Free The Lady Machinist (Curiosity Chronicles Book 1) by Ava Morgan Page B

braced her feet in a wide stance as she put one hand on each wall. From her perspective, the floor tilted and dipped as though she were in a flour sifter. “And we’re being attacked by pirates.”
    A splintering noise resounded from above. Surely that wasn’t the ship breaking apart. Not when she and Nikolaos were locked down below. “Rhys locked the topside door.”
    Nikolaos tottered forward, choking back what had to be his breakfast. “Does he intend for us to go down with the ship?”
    Lydia strained to hear voices above deck. All she heard was the roar of the ocean and the clamber of boots pounding from stern to prow. Were they pirates or Rhys’ crew?
    Another cannon fired. The groan of a wooden structure followed, ending with a heavy crash. Lydia felt the impact’s reverberations in her chest. The din above ceased. Only the engine strained on.
    Were Rhys and the crew still onboard? She climbed to the topside door and pounded on it, calling out. No one answered.
    “The ship is taking in more water.” Nikolaos pointed to the topside door, where water sloshed rushing in through the foot of the entrance. Two of the light fixtures floated, knocked loose from their wall mounts.
    Lydia willed herself to keep calm with several gulps of air. She jumped down to the floor. “We need to split the door and get to the longboats.”
    “You mean to the other ship.”
    She stared aghast at Nikolaos, but his face remained very serious.
    “Whoever these pirates are, we must cooperate with them. There is no other way off this vessel alive. We will give them money, the contents of the cargo hold, whatever they want.”
    She curled her lips in disgust at his craven behavior. “We can’t give up. We made an agreement.”
    “This is no time for holding steadfast to the agreement with the ambassador.” Nikolaos shadowed her. “He and his crew abandoned ship.”
    “We don’t know that,” Lydia said as she fought her fear that Rhys and the crew had all been swept away by the waves.
    Above, a large object rolled across the deck before it came to a halt midway. Lydia heard the timbers creak against its weight. Thunder rattled the walls. The metal structures of the ship caught the vibration and issued a discordant, tinny response. A clanging issued from a different part of the ship. “Did you hear that?”
    Nikolaos’ shoulders sagged as he worked to move his ill body. “Hear what?”
    “A voice. I can just make it out.” Over the rain that steadily bulleted the ship, Lydia detected the distressed calls of a man. “It’s coming from the engine room below us.” She fled for the stairs leading to the third deck.
    Nikolaos straggled behind her. “The water is rising. We must leave.”
    The calls grew louder as they neared the stairs. Water rushed down the steps. Lydia plunged one foot after the other down into the swirling water, hoping she’d find a foothold on the slippery metal grating. “Anyone here?” she shouted.
    Both doors to the engine room and cargo hold were vaulted closed.
    The male voice sounded from behind the entrance of the engine room. “The door is jammed.”
    Water pooled over Lydia’s boots and soaked her feet. She pulled on the door’s spindle wheel handle. The water formed a seal around the door, preventing her from getting it to open. “Nikolaos, help me.”
    He still stood on the stairs, looking disparagingly at the steady swell of water flooding the base.
    “Nikolaos, please.”
    He trudged down.
    The man on the inside of the engine room door began to beat upon the frame. “The water pump’s broken. You’ve got to get us out.”
    She spoke in a calm voice, even though her own distress was growing. “I’m going to try to pull the door open, but I need you to push as well. Are you ready?”
    “Ready.”
    Nikolaos grabbed the handle with Lydia.
    “Now.”
    The three of them worked against the force of the water. A sliver of space appeared between the frame, widening until the seal broke.