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"Your Majesty"
Chris bowed deeply, one knee on the ground and his gaze trained to the floor as he was taught. He had never seen the new King William from so close, had the kings brother only died recently and his coronation laid only a few weeks back. Chan had known King George the fourth well, but his brother he had rarely seen, as he had been more occupied with his wife and other political affairs.
"Sir Christopher Bang, Viscount of Norwich. My Brother has spoken dearly of you and your little project. I hope it is clear that I wish for you to continue?", King William the fourths voice was stern as he spoke, his authority seemed to roll off him in waves. "Now speak, when can I expect to see the fruits of my brothers investments? This month already, perhaps?"
Chris rose but kept his eyes away from the Kings, too unsure of the new regents temper. Although he was nervous, his voice was steady when he spoke: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I appreciate Your continued support, though I still mourn Our late Kings death deeply. Now I do not wish to waste Your precious time, so I will quickly give You the information You desire.", He took a deep breath before continuing. "The R101 has nearly reached completion. The crew is working tirelessly to fix the last few quirks that have been found and to make sure that every screw and welt is secured and that every wire is connected. This month though is a bit early. We should be done by the end of September, Your Majesty."
The kings brows rose in interest but a faint scowl could be seen on his face. "Ah, young Viscount of Norwich, I see why my Brother spoke so dearly of you. You come straight to the point without loosing your manners. A quality I much cherish", a chuckle left his lips. "Though I am not as patient as my deer brother was. Go now and continue your work. I'd love to watch it's first flight soon"
☆
"Brother, you're back!"
Chris was nearly swept of his feet by the crushing hug he was tackled in.
"I had feared the worst when the king called you for a meeting yesterday. I've heard of him to have quite the temper...", his younger brothers voice was shaky though it was obvious that he was trying to hide it.
Chan freed one of his hands to card through Felix' hair. He let silence envelop them for a few moments before he spoke: "You shouldn't worry. I've spent enough time with late King George to know my way around the powerfull. Regardless, he has let us continue our project with further support, so don't speak so badly of him. We should rather focus on our work. Lets get back to the engines, Minho (Erwin) said he needed to talk with me."
Felix grumbled and squeezed him tighter for a second before reluctantly releasing the Viscount and taking a step back. "I think I have every right to worry about your reckless head, brother", was the only response the older got before they made their way into the gigantic body of the airship.
A chuckle left Chans lips the moment he reached the door to the egine room. The clearly agitated voice of one of his best mates and the leading mechanic could be heard through the thin metal doors.
"Han (Peter) get back to your bloody radio thing and leave me to work. I don't wish for us to crash because I couldnt concentrate!"
"But Minho, I just wanted to know where this screw went so I could help you. I don't get why you're so angry~"
"I said leave. Talk some more with that boy from the tower or something. I need to concentrate"
Seconds later a pouty Jisung stepped through the door. His eyes lit up though when he saw his brothers standing in front of the door, though he seemed to be ignoring Chris, a mischievousglint in his eyes. "Lixie, I bet you have time for me, right? Let's leave those crusty old men and steal from Chanies good brandy. I saw where he last hid it" The mischievous grin on Jisungs face said all he needed to know, but before he could get out more than a "Hey!", his younger brothers had already disappeared.
With a sigh and a shake of his head the oldest stepped through the aluminium door to his friends pride and joy, the engine that would support the biggest vessel ever build. "Min, why do you always tease him so much... You know he looks up to you a lot. Ah well, he teases you too so I guess it's fair. No matter, what was it that you needed to show me before I had to leave? The new king does not seem like a patiant man and I would hate to keep him waiting"
The young mechanic gave him a cheeky grin. "See, everythings perfect, I tease him, he teases me, he looks up to me, I let him pet my cats. All is fair. Now, as you recall", his voice turned more serious "I had wired the cabin lights to the power source yesterday and today I find them cut through. This was luckily nothing too bad or dangerous, but I think it would be best to hire more security. I don't want this happening again, especially so close to the finish."
Chan nodded in understanding, though he was fuming inside. Since the start of their project many had mocked their ideas, had said that a vessel that big couldn't fly and that they where wasting their Kings money. Now that the airship was coming to completion, some, Chris suspected their rivaling companies, had started to plaster their Building Yard with beautiful drawings and Oh so nice parols. Until now they had never dared to enter the ship, though even this seemed to have changed now.
With a sigh he awnsered: "I will have a talk with our guards and make sure this will not happen again. You are right, we are too close to finish to allow such misshaps to occur. It would be best to finish this quickly and without any further disturbances." Chan let his eyes scan the room, confused by how silent and empty it seemed. "Where are the others anyway? Didn't you need them in here today? Tell me if they are slacking off, we don't have time for such childish games." He sounded angrier then he intended, but with the way the king had acted he supposed he had to become a lot stricter now.
"Don't get your panties in a twist, they all have been working very hard recently. Seungmin (Sam) is fixing the cabin light wires as we had to use completely new ones to minimize the possibility of a fire. Jeongin (Jason) is helping Changbin (Hilbert) with finding a way to better secure the helium bags so that they don't scuff against the metall so much."
"What about the other workers? Are they at least doing their job better then those guards?", Chans voice had calmed a bit though his anger was still obvious.
"Yes, they are all working hard to make sure the ship is fine, I just threw them out of the engine room because they where getting on my nerves. It seems as though it didn't help much because every two seconds someone else steps through these damn aluminum doors and disturbs my peace. Which is why I would also appreciate you leaving now to do some other tasks, because I really need to concentrate. There's something wrong with the oil pressure and if I don't fix it we're not gonna fly", Minho now seemed even more annoyed then Chan had before so the older just raised his hands in surrender and slowly backed out of the engine room.
He decided to first check up on Seungmin so he could maybe get a glimpse of how bad the damage had really been and then walk around the ship and see who else needed help. Maybe he would check up on Changbin and Jeongin too, see if new materials needed to be bought or if it could be fixed without. Chris figured that he should probably also check on Hyunjin(Karl), who had spent the last few weeks painstakingly calculating the amount of baggage they could take with together with Felix and then maybe talk to Jisung, but he was dreading the possibility of another fight. Before he could dwell on it longer a voice caught his attention.
"Captain, Sir, I hate to disturb but you're blocking the path." One of their new workers was standing behind a linen cloth, metall rods in hand. Chan quickly moved out of the way with a short apology, continuing on his path after. His search for Seungmin had brought him to the cabins, which where already fitted for royalty to reside in. It was unnecessary balast if you asked him, but it had not been his decision to make.
Their electrician was standing on a wooden stool, leather-gloved hands working away on something that the young Viscount couldn't see. He stood quietly to the side as he didn't want to disturb the younger. Most definitely not because he was dreading some of the conversations to come and was just bidding time. A few minutes went by until finally Seungmin stepped down and turned to Chris. "Is there a special reason why you are standing there like a creep?", Seungmins voice seemed cold, but to Chan it was made obvious that it was a joke by the smile and small lilt in his voice. A chuckle left his lips as he shook his head. "Just wanted to see how far along you are with repairs. I have already talked to Minho about increasing security so I hope you will not have to do any of these useless repairs again." The young mechanic gave a curt nod in awnser, seeming to contemplate for a few seconds and then adding: "Your visit with the king has gone well then, I suppose."
"Surprisingly yes. With all the things I had heard I wasn't so sure if all our hard work would not be in vain."
A soft hum was all he got in response as Seungmin busied himself with packing away his tools. "I have to go make sure that the lights are working, so if you don't plan on sticking with me the whole day to stall, I'll get going."
Chan stood flabbergasted for a second before smiling at Seungmins turned figure. "I did not only come here to stall, I do enjoy talking to you. Though as you don't seem to enjoy my presence as much as I do, I will quit 'stalling' now and return to my duties" His voice was light and teasing as he gave Seungmin a small pat on the shoulder and turned to leave towards where he suspected Changbin and Jeongin to be.
☆
"I'm not sure if that would be a good idea."
"There's nothing else I can think of without having too change too much of the actual build"
"But cotton, Changbin? Do you really think that would work?"
Chan, as nearly always on this ship, heard his friends before he saw them. He turned a corner to where he knew some of the gasbags where located. He was met with the sight of Changbin and Jeongin standing next to each other, heads bent over one of the building plans. They feared that the helium bags could start chaffing against the metal side bars, but because of new safety regulations, it was nearly impossible to do it any other way. Chan stepped behind them without making a sound, then loudly asked, in the best impression of the king he could muster: "Cotton? I thought I hired the best mechanics in the country, not seamstresses." The faces that his friends made in shock nearly brought him to his knees from laughter, their faces looking as if their soul had left their bodies.
"Chaaaaan~ you can't just sneek up on us like that~" The whine and pout from the second oldest mechanic made Chan break out into laughter again and this time, Changbin and Jeongin joined him. It felt nice to laugh with them like this, and for a moment his worries where pushed to the far corners of his mind.
His worries could only stay there for so long though, and so he reluctantly asked the question he had come to seek answers for in the first place. "Have you found a solution for the helium bags yet? They should hold up for one flight, but it would be nice to have one less thing to worry about."
Changbin sadly gave a small shake of his head. "We were thinking of maybe adding an extra layer of cotton, but as Jeongin pointed out it adds more weight, especially if we make it thick enough and then the outer new level will definitely chafe. I don't know if it would be worth it." Chan nodded and although his head was turning in on itself with worst case scenarios he tried to keep an outward appearance of confidence. "No matter, it ahould be fine. We'll just have to keep an eye out and make sure to repair any small amount of chaffing whenever it appears."
"But, Chris, this could be a tremendous problem. If there is even a small hole in one of the bags we might loose altitude too qiuckly. We'll be riding to our death", Jeongins voice was agitated but the fear in it was evident to anyone who knew him a bit better. Chan sighed. "I know Jeongin, I know... Normally I wouldn't let us start with a problem like this either. But the new king isn't patient nor is his temper to be trusted. If we don't start soon the consequences will be dire and the bags are sturdy. We shouldn't have a problem"
Although this turned Jeongin silent, being from a poor family he knew that the consequences of loosing their eldest son could destroy them. He was obviously not happy, but neither of the men in the room where. This was bad news for them all. Changbin stepped up first and put a comforting arm around their youngest shoulder. Chan followed suit, hoping to find comfort in his friends arms.
☆
The Viscount had taken his time afterwards, not ready yet to face anyone else, let alone either of his brothers. When he did finally arrive at their residence he found both of them already black out drunk in the kitchen. With a fond smile, one after the other, they where carried to bed. Then Chan himself sat in the garden, impassive to the chill creeping up his bones, until the sun started to breach the horizon and it became time for breakfast.
☆
Hyunjin turned with a happy smile as Chris stepped through the doors. "Heyy, didn't even have time for your favorite crew member after talking with the King yesterday?" The older shook his head with a smile. "I'm sorry, it had been a long day. But I still wanted to check up on you now. How's everything coming along? Have the other countries agreed to let us fly through?" Hyunjin nodded happily and popped a candy in his mouth, a habbit he had while working.
"Perfect, thank you Jin, that's good to hear" Chan really didn't want to say the next part, but he had to tell everyone at some point. "The King has reduced the amount of time we have. It's good that we have permission now, it's one thing less that he could get annoyed about"
Hyunjins face fell nearly immediately at that. "But, we aren't finished yet. We still need time." The older gave a sad smile "We'll manage, don't worry. There's nothing that we can't do"
☆
Telling Jisung and Felix was harder then he thought, but he managed the next day during breakfast. It wasn't the best morning conversation, but they managed the information better then most of the others. They changed the topic quickly afterwards, Felix, Jisung and Hyunjin had pretty much figured out the topic of food now and a possibility for a first test drive seemed to have opened up. When they arrived at the site and Minho told him that he had managed to fix the oil pressure problem the world seemed a bit brighter then it had the past few days.
☆
The day had come. Chan stood out on the side, overlooking the crowd that was slowly gathering around the still anchored R101. Everything seemed perfect, the whole crew bustling around checking the last things. They had been awake since the early morning hours, but there still where things to be done and no time to rest. Regardless of that he had come out here, because he couldn't stand seeing the faces of people he loved looking at him with so much trust, while he might be leading them to their death.
A hand on his shoulder startled him and he turned to see Hyunjins serious face, a rare, disturbing site. "I don't want to say this, but she's too heavy, she'll never make this flight." Chan sighed, let his head fall into his hands and stayed silent for a long time. Then he spoke with renewed certainty. "Then only put on board what's important. Whoever packed too much will have to leave it behind. We'll be on our way tonight"
☆
Jisung stared in awe at the crowd that had gathered to watch. He couldn't believe how many people had come, altough he knew that many of them where probably only waiting for them to fail. In a few minutes the R101 would lift and the onlookers would be sprayed with her water. He blinked once, twice, then turned back to his transmitter. This was his dream come true, he wouldn't just let it slipp through his fingers because he had been too distracted. Jisung knew, they would proof all of those unbelievers wrong.
He only stood when he heard Chan call for the last meeting before take off. His captains speech was not one to be missed and so he turned to watch.
"We have waited long for this day and you have all worked hard. You have put your blood, sweat and tears into this aircarft and I could not wish for a better crew. Everything is ready and the weather seems steady. We will go now and we will take this chance with fait."
The Viscounts speech ended in a chorus of cheers from the crew that Jisung happily joined. This was their day.
☆
Hyunjin stood in his position overlooking the flight route. He was waiting on awnser from Jisung, who would hopefully be able to give him an update on the weather. Although the skies where supposed to be crystal clear today, it had started to rain while they where still over England. If there was a storm brewing over the Channel, they where doomed.
Finally the message from Jisung arrived. Hyunjin swore and took of running towards where he knew Chan would be. They would have to go at full speed now, to maybe outrun the storm. There was no way they would come out of this unchaved.
☆
Minho cursed as another gust if wind rattled the ship and he nearly lost his footing. They had just managed to restart the engine after the bloody oil problem had appeared again and although that was good news, there was no time to celerbrate.
Hyunjin had just come in and told him that the weatherforcast had changed again, and that they would have to change their course now to maybe survive this whole ordeal.
Normally, this wouldn't be much of a problem, but the ships husk was damaged and they where loosing altitude quickly and even with the engine running again now, he wasn't sure if they would have enough power for a detour. Especially one that took them so far away from most safe landing places.
He cursed again, this was not the way he had imagined himself dying. Although most of his friends seemed to still be somewhat optimistic that they would make it, he knew that they wouldn't. This would be their last flight. A single tear escaped his eyes as he clutched the amulet around his neck close to his heart.
If he was going to die, he could at least try to save as many people as possible and keep the engine from exploding.
☆
Changbin was only delivering information to Chan as their communications network had failed when he realized that he could see the ground too clearly. How close to the ground where they already? He knew that they where loosing helium and only one of their engines was working but this, this was too close. He quickend his pace until he was sprinting across the airship, hoping that Jisung would reassure him, that he was only seeing things.
"Jisung!" He called once close enough "Whats our height?"
The younger man turned around. "Not high but high enough, why?"
Changbin quickly took his hand and pulled him outside. "That's why"
Jisung stared in horror. "No, nononnonono, this isn't good. They gave me the wrong altitude, we're way closer then what they told me..." He trailed of, opened his mouth, closed it again, then turned to face Changbin. "Run and warn the others. We must get off of here as quickly as possible. I'll get everyone out of the engine room"
Then he took to a full sprint across the bridge when suddenly a Tremor went through the whole ship, accompanied by the sound of hundreds of snapping branches. Somewhere he heard someone yell "We're down lads", then there was one last Turbulence, he lost footing and his world turned dark.
☆
The gates to the graveyard creaked in protest as they where pushed open. A hooded figure stepped through, cloak pulled tight around his body to protect against the harsh winds. He had come by carriage from London, as he did every year o this day. Sometimes he came on other days too, but it had become rarer as the years rolled by. The gates fell shut with a thud, and only now did the figure continue down the cobblestone path.
There was a small limp in his step and his posture seemed hunched inward, as if live had beaten him one too many times. Their parh took them to the center of the graveyard where a memorial stood. Before and around it layed many graves, though not all of the ones who had died that faithful day had been buried here.
To seven graves the hooded figure lit a candle after pushing away the small amount of dust and dirt. Tears sprang from his eyes as he wept, thinking of the people, whos memories could never be renewed. There layed Chan, no body in his grave, his oldest brother, who had stood by him and protected him all his life, even to his last breath.
Felix, his twin, their sunshine, who understood him with a single glance. His brother who had thought for his life for days before passing on to the peaceful lands above together with Changbin. He wept harder when he remembered watching his closest friend lay near dead for weeks before finally finding peace. The graves of the other's where there to, so silent and lifeless. Hyunjins grave was empty like Chans, his body never to be found even after day's of search. In Minhos grave layed only the remains of an amulet he had always carried, fur of his cats inside to always keep them close. Seungmins body had been found, but that was not much of a relief when there would never be a witty remark from it ever again. At last laid Jeongin, their youngest, with so many dreams and so much potential, just gone in the blink of an eye.
Tears continued to fall on the ground before them, Jisung kneeling and crying out his grief.
A hand on his shoulder tore him from his thoughts and he turned to where his wife and their two daughters now stood. His wife let go of their hands and they immediately crushed their dad into a hug, never happy when he looked so sad. Their mother stepped forward too and took his hands in hers and together they wept for the souls that came to die in France