Read Online Aethosphere Chronicles: Winds of Duty by Jeremiah D. Schmidt - Free Book Online

and that transport can be saved.
    But an abrupt blow to the back of his skull
left Bar reeling and staggering in place. In a flash he was grabbed
by strong arms, Stowe’s and the remaining marine, and yanked from
the wheel. They had him. Kicking, Bar fought to retain his post
while Moore screamed in the background, “Take him away, godsdamn
traitor , I should have known the mongrel would turn!” The young
ensign, blood drenching the back of his head, weakly grabbed at the
resonance table as he passed by—his fingernails caught wood and dug
ragged grooves in the surface—before he was wheeled about and
struck hard in the face. A burst of light blinded him. A blow to
the gut doubled him over, and the grizzled old boar of an aeronaut
took the opportunity to entwine his fingers into the delicate nest
of Bar’s neck hairs, where he grabbed hold of a fistful, and yanked
hard. Suddenly Bar was nothing more than a puppet, with Stowe in
command, directing him to and fro as the marine rushed forward to
hold the door to the ladderwell open for the pair.
    Bar meant to resist—fight back—but he found
his guts on fire and his limbs uncooperative, and fully at the
mercy of the Chief Master’s unrelenting strength. “Chain him with
the rest,” Bar heard Moore yell as he reached the door.
    “Keep moving!” ordered Stowe, letting go of
Bar’s hair and thrusting him through the threshold into the
darkened well. Obediently Bar headed for the descending ladder, but
the master-at-arms shoved the barrel of his clatterbolt into the
small of his back and hollered, “Up, Bazzon!”
    “Up?” he struggled in pain and
confusion.
    “You heard me!”
    “…but, there’s nothing up there but the core
and the crow’s deck.
    “Concerns like that are quite beyond you
now, Bazzon. You should have followed your orders. Now up!”
    “You know I couldn’t go through with it” Bar
tried to reason as he clutched his aching stomach with one arm and
gripped the railing with the other. He felt for sure his guts must
be punctured. “…not that, Stowe…not with those civilians—”
    “They’re none of our concern,” barked back
the master-at-arms, his voice hollow in the enclosed space, his
tone angry and lashing like a whip. “Our concern lies solely in the
chain of command, which can’t be so casually tossed aside.” Stowe
prodded Bar on at the point of his weapon, setting him stumbling up
one creaky step after another.
    “Nay, not casually, Stowe…unlike some, I’ve
remembered my duty, and it’s to protect the people of this kingdom.
I’ll not leave them to die now…not while Moore uses them as bait.
Gryph was right to refuse when he did, and I was a fool not to.
It’s a wrong too grievous before the eyes of the gods.”
    “You think Moore in the wrong, and you in
the right? You’ve no idea what you’re interfering with, boy ‘tis
why we’re all sworn to the rule of order. Despite the man’s
prejudices, I side with Moore, not only because he’s the commanding
officer, but he seeks to maintain the Unity and stand against the
Empire…because should that ship we’re chasing reach Midport, then
all could be lost.”
    “How so…I don’t understand.”
    “Aye, and I don’t expect you to, Bazzon. For
now you’ll sit up in the captain’s hold with the rest of the
discontents till we sort this mess out.”
    “You mean Moore’s secret prison.”
    “If that’s how you fancy it, but don’t be
getting bitter about it now. You were given your fair chance to
keep out of it, boy—to follow simple orders—and now, you got no one
but yourself to blame for where your actions have landed you.”
    “And the what? Am I to be executed…like
Hastings, without a fair hearing or any semblance of proper
procedure?”
    “That ain’t for me to say. Now enough talk,
or I’ll put your fears to an end right here and now with my
clatterbolt, your choice.”
    Bar held his tongue and continued in angry
silence up the airbladder’s