Germany ex-military like him held a grudge.
    Some of the redcoats sat on the aluminum steps while the others lined against the undecorated white walls. The boring paint job bleached my eyes from running through hallway after hallway of it.
    “What are we going to do?” I hissed.
    “We have the upper hand.”
    I stopped and raised my eyebrow. “Remind me again how the last surprise attack went?” I nudged past him to catch a glance at the officers. The whole lot wore cutlasses strapped to their backs and holstered military guns. As much as I loved my Matilda, mechanized battery pistols like those would outshoot her any day. 
    “What’s in that pack of yours?” Jensen unhooked the strap and rummaged through my bag.
    “Nothing we can use, of course.” I ran a hand through my damp hair to brush away the tickling strands and crawling droplets of sweat that fought for my annoyance. After blinking the drops away from my eyes, I took a deep breath. Whatever we were going to do, it had to be quick.
    Jensen glanced up. “What about the vent up there? It should take us to the top level so we can bypass those guards.” Above, a loosely screwed screen covered the vent. Jensen reached up and unhinged the piece with the edge of his sword.
    “I’ll need a boost.” I placed a hand on my hip, daring the man to make a jab at my height since I stood a foot under him.
    “Alley-oop.” He laced his hands in front of me. The clanking from behind us grew louder as a constant reminder of what little time we had left. I stepped onto his makeshift lift and scrabbled up the side wall.
    Grasping onto the vent’s edge, I popped our bundle through the opening. Once I pulled myself up and into the tight space, I turned onto my stomach. Jensen waited below for my assist, so I reached down, offering my hands.
    At that point, the communicator received our signal. Unfortunately, vents echo. Loudly.
    “Beatrice, come in. Do you read me, Beatrice, come in.” The sound crackled through the old machine and tripled in sound throughout the corridor. I clenched my jaw, biting down a curse. With a shout, the officer redcoats snapped to attention right as our squadron of chasing guards rounded the corner.
    “Jensen, jump.” I stretched my hands out and tensed my fingertips. He gripped mine in his while I strained to pull him up. Several shots whizzed past his feet. Lacking in upper arm