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"You didn’t check with the council in Cairo before you set course?"

"Didn’t knoere co here, exactly" Rue was put off by the accusation in her tone And her own guilt She should have thought to ain, enquiries would have left a record

"The Mahdists hold it, but they’re stretched with forces out at Adwa They took some of Khartoom’s major defences with them to roust the Italians It leaves Khartooround if I were you"

Rue slouched in dejection "We , not sure if she was ie answered

"Miss Phinkerlington, how are coal reserves?"

"Pants, Captain"

"No need for vulgarity"

A snort met that rebuke

"Howtube, cursing herself for not putting a system in place that warned of low reserves I suppose if I were on speaking ter hi, glum "No choice We’re dry Will they even sell coal to us?"

"Can you be another nationality? Raise a flag and don a foreign tongue?"

Rue didn’t think they had any other flags aboard She was not devious enough to have thought of that ahead of ti else? That was the general British attitude Although Rue was beginning to learn, the hard way, the ever expansion of their empire was not exactly welco?"

Anitra ticked off on one hand "French and Italian are all out Canadians are allied with British, so they’re no good either"

Rue h her and Primrose’s collective wardrobes

"American? We would only have to try an accent"

Anitra considered "Might work Ah"

Rue nodded "I’ll call aquack that was, quite frankly, ridiculous but shook the boards of The Spotted Custard in such a way as to permeate the airship as far down as the boiler room Three blasts everyone knew meant the officers were to meet In very short order, Rue had Priation pit Anitra joined them Rue decided it wasn’t necessary to awaken Tasherit They’d tell her later, if they survived until nightfall

"We’re desperate for fuel I’ for an update sooner" She figured she h in future she’d put Quesnel and Aggie under orders to alert her the ht hours at maximum use She was annoyed they hadn’t alerted her and wouldn’t put negligent sabotage past Aggie, but there was no point in calling Quesnel out in front of the others

"So we must refuel here in Khartoom"