Constantine looked around at the branches supporting hisweight, then tipped his head back to see his brother. Lucius was waiting on oneof the highest branches of one of the tallest maple trees in the palacegardens.
“I can see the Air Fleet from up here!” Lucius crowed,trying to coax his younger brother higher.
I should have known something was off that day. Constantineand his older brother had never been real playmates. Nor had they ever beenvery close, even as brothers. Rather, they coexisted … and,occasionally, interacted in the manner that children do. That is to say, Luciusgot into trouble with Constantine and blamed it on his younger brother. Thatday was no different.
Constantine looked hesitantly up at the next level ofbranches. “It’s too high!” he called back, unable to keep a thread of fear outof his voice. “I can see just fine from here,” he added, the lie thin andobvious. Lucius could always see through my lies, especially when I wasafraid.
Lucius climbed down several branches. His grin wasmalevolent. How could an eleven-year-old have such a smile? “You aren’tafraid of heights now, are you?” Constantine shook his head, alarmed. “You’vebeen on airship flights before; this is no different.” Lucius dropped to standnext to him on the same solid branch, grasping a nearby limb for support.
“It is very different,” Constantine replied. An airshipis metal and steel and glass and you can feel it under you, the tribuneConstantine thought again, just as he had then. You know when it will go upor down. On a tree, if you fall, that’s it. “On an airship, I can pretendthat I’m simply on a boat.” I should never have said that last part aloud.
“What? Stop talking nonsense.” Lucius exclaimed. His lipstightened. “You’re afraid of climbing a tree? You’d rather ride boats?” Hepushed against the branch he grasped, pushing the limb they were standing on upand down.
The swaying made Constantine’s heart race faster, and hecried out.
“Little brother is scared of a little rocking?” Luciussniffed. “You can’t be an emperor if you get scared. That’s why I’m the heir.”
The limb Lucius was pushing against suddenly snapped.Overbalanced, Lucius fell backward, arms flailing, and fell the fifteen feet tothe ground. Hands tight on the tree’s trunk, Constantine shouted his horror,watching helplessly.
Lucius landed with a thud and writhed slowly on the ground.Servants and guards rushed to his aid. Their tutor turned his wizened eyes upto Constantine and crooked his finger in an unmistakable come here gesture.
He never forgave me for that perceived insult, Constantinethought as the memory faded. He never would believe that he was the one whobroke the branch, that I had not plotted to embarrass him. What was it likeeven then, the pressure of being heir, or knowing that if he wasn’t goodenough, father could appoint me instead? Well, that pressure’s not on me;Lucius has been fully groomed, and I’m the younger son, shipped off to thearmy. I just have to jump out of a dirigible.
The door opened and a deck rating poked his head out.“Please come in, Tribune.”
Constantine nodded his thanks and walked through the door.The front third of the top deck was given over to the bridge, and the viewthrough the large observation windows, angled to allow for maximum visibility,was incredible. Observation bubbles popped out on both sides of the bridge,providing an even greater viewing range. Within the bridge, several crewmembersmonitored a central bank of levers, dials, and gauges, occasionally making tinyadjustments to the controls. The officer of the watch monitored their efforts,and another officer stood in one of the observation bubbles, intent on the viewto port. A single security officer stood against the wall to the right.
Airman Souzetio stood next to a leather-backed command chairbolted to a platform in the middle of the deck. A bronze speaking tube came outof the ceiling and ended right around head height next to the chair.Straightening his back, Tribune Appius marched toward the chair.
“Ah, there you are, Tribune. I was wondering when we mightbe getting a visit from you,” the officer in the observation bubble said as hepassed. Constantine stopped and saluted. The ship captain gave a half-saluteresponse, offending Constantine’s sense of protocol. As officers of essentiallysimilar rank, he had expected an equally crisp salute acknowledging this.
Seeing the look on his face, the captain barked a shortlaugh. “You’ll find we aren’t quite as stiff and formal as the legions,Tribune. You’ll get our respect when you earn it. In the meantime, there is fartoo much to do to waste all our time saluting each other in the properincrement.” His tone was terse, and Constantine couldn’t help but feelmollified and a bit abashed. The man gestured. “Come over here and see where weare. I’ll describe the plan to you. I assume that Suzzy’s gone over the planwith you?” At Constantine’s blank look, he added, “Excuse me, I meant AirmanSouzetio.”
“Yes he did, Captain …”
“Oh for Jupiter’s sake, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m sobusy rambling on about the mission that I plum overlooked that. Captain TiveriRufius Alexandros, of His Majesty’s Airship Scioparto, at your service.”Both of the captain’s calloused hands enveloped Constantine’s hand and he shookit firmly, his expression enthusiastic. Constantine found himself warming tothe seemingly eccentric captain.
“So, Captain Alexandros, how did you end up with this job? Ican’t imagine many ship captains would be willing to leave their shipmotionless over a battlefield to drop a cohort of men behind enemy lines.” Thequestion had been boring a hole in Constantine’s brain for several hours now.
“To tell you the truth, I volunteered at the … request… of General Minnicus. I was the only volunteer. No one else wanted totry this new way of fighting a war. But I think it will be a great ‘Emperorcard up the sleeves’ of our legion, if you know what I mean. I want to beremembered for helping start this revolution of thinking.”
Constantine found himself appreciating the captain evenmore. He was risking not just his life, but also his ship and the lives of hiscrew, as well as his career. He even genuinely seemed to care about them.Constantine always believed that you could tell something about a man by theway he treated his workers. He didn’t consider himself a man of the plebeianclass, far from it, but he did believe that men were men, not cogs in amachine, or animals.
Captain Alexandros turned the conversation back to thecurrent situation. “We aim to begin practice here, on these fields east of thefort.” He gestured to another command map, where large flat rectangles markedwheat fields. “We’ll start by maintaining a position just over fifteen feet offthe ground. You’ll get your first taste of rope drop there. We’ll graduallyincrease it. It’s also an opportunity for my men to practice hauling yoursoldiers back aboard. That’s going to be a new skill for us. Fleet regulationsonly ever explained evacuation, not embarkation by rope-winch.”
Constantine raised his eyebrows at the captain. “You aren’tinventing this procedure now, are you?”
The captain shook his head. “No, just performing this highlytheoretical action for the first time with live people. We did try it with abag of flour last week.”
Constantine had a sinking feeling he knew what was comingnext.
“We ended up dusting the flowers with flour! Ha! Good one,eh? Well, not for our pretend person, but pretty looking, I suppose.”
Sighing, Constantine moved to examine the terrain. To hisuntrained eye, it appeared to be a nice flat practice area. He asked aboutweather and wind currents.
“Very little to speak of today. I’ll drop a few crewmembersdown and we can set the anchor down, as well. That’ll help prevent our floatingaway,” Alexandros responded cheerfully.