Chapter 19: The Launch of a Legend and a Legendary Launch

Jake spent the two hours until the officers’ call with Catherine and her aunt and uncle. The four of them lounged in the Captain’s sitting room. Catherine had replaced the rotted furniture in the day room with furniture from the Val. This room was even larger than the one on the Val. It now contained two full sized couches and two love seats. As well as four large winged-back chairs. Along the wall leading to the hallway stretched a bench with tables that folded out of the wall. The room was far more opulent than anything he had ever occupied. In truth, he wasn’t entirely comfortable in the room yet.

The four of them relaxed, the men drinking caff, and the women drinking tea. May had followed them in with her beverage cart only moments after they were seated. She took up station in one corner and only moved to refill their drinks. Jake wasn’t sure how he felt about her being there. Her presence didn’t hinder their conversation in any way. He just wasn’t used to having someone standing around to wait on him.

Thirty minutes before the officers arrived there was a knock on the sitting room door. May moved to answer it. Jake had started to rise when Catherine had placed her hand on his knee and shook her head. May slipped out the door then quickly returned. She said, “Captain, Miss Rebecka and several Ladies are requesting a moment of your time. How would you like me to handle the request?”

Jake looked to those seated with him and they all nodded their head. So, he said, “Please admit them May.”

She did. Rebecka walked over and sat at Catherine’s side. The other ladies came in and stood waiting. Jake wondered what they were waiting for. When he tried to rise a second time, Catherine again restrained him. That confused him. He said, “Ladies welcome. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company this evening?”

Lady Janis took a half step forward and said, “We wanted to come and thank you for including us in this. We know we are only here due to Lady Catherine, but you agreed with her recommendation. So, thank you. We hope we can continue to work on more uniforms as we travel to Port Bedford. However, if there is anything else we can do, please let us know. We may not be seasoned Airmen, but we are willing to help wherever we can. I feel I owe you even more. Since I was vehement in doubting you.”

Jake smiled at her, and said, “You have all done wonderfully on the uniforms. I can’t tell you how much they mean to me. I feel you have more than made up for any doubt you had. As far as I know, you kept that doubt to yourself. You never tried to convince anyone we were crazy or foolish. I consider that honorable. I don’t expect everyone to believe as I do. That would only lead to a path of sorrow or anger. You showed a willingness to follow even when you couldn’t believe in our dream. That tells me you are a true and loyal friend to Catherine. If you guys continue to work on the uniforms, I would be very grateful. If, however, there is some other task, or if you just wish to relax. Please let me know and I’ll see if we can accommodate you. That goes for all of you.”

Catherine rose and hugged Janis whispering something in her ear. Then she asked if any of them would like to sit until the Officers’ Call. They all declined saying they had things they wanted to get back to. Catherine snuggled under Jake’s arm after the Ladies had all left. It seemed whatever anger she had been holding in for Janis’s perceived slight was finally gone.

The Officers’ Call went well with the crew assignments for the next day all ready. They discussed the next day in more detail. Halfway through the meeting they were interrupted by Marco. He had a message from Admiral Teller. He wished to know if there was anything Jake could share with him, and to inform them The Dame Ruth and her battle group were on station at ten thousand feet patrolling the area around the mouth of the Teeth. Jake thought for a minute. Then asked, “Ok folks, any recommendations on our reply?”

Tomas offered, “As I understand it, Admiral Teller has helped you out on more than one occasion. He has some idea we aren’t here to raise the Raven or he wouldn’t have brought a battle group. Why not tell him what ship you will be raising tomorrow or at least a hint of it. He might consider it a partial repayment for his aid.”

Several others agreed with him. Jake stood and excused himself. He and Marco went to the room where the wireless was setup. Jake sat at the controller. He thought about asking Teller to clear the wireless room. Then he realized he would be sending in the clear. Every other airship would be able to hear whatever he sent. He wrote out his message on a message slip then read it several times before he sent the message.

To Admiral Teller:
1. At 11:00 tomorrow several small scout class vessels will rise out of the mist near the Mouth. Once clear, several signal rockets will be fired. They will hold station until main event at 12:00.
2. Main event will be Legendary. You will wish to have Air Corps photographer ready. Would say more but the night has many ears.
3. Expecting Reporters. Can you confirm if they have arrived?
4. If you wish will rendezvous tonight to discuss in person.
Regards Captain Jake Harrow.

A few minutes later a reply came in.

To Captain Harrow:
1. Message received.
2. Understand about the ears.
3. An airship from the Innis Times is among the battle group. I understand there are several reporters onboard. Not all from Innis Times. Duchess of Bedford disappearance has been in the news.
4. I have a message for her from the crown.
5. Have three photographers ready.
6. Negative on rendezvous.
Best of Luck Admiral Teller

Jake read the message as Marco transposed it as it came over the wireless. He smiled and nodded to Marco. Then thanked him and returned to the meeting with his message and Teller’s reply. When he entered, he handed the messages first to Catherine. He thought she should know she was in the news.

Her only remark was, “I hadn’t thought about others hearing what you sent.”

Jake didn’t say anything as the message was passed to her uncle. He asked, “Is this ok to share with everyone?” when Jake nodded. Tomas started reading the two messages to those gathered.

“Jared, you and your Scouts may have your work cut out for you. The reporters will want to be as close as possible. You need to keep them out of the flight path of the Karenna.”

“Yes, Sir. We’ll do it sir. I won’t send the scout down with the all clear until I’m sure. If I must, I’ll ask the Dame Ruth for assistance. I doubt that will be necessary,” Jared said.

After that the meeting broke up as everyone headed off to make final checks or turn in early. No one believed they would be able to sleep. The excitement was too high. They all agreed they needed to try though.

Jake and Catherine spent a few minutes alone in the sitting room after May had cleared away the dishes. Then the two went for a walk through the ship. Everywhere they went, the Karenna buzzing with excitement. Catherine explained she hoped the eels would hunt in the morning. She wanted to invite a few deserving guests to dinner tomorrow night. When he asked how many. She told him that wouldn’t be decided until she saw how people behaved tomorrow. They said their goodnights at the door to the guest suite of rooms Catherine and her family were using. The Karenna had four such suites on her.

When Jake returned, Rebecka was waiting in his sitting room. Before he could ask, she said, “I’m here to get your pants so I can have them pressed for you. We can’t have our Captain looking anything but his best, now can we?” Jake smiled and shook his head. “I also wanted to tell you, that I am very glad you are the man you are. My Lady has found a true partner to share her life. I won’t share anything she has told me. I will tell you though, I have never in the five years I have served her seen her this happy or energetic about a project she was working on. She has always loved airships. The Duke felt it was unbecoming for his daughter to show interest in such things. He only had himself to blame. It was a true obsession for him, and one of the few things his children found he was willing to spend as much time discussing as they wanted. I will tell you one little secret though. She can recite the name of every winner of the Royal Regalia for the last decade. First, second, third, and fourth place. Like I said it was the one thing she knew her father would always have time to talk to her about.” She smiled then said, “Pants please?”

“As you command. Can I at least retire to my room to change in private, or do you expect me to disrobe here in the sitting room?” Jake teased.

“I am half tempted to tell my lady you offered to take off your pants in your sitting room,” she quipped.

“And I’m half sure she coached you in how she wished this encounter to proceed,” he replied. Then he turned and went in and changed. He hung up his vest and jacket on the dressing rack that had materialized in his cabin. Then took the pants out to Rebecka. He thanked her again for pressing his pants.

She said, “You’ll have your own valet before long.” When he frowned at her comment, she laughed. “It won’t be so bad. I know Catherine has discussed possible candidates for the position with her uncle. Consider this me giving you, a heads up as a favor. I might need a favor from you in the future.” Before he could respond to that she was across the room and out the door.

He and Grace returned to his cabin and prepared for bed. He was surprised the next morning when he awoke. He had thought he would have trouble getting to sleep, but that had not been the case. Knowing today was going to be a big day, he dressed and went on deck to work through his stretches and forms. He was pleasantly surprised to find a large number of the crew were waiting for him when he arrived. Catherine was standing in front of them when he got there.

“Good morning, Captain. The officers and crew not performing tasks are here for you to lead us in morning exercises.”

As Jake looked over the assembled group, he realized most everyone was there. Even the children were on deck. Someone had formed them up on one side. Several adults were standing near them to assist. He addressed everyone saying, “Very well. Let us begin with stretches.” The next forty-five minutes flew by as they stretched and worked through the forms. Jake smiled inside as he watched Cali try so hard to do every form the way she was showed. Every one of the Kennedy children had shown just as much determination in their efforts. Jake thanked everyone for joining him, then informed them if they didn’t have duty tomorrow morning, he would be happy to have them join him again.

Catherine and Rebecka fell into step beside him as he made his way to his cabin. Catherine asked if he had truly offered to undress for her maid. Jake said, “She told me you had sent her to scout out territory you planned to conquer. Was that not true?”

Rebecka was sputtering, as Catherine said, “Is that what she said? I’ll have to have her whipped. For failing to scout said territory properly of course.”

He stood in his door and said, “I can assure you Duchess Bedford, the territory in question is yours, whenever you claim to it.” He stepped back into his sitting room and pulled his shirt over his head showing her his bare chest. Then winked and closed the door as she gasped.

“Oh, you’ll pay for that mister.” He heard Catherine say through the door.
The next few hours flew by for Jake and the crew. He and Catherine shared breakfast with her aunt and uncle as the cooks and their staff did a brisk trade with the eels. Jake wasn’t sure how many she planned to invite to dinner. He learned from Cook they had made ten dozen sweet rolls at Catherine’s request. When he asked her about it, she just smiled and said he would have to wait and see. Their breakfast was the last calm they saw that morning. The two sat on the bridge in two of the command chairs, as people came with questions or reports for them. By nine thirty Patrick declared the lift controls calibrated. Then he and his team headed off to get cleaned up and changed into their uniforms.

Jake got four runners in the form of the Kennedy clan children. He wasn’t sure if it was an effort to keep him or the children out of the way as the rest of the crew made the final preparations. At eleven Jared and the Scouts took off. Jake had a hard time not taking up one of the launches to see what their reception would look like. He even considered taking the Karenna up so just her bridge showed.
The first major problem found him at eleven thirty. Gran was very angry. She couldn’t locate her son. When he asked which son. She said it was Paul of course, and Bridget was missing too. Jake was trying to figure out what he could do about the situation, when they returned to the ship in one of the launches. He just pointed to the deck behind Gran. She turned and spotted Paul securing the launch. She excused herself and hurried after the two. Jake was glad he wasn’t going to be on the receiving side of whatever she planned to say to the two of them.

The next major problem came at noon. None of the scouts came to give the all clear. Everyone was ready to go. In truth, they were more than ready to go. The crew was waiting in the hallways to form up in front of the bridge. Jake was getting rather impatient. He was considering sending Gran or Bruce and Tomas up to figure out what was going on when Bridget stormed the onto the bridge.

“Jake, we need to go,” she demanded.

“I am just as eager as anyone else to show The Karenna to the world. I trust Jared. He knows how big this ship is. I’m sure there is some problem with getting the area cleared. He’ll send word we it is safe for us to exit,” Jake said in a placating voice.

For some reason that set the blonde off. She started pacing and ranting that he didn’t understand. By her fourth lap back and forth across the bridge, Jake was getting angry. On her tenth she pulled out her watch, and Jake began to worry. He was saved by Ken hurrying on the bridge saying, “Jared begs your pardon sir. We had a bit of trouble with three of the news airships. They wouldn’t leave the area until the Admiral threatened to impound their craft and lock everyone up.”
Jake nodded before he could reply Bridget said, “Go. Go now. We don’t want to be here. Jake, get this old piece of junk moving right this second.”

Jake saw the look in her eyes. He turned and said, “Helm take us up. Nothing too fast but let’s get clear of the mist post haste.”

“Aye, aye sir.” Patrick said. “Coming up at one third lift.”

Bridget checked her watch and began pacing again. The Karenna started to rise through the mist. Just as the first rays of sunshine hit the bridge windows, a loud low rumble began. Patrick looked to Jake. Jake’s eyes went wide as he realized what Bridget had been so upset about. “Helm increase lift now. Let’s get some distance from whatever it is Miss Williams and your brother just started if you please?”

It turned out no extra lift was required. The Karenna ascended over two thousand feet in seconds, helped along by a mighty shove from below. Patrick handled the Karenna like he had been doing it all his life. “Two thousand feet, Three thousand, thirty-five hundred. What elevation should we level off sir?”

“Make our altitude five thousand feet Helm,” Jake informed him. Then he turned and said, “Bridget, don’t say a word. We will speak of this later. After I have had time to cool off. If we speak of it now, I may turn you over my knee I’m so angry. I know it wasn’t entirely your fault. I am sure if we had departed at noon, we would have been clear before your little demonstration. That is the only fact that is allowing me to remain in control of my temper at the moment. Please return to your position for the formation.” He spoke the entire thing through gritted teeth.

“Yes, Captain,” she said, and hurried off to where she was supposed to wait with the others to form up.

Jake took several calming breaths. Catherine walked to him and pulled his arms around her. She smiled up at him and said, “You did it love. The Karenna is once again flying through the sky. Kiss me then give the order and let’s form up and show the world what you have accomplished.”

Jake smiled at her. She had a way of draining away every negative thought he had. First with his worry, now his anger. He followed her advice and kissed her. The two kissed longer than was probably appropriate. Neither cared. When they finished, Jake smiled and then said, “Gran you have the bridge obtain a neutral heading and position.”

“Yes, Sir. I have the bridge.”

Catherine stepped back and nodded. Jake placed his new hat firmly on his head then turned and headed for the door. He took the stairs down to the main deck. then opened the hatch and marched out on for all to see. Once he reached his position he turned and called, “Officers and crew of the Karenna fall in.” Each of the officers came marching out to their assigned location. Even Catherine had an assigned location. Once the officers were set, they turned and faced the bridge. Then the crew joined them. They came out quickly and formed up as they had practiced. They may not have been the most perfect drill team to ever grace the deck of this ship, but they made him proud.

The Scout crews were returning behind him. Jared landed them on the deck and his crew quickly had them secured. Then they hurried to form up in their location. Once they were in place Jake called out, “We all know why we’re here. We all know what everyone on those ships wants. They want to be right where you are standing. Remember that. From this day forward every one of you will be known as a member of the crew that raised the Karenna.” He paused as they cheered. “Cook have your staff prepare for visitors.”

“Aye sir,” he shouted.

“Jared form your scouts on signal detail. Remember only one launch per vessel. Inform them any attempt to send more will result in them being denied all access. By force if necessary,” Jakes said.

“Yes, Sir.” He turned and called to his Scouts. “You heard the Captain. Fall out and report to signal detail.”

Jake said, “Catherine, please have the Duchess of Bedford report here forthwith after passing off her command.”

She smiled at him, and then did an about face and called. “Lady Janis front and center.” Janis stepped out of line and everyone in her row took one step forward. Janis stopped in front of Catherine and saluted her. “Lady Janis, I give you temporary command of the Health and Morale team.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Janis barked.

Catherine did a second about face and took a step forward. Her entire posture changed. She went from the military bearing she had been practicing to the regal Duchess is a single step. As she walked the dozen paces to join Jake, her uncle and aunt joined her. Once they had all joined Jake, he stepped to his left and addressed Karren who stood in front of the children. “Karren please dismiss the signal runners, as well as mine and the Duchess’s runners.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said. She didn’t do a military about face, but she did get turned to face her group. “Signal runners to your posts. Captain’s and dignitary runners, to you post. Dismissed.”

The assigned runner ran to their posts. Cali was at his side before he returned to Catherine. Jake had requested Cali be his runner for the next few hours. He wanted everyone to see that he valued both boys and girls. He had been surprised when Catherine had agreed so readily.

They had only been standing a few moments when the first runner returned with a message. “Captain message from the Ruth. Congratulations to the Captain and crew of the Karenna. Outstanding job. Permission to come aboard? Admiral Teller. Permission was granted. He is being directed as you ordered sir.”

Jake nodded and thanked the runner who sped off to resume his task. Jake easily spotted the launch descending from The Dame Ruth. He waited until it had nearly arrived before escorting Catherine and her family to greet the Admiral and his people. The pilot of the Admiral’s launch barely kissed the deck. Jake wondered if it was reverence for the Karenna or if he was always that gentle on ships he landed on. Teller had the biggest smile Jake had ever seen. He leapt out of the launch as soon as it was down.

Jake was almost worried at the Admiral’s rush to them. “Jake, you have done the impossible lad. You found and raised one of the legendary ships. You even managed to do it with a single hint getting out. Ha, that will put rest to any rumors those old fools want to spread. The Karenna. I can’t believe I am actually standing on the deck of the Karenna,” The Admiral gushed as he enthusiastically pumped Jake’s hand.

Jake couldn’t help but smile in return. Then he motioned to his companions and said, “Admiral Teller, you remember Duchess Bedford I’m sure.”

That caused the man to start. He quickly released Jake’s hand and bowed saying, “I apologize your grace. My boyish jubilation overcame my manners.”