The Dark Design by Phillip Jose Farmer

Her last hope that there would not be enough volunteers died as soon as she called for them. There were enough to get into three helicopters if they had been available.

Perhaps, she thought, they had been so frustrated at the tower that they wanted violent action against a foe who could be seen, who would fight. But she did not really believe that.

Clemens was right. He did know human nature. Male nature, anyway. No, that wasn’t fair. The nature of some males.

An hour’s discussion followed. During this Cyrano said that he could draw accurate sketches of the layout of the Rex. Clemens finally signed off, but not before making sure that he would be notified of the results of the raid the moment the helicopter returned.

“If it returns,” she said.

63

The torpedoes seemed to be dead-on, but Sam ordered the boat swung away and full power applied. A minute later, an obser­ver at the stem reported that the torpedoes had just missed. The dirigible loomed before him, coining swiftly, seeming about to collide with the pilothouse itself. Sam yelled an order to fire a second volley away. Before that order could be obeyed, the airship exploded.

Four bombs going off simultaneously should have blown in every port, should have caved in the hull of the boat. As it was, many ports were shattered or driven whole into the interior and people were knocked down. The boat, immense and heavy though it was, rocked. Sam was hurled to the deck along with everybody except the pilot, who was strapped in his chair. Byron was knocked unconscious as a windscreen slammed into his face.

Sam got to his feet as smoke roiled into the control room, blinding him, making him cough violently. An acrid stink surrounded him. He could not hear anything; he was totally deafened for a minute. He groped through the cloud and felt along the control panel. Knowing the location of every dial, gauge, and button, he ascer­tained that the ship was still on course-if the steering mechanism was still operating. Then he unstrapped Detweiller’s bloody, un­conscious form and eased him to the floor. By the time he had slipped into the chair, he could see again. The airship, or what was left of it, was in the water. Pieces were scattered over hundreds of square meters, burning. Smoke billowed out from them, but by then the boat was out of the clouds. He straightened her out and headed her up-River. After putting the automatic pilot on, and making sure that it still operated, he went to the starboard to survey the dam­age.

Joe was saying something, his mouth wide open and working furiously. Sam stabbed a finger at his ear, indicating that he couldn’ t hear. Joe kept on yelling. His skin was cut in a hundred places.

Later, after everybody had calmed down, Sam decided that just one of the bombs must have gone off. The force of its explosion should have set off the other three, but it surely had not done so.

Nobody had been killed, but several score had been severely wounded. Luckily, the explosion had failed to set off the rockets aboard.

Detweiller was the worst casualty, but by the third day he was up and walking. The boat was still close to shore, anchored next to the stone that had provided breakfast. A wide gangplank was built so the crew could walk ashore. The damage was repaired, and the crew took turns on shore leave. Sam decided that now would be a good time to make more alcohol and gunpowder. Arrangements were made to trade tobacco and some of the whiskey and wine provided by the crew’s grails for wood and lichen from the area.

Von Richthofen was dead. The only survivors of the Minerva were Samhradh and Hardy, Newton having drowned while still unconscious. Sam wept when the German’s body, wrapped in a weighted bag, was dropped into The River. He had been very fond of the ebullient, happy-go-lucky fellow.

“I know why Greystock did this,” Sam said. ‘John Lackland made him an offer he couldn’t resist. And the double-dealing swine almost did the job, too. I thought Greystock was a cruel man, like all of his kind, but I didn’t think he’d be disloyal. Still, if you’ve read your history-you, Marc, not you, Joe-then you’ll know that the medieval noblemen were notorious for treachery. Their god was Opportunity, no matter how many churches they built for the glory of Church and God. They all had the morals of a hyena.”