Chasing the Lantern(16)

The other man stared. "So it's true then. You did come by an aetherite's charm somehow. That's like cheating, really. I'll just have to try again harder next time." With that he bowed, turned, and vaulted over the edge of the ship. The guide rope went taut as he caught it in gloved hands, sliding down out of sight. Mordecai charged forward, caught off guard. He lashed out with his saber, adder-quick, but still missed. Lucian could move damned fast when he wanted to.

Mordecai caught his balance on the rail and glanced down the guide-line after Lucian. The other pirate slid down the rope, laughing wildly as he fell to another skyship. It lay moored several dozen feet below and three hundred away, at the far end of the Skydocks.

The Copper Queen.

Mordecai hacked at the rope furiously, but Lucian landed on the deck of the old air vessel, disappearing from view just before it parted and fell away. He cursed and pounded at the gunwale with his fist. Then his eyes widened. A flurry of activity was taking place on the Queen, pirates moving with purpose along the gunwales, guide-ropes, and the bow.

"You assume..." Mordecai breathed. Startlement and horror rose up in him. You cheeky little shit. You really weren't going to fence anything. You mean to steal the Queen!

Konrad stirred at his feet. The navigator groaned and let loose a string of foreign curses. Mordecai turned and kicked the man savagely in the ribs.

"Up! Get up, Goddess damn you!" Others moved and he went among them, kicking and shouting and chivvying them awake. Slowly, far too slowly, the crew climbed to their feet. They groaned and wasted precious seconds tottering about in confusion.

"What going on?" asked Konrad. "What happen?"

Mordecai grabbed the man close. "That bastard Fengel is trying to steal Euron's ship!"

The navigator's eyes widened. "That's madness!"

"I know! Now get your arses down there!"

Lashed on by threats and invective, the crew rushed off the deck and down the Skydock. Mordecai sent one man off to rouse everyone else in the Bleeding Teeth. Hopefully, Natasha was still drunk.

Brash as always, Lucian's plan was still foolish. The Queen hadn't moved in a decade. Just to get it aloft would take a complete restoration of its light-air gas cells. And the ropes and chains that tethered it were old and hard.

But.

The ship was a symbol of Euron's rule. And as much as she hated the sight of the thing and the shadow it cast over her own efforts, Natasha cared about it just as much as her father did. If Fengel did get away successfully, the Blackheart family would have everyone involved strung up by their toes. And Worked charm or not, Mordecai didn't back his own chances against all of Euron's men, or Natasha pushed past her limits.

Retribution burned in his mind as Mordecai moved with the crew down the slope of the Skydocks to its base. He took the lead and led the brigands of the Dawnhawk up the gangplank of the Copper Queen. A brawny, shirtless fellow stood at its peak, barring their way. Mordecai cut the man down without a moment's hesitation, pushing past. Bystanders looked on, stunned by the group's charge. He flicked his blade out, slashing and driving them back as the crew followed at his heels.

Something is wrong, he realized. Fengel's thieves fell back, hands up to ward him away. Mordecai paused to breathe and take in the situation around him. Konrad and the others spread out, quieting as they followed his lead, becoming aware of something...off.

The enemy crew were a motley lot, more a gang of dockside scum rather than any real group of pirates. They stared at Natasha's Reavers in surprise and fear. Not a one bore a weapon. Instead they all held mops, brooms, and buckets. Sudsy water made the deck slick and reflective where the light of the moon peeked past the gas-bag frame above.

"Where is he?" shouted Mordecai. He wheeled. "Show yourself, Lucian! Where are you, you tricksy bastard?" A sea of frightened faces stared back at him. Mordecai stalked over and grabbed one of the dock scum by his shirt. "I saw him drop down here. Where's Lucian Thorne?"

The terrified dockworker sputtered. "I don't know! He just ran past, said we should get started. But we waited until the pistol shot! Just like he said!"

Mordecai backhanded the man with the basket hilt of his cutlass. Blood and teeth flew through the air. "Keep talking! I—"

"What, by the Goddess' teats, is going on here?" Natasha stormed onto the deck of the Copper Queen, the rest of their crew behind her. She glared about, hair frazzled, and stalked over to Mordecai, stumbling along the way. "Mordecai, what are you doing on my father's ship?"

Blast and damnation. His captain drank heavily. Unfortunately, that also meant that she had quite a capacity for drink. She was still walking, and talking, when anyone else would be unconscious. Or dead. "These scags were trying to steal Euron's ship," he growled.