was sweating, and, oh Lord, pressed against me so
firmly. He was, perhaps, not as violently opposed
to the suggestion as I was, and his lips—his
perfect Cherubic lips—hovered over mine like a
moth hovering over a flame.
Thank God for Percy Longville.
Percy quite ingeniously pulled the head off of
the First Mate, and the automatons oppressing
Cyprien and I suddenly shut down. They came to a
complete stop, looking quite
dejectedly at the floor.
Percy was peering
intently into the First
Mate's
skull.
"This
technology is really quite
fascinating. I wonder if
there is a book that explains
it in layman's terms?"
But just as he spoke,
the airship's left side
brushed against one
of the mountains. The
shock tossed the head
out of his hands, and I
was thrown off my feet.
The automaton’s head
rolled about on the floor
as the airship lurched.
The devil must have been
laughing at us in that
moment, for the head
bounced out a shattered
window and rolled down
the catwalk outside.
I glared at Percy. "What have you done? The
head is outside; we have to get it!"
Percy looked suddenly very noble, straightened
his shoulders, and pulled down his goggles. "I will
save you!”
Then, he ran and jumped out the window after
the head!
I ran after him and burst out onto the walkway.
Air roared about me. The ship was descending fast.
Directly in front of the ship loomed the immense
plains. Closer and closer the plains approached,
filling the entire view. I was so overcome that I
lost my bearings, and felt all of my wits flying
away, carried by the winds.
We were going to crash. But Percy grabbed me
by the hand and led me across the walkway. He held
the First Mate's mechanical head under his arm.
We rushed down the
catwalk to an escape hatch
and climbed back inside
the aircraft. Surprisingly,
we entered into the control
room. Percy traced his
hands over the various
devices on the control
panel, but it was broken.
I saw something, and
immediately took the First
Mate's head and thrust it
into a slot by the neck, and
turned it sharply.
Cyprien said that at
that moment, the First
Mate's body began to
regain control of the ship,
headless and everything,
on the bridge.
The
First
Mate
spoke, and its voice also
came from the intercom
throughout the ship.
“Good afternoon. We regret to inform you
that we have lost control of the ship and must
make an emergency landing. We are sorry for
any inconvenience. Our estimated time of arrival
today is three minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
We thank you for flying with us.”
So, we crash landed.
And all of this because a woman was dissatisfied
with breakfast.