Lincoln's Wizard by Tracy Hickman, Dan Willis Read Free Book Online Page B

sell old Jeff Davis any more of them.”
    Braxton nodded. Napoleon III had set a strict limit on the number of dragons he would sell and barred the export of males of the species. Braxton was grateful for French reticence. The thought of the South having more of the monsters gave him chills.
    The pilot at the back of the airship threw a lever and the pitch of the steam engine changed. Slowly, with great chugs and gouts of steam, two outboard propellers, one on either side of the airship, began to turn. Braxton didn’t think they would do much, but suddenly the boat lurched forward and he had to cling to his seat or be thrown against Sherman.
    If the jolting of the boat affected the Air Marshal, he gave no sign. He simply sat, puffing on his pipe and fixing Braxton with a glare that was half annoyance and half disgust. Braxton tried to straighten up but the shifting of the airship kept him constantly moving to keep his balance.
    Sherman laughed at that, a loud, hearty laugh.
    “Haven’t you ever ridden in an airship before?” he asked.
    Braxton shook his head.
    “I took the train,” he said.
    Sherman’s face split into a smile of pure malevolent delight.
    “Well then, you’re in for a real treat, Captain,” he said. “There’s nothing like soaring the skies, master of all you survey—that is until the Hellfire of a dragon catches your hydrogen bags, and then there’s hell to pay.”
    Braxton hazarded a glance over the side. The buildings of Manhattan were falling away at an alarming rate and he felt momentarily dizzy.
    Sherman laughed again and took a puff of his pipe. He sat on the bench opposite with his legs crossed in perfect ease. Braxton held on, all the while feeling his stomach trying to curl up inside him.
    “Don’t let that throw you, Captain,” he said. “You’ll get your sky legs under you before too long.”
    “Are we going all the way to Alabama in this?” Braxton asked.
    Sherman shook his head.
    “This little thing is just a launch,” he said, raising his arm to point over Braxton’s shoulder. “We’ll be riding in that.”
    Braxton turned and gasped. All thought of Sherman and the jolting of the air launch were swept from his mind as he looked upon an engineering marvel unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

Chapter Four
The Airship Plot
    The enormous cigar-shaped tube of the airship hung in the sky like an errant whale escaped from the sea. It was painted a grayish white, and even at this distance, Braxton could see two thick smokestacks fitted with spark catchers emerging from a gondola that hung below the rear quarter of the structure. Large propeller blades mounted on the ends of metal frames emerged from the gondola and drive shafts rose up into the superstructure to power the blades mounted above. Fins of what appeared to be metal emerged from the nose of the vessel and ran along the top of the ship’s spine, like those of a shark, undoubtedly to prevent dragons from flying too close. These merged into the much larger vertical and horizontal tail fins at the back that gave directional control to the ship.
    The ship was moored to the tallest of the iron mast frameworks that had been built about Central Park in support of the war effort. This one was located on the Green just north of the Ball Ground and, as Braxton could see, featured the only open space large enough to accommodate the craft. Normally, the ship would be tethered close to the ground to accommodate easier loading, but she had already been raised to the top of the mast, ready for launch. Further to the east around the Mall and Concert Grounds, and to the more distant north beyond Croton Reservoir, more airships were tethered, each of these also raised to the top of their mooring masts in anticipation of imminent departure.
    Along the underside of the ship they were approaching, Braxton could see rows of windows and several launches like theirs attached to a metal walkway that ran along both sides. A control cabin