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This is a recording of Sargon reading Chapter 1. If you just want to read the text, it's below, under a cut!
Chapter 1: The Further Adventures of an Admirable Heroine
Eden stood at the bow of the ship and looked out over the fantastical sweep of the landscape far below. They were somewhere over Missouri, and the muddy brown curl of the Mississippi flowed sluggishly to the East. The farmland looked like a checkered quilt laid over rolling hills, scrubbed here and there by patches of dark forest. The sky was so blue it seemed electric, and the first day of 1868 was deeply, searingly cold. She pulled off her gloves one after the other, slapped them together thoughtfully, then tucked them in her belt and turned to face the ship behind her.
Not a foot from her face six men stood with bayonets held ready and their rifles cocked. The wind pulled her hair around in front of her face and she patiently tucked it back. She'd taken to wearing it in heavy masses of small braids to keep it from getting in her way, but without her hat it was becoming unruly.
Behind her ring of guards the deck of this ship swarmed with the sort of men who disliked being called 'pirates', they preferred "privateer" for its more romantic connotations, but they were the same breed of men, if more well-groomed. One man came forward, in a red sweeping coat and a tall tricorn hat, his sword at his side but his hand on it. The guards parted to let him through.
"Well," he said, smiling wide enough it interfered with the clarity of his speech. "As I live, Captain Eden Kane." He looked her up and down. "I had rather expected an amazon, a titan in human form, though -" he grinned, showing a gold tooth. "I had not believed the talk of you being beautiful."
Eden glanced around, as if he did not exist. This ship was smaller than she was used to, of a new type she was not intimately familiar with. It was clearly based on the Magister - class designs she had once perused, though the execution had wandered far from the original documents: two yards more beam, likely to make room for the more powerful engines she felt throbbing under her boots. The deck was open, with high gunwales cut with firing ports, though no guns ranked the open deck where they might be hit. She was a clean-lined, armor-plated and sleek little warship, and from the look of it she took a crew of twenty-four or so.
Eden's own vessel - the larger, wooden-hulled Cacafuego - was drawn up alongside, ropes made fast and the men from this ship clambering over gangplanks to board her. She was a Santander - class ship, made in Mexico a decade ago, and she flew the black and red flag Eden had adopted as her standard, blazoned with the stylized "K".
"I have to say I am disappointed," the privateer captain said, tapping his fingers on his brass sword-hilt. "Capturing the storied, the legendary Eden Kane without so much as a fight? No desperate duel of cannon, no clash of steel, no battle to the death." He sighed, gestured to her waist, where her belt held a sheath and holster, both empty. "You are not even armed, for Gods' sake. What manner of pirate are you?"
Eden again said nothing. She counted men as they moved about their business. Her relentless Experimental brain reeled off numbers, marked guns and swords and the new shine on the brass that told of much upkeep and little use. She marked the way the crew looked askance at the drop as they crossed from ship to ship. They were green, still afraid of heights, as she'd been the first time she stepped aboard an airship.
The privateer captain made to say something else but was interrupted by his mate, who plucked the elbow of his captain's coat. "Sir?"
The captain looked annoyed at the intrusion. "Yes Mister Cooley?"
"Ship's a ghost, sir," the mate said, and Eden noted the reflexive twitch of his right hand - the salute he held back despite the impulse. A navy man.
"What?" the captain said, finally turning his attention from leering at Eden. He adjusted his hat as the wind plucked at it, and she saw he was going quite bald underneath it. It was terribly cold, but Eden knew just how much time she had before the chill impaired her. Knew exactly.
"No one aboard, sir. Not a soul. No crew, no command, nothing." The mate looked like he was almost desperate to salute, held himself rigidly stiff.
"Cargo?" the captain said, testy. Eden watched him closely. Now would be the test of things.
The mate shrugged a bit. "Food and water, lumber, nails -"
The captain snarled. "I don't mean that horse-shit!" he snapped. "This is a pirate ship! Where is the treasure?" He remembered who he was talking to and whirled back to face Eden. "Where is your treasure?"
Eden looked over the ring of guards, measuring their readiness. Two of them held their weapons properly - army men, or marines. The others were sloppy and one of them wouldn't meet her gaze. She dismissed him, knowing he wouldn't be able to bring himself to stick her.
"Dammit!" the captain said, stepping closer. Almost. "Where is your treasure?"
Eden smiled, a soft, sweet smile that should have made him worry. "Privateer, hmm? Is that how Congress is proposing to deal with the Brethren of the Sky now?" She leaned a bit closer, conspiratorial. "You get a commission to attack us? Lion's share of the plunder?"
"Damn you, girl, I'll -" he stepped forward again. Close enough now.
"And how much am I worth now?" she said. She turned the small bolt over and over in her right hand. "The last reward poster I saw was months ago - what am I worth brought alive to stand trial?"
"Twenty-five thousand dollars," he said. Her obvious lack of fear was beginning to get to him.
Eden whistled. "Not bad for a beginner." She looked him in the face, cocked her head to the side. "Do they say I'm an Experimental?"
He snorted. "I don't believe in that rubbish."
"Oh? Well. Let me demonstrate." She held the little bolt up in front of his face, and he flinched a bit in spite of himself. "Here we have an ordinary bolt."
He smirked now. "Oh, is it magic tricks now?"
"Sort of," she said. She flicked the bolt to her left where it chimed off the steel rim of an exhaust pipe that threaded wisps of steam from the banked engines. It made a series of clattering sounds as it rattled down the pipe and away into the bowels of the ship.
"This is a modified Magister-class ship, and even though the engines are larger, this is still a pressure release vent to bleed off excess steam when the drive is banked and the reclamation condensers are not in use - they require a certain level of pressure to operate, since they use convection to condense water from escaped steam." Eden could recite exact figures in her sleep, but felt it would be lost on this man.
He laughed. "So that tiny bolt is going to what? Blow up my ship?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," she said. "I just know exactly where that bolt will go, so it makes an excellent signal."
"Enough!" he growled, reaching for her. "I want to know where your treasure is!"
"You should be worried about my crew," she said without giving ground at all.
"What crew? You don't have a cre -" He stopped, turned to look at the Cacafuego as it finally dawned on him there was no way on Earth a single person could pilot a ship that size.
Eden's smile widened as a blizzard of gunshots erupted belowdecks. There was shouting, and a shrill scream like an attacking panther. The aft hatch banged open and a horde of corsairs poured out onto the deck, sixguns blazing and the sun flaming on their swords.
The captain and the guards whirled to face the attack, and Eden moved quick and precise. She reached around and snapped the pistol from his holster before he could reach it. And he turned to find his own gun staring him in the face.
We'll be posting the first several chapters free, so you can get a taste and join in even after the campaign ends! But we'd love to have you along for the whole ride. So kick in and we'll all have a great time.
X-posted from Dreamwidth. Comment count:
You are all amazing. I just want to say that.
Don't forget you can enter your own amount if you click "contribute now" and scroll down. Even a dollar gets you in the pony drawing, and even a dollar is helpful.
Click to viewThis is a recording of Sargon reading Chapter 1. If you just want to read the text, it's below, under a cut!
Chapter 1: The Further Adventures of an Admirable Heroine
Eden stood at the bow of the ship and looked out over the fantastical sweep of the landscape far below. They were somewhere over Missouri, and the muddy brown curl of the Mississippi flowed sluggishly to the East. The farmland looked like a checkered quilt laid over rolling hills, scrubbed here and there by patches of dark forest. The sky was so blue it seemed electric, and the first day of 1868 was deeply, searingly cold. She pulled off her gloves one after the other, slapped them together thoughtfully, then tucked them in her belt and turned to face the ship behind her.
Not a foot from her face six men stood with bayonets held ready and their rifles cocked. The wind pulled her hair around in front of her face and she patiently tucked it back. She'd taken to wearing it in heavy masses of small braids to keep it from getting in her way, but without her hat it was becoming unruly.
Behind her ring of guards the deck of this ship swarmed with the sort of men who disliked being called 'pirates', they preferred "privateer" for its more romantic connotations, but they were the same breed of men, if more well-groomed. One man came forward, in a red sweeping coat and a tall tricorn hat, his sword at his side but his hand on it. The guards parted to let him through.
"Well," he said, smiling wide enough it interfered with the clarity of his speech. "As I live, Captain Eden Kane." He looked her up and down. "I had rather expected an amazon, a titan in human form, though -" he grinned, showing a gold tooth. "I had not believed the talk of you being beautiful."
Eden glanced around, as if he did not exist. This ship was smaller than she was used to, of a new type she was not intimately familiar with. It was clearly based on the Magister - class designs she had once perused, though the execution had wandered far from the original documents: two yards more beam, likely to make room for the more powerful engines she felt throbbing under her boots. The deck was open, with high gunwales cut with firing ports, though no guns ranked the open deck where they might be hit. She was a clean-lined, armor-plated and sleek little warship, and from the look of it she took a crew of twenty-four or so.
Eden's own vessel - the larger, wooden-hulled Cacafuego - was drawn up alongside, ropes made fast and the men from this ship clambering over gangplanks to board her. She was a Santander - class ship, made in Mexico a decade ago, and she flew the black and red flag Eden had adopted as her standard, blazoned with the stylized "K".
"I have to say I am disappointed," the privateer captain said, tapping his fingers on his brass sword-hilt. "Capturing the storied, the legendary Eden Kane without so much as a fight? No desperate duel of cannon, no clash of steel, no battle to the death." He sighed, gestured to her waist, where her belt held a sheath and holster, both empty. "You are not even armed, for Gods' sake. What manner of pirate are you?"
Eden again said nothing. She counted men as they moved about their business. Her relentless Experimental brain reeled off numbers, marked guns and swords and the new shine on the brass that told of much upkeep and little use. She marked the way the crew looked askance at the drop as they crossed from ship to ship. They were green, still afraid of heights, as she'd been the first time she stepped aboard an airship.
The privateer captain made to say something else but was interrupted by his mate, who plucked the elbow of his captain's coat. "Sir?"
The captain looked annoyed at the intrusion. "Yes Mister Cooley?"
"Ship's a ghost, sir," the mate said, and Eden noted the reflexive twitch of his right hand - the salute he held back despite the impulse. A navy man.
"What?" the captain said, finally turning his attention from leering at Eden. He adjusted his hat as the wind plucked at it, and she saw he was going quite bald underneath it. It was terribly cold, but Eden knew just how much time she had before the chill impaired her. Knew exactly.
"No one aboard, sir. Not a soul. No crew, no command, nothing." The mate looked like he was almost desperate to salute, held himself rigidly stiff.
"Cargo?" the captain said, testy. Eden watched him closely. Now would be the test of things.
The mate shrugged a bit. "Food and water, lumber, nails -"
The captain snarled. "I don't mean that horse-shit!" he snapped. "This is a pirate ship! Where is the treasure?" He remembered who he was talking to and whirled back to face Eden. "Where is your treasure?"
Eden looked over the ring of guards, measuring their readiness. Two of them held their weapons properly - army men, or marines. The others were sloppy and one of them wouldn't meet her gaze. She dismissed him, knowing he wouldn't be able to bring himself to stick her.
"Dammit!" the captain said, stepping closer. Almost. "Where is your treasure?"
Eden smiled, a soft, sweet smile that should have made him worry. "Privateer, hmm? Is that how Congress is proposing to deal with the Brethren of the Sky now?" She leaned a bit closer, conspiratorial. "You get a commission to attack us? Lion's share of the plunder?"
"Damn you, girl, I'll -" he stepped forward again. Close enough now.
"And how much am I worth now?" she said. She turned the small bolt over and over in her right hand. "The last reward poster I saw was months ago - what am I worth brought alive to stand trial?"
"Twenty-five thousand dollars," he said. Her obvious lack of fear was beginning to get to him.
Eden whistled. "Not bad for a beginner." She looked him in the face, cocked her head to the side. "Do they say I'm an Experimental?"
He snorted. "I don't believe in that rubbish."
"Oh? Well. Let me demonstrate." She held the little bolt up in front of his face, and he flinched a bit in spite of himself. "Here we have an ordinary bolt."
He smirked now. "Oh, is it magic tricks now?"
"Sort of," she said. She flicked the bolt to her left where it chimed off the steel rim of an exhaust pipe that threaded wisps of steam from the banked engines. It made a series of clattering sounds as it rattled down the pipe and away into the bowels of the ship.
"This is a modified Magister-class ship, and even though the engines are larger, this is still a pressure release vent to bleed off excess steam when the drive is banked and the reclamation condensers are not in use - they require a certain level of pressure to operate, since they use convection to condense water from escaped steam." Eden could recite exact figures in her sleep, but felt it would be lost on this man.
He laughed. "So that tiny bolt is going to what? Blow up my ship?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," she said. "I just know exactly where that bolt will go, so it makes an excellent signal."
"Enough!" he growled, reaching for her. "I want to know where your treasure is!"
"You should be worried about my crew," she said without giving ground at all.
"What crew? You don't have a cre -" He stopped, turned to look at the Cacafuego as it finally dawned on him there was no way on Earth a single person could pilot a ship that size.
Eden's smile widened as a blizzard of gunshots erupted belowdecks. There was shouting, and a shrill scream like an attacking panther. The aft hatch banged open and a horde of corsairs poured out onto the deck, sixguns blazing and the sun flaming on their swords.
The captain and the guards whirled to face the attack, and Eden moved quick and precise. She reached around and snapped the pistol from his holster before he could reach it. And he turned to find his own gun staring him in the face.
We'll be posting the first several chapters free, so you can get a taste and join in even after the campaign ends! But we'd love to have you along for the whole ride. So kick in and we'll all have a great time.
X-posted from Dreamwidth. Comment count: