Most of the shots went wide, but Marissa grunted as she took two in the shoulder. She felt them thunk up against her bone, and gritted her teeth.

One girl in the middle, Jane, lost her grip and fell off the side of the cabin in surprise. The girls on either side of her, Anna and Molly, grunted as they suddenly supported her weight.

She swung helpless, but thankfully the gunman’s ammo ran out about that time. They heard faint clicking as he kept pulling the trigger.

Marissa let go with one foot and reached over to kick him, knocking the gun out of his hands. It sailed down into the darkness, as if sinking into the abyss.

She quickly crab-crawled left, drawing closer to the door. Marissa kicked again, and this time she reached in with her clawed boots and pierced them into the man’s duster. She pulled back hard with her leg and he fell out the door, dropping away like the gun before him.

If he screamed, Marissa thought while watching him fall, no sound escaped the gasmask.

She continued crawling sideways, and the girls followed. Rather than try to bring Jane up at that moment, Anna and Molly kept her rope tight and carefully moved her along with the group.

Marissa entered first. When Anna reached the door, she pulled hard. Marissa pulled with her, and Molly helped from outside. Together the three women were able to drag Jane in through the door. Then the others followed.

They rested a moment while undoing the safety rope. Marissa frowned down at the fresh wounds on her shoulder and debated if she should put Anna’s new [First Aid] skill to work, or wait until they cleared the cabin. She would likely gain more levels if she had to do it under pressure.

In the end, though, Marissa decided prudence would be the better part of valor. They would establish safety first, then tend to their wounds.

Marissa looked around. Unlike the other ship, they were in a large room which seemed to stretch across the entire width and length of the cabin. Windows on the other side showed city lights far below. Up front, where the bridge would be, more streetlights were visible through the front window.

Marissa’s brows furrowed as she looked around.

I’ve never known an airship to be completely open like this before, she thought.

“Girls . . .”

Before she could finish, a fist slammed into her head and knocked her over.

She lay on the floor stunned, but made herself look up. In the darkness, outlined by the faint light from the windows, she could make out the shape of a man.

Before she could shout a warning, Anna opened up with her Tommy gun. The bright flashes from its muzzle lit up the interior like a strobe light, showing a man in a black fedora and a matching velvet cape, taking the bullets straight into his chest.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, it dawned on Marissa that this fellow did not have a gasmask over his face.

When the rounds in Anna’s drum depleted, the quiet seemed to smother everyone in the confined space. The stench of cordite hung in the air, and the girls stretched their senses to see or hear anything.

A slow, throaty chuckle came from that side of the room.

Masculine. Gleeful. Evil.

“Girls, he’s enhanced. You know what to do. Spread out.”

Everyone nodded, even though they could hardly see one another. Each girl pulled out their sawed-off shotguns, and made sure they were loaded with buckshot. Then they carefully separated, spreading out in the room.

Marissa made her way forward in the dark toward where she last saw the man standing.

A shotgun went off behind her. She twirled and saw Jane go down, the man standing over her.

The throaty chuckled sounded again as Evelyn, the closest, fired her shotgun. She aimed high, well over Jane’s body on the floor. Some of the shot must have peppered his face, because the laughter cut off with a strangled roar of outrage.

He raced toward Evelyn and she fired again, this time closer.

He howled in pain and tackled her. They tumbled and rolled closer to the door.

Marissa moved quickly. She noticed the other girls did, too.

“Don’t shoot, you’ll hit Evelyn!”

The man stood up suddenly. Evelyn stayed on the floor, whether injured or worse, Marissa could not tell.

He chuckled again, a deep slow and throaty laugh filled with bitterness and contempt.

She could not see him very well, but she felt certain the man was eyeing her in the dark. Marissa did not doubt he had some kind of skill that let him either see in the dark or sense people without seeing them clearly.

Carefully, she changed positions as quietly as she could. The man shifted, following her.

Yes, most definitely a skill. Troublesome, that.

Marissa shifted again, her back to the door. She took a couple steps backward. The door remained open and a faint breeze flowed in.

The man likewise moved forward a couple steps, then two more. In the dim rays of distant streetlamps, Marissa saw a long shaving razor blade hanging loosely in his hand.

Her heart grew cold as she suddenly realized what must have happened to Jane. This man probably slit her throat.

But Jane is enhanced. Is the blade enhanced?

Before she could follow that line of thought any further, he charged her. Marissa tensed, sensing more than seeing the mass barreling toward her.

At the last minute, she jumped to the side and he ran out the door.

Breathing hard, Marissa went back to look. She poked her head out the door.

Far below, she heard the man’s wild laughter drift back up in the air as he fell.

She hurried over to Jane. Molly came over and lit a match so they could see. The floor glistened with blood.

“Just as I feared. The razor blade was enhanced.”

Molly burst into tears at the sight. Marissa did not bother to reprimand her. Instead, she straightened and retrieved a flare gun from her backpack. She walked past Evelyn, struggling to her feet. She returned to the door and shot a flare up toward the royal airship, still floating above.

When she returned, the girls all stood around Jane’s prone body.

She took a deep breath and let it out through her nose.

“This happens. I’m sorry you had to see it now, but lives are lost all the time in this business.”

The felt a bump as the other airship started towing the two dirigibles, pulling up the slack between the connecting ropes.

“Right. This cabin looks like one open space. But let’s explore it and make sure there are no surprises for the men when we get back to the aerodrome.”