An Airship in Splinterton
Crowds gathered on the northern and eastern promenades, straining against the glare of the cloudless early-morning sky for their first glimpse of the airship.
Minerva Eccles’ voice rang out from loudspeakers mounted on posts around the town. “It has just passed over Cardiff, and is on schedule to dock at Splinterton in thirty minutes.”
The Baron walked along the top of the ring wall on the North side of the town. “Check your lines everyone, make sure they are secure on the stanchions and your lead-lines are firmly attached.”
Two hundred feet across the inner bay the Baron could see the Harbour Master walking along the under-promenade platform, checking his own crews as they prepared their lines. The Baron watched the windsock on the northeast corner of the ring wall. It was only partially filled, showing a light but steady wind from the West. He nodded. That was just about perfect.
A faint shout came from the top of the crows’ nest at the centre of the town. Evidently Nikki had caught sight of the airship from her vantage point nearly four hundred feet above sea level.
Loudspeakers throughout the town crackled and Nikki’s voice was heard. “Airship seen… what the feck, Grammy, you didn’t tell me you was broadcasting me! Oops, sorry. Ahem. Airship seen bearing seventy-five degrees, extreme distance, approximately twenty miles out.”
There was a ripple of laughter at Nikki’s unintentional cursing broadcast to the whole town. The level of excitement rose palpably at the imminent arrival. Apart from a few hot air balloons over the distant French and Welsh coasts, this would be the first flying vehicle of any kind to be seen from Splinterton.
Ten minutes later Nikki called out “Distance now nine miles, bearing sixty degrees. Come on you lot, you have got to be able to see it now, it is flipping ENORMOUS.”
From the northeast-facing windows of the Mumbles tenements shouts started to be heard. Soon everyone could see the airship low on the horizon, its silvered body reflecting the sky and sea. The ship was approaching them almost directly head on, looking like a transparent ball floating in space.
“You’d think you’d be able to hear it coming, a thing that size, wouldn’t you Sir?”
“We’ll hear it soon enough, Robin. The wind is carrying the sound away from us. I understand the engines are electric, so that keeps some of the noise down. Check on your team’s lines, would you? You too, Sarah, thank you.”
As the Baron walked away along the ring wall, Sarah mockingly imitated Robin. “Think you’d hear it coming, wouldn’t you Sir? By the Mother, could you be any more of a brown-nose?”
“Knock it off, Sarah. I’m just making conversation. Looks like you should take the Baron’s suggestion seriously - Tank has got his line tangled up, he’ll end up in the water if he doesn’t sort that out before he launches the lead-line.”
Sarah scowled at Robin, then stormed off and cuffed her big crew mate on the back of the head before helping him untangle his line.
Robin checked his own line, and those of his team, nodding approvingly and offering words of encouragement.
The airship turned south as it came within a mile of Splinterton, showing its true size and shape. The airship’s clean lines were spoiled by a strangely bulbous underside. As it approached, the Splintonians could see that it had a wide hull with twin keels. There was clearly a deck halfway up within the gas envelope. Windows could be seen along the whole length of the airship and people were visible through large view ports at the prow.
Approaching from the east, the airship carefully lined up with the northern channel between the ring wall and the town. The airship filled the sky and the air was saturated with the thrum of propeller blades from the airship’s six power cars as the nacelles swivelled to adjust the ship’s position and speed.
The Baron strolled back and stood by Sarah’s stanchion. She caught the merest flicker of his eye as he glanced at Tank’s line. Sarah’s already ruddy expression turned a deeper pink. She nodded towards the airship. “Ye gods - is it even going to fit in the channel?”
The Baron nodded “I’m told it is 725 feet long, and 125 feet in diameter. At the narrowest part of the channel, they will have about forty feet either side of the airship. It’ll fit if they can keep it straight. I wouldn’t want to be landing it myself, mind.”
Suddenly the centre nacelles roared, pushing the whole airship down against the buoyancy of the gas in the envelope. Simultaneously, heavy colander-like devices on long flexible hoses dropped from the underbelly of the airship. Pumps could be heard pulling water from the caldera bay, and pontoons running along both sides of the boat-like hull began to fill with water, pulling the airship to the surface of the sea. The central nacelles shut down when the airship was heavy enough to float like a cork on the water, and crew members appeared outside on platforms on top of gondolas around the airship.
“Fire the tethers, everyone.”
The line crews fired lead lines attached to large soft balls across to the waiting airship crews on top of the gondolas. The crewmen caught the balls and pulled across the heavier lines that they then made secure on stanchions on top of the gondolas.
“Pull in lines, leave slack for low tide, and tie off.”
When all the lines were tied the last nacelles on the airship were shut down. The airship drifted eastward in the slight breeze, coming to a stop centred within the channel.
The Baron looked up at the prow of the airship where a window was opening. Twenty feet above him, a tall man with an unruly but elaborately brushed head of silver-blond hair leaned out. Basil Foagues gave the trademark lopsided, strangely vacant grin that graced the back cover of all of his books. “Hello Georgie old man. Permission to come ashore?”
The Baron laughed. “Good to see you, Foggy. I like your new ride. Peggy will be coming around in the launch to bring you and your crew to the docks. I’ll see you soon!”
