Free Einstein Must Die! (Fate of Nations Book 1) by Chris Kohout

Lucas?”
    “Yes. You have a package for me?”
    “It’s right here.” The squat little man patted the box. “Might I trouble you for a cigarette?”
    “My sister convinced me to give them up,” replied Lucas.
    The man nodded curtly and handed the box to Lucas. “Good luck, my friends.” Then he turned and walked away.
    “What the hell was that?” asked Eliza.
    “Let’s get aboard,” said Lucas.
    Morgan and Eliza picked up their own cargo and followed Lucas toward the ship.  
    The silver zeppelin was a huge cylinder with tapered ends. The airship’s shape and strength came from a duralumin skeleton made of rings and longitudinal girders. Inside, sixteen hydrogen gas cells provided lift. Tanks of Blaugas were used for heating and lighting.  
    A central corridor ran the length of the ship, with another corridor fifty feet above that, joined by six ladder gangways. Along the outer belly, eight diesel prop-engine nacelles gave forward thrust. Between them, an extruding passenger compartment hung low.  
    The group saw five hatchways along the underside of the airship, but only two were currently open. Wooden towers had been positioned under the open hatches, providing stairs for workers to board the airship. A steady stream of men and women came and went at both towers.  
    Lucas steered them toward the nearest tower, and soon they fell in line with other workers hauling supplies and gear aboard. They climbed five stories up the stairs, and then they were aboard the Artemis .
    As they stepped off the support towers onto the metal flooring of the ship, a foreman checked the crates they were carrying and barked orders at them.  
    “This goes to front mooring hub. That, crew quarters aft.” He looked over the electrical gear Eliza had brought aboard and frowned. “I have no idea what that is. Better take it to Einstein’s team. Axial corridor, room seven,” he said, pointing.
    Eliza nodded agreement and headed in the direction he’d indicated. The foreman quickly lost interest in them and was scanning the new crates being brought aboard. Lucas and Morgan followed behind Eliza, lugging their cargo.
    Once out of sight, they found a storage room and slipped inside. Setting down the cargo, they took a moment to regroup. Morgan checked the corridor.
    “All clear,” he said.
    “Room seven is one level above us and then forward,” Eliza said. “Chances are, that’s where Einstein is.”
    “Agreed,” said Lucas. “But that’s not where we’re heading.”
    “What?” she asked.
    Morgan raised an eyebrow, but held his tongue.
    “Our mission isn’t just to kill Einstein. We’re taking out the whole damn ship too.”
    Eliza sat down hard on a crate. “Um, that’s an important detail to not share with us.”
    “Need to know. Sorry,” Lucas said.  
    “And now, we need to know,” said Morgan.
    Lucas nodded. He waved them forward and pried the lid from the small crate. They looked inside. Fourteen sticks of dynamite rested within, wired to a timing clock.
    “My God,” said Eliza.
    Lucas nodded. “This is one ship that will never bomb an American city.”  

ROSABELLE, BELIEVE.

    Colonel Browning raised his whiskey glass. “To the end of war. Or at least its mitigation.”
    Tesla raised his glass and clinked it with the colonel’s. “Well said.”
    The Petal & Thorn was busy tonight. John Roberts held court behind the bar, and several busty young women wove through the crowd, fetching drinks and bowls of hot lamb stew.
    Tesla sipped slowly, enjoying the new brand of whiskey. “I like this,” he said. “What was it called again?”
    “Jack Daniels. Young fella makes it in Tennessee.”
    “He does good work.”
    “That he does. So, tell me Mr. Tesla, what has you in knots over this thing? Is it the idea of contributing to the war machine?”
    Tesla shook his head. “Not directly. If my work can make war less bloody, I am all for it.”
    “Good, good,” said the colonel.
    Tesla wasn’t ready