• I opened the double doors to the salon and a waft of alcohol

    stung my nose. I didn't much care for places like these but in order

    to find a good mechanical engineer for my airship it was necessary.


    I looked around and saw many of the people you would expect to in a

    place like this. There were a couple of men in the corner wearing a

    scowling expression the whole time I looked at them. I walked by

    and one spit at my feet while the other told me to go and polish my

    new airship. I ignored him and kept walking, if my information was

    right I should be able to find Newton Dalley. Newton was one of the

    best engineers on this side of the world. I looked around and saw a

    small man who was completely and utterly focused on the scrap of

    paper he was drawing on. I walked over and took a gander at what it

    was. I recognized it almost immediately. It was an engine to an air

    ship but instead of letting out the excess steam it forced it to

    turbines at the back of the airship. I saw some symbols and writing

    on the sides of the paper that I had never seen before. I took a

    chance and inquired this man.

    "Are you Mr. Newtan Dalley?"

    He yelped a little and looked up. Apparently he was startled

    by me even though I had been standing next to him for almost an

    entire minute.

    "I am," he said his voice still shaky from the surprise "and who

    might you be?"

    He hardly looked up at me as I spoke but rather took many

    glances down and made small notes on the sides of his paper.

    "My name is Hamilton Keeler, and I was wondering if..." is as far as

    I got before I was interupted by Newtan.
    "No I will not be the engineer for your airship Mr. Keeler." he said

    in a matter of fact tone "I have too much work here and do not have

    the time to look after that airship you got in that contest."

    I sat, flabbergasted. Had news really traveled that fast? I

    knew that it was a big contest but it was a couple of hours long. If

    a mechanical engineer like Newtan had heard about then I might be in

    some trouble.

    "Mr. Dalley, please. I have an excess of funds at the moment and

    would be able to fund any research you wanted to do while on the

    ship. Without a proper crew I can't even get my captain's license."
    Newtan sat for a moment actually looking me in the eyes before he

    spoke this time. "You say any experiment?"
    "As long as it does not put yourself or the rest of the crew in

    danger."
    "And you will buy all the necessary materials?"
    "Of course it will all be paid for."
    "The cogs, gears, coal..."
    "Yes, yes Mr. Dalley. I will pay for all the supplies and will even

    pay for your meals while you are a crew member of my ship. All I ask

    is that you make sure the ship is in working order every morning and

    every night. Also if anything breaks you are in charge of either

    fixing it or letting me know that we need to stop at a port to buy

    an extra part."

    Newton Dalley stroked his chin for a minute as he looked up

    at me. He was shorter than me by far but that didn't make him any

    less of a man.Newton began to speak very slowly and deliberately.

    "I will do it..."
    "Thank you Mr. Dalley you have no idea how...."
    "But!" he interjected "Only under three conditions."
    "Certainly," I piped "Whatever you need just name it."
    "First off you get this deal of yours, for my research and

    development, written up before I set foot on that ship."
    "Easy enough. We can go down to the legal house later on today and

    ask to have someone write it up."
    "Good. Secondly if I design something on your ship and want to

    attach it or modify your ship I must be allowed to. You keeping me

    away from all the other ships may have adverse affects on my

    testing."
    "Understandable, I shall have that written into the contract when we

    go."
    "That sounds wonderful. Lastly though, you must tell me why you are

    so desperate to get in an airship."

    At this I was surprised. I didn't really know if I should

    tell him the truth and give him a story that didn't sound logical or

    give him a lie that sounded reasonable. I decided that the best way

    to go was tell him the truth.


    "Recently my father had been abducted due to a discovery of his, he

    was an aeronautics engineer and had made a major discovery. He has

    found a way to.... Wait I am getting ahead of myself let me start

    from the begging..."