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    Skyjackers: Episode 1: A Proper Nuisance
    Skyjackers: Episode 1: A Proper Nuisance
    Skyjackers: Episode 1: A Proper Nuisance
    Ebook81 pages1 hour

    Skyjackers: Episode 1: A Proper Nuisance

    By J.C. Staudt

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    About this ebook

    For Vivian Caine, becoming the world’s most fearsome airship pirate comes with its share of obstacles. The largest is her family, helmed by notorious outlaw and misguided patriarch Benedict Caine, whose name alone is enough to strike terror into the hearts of millions. Vivian’s mother and three siblings are anything but interested in pursuing the family business, so things take a sour turn when they cross paths with fresh-faced idealist Captain Jonathan Thorpe, a recent graduate of the Sky Marshal Academy tasked with enforcing order and justice across the skies.

    As Thorpe and the Caine family engage in a wild cat-and-mouse game rife with incredible capers and narrow getaways, Vivian must weigh her swashbuckling life of crime against the unwelcome feelings she finds herself developing for the young captain.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJ.C. Staudt
    Release dateJun 4, 2016
    ISBN9781311468215
    Skyjackers: Episode 1: A Proper Nuisance
    Author

    J.C. Staudt

    J.C. Staudt was born in Oceanside, New York, and moved to Virginia at the age of four, where he has lived ever since. He is a graduate of George Mason University, with a B.A. in Integrative Multimedia Studies, and he works for an Engineering and Consulting firm as a New Media Designer. He lives with his beautiful wife in a house lacking pets and children in Manassas, Virginia.

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      Book preview

      Skyjackers - J.C. Staudt

      Skyjackers

      Episode 1

      A Proper Nuisance

      J.C. Staudt

      Skyjackers is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Copyright © 2016 J.C. Staudt

      All rights reserved.

      Edition 1.0

      Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright

      Foreword

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Afterword

      Foreword

      Thanks for checking out Skyjackers, a steampunk adventure-romance serial. What you are about to read is a single installment in an ongoing narrative, akin to watching an episode of your favorite TV show. Each episode contains its own storylines, but also builds on a larger scale throughout the entire season. My goal in writing this serial was to deliver a light, fun adventure with a touch of drama, some colorful characters, and a storyline that moves at breakneck speed. I hope that’s what you find. Enjoy the story!

      Chapter 1

      It was a beautiful day for a robbery. Or it would’ve been, if Benedict Caine hadn’t been so utterly displeased. True, the skies were clear, and his hair was performing admirably in the high-altitude winds, but that was where Caine’s good fortune ended. He was staring down at the still-wet sign painted across the stern of his brand-new airship, which read: Clodhopper.

      "It’s Cloudhopper, Caine said, turning toward the painter. Can you spell, Goodfellow? Cloudhopper. Spell it for me."

      Buford Goodfellow, the unfortunate painter who was almost certainly destined for a sooner debarkation than he had planned for, cleared his throat. Cee el oh you dee, aitch oh pee pee ee are.

      Very good. Now, what did you do wrong?

      I’ve left off the U.

      That’s right. You’re smarter than you look, Goodfellow.

      Aye, Cap’n Caine. Sorry, Cap’n Caine.

      "For pity’s sake… it’s Commodore Caine. Have you gone completely mutton-headed? Don’t just stand there, man. Get back out there and fix it. I won’t have Captain Thorpe and the sky marshals thinking I run some sort of rinky-dink operation round here. Do you understand me? I won’t have it."

      Goodfellow gulped. But, sir… we’re aflight…

      Yes I know we’re aflight. Do you take me for an imbecile? I don’t pay you for your observations, Goodfellow. Put brush to wood, or I’ll have to dock you another day’s wages for a job poorly-done. Now get that swollen tokus of yours overboard and make my boat look pretty.

      Goodfellow opened his mouth to speak, but nothing in his repertoire of stalling tactics, which he employed most often to keep himself from harm despite the Commodore’s best efforts, seemed appropriate. He affixed himself to the rope harness still dangling from the mizzenmast and dropped over the ship’s stern, brush in hand, a canister of paint in each of his two belt-mounted holsters.

      Commodore Caine leaned over the starboard railing and peered through his spyglass. His destination was in sight, and it appeared that the rest of his fleet had arrived ahead of schedule. White chairs encircled white tablecloths on a lush green field; silverware gleamed in the sun; guests in white tie mingled over champagne and finger food. This was the place, alright. Isn’t it a marvel, Caine thought. I’m a lucky chap to be surrounded by my family, heeding my life’s calling at the expense of a throng of blathering aristocrats.

      It all seemed too good to be true. But then, that was the sort of life Benedict Caine was used to. After all, there was a reason he was the wealthiest pirate in the world: he was very good at it. He’d raised his four children to be good at it too, though most of them had a ways to go in that regard.

      The chug of a distant steam engine woke Caine from his whimsy. His eyes focused on a wisp of dark smoke that rose and dissipated from the stacks of a Regency airship, one of the sky marshals’ vessels. Caine slammed a fist on the railing and broke into devious laughter. It’s that deplorable Jonathan Thorpe, he said with a grin.

      The young upstart had been shadowing Caine’s steps ever since he set out for Finustria three days past. Thorpe’s ambition was becoming known the criminal world over; the fresh-faced young sky marshal was an idealist. He’d somehow come up with the ridiculous notion that he could clean up the skies where his predecessors had failed. A fellow like that, Caine knew, had to be taught a lesson straightaway.

      Thorpe’s airship was moving fast, and the wind was with him. If Caine didn’t hurry, the sky marshals would arrive at the reception before he did. Drat it all, he muttered to himself.

      What was that, Ben?

      Eh… nothing, my peach, Caine said, turning to greet his wife Gertrude, whose ability to take him unawares was exceeded only by her desire to curb his use of naughty language. She possessed a resolve like no one Benedict had ever met, and a sharp tongue to match her thin features.

      "I don’t think that was nothing I heard, Gertrude said. As a matter of fact, it was decidedly not nothing."

      I was merely expressing my distaste for that meddlesome Captain Thorpe. It seems our plans for today have taken a sour turn on his account. He’s arrived several minutes earlier than I intended him to.

      Gertrude patted him on the cheek.

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