Final Flight Read Online Free PDF Page A

. . . stop the war.”
    â€œHow many Caskentians died to fuel that box of yours?” I yelled. She surely had it on her person.
    â€œThousands.” I hoped I’d misheard her, but I feared I had not. “You’d . . . vain!”
    â€œThen make it to the Waste, if you can!” I yelled back. “Don’t risk our hides.” Don’t risk Sheridan.
    I squeezed his arm then passed the rope to his grip. He’d known sailor knots before he knew his letters, so it took him mere seconds to secure the rope to his belt. I gingerly moved past him so I could look around at Starling. The wind and my own accursed stiffness dropped me to a knee. The iciness of the floor stabbed through the cloth.
    â€œYou’re not going to survive . . . night. Winds . . . Even if you did . . . send Daggers after you. Keep you quiet.”
    I forced away more grief as I wondered at the fate of my aether magi.
    Mrs. Starling stood with her back to the clattering hatch, secured by her own rope. Her body was bundled thick like an autumn bear, the broad straps of the wing suit forming an X over her chest. Over her shoulders, the wings had opened slightly and seemed rigged to her arms by a series of pulleys. A full leather helmet, the goggles glassed in green, covered her head. She poked around some other crates, looking for something. A way to keep the hatch open, I imagined. She couldn’t risk it crunching her or the wings.
    â€œWith Corrado gone, that’s one fewer,” I said.
    For a moment, I mistook her high laugh for the wind. “I’m the Clockwork Dagger! Corrado . . . assistant . . . damn poor one. Your boy, on the other hand . . .”
    â€œMy boy?” I snapped.
    â€œ . . . Reputation among docks and crews . . . Clever. Curious. I see one of your men brought Corrado’s wings. Give . . . Sheridan. Barely . . . petrol to make the flight. He can come with me . . . train in the palace.”
    I wanted Sheridan to live out his potential, but I also wanted him to keep his soul . I looked at Sheridan. He seemed dumbstruck. God help me, was he actually considering this?
    Mrs. Starling continued, “Besides . . . Captain. Feel . . . ship . . . something wrong, not just headwind . . . crash soon . . . he . . . wear wings. Escape.”
    Faint light shone on Sheridan’s smooth face, his slim body. He was still very much a child. “Sheridan?” I whispered. When had I last called to him by his first name?
    â€œNo!” He shouted to be heard. I released a breath deeper than my lungs. “I’m crew of the Argus . I will not abandon ship.” He met my eye and murmured, “I won’t abandon you , Captain.”
    â€œ . . . Very well!” Mrs. Starling’s voice rang out. “ . . . No second chances . . . Good as damned.”
    There was a hard clang, then another. I looked around. Mrs. Starling had grabbed a length of rebar and was stabbing it onto the hatch. I knew she’d succeeded to hold the maw wide open when the wind truly howled through and around us, the chill like death. Loose ropes and detritus blew about. An old, desecrated portrait of Queen Evandia—­stored down here for ages—­flapped past me and toward the hatch.
    When I looked around again, Mrs. Starling was gone.
    â€œSheridan?” I bent close to his face. “You can leave with those wings. Go on your own.”
    â€œNo, sir.” His gaze was hard.
    â€œWe’ve lost our ballast. The Argus is venting gas. We’re going to crash. The hatch is open now—­”
    â€œSir. No. I can’t.”
    â€œYou can, damn it.”
    â€œNo, Captain, I can’t .” His voice softened. I leaned closer. “After we spoke, I sneaked into the wardrobe boxes and