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Alek set his jaw At least he’d acco

"A TILTED TALK"

That young airht have frozen to death if he’d lain in the snow all night But Alek had saved him from frostbite Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos

Of course, Dylan had betrayed him five minutes later

Where was the sanity in that?

Keys jangled in the corridor, and Alek turned fro open, and in walked

"You," Alek growled

Dylan smiled at him "Aye, it’s me I hope you’re well"

"No thanks to you, you ungrateful little swine"

"Now that’s a bit rude Especially when I’ve brought you a bit of co an arm toward the doorway "May I present Dr Nora Barlow"

Another person strode into the room, and Alek’s eyes widened Instead of an airaudy dress and a slike creature What was a wo on this ship?

"Pleasure to meet you," she said "Alek, isn’t it?"

"At your service" As he bowed, the strange beast nuzzled Alek’s hand, and he tried not to flinch "Are you the ship’s doctor? If so, I’hed "I’m sure you are But I’m not a medical doctor"

Alek frowned, then realized that her black hat was a bowler She was one of the Darwinist fabricators, a practitioner of their ungodly science!

He looked down in horror at the creature snuffling his trouser leg

"What is this? Why have you brought this beast here?"

"Oh, don’t be afraid of Tazza," the woman said "He’s perfectly har," Alek said, trying to keep the fear froodless animal does to h "I reckon he could lick you to death And he’s perfectly natural, by the way What they call a thylacine"

Alek glared at the boy "Then kindly take it away"

The Darwinist woh end of the tilted cabin, looking down at him imperiously "I’m sorry if Tazza o Your German friends have made rather a mess of our ship"

"I’m not German"

"No, you’re Austrian But the Germans are your allies, are they not?"

Alek didn’t answer The wo Austrian be doing so high in these mountains?" she continued "Especially now, in warti if it orth trying to reason with her Though she was a woman, she was also a scientist, and the Darwinists worshipped science She ht have power on this ship

"It doesn’tto use his father’s tone of coo"

"And why is that?"

"Because if you don’t, et me And believe me, you don’t want that!"

Dr Barlow narrowed her eyes The ship’s officers had only laughed at his threats But she was listening to him

"So your family knohere you are," she said "Did they send you here?"

He shook his head "No But they’ll guess, soon enough You don’t have o"

"Ahtime is of the essence" The woman smiled "So your family lives nearby?"

Alek frowned He hadn’t ive that away

"Then I suppose we must find theest, Mr Sharp?"

The young aired "I suppose we could follow his tracks backward in the snow Maybe bring a present for his s"

Alek shot the boy a cold look It was one thing to be betrayed, but quite another to be e to find et yourselves shot They hate strangers"

"What unsociable people," Dr Barlow said "And yet they hired English tutors of the highest caliber for you"

Alek turned back to the porthole and took a deep breath Once again his speech and

The woman continued, amused that he was upset "I suppose we shall have to use otherHuxleys?"

"The Huxleys?" A smile spread across Dylan’s face "That’s a brilliant idea, ma’am!"

Alek stiffened "Who are they?"

"A Huxley isn’t a who, you ninny," Dylan said "It’slared at the boy, certain he was being h the ship, a busy warren of slanted corridors and strange slanced at Alek as they passed, and his only guards were Dr Barlow and Dylan, who looked as skinny as a rail It was all rather insulting Maybe the creature Tazza was erous than they’d ad was pointless Even if he found his way out of the ship, his captors had taken his snowshoes, and he was already half frozen He wouldn’t last an hour on the glacier

They went up a spiral staircase that was tilted, like the rest of the ship, at a precarious angle The san to sniff the air, hopping on his hind legs along the slanted floor Dylan caather the beast into his ar into darkness overhead

As Alek followed, he sensed a huge space opening up around hih, curved walls were a mented white arch stretched overhead, the air heavy with unfamiliar smells Alek realized hoarm he was, and the truth hit him

"God’s wounds," he murmured

"Brilliant, isn’t it?" Dylan asked

"Brilliant?" Alek’s throat closed on the word, a sharp taste in his iant spine! "This isdisgusting We’re inside an animal!"

Suddenly the tilted ay beneath his feet felt slippery and unstable

Dylan laughed, turning to help Dr Barlow up through the hatch "Aye, but the skins of your zeppelins areinside an ani a leather jacket!"

"But this one’s alive!" Alek sputtered

"True," Dylan said, heading down theinside a dead animal is much more awful, if you think about it You Clankers really are an odd bunch"

Alek didn’t bother answering this nonsense He was too busy staring at his feet and staying in the exact center of the ay It was tilted ht of slipping off and actually touching the pinkish innards of this godless monster was too awful to bear

"Sorry about the sestive tract"

"Digestive tract? Are you taking hed "We could probably use your hydrogen!"

"No, Mr Sharp Don’t give me any ideas," Dr Barlow said "I simply want to show Alek how easily we can find his family"

"Aye," Dylan said "And there’s a Huxley now!"

Alek squinted into the gloole of ropes ahead of them They stirred slowly back and forth, likebranches in a breeze

"Look higher, you daft git!" Dylan said

Alek forced his eyes to follow the swaying ropes up the awful pink walls A shape floated there in the gloom, bulbous and indistinct

"Oi, beastie!" Dylan cried, and one of the ropes see like a cat’s tail

They weren’t ropes at all

Alek sed "What is that thing?"

"Have you not been listening?" Dylan said "It’s a Huxley, a sort of jellyfish full of hydrogen Looks like it’s had a growth spurt too Watch this!"

He dashed toward the dangling ropes - or tentacles? - and grabbed a handful, pulling his feet up to swing along the catwalk The other tentacles curled and flailed, but Dylan cli the bulbous object doard himself Alek could see its piebald skin all too clearly now It was covered with bulges - like blisters, or the warts on a frog’s skin

And yet, despite his horror, Alek found hirace of the tendrils The beast was like so it left hiusted and half hypnotized

Tazza ran beneath Dylan as he swung, nipping at his boots and barking The boy laughed, still cli the swollen creature down until he was alo, landing with a clang on the ry tentacles slithered around him as the creature shot back into the upper reaches of the beast’s innards

"That one’s getting strong," Dr Barlow said "It’ll be ready soon"