Read Online Steamsworn (Steamborn Series Book 3) by Eric Asher - Free Book Online
Authors: Eric Asher
Tags: Fiction
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funnel. Slowly the counterweight rose until the scale balanced. Once done, she set one of the massive gray metal bullets in the neck of the brass and slid the entire assembly into a press.
Gladys pulled the lever down. She grunted and put all her weight on it. The cylinder rose into the shaped die above it, and when she lowered the press, the bullet was seated, ready for firing. Fully assembled, the monsters weighed almost a pound each. Gladys knew she was building death dealers as she set the assembled cartridge onto the workbench and lined it up with the others.
These shells wouldn’t light up the night sky in a blinding array of beauty. These were made to destroy, and she had no illusions about what they’d wrought.
“They are necessary,” George said. “You have that look on your face.”
Gladys smiled. “I don’t like killing, George.”
“That is not a bad thing, but sometimes war is necessary. With war comes death. It is the way of things.”
“I still don’t have to like it.”
“No sane person does, Princess.” George shifted a shell to start another row on the workbench. It would be the last row they could fit on the wide bench. “If it is a choice between death and survival, take up arms. Defend your people and your country, but do not go looking for death. That is a fool’s errand.”
“We’re breaking almost half a century of peace, George.”
George turned away from the assembled cartridges and faced Gladys. “Our people still suffer in that peace, Princess. Our lands taken by warlords, our families forced to depend on the generosity of this city. If your friends had not killed Rana and his men, you may be dead. You are the last of the royal line. If there is any glimmer of hope for our people, it lies within you.”
Gladys took a deep breath and opened another crate of empty shells. The wood cracked and splintered when she levered it over the nails. “I may not be alive if Alice hadn’t killed Rana, and we both might be dead if Smith hadn’t gunned the rest of them down.”
“There are times for killing,” George said, his voice soft as he squeezed Gladys’s shoulder.
She stared at the brass and the bullets, sighed, and returned to her task.
* * *
Alice leaned on the deck railing as the Skysworn drifted into the docks. She glanced at the escort hovering beside them. It was unlike anything she’d seen before, with a clear glass windscreen, curved like the section of sphere with a long wooden tail. The pilot sat behind it, just below what seemed to be a fan of some sort that was moving too fast to be seen.
The pilot made a series of hand gestures and then pointed down. Mary gave them a thumbs up from the cabin, and the Skysworn tilted to the left before following the escort down to a lower dock. Alice watched as the contraption landed on a circular pad and the pilot hopped out. There was a loud metallic thump when Smith released the landing lines and threw them overboard.
Below, the pilot scrambled to feed the lines through some kind of spool-looking anchors on the dock.
“Oh wow,” Alice said when the spools began to turn. The Skysworn lurched slightly as it was dragged toward the dock, finally stopping when it gently met the bumpers.
“What was that?” Alice asked when Smith started extending the gangplank.
“The copter? It is a death trap, if you ask me. Leaving your life in the hands of a few spinning blades and a pile of wood?” Smith shook his head. “No thank you.”
“They aren’t that bad,” the pilot said as they walked up to the edge of the gangplank. Alice gasped when the pilot removed her helmet, revealing skin as pale as Alice’s and hair almost as red. “A lot safer than one of these gasbags.”
Mary stepped out of the Skysworn’s cabin and started down the gangplank. “Eva,” she said as she opened her arms.
Eva laughed and then threw herself against Mary, hugging her like a long-lost love. “I didn’t know you were
Gladys pulled the lever down. She grunted and put all her weight on it. The cylinder rose into the shaped die above it, and when she lowered the press, the bullet was seated, ready for firing. Fully assembled, the monsters weighed almost a pound each. Gladys knew she was building death dealers as she set the assembled cartridge onto the workbench and lined it up with the others.
These shells wouldn’t light up the night sky in a blinding array of beauty. These were made to destroy, and she had no illusions about what they’d wrought.
“They are necessary,” George said. “You have that look on your face.”
Gladys smiled. “I don’t like killing, George.”
“That is not a bad thing, but sometimes war is necessary. With war comes death. It is the way of things.”
“I still don’t have to like it.”
“No sane person does, Princess.” George shifted a shell to start another row on the workbench. It would be the last row they could fit on the wide bench. “If it is a choice between death and survival, take up arms. Defend your people and your country, but do not go looking for death. That is a fool’s errand.”
“We’re breaking almost half a century of peace, George.”
George turned away from the assembled cartridges and faced Gladys. “Our people still suffer in that peace, Princess. Our lands taken by warlords, our families forced to depend on the generosity of this city. If your friends had not killed Rana and his men, you may be dead. You are the last of the royal line. If there is any glimmer of hope for our people, it lies within you.”
Gladys took a deep breath and opened another crate of empty shells. The wood cracked and splintered when she levered it over the nails. “I may not be alive if Alice hadn’t killed Rana, and we both might be dead if Smith hadn’t gunned the rest of them down.”
“There are times for killing,” George said, his voice soft as he squeezed Gladys’s shoulder.
She stared at the brass and the bullets, sighed, and returned to her task.
* * *
Alice leaned on the deck railing as the Skysworn drifted into the docks. She glanced at the escort hovering beside them. It was unlike anything she’d seen before, with a clear glass windscreen, curved like the section of sphere with a long wooden tail. The pilot sat behind it, just below what seemed to be a fan of some sort that was moving too fast to be seen.
The pilot made a series of hand gestures and then pointed down. Mary gave them a thumbs up from the cabin, and the Skysworn tilted to the left before following the escort down to a lower dock. Alice watched as the contraption landed on a circular pad and the pilot hopped out. There was a loud metallic thump when Smith released the landing lines and threw them overboard.
Below, the pilot scrambled to feed the lines through some kind of spool-looking anchors on the dock.
“Oh wow,” Alice said when the spools began to turn. The Skysworn lurched slightly as it was dragged toward the dock, finally stopping when it gently met the bumpers.
“What was that?” Alice asked when Smith started extending the gangplank.
“The copter? It is a death trap, if you ask me. Leaving your life in the hands of a few spinning blades and a pile of wood?” Smith shook his head. “No thank you.”
“They aren’t that bad,” the pilot said as they walked up to the edge of the gangplank. Alice gasped when the pilot removed her helmet, revealing skin as pale as Alice’s and hair almost as red. “A lot safer than one of these gasbags.”
Mary stepped out of the Skysworn’s cabin and started down the gangplank. “Eva,” she said as she opened her arms.
Eva laughed and then threw herself against Mary, hugging her like a long-lost love. “I didn’t know you were
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