Vilkis

Independent Airship

Population 157

A red light begins pulsing through the airship Vilkis quickly followed by a deafening and continuous ring of a bell on the wall. Euphemia, the thirty year old black haired chief mechanic ascends from her deep slumber in her bed, momentarily pausing as she takes in what is happening.

“Sunspark…” she whispers to herself as her auburn eyes widen in panic.

She tears off her blanket and grabs her grease encrusted brown leather boots, hopping on one foot at a time as she struggles to pull them onto her bare feet and dashes out of the cabin into the night leaving behind her shirt and pants. The heat of her breath floats past her as she flies down a staircase. As she passes the utility room U-2, crewman Isaac the redhead tosses Euphy a utility belt.

It lands in her hand without a moment’s pause, having performed the same action time and time again. She straps it around her waist and jumps into a ladder-well, sliding down three decks. As she moves down the red light-flashing corridor, mechanic Gabriel forces closed a large venting valve. He glances her way with a smile, “Chief, containment breach alarm at twenty-one twelve.”

Euphy looks back at him with a nod. “Copy that.”

Gabriel nods and taps the valve with a wrench to see if anything happens. Euphemia bounds around the corner and stops at another ladder well. Leonard, Vilkis’ first officer stands at its edge. A deafening roar of electrical discharge emanates from below.

“Chief, chamber two has been breached. We have sunspark shooting all over the place and have already begun to descend” he says as she approaches.

“Where is Kira? She should have been here by now with the containment equipment.”

“Haven’t seen her.

“Again? Damn that woman…”

Euphy looks over the railing down to tumultuous, dark, thick, unending clouds far below that grows closer by the second. Angrily she hops onto the ladder and prepares to drop. “It’s too dangerous down there, you need a suit!” Leo calls out.

“There’s no time! If I don’t fix it now we will end up in the flare!” She shouts as she slides down to the next level.

“No! It will kill you!”

Leo stares in disbelief before he turns and runs back through the corridor, ascending the ladder to the next floor. The hair has already begun to stand up on Euphy’s body as she dives for the wall trying to stay away from the random bright yellow lightning-like sunspark strikes while making her way toward the chamber. But it’s not enough; the searing heat is only increasing as more and more electrical discharge occurs. An intense crackling noise fills the air supplemented by a deafening roar of machinery.

She soon reaches the chamber. This one is marked 2 in white paint over an iron-forged number 2 protruding from the rest. A small crack in the top left portion of the iron cylinder reveals where the sunspark forces its way through. Euphy grabs a small spray can from her utility belt with her right hand and shakes it before aiming it at the crack. In an instant, a bolt of pure yellow lightning, sunspark, erupts from within and courses through her arm and exits through her shoulder blade. As it travels up her arm, a sound like a large screeching bird soaring past her ears deafens her to all else momentarily.

She drops the spray and grabs her arm in pain and sees the newly formed lightning scar that now adorns the entire length of her arm from fingertip to the back of her shoulder. An agonizing scream escapes her mouth, coarse and violent, but there is little time for this. She picks the can back up and sprays the crack with a gray viscous material, sealing the breach quickly but messily as the substance hardens.

She falls to the floor and exhales heavily. Through the pain, the constant seemingly endless stinging and burning coursing through her veins, she can feel the ship begin to rise back up and returning to the great open sky. She screams in pain and anger while repeatedly hitting her head against the iron wall.

A question arises, and one that doesn’t have an answer no matter how much she searches her riddled mind; “how am I not dead?”

Minutes pass slowly for her as she fights the agony, the suffering and the encroaching headache. An immense rage slowly consumes her as her thoughts begin to clear. Euphemia pulls herself up with her wounded arm which, surprisingly, is still functioning just fine though stiff and burning. The flesh is not seared like it should be, yet the marks of a golden lightning strike up her arm leave little to the imagination. She walks through the door and back outside, passing by several other mechanics all working diligently on this failing rusted old airship.

“Hey-holy, are you ok?” One of them asks.

“Peachy” she replies under heavy furious breath. Three flights of stairs up later, Euphemia walks to and opens the cabin door marked 25 and enters. The lights are off, but the first thing that catches her attention is the alarm on the wall beside the door which has been taken apart. A radio playing some orchestral theme plays from the kitchenette countertop.

She hears a soft moaning coming from the far end of the cabin slightly muffled by the radio. Euphy’s eyes narrow to the other end and there she was- the long brown haired, emerald eyed naked beauty that is mechanic Kira riding atop a man without a care in the world. Euphy crosses the room angrily toward them, eyes filled with such anger and emotion but steps surprisingly soft that one could be forgiven for missing them.

“Chief!?” Kira says in shock as she only notices her approach a mere two feet away. Euphemia grabs the hair on the top of Kira’s head and begins dragging her off the man and towards the door, all the while Kira is kicking and screaming and begging for her to stop. Within moments they are outside at the railing where Euphy drags Kira halfway over the edge pointing her newly scarred finger down at the dark clouds below. Even at night, the darkness of the flare is unmistakable, alight with the golden flashes of raw sunspark.

“Do you see that?!”

“Yes!” Kira replies, staring down at an abyss.

“Do you know what that is?!”

“Yes- yes I know! Ow!” Kira screams in terror and pain. The screaming has drawn the attention of several others on different levels of the ship who all look on in curiosity while the man in Kira’s cabin rushes out and away holding his clothes bundled in his arms.

“And do you know what would happen if this ship were to fall into it?!” Euphy shouts, slamming her hand on the rail.

“Ow! We would die! Stop, please!” Kira desperately tries to pull herself back over while trying to remove Euphy’s hand from her head.

“We all could have died today because of your stupidity. This is the last time you ever endanger this ship, do you understand me?”

“Yes! Yes I swear!” Kira sobs.

“Is everything alright Chief?” A man's voice from above calls out. Euphy looks up to see the brown captain’s overcoat flapping in the wind a couple of levels above them. He was looking down at the two of them curiously. Euphemia smiles and gives a half-assed salute while embarrassment washes over Kira’s tear soaked face.

“Aye captain, crisis has been averted, though I suggest we transfer chamber 2’s sunspark as soon as possible so we can perform a proper repair before we end up regretting it again.”

The captain sighs and pulls out a clipboard with various papers on it, marking something on the third page. “I’d like a word when you’re done Chief.” He says walking away, flipping through the papers and making further marks.

“Aye captain.”

She pulls Kira back over and releases her grip causing her to fall to the floor and hold her head crying.

“You and I are not done. You will be in my cabin in an hour, do I make myself clear?”

Kira nods, tears relentlessly flooding down her face.

“And if I ever see you touch an alarm that isn’t in need of repair again-” she says, cutting herself off and slamming her fist on the rail before walking away toward the nearby stairwell. Kira stands up and dashes into her cabin slamming the door behind her. Everyone goes back about their business as Euphy walks by, all giving her a nod of approval.

As she approaches Isaac the redhead, she unbuckles the utility belt and hands it back to him. He takes it from her and immediately notices the scars and looks in her eyes worryingly.

“I’m fine. Thanks for the tools” she says, continuing her march toward the captain’s cabin.

“Great work Chief, I’ll buy a round for you.”

“Thanks Isaac, but you know very well I quit drinking last year.”

Isaac smiles as he watches her stroll away and sets the belt on a nearby chair before returning to looking over his own tools. The cool breeze of the wind washes over her, blowing her shoulder length hair every which way. She slams her fist against the wall while clenching her teeth together as her pain increases with a jolt.

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Within the captain’s cabin, Euphemia sits silently on an old plastic chair seat with steel legs as a doctor tends to her shoulder and arm. The captain walks in with his clipboard and paperwork and sits at his desk, glancing over at the half naked Euphy, and back down to his papers. The captain: an aged man with a thick but trimmed greying beard, brown eyes and wrinkled skin. Beneath his identifying brown duster jacket, he wears a white dress shirt with accompanying black vest and black slacks.

“I’ll say it plain, you shouldn’t be alive.”

Euphemia nods and watches the doctor do his thing.

“I know. The sunspark should have killed me instantly. Yet here I am, a dead woman walking. A freak of nature.”

“A miracle more like it; the Voltwing must like you.”

"Please; no offense captain, but some mythical bird created by a rich and powerful family so they could influence the people did not just save my life."

"Yes well, scientists will soon be lining up to study you for years to come in any case."

“I'd like to see them try.”

The captain chuckles and looks down at his paperwork.

“Back to the topic at hand then. So Chief, why don’t you start at the beginning.”

Euphemia nods and looks out the window as white birds fly alongside the ship.

“An alarm was raised at twenty one hundred hours and twelve minutes. Chamber 2 had ruptured under the strain of its sunspark cargo. It’s a new breach, all other repairs have continued holding up so far. I think the chamber’s just too old at this point, but we can still make the necessary repairs and stretch it out a bit longer.”

The captain nods and makes a note in his log.

“Alright. I’ll see what we can do about replacing it in the future. But with supplies being what they are at Enaia, we might not have a choice in the matter. Same with Aigion and North Winds. No one is getting new materials in” he says with resignation. Euphemia shakes her head in disappointment.

“Things are just getting harder out here. Last week it was the irrigation burst, two weeks before that a magnetic surge from the flare. I’m trying to keep us flying captain, I really am. But we are nearly out of spare parts.”

“I know. And the flare hasn’t given up anything new in a while either. I trust you to do your best with what you have.” He says making one last mark on the top page. “Yes, captain. I won’t let you down.” Euphy says happily. The captain sets down his clipboard on the desk and watches as the doctor wraps Euphy’s ointment covered arm in a bandage.

“Speaking of not letting me down; what happened with Kira today?”

Euphy clenches her hands and looks down in shame; even the doctor watches her reaction curiously.

“I… Have it under control sir… It won’t happen again, I assure you.”

“This isn’t the first time we have had this conversation about her. You told me you could keep her in line. I took a great risk bringing her aboard.”

The captain leans back in his office style chair and spins around to look out the window beside him. The birds are still there, beating their wings against the current. He picks up the coffee cup in his hand and takes a drink of it, then holds it against his chest as he continues to stare out the window.

“Chief, I’ve never doubted your judgments before, but I must say this situation with her has me extremely concerned. It would be in everyone's best interest if we hand her over to the authorities the next time we dock at Enaia. Hm. In fact, that’s just what we’ll do.” He says turning back around and flipping through the pages on his clipboard.

“Captain, I…” Euphy tries to interject. The captain folds his hands and places them atop the pages. “She has had six months to turn over a new leaf. And yet here we are, having this same conversation again. The safety of everyone on this ship cannot be weighed against one person. Under the circumstances I am forced to remove her from the crew. She will no longer be a mechanic on this ship. Let her know she needs to pack her things.”

Euphemia quickly stands up almost undoing all the bandages that had just been applied. The doctor, thankfully, was able to keep it all in place for the most part.

“Captain, please, reconsider.”

He leans back again and looks her in the eyes, moving his cup across the desk.

“Euphemia, I know you have grown attached to her over these past months. I know you think of her as a sister at this point, but she is reckless and irresponsible and it will end up costing us. It certainly cost you” he says looking down at her bandages.

“Captain, please. I know I can get through to her.”

The captain raises his hand and Euphy falls silent once more and shakes his head. “Her cabin and position will be given to another. Make sure the cabin is cleared out by tomorrow's end. I’ll have Julius hire on a new mechanic when we pull into Enaia the day after.”

Euphemia sits back down and stares at the floor as her arm finishes being wrapped in the bandage.

“Captain, I-I know you’ve made your decision, but can I make a personal request?”

Later…

Euphemia walks sluggishly along the corridor to her cabin. Every step a struggle, a reminder of the pain in her arm which even dulled is significant. When at last she reaches her door marked 7, she lets out a deep tired sigh and gently pushes the cold metal door open. Just like every other cabin on this ship, save for the captain’s, the right side of this small space contains an equally small kitchenette with a small refrigerator, stove, countertop and sink. A small set of metal cupboards hang above it all.

Straight ahead to the left is a small space with a bed. A small thin wall separates it from a shower stall to the right containing a retractable toilet in the furthest wall. To the immediate left, across from the kitchen space lies a small table and a couple of small chairs just like those that were in the captain’s cabin. Euphy’s cabin smells like oil, grease, and hints of tea.

She flicks on the light with the wall switch on her right as she walks in. She opens a cupboard above the sink and pulls down a kettle, filling it with water from the sink before placing it atop an old worn electric stove.

Euphy presses a button and the stove begins to heat up, and then she walks over to her small single mattress and collapses on top of it, kicking off her crusty boots. Her eyes grow heavy and sleep is nearly upon her when a knock at her door brings her back with another heavy sigh.

Euphemia exhaustively climbs back out of bed and opens the door to see Kira standing there in a short white skirt and a pale blue revealing rippled blouse. Kira sees the large bandage now covering Euphy’s right side and looks away. Euphy doesn’t say anything, she simply backs up and swings the door open further to allow Kira to pass through.

“Chief, I know I screwed up-” Kira tries to explain.

“Don’t.”

Euphemia points to one of the two chairs next to the table and Kira quietly walks over and sits down. She is clearly trembling, though trying desperately to hide it. Euphy pulls two copper cups from a cupboard and sets them on the counter before placing both her hands on the counter to hold her up and she just stands there silently shaking her head.

“Of all the idiotic things you’ve done…”

“Chief-”

“Stop. You do not speak. I have tried and tried to help you and keep you out of the hands of Enaia’s judiciary. You made a promise to me, remember? You would become a stand up woman if I convinced the captain to let your rotten ass on board. And now your selfish actions have caused the captain to begin to doubt me. Me!”

Euphy slams her hands down on the counter causing Kira to flinch. The kettle begins to whistle loudly and continuously, though Euphy doesn’t seem to react to it at first. After a minute, she straightens herself out and takes the kettle off the stove, grabs the cups and brings them over to the table. Carefully pouring the water into each cup, Euphy breathes in and out deeply.

“The captain has decided to let you go. You are no longer a member of this crew.”

Kira places her hand over her mouth and begins to cry and shake her head.

“You are to clear out your cabin by tomorrow night.”

“No! I can’t-”

Euphy looks angrily at her and Kira immediately stops talking. She then sits down on the spare chair and places a tea bag into her cup, gently stirring it before taking the top off a small dish sitting on the table and scoops out some sugar into her cup.

“I worked half my life to become a chief mechanic on an airship. I was told time and time, and time again that it wouldn’t happen. I begged, pleaded and bled to make a name for myself. Fleet after fleet, ship after ship I was told it would never happen. And when I was at my lowest, fighting in bars and drinking from dusk ‘till dawn with debts I couldn’t pay, the Captain showed up. He took one look at me, asked my name, and gave me the chance I was denied so many times” Euphy says, staring into the swirling tea.

Kira’s tears stream down her face like a waterfall as she tries to bury it in her hands. The heat of the water rises against Euphy’s hand creating light condensation on it as she continues stirring her cup and then places a tea bag into Kira’s with a little sugar.

“That was 15 years ago. I became the Vilkis’ chief mechanic at just fifteen years old. I knew my stuff; I could fix any problem I ever encountered. Fifteen years of earning the trust and admiration of the captain. And then you came along. You, the one problem I just can’t seem to solve.”

“I’m sorry… Please Euphy, please believe me. I’m sorry… Don’t let them hand me over to the judiciary… I can’t go back to jail… I-they…” Kira says, choking on her tears.

“What did you think would happen? I mean honestly, what did you really think would happen? You dismantled an alarm system which means you weren’t there to help your crew save the ship from a catastrophic event. I don’t give a shit that you decided to fuck a colonial, but dismantling the alarm? And that was just the latest in a long line of incidents with you.”

“Euphemia, please, I beg you. Don’t let them send me to jail… I have made very, very bad decisions, I know. But… They’ll kill me if I go back. Please I will do anything, just name it and it’s done! Just please, don’t let them kick me off the ship!” Kira begs in fear as her breath becomes strained and erratic. Euphy takes a sip of her tea and then gently rubs her bandaged arm that still stings. She can feel each thread of fabric, coarse and firm. There is a long, agonizing silence between them as Euphy shakes her head and continues sipping on the tea.

“Drink your tea, it will get cold.” she finally says, looking over at Kira’s untouched cup.

Kira wipes her face and takes a careful sip of the tea, though she continues shaking. Euphy starts stirring her tea again while looking over at the clock above the stove that reads 10:43.

“There’s nothing I can do about your job, or your cabin. The captain was adamant that your position go to someone new, not that I blame him. We’ll hire them on in a couple of days when we reach Enaia”

Kira runs her finger along the rim of her cup but doesn’t say anything. Her eyes move side to side as if she is trying to think of something, anything to say but nothing ever comes.

“I believe you when you say they will kill you if you go back. I’ve made my own enemies within a couple of skyland jails and will do whatever it takes to stay out of them. Therefore, starting tomorrow you will be my personal maid. A slave more like.”

Kira’s eyes light up and she quickly meets Euphy’s gaze.

“You will cook, clean, and do all the work around here. I will expect an immaculate home each and every day, food in the fridge and cooked meals when I get home.” Euphemia takes another sip from her cup with the gaze of a predator on Kira.

“Wait… Are you serious? Really? I can stay?” Kira asks, almost breathless. Euphy nods and takes another sip of her tea before breathing in the aroma into her nostrils.

“I had to ask the biggest favor of the captain I think I will ever make and I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to repay it. Never again will I stick my neck out for you. You used up any currency you had with me. You stay here, you follow my rules and do as I say every time, no exceptions. Screw me, and I will hand you to the judiciary myself- butt naked for the world to see.”

Kira jumps up and spins around in joy, “Oh my god, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I swear, you won’t regret this! I will be the best most perfect maid! I will earn my keep, you won’t have to worry about a thing!”

“You better; you’re unemployed now and living under my roof. Paying for two on my salary…” Euphy begins shaking her head once again.

“You will move in in the morning and you will leave that cabin spotless for the next mechanic, do I make myself clear?”

Kira nods.

“Good. Now I have a lot of work to do tomorrow and I have to get up early. Don’t make too much noise. Oh, and when you are done moving your things, make sure to go see the first officer about signing the paperwork for your change of status.”

Euphemia stands, walks over to the mattress and carefully lays down under the covers before quickly passing out. Kira walks to the window and looks outside, unable to get rid of the smile upon her face and whispers, “Thank you.”