Alternia Comics

Elson gningerly swung into a sitting position on the bed to hand her his tray as he pondered that. He didn't even know where he was going nest - wherever Templeton thought was best, really. And even if when he got there, chances were good he wouldn't be there long enough to wait for his letter to reach her and for her to send a return letter.

Still ...

"Yes, I would like that. I can send you a letter when my friend and I get to where we're going."

(Author's note: Elson, you poor hormonal fool! You're leaving a trail!)

*****

The soup was delicious. It was pretty much the only thing worth mentioning on his tray, but it almost made up for the rest of it. Oh, Elson ate everything, of course - no one on a Union Airship would survive a single tour as a picky eater - but the soup was especially good. It had sausages and cheese, and sausage was Elson's favorite. That - and the cheese too, actually - was one reason he'd come to Prussia in the first place.

Another was Templeton, of course, and he found himself staring the third right in the face as he lowered his bowl from his lips.

German women.

*****

"Guthrie's pretty messed up, cap'n," said the boarding-party leader. "Top of his head, and most of 'is face, shoulders, and chest got scalded black. Doc ain't sure how much he can save."

"Is Sledmeir's ship intact?"

"Aye, mostly. One escape glider's gone, but the grapples slowed it down enough that it didn't take TOO much damage from the collision."

"Mostly. I saw the cockpit. You're telling me we can salvage that?"

"Well, it seems to be isolated from the rest of the ship. Like the whole thing was made to be a trap for boarders."

Templeton took the hit like a champion and let his assailant have it in the face with the steel-knuckled glove on his left hand, sending the man backwards over his own chair.

After a long night of dreams that chased his mind in shadows, Elson tumbled to wakefulness at the sound of a small brass bell. His sleep-fogged vision took in white curtains moving gently by his bed and the silhouette of a woman's profile as she examined a clipboard. She wore a practical aproned dress with gloves and her hat seemed to be that of a nurse. He tried to remember, through vague wisps of thought, what had put him in a hospital. It came to him all at once when attempting a deep breath made him hiss in pain.

"Excuse me, Herr Sledmeir?"

The young soldier's calm, professional voice plucked Templeton out of his reflective stare at the Russian. He made a startled grunt and turned his head, recognizing a captain's rank on the man's pressed and perfect uniform. "Hm? Oh, it's 'Doctor,' actually ... what can I do for you, sir?"

"Apologies, Doctor. Herr Indelkrinsk wishes, now that the excitement has died down, that you would accompany him to a more private setting. He would like to thank you for your bravery."

Templeton looked toward the source of the voice in time to see someone smoke errupt from Commander Krosner's clenched fist just as the grinning explorer wrapped that long white scarf of his over his mouth and nose. It gave Templeton enough time to realize he wouldn't do that unless the smoke were more than just to obscure the room before everyone around him started to hack and wheeze uncontrolably. As the gas washed over him, Templeton held his breath and pulled his little air-scrubber out of the secret pocket in the bottom of his hat.

"This was recovered in a geological research site in South America. We have been able to discern little about its physical properties, other than that it is fashioned from some kind of iridium-rich alloy - a mineral which, by the way, is in abundance at this research site." That caused a barely discernible shuffle among the audience. Not a word was spoken, but every mind in the room had just taken a keener interest; iridium was a rare metal almost invaluable to anyone involved with science, particularly with high temperatures and caustic materials.

In swept the Iron Chancellor, sporting a stiff, stylish suit with plenty of medals and an entourage of uniformed guards behind him. Templeton was sure the guards were present specifically for the problem presented by a room full of eccentrics, but nothing - not the guards, the grandiose room, or even the medals he wore - none of it

Please excuse the delay while Templeton sizes up this formidable European leader.