Josephine sat in the front of the airship peering out the window, her pashmina pulled tightly around her shoulders, barely staving off the cold threatening to creep in. The front of the gondola always let the most cold in, but it was the only place she could inspect the surroundings without interruption.
The Icarus flew over the city. Josephine wondered how high up they were as she looked for its shadow on the ground. The cold, silver hull of the dirigible hung over her menacingly. She glanced back towards the adults and found her father in the small crowd. He was talking to Mrs. Rockefeller. His eyes met hers. He smiled and waved her over.
Josephine peeked out the window one more time and got down from her perch. She trudged over to her father, wishing she had never looked away from the window.
“Josie, baby.” Her father scooped her up in his arms. “You know Mrs. Rockefeller, don’t you? Why aren’t you in back with the rest of the kids?” He didn’t even wait for her answer to one question before moving onto the next.
“Dear girl, Alastair is back there and he is just your age. Why don’t you go find him and play? Mr. Rockefeller brought so many games and puzzles to keep you little ones busy! I’m sure you can find something to do.”
Josephine understood that they didn’t want a response from her. She may only be nine, but she caught on quickly. This was their fifth ride in this giant lead balloon. Josephine knew that wasn’t the correct term for it, but she couldn’t pronounce the other words. Zeppelin and dirigible were easy to spell, but her tongue always got in the way when she tried to say them.
On the first trip, Josephine had stayed where she was supposed to, with the rest of the kids in the back of the gondola. Sure, there were fun things to do, but the kids’ room didn’t have windows she could see out of. When she tried to drag a chair over to stand on, Alastair’s old nanny yelled at her. She ran out to find her father. All the adults were looking out the windows and a man, Mr. Albrecht was droning on about what was outside the windows.
“The land you are looking at now is inhabited by the lowest form of human life. Carefully studying them from this airship, we believe they are hunters and gatherers. This is their summer home and they move south for the winter, just like the birds. There are approximately 30,000, which we will relocate to another water source.”
There were gasps and whispers
“Yes, my friends, this is what I so poorly described to you before.” Mr. Albrecht pointed out the window.
Josephine heard her mother’s gasp and ran over to her. She pulled on her father’s coattails to get their attention.
“What are you doing out here, little bean? Want to see the most beautiful place in the world?” He lifted her into his arms and her breath caught in her throat at the view. Spires of stone stood out of the clearest blue water she had ever seen. She could see cliffs in the distance and grass off to her right. Little dots were moving around on the plain and she realized that people were down there with some kind of animals.
“Whath that, daddy?” She said it quietly, so only her parents could hear. She didn’t mind that most people thought she was dumb. She mostly didn’t talk, anyway, which is why playing with other children was no fun for her. She couldn’t count how many times other kids asked her if she was stupid.
“This is where we are building our new society, honey.” Josephine had heard her parents talking about this, but never understood what that meant. “Look at that water, Sylvia. Can you imagine waking up to this everyday? Getting out of the smoke and grey of the city?”
“Will the Chancellor allow it?” Josephine had met the Chancellor once. A short, stout, proud man. He hadn’t even cracked a smile when she curtsied to him.
“The Chancellor knows that without us, he is nothing. The city would crumble. The banks would all go belly-up. We’ve made assurances to him. Nothing will change in the city, except we won’t live there anymore.”
Josephine remembered all of this as she dragged her feet to where the kids were playing. She turned back to her father, but his attention had already returned to Mrs. Rockefeller.
Josephine dodged behind the bar. The barman was at the sink and didn’t notice her creep behind him. She went back to her perch in the front of the gondola. They were almost to the place. She could see the stone spires and the water, a deep sapphire blue from this distance. The grass was empty. No people or animals roamed the plain like they had last time. They would be over it, soon. She wondered if they would land in it.
She heard a loud pop and jumped, turning around. Mr. Albrecht was pouring champagne into flutes and passing them around. Mr. Rockefeller was passing out cigars and all of the men were lighting up.
The airship was starting to descend. Josephine’s ears popped and the smoke from the cigars was starting to waft around her. There was also a strange metallic smell that she couldn’t place.
She got up on the chair again and pressed herself against the glass, trying to see where the people went, but they were already over the water.
Just then, a scream sounded behind her. The glass in front of her shattered and Josephine flew out the window. Somersaulting in the air, she could see the balloon burst into flames. A wave of hot air hit her just before the water pushed all the air out of her lungs. She gasped and water filled her mouth, threatening to choke her. She scissored her legs, propelling her in the direction she thought was up. Breaking through the surface, she coughed up salt water and then sucked in air.
The land was so far away, she didn’t know how she would swim the distance. A crash behind her made her spin and she saw the airship crash. Treading water, she cried, but before it turned into hyperventilating, something caught her attention.
A small boat came out from behind the nearest spire and drifted towards her. Big hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her into the boat. A coffee colored face, so much lighter than her own, filled her vision just before she blacked out.
Metropolitan Today
Dirigible disappears with city’s finest
Last Monday, the Big Ten Families boarded an airship early in the morning headed to the Wild. Reliable sources confirm the Big Ten families embarked on a journey aboard the airship to start a new elite society for only the affluent. This society would be a utopia where only the most cultured would be welcome. The wild territory had already been cleared of animals and the indigenous humanoids to make room for their new society.
The last transmission was at 1500 on Monday, and they haven’t been heard from since. Search parties have scoured the area from the air, but have found no evidence of their crash. They report only seeing indigenous people, recognizable by their light skin color, returning to the area with their flocks.
It is unknown how this loss will affect the city. Will the banks crash? What will happen to the combined wealth of these richest ten families? These questions have been brought before the Chancellor and are awaiting answers.
(All pictures are from pixabay.)
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