Above The Clouds

By Richard Roberts

Young love is hard, no matter who you are or what you are. This young adult short story by Richard Roberts tells the story of two star-crossed lovers in a steampunk setting. Even though they've never seen the ground, theirs is a story as old as Romeo and Juliet. Will it end just as tragically?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Roberts
• Release date: Jan 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465899293

Richard Roberts

Richard Roberts is a Reader at the University of Sussex. He specialises in financial markets and centres, and is the author of numerous books and articles about international finance.

Book preview

Above The Clouds

A Steampunk Love Story

By Richard Roberts

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012

Smashwords Edition, Licensing Notes

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The whale floated peacefully in front of us, fat and opalescent. Pudgy tentacles waved underneath the bell. I knew that peace was a lie.

I was not expecting Father to hit the accelerator and shoot us out ahead of the squadron. Father, what are we doing…?

Taking all the risk, he answered, lowering the visor and fastening his hat in place.

Ahead of the pack, we dove towards the whale. No, not quite towards the whale. Down, underneath it. Propellers whined, and I tried not to join them. Instead, I got to work. Close hatches, withdraw the lift tanks under the armor, lay flaps close to the propellers and sleek along the wings. Speed. Our lives were about to depend on it.

The whale's tentacles looked a lot less plump and squishy and a lot more like huge ropes of twitching muscle as they loomed up in front of us. Then the first harpoon hit the whale, and those tentacles went insane. The curtain parted, and we dived between them, rolling sideways as I desperately locked down loose compartments to keep all our belongings from spilling. Then those same tentacles snapped back, lashing where we'd been an eye blink before. We banked the other way, circling around. The whale kept grabbing.

It was smarter or more random than it looked. A tentacle flew up to slap at where we were about to be. Father yanked a lever, and the propellers stopped. I slammed the switches from lift to ballast, and we dropped like a stone out of the tentacle's path. Just as Father started us up again, I flipped the switches back, and we sped forward.

A buzzing bothered me. No, not a buzzing, exactly. It came from the Chatter. The whale