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man on the deck above him operating what appeared to be an ordinary Gatling gun mounted on a standing tripod.  Curiosity got the best of Hawke and brought him over to that side of the ship.  There, he witnessed the bullets ripping into the side of a low flying aircraft.  The aircraft pulled up quickly and veered away from the ship.  The machine gunner kept firing, though it appeared the aircraft was already out of range.
    A cannon blast erupted from the front of the ship, but Hawke couldn’t see anything from his position behind the superstructure.  He turned his attention back to the three cannons.  One was faced directly aft, and the other two were pointed port and starboard.  He imagined there was probably the same formation at the bow.  The cannon operators now seemed to be waiting patiently at their posts with loaded weapons. 
    He saw no other ships on the horizon and the aircraft that had made a pass earlier didn’t appear to be circling around for another pass.  That was the moment he saw two enormous zeppelins flying almost directly overhead.  Their size made the Goodyear blimp look like a child’s toy.  If he had to make an estimate, he’d guess these were at least three times the size of Goodyear’s airships.   He feared that their enormity would permit the existence of heavy weapons aimed down at them, but it didn’t appear that they were shooting anything at all.
    He wondered for a moment if they were filled with hydrogen and if so, why wasn’t the machine gunner shooting at them.  Hydrogen was extremely flammable.
    “Escorts,” a voice interrupted his thoughts.
    He lowered his gaze to see the chariot driver from earlier.  Hawke’s hand subconsciously rose up to the aching lump on the side of his head.
    “Sorry about the hit on the head, my friend,” he said, “I thought you’d be much more excited about the rescue attempt than you were.  Since you apparently weren’t thinking clearly, we had to take it to the next level.  You do realize we saved your life, right?”
    “I don’t realize a nything.  I have no idea who the good guys or the bad guys are.  As a matter of fact, the Shomani haven’t harmed me in any way, yet the Cheronook have,” he said, rubbing the knot on his head.
    “Really?  Would you like to take another look at those burns on your wrist?” he asked.
    Hawke stopped rubbing his head and glanced quickly at the red marks where the bracelet once rested.  He nodded in quiet resignation, then pointed up at the zeppelins overhead.
    “You said the zeppelins are escorts?  Cheronook escorts?” Hawke asked.
    “Yes, the airships have a better view of what is up ahead and behind us and can alert us so we will be prepared.  Once we are far enough from Shomani lands, the airships will return home,” he said, extending a hand to Hawke, “I am Night Rain, the Associate Governor of the Frozen North.”
    He took the proffered hand and shook it, “I am Meriwether Hawke; inventor, engineer, and reluctant astronaut.  I prefer to be called Hawke.”
    “ Hawke,” he repeated, “I like it.  Now that it seems we have escaped the Shomani, how about we go inside and I welcome you more properly with an explanation of recent events?”
    “Before I go anywhere, I have to ask.  Did you harm Kashuba and is she here on the ship?” he asked, “I’m talking about the woman who was with me when you knocked me out.”
    “She’s aboard and she’s rather alert and,” he paused, searching his words carefully, “Well, let’s just say that she’s quite a ferocious prisoner at the moment.  She would have been killed as an accessory had we left her behind and we didn’t really know your relationship with her, so we brought her along.”
    “Prisoner?” he gasped.
    “It was necessary.  She’s been fighting us the whole time,” he replied, “Perhaps you can calm her down and let her know that the Cheronook are not the enemy.”
    “Can I see her right away?” he asked,