Another day, another incorrectly configured volume. Cog's alarm quietly chimed its melody, waking Sail up almost immediately. She waited a minute to see if Cog was going to get up and turn it off, but she never even stirred. With a groan, she trudged out of bed and disabled it herself.
"Your alarm's been going off for a while now," she said, shaking her friend awake. Cog panicked, confused by the figure standing over her, before realizing it was just a sleep-deprived Sail.
"Sorry, Sail," she apologized, sitting up. "I just can't find the right volume for this thing. One day I'll figure it out."
"It's okay. I'm just not used to an alarm is all." Sail flopped back onto her bed, face-first. She was snoring three minutes later.
Despite Sail sleeping in, the two still managed to get around and leave their room by seven. On the way out, Sail opened up the light switch and grabbed their goggles.
"Do you remember which one is which?" she asked, weighing both pairs in her hands.
"Mine's got the green lenses," Cog answered, "and yours has the blue." She let the goggles rest on her hat. Sail put her own back in the receptacle, deciding that the attention attracted was too much to bear. Besides, she wasn't wearing a hat this time, so she couldn't really wear them that well.
The two received no welcome when they entered the study hall, even though they arrived right on time. Instead, Gogs motioned with his finger to remain quiet. A radio sat in the middle of the table. Its speakers emitted static and a voice in equal parts.
"We're also receiving reports of quite a few potential issues, folks," the voice revealed. "This is huge. It appears Nazi activity may be increasing in New Germany and over small parts of international waters. While officials in New Germany are doing their best to stop Nazi marches, witnesses say the Nazis are 'undeterred' and continue to march. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about sightings over international waters, unless we want to start a war again.
"We don't know what's happening here, but the global market has become unstable. Some believe it could be the increase in Nazi sightings, like economics expert Rob Yu, who says that 'people fear the Nazis and are pulling out money.' More on that as it develops.
"Word is that some of our allied countries are now struggling to stay in stable relationships with each other. That means that if war breaks out, the Allied Powers would have to get their act together or risk breaking worldwide structural bonds, making the war a lot more chaotic. The president is expected to make a statement about all of this in his coming press conference, which you can watch worldwide."
Gogs had a map spread out on the table, with two map markers where nearby Nazi ship sightings were. The nearest one was over Brazil.
He finally switched the radio off and let out a deep sigh. "Good morning, ladies," he greeted.
"Hiya, Gogs," Sail returned.
"I really hope that the radio guy is wrong," Sprocket said, trying to go back to the previous topic. "There could be a third world war, or a continuation of the Steam War. Or both."
The four sat quietly at the table, staring between the map and the radio on the table. Nobody really wanted to think about what that meant. War meant that Sail would have to continue classes, while the other three would all be put in a lottery and most likely drafted as soon as they turned eighteen. War meant that the four would all be separated from each other and sent to different airship crews.
And, more importantly, war meant that Hitler would get a second chance at taking over the world, at killing and enslaving people again, and at enacting his twisted vision of persecution and ethnic cleansing.
The fact that this man had not been killed or stripped of all power thirty years ago infuriated Cog. The world's most despicable, dastardly man was allowed to live because a coalition of "ethical" governments wanted to put a quick end to a war that had already lasted eleven years. That didn't seem very ethical to her.
"I doubt we'll have another war," Gogs said. He wasn't very reassuring.
"Do you think we should tell someone?" Sail asked, worried. Other students had walked in, completely unaware of the news. If Amp didn't mention it during lunch, most news was never heard on board the Globetrotter.
"No, it'd probably be best to leave it alone," Sprocket answered. "It might cause too much fear. Besides, it's possible there won't even be a war. We would just get everybody ruffled up over nothing." He got up and went to pour himself some coffee.
"You're not ruffled up, are you, Sprocket?" Gogs quietly asked him, joining him at the "Wake Up!" counter.
"Of course not," he smiled.
-=[ ]=-
Lukas spent most of his night trying to find an inconspicuous way of proving that Cog wasn't a robot. Ultimately, he decided that there was no way she was. Her movements, actions, and eating habits were all human, if not a little excessive on the last point. It took him a while, but he finally devised a test to figure out what was preventing his technology. It was a perfect strategy that would still let the rest of his plan run just as smoothly. All it would take was a little bit of relationship improvement to convince her they were on the same side.
-=[ ]=-
"Welcome back, class," Trotter said, drawing on the chalkboard. "I sincerely hope you're ready for part two of World War II: the Steam War. Pull out your notes, because it's going to be a long hour."
Everyone grabbed their history notebooks. Multiple sheets were already filled.
It's gonna be one of those classes, Cog thought. Her head bobbed again as she desperately fought to stay awake. Here she was, victim to having a history class first thing in the morning, falling asleep again.
"The first date we want to put down is the twentieth of June 1947. This was, of course, the day the first Nazi airship took flight. It was two hundred tons and had incredible firepower for the time. The ship was shot down by the American ship A.S. Skyfall in September 1948, but by that point, the Nazis had conquered six countries in South America.
"Later that very September, the Nazis developed three devastating airships that drew the war out quite a bit longer. By this time, the last pre-Steam War German ground left was a small area in the Soviet Union.
"The A.S. Blitz, A.S. Hindenburg, and A.S. Überall were their names. They did massive damage to our ships and morale. By the time the Blitz was destroyed, we had finally defeated Japan in World War II. This marked the end of World War II, but not the Steam War.
"The Hindenburg and the Überall haven't been found, but rumors say that the Hindenburg went up in flames four years ago in May. Any questions so far?"
Gogs raised his hand. "So, planes were used in the war until Nazis brought the airships out. Why'd they stop making them?"
"Well, there's a lot to consider, so let's begin with resource consumption. Planes ran on oil, which was a strained commodity during the war. The planes were also too weak to defeat an airship unless you had fifteen of them, because they were drastically smaller, and the bullets and bombs hardly did anything. Third, you can have a moving crew to work and repair an airship, and a lot more storage on board. Lastly, take a gander at these old ship designs."
He pulled out pictures of airships from the beginning of the Steam War. They were big, mean, and menacing. "It's important to note," he continued, "that planes are still definitely used. They're just rarely used if an airship is involved. Airplane dogfights were very common all throughout the war, and commercial planes are the easiest way to travel long-distance."
When nobody else had a question, Trotter continued his lecture. "The A.S. Blitz was taken out in December 1948 during a lightning storm, shockingly. Anyone know what 'Blitz' means?"
Most kids raised their hands. "If you said 'lightning,' you'd be correct. Losing the Blitz was a colossal blow to the Nazis, and they fought an uphill battle for the rest of the war.
"In February 1949, the Hindenburg and the Überall vanished from both the war and public eye. We know for a fact that the Überall is out there, somewhere. Between their disappearances and June 1950, ninety-two American airships, two hundred German, and sixty-three from other countries were destroyed.
"Finally, June nineteenth, 1950 arrived. That day, the United States' largest ship, the A.S. Marauder, the British ship A.S. Discipline, and the largest Nazi ship yet, the Weltwarf, got into a massive firefight. The battle lasted seven hours. The German ship managed to blow up both of ours, and then succumbed to their own wounds a few moments later.
"President Harry Truman called Hitler on the next day, and they arranged a ceasefire. We consider the war to be over at this point, even though it was never officially ended."
"Can you imagine an endless ceasefire with a crazy dictator?" Gogs posed to Sprocket.
"Looks like I don't have to," he said.
"That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Steam War in a nutshell. Any questions while I hand out the homework?"
Sail, despite having remained dead silent in class for the past three days, raised her hand. She had a question she'd been holding onto for the past few days and figured Trotter might know the answer. "What was the date Katie Wings took to the sky in an airship?" she asked.
Trotter grinned.
"That is a great question," he said, scanning the room. Almost everyone seemed confused. "I'll explain. Katie Wings was an aeronautics professor who became the first female airship pilot for the military. She was also the only official female flyer preceding 1964. It was the seventeenth of August, 1948, when she took to the skies for America.
"Dr. Wings enlisted in the first annual Airship Race in 1948 because people expected her to actually be her husband. By the time people found out the truth, it was too late. She had already won the first-place award. The government, low on pilots, broke traditional war ideals and offered her a spot in the Airship Brigade.
"Her crew shot down six airships during her tenure, before being ambushed by the Weltwarf herself. She died one week prior to the end of the war."
"How old was she?" someone asked.
"Twenty-eight, if I remember right," he answered. He handed out the homework, saying, "I don't expect this to be returned tomorrow, because of the whole Bahamas thing. However, I expect it to be done on Saturday. Those of you going on vacation today are now free to leave."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
-=[ ]=-
After being woken up, Cog and the two boys each went to their rooms. All three of them grabbed some pocket change, but Sprocket also grabbed a high-quality black and white camera from his dresser.
"Ready?" Cog asked. They were standing at the drop-off staircase that led directly to the Bahamas.
"You bet," Gogs said, rubbing his hands together. The three walked down the long flight of stairs towards the angelic white sand.
-=[ ]=-
Sail's next class was algebra, which she really struggled with. She didn't see the purpose of knowing who or what a parabola is.
"Welcome back, Miss Sail," the teacher said, her proper English accent very thick. Sail waved half-heartedly and sat down in her seat. She sighed as she scanned the room. Everyone else in the class was breezing through algebra, while she was miles behind them. It was only the fourth day, but it was more than enough to show how bad she was.
"Today, class," the teacher said, "we're graphing more parabolas, but these are a little different from the ones we're used to."
She wrote "y² + 2y + 6 = x" on the board. "Does anyone see the difference between our usual parabola?"
Yeah, Sail thought, this one makes me hate math more.
One kid raised his hand and answered, "It's rotated ninety degrees clockwise."
"Correct. What does that do to domain and range, Sail?"
All the snarky comments left her system as she sat in fear. Being called on to answer a question was the worst thing that could happen, because it meant talking. She also had no clue what the answer to her question was.
"Umm," she fumbled, "they get flipped?"
"Good," the teacher confirmed. "There'd be a limit to domain, instead of the range."
As if I know what that means. Another fun day in the nerd world.
It wouldn't be that bad if it were interesting, she figured, but nothing interesting happens in math. There is no action, or war, or drama, or anything in math. It's merely memorizing formulas and abstract concepts on the off chance you need to use it once a year in the future.
You didn't need that as a pilot. All you needed was a wheel, controls, and a crew. Somebody else did the math for you.
Algebra seemed to drag on for hours by the time the bell released her from math prison. She rushed out, barely even grabbing the homework assignment. Any part of that madness was too much.
She was excited to see her three friends, but remembered that they were out in the Bahamas as she entered the lunchroom. She was alone with their three empty chairs at the Cogwheel table. Part of her liked the idea of the quiet it brought, but it felt lonely just the same.
Amp walked on stage, not wearing his normal smile. It was a picture that didn't settle well with her. His spirit had always seemed unbreakable, and that was part of his charm. Everyone else seemed to share her concern, because the noise abruptly died down.
What could shake the unbreakable Amp?
"Sorry, guys," he began, "this is a serious topic today. I'll repeat it over the PA system when everyone is back, but I wanted to talk about it as soon as possible. Many of you have heard about the increase in Nazi activity, no doubt, as well as the market and alliance issues. News spread pretty quickly after workshop class, I hear. I come bearing news that everything is going to be okay."
There were some murmurs in the crowd. Quite a few students seemed uneasy.
"The Allies have promised two things," he continued. "They plan to fix their crumbling relationships and have pledged to attack any invading forces in any territory. As for the market, nobody knows what's going to happen. Hopefully, people have learned from the Great Depression that panicking now only hurts us. In my opinion, tomorrow the market will be perfectly stable."
Something about the way he spoke lifted some spirits. Despite not having his usual bright smile, the unbreakable Amp was still unbreakable.
"Finally, there is no proof that the whole 'increased Nazi sightings' thing is real. Yes, Nazis are marching in the streets in New Germany, but they're almost always marching in New Germany. Cockroaches have a hard time staying down, and their country has the biggest infestation.
"Remember that above all else, we belong to America. If any threat comes for the Globetrotter, they will have to face the wrath of the entire country. They would be stupid to try anything. If an economic failure hits the globe, our country has our back. If Nazis decide to threaten our ship, you can bet three times as many ships as they have will be guarding us. If war starts, we will go as quickly as possible back home. But I sincerely doubt any of that will happen, so don't worry. Amp out, peace."
Sail sat quietly at the table, eating the chicken noodle soup that was made for lunch. She didn't feel like Amp was too reassuring.
What if they brought the biggest ship ever? The Globetrotter was big, but there were plenty of ships that could and would dwarf it. She recalled back to their history class that morning.
The Überall. The Überall dwarfs us.
She shuddered thinking about it. Hopefully, she would never have to see that titan of a ship in her life. It was certain death.
Lunch passed in silence, and she made her way over to socials. It was probably her second favorite class, but it already felt empty without Cog. They'd hardly just met, but Cog's personality was contagious and loveable.
"Here's my homework from yesterday," Sail said, giving Springlock the paper.
"Great work, but this wasn't due today. Do you understand the commands?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Sail sat down, and the teacher started right away.
"Today, we're going in depth on the same topic that yesterday's group went over, so that nobody falls behind. We have a lot of German words and phrases to go through today, so let's get going."
As the class soon found out, "in depth" was more in-depth than they had anticipated. They were breaking down each word and figuring out what each part meant and sounded like, and then they had to guess the literal translation. By the end of the lecture, if you didn't know the endings for adjectives or a suffix for a noun, you weren't paying attention.
"Now, it's time for a review game. You and a partner need to practice your pronunciation and translations, and then quiz each other. Whoever wins gets a pin to decorate their goggles with."
Much to Sail's dismay, the only person without a partner was Lukas.
Judging by the mental sigh she performed, Lukas figured she wasn't the happiest of people. That said, she carried a deadly passion to beat him in the review game. He couldn't figure out the proper dilemma. If he let her win, she would be happy. His pride would also get shot, because he would lose at speaking his own language. Win and keep his pride, or lose and make the one who hates him happy?
He owed this American nothing. She wasn't even part of his plan.
His mind was made. "Game on," he said, cracking his knuckles.
Sail was surprisingly good. Many of the kids had to say the words slowly in order to say them correctly, but she hardly glanced at a word before spitting it out. Her pronunciation and translations were spot-on. She was on track to a perfect run.
For now, Lukas told himself.
With four words left, Lukas raised his hand. "Hypothetically, what do we do if we tie?"
"Well," Springlock began, "you'd go through all the words you didn't do. If, after that, you still tie, I guess we can have a showdown in front of the class."
And that's exactly what ended up happening. With the pressure of thirteen other pairs of eyes, they had to pronounce the words with no hesitation. The teacher would point to the person and then the word.
Lukas was nervous. He should technically have the upper hand. How in the world was she so good at languages? He'd heard her Spanish, too, and it was flawless. It made him upset.
Sail, despite appearing bored or unwavered, was falling apart on the inside, too. She had almost considered dropping out at some point just so she wouldn't have to stand up in front of everyone and be put on the spot. Her need for a mix of victory and revenge was the only thing standing in the way.
Springlock selected Lukas, and her pointer clicked against the chalkboard. He correctly pronounced the word, and they moved on. Point, click, pronouncement, point, click, pronouncement. The pattern continued until she pointed to a word that wasn't on the original list: gummibärchen. Lukas accidentally stumbled over the word amid the mounting pressure.
"Ladies and gents, Sail has trumped the native speaker!" Springlock announced. Sail received a German Mark II badge, and he received a German Mark I for being second best. As an insult to injury, Sail pulled a bag of gummy bears out of her pocket.
Foiled by gummy bears, Lukas thought. Pathetic.
"You let me win, didn't you?" Sail probed, loading her backpack.
He smiled and replied, "I may have."
He didn't.
She believed he did, though, and that was all he needed.
"I'll win without you giving it to me next time," she said, giving him an evil grin.
He genuinely smiled, but stopped himself. Too bad all good things come to an end.
-=[ ]=-
"I wish this would never end," Cog said, lying in the sand, drink in hand. It was nearly Christmas, but she was getting a tan in summer weather. She could get used to this.
"Me too," Gogs agreed. Unlike Cog, he sat in the shade to avoid burning. He liked the sun as much as anyone else. It just didn't like him.
Sprocket was out swimming in the ocean after two continuous hours of taking pictures. Cog figured he was probably out of camera film at this point. It was a good thing he seemed to enjoy the water just as much as the rest of the beach.
A dull shape caught his eye in the water beneath him. He disappeared underneath the surface for a moment and reappeared with his hands cupped together.
"What'd you find, Sprocket?" Cog asked as he approached.
He displayed an oyster about the size of his palms. "Just a normal, plain-old, boring oyster, right?" he prompted.
"My guess is no," Gogs commented. Sprocket gave him a sideways glance before he opened its jaw, revealing a glorious oval pearl sitting undisturbed inside.
Cog gasped at its brilliant orange hue. The pearl reflected light back at the three of them.
"You've gotta grab it, though," Sprocket teased, struggling to hold the oyster open. She reached carefully inside and grabbed the pearl. It was still slimy, so she wiped it on her shirt.
"Sprocket, it's so beautiful," she said, rolling it around in her hand. "Thank you."
"No problem. You want one too, Gogs?"
Gogs shrugged. "Well, you can sell them to that vendor for twenty-five bucks a piece, so find me as many as you want."
"I'd gladly buy them from you for that much," Cog offered.
"Girl, I'd rather give them to you for free than get twenty-five lousy dollars," he responded.
"That's not lousy money," Cog pointed out. "That's eleven hours of minimum wage work." She went back to staring at the pearl and admiring its beauty.
"Anything for you, my love," Sprocket called, dashing back into the water with long, fluid motions.
Gogs watched him run all the way back into the water, surprised. He knew Sprocket was desperately interested in her, but he'd never been so explicit about it. If Cog had noticed his comment, she didn't give any indication. She was too fixated on the pearl resting in her hand.
He would bet a pearl to say she hadn't even noticed.
And they say guys are dense, he mused.
-=[ ]=-
"Good to see you again, Katie," her teacher remarked. To everyone else, he was Bolt, the nickname he had used for years.
Sail wasn't everyone else, though. She was his sister.
"Thanks, Hunter," she replied. She took a seat near the front of the room, gearing up for her actual favorite class.
Airship Operation was probably one of the hardest classes on the Globetrotter. Unless, of course, you were Sail. If there were three things that ran in her family, they were autumn hair, linguistics, and airship knowledge.
All you had to do was learn how to fly a ship. The class used small, personal airships that fit at most three people. They had originally been on the Globetrotter before it was converted into a school, but weren't meant for anything other than short-distance flight.
"So, kids," Bolt said, standing behind a pedestal, "today we're fine-tuning some of the flying tactics we worked on yesterday, and then we'll start moving into some more complicated ones. It becomes second nature, almost like driving a car. And these first hundred days are like having training wheels."
He was both the youngest and most energetic teacher on board. Electricity seemed to bounce between each of his sentences, and there was a passion for excellence behind every word. It was easy to get swept up in his excitement, and soon the entire class was tingling with fervor.
Despite being siblings, Sail felt that the two of them couldn't be much more different. Bolt was boisterous and outgoing, while she kept to herself. He had initiative, while she let the days pass by. She knew it wasn't fair to compare herself to her older brother, but sometimes it felt like he was a lot more successful.
"Everyone, hop into a ship and let's get going," Bolt said, snapping her back to reality. Moping would have to wait. There was a group of twenty-four of her peers to outperform.
The room was fitted with twenty-five simulation civilian airships, each a sky-blue color with decorative rivets along metallic strips holding it together. All of them faced towards a massive hangar door. They were locked in place until the students were ready to actually fly. Sail didn't want to know how many times that came in handy.
"Turn on the engine, then turbines, then steam pipes. Retract weapons and stairs, and begin a slow straight cruise."
It was their third day of this exact same routine, and they already had it down pat. Day one was all about getting this right, and you couldn't leave for any other class until you did it perfectly three times in succession. The next part, however, got a little more difficult for most.
"Without overheating or jerking, get to six hundred knots and lock it in place."
Two people fired their ships up with a jerk, three overheated, and six ended and locked with a jerk. Sail managed 598 knots before locking it.
"Tsk, tsk," Bolt chirped, shaking his head as he checked Sail's speed. An evil smirk washed over his face.
Afterwards, a series of maneuvering skills were tested. She failed two of ten, but most failed seven or eight. They repeated everything for the rest of the hour, beginning with the ignition process, then working on movement.
"Remember, I don't expect everything to be perfect until about fifty days in. I might seem awful picky, but I do it out of the kindness of my heart."
-=[ ]=-
With the arrival of the bell came her departure. She gathered her stuff and headed for the exit.
"See ya later," she said, brushing past him.
"Absolutely not, young girl," he said, eyebrows raised, grabbing onto her backpack. She turned around to face him.
"What's up, Hunter?" This was the first time he'd stopped her from leaving class, and she was confused.
"So, who's the boy?" he asked, pulling up a chair.