“Kali!” Cedar shouted asecond before he appeared. “I need you to-oh, there youare.”
Kali lowered the gun and ran up to meet him.Another impact rocked the ship, and a great cracking and smashingof wood shattered the night. This time the ship jerked to a halt,sending Kali flying forward instead of back. Cedar caught her andpulled her against his chest. His legs were spread, braced againstthe steps and the wall.
“We have to get off,” hesaid.
“Yes, but if we leave, wecan’t take over the ship. The pirates will get it, and thisfighting will have been for nothing.” Well, not nothing-they’drescued Keitlyudee-but Kali wanted the ship, damn it.
“We just crashed into asmokestack, and we’re on the roof of the mill, Kali,” Cedar saidslowly, like someone trying to get something through the muddledthoughts of a drunk.
“Oh.” Kali supposed thatanswered her question about whether they were in town or thewilderness.
“There aren’t any piratesleft either,” Cedar went on. “The only thing to worry about is thatfire spreading to the entire town.” He pointed at theflames.
Dried blood streaked his arm. In fact, hiswhole chest was spattered with it, though he did not appearinjured. Kali wondered if the pirates were gone because theyabandoned the ship or if he had decimated them all. She decided notto ask.
Shouts drifted up from the town below, criesof, “Fire!” and, “Get the hoses!”
“Tarnation,” Kali said, asthe new threat permeated her brain. She’d wanted to bring the shipdown, not light the city on fire. She pushed away from Cedar.“Maybe we can get the ship off the mill and dump it in the riverwhere the fire can’t spread.”
Cedar gave her a suspicious squint beforeletting her go. He probably thought she was still hoping to salvagethe ship, and maybe she was, but she couldn’t let it turn Dawsoninto an inferno, not when she’d been responsible for sabotaging thehydrogen.
Keitlyudee was lingering on the stairsbehind her. Kali grabbed her arm and guided her onto the deck.
“Is there a way for her toget off?” Kali asked.
“My rope should still betied behind that capstan over there.” Cedar pointed toward arailing on the aft side of the ship.
“Can you climb down?” Kaliasked, eyeing the woman’s bruises.
Keitlyudee nodded vigorously. She’d probablydo anything to get off the ship and away from her night ofhell.
“Go, then.” Kali wavedtoward the railing, then told Cedar, “I’m going to navigation.Cover me.”
Without waiting for approval-or dissent-Kalijogged across the flame-lit deck toward the cabin. Heat beatagainst her face, and wood snapped so loudly it hurt her ears. Ashower of sparks flew upward, dancing toward the bottom of theballoon.
“Kali…” Cedar had caughtup to her, and he grabbed her arm. “It’s too dangerous to go inthere. You need to-” He broke off with a hiss.
Kali glanced over her shoulder and followedCedar’s gaze. At the far end of the ship, a dark figure wasslipping over the railing.
“Look out!” Cedar lunged,throwing an arm around Kali’s waist and bearing her down withhim.
A gunshot fired, and a bullet skipped offthe deck inches from Cedar’s head.
“Who-” Kalistarted.
“Lockhart.” Cedar jumpedto his feet again, hauling Kali with him, and he raced around tothe front of the navigation cabin.
It took them out of the detective’s line offire, but, given the flames crackling and roaring a foot away, Kalidid not know that they were any safer there.
“Do what you have to do inthere.” Cedar leaned around a corner and fired a shot. “I’ll keephim busy.”
Kali hesitated, remembering his words fromthe restaurant. He didn’t want to kill Lockhart, so he’d beshooting only to maim. Lockhart, on the other hand, wanted Cedarmore than anything else in the world just then.
“I’ll be fine here on myown.” Kali tried to shove Cedar toward the railing. “He won’t shootme. You should get out of here before-”
Cedar darted away from her and fired twiceinto the night. With the navigation cabin blocking her view, Kalicouldn’t see Lockhart, but she imagined him ducking behind somecover. Cedar waved Kali toward the open door, even as he ran andslid behind a capstan near the railing. Fire danced on ropes overhis head.
Kali swallowed. She had best do thisquickly, for both of their sakes.
The windows allowed her to see inside thecabin. Though flames roared on the outside, they did not seem tohave damaged the interior irrevocably yet. Kali tugged her kerchiefover her mouth and nose again and edged closer to the door. Certainthe metal lever would be hotter than Hades, she pulled her sleeveover her hand.
Heat railed at her, and the wind shifted,driving smoke into her eyes. The men exchanged another round offire, and Kali forced herself to hurry. She grabbed the lever,twisting it and yanking it open. The sleeve did nothing forprotection, and heat scorched her palm, as if she had grabbed aniron from the forge. The hatch swung open. She shook her hand andmade a point not to look at the welts that had to be risingthere.
Staying low, Kali dartedinto the cabin. With windows on all sides, she knew she’d be atarget in there. Though she didn’t think Lockhart would aim at her, shecouldn’t be sure. He might decide hurting her would distract Cedar,providing the opportunity the agent needed to take his prey down.Or he might think she was trying to damage the city instead ofsaving it.
Kali dashed sweat out of her eyes as sheconsidered the large wooden wheel and the control panel sprawlingacross the front of the cabin. Waves of heat battered her from allsides, and she knew she couldn’t stay long. Even with the kerchiefover her mouth, hot fumes scorched her nostrils, seeming to burnall the way to her lungs. She’d never been inside a volcano, butshe imagined it would feel like this.
Though she didn’t expect it to have anyresult, Kali grabbed the wheel and spun it as far to one side as itwould go. The ship’s engines were still working-vibrations thrummedbeneath her feet-but they could do nothing, not with the vesselgrounded atop the mill. Indeed, Kali could see the large smokestackpressed against the bow. For all she knew, the fans that propelledthe ship were busted, smashed into pieces when the craft crashedonto the mill roof. Only achieving lift would help them.
More screams of, “Fire, fire!” came from thecity below, and Kali had a feeling the flames were alreadyspreading.
She searched the bank of levers, hunting forsomething that might help. As far as she knew, the balloon wasn’tyet compromised, so there had to be hydrogen remaining up there.What if she now vented some of the air? That would partiallydeflate the balloon, but it’d also change the hydrogen-to-airratio. If the ship wasn’t too heavy, maybe there’d be enough of thelighter gas left to lift the hull a few feet. That ought to be allthey needed to limp through town and reach the river.
Unlike with the controls in the machine roombelow, these had tape pasted below them with English translationsscrawled across the surface. There was hydrogen with its leveralready thrust to maximum. Someone had tried to get them back intothe air, but there were no reserves to call upon. Kali could havesmacked herself on the forehead for her shortsighted sabotage.Bringing the ship down had been her goal, of course, but that hadbeen before she’d known about the fire. She’d envisioned a softlanding in the middle of the Main Street mud. If they caught thecity on fire…it’d be her fault.
The smoke invading her throat spurred aseries of coughs, and Kali dropped low for a moment, gatheringherself. Black dots danced at the edges of her vision. The heat wasmaking her dizzy.
A bullet shattered one of the rear windows.It cut straight through and slammed into a charred support beam inthe corner. Broken glass pelted Kali. Already on her knees, sheburied her head and raised her arms to protect her neck. Shardstinkled to the deck all around, the soft noises oddly audible abovethe snapping wood and roaring fire. More than one piece of glassfound bare skin, and Kali winced. Warm blood trickled down herjawline.