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Nene nodded, then turned her steely gaze on Deryn

"And you lish accent as posh as Zaven’s "My granddaughter’s told me about you"

Deryn clicked her heels "Midshipman Dylan Sharp, at your service, ow"

"Aye, ood ear"

"Two of them, in fact," Nene said "And you have an odd voice Your hands, please?"

Deryn hesitated, but when the old wo

"Lots of calluses," Nene said, feeling carefully "You’re a hardworking lad, unlike your friend the prince of Hohenberg You draw a bit, and you do a lot of sewing, for a boy"

Deryn cleared her throat, re her to quilt "In the Air Service we middies darn our own uniforms"

"How industrious of you My granddaughter tells me you don’t trust us"

"Ayewell, it is a bit aard, ma’am I’m under orders to keep my mission here a secret"

"Under orders?" Nene looked Deryn up and down "You don’t appear to be in uniform"

"I may be undercover, ma’am," Deryn said, "but I’ "Mr Sharp!"

Deryn glared at the beastie, wishing it would stop saying that

"Well, boy, at least you’re honest about your doubts," Nene said, dropping her hands and turning to Alek "So, what do your men think of our walkers?"

Alek answered in Clanker, and soon Klopp and Bauer were peppering Nene and Zaven with questions

Deryn couldn’t follow half of it, but it hardly e you said it in - this revolution ell and truly stuffed without cannon Zaven was barking mad to think otherwise

Even Alek couldn’t see the truth He was always on about hoas his destiny to help the revolution, to get revenge on the Germans and end the war That was a load of yackum, Deryn reckoned Providence wouldn’t stop the sultan’s walkers fro up the Committee’s antiques, as easy as a box of chocolates

She pulled out her sketch pad and stared down at the parade again The elephants were lining up beside a long pier, their guns elevating, readying to salute a warship

"The Goeben," Deryn ht cri like a steel spiderweb in the sun

Lilit had been right - the sultan was flaunting his power today Even if the Committee could beat those elephants souns of the Goeben and the Breslau

Or perhaps not Less than a month frouiding a beastie hungry for Gerht kraken before, but nothing like the beheh to sink the sultan’s tarships in half an hour

Now, that would be a barking good night for a revolution to start

The proble If just one of the the plan slip could spell doom for the Leviathan She was duty bound to keep quiet

A torrent of s into a vast dark cloud on the sea breeze The sound arrived long seconds later, as tardy as distant thunder Then the Goeben’s guns returned the salute, ten tian to sketch the scene - there were too ht sink the Gerht the sultan’s elephants as well

Behind her the discussion had grown heated Zaven was proclai in Clanker while Klopp shook his head, ar

If only there were a simple way to handle a hundred and fifty tons of steel

Then, all in a flash, it came to her

"Hold on, Mr Zaven," she broke in "It doesn’t ot cannon We can fix that!"

Alek shook his head tiredly "There’s nothing we can do He says the army has strict control over cannon and a so fancy," Deryn said "When the Dauntless was hijacked, the attackers had nothing but a few bits of rope"

"Hijacked?" Nene asked "I thought the Dauntless’s ra"

Deryn snorted "Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, ma’am" She pointed down at the ar? The hijackers lassoed our men and yanked them off, then climbed up to take their place That’s how you stop those metal beasties Knock out a couple of pilots, and you stop them completely!"

"Perhaps on the Dauntless, where the pilots ride out in the open," Zaven said "But the ht of this already "Shielded from ropes and bullets, maybe But they must have vision slits, like Alek’s Storh therinned, turning to Alek "I never told you about how I rescued the Dauntless, did I?"

Alek shook his head

Deryn took ashe had their full attention now "It wasdiplo of spice powder and hurled it at one of the hijackers The sht off his saddle! And ar stuck inside a wee metal cabin with a snootful of spices!"

"Spices," Bovril repeated quietly

"That hijacker could hardly breathe," Deryn said "And my uniform was pure dead ruined!"

"The army doesn’t control hot peppers," Nene an to translate for Klopp and Bauer

Lilit turned to her father "Do you think it could work?"

"Even a foot soldier can fight a walker that way," Zaven said "The Co revolutionaries!"

"Aye, but think bigger than that," Deryn said "Unlike the Gerot hands I reckon that Minotaur beastie could throw a spice bomb half a mile!"