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"Because you waved at theuard the skies over the South, and protect its travelers froh privately she believed that, yes, good Southern boys would’ve hightailed it back to prove their chivalry, given half a chance to do so "But they didn’t They didn’t even stick around to watch They just kept flying"

"So perhaps they didn’t give a da the other ship behind to deal with a couple of ht You said they weren’t armed"

"Didn’t appear to be, no But," she added quickly, "I h to h that they wouldn’t have heard it inside the cabin If they weren’t looking behind theht not’ve seen it I don’t know, and I still don’t knohat side they’re on But we’re co up on thelass a fraction away fro in the road A … a caravan of soo ship is hanging around it, then that’s probably a good sign Or a bad one," he said If his lips weren’t turning blue, they rim, uncertain line

Under her breath she asked, "But are they stopping the caravan to investigate it, or help it?" Through the spyglass, she couldn’t quite tell

"Another five minutes and we’ll be on top of the

"Or…"

"Or what?"

The big ship stopped its slow descent and began to rise again It pivoted to face the: "Or maybe they’ll be on top of us"

"Shit"

While she still had a spare round and did a hasty estimation of the caravan As fast as she could count, she called it out "Eight horses drawing four carts Maybe thirty -crawler, the Texian kind, but bigger than the ones you usually see They’ve stopped They’re hailing the cargo runner, like they aren’t sure why it’s rising again The ship is there as friend, not foe Henry, set us down"

"Where?"

"Anywhere, but set us do Set us down!" she hollered at hie the shriek she would’ve liked to deliver

"I’ down fro from the hull She’d never seen a turret that could be retracted inside the belly of a ship before; only the ones that were affixed and un, that would leave anyone who sat inside them exposed to enegest guns I’ve ever--"

The cargo vessel’s gun fired, kicking out a round of such power that the ship rocked gently as it sent the shell careening through the sky, covering the space between them in one, two, three seconds

In one, two, three seconds Henry ht It was only a tiny, insufficient angle out of the way, except it o straight through their windscreen and kill theh the engine and out the top of the chassis

The Black Dove balked violently, shaking al them closer to upside down than Maria had ever been in her life If she’d eaten anything at all that day she would’ve lost it in the clouds But the hemp belt held her inside the small cabin, if not in the seat--she hovered above it, and then her backside slaainst Henry’s shoulder, and his knees crashed against the underside of the controls

He fought to find the levers, wrestled with the engine, and lost

Black, billowing shed upward and the motor went utterly silent

The world froze

The sky was cold, clear, and unround beloas sharp and distant, miles and miles away--or so it looked And so it felt, until the end of that ed by the weight of its dead an to fall

Henry cranked viciously at the controls, jerking the clutch and receiving no response Nothing Not a cough or a sputter Not a spark of electricity Not even s only at a tiny angle, airound

"Henry!" Maria screamed

He reached over his shoulder and into the tiny back cargo space and pulled out a pack "There’s just the one!" he screamed back as he wrestled his arms into a pair of straps

"One what?"

"Of these Co the belt!"