Crossing Paths Again

It had been a few hours since lift off but Juliana Highland was still quite happy with her first look into flying out of sight of her home. And now that she had a good look at the sky with out smaug in it, she couldn't help but think of an old saying she had once heard about there being as many islands in Icarus as there were stars in the sky. That was a lot of places to look for her brother. He could be on any of these islands. He could even be between the islands like that piece of trash.

She paused, and double took. That piece of trash was moving. And had a remarkably human shape to it. After a few moments of staring, squinting, and trying to confirm she blurted out, "My god, I think that's a person fallin' out there."

Ethan was standing at a table near by messing with some charts and a compass, but his head snapped up at that and he stepped quickly up behind her. He took one look, then grabbed the wheel.

"Ana loose the windbags full gale! An' tell that wall-crawling bug the give us a full belly'o fire! Now!" He shoved her toward the door, without giving her any chance to waist time. "An' see to it that we securer all lifelines!"

Ethan turned his eyes anxiously back to the night sky and it took him a moment to find the falling form again. Soon as he did the turned to wheel around and threw a several levers, which controlled the ships wing flaps and tiller. The Heat banked into a tight starboard circle.

Mid-air rescues were extremely difficult and extremely dangerous. It was all about precision, but there was absolutely no time to waist. Ethan only hoped he hadn't lost his touch.

---

In the captains cabin, Syme was mostly finished arranging his things, when he heard some shouting from the cockpit. Dropping some books back into the truck and went to the door only to feel the floor lurch under him right was he was turning the handle. Stumbling into the hall, Syme ran briskly up towards the cockpit, anxious to know what was going on.

Juliana took a moment to grab a fist full of skirt and pull it up and out of the way of her feet before running down the hallway and past Syme, shouting to the best of her ability, "We 'ave a freefaller! Tentcher, we need more steam!"

As soon as she had hit the end of the hallway, opening a door to the back of the ship. She was now on a small balcony about the exhaust from the engines, though she took no time to admire the back view and instead headed for a ladder on the side of the gondola, releasing her skirt before beginning to climb it. About then the Heat began it's quick decent. Ana could feel her guts pressing against her lungs and clung tot he ladder for dear life, in both a figurative and literal sense. One wrong move out there and she'd be falling as well.

With her teeth gritting and her skirt no longer preserving her modesty, she inched her way to the top of the ladder, opening a panel to reveal a level. She pulled it down and clung on for dear life, listening to the hiss of hydrogen being let out of the main balloon. After she was sure that there was enough gone to make a difference but not all of it, she pushed the level back up, returning to the balcony and back inside one inch at a time still.

After closing the door again she returned to hiking her skirt and ran downstairs. She moved to get the lifeline out of a cabinet on one of the walls, dragging it to the center of the floor and setting it down. with a quick gasp to try and get more oxygen to her lungs, she headed near the stairs again, pressing a button to open the cargo door and send the lifeline falling under the ship.

Evil Minion #2 wrote:

Juliana took a moment to grab a fist full of skirt and pull it up and out of the way of her feet before running down the hallway and past Syme, shouting to the best of her ability, "We 'ave a freefaller! Tentcher, we need more steam!"

"A what?" Syme asked as she ran by then grabbed the rail as the ship began a quick decent which only gained speed. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but had been on enough ships to know he needed to get tied to a life line, before doing anything else.

He only just found the safety lines and secured the harness when Ethan shouted at him from the cockpit. "You! Simon! Or 'ooever the hell you are! Get te the bloody rail an watch fer the target!"

Syme looked up in bewilderment, clinging to rail at the fall speed began to out do gravity. "The target? Whatev-"

"The man, yeh blooming idiot! The man what fell past two minuets ago!"

Syme gasped at him then turned to run for the rail. He lost his footing almost at once and all but flew off the deck as he stumbled, but he managed to get down to the deck and then crossed the few more feet to the rail more carefully.

"Can you see 'im?" demanded Ethan through the sound of the wind, "How far down?"

Gasping for air, Syme blinked back the tears forming in the wind burn and looked down into the endless sky. He could just make out the black shape of something falling, but it was hard to see through the wind. "We're gaining!" He shouted. He'd off starboard maybe fifty yards down!"

Ana watched as the ship neared the falling figure and hovered pretty much over him. She help her breath, now getting a better view of the man below. He was definitely close enough now to get a hold of the harness at the end of the long rope. Or even grab on to the rope. Most people who had even seen a picture of a ship would recognize the piece of equipment and go straight for it.

But he wasn't.

Her lungs filled with cold air as she came to the realization that something was wrong. he could have been injured or unconscious, maybe even dead. But she couldn't think like that right now, someone was in need. With some hesitation, she pressed a bottom to send the life reeling back in, waiting for it to get back before heading to the reeling mechanism. She quickly fastened the harness to herself, moving before she could convince herself of just how crazy her next move would be. With a moment to take a deep breath, she pulled the level next to the reel, releasing the tension and pulling all of the rope out of the line. With a last minute flip of the level to return the mechanism's function, she shouted back to the top of the deck, "Someone please take control of this!"

And then she ran for the cargo door before her common sense could catch up with her brain. She couldn't help but trip along the way, but that just sent her rolling down the incline and out of the ship, down toward the falling man.

With a grunt she hit the end of the rope, gasping for air. As soon as she was in range, she reached out for a hand and pulled a limp Alistair closer, moving to cling around his chest. She couldn't help but look up and pray that someone either could see far enough below to see her or had heard her call.

Syme made his way down to the open cargo bay once they were close and got there just in time to hear her request for some one to take the lever and see her run recklessly out in to the wind and sky.

"Wait!" Shouted, "Don't-" but she was already gone. Taking the lever, Syme looked down at the dark shapes and then extended one hand toward the door. Strong bright light shone down into the sky, illuminating Ana and Alistair like a spotlight.

Recognizing Alistair, Syme opened is mouth in surprise. "Oh good God. It can't be!"He then saw Ana look up and quickly turned to reel in the rope, shouting up to Ethan. "We got him!"

All the while Ethan had been holding the wheel with one hand and constantly adjusting the levers, eyes fervently watching the dials, as he did calculations in his and kept the Heat steady and falling at the exact speed. They couldn't keep this up, another 24 seconds and they'd loose too much air to be able to pull out. Then he heard Syme's shout and immediately began the process of slowing their descent.

Ana clung to Alistair, keeping her hands tight around his mid section despite her complete lack of comfort. It was only now, dangling from a wire over an endless drop and clinging to a wet, unconscious form with her dress and hair flying about, that it sunk in that her actions were perhaps a bit dangerous and reckless. And that she was going to need to buy a pair of pants the next time they landed if this was going to become a regular activity.

She kept clinging to him even when the rope was pulled up and the cargo door was shut, her eyes screwed shut and her mind doing it's best to try not to imagine why someone would be wet and falling out in the middle of nowhere. It was only when the ship had finally slowed down to an even enough drop to prevent the lurching feeling that she let go and began to unbuckle her harness with shaky hands.

After getting the door securely closed, Syme went over to help Juliana and make sure she was alright. "My dear girl, that was quite ridiculous of you and very brave. Why didn't you wait for me or one of the others to help you, before diving into the sky like that?"

The first thing that Alistair became aware of was the fact he was not as cold as he had been before he passed out. There was something, no.... someone warm and soft holding him. The second was... the absence of wind. So... was he dead? His head pounded. Wasn't death supposed to be painless?

His teeth chattered as he opened his eyes to see who was holding him. The face seemed familiar, though he couldn't work out from where he knew it. Someone was talkinig. There was someone else there... He looked up.

"Oh bloody hell," he said. It was Syme, one of the absolute last people he wished to see right now.

Shakily he tried to sit up, though he felt very dizzy and weak.

After a bit more fighting against the shaking of her hands, Juliana finally managed to get her harness off. She gave him a tense smile, trying to hide the fact she was still quite shaken up from her actions. "Truth be told, acted before I could thin-"

"Oh bloody hell," Said the form in front of her. She could instantly recognize that voice from not three days ago.

Juliana shot up to a sitting position, a look of terror on her fact. She could see fuzzy lint on the edges of her vision, but it was quick to go away. She put her hands over her mouth, trying to quail her worry. "I'm so sorry, I thought you were out of town an' thought I didn't need to buy a new hat but 'ere you are now an'... Please don't arrest me, it was an accident!"

"Well, you're alive I see," said Syme kneeling to push Alistair gently back to the floor, "Don't try to get up, man. Lord knows how long you were falling for. Get your breath and wits about you."

As he looked down at Alistair's face, Syme shook his head in utter disbelief. This had to be the strangest coincidence he'd ever come across. "Of all the damned people to fall from the sky!"

"Mr Fairchild, you are extremely lucky to be alive, but I think I should let you know that the police are looking for you back in Central City."

Alistair was white as a sheet and shivering. He tried to exert his power to pull the water from his clothes, but trying just made him feel even more faint. Great... he had over-exerted himself.

"I don't bloody care," Alistair answered, taking Syme's advice and staying put. "You think after I almost splattered across some empty field somewhere that I would?" His face darkened and he suddenly reached for his waistcoat pocket, rummaging inside it, pulling out a cigarette case, and examining it. Carefully he peeked inside and, relieved, closed the case again.

Juliana just stared at the two, still rather left in the dark about the entire situation. "Police? Did you curse someone?"

"No," said Syme, "He went missing. His servant went to the police yesterday morning and said he feared foul play." He looked down at Alistair with a slight frown, before saying to Juliana, "Now Captain, I think it would probably be best to get Mr. Fairchild some dry clothes and a warm bed."

Juliana moved to stand up, gaining confidence in her step again. "We 'ave one more cabin left, though don't think there's any spare clothes lying 'bout. I'd offer mine, but don't think 'e'd fit 'them too well," She said, looking down at Alistair and offering a small smile with her previous statement. She generally had the policy not to pry into people's pasts and current actions, but her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her.

With a quick stretch to try and fight off the eventual adrenaline crash and a small wince, she began to head up the stairs, grabbing on to the rail to be sure she wasn't going to slip on her way up. "I'll be right back with a blanket and some brandy," She called down, deciding that it was a better soloution than dragging him all the way back up stairs.

"Go ahead and fetch some clothes from my room," Syme called after her, slightly annoyed at the thought of Alistair wearing his clothes. Glancing back down at the charlatan, he again shook his head slightly, before asking, "Are you injured anywhere?"

Alistair gave Syme a somewhat suspicious look. What could he say? 'I'm not interested in your charity'? 'You can go ahead and dump me off the side of the boat again because I'm not going to share a ship with a man who's going to turn me in to the cops"? He definitely couldn't do that. He would just have to be careful...

"I believe the only thing injured in that fall was my pride, if you must know," he answered. "One might consider it a miracle."

"Indeed," Syme agreed, "It's almost uncanny."

He didn't say anything else to Alistair. Anything he could think of to say could only have been scornful and it felt unseemly to begin insulting a man, who'd just endured a near-death experience.

It wasn't long before Ana came back, carrying the blanket and brandy in a nice pile. She had also grabbed the nearest of Syme's clothes that she could find, though didn't bother with shoes. With an attempt at another smile, she tried to hand over the half-full bottle to Alistair as well as the blanket.

"'Ere, 'ave some liquid courage," She said, taking that moment to move back to the wall to lean on it. "Though it does leave the question of what happens now. We take you to the next port we find or you can join my crew. Can't think of a third option."

"We need to take him back to Central City," Syme said firmly, getting up and looking at his watch. "He is a liar and a fraud."

"We aren't going back," Alistair answered before taking a long swig of the brandy. He definitely needed it. He also wrapped the blanket around himself. "Last thing we need to do is go back. Two people trying to murder me is enough."

He laughed, though it sounded rather strained. "I will join the crew for now, I think, even if you will be here, Syme," Alistair answered. "Not like I have any other options." Taking another long gulp of brandy, he tried sitting up again. "Now if you don't mind, I need to discard these wet clothes before I catch a bloody cold."

Juliana bit her lip and looked down, trying to decide what was the best option in the situation. She wasn't fond of conflict among people on her ship at all, even more so when it was the kind where someone could get killed. Granted, it was a noble man who said they should go back, but her personal values said that if someone wanted to be a part of her crew, she had no right to refuse them as long as they worked hard and didn't do anything terrible while being on her crew.

Deciding she'd mull on it for a while, she said, "You can find a free room on the left, just look for the one with out stuff innit."

"Captain, we have to take him back," Syme said sternly, "Not only is it our duty as law abiding citizens, but it's possible an innocent man will become a suspect to murder, if we do not turn Mr. Fairchild in to the Central City police. On this matter I insist."

By now the ship had evened out and was no longer loosing altitude. Ethan had set the tiller and finally came down to see what was going on. He heard most of what Syme had just said and came in rather warily, glancing from Syme to Ana to Alistair. "The free-faller made it then?" he asked in a low tone.

Ana welcomed the distraction that Ethan brought, turning to him and offering a smile. "'E's still alive. Can you help 'im go upstairs an' to the free room for me?"

She then took a good look at Alistair, still doing her best to think with her head and not her heart. However, Syme's insistence was forcing her hand. her face remained quite worried and unsure, her arms crossing for comfort. "We can't go back. They could hang him, or worse. If the man is really innocent, the police should be able to tell 'e didn't do nothing..."

Syme was getting frustrated and glared at Ana, "Miss Highland, if they hang him, which I doubt they will, it would be because he deserves it. I will not sail with this criminal. We are hardly three hours out of Central City. We must go back."

Ethan had gone over to Alistair and made to get the man's arm over his shoulder and help him to his feet. He glanced at Ethan and Ana, still not completely sure what they were talking about. "We can't go back," he stated in his deep voice.

Syme looked at him, a little surprised and annoyed at his interruption.

"We've lost far too much air an' altitude," Ethan explained, "It'd be nearly impossible to rise back up to Central City. We need to land as soon as possible and land in this elevation or lower. I already set a course fer a small island less'n an hour away."