Ganymede (The Clockwork Century 3)

Chester Fishwick took the seat instead, and when they were all settled again—Deaderick wincing and Josephine working hard to keep from babying him in front of the other men—the captain said, “So I hear you’ve got a big boat, only it’s not exactly a boat. And you want me to fly it. ”

“That’s the sum of it,” Deaderick said.

While Cly figured out what else to add, and how to add it, Houjin’s excited voice carried through the windows, spouting a list of questions a mile long. Cly said, “The kid must’ve found Mr. Worth. ”

“The lens-maker?” Josephine asked. “Yes, he’s here. Who’s the kid?”

“He’s apprenticing with me. Smart boy. Wants to know how everything works, and he’s real excited about that gate you folks have set up—the one with the mirrors. Norman Somers said a guy named Worth designed it, and now Huey needs to hear the details. But I’m not here to tell you about my crew. I’m here to hear about your ship. ”

Deaderick took a deep breath that appeared to sting. He said, “I’m not sure how much the ladies have told you already. ”

“The history of it, mostly. And I’ve seen the engineer’s drawings, the ones that show most of the workings. But I’m still trying to wrap my head around how to operate it, or get it to the ocean. I mean, I can tell from what little I’ve seen of your camp that you fellows have plenty of good machines and good mechanics to keep them running. Surely someone here can pilot your bird. Your fish,” he corrected himself.

Chester declared, “We have four mechanics from the schools at Fort Chattanooga, and a couple of men who trained in the machine shops in Houston. So yes, we’re all set for men to make and maintain what we’ve got, that’s a fact. But the men we have … they’re drivers and sailors. They’re engineers who’ve worked on rolling-crawlers and the big diesel walkers the Rebs are using on the northern fronts. They aren’t men who know much about airships, or this kind of … watership. ”

Deaderick added, “I think they could be forgiven for not knowing much about the Ganymede. Everyone who ever understood it is dead or in prison, miles and miles away from here. The Ganymede is a tribe of one. Wallace Mumler wants to call it an undermariner, but that’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Hunley called these things submarines, so that’s what I’m sticking to. ”

Josephine smiled, every bit as cool and measured as he remembered she was capable of being. “Chester and Rucker, and Deaderick here, and Edison Brewster, and Honeyfolk—they all know how it works. They can tell you what every lever means and what every button does, but not a one of them knows how to turn the thing in a full circle without so much shouting, arguing, and complicated finesse that you can’t imagine them ever moving it down the river. These men have all the paper know-how, and none of the hands-on experience to pilot the thing correctly. ”

Chester added, “But like Rick just said: Nobody does. There’s no one within five hundred miles who’s been inside a submarine and hasn’t drowned. ”

Deaderick looked to Josephine, whose smile had not melted. She said, “It was my idea to go hunting for an airman instead of a seaman. The sailors all know how to sail, but this isn’t sailing. The drivers all know how to drive, but this isn’t driving. It’s flying under the waves, and I think you’ll have an easier time of it. Your instincts will be the right ones. ”

Andan Cly thought about it hard. Slowly he said, “Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve had a word with my crew, and everybody’s interested in giving your job a chance, but I’m not interested in getting any of them killed. Myself either, for that matter. So I think I’d better take a look at this submarine. ”

Deaderick once again hefted himself to his feet. “Rick, baby. You should stay here,” Josephine insisted.

“The hell I should. I know that thing better than anybody, and I’ll show him around it. ”

Appealing now to Cly, and to Chester, too, she said, “But it’s been only a couple of days since he was shot. He should stay. ”

Chester wasn’t about to overrule Deaderick Early, and Cly didn’t know any of them well enough to intervene. So he said, “Josie, if the man says he’s fit to leave, you’d better let him. He’s kin of yours, so I won’t stand in his way. ”

She relented unhappily. “Fine. But Chester, do me a favor and get Dr. Polk and have him join us, will you?”

“That achy old drunk?” Deaderick sighed. “I don’t need him watching over me like I’m a baby in a bathtub. ”

“I want him here in case you start bleeding again,” she pushed. “I didn’t go through all the trouble to drag you back to the bayou just to have you drop dead because you think you’re too much of a man to take a week and recuperate. ” Then she turned to Cly and said, “He was at Barataria when the Texians raided. He took two bullets, and only by the grace of God is he still here living and breathing. He’s a lucky bastard, is what he is. ”

“Lucky to have such a devoted sister,” he said, and gave her a penitent kiss on the cheek.

One by one they descended the ladder, and Chester Fishwick went in search of the doctor. Josephine called after him, “Tell him to meet us at the dock!”

When everyone was back on the ground, Cly asked, “You have a doctor out here?”

“Technically. He’s a drunk Federal who was drummed off the field four years ago for killing a man on the operating table,” Deaderick replied. “That’s a hard call to make—a man on an operating table isn’t in the best shape in the first place, but if the doctor’s been drinking, I don’t guess that improves his odds any. Regardless, he patched me up out at Barataria, and Josephine brought him along. ”

“I promised him some of Wallace’s grain alcohol,” she said.

Deaderick pointed at a path, a winding trail contrived from dirt ruts and planks that had been jammed into the mud for better footing. “We’re heading that way, down to the river. ” He pressed one hand against his injured chest, and for a moment he went pale beneath the hue of his skin.

“Rick?” Josephine asked.

“Don’t, now. I’m all right. Come on. Let’s go. ”

“Hold on. ” Cly stopped him. “See that oriental boy, badgering that old guy in the spectacles? That’s Houjin. Let me grab him. He’ll want to see this. ” The captain rather wanted Houjin to see it, too. It wasn’t that he doubted the knowledge of the men who were guarding the Ganymede so jealously, but he wanted to get the fledgling engineer’s take on the matter as well. Sometimes the advantage of being young and bright is not knowing what’s impossible. “Huey, get over here a minute, will you? Get Fang and Troost if they’re handy. ”