Haunted Air (2014)

The heavens were clear, the wind gently pushing the vessel onward through the night sky. The stars shows bright against the darkness like lanterns leading the sailors home. The crew was relaxed. They were just hours away from a dry land and a warm shower. They'd be free to enjoy their earnings before sailing on. Nothing could go wrong at this point.

This was a deadly false sense of security.

Perhaps months of inhaling the stench of slowly rotting fish had ruined the one sense that could save their lives. Whatever the reason, they couldn't smell it but she could. It was all she could smell for the last ten minutes. There was water nearby and a whole lot of it.

Out here in the void water could be a life saver. You could drink it, bathe in it, cook with it, and you could even trade with it. But that was just the water you brought along for the journey and that water couldn't cause damage at will.

What she smelled was rain, created in the void, the bane of airships everywhere. The rain itself would only blur the vision o the crew. It was what the rain brought along that frightened sailors to their core. One quick lightning strike could set your ship on fire.

If this was rain, and she was positive that it was, the ship was going to be blown out of the sky. They has to dock and wait from the storm to pass. Continuing on now would be suicide.

She knew exactly what she would do if she was captain. She'd lower the ship into the void and search out a refuge to anchor the ship. But she was not the captain, she wasn't even a legitimate member of the crew.

She had been a stowaway for three weeks trying to gain passage to the next island. three weeks pretending to be a man. Three weeks putting her blood and sweat into a ship that was not her own. Three weeks of convincing all those aboard that she belonged. Three weeks gone to waste as she dropped the mop and stomped up to the upper deck.

Her commanding officer barked orders at her to return to her post. It was too late to turn back. She had to warn the Captain of the storm. Making the deck shine like a new silver coin was the least of anyone's problems.

The upper deck was crawling with the Captain's right hand men. Some studied the star charts, other's took turns at the helm, and the rest discussed the three week old "news" that they had picked up at the last port. Somewhere amongst these men was the Captain.

She didn't think twice about interrupting the boy's club. "Captain." The word was bold for someone in her position and immediately gained attention.

"You there." the first mate bellowed. "What are you doing?"

"I need to speak with the Captain." Her 'man voice' let her pass as one of them but it would only get her so far. She shifted her weight and dropped her shoulders. She doubted it would be believable.

"Need? What could you possible have to say to the Captain?"

She could see the Captain's silhouette amongst the others. His stance suggested that he was curious. She'd gotten his attention. "I wanted to warn him that he is sailing straight into a storm."

The men laughed. Even she could admit that it sounded ridiculous. There were no clouds on the horizon and it had been that way for days. As far as anyone k new it was smooth sailing from here on out.

"You've had to much to drink." The first mate tried to regain his composure. "Go below deck." He motioned for someone to take her away.

"No!" Her true voice broke through as the man grabbed her arm. "I'm not drunk! I'm not lying! There is a storm, I can smell it!"

The Captain burst through the crowd. He was inches from her face. "What did you say?"

She stood frozen. That was it. She had been caught. They knew she was a stowaway. Torture and death were all the remained of her sorry life. Her fate was sealed. It didn't really matter anyway, the rain would kill them all.

"I can smell it." Her gentle female voice hung in the air on nails of dread. "The rain is near. Lower the ship and anchor for the night. All of you are in danger."

The captain was red in the face. His words were rapid with the precision of a double edged sword. "There are no clouds. There is no rain. There is no storm. There is however a stowaway aboard my ship and she will be dealt with immediately. Take the ship rat below and exterminate it." He told the first mate.

"No!" She kicked and screamed a the first mate dragged her below deck. "Please, you have to listen to me."

The first mate threw her to the ground. He examined his pistol. "No. The only thing I have to do is to kill you. Captain's orders."

She faced down the barrel of the pistol. So this was how the daughter of a fisherman would die. Was a bullet any better than a strike of heaven's fire?

"Any last words?"

At first she had nothing to say and she would not beg for her life there was no reason to. But then it came to her. The perfect last words.  Her lips parted. Her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth.

Thunder rolled across the void. The pitter patter of rain hit the deck. The crew erupted in fear. "All hands on d-." They head the Captain yell. A crack of lighting attacked the ship.

"Captain's dead!" someone shouted from above.

Time stood still. She watched as the first mate's steady hand began to quiver. The pistol felt heavy, it was lead on the ocean floor.

A moment of silence for the fallen.

Another crack of lightning.

"FIRE!"

The roof splintered as the mast fell through. Embers flew through the air filling the room with a ash. Rain found its way through the gap in the roof. The ship creaked as it began it's fiery decent.

Still the first mate stood before her unmoving. His eyes filled with fear. She could see his knowledge of ships slip from his mind. He wasn't going to do anything.

"I can land it." She spoke, hoping she wouldn't be answered with a bullet speeding out the back of her skull.

He looked at her, finger on the trigger. "Can you? Because if you're lying to me..."

"Then we all die."

He took a split second to think it over. A bullet shot into the broken mast. The pistol slid back into his holster. He helped her to her feet. "Okay ship rat, " He just had to get in one more insult, "Land the ship."

They bolted up to the deck. The chaos swallowed them whole. Half of the crew was injured or dead and the other half was choking on ash. The ship was a wreck. There was no way they would regain altitude.

One problem at a time. "Tell them to lay down on the deck!" She shouted over the screaming.

"What?"

"Get them under the smoke!" She climbed the wreckage to get to the upper deck, peeled off a sailor from the helm, and began to assess the situation. Two hands on the heel, she slowly tilted the ship to it's side. Cargo began to slide. The ship began to spiral downwards.


"Are you crazy?" The first mate was out of breath.

"We have to go down. There's a small island to the south. If we can get close enough we'll get caught by the gravity field. I'll be able to land her then.

"The only islands this low are controlled by... no."

"No?"

"Let us die. I will not have my ship be taken by.."

"Its either pirates or death, mate, and I can only negotiate with one. You're choice."