LITMIR.BIZ

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praise, not wishing to seem as though he was courting the crew’s affections, but now he felt he could scarcely be overly enthusiastic, and he was pleased to see the heartfelt response of his officers to the approval. They were uniformly eager to continue, and after another four weeks of practice, Laurence was indeed beginning to think them ready to perform for a wider audience when the decision was taken from his hands.

      ‘That was an interesting variation you were flying last evening, Captain,’ Celeritas said to him at the end of the morning session, as the dragons of the formation landed and the crews disembarked. ‘Let us see you fly it tomorrow in formation.’ With that he nodded and dismissed them, and Laurence was left to call together his crew and Temeraire for a hasty final practice.

      Temeraire was inclined to be anxious, late that evening, after the others had gone back inside and he and Laurence were sitting quietly together in the dark, too tired to do more than rest in each other’s company.

      ‘Come, do not let yourself fret,’ Laurence said. ‘You will do very well tomorrow; you have mastered all of the manoeuvres from beginning to end. We have been holding back only to give the crew better mastery.’

      ‘I am not very worried about the flying, but what if Celeritas does not approve of the manoeuvres?’ Temeraire said. ‘We would have wasted all our time to no purpose.’

      ‘If he thought the manoeuvre wholly unwise, he would never have solicited us,’ Laurence said. ‘And in any case our time has not been wasted in the least; the crew have all learned their work a good deal better for having to give more attention and thought to their tasks, and even if Celeritas disapproved entirely I would still count all these evenings of ours profitably spent.’

      He at last soothed Temeraire to sleep and himself dozed off by the dragon’s side; though it was early September, the summer’s warmth was lingering, and he took no chill. Despite all his re assurances to Temeraire, Laurence himself was up and alert by first light, and he could not wholly repress a degree of anxiety in his own breast. Most of his crew were at the breakfast table as early as he was, so he made a point of speaking with several of them, and eating heartily; he would rather not have taken anything but coffee.

      When he came out into the training courtyard he found Temeraire there already in his gear and looking over the valley; his tail was lashing the air uneasily. Celeritas was not yet there; fifteen minutes passed before any of the other dragons of the formation arrived, and by then Laurence had taken Temeraire and his crew out to fly a few circuits of the area. The younger ensigns and midwingmen were particularly inclined to be shrill, and he had the hands go through exchanging places to settle their nerves.

      Dulcia landed, and Maximus after her; the full formation was now assembled, and Laurence brought Temeraire back in to the courtyard. Celeritas had still not yet arrived. Lily was yawning widely; Praecursoris was quietly speaking with Nitidus, the Pascal’s Blue, who also spoke French, his egg having been purchased from a French hatchery many years before the start of the war, when relations had been amicable enough to permit such exchanges. Temeraire still looked at Praecursoris with a brooding eye, but for once Laurence did not mind, if it would provide some distraction.

      A bright flurry of wings caught his eye; looking up, he saw Celeritas coming in to land, and beyond him the rapidly-dwindling forms of several Winchesters and Greylings, going away in various directions. Lower in the sky, two Yellow Reapers were heading south in company with Victoriatus, though the wounded Parnassian’s convalescence was not properly over. All the dragons came alert, sitting up; the captains’ voices died away; the crews fell into a heavy and expectant silence, all before Celeritas even reached the ground.

      ‘Villeneuve and his fleet have been caught,’ Celeritas said, raising his voice to be heard over the noise. ‘They have been penned up in the port of Cadiz, with the Spanish navy also.’ Even as he spoke, the servants were running out of the hall, carrying hastily-packed bags and boxes; even the maids and cooks had been pressed into duty. Without being ordered, Temeraire rose to all four legs, just as did the other dragons; the ground crews were already unrolling the belly-netting and climbing up to rig the tents.

      ‘Mortiferus has been sent to Cadiz; Lily’s formation must go to the Channel at once to take the place of his wing. Captain Harcourt,’ Celeritas said, turning to her, ‘Excidium remains at the Channel, and he has eighty years’ experience; you and Lily must train with him in every free moment you have. I am giving Captain Sutton command of the formation for the moment; this is no reflection upon your work, but with this abbreviation of your training, we must have more experience in the role.’

      It was more usual for the captain of the lead dragon of a formation to be the commander, largely because that dragon had to lead off every manoeuvre, but she nodded without any sign of offence. ‘Yes, certainly,’ she said; her voice came out a little high, and Laurence glanced at her with quick sympathy: Lily had hatched unexpectedly early, and Harcourt had become a captain barely out of her own training; this might well be her first action, or very nearly so.

      Celeritas gave her an approving nod. ‘Captain Sutton, you will naturally consult with Captain Harcourt as far as possible.’

      ‘Of course,’ Sutton said, bowing to Harcourt from his position aboard Messoria’s back.

      The baggage was already pulled down tight, and Celeritas took a moment to inspect each of the harnesses in turn. ‘Very good: try your loads. Maximus, begin.’

      One by one, the dragons all rose to their hind legs, wind tearing across the courtyard as they beat their wings and tried to shake the rigging loose; one by one they dropped and reported, ‘All lies well.’

      ‘Ground crews aboard,’ Celeritas said, and Laurence watched while Hollin and his men hurried into the belly-rigging and strapped themselves in for the long flight. The signal came up from below, indicating they were ready, and he nodded to his signal-ensign, Turner, who raised the green flag. Maximus and Praecursoris’s crews raised their flags only a moment later; the smaller dragons were already waiting.

      Celeritas sat back onto his haunches, and surveyed them all. ‘Fly well,’ he said simply.

      There was nothing more, no other ceremony or preparation; Captain Sutton’s signal-ensign raised the flag for formation-go-aloft, and Temeraire sprang into the air with the others, falling into position beside Maximus. The wind was in the northwest, almost directly behind them, and as they rose through the cloud cover, far to the east Laurence could see the faint glimmer of sunlight on water.

PART III

Chapter Nine

      The rifle ball passed so close it stirred Laurence’s hair; the crack of return fire sounded behind him, and Temeraire slashed out at the French dragon as they swept past, raking the deep blue hide with long gashes even as he twisted gracefully to avoid the other dragon’s talons.

      ‘It’s a Fleur-de-Nuit, sir, the colouring,’ Granby shouted, wind whipping away at his hair, as the blue dragon pulled away with a bellow and wheeled about for another attempt at the formation, its crew already clambering down to staunch the bleeding: the wounds were not disabling.

      Laurence nodded. ‘Yes. Mr. Martin,’ he called, more loudly, ‘get the flash powder ready; we will give them a show on their next pass.’ The French breed were heavily-built and dangerous, but they were nocturnal by nature, and their eyes sensitive to sudden flashes of bright light. ‘Mr. Turner, the flash powder warning signal, if you please.’

      A quick confirmation came from Messoria’s signal-ensign; the Yellow Reaper was herself engaged in fending off a spirited attack against the front of the formation by a French middleweight. Laurence reached out to pat Temeraire’s neck, catching his attention. ‘We are going to give the Fleur-de-Nuit a dose of flash powder,’ he shouted. ‘Hold this position, and wait for the signal.’

      ‘Yes, I am ready,’ Temeraire said, a deep note of excitement

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