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available?”
    Billy patted his coat on the side. “Always.”
    “If the airships are close enough for you to shoot one of the pirates, do so. I think they may try to talk their way on board first, using the women.”
    “Women pirates?”
    “They are some of the worst of the lot. No mercy. If you hesitate, they will kill you.”
    “Okay.”
    “Wear the kinzhal from now until we safely land.”
    “I will.”
    Ekka removed two of the knives and slid the scabbards on a leather and brass-studded belt and put it around her waist. One blade on each side.
    Billy said, “Do you fight with both at the same time?”
    “Yes.” She closed the suitcase and put it in the trunk. “Now, let us find Jay-Patten.”
    “I guess he can spritz those pirates with perfume when they board.”
    Ekka looked at him, “You are young, Billy.”
    “You and I are the same age.”
    “I have seen much of the world, and you have not. Do not be so quick to judge, for the heart of a person cannot be known by how they dress, or how they smell. They can be good or bad, angel or devil, hero or knave.”
    Billy thought about that, and of his former bloody life as Billy Bonney, “Can they be both?”
    Ekka looked for a long second at him, “Yes, they can.”
    They located Denys at his bed, opening the canvas tubes. The first one contained the 6.5 JPM and Billy said, “What kind of rifle is that?” Denys explained, then handed him the weapon. Billy balanced it in his hands, then brought it to his shoulder, and finally handed it back to Denys. “That’s as light a feather, I swear. What does it weigh?”
    Denys said, “Slightly more than one and one-half kilograms when loaded.”
    “How much is that in pounds?”
    “About three and a half.”
    “Accurate?”
    “Highly.”
    “How far out there can you bring something down?
    Denys began opening the second tube as he said, “In your American parlance, the maximum range is fifteen hundred yards. I have personally dropped African game at just under one thousand yards.”
    “I sure would like to see what Billy Dixon could do with something like that.”
    “Billy Dixon?”
    “Friend of mine from a while back. He was a buffalo hunter and Army scout. He once shot a Comanche off his horse at fifteen hundred yards.”
    Denys became very interested. “What type of scope did he use?”
    “No scope, open sights. He used a Sharps.”
    “That is…phenomenal shooting.”
    “We all thought so. None of the other buff hunters even attempted a shot like that. But those men were all good shots out to seven, eight hundred yards, and Bat Masterson said that kind of shooting saved their bacon at Adobe Walls.”
    “I should think so.” Denys next removed a beautiful, engraved side-by-side weapon. “This is my double, a 500 Nitro Express. It is my lion rifle in the bush, where shooting is close. It has great impact on the target.”
    Billy picked up one of the huge cartridges, as wide as his thumb and three times as long. “I can imagine.”
    The weapon Denys removed from the last canvas tube was a conventional double-barreled twelve gauge shotgun. “I keep this one for bird hunting,” Denys said. He leaned all three against the wall by his bed, muzzles up.
    Ekka said, “Keep them near and ready, Denys. We may have trouble tomorrow night. Or sooner.”
    “Brigands?”
    “Of a sort. Sky pirates.”
    Billy added, “And any friends they may have on the ground.”
    Jay-Patten nodded, “I will be ready if needed.”
    Billy tossed him the 500 Nitro Express cartridge and said, “Bring some of these along if the party starts.”
    Denys grinned, “Assuredly.”

     
    [ 6 ]
     
    “What’s with all the foliage?” Tesla asked. They were inside the Arcadia , at the heart of the ship—the huge cylinder containing the engine room and the engine itself, Merkam’s transmogrifier. Tesla pointed at the emerald green blanket of tiny ferns that enveloped the exterior of the engine room.
    “Oxygen, man. Oxygen,”