Read Online Bravado's House of Blues by John A. Pitts - Free Book Online Page A

locker at the foot of his bunk, palmed the lock, and keyed in her override code. Mitch would kill her when he learned she had all their security locks compromised, but if she didn’t act, he would be dead anyway.
    She rifled through his clothes, books, and personal effects. In the bottom, under his shaving kit, was the pistol he had been forbidden to bring onto the ship. She knew he had it, or at least had suspected it, but holding the heavy, cold weapon in her hand sent a shaft of anger through her. Once again, he had obeyed the rules he thought were important. She stuck the pistol in her waistband, closed the locker, and hurried out of the crew section.
    Her vision had mostly settled by the time she slid back down the ladder and raced toward the aft engineering section. She slowed as she neared the door, pistol in hand. No one was in the doorway. She poked her head around; two of the dirigible’s crew held Susan. Robert lay on the floor, as did two other crewmembers. A fifth member, Captain Bretherton, was just moving toward the control panel. She hoped the last member was on the bridge, especially in a storm like this.
    Marta fired the pistol into the room. The bullet ricocheted off the steel bulkhead, whining as everyone screamed and fell to the floor, their arms wrapped around their heads.
    “Get away from that control panel,” Marta yelled.
    Susan stood up. One of the crewmembers made a grab at her, but she kicked his hand away.
    Marta strode into the room, giving the supine forms a wide berth. She held the pistol with both hands and aimed it directly at the captain.
    The captain, on his knees, put his hands into the air and glared at her. “You stupid bitch! Are you out of your mind? Guns are prohibited on airships.”
    She pressed one palm over her left eye and waved the gun with the other. “Get away from my crew.”
    The two men who had been holding Susan crawled away. The captain didn’t budge. If he lunged, he could conceivably drop the tow cable, but the gear was theirs. He’d never used it. She could read the hesitancy in his eyes.
    “We’re a huge lightning target, you realize,” he said reasonably. “Dragging that cable in the water is suicide in this weather. If we get a direct strike, we’re all dead.”
    Marta heard the pleading in his voice. She’d won. She edged around the captain, toward the console. “Susan, check on Mitch.” The captain looked at the control panel again, a moment of desperation in his eyes. She waved the pistol again. “Oh, please make me shoot you!”
    With a sigh, he turned away.
    “You’ll pay for this,” he growled as he moved.
    “You struck down Robert first,” Susan said through her tears.
    “Just check on Mitch, okay?” Marta asked. “Captain. There will be an investigation when we return. The fact that this storm came on us so fast is no one’s fault. The welds on the superstructure failed and my guys were fixing it. Also no one’s fault under these conditions. The fact that I have two men in the drink, that is our responsibility and we are getting them out. Do I make myself clear?”
    “Crystal,” the captain said. “You two.” He pointed to the standing crewmembers. “Get our guys out of here.” He turned back to Marta. “We’re leaving. Whether you get your men up that line is no longer my concern. I have this ship and the crews’ safety, mine and yours, to think about. What good would it do if we all died? Sometimes you need to cut your losses.” He strode out of the room as the others dragged their comrades through the doorway.
    Susan had a headset on, flipping through comm channels. “Mitch? Come in, Mitch.”
    Marta looked around the room. She bent over Robert. He had a pretty good gash on the side of his head, but the bleeding had stopped, and he had a pulse. He’d probably live.
    She walked over to Susan, flipped the readings up and let a quiet gasp escape her. “When did Mitch run out of air?”
    “Not sure,” Susan said.