1 The Blue Ship

The deck of the airship Familia was covered with a rush of hundred of Englanders desperate to escape their captivity to Jackie the Pirate. The sun had just broken into the sky, blazing even the air blood-red as RAF captives fought on-deck with air pirates. The men of the RAF flew to their ship tethered just behind the Familia, cutting whatever rigging rope they could find. Most fell to their deaths, plummeting to the earth below and crushing once-lovely rose beds with their broken bodies. A few made it across the gap and hastened to free their airship from the pirate's.

But one was waiting.

Group Captain Valencia Steele dove forward, her flimsy rapier flashing in the dawn-light before burying itself in a pirate's arm. She reared back and kicked the pirate in the jaw, a slim smile smirking across her chapped lips. She'd spent three nights in captivity, and she was itching to have a little revenge. Her smile cracked wider when she saw Jackie the Pirate Gypsy leap over the railing of the poop deck onto the wide main deck.

Despite herself, Valencia couldn't help but indulge in a final evaluation of Jackie's good looks. Valencia took in Jackie's fine legs, defiantly exposed up to the lacy cuff of firey red pantaloons. Jackie's neon-colored layers of skirts and petticoats had been tied at the wide curve of Jackie's hip. An outer corset accented Jackie's pear-like figure and supported the world's most amazing pair of breasts. Lording over all of these features was a strong chin jutting out and honey-amber eyes daggering into Valencia's obvious stare.

Valencia grabbed onto a nearby rope and struck her own dashing pose. She supposed she wasn't as dashing as she was when she'd first been taken captive by the air pirates. Back then she'd had her nice RAF uniform complete with frock coat and waistcoat. Now all Valencia had was her once-white linen shirt, dusty white breeches, stockings, and black boots.

"Hey, gypsy!" Jackie's eyes flared at the slur Valencia had already been warned against using. "I'll forever keep the memory of your saucy pantaloon sacred!"

"I'll never forget your chemise!" Jackie shouted.

Valencia cut the rope, anxious to leave before Jackie could see the heat in Valencia's face. Neither of them would forget that.

The wind shrilled in Valencia's ear as she sailed over the air pirate's deck, but was replaced by a bombastic explosion the shook the very air around Valencia.

Valencia crashed back onto the deck of the air pirate's ship, scraping her chin against the rough planking for a few feet before stopping. When she looked up, all she could do was stare.

High above Valencia, the main mast of the Familia swung down. The noise of screaming men died away, all she could hear was the slowed beatings of her heart and the whoosh of blood in her ears. Valencia's vision slowed as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She became hyper-aware of the world surrounding her, the carnage dragons flitting about the deck, the placement of RAF and pirate corpses, and the slow tumble of the mainmast. And just in the line of the mast's collapse was Jackie.

Jackie didn't move. Valencia did.

In an instant the Familia's deck jolted, the air cracked with the sound of wood splitting wood and the screams of men being crushed. And one woman. Unbalanced by the shift, the Familia threatened to keel over, first to the right, then to the left. Finally, the ship righted in the air.

Below, at a wide counsel of black controls that managed the ship's ballast, the engineer sagged to the ground, clenching at the seat of his pants. He had shit himself.

On deck, Jackie woke, her head stuffed with cotton, and her thoughts groggy.

A soft voice wheezed out from where the pillar of the mainmast lay, "Jackie."

"Morrows?" Jackie struggled towards the sound, shoving away the sharp teeth of broken planking.

A low moan answered her, and it wasn't the sound of her lover. Jackie moved faster, panic squeezing her chest.

She could remember watching the mast fall and ordering herself to move. But for some reason, Jackie hadn't been able to force her feet out of the mast's path. She had stood there, stupid and dazed.

Jackie pushed aside another plank of wood. Her breath stopped. Red hair. Small braids of red hair lead up to Valencia's heart-shaped face. Valencia's heart-shaped face that was tell-tale gray.

Jackie rushed forward, untying one of her skirts and using it as a pillow for Valencia. "No, no,"

Valencia's eyes were closed, splinters and cuts decorated the burnt-red of her pale skin. Jackie looked down at Valencia's torso and saw the beam lying across Valencia's hips.

"No, no, no!" Jackie's demand turned to a plea. She tried to push against the beam, but of course, it was no use.

"Jackie," Valencia breathed again.

Valencia's chest burned, pain wracked through her entire being. But it was beginning to fade. And Jackie was there, sitting beside her, staring down at her. So that was nice.

"It's—it's alright, you're fine. I'm here, and the crew, they'll move the mast, and Morrows is a doctor and he'll fix you." The tightness in her chest rose to her throat as Valencia's purple eyes began to glaze. "Then you'll be right back to being the pain in the arse you are, right? Euy, don't dare close your eyes!"

"Ah, fell for the old eyes, have you? They— they are my most flattering feature if you ignore all the rest," Valencia coughed. She hated to see Jackie, the great Pirate Gypsy, crying over her. "You know, there's lightning in your eyes."

"There's lightning between us," Jackie whispered, cupping Valencia's face.

"I'd prefer something with more substance and less flash," Valencia complained.

But really she didn't care at all, she just liked hearing Jackie say "us".

Two black boots thudded on the opposite side of Valencia's head, jarring the throb of her pain.

"Oh shit!" A high strangled voice called out. Morrows. Jackie's lover. Valencia only knew him from the brief visit she'd had with the doctor when she had first been captured by Jackie.

Morrows continued his shrilling. "Someone get a blanket and rum!"

"Drink this," Jackie's throaty voice whispered into Valencia's ear.

Something warm and like fire trickled onto Valencia's lips, but she couldn't find the concern to crack open her mouth.

Jackie chewed her lips, watching as most of the rum Morrows had passed to her sloshed down the corner of Valencia's mouth.

Morrows read the furrowed line appearing between Jackie's brows and the tear-lines that cut down her cheeks. He jumped up from beside Valencia and rushed over to the ship's carpenter who had taken over command of the Familia.

"Hold the crew, carpenter!" Morrows shouted, tripping over some debris. "Hold the crew, I've an invention for this!"

"No," Qadir, the pilot of the ship answered perfunctorily.

Morrows ignored him. "­ "Every moment we waste could lead to rhabdomyolysis, muscle reperfusion, hypovolemic shock, arrhythmia, cardiomyopathy, renal failure, metabolic acidosis with lactic acidosis, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, Myoglobinuria—"

"Get your machine," the carpenter cut in, pushing past Morrows. "But if the crew gets this mast rigged before your return we're not using a single one of your damned inventions for a year!"

The crew and Morrows raced to their duties. Jackie turned back to Valencia. Jackie forced herself to smile, to look as though everything would be all right. Valencia had to be all right.

­"See?" Jackie pressed her warm palms against Valencia's cold cheeks. "You've got to look, do you see all of these pirates working at your feet? Look, you've even got me begging you, just begging you to keep your eyes open."

­Jackie was no stranger to death. She knew gray faces, glazed eyes, the loosening grip, and bubbly breathing. But all the same, she tried to feign ignorance.

­Valencia wanted to say she'd do what she damn well pleased, but she did damn well please to stay awake.

She was damn well pleased to touch Jackie. Dance her fingers along the silver moon cradling Jackie's left eye. Kiss the Leo constellation on her shoulder and the stars trailing down her neck.

­Or tried to. Valencia couldn't feel her fingers. Her pain was beginning to fade into a warm distance. Above her, Valencia saw the small purple-blue body of a carrion dragon. The ravens of the air.

Jackie kissed Valencia. It was the first surrender. "Valencia, please."

Valencia smiled at Jackie. She liked the kiss. "My God. You look like the sky. The sky with stars on your skin. And you smell like a storm. How awful would it be if I don't get to find out if I am in love?"

"Fuck that talk," Jackie growled, pressing her forehead against Valencia's. "You've got to live, you have to. I don't know what it is, but I feel something for you... you've got to live so I can find out what that is. I've never believed in love at first sight. But if you live... you've got to live. Keep your eyes open."

­"Of course," Valencia said. "I'll just take a long blink."

­"No, don't—"

By the time Morrows returned, Valencia's eyes had closed.