While Zavala kept him covered, Austin lowered the sword and went over to one of the gondola windows. Lines dangled from a dozen points along the length of the great zeppelin. The zeppelin's lights illuminated the upturned faces of the men who waited below to grab the lines and pull the airship down to a mooring tower. He turned and ordered the commander to take his men and leave the control car. Then he locked the door behind them.

“What do you think?” he said to Zavala. "Can you fly this an- tique.

Zavala nodded. “It's like a big ship. The wheel up front is the rud- der control. The one on the side controls the elevators. I'd better take that. It might require a gentle hand.”

Austin stepped over to the rudder wheel. The zeppelin was angled forward, giving him a clear view of the scene below. Some of the mooring lines were in the hands of the ground crew.

He took a deep breath and turned to Zavala. “Let's fly.”

Zavala turned the elevator wheel, but the zeppelin refused to rise.

Austin cranked the engine controls over to half speed ahead. The air- ship began to move forward, but the mooring lines were holding it down.

“We need more lift,” Zavala said.

“What if we dump some weight?”

“That might work.”

Austin scanned the control panel until he found what he was look- ing for. “Hold on,” he said.

He punched the button. There was a gushing noise as the fish tanks emptied. Hundreds of wriggling fish and thousands of gallons of water poured out of the chutes under the airship and rained down on the men below. The ground crew scattered, releasing the moor- ing lines. Those men who didn't let go found themselves lifted in the air when the airship rose suddenly with the loss of ballast. Then they, too, dropped off.

The zeppelin moved forward and up until it was in the clear. Austin found that the rudder controls, as Zavala said, were not un- like those used to steer a ship. There was a delay before the great mass above their heads responded to the turn of the wheel. Austin steered the zeppelin out to sea. In the golden sparkle cast by the dawning sun, he could see the silhouette of a boat a few miles offshore. Then, he was distracted by a loud banging on the control-cabin door.

He yelled over his shoulder. “I think we've worn out our wel- come, Joe.”

“I wasn't aware we'd ever had a welcome, but I won't argue with you.”