Iron and Blood Read Online Free Page A

of the small dirigibles burst into flames and dropped from the sky.
    “They’re gaining on us!” Rick yelped. The ship banked, and Rick began to slide across the floor until he caught hold of the leg of a table.
    “It feels like Cullan’s pulled out all the stops,” Jake replied, holding on to avoid a similar slide. Nicki shot Jake a cavalier grin that seemed to suggest she was enjoying the adventure.
    “Don’t—I repeat, do not —tell your mother about this,” Jake warned Nicki, imagining his aunt’s reaction.
    “Not a chance,” Nicki replied with a wicked smile. “This is too much fun. Isn’t it Rick?”
    The sound of gunfire made all three of them duck before Rick could think of a response. Jake raised his head warily. One of the brass and aluminum drones had taken a hit and smashed against a large window pane. The bulletproof windows did not shatter, and the damaged drone was lodged in the reinforced glass for a moment before wiggling lose and wobbling off to rejoin the fight.
    “Quite a firefight out there,” Rick observed at the flashes of light beyond the windows.
    Jake dared a glance over the railing, and paled. “That’s not from the Gatlings,” he murmured. “Cullan’s steered us right into a lightning storm!”
    “Is he daft?” Rick scrambled to join Jake by the window. The dark clouds and white streaks confirmed Jake’s conclusion. “If we get hit by one of those, we’ll go down just as surely as we’d have from the Gatling fire.”
    Pieces of one of the unlucky mini-dirigibles peppered the observation windows like aluminum hail. Bursts of lightning lit the sky like the flashes of a photographer’s phosphorous lamp as they flattened themselves against the deck.
    The whirr of the engine was drowned out by the sound of an explosion that lit up the sky, and the Allegheny Princess bobbed like cork on a wild sea. Jake felt his stomach lurch, threatening to send back his lunch. White light illuminated the lounge and the Princess began to drop so rapidly Jake thought he might come off the floor. Anything loose in the lounge, from their cocktail napkins to their forgotten glasses, became airborne. Jake was grateful that the furniture had been bolted to the deck, or they might have been bludgeoned with tables and chairs.
    “Are we hit?” From the expression on Nicki’s face, it was clear that their situation had suddenly ceased to be a game.
    Cold fear seized Jake’s heart. Please don’t let my mother lose Father and me on the same day , he thought. He braced himself for impact as the airship fell, wondering how he would die: in the cold North Atlantic waters, or engulfed in flames.
    Before he could decide, the Princess slowed its descent, and in a few more heartbeats, leveled out, reducing its speed to a sane pace.
    “This is your captain speaking,” Cullan’s voice echoed from the speaking tube. “In case you weren’t sure, we’re still alive. I’ll be down as soon as we get the last of this storm behind us.” He paused. “And if you’ve been airsick, do try to mop up after yourselves.”
    Jake gave Nicki a hand, hauling her to her feet in an effective, if not decorous, way. Rick climbed to stand beside the table, and looked out over the wrecked lounge. One of the observation windows was cracked, a clouded mass of splinters held in place by the special bulletproof coating. Several of the panes on the port side bore scratches and nicks where the exploding mini-dirigibles had peppered them. Through the remaining windows, Jake could see the clouds growing lighter.
    Henderson, the steward, ran into the lounge and looked around in a near-panic. “Sir, is everyone well? Anyone hurt or injured?”
    Jake dusted off his jacket. He managed an encouraging smile, although he doubted that it fooled Henderson, who had been with them for years. “No, everyone’s fine. Just a little clean-up for later. Thank you.”
    Henderson glanced around the ruined cabin and raised an eyebrow, but