Free Fire Wind by Guy S. Stanton III

right and I followed him figuring that he knew a way to get
up onto the mesa that the canyon cut down through.
    *****
    Easing forward on our bellies we inched
closer and closer to the edge of the canyon rim. The deep hum we’d
been hearing for several moments only intensified the closer we got
to the edge.
    Reaching the edge, both of us now hatless, we
peered over. Daylight revealed the metallic surfaces of the object
that had been somehow cloaked from view that night at the
enclosure.
    I thought it had spun and perhaps it had, but
right now it remained motionless as it hovered just above the
ground. The question of how to defeat it was on both our minds.
    We both drew back from the edge keeping our
heads down. Edgar put it best, “It’s like a buzzard floating on the
breeze.”
    I nodded thinking. The concepts at play with
the technology below us was far beyond me. Staring at the blue sky
overhead I prayed for help.
    A shadow crossed over me and in alarm I
blinked and made to run for it, but I relaxed at the sight of a
buzzard coasting by. True to Edgar’s words it did seem to just hang
in the air. What if the ship below operated on the same principle,
at least partly?
    “What makes air thinner? You know, less
buoyant.” I asked thoughtfully.
    “Gas.” Edgar replied.
    I glanced at him. I knew he was an educated
man and his answer piqued my curiosity, “Gas?”
    He nodded and then hesitatingly he said, “At
least I think so.”
    “Explain.”
    “Well back East I saw this experiment done. I
was thinking of becoming an engineer before I chose to be a doctor
and I took some extra classes. Ships aren’t just built willy-nilly.
There are mathematical formulas that go into the making of them or
they wouldn’t float or move about right. They might even break
apart or…….”
    “Alright alright I get it! Get to the point!”
I said in a harsh whisper brought on by the dire grimness of the
situation.
    Edgar sighed and said gesturing upward,
“Imagine the sky above was all water with that cloud up there being
a ship floating on the surface. Well I saw this professor release a
burst of methane gas from a cylinder located underneath the
water.”
    “Methane gas?” I asked blankly.
    “Yeah the stuff that gets let off in swamps
and from the rear of cows.”
    “Got it.”
    “Well anyway this bubble of gas rose through
the water because it’s lighter than water. When it reached the ship
the ship sunk beneath the water all the way down to the bottom of
the container. The gas made the water less buoyant. Maybe that
could work with adding gas to just regular air. It’s a theory
anyway.”
    “A shaky one, but who knows. Where do we get
this methane gas?”
    “Your guess is as good as mine. I mean we
don’t exactly have the time to follow a herd of cows around.”
    Not being able to help it I chuckled. The
gravity of the situation had me sober again rather quickly
though.
    “What’s that cave down there that there
parked outside of? It looks like its seen active work before.”
    “Oh that’s the old gold mine outlet that got
the town it’s start. It’s all played out now though. It’s been
vacant going on ten years now. The towns really suffered without
the mine. It would’ve gone belly up if it weren’t for the outlying
ranches and……”
    “Mining?” I said cutting in.
    He nodded.
    “Are there any mining supplies still laying
about the town?”
    “Yeah there’s a whole warehouse of them. Whoa
wait a minute, if you think you’re going to take that thing out
with dynamite, I think you better think again!”
    I waved his protests away, “No, no, I agree
with you. That ship is way beyond dynamite, but what if we try the
gas thing and see if the ship will sink and then we use the
dynamite to cover it up? In essence the rock we cover it up with
will replace the air it needs to float. What do you think?”
    “I think that’s insane, but I’m down for
trying it. There’s only one problem though. We