They flew back along the shoreline until they neared Patch Run, and then angled inland to where the storage shed was situated deep in the woods. It took them only a little while to settle the Sprint back in place on its trailer and then to release the radian draws, take down the mast, remove the diapson crystals to be stored in the hidden compartment under the floor beneath their workbench, and cover the cockpit with a piece of fitted canvas. Then they wheeled the trailer into the shed, secured the wheels with wood chocks, and closed and locked the broad entry doors. They did it all quickly and efficiently and without saying much of anything.

When they were finished, they looked at each other and broke out laughing.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Redden repeated.

Railing threw up his hands and howled. “I can’t believe I might actually do it again!”

They set out for their home, trading jokes and wry comments, the Sprint crash already a thing of the past. The momentary shock had faded, and neither was thinking about what might have happened but only about what had. Railing was alive and well, no harm suffered, no damage done. And hadn’t it been fun!

The house was some distance off, down closer to the shoreline and well away from the shed and its experiments. They lived on twenty acres, but the house and docks occupied only a fraction of that space, and while their mother knew about the airships—though not how they were experimenting with them—she had not as yet come down for a look at the shed or showed more than the normal amount of motherly concern for what they might be doing. To her credit, she seemed to understand she couldn’t do anything to change how they were, and while she might not like it the better choice was to accept it for what it was.

They made their way along the lake until the docks used by past generations of Ohmsfords for paid expeditions came into view. Then they caught their first glimpse of the armed transport. It was anchored at the far side of the storage buildings, occupying one of the larger slips, its light sheaths down, radian draws detached. Big and weathered, its paint job was a mottled black and brown and green, colors designed to make it blend into the landscape when viewed from above. Its hull was broad and pregnant with the space allotted for its contents, and its decks and railings were fitted with empty cradles clearly meant for heavy weaponry. The main and forward masts were raked slightly, denoting a ship that had been built for both speed and power.

All of which indicated she was a ship expecting to be attacked and prepared for when it happened.