Re: Chapter 21: Bound for Nouveau Zion
Alphonse Poirier works the airship's lines, maneuvering the flaps as the balloon descends. He moves to and fro within the basket, sometimes leaning towards one side and calling for the the pole-men to join him on that side or to defend the other side. The frenchman continues to bark out orders the entire time; some of them are in his native language and spoken so quickly that even ENS finds himself failing to translate in the moment.
The pilot avoids a rock formation on the right, narrowly, with both Earnest and Jacob on that side. The two passengers, now vital hands on the airship's crew, weren't sure they had been of any help to the pilot as the made their first attempts to use the poles. At least, they knew in their hearts, they had followed his orders and the ship hadn't crashed into the rocks or otherwise taken damage. And then not a half-dozen heartbeats later another crag comes into view, threatening to tear into the basket. The rifleman and the professor wield the poles -- both making solid contact with the outcropping. Ringgenberg's pole bends against the toughness of the rocks; Jacob's remains unmarred after impact. Between the two men, they pushed the basket away from the danger, even as Poirier yelled at them for jolting the plummeting vessel off course.
After he leaps into the section where the propellor and hand crank engine reside, the pilot call out again, this time heard by all in plain English and then somehow understandable French, as if he had summoned all of his command abilities to address the instant of uncertainty in a language and tone any man could comprehend.
"To the front. Fend to the port. Have those lines ready for the ground crew. Allons y, mes amis!"
Now, with all four men at the posts, the balloon begins to slow down a mite, perhaps because of the frenchman's working the flaps. In fact, the basket bounces upward as the pilot ties off one of his ropes to a part of the engine and pulls the others, heavily. The men, including Dave and Tracy who had found positions of readiness while staying out of the pole-men's way, proved ready for the bounce. None lost their footing. And all kept their wits about them, doing their best as the balloon and basket just as suddenly drop again towards the slim mesa where the ground crew remained positioned, before Poirier jerks the vessel to the starboard to avoid the approaching rock wall.
Now the last defense against the crags is required. The professor's attempt is no better than a glancing blow, perhaps bending the pole even further against a rock wall that extends for several yards before Poirier executes his maneuver. Jacob again manages to keep the ship from scraping the rock face during the pilot's sudden turn -- this time he pushed away just in time for the bottom edge of the balloon to escape a rending.
The pilot ties off another rope and pulls heavily again on the remaining two which were momentarily wrapped around his waist. The balloon jerks again and is now descending directly towards the mesa. Tracy and Dave take their positions as their new pards stow the poles and sink to the floor at the pilot's order. The basket takes one last bounce in the air. The landing crew call out for the lines, as the basket careens toward the earth.
Windham and Walker each hand off the ropes without incident, even if the task is accomplished without much elan. Fortunately, both of the men took hold of the weights as if they had practiced the feat for a fortnight, while two of the ground crew pull themselves into the basket, and immediately add mass to the entire enterprise. Windham's slender fingers easily fasten the hooks of the iron and sandbag weights, quickly enough to lend a hand to one of the men climbing in. Likewise, Walker manipulates the hook latches with ease, but not before the second man had climbed in and hunkered down. The airship plummets suddenly yet again -- this time with a bounce against the surface of the mesa, which in turn bounces the seven men in the basket against each other or into the supply boxes, duffel bags, cranks or engine parts.
And one final bounce lands the airship safely, as it skids to a halt and the newly added weight finally holds it where it falls.