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The king's agent nodded and eased the machine into the air.

As he gained altitude, the billowing miasma of soot and steam fell away beneath him. It was crawling with light and shadows as the other rotorchairs circled through it.

Ahead, shining silver in the starlight, the Technologists' ship was slowly picking up speed.

Burton accelerated toward it.

A swan slid up beside his vehicle. He looked over and saw Swinburne waving at him from the box kite. The poet was grinning broadly, obviously enjoying himself. He mouthed something but Burton couldn't hear above the sound of his machine, so he just gave a thumbs-up and pointed to the rotorship. Swinburne nodded.

They flew on.

By soaring high over the ship's outspread spinning wings, they were able to avoid the turbulence and descend onto the vast platform. There was a wide railed walkway around the circumference of the oval-shaped vessel and a long structure in the central area. Burton put down on the walkway. For Swinburne, landing was a riskier business. He flew his swan low over the platform and pulled the emergency release strap which cut his box kite free from the bird. Tumbling through the air, the kite hit the deck and slid along it until it brought up hard against the railing. Swinburne shot out of the canvas and disappeared overboard.

With a sick feeling in his stomach, Burton ran over to the rail and looked down.

The poet smiled up at him. He was gripping the edge of the deck with his fingertips, dangling over the long drop.

"Culver Cliffl" he exclaimed as his friend pulled him to safety. "What now?"

"The final reckoning, I hope," replied the king's agent, unsheathing his sword. "We can't allow Darwin and his cronies to continue with their insane experiments. People should have the right to shape their own destiny, don't you think?"

"Isn't that a contradiction, Richard?"

"We'll save the philosophical argument for later, Algy. Right now, we have to get inside this thing. Do you have a pistol?"

Swinburne drew a Colt from his jacket.

With a nod of approval, Burton began to move around the edge of the central structure. The great ship vibrated beneath their feet as the two men peered into portholes, seeing empty rooms with bunks and tables, offices with desks and cabinets, and engineering stations, some of which contained men who seemed to be monitoring gauges or making adjustments to valves.

They passed two doors that opened onto such stations, and these they ignored, for the rooms were too well occupied. The third, though, gave access to a switchboard room in which just one Technologist laboured, and into this they sprang. Burton held his rapier to the man's throat while Swinburne crossed the room and locked the door.

"If you value your life, you'll not cry out," advised the king's agent.

The Technologist swallowed and nodded, raising his hands.

"Tell me the layout of the ship," ordered Burton. "Be succinct."

"Two decks," the man responded, speaking rapidly. "This one has the crew cabins and various maintenance and monitoring rooms, all arranged around a central corridor with stairs to the main deck at either end. The main deck is much larger. There are eight engine rooms arranged around the central section, which matches the dimensions of this upper deck. The rear third contains the boilers, water tanks, furnace, and coal rooms. The middle third houses the main turbine. The forward section contains the flight cabin."

"Good," snapped Burton. "Is Darwin aboard?"

"Yes, in the flight cabin."

"Brunel?"

"Yes. Probably in the turbine room."

"Beresford?"

"Who?"

"The ape."

"With Darwin."

"Nightingale?"

"Yes. I don't know where."

"Speke?"

"Is he the one with the babbage in his head?"

"Yes."

"No. He disembarked before we left. He's on a second ship at Darkening Towers. It's fitted out as a medical laboratory."

"I see. How do we get to the flight cabin without attracting undue attention?"

"Two rooms forward of this there's a storage bay with an access ladder leading down to a maintenance corridor