Harlaan

Harlaan climbed the last few steps to the lookout nest, where Kimmie and Sharra were scanning the horizon with their binoculars. The sky was a dull gray, filled with swirling magnetic fog that obscured everything beyond a few hundred meters. From the top of the nest, Harlaan was keenly aware of the manifold dimensions of the fog. Reaching out with an inner sense, he did a quick scan through the fog, then fired off a series of quick instructions the other two crew members in the nest.

"Anything?" Harlaan asked, hoping for some good news. "Kimmie, you thought you saw the skywhale?"

Kimmie shook her head. "Nothing but fog, sir. We've been flying blind for hours."

"Show me where you felt it's presence, and focus on that area. Sharra, you keep an eye in the other direction, behind us. I know it's hard to tell which way is fore and which way is aft in this haze, but we need to make sure we're not blindsided, even if we think there is trouble up ahead."

"Sir! The tube has been blaring at us, sir! Sounded like Uzbecka, hard to make out what she was saying."

"She's on helm, and she's probably panicking. You two keep your eyes on the skies and I'll coordinate with the rest of the ship."

Sharra pointed to a faint shape in the distance. "Wait, I think I saw something. There, do you see it? A dark spot in the fog. A sort of shadowy something above us on the port side, and I swear, I heard voices echoing through the fog."

Harlaan squinted and followed her finger. He felt a surge of dread in his chest. He knew what that shape was. A skywhale. "I don't know which I'm more concerned about, a rogue skywhale or a skyful of Remoras," Harlaan sighed.

He reached for the communication tube and routed it to the helm. "Uzbecka, this is Harlaan. We have a problem. There's a skywhale ahead of us."

The voice that responded, after a long pause, was not Uzbecka's. "A skywhale? Are you sure?" Crike called back.

"Damn it," Harlaan muttered. "That's not good. That's not good at all.

"I can see it with my own eyes. And you know what that means."

There was a pause. Harlaan could imagine the bosun's face, trying to cover fear with an outward veneer of laziness. Crike knew what skywhales were, technological ghost ships, abandoned by their original crews, with their nascent programming and algorithms taken over by malevolent spirits. They roamed the skies, wreaking havoc. No one knew where they came from or how they worked, but they were feared by all skyfarers.

Crike gulped. "We're in big trouble. How far away is it? Oh, and Uzbecka went to check on the captain and now they're both missing."

Harlaan checked his compass. "About two kilometers, sir. And closing fast. Damn it! We can't outrun it in this fog. And we can't fight it either. Those things are indestructible. We need to avoid it. Change course, now. Turn starboard, full speed. I'll check on Ariette and Uzbecka. Maybe the communication tubes are tangled again."

"Aye, sir. Turning starboard, full speed."

The skyship Runagate groaned and tilted as it changed direction. Harlaan hoped they would lose the skywhale in the fog, but he had a bad feeling about it. His second sense could not penetrate the magnetic fog very far. He leaned heavily into it now, trying to sense any danger ahead.

He gasped. He did sense something. Something big, big and metal. Moving fast and hostile.

"Port side! Incoming!" He called out to the other two in the nest, and down the communication tube.

"What? What is it?" Crike called back.

Harlaan recognized the shapes. He had seen them too many times before. 

"Remoras! Sky pirates. They're here, dropping down on us in their manta suits."

"Mantas? Those wenches!" Kimmie screamed out. "How did they find us?"

Harlaan had a theory. He thought the skywhale was a decoy, a lure, a trap. He thought the Remoras had somehow allied with the skywhale, or hacked it, or controlled it. Perhaps they were using it as cover, and to draw them in, ambushing them from the other side.

No time to explain. This would make a great case study later, but now was time for actions Harlaan saw the mantas emerge from the fog, like giant metal stingrays, with wings, engines, and projectiles. There were maybe half a dozen of them, dropping down in formation, ready to attack.

A harpoon projectile slammed down on the Runagate, hitting the nest, and then another hit the deck. Harlaan ducked and covered his head, grabbed the communication tube and shouted. "We're under fire. We need to fight back. We need to defend ourselves. We need all hands at battle stations, now!"

"Prepare for some exitement, girls. Do your best up here, and one of you keep an eye on that skywhale.I need to get to the midmast." He looked back at the skywhale, still looming in the fog. He felt a surge of anger and fear.

He swore. "Damn you, skywhale. Damn you, Remoras. Damn you, mantas. You won't get us. You won't take us down. We're the Runagate. We're the best. We'll fight you. We'll beat you. We'll make you pay."

But the reality was, the Runagate was completely outmatched by even a half dozen Remoras, and likely there were more, and Harlaan had no idea what had happened to Uzbecka and Ariette.