Revenge of the Brotherhood (Book 3 in the Tom & Laura Series) by John Booth Read Free Book Online Page B

superior electrocution,” he said solemnly. “Dr Glyn said you was at death’s door and ’ere I find you canoodling with a floozy.”
    Lucy put her hands to her hips and Ebb put a hand out, instantly stopping her outburst before it happened.
    “’e… he does not mean anything by it. It is his idea of a joke,” Ebb said quickly.
    Tricky grinned and Lucy relaxed back in her chair, looking slightly mollified.
    “How long they given you then?” Tricky ignored Lucy’s look of outrage. He was Ebb’s mate and he needed to know.
    “Two weeks, maybe three. Only Tom can save me and they won’t call him.”
    “Dr Glyn said as ’ow ’e was out of the country.”
    Lucy gave Tricky a pained look.
    “Then I’m a gonner for sure.”
    “I wish we could contact him,” Lucy said. “I am sure he would come.”
    “That’s strange like.” Tricky wracked his brains trying to remember what Daisy Drew had said to him. It was months ago, at the end of the hearings. “The last thing Daisy said to mi was, ‘Tom will come in time if you needs ’im, but you ’as to contact ’im the quickest way.”
    “What’s that mean, telegraph?” Ebb asked.
    Lucy performed a pretend slap at Ebb’s face and he lay back on his pillow grinning. “She meant by telepathy. Can Alice send him a message?”
    Tricky shook his head. They would be out of range of Alice and yet he had only gone a few miles. “Nah, she must mean like proper telepaths. Thems what can talk across the world.”
    “Do you know any?” Lucy asked eagerly.
    “Nah, but I knows someone what does.”
     
    Tom stood on the flight deck of the airship looking out of the front windows as the hangar doors slowly opened. He felt like a fool as he was the only person present who didn’t have a job. Not that there were many people on the deck. Dougal stood behind the man who operated the large ship’s wheel; the deck was raised a step behind the man so Dougal didn’t have to strain to look over his head. The wheel turned the propellers from side to side at the rear. The wheel was currently set for straight forward as a red line on the wheel aligned with the one on the deck.
    A second man had a speed control that could change the velocity of the propellers from full ahead to full astern in five increments either side. It was currently set in the middle position and the propellers weren’t moving.   He also had a control that could tilt the propellers up or down. Apart from being a different color it looked the same as the speed control. There were two lookouts at the side windows checking ‘port’ and ‘starboard’.
    There was a lot of room for passengers on the ship. Tom had been given the grand tour and been surprised how big it was. It had bedrooms, a kitchen, storerooms and a large room where people could sit and watch the world go by. If they opened the windows they could even shoot at people on the ground. There were hatches in the floor that led to the two Gatling gun positions, but Dougal didn’t take him down into them. They wouldn’t be manned on this mission, which was to test the maneuverability and stability of the ship.
    The men outside the ship loosened the ropes and the floor moved upwards.
    “Is this normal?” Tom asked as he tried to keep his feet.
    Dougal laughed. “The ship is neutrally balanced, which means it should neither go up nor down unless the propellers or the wind pushes it. But we need to clear the lead shield so we have made it slightly lighter than air. We can always jettison some Elitos later, if we have to.”
    Tom nodded as if he understood. The man with the speed control pushed it forward one notch and they began to leave the hanger. As soon as they were clear of the lead box he pushed the other control forward one notch so they wouldn’t hit the roof. It occurred to Tom that one man could probably pilot this ship, if he was out of his mind.
    Once clear of the hanger, the man pulled the attitude control all the way forward, and