Roma Aeronautica by Daniel Ottalini Read Free Book Online Page B

enough to give any pirate or bandit captain a pause before daring to attack,” Senior Trainer Profias had boasted on his initial tour of the ship with the cadets. I hope this is a drill; I’d hate to run into something that would be willing to attack, Alexandros thought and took his position in the gunner’s stool. He angled the weapon properly, ensuring that the balance felt right in his hands. The weapon had a wide field of fire, being at the rearmost part of the vessel. He calmly scanned his ballista left to right, only to pause as another cadet carefully loaded a solid metal sphere into the holder.
    “Loaded!” he called out as he secured the heavy metal ball.
    Alexandros carefully pulled the loading lever, allowing the launcher to be winched back. Two cadets turned the windlass holding the crank. One, two, three turns and a loud click told everyone the weapon was ready to fire.
    “Sir, ballista ready to fire!” Alexandros called out to the acting artillery captain, a cadet by the name of Militanus. The dark-skinned pupil, hailing from the southern part of the empire, nodded quietly, ear pressed against the speaking tube leading to the deck.
    The boys waited patiently for a while, eyes scanning the sky. Far below them, Alexandros could see green fields and forests sliding by, as though a child were pulling her blanket from atop a bed.
    Eventually, Militanus stood and rang a small bell.
    “Drill is over, stow the weapon and return to your posts.”
    The crew chattered as they unloaded the weapon, carefully returning their unused ammunition and releasing the tension in the bound coils that provided the weapon’s power. Alexandros secured the ballista mount and exited the room, followed closely by Cadet Tuderis.
    “Waste of time if you ask me,” the other boy volunteered.
    Alexandros thought for a moment about how to reply. He barely knew Oclai Tuderis, but had heard his name mentioned by several of the mekanics and engineering professors at the academia.
    “I think it is always a good thing to practice. One cannot be too prepared.”
    Tuderis gave him a look.
    “You say that now, but wait till it is happening at four in the morning.” Alexandros had to consider the validity of his point. He opened his mouth to respond as they turned the corner to the engine room. Tuderis forestalled him.
    “You smell that?”
    Alexandros took a sniff. Smoke . His eyes widened in alarm.
    “Fire! We’ve got to help them!”
    The two teenagers rushed forward. Tuderis got there first, grabbing the door handle and yanking it open. A backdraft of heat and fire exploded out into the hallway. Alexandros felt himself tossed around and slammed into a metal bulkhead.
    Blackness.
    “Come on, damnit. Gods curse it, wake up!”
    Someone was shaking his shoulders, and Alexandros could feel pain radiating out from the motion. He managed to lift his other arm and push the offending interrupter away. A pair of hands hauled him to his feet. His ears rang, and the disorientation was overpowering. An alarm began to wail in the background.
    “We’ve got to move away from the fire. The emergency response teams are trying to smother it now,” the voice said.
    His unseen helper dragged him a few more steps. Finally, Alexandros mustered the strength to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, but slowly sharpened as details came into focus. He turned to look at his rescuer.
    Cadet Militanus was there, his dark face streaked with sweat. He manhandled Alexandros through the passageway and past the last bulkhead. The air was cleaner there, and Alexandros gulped great breaths of sweet oxygen into his lungs. The pounding of feet announced the arrival of the emergency response team. The crewmen were outfitted in heavy overcoats with thick gloves designed to protect against the fire. They wore heavily tinted goggles over their faces and flat helmets on their heads.
    But how will they put out the fire with such a small supply of water? The ship’s water