A Steampunk Tale of Wonder – The Last Flight of the Phoenix, Conclusion

Annie's mouth went dry as she pushed through a pair of dark wooden doors. She shuddered involuntarily at the sight of the man, who was once her lover in front of her. "My God Peter, what has happened to you?"

Dozens of purple and green bruises mottled his face and bare arms, the top half of his leather flight suit was torn, and burnt in several places. The left eye was almost swollen shut and his blonde hair was flecked with black soot, and dark dried blood. The patch on his arm that marked him as an Air Ranger was still visible and she could make out the scarlet flairs that marked him as a Commando.

Slowly Annie stepped through the door, and it smoothly clicked shut behind her. Peter looked up from the wooden bench he sat on, and then stood unsteadily on his feet, she reached out then hesitated,

"I want to hold you, but I am afraid I will hurt you."

Peter smiled, but his eyes were unable to match his expression of joy,

"You can't hurt me Ann, and I hug would be good right now."

Annie held him as tightly as she felt it was safe, stroking the soot and blood out of his hair with her free hand. After several minutes she leaned back, tipping his face up so she could look in his unswollen eye,

"How did this happen? I mean… Where am I?"

Peter smiled, "You could call this place… The… Ready room, but you are too early and still have your duty to attend too."

Ann pulled away a little more and looked at Peter puzzled, and then nodded as the realization hit her, "I know… Carol is still out there…"

She looked at him puzzled and then nodded as realization hit her, "I know." Then her mouth soured as she recalled her thoughts before the battle, "Act now…"

Slowly Annie traced Peter's face, then stopped as the bruises and swelling disappeared at her touch, "Oh my God… This place it's…"

Peter placed his finger in her lips to silence her, and smiled once more, "Go… Do your duty I'll be here waiting for you, but don't be in to much of a hurry to come back."

The doors behind Annie creaked open again, and she felt herself being pulled toward them. She grabbed at Peter, and before they were pulled apart their lips locked, and the warmth spread through her cold body. She then felt herself being yanked, and she floated backwards, just before the door swallowed her, and closed she saw Peter hold up his right hand as a farewell.

"Annie! Annie!"

The urgency of Carol shouting through her tin speaker shocked Annie out of her fog, she focused on her surroundings. The airwing should have been a smoldering wreck on the ground, with her quite dead inside it. Instead the Victoria was in one piece, albeit tipped forward onto its nose, from what appeared to be a fairly gentle crash landing.

"Annie, talk to me!" shouted Carol again.

"I'm here C… How are you?" said Annie.

"Took damage on my left wing, and the charger sheared off, I had to take myself out of the battle to get her to cool down… The Arc has sounded a full recall, they are withdrawing and ordered all airwings to make combat landings on the flat top… Can you make it?"

Annie touched her shoulder and something wet and heavy came away in her grip, her vision swarm and she fought to focus on the instruments on front of her. She leaned her head against the Victoria's canopy, and looked out on a flat studded metal riveted landscape, slowly the realization hit her she had crashed on the back of the Leviathan.

"My god Annie how hard have you been hit?" said Carol, her voice now sounding far off.

"I'm sorry C, it's pretty bad," Annie said choked down a lump in her throat. "I don't know where I am, but I am glad you can't follow me… I love you… Be safe…"

"Annie? An fizz crackle… repe… frazz," spat the tin speaker.

Annie reached out and pulled at the speaker, until it came free from her console, and sparked as the wires disconnected. She laughed aloud and liked that sound, realizing she hadn't been this carefree since her last tryst with Peter. Just in front of broken airwing a hatch opened and she saw the outline of Dominion air-troops climbing out to capture her.

She held up her good arm, making the shape of the pistol with hand and pointed it at the startled soldiers who brought their rifles up,

"Bang your dead…"

To be continued?