The First Sin Read online

  Seamus hmphed. "They had painted recently, but that hardly seems suspicious. I dinna see the messenger. Do you want to talk about the offer?"

  "Tomorrow when the crew is all together is soon enough," I said, stifling a yawn. "Seems I am tired. I'm going get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

  Seamus nodded. “Aye. Have a good night Captain.”

  I didn't bother lighting the lamps in my cabin, just kicked off my boots and loosened my leather vest enough to wriggle free. The feel of the night air through my thin shirt was chilly but pleasant. Brushing out my hair I tried to pinpoint what was bothering me about the job without success.

  Jacqueline

  Everyone agreed on two things: we needed the money, and it felt like a trap. The problem was what to do about it. The crew were sitting around the heavy wooden dining table in the common room.

  The catch all room on the ship, the common room was galley, meeting room, workspace and common space for dice or chess. A wide table ran the room’s length, with a pantry and cooking area set off to one side. Over the years, the crew had added touches, a hand drawn picture of wildflowers from Henri, a worn rug from Nina’s travels in the Far East, Seamus’s dartboard, hanging beside the door, brightly colored, misshapen red and yellow cushions, sewn whenever the night watch was too slow to stay awake. These littered the area, giving it a feeling of home.

  "If we think it's a trap it's pretty damn stupid to walk right into it," Seamus yelled at the top of his lungs.

  Quiet little Marie stood her ground. "But what if it's not a trap? What if it's just a job no one thinks can be done? It's not like we haven't pulled off crazy jobs before. We stole one of the crown jewels of England fer christsake. And no one even suspected us! If we pull this off we can retire. Or have a nice long vacation. Or I can finally buy that little farm for my folks. And I don't know about you guys, but I am tired of having my pay deferred for months on end!" She glared around the table.

  I looked at the normally even tempered and cheerful Marie with surprise.

  Nina sat at the end of the table cleaning her nails with a knife. "Captain, I agree with both of them. What did Zacharias have to say about Franco? Do we know anything about him?

  “He didn’t say much. He wrote that he’d recommended us to an agent he knew, and that the agent would be making contact at The Flaming Mug in Palermo. I received the letter in Marseille about a month ago.”

  Henri spoke up from the kitchen, “Is there any way we can contact Zacharias before tonight’s meeting?”

  I shook my head. “He’s been travelling and staying low lately. I don’t even know what country he’s in right now.”

  Tyler was holding his head in his hands, nursing a hangover from the night before. "Captain, I think it's a bad job. I mislike not knowing who we're working for. But if you decide we should take it then we will.”

  I nodded in agreement and paced for a few minutes, thinking. "Here's what I propose,” I said at last. “I'll go in this evening, raise our price to thirty thousand gold pieces and demand half in advance. If he agrees to those terms and pays in advance, it's worth the risk. If he refuses, we walk."

  Marie and Nina both nodded in agreement. Seamus sat twirling a dart between his fingers.

  "Captain I don't like it, but we do need the money. So if they agree to pay us thirty, then I'm in." He threw the dart and it appeared, quivering in the center of the dartboard across the room.

  "Henri, you've been very quiet." I turned to the young doctor. "If we are to do this, our decision must be unanimous. "

  "I, um." Henri looked startled. "I fix you up after the fact, after you've been injured; you don't normally need my help on the job." He looked around at everyone, eyes narrowing. "And the Vatican? Really? Seems very ambitious. I know we need the money, but I’d rather not see all of you dead. The Catholic church is a large, powerful, vindictive organization that will not respond well to being robbed. They will hunt us down and kill anyone involved.”

  Nodding I said, “And that’s different from the English monarchy how? We always risk getting caught, Henri."

  “That was different. Tyler’s life was at stake,” he shot back. “This is just for the money.”

  I rubbed my temples and conceded. We really hadn’t had much of a choice on that job.

  Marie chimed in again. “Henri, if we pull this off, we could outfit you with a laboratory and surgery like you want. You could finally have the proper tools to work on your research.”

  “And on us,” Nina muttered under her breath. Tyler chuckled and I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

  Henri grumbled a bit more, but eventually agreed. After a few more rounds of objections and counter arguments I looked around the table and said formally. "It is time to vote. Those in agreement please raise your hand.”

  Everyone’s hands came up slowly. “We are all in agreement. If they pay half in advance we'll take the job, if not, we'll walk away." Everyone nodded and looked grim.

  "Let's get on with our day. Nina, you will accompany me again tonight. No reason to put our potential employer off by introducing someone new."

  The crew dispersed to their various tasks, Henri taking his eggs and oatmeal with him. My stomach growled. I told it to hush and headed back to my quarters. My cabin was large and well suited to serve as both office and bedroom. Polished wooden floors gleamed in the morning light. A sturdy wooden desk was bolted to the floor in the middle of the room, and a sternward-facing wall of floor-to-ceiling windows let in outside light. My small dressing table stood against one wall holding what few jewelry pieces of my mother’s I still owned. Her hairpins, glittering with sapphires and rubies held pride of place in an ornately carved wooden vase. My hair, when flowing free reached down well past my waist, and was one of the few vanities I allowed myself. Long hair on an airship was a liability at best, and I kept mine pined up and out of the way. When it was down however, I reveled in the feeling of the wind lifting it in the breeze. It was lush and thick, brown with highlights of red and gold. I paused for a moment to admire my hair, twisting it up and onto the top of my head and stabbing one of the hairpins through it to hold it in place.

  My bunk was built into the opposite wall. Wide enough for two, it had thick heavy curtains to block the light, not that I ever slept past dawn. Wide map drawers covered the wall beneath the bed. I rifled through the middle one, extracting an old map of Rome. Vatican City was a featureless outline in the middle of the map. Taking it over to my desk I set map weights on the corners to keep it open. I knew if I started planning I would want to go through with the job even if our potential employer didn't agree to our terms, so I merely studied the layout, memorizing the major streets and byways. After an hour I put the map away and took out my stationery, jotting a quick note to David.

  Mon Cher David,

  The crew and I will be out on a job for the next few months and will be out of touch. I miss you. If only I could convince you to do your research onboard instead of in that smelly, damp laboratory of yours then we might see each other more often. I hope you are well darling. I will send you a telegraph when we return to Marseille.

  All my love,

  Jacqueline

  I blew on the ink to dry it, then sanded the letter, folding and tucking it into an envelope. I set this aside and penned a brief, carefully worded note to Zacharias inquiring about the identity of Franco and who held his leash. Addressing the outer envelope to Zacharias’s business manager in Switzerland I put it and David’s letter in my side pouch.

  Before heading into town to post the letters, I paid Marie a visit in her workroom. She was looking over the scattered bits of tiny clockwork that were her passion. Most of the items I didn't recognize, new inventions she was working on, each with careful drawings laid out beside the half-assembled pieces. Marie looked up. “Is there something you needed, Captain?"

  “I was wondering if you had any devices that would allow us to somehow spy on Franco this afternoon.” I leaned comf
ortably against the doorframe.

  Shaking her head, she replied, “Unfortunately not. I’ve been working more on portable weapons and ship improvements than spy devices.”

  Levering myself up I nodded. “That’s ok. I’ll do it the old-fashioned way and see if he’s known here in town.”

  Marie hesitated. "Captain. If we get this job, I will need some funds. I have run out of supplies to finish some of these prototypes," she said apologetically.

  I ran my fingers over the tiny clockwork of one of the bee shaped prototypes she was working on. "Yes of course. Let me know how much you will need. If we get this job we’ll have the cash, and I expect it will require more than a bit of creativity from all of us."

  "Thank you, Captain." Marie turned to the nearby workstation and began taking apart one of the projects.

  On-deck I let Tyler know that I was going in to town and would be back before tonight’s meeting. Posting the letters was a matter of moments before I made my way back to The Flaming Mug. The streets were busy. A market had sprung up overnight, and vendors hawked fruit and vegetables from the surrounding countryside. Several booths held clockwork and mechanical aids for kitchens and households – everything from a worrisome looking wind up chopping device for meat, to a series of fans meant to attach to ceilings and to each other to cool houses. I wove through the crowd, avoiding pickpockets and vendors alike. The air was sooty, and a haze covered everything, contrasting sharply to the clean skies that could be seen from onboard the airship. The Flaming Mug was just ahead, and I was surprised to see a man on a ladder taking down the sign out front. I watched for a moment and Franco came hurrying out. I ducked behind a vendor’s stall where I could watch, but I couldn’t hear him over the noise of the market. He gesticulated wildly at the man and the sign. The man on the ladder glared at Franco and gestured back. Taking money out of a pouch, Franco began counting out coins. The man gave a grudging nod and began re-hanging the sign. Franco glanced back toward the market and I ducked behind the stall and out of sight.

  The vendor, whose stall I had abruptly entered, was glaring at me, so I asked her, “How long has that pub been there?”

  She scowled and shrugged. “My first time at this market – it’s not so good as the one on the other side of town. And what are you doing sneaking around back behind the stalls?”

  I sidled out of the stall smiling. “Just avoiding an angry lover. I’ll be going now.”

  The woman rolled her eyes in annoyance and I slipped out the front. I filed away what I had seen and crossed the street, ducking into a rival pub. My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t had a proper meal for some time. I told it sternly to hush. I had only a few coins in my pouch, and plenty of food on The Indiana. The bar keeper glanced up. “What’ll you have?”

  “Just a question if you will – how long has that bar across the street been there?”

  A brief look of worry crossed his face, then the bar keeper scowled. “I’m in the business of food and drink. If you’re not buying, then turn yourself around and help yourself out the door.”

  I pondered his reaction and my thin purse, looked around the mostly empty pub and nodded. “As you say then. Have a pleasant afternoon.”

  He pressed his lips together and glared until I was out the door.

  “Seems I touched a nerve,” I mused. I stopped in at the other buildings around The Flaming Mug and received similar cold-shoulder treatment and wary attitudes. By the time I was done, it was getting on toward mid-afternoon, so I headed back to The Indiana.

  Tyler was in the galley making his own lunch. My stomach growled again, loudly as I came in. “Oh no! Who loosed a bear in here?” Tyler said in mock horror, turning around. “Oh, it’s just you, Captain.”

  I chuckled, “Indeed. Hand over your berries, or the salmon gets it.”

  He slid a loaf of bread and a jar of berry preserves across the counter. “Hopefully this will do. Marie found it in the market this morning after you left.”

  I cut a piece of bread and slathered it with the preserves. “Mmm. She does have a knack for finding tasty things. I’m going to go get ready for the meeting.”

  In my cabin I finished the bread and jam and carefully considered my wardrobe. Tonight was a gambit, and I needed to appear to hold all the cards. I ran my hands across supple, brown leather pants in my wardrobe. Form fitting, comfortable enough to move in, but tight enough to avoid snagging on shipboard mechanics, I slid them on. Boots followed, slightly heeled, just enough to give me another inch of height. Finally, a high-collared green vest that matched my eyes. It was cut low enough in front that most men stared. Men were easier to manipulate when they were distracted, and I had no qualms about using every advantage I possessed. I pinned my hair up with my mother’s jeweled hairpins – an inheritance that I treasured. Two more hairpins followed – gifts from David dipped in Henri’s fast acting sleeping serum. They were sheathed so I had no fear of pricking myself by accident. There was a knock at my door and Nina stuck her head in. “Are you ready, Captain?”

  I applied a touch of color to my lips and stood to go. "Let's see if Monsieur Franco is interested or not."

  Jacqueline

  The crowded streets slowed our progress as we made our way from the airfield to the pub. The market was gone for the day, and the night life was starting to come out. Swirls of humanity ebbed and flowed like a great river, with the occasional brightly bedecked woman in a clockwork carriage carried along like a piece of flotsam. In the distance we could see some of the great builder clanks lined up neatly outside of the half-finished cathedral. These ten foot tall metal constructs moved stone, wood, and other construction materials with ease, each controlled by a team of men. Their dull, non-reflective exteriors made them hard to see in the falling dusk.

  The clanks varied depending on their purpose – some had shovel arms for moving earth, others had large claws for holding stone in place while masons applied mortar, and others yet had great pulley systems attached to their body for unknown purposes. The men must have been on break, or gone home for the evening, because the giant machines were still and foreboding.

  Pausing, I turned and looked back at the airfield. The clanks used for docking ships and emergency repairs looked different. They were easily twice as tall as the construction clanks. Some had long slender tubes dangling down like snakes; these were for filling balloons with hydrogen, helium or oxygen. Other clanks could join together to form giant cradles for ships in distress. The Indiana used a combination of helium and heated air in a dual envelope, multi balloon system. It was much less likely to catch fire than the hydrogen balloons. Smaller contraptions, essentially flying suits with balloons and rotors, each with a man inside, buzzed slowly around the airfield. Most of these were washing or painting airships in the luxury liner section of the field.

  The airfield clanks were lined up and easily accessible, a few finishing up repairs on some of the luxury liners, their mechanical arms extending high into the sky. This was an older field – the ships were tethered between two long poles, tied off at the front and the back at varying heights. When the airships were tied off, the tethering poles leaned inwards, hugging the curves of the ship's grand poche to add stability. It kept the ships from drifting into each other, unless a storm hit. At the newer fields, giant cradles held the ships in place more securely. When storms hit, all but the oldest airships were equipped with emergency release systems that would cut the cables, allowing the ships to rise at a rapid rate. That posed its own problems but was still better than being stuck in port during a storm. Once upon a time the Spanish had tried building hangars for the airships. This lasted only until a stray spark lit one of the hydrogen ships on fire. The ensuing conflagration took out a dozen privately owned merchant ships housed in the same hanger, and no one was willing to risk repeating that mistake.

  To the right, the private cruisers of the rich merchants and minor nobles glittered in the evening sun. Their clean steel rivets and oft-polished bra
ss piping sparked and glinted, throwing rainbows of color. Behind them crews were overhauling several passenger liners. Swarms of construction clanks and workers touched up paint, replaced planking, and re-cabled balloons and grandes poches.

  My ship, The Indiana lay docked to the left of the airfield with the goods transport ships. It was a beautiful ship. Beautiful and sly, with two airhopper docks cleverly concealed in the hull. I could just make out the faint outlines of the doors from here. Objectively, The Indiana was much like other ships in her class, but to me she was the most beautiful thing in the airfield, and I knew her every curve. I turned back to the task at hand, but the sight of a full airfield never ceased to amaze me.

  At the pub, we bypassed the bar and headed up the stairs to room five. I knocked, and a man dressed for traveling opened the door. I saw Franco standing, looking out the window, a glass of brandy held dangling in one hand.

  He turned and gestured to the seat across from him. "Jac. Thank you for being prompt. What have you decided?"

  I took a seat on the dainty couch, one of his men looming behind me. "Thirty thousand gold, half paid in advance."

  Franco paled. "Thirty thousand? That's absurd."

  "Well, as you said, this is a dangerous job, more dangerous than most. Thirty thousand, half in advance."

  Franco took a large gulp of brandy and set down his glass. "Even if my employer agrees to that figure, there's no way we can get that much in advance."

  "Okay, then we're done here." I smiled and held out my hand as I stood, my stomach clenching. We really needed this job. "If you have another job sometime in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me."