fiction - brigits_flame - parasite

[hwango]

"Wake up!" Toby shouted as he knocked on the edge of the doorway. "Kronacher thinks we've got Suckers, and it's your turn."

Barely conscious, Noah tried to organize his thoughts enough to compose a counter-argument. "It's not even my shift," he groaned. "How the blazes can it be my turn?" Toby, however, was already gone.

Noah peered out the porthole and discovered that it was just after dawn. He really shouldn't be on shift for another couple of hours. It would be nice to at least have some breakfast before he went out, but of course there wasn't time. Suckers were a serious problem. So serious, in fact, that Noah would have thought one of the men on shift would take care of them rather than waiting for him to suit up. But no one wanted Sucker duty.

On his way to the equipment locker, Noah passed Kronacher, the engineer.

"You sure it's Suckers?" he asked. Kronacher only scowled at him in reply. Noah barely stopped himself before he asked if it might an equipment failure rather than a case of the troublesome creatures. Kronacher could be touchy when someone suggested there might be a problem with his baby. Noah raised his hands in surrender and continued down the short walkway until he reached the locker.

Noah donned his suit with efficiency born of routine. After fastening the many clasps and buttons he slipped on the heavy gloves. They practically crippled his manual dexterity, but going outside without them would be a sure sign of insanity. He checked to make sure his brushes were in place, and that the pockets of sealant hadn't congealed. Satisfied, he made his way towards the access door on the sunward side of the ship.

He found Jurgen waiting for him with a cup of coffee in one hand and a plate of toast in the other.

"Jurgen, you're a saint," Noah said before quickly wolfing down a piece of toast and then scorching his throat with the coffee. Jurgen smiled.

"Not a job for an empty stomach, eh? We don't want you to fall off again."

"Damn it, man, it was just that one time!" Noah croaked, wishing he'd had a moment to let the coffee cool just a bit. Jurgen took the mug back from him and handed him a set of long metal tongs in exchange.

"Yes, yes, and we keep it to that one time, yes? None of us enjoy pulling you up."

Noah considered revoking Jurgen's sainthood, but the teasing was a more than fair exchange for breakfast. He held his tongue while Jurgen set aside the plate and mug and then opened the inner door for him.

Jurgen attached a safety cable to Noah's belt and then yanked on it sharply to make certain that it was secure. Satisfied, he clapped Noah on the shoulder, and then moved back. Noah stepped through the door and waited for Jurgen to close it behind him. Noah waited for Jurgen to knock twice to let him know that he was clear, and then he opened the outer door.

The view, as always, was spectacular. Noah allowed himself a brief moment to watch the landscape crawl by 5,000 feet below. Then he leaned out the opening and tried to spot a Sucker.

When the ship was in port, Noah took every opportunity to brag to the locals that he was an aeronaut. Not only that, he was an aeronaut on The Alloy, a craft at the cutting edge of the science of flight. He would tell anyone who would listen how he spent most of his days soaring through the heavens seeing things ordinary men couldn't even imagine. However, whenever men were buying him another drink to keep the stories flowing, or he'd caught the attention of a pretty girl, he always refrained from mentioning that one his main duties aboard the ship was to keep it free of parasites.

Noah spotted a Sucker a dozen feet above him. He clipped the tongs to his belt and started climbing the strip of narrow metal rungs that would take him closest to the creature.

Of the many obstacles and challenges faced by man in his quest to conquer the sky, Suckers had proved to be one of the nastier surprises. Once it was discovered that a cloudwhale's ability to fly was at least in part due to vast reserves of helium, early pioneers of human flight had experimented with helium balloons. The results were quite promising right up until it was learned that while cloudwhales did not appear to have any natural predators, they did have parasites. Suckers showed great enthusiasm for a source of helium which was both slower than a cloudwhale and which possessed thinner skin. The dream of lightweight, non-rigid balloons died an early death, and the next wave of airships sported an external network of rungs that would allow a human to navigate the skin of the ship and remove the pests by hand.

"By hand," however, actually turned out to mean "with a pair of long metal tongs manipulated while wearing heavy gloves." A Sucker looked a bit like an airborne jellyfish or Portuguese man-o-war. It stayed aloft using its bounty of stolen helium, but its diet consisted of insects and birds caught in the stinging tentacles that trailed several feet below the main body. Grabbing one in your bare hands was a good way to go into shock and fall off the airship.

It was for this reason that Noah advanced upon his quarry with great care. Every few feet he would pause and secure his safety line to another rung, but he always kept one eye on the Sucker. He was careful to approach it only from upwind.

Once he was a few feet away, Noah paused and unclipped the tongs from his belt. This was the tricky part. You needed both hands to work the tongs, and that meant you weren't holding onto the airship. Noah eagerly awaited the day that someone dreamed up a way to kill the monsters that only took one hand. You couldn't very well shoot at the things or stab them with a spear. The danger of making an even bigger hole in the airship was simply too great.

Noah braced himself as best he could and then reached out slowly with the tongs. As near as anyone could tell, the Suckers couldn't actually see. As long as he didn't touch the creature before he was ready to grab it then it should just sit there waiting to die.

Once in position, Noah snapped the tongs closed on the creature's body and then squeezed the two halves of the tool together as hard as he could. The Sucker writhed in his grip and Noah had to hastily wedge an elbow under a rung to keep from tipping over backwards. He was determined not to fall off the ship again even if he had to break an arm. That safety line looked and felt awfully thin when you were dangling by it a dozen or more feet below the ship.

A short moment later the Sucker's air sac burst, and Noah tossed it away from the ship. Now flightless, the thing would plummet towards the ground until it was scooped up by a watchful bird or another sky-dwelling predator. Or maybe it would even hit the ground. Either way, it was no longer a threat to the ship.

Noah eased forward another foot and swiped a brush soaked in rubber sealant over the hole the Sucker had punched through the ship's skin. To Noah's dismay he saw the sealant immediately bubble and the hole reform. Too big for the easy patch. He was forced to waste several precious minutes securing a more durable patch, and then it was time to continue his rounds. He had a lot more ship to cover.

* * *

Two hours later, Noah finally stepped through the interior door of the ship and immediately slid to the floor with his back against the hull. Jurgen was waiting with a sandwich and another cup of coffee.

"How many?" Jurgen asked.

"Ten," Noah replied, trying desperately to lift his arms long enough to take the sandwich.

"Ten!" Jurgen exclaimed, genuinely shocked. "We must have flown through a swarm of them at some point, yes?" .

Noah was too busy with the sandwich by then to speculate or even to reply.

* * *

Noah was just stowing the last of his gear when he heard the cry of alarm. Dierk, who had been on watch duty, nearly ran into him as he rounded the corner.

"Storm King Eel!" Dierk shouted at him, clearly panicked. Noah thought it must have been a big one to have him so spooked.

"Calm down, we'll be fine," Noah said. He opened the door to the equipment locker again and took out a massive harpoon gun. "You just sit here and catch your breath, okay?"

Noah smiled mirthlessly. "I'll go tell Toby that it's his turn."

Comments

[rephen.livejournal.com]

:D

It's Toby's turn!! Very deftly written, the descriptions wonderful and clear, and that ending's just awesome. Brought a smile to my face :)

Wonderful read. Im sure you will do well this time around at Brigits Flame too! Good luck :D

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that was fast - it's only been up for a little over an hour! Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading.

You're one of our new members this month, right? If so, I hope you enjoy the community. If I've confused your icon/login with someone else then...um...oops! = )

[rephen.livejournal.com]

yeah im one of the new joiners :) i feel all intimidated but excited :D ive just recently started to write. i've been mostly drawing things before. i've found writing is much harder than sketching, but so far im enjoying the learning curve, despite its steepness :D

thanks for the welcome, too! much appreciated.

[gunthersdncemix.livejournal.com]

Your icon is cute! I totally need a coffee mug with feet. ;)

[gunthersdncemix.livejournal.com]

Whee!

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Whee!

[jlly-coppercorn.livejournal.com]

Another winning story to be sure. You're so imaginative. I really enjoy the voice in your writing.

That Jurgen's handy to have around. I wish he'd bring me a sandwich.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Heh, Jurgen obviously knows the awesome power of the sandwich. = )

[mermaidbia.livejournal.com]

Airborne jellyfish sucking the helium out of airships. God I love you, and I just realized I'll never be a tenth the writer you are >_<

Anyway...

This was fantastic, but one doesn't expect any less from you. Your imagery was so vivid I could almost feel the wind on my face as Noah climbed the Alloy :)

Awesome. So much imagination. As per usual.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

I admit that I try to come up with a take on the topic that is unlikely to be a duplicate of someone else's idea. That said, if I find another story for the week that features airborne jellyfish I will still be delighted. = )

Glad you enjoyed it!

[balloonhat.livejournal.com]

I love this, and would propose marriage to it immediately once I find a country that recognizes the union of a woman and her beloved piece of writing.

[mermaidbia.livejournal.com]

*splash*
OMG YOUR ICON IS SO EPIC.
*splash*

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it! As for your country search, you could always start your own micronation. You can make the laws whatever you want in the Empire of Balloonhatopia. = )

[cedarwolfsinger.livejournal.com]

Great job. Very literal and imaginative. Your characters are very real and one feels with them. I'm glad it is now Toby's turn! Good luck this week!

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Toby totally had it coming. = ) Glad you liked it!

[andmydog.livejournal.com]

You're got a fantastic way with words. This is just excellent.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[madame-malady.livejournal.com]

Even hours after I had finished reading this story, I could still picture the atmosphere and the sensations of the setting as I had when I was still reading. Your writing is that good! Also, I have to admit, flying jellyfish are pretty freaking cool. :D Loved this.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it was enjoyable enough to be memorable! Thanks for reading!

[libra-dragon.livejournal.com]

Lovely piece and I really enjoyed reading it as I could imagine everything going on in my mind.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks!