His lips pursed in a way that meant he didn’t find her joke nearly as amusing as she did. “They mean business. Those MoBatts are nasty … a nasty lot, well,” he shot her a lopsided smile. “If you’re on the wrong side of the law, that is. This is why certain types of ships utilize decoys when we need to travel through Deseret. They’re even worse than the air patrol.”
Her stomach sank to the toes of her black boots as she realized she was about to cross over to the wrong side of the law. There was a big difference between crashing an unregistered flying car when you had no operators permit and air piracy.
“Decoy? Well, that’s one use for a sparrow-class ship.” The only good thing about the little ships was that they could be jerry-rigged to out fly anything in the sky.
They stopped in front of a raven-class ship. Two oblong gas-filled balloons held by woven nets floated above it, fans on the sides, the crow’s nest between. Wood and brass fashioned the body. It had a central engine that was part inside and part outside, not entirely outboard like a sparrow, and two smaller engines, one on each side of the main engine. Raven-class ships always reminded her of a flying pirate ship, though in this ship, nearly everything would take place below, unlike falcon-class ships. A brass wheel sat up top for emergencies. A flag waved from the crow’s nest, burgundy with a blue stripe—a cargo ship for hire.
Clearly, someone took pride in this vessel. It had polished wood, fresh paint, and if it ever had been shot up it had been carefully repaired and concealed. The brass railings gleamed in the moonlight. The gangplank was down.
“Here she is–the Vixen’s Revenge.” Jeff beamed as he gestured to the shining ship.
“There’s no name on the hull.” Or picture. Many of the vessels she’d seen in the past had pictures of scantily clad women, mermaids, or other mascots painted on the side along with the ship’s name.
Jeff shook his head. “Makes you easier to find—also it’s more of a pleasure craft convention than a commercial one. Though the boats you usually fly on probably have them.”
“What boats?” Noli laughed. “Mama doesn’t like airships, remember? When we went to San Francisco she forced me to take a train. A train! Why plod across the ground when you can race through the air?” She made a noise of distain. “This is your ship? She’s lovely.”
He patted the ship’s wooden hull. “She’s a good ship.”
“Jeff, is that you?” a female voice with a hint of a southern accent called. “Where have you been? As soon as Asa and Thad return we need to be off.”
A woman strode down the gangplank. Well … if it belonged to the speaker it must be a woman, but Noli had never seen a woman such as this before. She stood nearly as tall as Jeff and had a thin body devoid of any of the curves a woman usually had. Her boyishly short near-black hair, a lock of it dyed blue, hung in her big brown slightly-slanted eyes.
“Vix, come here, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Jeff waved her down.
Wait. Vix. This was the woman Jeff was sweet on?
Noli had seen women in trousers before, one of Queen Tiana’s handmaidens often wore them, but they were always feminine, showing off her figure. This woman wore an outfit similar to Jeff’s as if she wanted to be mistaken for a boy.
Leaping onto the dock with the grace of a cat, Vix looked Noli up and down and shook her head, dark stands flying. “We don’t take passengers.”
“She’s not a passenger, she’s our new engineer—I hope.” Jeff gave Vix a charming smile, the sort men gave women when trying to get their way. “Vix, meet my younger sister, Magnolia Braddock. Noli, meet Captain Vix, this is her ship.”
“Captain.” Noli curtsied. A female captain who wore trousers! “I thought this was your ship, Jeff?”
Jeff laughed. “I’m just the pilot, Vix tells me where to go.”
Woman couldn’t legally pilot airships, only co-pilot. But there was no law against female captains. What adventures she must have!
Vix, who stood the slightest bit shorter than Jeff, furrowed her dark brows in a way that made Noli’s stomach twist. “This is the little sister? The one who fixes things?”
“We need an engineer, she needs work. It could be mutually beneficial,” Jeff replied.
She scowled. “This isn’t a place for just anyone.”
“This isn’t just anyone, this is my sister. Give her a chance, please?” His look pleaded.
Noli’s chest tightened as she smoothed her blue skirts. She hadn’t given thought to the idea that someone on the ship might not want her.
“Please, Captain?” Noli asked, voice soft. “I’ll pull my weight, promise.” She wasn’t entirely what she’d need to do besides keep the ship running and in good repair. Whatever it was, she could handle it, surely. “Find yourself on the wrong side of the law again?” Vix didn’t quite sneer, but it wasn’t kind either.
She knew? Mortification crept through Noli. How much had Jeff told her of her previous exploits?
“If I allow them take her to Boston they’ll have her married off to some society dirt-bag three-times her age before Christmas.” He gave Vix another beseeching glance. “She wants to attend the university, she’ll stay with us for awhile, save up, then I’ll get her settled in.”
“No favors. She pulls her weight like everyone else.” Vix turned to Noli. “On my ship we don’t make allowances based on gender—women do the same tasks men do. Or,” she grinned at Jeff, “men do the same jobs as women. You maintain the ship, you keep the engine room tidy, and you make sure we have what we need to make repairs. Also, we share jobs onboard; you’ll have assignments like everyone else.” Standing toe to toe with Noli, Vix looked her right in the eyes. “Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Noli felt as if she should salute or something.
“It’s sir.” But she didn’t snap or say it rudely.
The captain’s accent wasn’t quite the same as Charlotte’s but still made a pang of sadness shoot though Noli. A southern female captain. What would dear Lottie have made of that?
“I don’t supposed you can use a pistol—or defend yourself?” the captain added.
“I can use a sword a little.” Noli tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.
Vix scoffed, her rough and tanned hand combing through her short hair. “A sword? That’s not going to help.”
“She’s an engineer, not a fieldhand or a gunner, she doesn’t need to know how to shoot.” Jeff kept his voice calm and quiet.
Fieldhand. Gunners. Pistols. One more indication this wasn’t a respectable cargo vessel. The pistol around Vix’s waist added to that. Did Jeff have a pistol as well?
Vix shook her head then looked to Jeff. “Go put her someplace where she won’t cause any trouble then get to the bridge. They’ll be here any moment and we can’t afford to dally.”
“Of course, Captain.” Jeff didn’t kiss her or put an arm around her, but the look he gave her told Noli that yes, this was the woman. And he loved her. A lot.
Jeff offered Noli his arm. “Noli?”
Noli remembered something from the days of visiting airships with her father. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?”
“Granted. Welcome to the Vixen’s Revenge.” Vix almost cracked a smile. Almost.
Jeff and Noli walked up the gangplank to the top interior deck of the ship. It looked as if they were in some sort of lounge or common area. He set his overboard in a rack, then they went down another flight of stairs. The inside of the ship seemed as neat and tidy as the outside.
“I’ll give you a tour later, but I need to get to the bridge. Let me show you to your little domain.” He gave her a shy smile. “Also, Vix will warm up to you, she didn’t get where she is by being a pushover.”