Apostles of Doom

Captain Cranshall presented the checklist to Heron, who reviewed it. “I wish circumstances had allowed me to review the items on this checklist in more depth ahead of time, Captain. There are enough variations from our traditional ships that I am not completely confident of my full comprehension of the list; however, I trust that you and Chancellor Alighieri have been thorough in your preparation of this list, in accordance with all appropriate military and legal standards?” He looked at the Captain and Chancellor.

“Aye, Arms Master. We have followed all standard new ship documentation and checklist protocols and are confident in this list,” the captain replied.

“Our courageous captain is completely correct—” Dante began.

“Excellent then. Approved!” Heron quickly snapped, cutting the chancellor off in midsentence to avoid another long and tedious answer.

“XO Stevensword?” the captain barked.

“All required and optional systems are go! All dock tethers are free and clear!” the executive officer shouted back.

At least the Oorstemothians can speak tersely when needed, thought Barabus. That was a huge relief.

“Bring us to hangar launch altitude,” the captain ordered. XO Stevensword began issuing the commands to raise the ship out of her cradle.

“Mister Tallswan, inform the hanger crew to open the hanger doors!” Cranshall ordered.

“Contacting,” the comms officer replied.

As the Inferno rose above her cradle, as indicated by the viewing mirror at the front of the bridge, the hangar doors began parting. Once they had fully opened, Cranshall ordered, “Take us out, Stevensword!”

A rumble from the belly of the Inferno could be felt as the forward drive engines engaged and the ship began moving forward, with a deep and oddly comforting thrumming sensation felt throughout the ship. Barabus was impressed by the seemingly effortless motion of the giant vessel. This thing was huge, and very heavy, but it was proceeding forward incredibly smoothly. Far smoother than any ship he had been on; much more like one of the giant imperial carpets that the emperor and his family used.

Within a few moments, the ship’s viewing mirror was showing an unobstructed view of the outside landscape. Barabus could see Keeper’s City off to the far left in the mirror.

Another few moments and XO Stevensword shouted, “We are clear of the hangar, sir!”

“Excellent! Take us to an altitude of six leagues!” Captain Cranshall ordered.

Barabus saw Heron start. “Six leagues?” The wing arms master asked. Ninety-five thousand feet was extremely high, but he had little experience with flying ships like the Inferno.

“Indeed, sir. The Inferno can go anywhere. Based on our information on Abyssal topology, we felt that six leagues would be sufficient height to avoid most of the local topology,” the captain said.

Chancellor Alighieri opened his mouth to begin expounding on the subject, but Heron hastily replied, “This is excellent! It should facilitate things greatly when serving justice to the Grove.” He was smiling broadly, with what seemed to be a determined sparkle in his eye. “We are all aware of the issues we’ve had getting our ships over their mountains.”

Actually, Barabus had not been aware of that. He really knew very little about the Grove, other than that it was extremely well guarded by what many had described as an impenetrable mountain range. He was a bit curious to know what justice Oorstemoth felt needed serving in the Grove, but given that was far outside the current scope of their agreements, he had no desire to inquire.

Barabus felt quite heavy suddenly; it was if gravity were trying to pull him down with twice its normal strength. He looked at the viewing mirror and realized that the Inferno was rising straight up with remarkable acceleration. So his previous guess was correct; it moved like a flying carpet, but rather than a soft carpet pulling one upwards, there was a hard metal floor doing so.

Wing Arms Master Heron braced himself on a nearby railing.

“Well, this is interesting!” He glanced at the captain. “Full vertical launch?”

“For secrecy purposes, the Chancellor has requested that we try to limit the exposure of the Inferno to outside parties. What spies do not realize we have, they cannot report to their masters,” Captain Cranshall explained.

“Exactly. Early estimates of—” the chancellor said, about to expound upon the captain’s statement.

“Understood and approved,” Heron said quickly, once more cutting of the Chancellor before he could bore them to death.

Barabus suppressed a grin; the chancellor was looking a bit frustrated.

“Captain?” Heron continued. “As I understand it, we will be using an Abyssal Gateway?”