Firus calmed down somewhat after the two officers had scurried away and went to make his customary engine checks. Despite having a full quartet of mechanics, the captain was still reluctant to relinquish responsibility for the intricate workings of the central furnace and the steam couplings that powered other systems like the turret platforms. Then again, I suppose, nobody else knows them in quite the same way as he does.

Banon caught my arm soon after the captain was out of earshot.
“I take it nothing went too badly?”
I shrugged. “Fuel prices won’t stop rising and the number two engine needs a new axle by-flange. When’s our departure slot?”
“Two turns, if we can keep filling the tanks at this rate. Those two that Firus saw off had papers of some kind, but so long as they keep the powder coming I couldn’t care less.”
I nodded distantly and gazed out of a porthole into the once-again thick cloud, wondering about that three-decker and its purpose alone, so far away from the fight.