Something moves in the distance

Please note there will be some Ret-conning occurring with a couple of my old old old posts to make sure that my end of the thread stays coherent.  Namely, Vincenti was detained and stabbed by an anti-golem fanatic who sees them as

abominations walking the earth, Arthur's glamor was to make him look like a child not a dwarf human, and the black moth representatives may or may not have actually been on board the Cumulus, depending on how it goes with the Cirrus

gang.  Stay tuned. Now on with the story:

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Arthur was on the bridge as the Cumulus came in to final approach with the Cirrus Gang's floating island.  His already wide golden eyes, even wider looking at the sheer size of the structure hanging there in front of him in the sky. 

The island was built of 3 concentric "rings" expanding from a spire in the center.  The needle stuck above and below the superstructure by at least 20 stories on either side.  The spire and its central 'island' was surrounded by roads and catwalks, girders and cables and connected to the middle 'island' where five enormous hangers attached the five balloons that held the whole structure aloft.  Each of those cigar shaped balloons not only dwarfed the Cumulus but dwarfed the Trident building back home. He guessed if he sprinted from one end of a balloon to another it would still take him five or six minutes to reach the other side.

The last ring of the island also connected by catwalks and large thoroughfares was covered in low buildings, parks with trees, and what appeared to be clusters of bubbles, which, as the Cumulus got closer resolved to gun placements.  Large nacells with propellers were attached to all 3 rings by long struts.  The engines faced in every direction.  Arthur surmised that not only was this island heavily fortified but also highly maneuverable.  At this point in the twilight, only a third of the island's engines were being used to maintain the structures placement. The other engines sat quietly, their massive four bladed propellers catching the last orange rays from the sun.

As they got closer to their docking bay, He could see movement in the distance.  Figures moved about all surfaces of the giant ship.  From Lemur Men on long tethers swinging from one station to the next, spanners in hand, overalls covered in grease, to Chirops, flittering on their leathery wings, reaching the outer reaches of the structures with ease.  Humans were also in the mix, reading schematics and running to and fro with equipment, hoses, and what not. 

As the sun set Arthur could make out lights coming on from inside, but not the cold white/blue of gas lamps.

He turned to ask Captain Levkov a question and found she was already looking at him, a slight smirk on her lips.  He realized his jaw was open and quickly closed it to prevent drool from escaping. 

"Your home is amazing."  He said, not even caring that this may be his last night alive.

"My home is on the Cumulus here, but yes, the Garundi is impressive."

"I noticed lights from inside, but not gas lamp color..."

"We have our choice of plunder from all around the shallow sea and the two continents.  Treasure is not just gold or gems.  There are certain rarefied gasses, that, when an electric current is passed through, will glow with all the

colors of the rainbow.  I will admit the actual 'how' escapes me but it is quite useful as you can see."

Arthur had heard of thaumaturgic alchemists playing with electric currents in the city, but they were mere nestlings in their understanding, not even close to being able to light a structure.

"Have you or any of your crews been to the other side of the world falls?"

Captain Levkov studied him for a moment, the smirk still on her lips.  "You do know who we are, do you not?"

"The much vilified, often sought Cirrus gang, although I would admit from what I've see, you are far more organized than the guerrilla pirates my government makes you out to be."

"And what does the Cirrus gang do with prisoners?"

"From what is said, you don't take any.  Although I frequently thought you were either an excuse for the government to spend more money on lead shot or conversely merely a tale mothers to tell their nestlings to get them to go to sleep or behave."

"And you do know that we've removed all the locating wards from your clothing?"

Arthur swallowed slowly.  "No, this I did not know.  Are you sure?  Sheung can be pretty crafty when he needs to be."

"So knowing who we are and what we do, do you want to continue with your questions?"

"Well," Arthur realized the branch he was hanging from was significantly thinner than he thought.  "You haven't killed me yet or dropped me out of a hatch, and you did say I was a commodity, so you have use for me in some fashion.  So yes?  Have you ever gone to the other side of the world falls?"

She barked then stifled a quick laugh.  "For a dead man who's wanted by the black moths you are amusing.  No, I have not ever been to the other side of the world falls."

"That reminds me, why do the black moths even know who I am? I'm simply a poor and unassuming lemur man who got on the wrong side of a glamour and ended up in a burlap bag on a ship."

"And the Cirrus gang is a shareist utopian society bent on leveling the fields of slave and owner by liberating both's material possessions."

"Touche' Captain."

There was an almost imperceptible bump as the Cumulus nudged into a docking harness on the outer ring.  Arthur could hear the whir of machinery clamping the large ship in place. 

"Please Mr. DeMedilan, would you come with me.  We are just in time for dinner if we hurry.  We had a headwind that cost us almost three hours of flight time." 

Arthur had to jog to keep up with the Captain's long stride.  He noted how everyone in the hallways would salute and press their backs against the bulkhead as they passed.  No one said a word as they walked.  A long gangplank with low

rope railings had been lowered to the hanger's floor.  Once down Arthur noted that what he had assumed was a solid metal floor was actually a honeycomb structure, riddled with holes made out of a material he'd never seen.  Smoother than wood, brighter in color than metal.  He could barely make out whitecaps on the ocean far below him through the holes.  Even as a Lemur man he felt a slight wave of vertigo. 

They crossed the hanger to a door and exited.  The boulevard they faced was wide enough for nine or ten carriages to pass side by side.  On either side of the boulevard were gardens being tended by only a few people.  The thoroughfare's themselves largely empty.  They walked to the inner side of the boulivard where a cable ran overhead.  Arthur was surprised to see the cable was moving quite quickly and had to jump out of the way as a large crate suspended to the cable whizzed over head.

Captain Levkov beckoned him over to a small alcove where she sat on a bench, wide enough for 4 people.  He sat down, fastened a belt around his lap as she touched a button on the armrest to her left.  A hook seemed to sprout from teh top

of the chair and grab the moving cable above.  Arthur was pushed back in his seat as the bench lurched upwards and away from the hanger.

He could feel his jaw dropping open again.  His government had no idea what they were looking for, and he only wished Vincenti could see this.  The old golem who had seen and done it all in his hundreds of cumulative years would still be in for a surprise or two.

Arthur was marveling at the ingenuity of how the bench could change from cable to cable depending on the destination when his wide eyes filled with panic.  The cable they were on took them over the side of the outer ring and for a brief but still heart stopping moment they were in free fall facing the ocean directly below them.  The Lemur man gripped the armrest of the bench, wrapped his tail around the seat back and stifled a scream as the bench's hook caught the new cable and they sped in a graceful arc to a new path below the outer ring.

"I, ah, I..." Arthur stammered.  The bemused look never leaving Captain Levkov's eyes.  "Uh, I may need a change of clothes before dinner.  H-h-how many more of those are there before we get to wherever we're going."

"I thought all Lemur men ignored heights?"

"Yes, and I thought all humans hated them."

"Touche' Mr. DiMedilan"

The cable they were on stretched loosely to the lowest end of the central spire and it took almost eight minutes for their bench to arrive.  Once below the superstructure Arthur felt how cold it was at altitude and closed the fur lined jacket closer around his neck.

"How it that it is so much warmer on top, near the hanger?"

"The material Garundi is made of traps the heat of the sun and becomes lighter throughout the day as it does so.  From dusk through dawn that heat is radiated back out into the air.  That is how we heat our water and warm the soil for our crops."

"Crops?  I had assumed you merely ate food that was plundered or scavenged?"

"The Cirrus gang, as you call us, are not scavengers.  We are hunters.  Besides a diet of salted beef and hard tack gets enormously tedious after a while.  We have animal pens on the other side of the ship, so those who live on Garundi day in and day out actually have quite a varied diet."

"Do you have manufacturing on board?  The tools to do so would be enormously heavy, not to mention the raw materials needed..."

"Mr. DiMedilan, please make sure your appendages are fully inside your seat's envelope, we're about to arrive."

They sped towards and open door twice the size of the bench itself and came to an abrupt halt as an arrestor hook snagged the bench's own hook.  Shakily Arthur undid his belt and climbed out.  At least inside the central ring the floors were solid.  Still made out of that mysterious substance, but solid none the less. 

They walked to the doorway and down several flights of stairs to a room that Arthur surmisded was the lowest point on the entire island.  There must have been kitchens nearby as the flavors of the Southern Isles filled his nostrils.  His stomach growled.  Crew carrying empty platters were running up the stairs to pass them, but would flatten themselves against the wall as they continued downwards.

Finally they reached an alcove where staff was staging meal courses.  Not just the Southern Isles were represented but flavors from across the two continents were there too.  Foods Arthur had only heard about were there.

They entered a large room with a huge round table in the middle, some fifteen people sitting around it, all being attended by servers, pouring wine or beer, or bringing more food.  Again, vertigo hit Arthur as except for the wall where the alcove was and a small portion of the ceiling where this room attached to the rest of the island, every exterior surface was either clear or opaque, the floor being no exception.  The table and diners, for a brief second looked as

though they were floating in mid air, their faces all touched by the fiery orange of the sunset.

"Ah, Niyati you made it!"  said a man at the far side of the table.  He stood, causing all the rest of the diners to stand as well.  Levkov smiled and saluted.  "Yes sir, and I might add commodity aquired.  Say hello Mr. DiMedilan."

"H-hello."  Arthur said, suddenly shy as all eyes were on them.

The man at the other end of the table gestured for them to take the two seats closest to him.  "Mr. DiMedilan, please join us.  We were just beginning dinner.  We have many important matters to discuss, but the most important of them is your future, both short and long term."

Arthur gulped.  He was, suddenly, not very hungry.