I threw the flare overboard and finished the thing off with my revolver. Looking over, Firus was also locked in a struggle with another of the clockwork monsters – I intervened with a smash from the butt of the rifle.

The other clockworks had seen the flare, though, and suddenly there were six, seven, eight and more of them attacking at once. I dropped the rifle and emptied my revolver into the approaching swarm – and suddenly I was in a heap halfway down the stairs; at the top Firus closed the hatch and slapped the alarm pressure release valve on the wall.

Banon evidently knew what to do, as he immediately reversed the climb and started venting gas to take us back down into clearer skies. It was a lost cause if we couldn’t hold them off the upper envelope.

“Well, it was worth a try. You all right there? No chunks taken outta you?”
I shook my head, silently thanking the Quartermaster at Coalpits HQ for issuing the old heavy officer’s coats even though they were meant to be out of circulation.