Free Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

into a fire.
    “I see no reason for this man to be here,” Tesla said, giving Captain Yegorov a cold stare. The man said something short and sharp in Russian back at him.
    Dr. Barlow spoke in a calming voice. “This is a difficult moment for us all, gentlemen. Our ship is full of men and empty of supplies. The expertise of another airship captain is welcome here.”
    Tesla gave a snort, which the lady boffin politely ignored.
    “If you please,” she added to Alek. “My French is a bit rusty.”
    As he translated her welcome for Yegorov, Alek heard a murmuring overhead, and glanced up to see both Bovril and Dr. Barlow’s loris hanging from the message lizard tubes. They were repeating everything, relishing the sounds of a new language.
    Captain Yegorov bowed. “You have my thanks for rescuing us, and I appreciate the dire situation you are in. But it’s no fault of mine. That madman ordered his soldiers to kill my airship. Food for the bears!”
    Alek translated the last part into English haltingly, not quite believing what he was saying. The
Leviathan
’s officers looked horrified as well.
    After a moment’s silence Dr. Busk cleared his throat. “It is not our place to pass judgment on what has happened here. We are on a rescue mission, nothing more. Perhaps we should all introduce ourselves.” He turned to Captain Yegorov and said in slow, untidy French, “I am Dr. Busk, head science officer aboard His Majesty’s Airship
Leviathan
.”
    As Dr. Barlow introduced herself and the captain, Alek noticed that her French was flawless. He wondered why she really wanted him here.
    Mr. Tesla looked bored and irritable, tapping his cane and grimacing as pleasantries went around the table. Butwhen Alek introduced himself, the inventor’s eyes lit up.
    “The famous prince!” he said in English. “I’ve been reading about you.”
    “Ah, you, too,” Alek sighed. “I had no idea the
New York World
was so popular in Siberia.”
    Mr. Tesla laughed at this. “My laboratory is in New York City, and you were the talk of the town when I left. And by the time I passed through Saint Petersburg, the czar’s court was also buzzing about you!”
    An unpleasant feeling came over Alek, as always when he thought of thousands of strangers discussing the details of his life. “Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers, Mr. Tesla.”
    “Indeed. They claim you’re pulling strings in the Ottoman Republic, and yet here you are aboard the
Leviathan
. Are you concealing the fact that you’ve become a Darwinist?”
    “A Darwinist?” Alek dropped his eyes to the table, suddenly aware of the
Leviathan
’s officers in the room. “I don’t know if you could say that. But if you’ve read about me, you know that the Clanker Powers plotted my parents’ death. The Germans and my granduncle, the Austrian emperor, are to blame for this war. I only want to end it.”
    Mr. Tesla nodded slowly. “We are both servants of peace, then.”
    “A noble sentiment, gentlemen,” Captain Hobbes said.“But at the moment we are at war. We have twenty-eight extra mouths to feed, and we have dropped most of our supplies onto the tundra to make room for them.”
    “Airships certainly have their limitations,” Mr. Tesla said.
    Alek ignored the man, quickly translating Captain Hobbes’s words into French.
    “If we head straight toward the airfield at Vladivostok, we’ll all survive,” Captain Yegorov said. “It’s two days away. We won’t starve, and for water we can scoop up snow without landing, as Russian airships have done for years.”
    Alek translated, and Captain Hobbes gave a firm nod.
    “We’re grateful that you have joined our side in this conflict, Mr. Tesla, and the czar has asked us to offer any assistance we can. But I’m afraid Captain Yegorov is right. We can’t take you back to Saint Petersburg just yet. We’ll have to keep heading east.”
    The inventor waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. I haven’t