Fiddlehead

“There’s a spyglass in my bag,” he shouted to her over the rushing air and rumbling motor.



“I’ll get it.” She nodded, and fished around until she found it.



“I’m not seeing much traffic down there, are you?”



“No,” she said loudly back, though her view through the spyglass was compromised by the lenses she wore to protect her eyes. “That’ll change as we approach Atlanta. It’s picking up even … even now.” She gestured at the road, then off to the side, where a large factory compound coughed out soot from three tall towers. “That’s Dalton, I believe.”



“I’m sure you’re right.”



“So”—she squinted back down at the map, and pointed to a spot with one gloved finger— “we’re about here. Still ninety miles from the city, I’d estimate, but I’ll keep my eyes open. If we’re lucky, they’re still quite a ways outside town.”



“If we were lucky, Troost would’ve gotten us a ride with a heater,” Henry said. His icy cheeks were round and red, and he wasn’t smiling.



“Just one more reason to hope we find them fast,” she replied, though she couldn’t feel her face at all, and her jaw must surely be freezing shut.



Talking was difficult, so they soon gave up and concentrated on their respective chores. Henry kept the craft aloft, and Maria watched the ground below, tracing the comings and goings of carts, horses, and diesel carriages as they chugged along the southbound route to the biggest city in the Confederacy.



She did not take her eyes off the road as she asked, “How much fuel does this thing hold?”



“Enough to get us to Atlanta, but not much farther. These little ones aren’t made for the long haul, but we’ll make it to the city,” he assured her. “Even fighting the sky like this.”



“Good,” she said quietly. And then she closed her eyes, listening for something she heard very faintly, behind them and off to their left. “Even if we take a detour or two?”



“Detour?” He frowned hard enough that the goggles dipped on his forehead. “Why would we detour?”



“Not a detour, then. Call it evasive action.”



Her ears pinpointed the noise and she turned her head far enough to catch it with her eyes. A ship was incoming, far enough away that she couldn’t suss out the details, but it wasn’t alone—and that was the main point of note. It had a friend, and that friend was approaching from the right.



“Two ships, Henry,” she said evenly. “Coming up behind us.”



“They could be merchants or military fellows,” he tried, but he didn’t sound convinced even as he said it. “This is a common enough trade route.”



“Henry, we’re being flanked.”



“That … can’t be by accident.”



“I shouldn’t think so, no.”



“It might be nothing,” he said, hands tight on the controls. “We haven’t seen any other ships today because the flying conditions are nothing short of awful, but this section of sky is a regular roadway. They have no reason to confront us.”



Maria turned the spyglass outward and caught the first ship in the round viewing area. It was small and nondescript, and still too far away to see with any great clarity. But the second ship was larger. She could just make out some lettering on the side, but not quite read what it spelled.



“What do you see?”



“I see…” she said, slowly, “a military ship, I think. It’s big, but doesn’t look well armed. Cargo, transport, something of that sort. It’s CSA gray, at any rate. With … yes. The Bonnie Blue,” she added, meaning a white star in a blue circle—to differentiate it from the Texian insignia, with a white star on brown. “It’s one of theirs, or someone’s made it look that way.”



“You think it’s one of the Union decoys?”



“Might be, but if the Maynard device wouldn’t fit on something that size, it must be bigger than I’d assumed.” She adjusted her grip on the spyglass and tried the other ship again. “The smaller ship … it’s not marked for the military. I’m not sure it’s marked at all.” It was gaining on them faster than the CSA ship, but still she saw no identifying flag, insignia, name, or registration numbers.



“That isn’t good.”



“It might mean pirates. Pirates wouldn’t bother a pair of adventurers in a tiny rented craft, not when there are travelers below and big city docks another hour or two out. I do hope it’s pirates,” she concluded.



“You’re a peculiar woman.”



“I’ve had good luck with pirates. I’ve been told I’m a bit of a pirate myself.”



“Let’s not talk of luck anymore, shall we? Or pirates, either,” Henry pleaded through teeth clenched with chill or nerves. “We’ve already noticed that luck isn’t with us. And as for pirates, you are no such thing. That having been said, you’ll have to tell me that story sometime.”



“Not much to tell,” she lied, keeping one eye glued to the spyglass lens. “My first assignment as a Pinkerton agent had me working with a pirate crew. The captain was a runaway slave named Croggon Hainey. He’s the friend of mine that Troost hopes to call in for backup in Washington.”



“A friend of yours?” Even through the goggles, Maria could see Henry’s eyes widen with incredulity. “All right, I’m not a man to judge. But if he’s a pirate … do you think he’ll help us, or the Lincolns, or anyone else? Even if Kirby Troost asks him to?”



Still peering through the glass, she told him, “Yes, I do. He’s an adventurous sort, and no fan of Southern politics, as you might expect.” She shifted her grip on the device, and directed the conversation back to more pressing matters. “And I wish to God that he was here with us right now.”



“They’re still on us?”



“Very much so.”



“Goddammit.”



“Now, Henry, listen: the smaller craft is bigger than this one, but not so large as its brethren. Perhaps a crew of three. I don’t really think it’s pirates, but it could be anything—state, federal, or private.”



“Do you see any weapons?”



“Not mounted to the exterior. Maybe it’s an observation craft? Survey work?” She wasn’t sure why she kept making guesses. The ships would either bother them, or not. “But here they come—another thirty seconds or so until contact. Look innocent, Henry.”



“I’ll do my level best.”



The ships drew up on either side of the Black Dove. Now Maria could see their faces without the spyglass, so she put it aside. In the course of acting innocent, she waved cheerfully at the nearest ship—the CSA gray with blue and white markings. Without moving her lips, she said to Henry, “Wish I had a flag. I’d wave it.”



“You’d look silly,” he said back, smiling and joining her in the friendly greetings.



“Silly is usually innocent,” she said, and blew the craft a kiss.



Inside the main cabin of the big craft she saw five men: three seated, two standing. All uniformed. None smiling or waving back; not at first. But then the captain gave her a small salute, and the others did as well, before deliberately turning their attention elsewhere. Shortly thereafter, the big ship peeled away from them and sped ahead, leaving just the smaller of the two hovering nearby.



“Can’t quite see the little ship,” Maria complained, straining to look around Henry’s bulkily coated form.



“Shall I cut off my head?”



“Extremes aren’t called for. Not just yet.”



He forced a smile and released one side of the steering column to chance a quick wave. “Three men,” he told her.



“Uniforms?”



“No. And I don’t think smiling at them will be very helpful.”



“It’s usually more helpful than glowering.”



“Glowering won’t help us either. I think we have trouble.”



“Do you see any guns?” she asked. “I didn’t.”



He sniffed hard, the sniff of a man who can’t feel what’s going on in his sinuses anymore. “They’re inside.”



The ship fell back, and then pulled around closer to Maria—who saw that, yes, the men within were heavily armed and did not look very happy to see them. She beamed at them regardless, and waved like she had for the military ship—which was now well ahead of them, keeping its course along the southbound road below.



No one waved back, but one man cranked open a side window, which jutted out from the craft like a fragile glass wing. He held a megaphone up to his mouth, and leaned out into the clouds.



“You there!” he shouted. “Land your craft immediately!”



Maria pretended she hadn’t heard, or hadn’t understood. “I’m sorry?” she mouthed, and pointed at her ears. “Too loud! So much wind!”



“Land this craft immediately!” he tried again.



“They want us to land,” Henry said, staring straight ahead.



“Thank you, dear, I heard them,” she muttered. Then to the craft, as loudly as she could, “I’m very sorry, we can’t hear you!” She trusted they’d get the gist.



They did, and it made them angry.



“Land the craft immediately! Right now!” And this time, he brandished a gun in a threatening fashion.



“I’ve seen bigger!” she yelled.



“Now you’re just antagonizing them!” Henry complained.



“Oh, they can’t hear a word I’m saying. Can we outrun them?”



He said, “I’m not sure. Maybe. Maybe not.”



“Well, we can’t just land. They’ll kill us both, and that’ll be the end of it.”



“I thought you liked pirates.”



“They aren’t pirates,” she said with more confidence than before. “They’re mercenaries.”