“Kali!” Cedar pulled her toward the door.
Kali barely had time to grab her packsack andrifle.
An explosion rocked the earth, and shegrabbed a log wall to keep her feet under her. Metal clanged asshrapnel hit the SAB. She growled, her awe over the steam flyertamped down by her concern for her own vehicle. She dropped herpacksack and readied her rifle.
Shadows danced on the earthen floor of thecabin as the flyer soared overhead. Rhythmic clanks echoed from thelog walls. Though the fire-damaged roof held copious holes, thevehicle sped past too swiftly to target.
“We need a plan,” Kali said. “She’ll becoming around again.” And she would probably hurl the next grenaderight in the cabin.
Cedar loaded a fistful of bullets into hisrifle. “Yes?”
“The wings seem a potential target, but theirsurface area is great, so I doubt even a couple of dozen bulletholes would cause them to falter. A catastrophic boiler explosionwill derail any steam engine, but engineers are well aware of thatweakness and build them soundly. I doubt a bullet would pierce theplating, but it may be the most vulnerable part of the machine.Perhaps we should target the boiler and hope for the best.”
“I was just going to shoot the pilot,” Cedarsaid.
“Oh. I guess that could work too.”
When the clanks of the flyer grew louderagain, Kali and Cedar stepped outside. She dropped to one knee andleaned around the corner of the cabin, rifle to her shoulder. Cedarstood above her, his weapon poised as well.
Something that looked like glass providedprotection for the pilot, probably a deterrent to bugs and rain,but surely it would not stop a bullet. Kali eased her rifle up andplaced the woman’s head in her sights. Her gut lurched at the ideaof shooting at someone with the intent to kill-especially if thatsomeone had invented that fascinated machine-but the womanwas trying to blow them up.
Her finger found the trigger, but Cedar,doubtlessly with fewer qualms, fired first.
The bullet struck the protective shield infront of the woman’s eyes, and her head dropped out of view. Theflyer lurched sideways and dipped toward the trees.
“Bulls-eye,” Cedar said with grimsatisfaction.
But the flyer did not crash. Its noseelevated, and the craft skimmed the treetops. It knocked branchesfree with cracks that rang through the forest, but it soon flewhigher again, out of danger. The flyer banked and turned backtoward the meadow.
The pilot’s head was visible again throughthe clear shield. Concentric cracks ringed the spot where Cedar’sbullet had struck, but it must not have penetrated.
“Amazing,” Kali breathed. “There’s no waythat’s glass. Unless it’s extremely thick, but the weight would beridiculous, and a flying machine would need to be light, like aneagle’s hollow bones. It’d…”
She trailed off when she noticed Cedar’sglare. He seemed less amazed at the invulnerable shield and moreirked.
“Sorry,” Kali said.
“Let’s go back to your idea,” he said as theflyer drew closer again. “You said I should aim at the boiler?”
Kali eyed the shield again. It protected thepilot to the front and the sides, but it was open on the top.Presumably the woman entered and exited the control seat fromthere. It left her no protection from projectiles from above,though she had no reason to anticipate weapons fire from overhead.Air vehicles were rare, and the flyer was quicker and far moremaneuverable than an airship, so it could easily evadeballoon-based transport.
When it came in for another pass, Cedarloosed a few ineffective rounds at the boiler. Kali considered thestructure of the craft, especially the supports for the wings,supports that angled upward behind the pilot. She closed her eyes,remembering problems she had worked through in her father’smathematics books. At the time, she had been trying to win hisfavor by showing interest in his studies. He had been too busy tonotice, but she remembered many of the lessons, and a chapter ofgeometry problems involving balls on a billiards table came tomind.
“Same principle for bullets, right?” shemurmured.
“What?” Cedar asked.
“See that support beam behind her?” Kalipointed. “You’re a better marksman than I am. Can you see if youcan hit it…hm…about a foot above that joint?”
Cedar threw her a bewildered look, but heraised his Winchester and aimed when the flyer came into range. Itbobbed toward them, a grenade ready in its launcher. Cedar grewstill, then fired.
The bullet ricocheted off the angled supportpost and slammed into the back of the pilot’s shoulder.
This time she screamed-the first sound shehad voiced-and the craft lurched. It sped off, wobbling as itskimmed the treetops. The nose came up briefly, but it droppedagain, and Kali lost sight of the flyer. A thunderous crack soundedin the distance.
“Crash,” Kali murmured, imaging the twistedwreckage. She wished they could have downed the vehicle withoutdestroying it.
“Crash,” Cedar agreed without any of herregret.
Kali leaned her rifle against the logs,jumped, caught the corner of the roof, and wriggled herself up top.Conscious of the fire damage, she stayed over the stout supportbeams as she crept to the peak. Though the trees still towered overher, the added height let her see smoke wafting in the distance.Definitely a crash.
Had it killed the woman? Her shouldersslumped with regret at the thought. It was silly, given the pilot’sinclination toward killing her, but Kali hoped the woman hadsurvived. She ached to talk to her, to find out more about thecraft.
A touch on her shoulder brought her attentionback to the cabin. Cedar stood beside her.
“Good thinking,” he said.
“Er, yes, sorry it was slow to come. I wasn’texpecting to come face-to-face with…” Kali groped for a way todescribe her feelings. Would he understand and forgive her forbeing so distracted? Or would he, the professional bounty hunter,believe there were no acceptable excuses?
“Your mechanically inclined twin?” Cedarasked. “Yes, that must have been surprising. And intriguing.”
Kali let out a sigh of relief. He didunderstand.
“Intriguing, yes.” She wanted nothing morethan to hop down from the roof, sprint into the forest, and findthat woman. “Any chance you’d like to delay our trip to Sebastian’sclaim to go check on that smoke and question this woman if she’sstill alive?”
Cedar gazed into the woods, not toward thesmoke, but upriver, toward the claims. With one of the Cudgel’sallies nearby, he must feel the pull of his quest more than ever.But someone who had staked a claim was not going anywhere any timesoon.
Perhaps the same thoughts spun through hishead, for he sighed and said, “Yes, we should check the wreckage.If the woman recovers, she may come after you again.”
“Me? Are you sure she’s not after you?Perhaps she’s some ex-lover you irritated, and she’s been planningfor years to take her revenge.”
“I don’t irritate my lovers.” He hopped offthe roof.
“Just business partners?” Kali climbed downafter him and gave him a smile to let him know she was joking.
Cedar did not return it. Helooked…glum.
“Maybe there’ll be a bounty on her head, andit’ll be worth the side trip,” Kali said.
Cedar grunted and pointed at the SAB. “Therewon’t be a trail to the crash site. Think that can maneuver throughthe forest?”
“It’d probably get stuck in the snow orundergrowth,” Kali admitted, feeling a twinge of envy for theflyer. If she had an air-based vehicle, she wouldn’t have to worryabout such pesky things. Someday, she promised herself, thinking ofher airship design, though she was already wondering if the flyermight inspire modifications.
“Let’s walk then.” Cedar shouldered hispacksack, and they set out.
A branch swung back and smacked Kali in theface. She grunted and scraped spruce needles out of her hair. They,along with twigs, leaves, and sap, already provided her braid withmore decorations than a totem pole.