The next morning Avery crossed through town to get to the air dock. After their date, she'd woken up in Belle's bed but had to run down to her beach shack to change into her uniform and grab her gear. Now, in the faint glow of pre-dawn, she rushes to get to her ship on time.

At the end of Main Street, Rev. Solomon Drake stands on the steps of The Burning Love, the largest church in Booty Bay. As always, he wears a conservative black skater-dress. He smiles and waves when Avery passes. She waves back letting her jacket swing open and giving him a clear view of her bare right breast. He blows her a kiss, and says, "Bless you." Today, the church's message board reads: "Valiant fornicators rejoice!" And under that: "Orgy tonight!"

Avery's not sure why she's never attends Drakes' services. She's just always preferred the United Church on the other side of town. The priestess there does a great job with the guided masturbation ceremony and always manages to work the congregation into a lather. This must have been what gave the tiny chapel such a strong odor of sex. Years of horny parishioners had soaked their juices and ejaculate into the wooden floors, the pews, the walls, and even the altar. Walking inside and being hit with the smell never fails to make Avery feel giddy.

In front of Belle's place, she notices that the shop called Fun Time has opened. A big sign in the window touts: "Grand Opening! Free butt-plug with every purchase." She slows her pace to glance in the window at the array of dildos and other sex toys being sold. Maybe she'll come back after work and buy Belle a gift. She wouldn't mind seeing how the little blonde looks in one of those Brazen Rose Ultra strap-on she's seen advertised. The thought of it makes her warm and flush.  Avery can hardly wait to get on her hands and knees and present herself to her new lover. (And bonus: a free butt-plug! she thinks.)

She passes the diner and regrets there will be no time to get doughnuts. A pussy would really hit the spot. Then, she giggles to herself, but I guess I ate enough of that last night.

She continues down Main Street until the buildings dwindle and the terrain turns to sand and beach-grass. In the distance the Cloud Empress and the other Zeppelins loom.

 

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Belle and Jim have been busy getting the craft flightworthy and have everything is ready long before the scientists show up. Despite their orders to get in the air first thing, they don't arrive until nearly seven-thirty. Their taxi speeds into the air docks and parks next to the Cloud Empress. Dr. Judith Galbraith rushes out yells that they need help with their equipment.

Jim minces down the gangplank to lend a hand, while Judith approaches Belle to explain. She looks frazzled and the rings under her eyes suggests she hasn't slept much.

"What a morning! I finally got the Reality-Stabilizer working. That's what I call my device to block the rays coming from the alternate universe. Nat insisted he wear it." She gestures to her partner, who's getting out of the cab, holding onto the strange brass contraption on his head. It's tall and conical with gauges and small faucet-like adjusters sticking out. Even with the thick leather strap around his chin, it risks falling off as he maneuvers out of the car. He certainly can't keep it secure and mind his mini-skirt. For a brief few seconds, he flashes the entire airfield a view of his garters and lacy white panties.

Judith continues, "Then, it took forever to find a ride and load all of our things."

Jim and the driver start hauling the crates and trunks aboard.

Belle says, "Will that...um...thing really let him see how the world is supposed to be?"

"To a degree. It will shield his mind from any new changes. Unfortunately, any that may have already occurred have now permanently altered his perception of the world. I only wish I'd gotten it working before last night's storm."

"Do you think it changed us?" Belle asks a little spooked. The thought she might now be different in some way she can't detect unnerves her, and she nervously adjusts the top of her leather corset, rubbing her finger against her nipple for comfort.

"There's no way of knowing. But I'd put money that the storm was connected to the phenomenon." 

Belle says, "I have to ask, if that helmet is protection from the effects, why aren't you the one wearing it?"

"Oh, Nat threw a bit of a tantrum, so I let him have his way. Such an emotional boy. Also, to be perfectly honest, I didn't have time to streamline the design, and I wasn't eager to wear something that look so much like a dunce cap."

 

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They get airborne and Avery plots a course due east over the Atlantic. Dr. Galbraith and Dr. Pembroke set up the sensors all over the upper deck and build a command post by the bow, where they can monitor the results. The readings don't take long to come in, and soon they're adjusting coordinates and guiding the Empress straight for the source of the phenomenon.

With the scientist having their heads down over panels of dials and tickertape readouts, it's Belle that spots it first. She stands looking through her spyglass, legs wide apart, balanced on her high stiletto boots. The pose makes her butt look extra round and large, especially as the only thing covering it is a leather thong. "There!" she yells. "I see strange lights on the horizon."

Jim joins her, brushing his long hair back behind his ear to clear it from his face. He keeps one hand on his flowing skirt to keep it from blowing up in the wind. "Straight on," he says. "I mark it seven leagues ahead."

Nat holds up a long stand of paper covered in numbers. "This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this before."

Judith orders, "We need to get closer. Full steam ahead!"

Avery pushes the throttle and air currents whip across the deck. It's not long before, she can see it too: a maelstrom of blue and green lights off in the distance. Above it, dark clouds form, although the rest of the sky is blue. It's contained to small area of the ocean and looks like a hurricane in a bottle. She says, "I don't know if we should be going anywhere near that."

Judith yells back over the rush of wind, "We need to get as close to it as we can! It's imperative to acquire accurate data."

"I agree with Captain Alejandra," Jim says. "This is the best ship around, but flying into that storm is foolhardy."

"Without the data we won't be able to close the tear and the world as we know it will cease to be!"

Belle struts over to the scientists, "How close?" she asks Judith.

"Less than a mile, or we might as well turn back now."

She then asks Nat, "Do you agree? Is there no other way?"

He seems nervous to be addressed by the commanding woman. Her demeanor and black leather costume marks her as someone he should defer to. He almost wants to lick her boots in gratitude for being acknowledged. But for some reason this doesn't seem entirely right, and he adjusts his bowtie instead. "Yes," he says, looking down and not making eye contact. "There's too much atmospheric interference. We need to be right up alongside it."

"Fine," Belle says. Then, to her crew, she says, "I recognize this might be dangerous, but we're The Red Kites. There is no braver and capable flying team. I'm not asking any of you to risk your lives flying toward that storm. Because you will not be risking your lives. If anyone can get this job done safely, it's us. And if if it's up to us to save the world, then the world is in good hands. Now, battle stations, people! Avery strap in. Jim get to the crows nest, you're on look out. I'll make sure the engines are running smoothly. Dr. Galbraith, you and Nate are on you're own until we get clear of it. I suggest holding on tight."

Avery takes a seat in the captain's chair that she usually avoids and does up the belts. Belle is right, if they're going into that mess, she can't afford to be fighting the deck while trying to steer.

They halve the distance to the phenomenon, and her knuckles go white on the ship's wheel. It no longer moves with her will, but trembles under her fingers, and she has to concentrate to keep it steady.

Below the clouds an island lays. The vague outline of trees and one small mountain show beneath the flashes of light and haze of mist. It appears for all the world as though a volcano has erupted, but instead of lava, a tornado spews out of the mountain's peak. A tornado formed of clouds and bursts of lightning. The turmoil brings eerie hues to the vapor and tints the electrical flairs unnatural colors. It's beautiful and utterly horrifying.

As they near, the wind drowns out all other sounds. If Jim is calling down any information from his perch, Avery can't hear it. She even says, "Here we go." For no other reason than to hear something, but it too is lost to the roar.

She eases up on the throttle, slowly ramping the airspeed down to thirty knots, the lowest speed that will maintain altitude. They come up to what she can only guess is a mile from the edge of the stormfront and turns the starboard side toward it. The ship is buffeted beneath them, shaking and groaning from gusts that feel like blows. 

Judith holds her finger up and rotates it around, getting the message across that she wants them to circle it.

In any other hands, the ship might not stand a chance, but Avery holds the wheel with all her might, forcing it right and left despite its protests and the resistance it gives. The Empress rattles as though it's about to come apart. The deck bucks like a bronco. Rain scatters across the planks, blown in from the strong squalls. 

They make it three quarters of the way around the island, and Avery decides no matter what happens, when they're facing west again, she's heading straight for home. But the storm has other plans.

A giant burst of lighting resembling a dozen green snakes reaches out for them, spanning the distance from the clouds. The only thing that saves the passengers and crew from electrocution is that the bolts are drawn to the iron engines and the steel propellers. The engines are work horses. They continue burning coal and belching steam. But the sudden flair of electricity on metal sends Belle reeling back. She stumbles seemingly endlessly. In her blindness, she might walk right out into empty air. She is only saved when she slams into a mast. She grabs onto it and holds herself in a death-grip while her eyes burn in pain.

The propellers don't fair as well. The extra energy causes them to seize and fail, sputtering to a stop.

The Cloud Empress begins to fall.

Avery only has moments to make the call: the ocean or the island.

The island looks like Hell on Earth.

The can make a water landing, but the airship's decking would only stay above the water long enough to get everyone in lifeboats. They are too far from the mainland to row. So, they're best bet would be to hit a shipping channel and wait for rescue. They might be out there for days or even weeks.

Or the could stay with the Empress in their dinghies. The massive helium filled air tank of their state-of-the-art ship would stay afloat perhaps for months, but it would mark the vessel for every salvage team on the coast. Someone would be sure to swoop in and claim her. Then, they'd have a fight on their hands.  And what kind of defense could they form half starved and dying of thirst.

Either option, once they ditched in the ocean, they would lose the Empress. All of Belle's work would be gone.

Avery brings the ship in toward the land, using every trick at her disposal to ease their decent. She manipulates the sails and fins to divert the moment into moving them forward instead of downward, but it's not going to be enough. It will be a miracle if all four decks of the ship don't get turned into matchsticks on landing. Then, she spots the lagoon on the far side of the island. She loops the Empress around and brings it in toward the small patch of calm blue water, counting on it being shallow by the beach.

They tear into the cove doing sixty knots and dropping twenty feet a second. The bottom deck skim the waves just before the prow cleaves the water. The ship jerks forward almost summersaulting as the speed drops in an instant down to thirty-five. Thirty. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten. And with another jolt, they become grounded, the lower deck lodged in the soft silt.

The Empress sits an easy swim to the beach. They're whole, but stranded at the source of the reality tear. The air is still and stifling hot, and the heavens above them are filled with wrath.