Journey to the Heart of Luna - Andy Frankham-Allen [12]
Nathanial nodded. “You are well informed.”
“We need to be,” Bedford interjected, speaking for the first time since they had sat down to dine. “Forgive me, Captain Folkard, sir,” he continued, turning to his captain, “but I fail to see how all this will be relevant to Professor Stone’s role in our mission. His presence is merely to ensure that if we have any trouble with the propeller governor we have an expert on hand. The nature of our mission is of no concern of his.”
Folkard sat there, resting his knife on the edge of his lip, the gravy dripping from it. Forgotten. He did not even blink; he merely listened as his first officer spoke. Once Bedford paused for breath Folkard raised an eyebrow. “Are you quite finished, Mister Bedford?”
“No, sir, I…”
Folkard carefully placed his knife back on the table beside his plate and rose to his feet. “No, Lieutenant, you are finished. And dismissed. Please return to the bridge and relieve the coxswain.”
Nathanial swallowed, his eyes following Bedford as the gruff man stood. According to Bedford, when he had finally engaged Nathanial in conversation while escorting Nathanial to his cabin, the first officer had served with Folkard on the HMAS Raleigh. From that Nathanial had made the assumption that the two men were stout friends, but judging by the tension between them now Nathanial came to the conclusion that he was perhaps wrong. The way the two men faced each other, Bedford the younger yet taller of the two, reminded Nathanial of two boxers stepping into the ring. Presently, after what seemed the longest minute in history, Bedford nodded sharply and saluted Captain Folkard.
“Yes, sir!” He turned to Nathanial with a polite smile. “If you will excuse me, Professor?”
Nathanial watched Bedford leave the captain’s quarters, his eyes lingering on the closed door for a few moments after Bedford’s departure, a smile plaguing his lips. The scraping of the chair on the wooden deck alerted Nathanial to the fact that Folkard had resumed his place at the table. Nathanial’s smile quickly faded, and he looked back at the captain.
“I do not wish to cause conflict on your ship, Captain, so please do not feel obligated to…”
“My dear Professor Stone, the HMAS Sovereign is my ship and this is my mission. Who I choose to take into my confidence, although possibly against regulations, is my choice and mine alone. If I deem the particulars of this mission to be important enough to share with you, than I shall. Lieutenant Bedford has been on this ship since it launched, and I think he got used to me not being around.” Folkard chuckled. “But he will get used to my presence once more, as he always does. A shift as coxswain will remind him, and any wondering why my first officer is now playing the role of helmsman, that although I may seem to be of good humour I still run a tight ship. Now then, Professor, just where was I?”
3.
THE EARTH in a downward sky! Nathanial never thought he would see anything as amazing in its awesomeness as it was terrifying in its horror. He had witnessed the twinkling of the stars on many a dark night, their lights flickering through the misty atmosphere, but now, to see them with that veil removed…It verily took his breath away.
Seen through the porthole, the Earth was a blue globe surrounded by stars, and for a moment just the knowledge that his beloved home was beneath him filled Nathanial with vertigo. He reached out to steady himself against the bulkhead.
A point of reference to balance himself was needed, just one thing to focus on; blank out the vastness that surrounded him. From this distance, it wasn’t much more than a blip, but it was enough, and Nathanial was almost certain he knew what that slowly moving object was.
The aether equivalent of a tugboat, a single-purpose flyer built to pull large objects through the aether. In this case, unless Nathanial was very much mistaken, this