Cog heard her alarm go off right on schedule.

Following four other failed attempts, she finally figured out the right volume. She leaped out of bed to turn off the alarm, trying to be quick enough to keep Sail asleep. Her friend tossed in bed a little, but didn't seem to actually wake up. So far, so good.

She noiselessly made her way to the bathroom, brushing her hand on the wall along the way. It wouldn't take her long to get ready, but she wanted to get everything done prior to Sail waking up. When she finally did, Cog pulled out a pencil and paper and began drawing.

Other than the rough sketch she'd made while thinking about the Bahamas and the heart drawing a day or two ago, Cog hadn't drawn in a long while. It was one of her favorite hobbies, and yet she never gave herself time to do it. Spending time with Gogs and Sprocket had always taken precedence, even if it meant going nearly a year without it. Still, she remembered most of the concepts.

Her drawing started with two pretty-realistic hands holding each other, but she realized it was missing too much. Just drawing hands wasn't going to cut it. She continued by adding the arms attached to the hands, but ran out of space on the paper.

It wasn't enough. She took two other papers from her stack and continued her drawing, finishing the arms. Then, adding more papers, she filled in their bodies and branched out further. Another ten minutes later, and the papers—stitched together by tape—took the shape of two people with very basic faces holding hands.

Sail walked out of the bathroom as she was trying to size one of the eyes correctly, erratically erasing and redrawing the same shape over and over, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Who are those two you're drawing?" she asked.

"Nobody in particular," Cog answered. "They're just two people holding hands. I used to draw all the time, but I got really bad at it."

"Liar!" Sail exclaimed. "It looks great! So much better than I could have done!"

"Thanks!"

She peered up at her clock, which showed that they were already ten minutes behind schedule. Even after finally fixing the alarm clock, they were going to be late. The boys weren't going to be happy.

"Well, I suppose we better get going," Sail said, grabbing both pairs of goggles and handing Cog hers.

"Where'd you get that badge?" Cog asked, staring at the German MKII badge Sail had claimed as a trophy. "I don't even recognize it."

"In socials class yesterday, I beat Lukas at pronouncing his own language," Sail answered, beaming. "He let me win, so I don't think it really counts, but I'm gonna claim my victories where I can."

"Nice," Cog simply replied. "I don't really understand why Sprocket has a problem with Lukas. He hasn't really done anything."

"Personally, I think he's a creep," Sail admitted. "It's like he's always hovering somewhere nearby."

"Well, to be fair, there aren't a lot of places to be at on board, even though it's a pretty big airship."

"I guess..." The conversation ended as they both peered out one of the small circular windows that lined the outside of the ship. Snowflakes were speeding by, creating a white fog that hovered over the ocean below them. Cog guessed they were no longer very close to the Bahamas.

"Oh! That gives me an idea!" Sail turned and ran back to their room, returning a minute later with a red and white bow wrapped just above the rim of her hat. "Just because we don't really see the seasons on board an airship doesn't mean we shouldn't dress for the occasion."

"You look fantastic!" Cog said.

The pair finally joined Sprocket and Gogs, whose eyes were staring intently at the late duo. The radio was sitting on the table again, but no news reporter was eerily predicting the end of the world this time. Instead, it sat in silence.

"It's about time," Gogs teased, feigning outrage. "I figured you guys locked yourself in your room and couldn't get out or something."

"Yeah, yeah," Sail said, waving off his comment. "Did you guys see the weather outside? This is totally my time of year."

"Me too," Sprocket agreed. "Christmas is in two days, and I've got a new 'Steampunk Santa' outfit that I'm dying to try on."

"Glad we're inside where it's warm," Cog commented. "It's snowing like crazy outside."

"Speaking of being warm," Gogs added, "there's hot cocoa over at the coffee counter today. We really are getting into the Christmas spirit."

"Okay, but where's the coffee?" She held the empty coffee pot upside-down and frowned.

"Who cares?" he replied, clearly not understanding caffeine addiction. "There's hot cocoa!"

"Not if Sail gets to it first," Sprocket said, as she darted for a mug.

When all four had poured themselves their first mug, Gogs turned the radio on. It was on the same channel as the previous day, with the same host talking about the weather.

"Well, today is officially the third day of winter, but for many of us here in America, the snow has been a constant for weeks. Yet another snowstorm is winding its way through the Midwest and New England, causing more outages and travel delays. Scientists predict it will be worse next year, but somehow, I think those midwestern states are ready for it.

"Unfortunately, evil doesn't celebrate Christmas or suffer from snow delays. More countries in South America and Europe are reporting increased Nazi sightings. However, we were way too quick to jump on that story yesterday, because it appears no proof has been found. New German officials say that the reports were tied to 'hysteria and fear,' and not reality. More on that as we can.

"We also reported about the global economy yesterday as being dangerously unstable, but it has since corrected itself. As many realized that there was no proof of a Nazi increase, the market rebounded and closed at a normal level. This has been a pretty good year for investors, especially compared to prior years.

"And with that money comes Christmas! Everyone's favorite holiday is less than forty-eight hours away! If you haven't been shopping yet and you live in the Midwest or New England, all I have to say is good luck. Remember to visit family members or something!"

"Or something," Sail repeated, laughing.

"Go have fun in life or something!" Gogs mimicked. "Go rob a bank or something!"

"Oh!" Cog exclaimed, reminded of the money in the drawer. "You'll never guess what we found last night in one of my dresser drawers!"

Sprocket took the first shot. "Socks, I'd assume."

"Nazis?" Gogs offered.

"Money," Sail answered. "Lots of it!"

"One hundred in American dollars, pounds, and German dollars!" Cog was excited with their find. Free money was one thing, but lots of free money was another.

"Deutschmarks," Gogs corrected.

"Whatever."

Around eight, Torque walked in, smiling. His expression came off as a mix between plotting something outrageous and knowing a dirty secret. "You guys won't believe what I—"

"Nazis?" Cog asked, cutting him off.

"What?"

"Never mind!"

The other three were laughing at the table as he raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"You guys won't believe what I have to do tomorrow," he repeated.

"Nazis?" Sail also asked, before realizing the error of her ways. Gogs motioned for her to stop, teasing her with a grimace.

"Nope. I get to dress up as Big Wy tomorrow at lunch. It's for some dumb event, but I finally get to redeem my role as our handsome wyvern mascot!"

He scanned the table with his arms up, hoping one of the others matched his excitement. Instead, he stopped on Sail, confused by her eyes. "Wait, so you guys ditched the other girl, or..."

"Nope, it's still Sail," Sprocket said.

"Well, Miss Sail, I must say your eyes are just ravishing today. What will they look like tomorrow?"

"Just like this," she responded.

"How did you change your eye color?"

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"I didn't."

"But I thought..." He was obviously very confused.

"Torque," Sprocket said, standing up, "how about we go get some hot cocoa?"

"That sounds like a great idea," he responded, getting the idea. Not a hill to die on, apparently.

"Watch this," Sail began, "people are going to be staring, whispering, and then a few guys are gonna try to flirt. It happens every time. It's super embarrassing."

Sure enough, as more people entered, many were staring at the table. She got a few comments, but most of them were harmless compliments.

"Your name was Sail, right? Your eyes are so beautiful."

"What a lovely purple!"

"Girl, you're lookin' fine today."

One student, a third-year that was one of those "thinks he's cool but actually isn't" people, walked up to their table. "Hey, gorgeous," he swooned, "come sit over here with me." It was amazing how easily a little heterochromia brought out the worst people. Sail hated this much attention.

"Sorry, I'm taken," she replied, with a wink at Gogs. It made him shine a big, dorky smile, and he desperately hoped she didn't notice.

"How about this gorgeous blonde, then?" the guy suggested, winking at Cog. She was too busy rummaging through her bag to notice who he was talking to.

"Taken as well," Sprocket answered, walking back with another full mug for her. "Now scram, Gearhead, unless you want me to make it more than just a nickname."

"Can't blame a guy for trying!" he muttered, walking away.

"That was awfully bold," Gogs whispered to him. They both knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, but I knew she wasn't paying attention, so it was pretty much risk free."

"Wait," Cog started, "are we talking about me? What happened?"

"So, tomorrow's that presidential speech thing, right?" Torque queried, changing the topic. "I don't think I'm going to watch it."

"Why not?" Gogs asked. "You definitely should. I hear he's going to do some Christmas event thing, talk about the Nazi stuff, and even mention the Globetrotter! He was one of the original donors to the school, after all."

"It just doesn't seem super interesting."

"It's being broadcasted worldwide, supposedly with the best camera, microphone, and connection to-date."

"You're not doing a great job of selling this to me, Gogs."

If Lukas weren't trying to read Cog's mind at the moment, he would quickly get bored with all the presidential talk. Despite all his best efforts, he just wasn't getting any signal. Only at max power did he get a little bit of a reading.

Stab... politics... no...

He turned his machine off and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there was a pathway into her mind. All it took was max power. He couldn't keep it there long, but hopefully it would be just enough. He tuned back in, hoping to get more insight.

And got nothing.

No, no, no, he worried. Where did my signal go?

He aimed all around her, hoping to get the signal back again. That's when he realized somebody had been standing behind her and was just now moving away. He listened in on the bystander, just in case.

Seriously, I'm going to go mad if they don't stop talking politics. There are more important things in life.

No luck. He had been reading the random person's mind. Somehow, Cog's mind was unreadable, even at max power. He figured it would happen, but wanted to give it one last try ahead of tomorrow's events.

What Cog was thinking about was more along the lines of food.

"I'm hungry," she said, gearing up to get breakfast. Before she had a chance to leave the study hall, however, the first bell of the day rang. Her shattered heart and hunger-panged stomach would have to wait.

The four walked down to their history class together. Outside, the wind howled, the snow swirled, and the cold threatened frostbite. Inside, as they walked along the outermost corridor, all they felt the warmth of the heater.

Thank goodness for insulation, Sail thought.

-=[ ]=-

"Today, class," Trotter drawled in a low, monotone voice, "we'll be learning about the battle of the A.S. Crank. Please flip to page thirty-two in the book in front of you."

One by one, the students were met with a horrible surprise. Wedged between the pages was a ten-question quiz. "Gotcha!" he yelled. "Pop quiz!" He rubbed his hands together and smirked maliciously. "I expect the quiz to be done in ten minutes. Please answer to the best of your ability."

They were the easiest ten questions in Cog's life. For every question, the answer was "The Nazis." The questions were all multiple choice, but the four choices were the exact same. Prompts ranged from serious, like, "What fascist group was in control of Germany for years during World War II?" to goofy, like, "Who should've never been born?"

As soon as everyone had turned their papers in, he said, "Hopefully nobody struggled with that quiz too much. If you did, I have terrible news for you. Now that that's over with, it's actually time to go on with our lesson plan."

He revealed a drawing of two Nazi flags. The one on the left was the traditional flag, but the one on the right had gear teeth coming out of the white circle on the flag. "We should all recognize both flags. The traditional flag is seen on the left, which they don't really use anymore. The one on the right, more commonly seen now, was made in response to the events of this key battle over American soil in 1948.

"Introducing America's second ship made, the A.S. Crank. After receiving word of Nazi ships over U.S. soil, they dispatched this baby immediately. The battle was, well, intense."

-=[ ]=-

"Come on, Ronnie, let's show these Steamkrauts who they're messing with!"

Captain Cannon was a burly man with a stogie and beard. He was easily excited with the idea of an airship battle. It was radically new territory: other than airplane dogfights, wars had only been fought on the ground and in the sea. The idea of two massive airships clashing in the sky was overwhelming.

And his crew was going to be the first to do it.

"You bet, sir!" Private Ronnie Crooke loaded his high-powered cannon. It acted like a tank's cannon, but was more suited for the long-range battles in the air that they had trained for.

The enemy, a small Nazi ship that was hovering just over two miles away, rolled down their flags. Although the bright red banners made them obvious targets, it also saved them from friendly fire and reminded the crew of the A.S. Crank who they were messing with.

With scatter shots, minigun rounds, cannons, and flamethrowers alike, the A.S. Crank opened fire on their much smaller target, the A.S. Krankheit.

The barrage from the four different weapons eventually caused the small Nazi ship to cave in without letting it get a single shot off. The ship slowly smoldered and burned as it plummeted towards the ground.

If there were such a thing as too excited, it would probably be defined by the crew of the Crank following their speedy win. With almost no effort, they smothered the first Nazi airship they encountered. Their initial joy didn't last long, however.

"Goldfish down, shark incoming!" shouted the pilot. Sure enough, another Nazi ship was approaching, following behind the Krankheit's falling remains: the Nazi A.S. Panzerschiff. It was double their size.

Captain Cannon was a lot less excited.

"We have to stop this thing before it gets anywhere near the White House," he said. He peered at their enemy through a set of binoculars. "How far out are we?"

"We're six miles south-southwest, sir!" the pilot yelled.

"Then we've got five miles to knock this blotska out of the sky."

"Was that a Russian swear, sir?"

"No, it was my own, dang it!"

The Panzerschiff was first to strike. Massive cannons extended out from its side, each aiming at the Crank. A wave of rounds fired, with a few of the artillery shells landing hits on the hull.

"We're hit, left hull back!" the repairman yelled, as he worked frantically to patch a new hole in the hull.

One of the men stood up from the copilot seat and turned to face Captain Cannon. "I'll take it from here, Captain," they offered. "Good work. We'll make a major out of you soon enough."

"Thank you, General Victoria, sir," Captain Cannon responded, going back to his binoculars.

Erik Victoria was your stereotypical no-nonsense military general. He often came off as stern, or like he was in deep meditation. He was part of the airship wing of the Air Force, and was always talked down to by other generals about his uselessness. They undervalued the importance of an airship. Today, he would prove them wrong.

"Fire back two artillery at their left and right, balloon bound!" he barked at his gunmen. They did as they were told, shooting off a couple of rounds each. A few shells made contact, puncturing and tearing apart the enemy balloon. The helium inside of the balloon made an instant fireball, but didn't light the ship on fire.

"The enemy can no longer gain altitude, sir," one of the intelligence aids confirmed.

"Now we can have the height advantage. Increase altitude two hundred feet, pilot."

"Yes, sir."

The Crank lifted just enough to be out of range of the enemy artillery. In response, the Panzerschiff fired off a few fireballs and automatic rounds.

"Machine gun and fireball damage to the storage area hull, sir!" the repairman reported, rushing to put out the fire.

"Give them a taste of their own medicine. Send fireballs to anything wood, and use the machine guns on anything glass or flesh."

Flaming chunks of coal were hurled at the Nazi ship. Captain Cannon also threw a grenade, but he didn't have a throwing arm strong enough to launch it over a mile. Still, he considered it as taunting them. Whether the enemy actually saw it was another story. Three of the six fireball shots hit, igniting the enemy ship.

Ricky Valentine perched himself atop the machine gun with his rifle in hand. Often, using infantry guns in airship battles was a waste of time, as it was nearly impossible to hit anyone. Valentine, however, lived to break the impossible.

Except to those he worked under, he was an unknown name in the war. It wouldn't be until later that he was famed for his work. He just had to prove to the general that he was worth the salary given to him.

Valentine spotted two repairmen on board the Panzerschiff that were trying to put out fires from their attack. He tested the wind battering his side and aimed his rifle in their direction. With two shots, both fell. The fire blazed on, engulfing them with it.

"Gone in a blaze of glory," he announced over his radio. "Two repairmen down, fire left uncontained."

"Great work, Valentine," General Victoria congratulated. "Let's finish this up, people."

In a last-ditch effort to land hits, the Nazis brought out three anti-tank rifles and aimed them at their balloon, hull, and engine. Right as the Panzerschiff split in half, two of the three fired, and the shots connected with their targets.

"Hull top left and balloon mid-mid hit!"

Had the third been able to fire, the fight would have been over for both sides. The engine explosion would have destabilized and destroyed the ship. Instead, the only ship going down in flames and explosions was the Panzerschiff. Its burning remains began falling to the ground, littering the landscape just over a mile away from the White House.

"Enemy down, sir!" Everyone on board cheered.

"We'll just have to see what the president thinks of this one," Victoria smugly commented.

-=[ ]=-

"That's why many ships are now 'Victorian' themed, and the reason we have a Victoria Day," Trotter finished, handing out homework. "Questions?"

"How did General Victoria die?" asked Gogs.

"He died in the final battle, piloting the A.S. Marauder. Right before he died, he said, 'To kill a Nazi is to serve your country. To kill two Nazis, the country serves you.' He and his crews were responsible for the deaths of six thousand of them."

"Wait, when were airship shields made?" Sprocket asked. "They didn't have any for the first battle?"

"The history of shields is complicated and not really known. American scientists reverse-engineered a Nazi shield from one of their earliest ships, but we're not sure how they came up with the technology. Realistically, the technology should not exist yet, and there are plenty of conspiracy theories out there about it."

"Which one's your favorite?" Sprocket asked.

"There's one that says the technology came from the future, and the Nazis got their hands on it from a time traveler who was visiting the war. It's probably the most outlandish one, but it's a lot of fun." Trotter passed out the homework, which yet again included names, numbers, dates and times.

"Learning about that general gave me pride," Sprocket said, "especially with that quote and his kill count."

"He was arguably the best airship general in the war," Gogs stated. "The shield thing was interesting, too. I never really considered the technology disparity."

Behind them, Lukas smiled. This time, he wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. He was actually thinking about the pop quiz that he never answered any questions on.