The navy skyfort loomed over the smaller Karakatun and to Jupiter there didn’t seem to be any way out. Even the powerful fully lit zharaqsa he had given Karakatun would not help. Rising now would bring the rigging into contact with the enemy skyfort’s armored hull.
The best escape would be to sail away, but the wind shadow from the huge skyfort left the smaller pirate skyship’s sail flapping in a scant breeze. Gan had been out-sailed by the Imperial captain who had used the wind shadow to approach close.
Jupiter wondered why they had not risen or dropped to get clear air. The zharaqsa would have given them the ability. Then he saw it. The skyfort had grappled a line to the rear mainmast. If they had dropped in an attempt to escape they probably would be pulled under the skyfort.
‘Take us in, Vam’lama,’ one of the rebels cried. ‘Into the tops. But slow-like.’
Breeze spun the kheel as Jupiter gauged the wind and aimed an angling run at the huge skyfort. He leaned back to raise the nose. He wanted to keep to clear air as it would be a slow run. With the skyfort and Karakatun running along at the speed of the wind Jupiter found it hard to maintain a sailing speed through that same wind. To keep a relative pace with the larger vessels meant slowing like a piece of flotsam on the breeze with the lack of maneuverability that meant.
Jupiter kept a good run of speed as he angled up towards the navy’s topmasts, then he backed the mainsail by holding it with his hand. They drifted close to the huge expanses of sails.
‘Breeze. Keep at it fella. We need to maintain height. We will get no lift from the outrigger platforms now.’
He realized then the truth of that thought. The outrigger float structures, so useful on the water, perhaps acted a little more like wings in the air. What might it mean to change The Jupiter to a proper airborne craft, instead of this flying-sailing mashup?
The skyfort shifted beneath him, creaking and groaning with the shifting of the sails, spars, and yardarms. Its spars filled with navy crew as Manisaurs swung by their arms through the rigging. Their large feet grasped the booms, their legs flexed, and they would launch themselves arms outstretched, ready to hold and swing forward for the next hand hold. All the while their flat feathered tails flicked and flashed, sent messages, balanced them, and perhaps even confused pursuit.
Dizzying to watch, manisaurs were more agile than any monkey or ape Jupiter had seen. The parallel evolution became obvious now. Manisaurs had evolved almost like dinosaur primates, with a body shape like that of a human, and the strength and agility of an ape. And high up amongst the sails and ropes, these beings were in their natural element. More so than any human might.
The outrigger rocked to the side, and Jupiter snapped out of his revery. The manisaurs had jumped ship, launching with their long legs, they flicked and angled their feathered tails to direct their landing in the maintop of the enemy. An ululating cry rose from the Imperial sailors when they saw the boarder’s assault, and the dynamic of the movements through the rigging changed. They now chased the boarders. Jupiter angled his outrigger away. If the rebels could jump so far so could the enemy.
He watched the chase with dread even as he avoided the skyfort and its crew. But the pirates had known what they were about. Long knives flashed as they cut mast stays, and slashed at sails. They focussed their attack on one side of the rigging, to unbalance it, to twist and turn the movements of the skyfort. To give Karakatun some room to maneuver.
Jupiter dropped to remain near his rebels. He remained hopeful they might escape yet. Jump to him. But he had to increase speed, and so The Jupiter moved away and it became hard to follow the action.
‘It’s working,’ cried Pariqhamtu with excitement. Jupiter had almost forgotten the manisaur female remained on board. ’Karakatun is turning away.’
The navy skyfort dropped then, a few scattered crew fell from the rigging in the sudden lurch. They fell squawking in fear towards the land that had now come close to the battle. But not so close as to save the fallen enemy.
But the two ships missed one another. The alignment had slipped, and the navy skyfort steadied at a lower level with the Karakatun close by.
‘Karakatun is signaling for the navy to approach,’ Pariqhamtu said in surprise.
Jupiter saw the signal panels flicker and flash in a complicated pulse of color and light. The colored upper panel flickered in pulses different to the lower black and white flashes. As the signal repeated he could almost make sense of the colors. The colored panels acted like an aura, to give him the sense of things. But the flashing white and white rippled in simulation of…
‘Tail feathers…’
‘Why would they do that?’ Pariqhamtu stood then, eyes drawn to the closing craft. ‘Karakatun call for the Imperials to join the fight. They alert the enemy.’
Jupiter steered for Karakatun, he had seen another signal flash white and black. But not a flickering manisaur signal.
.--- -.. .--- -.. .--- -..
‘J-D-J-D…’ Jupiter read in wonder. ‘Morse code? Maggie!’
The message broke into a rapid pattern of short and long flashes. And Jupiter struggled to read it. He tried to recall all that Maggie had taught him. It repeated J-D-J-D again… and then the other pattern once more.
‘Enemy in sight. Enemy in sight.’ Jupiter read in the morse code flashes. ‘Well yes. State the obvious…’
And then he got it. ‘Enemy on ship.’
Jupiter took in the overall situation. The navy ship sailed to a direct hit on The Karakatun, and both appeared to be readying crew to grapple. The other rebel skyship Kitaraham remained far off even as it approached to join the fight.
‘If there’s enemy already on the Karakatun, they’re done for.’
Jupiter wanted to get back to Karakatun without delay. The crew that had jumped into attack would soon be joined by more pirate boarders in support when Karakatun made contact.
‘That signal from Karakatun. Why would they call the Imperial Navy to approach? And who?’
‘I don’t know. It’s not something you signal to your enemy.’
‘Are they calling for Kitaraham to assist?’ The rebel skyfort flew high and to the north still, but descending. ‘Or for us to come close?’
‘No. The signal is directed clearly…’ Pariqhamtu’s aura flashed with frustration and concern. ‘To the Imperial Navy. Kitaraham could not see that signal panel. And the addressing is to… to… the Air Lord himself.’
The Jupiter dropped low to gain speed, and then shot forward to close with the battling skyships. The two vessels had hit one another now, the Karakatun’s nose plowed into the side of the navy skyfort’s hull. Ropes flicked between the topmasts as both crews whipped balled ropes to entangle them before they swung across to fight hand to hand to feet with their enemy.
All the while a cacophony of cries erupted, together with hoots, and horns that called the sailors to attack. The sound deafened and confused Jupiter.
‘This is madness,’ Jupiter yelled. His plan of action, to rescue his rebels, had been dashed away in the maelstrom of fighting.
He had to get back to Maggie. If he could get her off, then they still had a chance to make it away from this mayhem.
As he passed Karakatun’s bow a rope arced out, passed over the stern just ahead of him, and then whipped back. A grapple hook snagged on the edge of the hull, and they were jerked to a halt. Jupiter fell forward, hit his head on the edge of the outrigger platform, and slipped over the side.
He still held the mainsheet in his hand even as the tiller ripped out of his grasp. In an arcing fall his hold on the mainsheet swung him below The Jupiter. Far below yawned a dark forest, wreathed in cloud, and mist between tall conical trees.
His fall pulled the mainsheet in tight, the mainsheet yanked to a close haul even as the tiller swung into the wind. The Jupiter sped onward, right at the tops of the navy skyfort rigging.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Breeze screamed and swung under the hull, hands reaching for Jupiter as he slipped down the mainsheet.
Jupiter’s hand reached the figure eight knot tied to stop the rope running through the block. Now it held him. Jupiter got a second hand to the mainsheet but his legs kicked without support. The trees seemed close, but too far to save him.
Breeze slipped down the mainsheet, and reached out a hand. But Jupiter could not trust to one hand to hold him. Breeze slipped lower.
Then Jupiter hit a topsail. The rough fabric pressed against Jupiter like a pillow, but under the taut canvas a unyielding hardness struck him. Then his skin burned as The Jupiter sailed on and dragged him across the sail.
‘Jupiter!’ Pariqhamtu cried. ‘We’re falling.’
Jupiter saw the outrigger had begun to slide down the sail. The movement eased the weight on his hands, but the fall meant just one thing.
‘Pari-pari. Spin up the kheel. You must keep it moving… as fast as you can… or we fall.’
Breeze cried then in frustration. Jupiter saw the imp now torn between saving him, or letting The Jupiter crash… or…’
Jupiter's gut squeezed in fear then. Life had been safe for him. Even sailing through the air on a crazy flying Starling…
His feet struck something hard. A boom stretched the topsail tight at its base, his feet hit it. And to slow himself he dragged his feet on the yard arm, his knees against the sail. He wobbled, but his hands and arms were further relieved of weight. But his foot slipped, one hand fell from the mainsheet and he steadied himself on the sail. His foot found a rope under the yard arm. A footline. But as The Jupiter fell the mainsheet pulled him away from the sail. Instinct moved his body and he caught his balance, but in doing so let go his hold on the mainsheet. He grasped at the boom, desperate feet stepping for the footline, as he pressed his body to the sail.
‘Jupiter!’ Pariqhamtu screeched. The Jupiter still fell. It had spun about and now angled away even as it sailed. Breeze still clung onto the mainsheet under the hull. He swung back like a pendulum.
‘I Jump… Save…’
‘No Breeze. Save Pari-pari. She will fall if you don’t help her.’
‘Joopah… Save…’
‘Breeze. No. Help Pari-pari. I’m safe now.’
Jupiter thought then Breeze might still jump across to him. But in a blink the imp had swung up onto the outrigger, and had taken control of the tiller. The mainsheet ran free, so the sail spun out against the side stays. The craft entered a dive as Breeze leaned forward to spin up the kheel. Then Pariqhamtu took over the spinning, and Breeze pulled in the mainsheet. The Jupiter steadied, and shot off and away, clear of the grappling skyships, and out of his view.
The yard arm under Jupiter’s feet jumped then, the shock threw Jupiter into the sail face first. But he held onto a reefing line. Now wedged where crew usually stood to reduce the size of the sail, he had to get to safety. Back to deck. And then return to Karakatun.
He looked down, and wished he hadn’t.
How could seeing the deck so far below be worse than a looming fall to the clouded forest and trees?
A harder, less forgiving landing perhaps. And more immediate. Jupiter stepped sideways towards the ratlines next to the topmast. Safety seemed close when, with a wrenching groan, a tangled spar fell onto the sail, and ripped the footline from under him. Together, Jupiter and rigging, fell towards the deck.
Jupiter clung on as the skyfort’s rigging dropped and him with it. Other ropes pulled at the spars, twisted its fall, until the tangled mess swung into the sails and ratlines below. Jupiter held fast to the reefing line. Suspended as if on a swing, he swooped into space with feet clamped tight to the spar, desperate to not fall. The rope snapped and he dropped, his stomach lurched, fear stabbed at him, then the rigging pulled short. He lost his grip.
And fell.
Fell amongst the ratlines that led from the sides of the hull to the mast, and got a hold that wrenched his arms. Frantic for a way to safety, he transferred his weight to the ratlines and hand over hand he moved down towards the deck.
Rigging and broken spars fell everywhere as confusion between the two grinding skyships snapped and pulled at the network of masts and sails. Jupiter reached the deck. It listed on an angle. Together the unbalanced weight of the skyship’s collision had toppled everything to one side.
Manisaurs fought hand to hand in a leaping display of martial arts that would have left any MMA fighter sprawled to the deck in seconds. A party of Imperial Navy crew ran across the deck with axes, and they began to hack at the grappling ropes from the rebel skyship. The other rebel skyfort, Kitaraham, closed upon them and would join the melee soon. Jupiter wondered then how the pirate skyship had stood up to the larger vessel alone. Across the deck there were more red sashes of the pirates than navy blues.
And amongst the manisaurs the pirate beasts ran and snapped at the navy crew, pressing them away from and into the corners of the deck where red-sashes converged to attack with knives and long slashing blades.
He understood then that the pirates did not merely train for this. Fighting and raiding was their work. The Imperial Navy crew instead were sailors first, and not Lana-Lankhaka — warrior marines like Gan. Under the determined assault of the pirate rebels the Imperial Navy had been out fought and outmanned. Jupiter saw that many of the Imperial sailors remained aloft in the rigging, perhaps unsure of their role. Now they started to hack at grappling ropes, they knew they had bitten off a meal too tough to chew. The rain of debris from above increased as the navy crew cut the broken rigging free to drop to the deck.
Jupiter moved towards where the Karakatun still pressed its bow to the hull of its opponent. A squad of navy marines had formed up to protect the deck from further invasion. It startled him to see Tharumiyo pulled though the mass of navy blues, and hauled away from the action. Somehow the Imperial Navy had taken prisoners. He feared then for Maggie. With no way to know where she had got to he could only hope she remained safe with the rebels. He searched for a path through the navy crew, back to Karakatun.
As he scanned the rebel ship he saw the flashing morse code on the pirate skyship.
‘Maggs.’ Jupiter renewed efforts. But he could find no way through across the deck. He would have to climb the rigging again, get above the manisaur defense, and swing over. His gut lurched at the thought, but determined, he climbed the mid-mast ratlines, to gain some height and perspective. The pirate beasts surged upon the defenders then and the line broke. He saw that Karakatun had begun to pull free. The pirates and their beasts broke through the navy crew on deck, and leapt in arcing jumps between skyships. Above him too, crews leapt back to their own vessels. Already the gap between them had increased to ten meters. A last few jumpers made it clear over, and then Karakatun dropped. The sharp movement broke any remaining grappling lines to shrug free of the enemy. They had done their job. The navy skyfort wrecked and crippled, posed no threat to the rebels now.
But that left Jupiter alone in the rigging, isolated, and unable to make the incredible jumps manisaurs had performed. Maggie’s morse code flickered on.
-.. .--- -.. .--- -..
‘D-J-D-J-D,’ Jupiter read, and thought perhaps it meant to warn him — don’t jump… don’t jump… don’t. But also Jupiter Drake.
Then he saw, as the signal became almost too hard to read.
Then he saw the code for C-A-T-A-L-Y-S-T — the zharaqsa gem. What had happened?
Upon the deck, surrounded by a circle of crew, Tharumiyo stood in deep discussion with a grandly decorated manisaur. The ‘old bird’ somehow felt the pressure of his gaze, and raised his face direct to Jupiter. A brief flash from Tharumiyo’s aura showed then.
Disgust… Anger…
The ‘old bird’ swept an arm to Jupiter’s position and all eyes fell on him. Then the grand manisaur, the captain perhaps, led the way to the bridge with Tharumiyo beside him. A surge of motion amongst the manisaurs and a navy crew had Jupiter surrounded. Captured, they brought him to the deck. They did not rough handle him. They had no need, but nor were they gentle. A shove in the shoulder sent him in a stumble towards the stairs, then they thrust him below decks.
Karakatun rose, just visible through the narrowing square of sky. It drifted away, higher in the midday air. Gan’s Kitaraham moved close either to assist its consort. But he knew enough that it would not attack the navy skyfort. He had no escape.
But buzzing near Karakatun — in a crazy out-of-control loop that took it near to the navy skyfort — he saw The Jupiter. Pari-pari held the mainsheet, and Breeze had hands to the tiller, while his feet spun the kheel. But they could not fly her. Why had he not shown them the way? Instead they had a tether to the Karakatun. If they could slow the outrigger enough the crew could reel her in.
Both his friends' gazes were fixed on Jupiter as they swung past. His captors pushed him down the steps into the depths of the skyfort and out of the light.
The huge skyfort bulked another level of huge. The name ‘fort’ became appropriate as the scale of the vessel revealed itself during his passage through its depths. The brute had no finesse or style. Instead everything worked to intimidate, and overwhelm. Strength and functionality before fancy design and maneuverability.
Jupiter smiled then. Proud that his small craft had helped to bring one down due to a bit of fancy sailing. He reckoned even Tyler Orr might be impressed.
His captors led him down to the lower levels and along a row of barred cells filled with injured and broken manisaurs. Most of them rebels. As a thrust pushed Jupiter into a cell he saw Tharumiyo.
‘How did you get captured old bird?’ Jupiter said with more confidence that he felt. He felt a wave of confusion. If Tharumiyo had been caught then how many of his other friends were here? ‘A bit unlucky.’
‘Put that one, to death.’
Jupiter’s heart raced at the words. He turned to the voice. A tall manisaur loomed over the others. They had a thin torso and a gaunt face. His aura betrayed nothing, as if turned off by a switch like a light. The color of his crest shaded with red, with a hint of blue towards the sides. The manisaur commanded attention for sure. But he ignored Jupiter. The kill order had been for another pirate who lay beaten and bloody on the floor of an adjacent cell.
‘As you will Air Lord,’ said a manisaur in a fine-webbed harness.
Tharumiyo turned to Jupiter. He sensed no concern from the old-bird. His aura remained quiet and under control too. Jupiter saw no hint of the agitation or fear he himself tried to control.
‘Any more Comrade?’ In this the Air Lord deferred to Tharumiyo. And with a sense of shock Jupiter realized the old-bird had not been taken prisoner, but perhaps instead worked with this Lord.
Jupiter’s eyes flicked to Tharumiyo’s and knew then that he would not escape. If Tharumiyo ever intended to return to the rebels, perhaps as an exchanged prisoner, then Jupiter never would.
Tharumiyo’s aura flickered once then. Dismissal. The traitor and the Lord turned away as Jupiter’s door closed. After two steps, and Tharumiyo stopped and without turning gave the order.
‘No. Bring that one. The young human. I have a need to…’ Tharumiyo stopped. The manisaur Lord next to Tharumiyo turned to Jupiter and studied him with a penetrating stare. ‘But why do I explain? Bring him.’
A pair of muscled crew pulled Jupiter from the cell and dragged along the corridor after the Tharumiyo and the Lord. As he left the darkness of the prison, a cry went up from the captured rebels. A call of lament and anger, until a screech cut short all sound. Jupiter knew then a killing had been done, in cold blood, from a warm hand. He knew then his fate, and those of the other rebels, would follow soon.