Attendence at the Kendal Ball (Part XIV)

Kendal Palace, Grosvenor Square, London, Great Britain: January 1886.

Sir Leo watched the expressions of the two Crossley brothers at this announcement, first momentarily blank, then when recognizition of the words my fiance hit. It was almost comical to watch, really Sir Leo thought absently. Regis's eyebrows shot up towards his hair line, with astonishing rapidity and he took a half step back in surprise. Regis then warmly took Ursula's hands in his own and offered his congradulations and immediately asked a flurry of wedding and reception related questions. Well, Regis loved ceremonial occassions, especially happy, geniune ones. After pausing to take a breath, Regis offered his hand to Sir Thomas for a hardy handshake and best wishes. Sir Thomas with polished good manners accepted both, with equal warmth. The glow of happiness that surfused Ursula and Sir Thomas, would have lite up the room, had it not already been awash with lights of all sorts.

Roderick, however was a study in contrast to his brother Regis. Roderick looked like he had just been run through with a pike. Given that Sir Leo had survived having that happen to him back in East Africa in '72. He had some idea both what it both looked like and felt like! Regis glared at his brother's stricken silence and stunned expression for a fulminating minute, before Roderick reacted and managed to mumble words of congradulations to the pair. Roderick then excused himself from Ursula's presence and disappeared into the crowd of guests.

Regis just prevented himself from sighing aloud, as he watched Roderick's hasty, unseemingly departure. We are not here ten minutes, and already, Roderick is offering offense. Regis thought crossly. The expressions of the other guest immediately to hand, differed according to their temperments, Lady Penelope looked relieved that Ursula's bold announcement had not caused anything more unpleasant. Dame Daphne, looked tranquil and unconcerned, while Duncan Foster looked just as guarded, although an amused smile was trying to quirk the corners of his mouth. Sir Samuel Thistlewood, regarded Roderick's hurried and undignified retreat with undisquised contempt. While, Allistair Scattergood and Philipa Fieldhouse, both shared bemused glances. Regis noticed, that Sir Leo kept his gaze on Roderick for several long moments before saying a few words to a nearby postillion, to which the servant nodded and disappeared into the crowd, after Roderick.

Ursula's expression as she watched Roderick flee her presence, there was no other word for it, was to put it mildly, indecently triumphant. Then again, this was hardly unexpected, she hated Roderick, which surprised no one who knew either of the two principals. Regis stiffled the impulse to sigh again. Roderick had always exhibited a singular talent for making people dislike him, and many of his social peers absolutely despised him. What many of his social inferiors thought of him, was not even printable in mixed or polite company. Years ago, Roderick had thought it fun, along with a cortie of his usual vapid, sychophantic hangers on, to try and humilate Ursula at her first formal ball. Sir Leo, who was at that same ball, largely to please his mother. Decided to intervene, and he had stepped on Roderick, brutally. There were distinct advantages to being someones social superior both in family lineage and in rank, and Sir Leo had ruthlessly used both to humilate Roderick. Regis had heard a lot about that evening from various sources over the years, and to a certain extent approved of the savage snubs, Sir Leo had administered to his younger brother. It did not happen often enough, otherwise Roderick might actually have learned to moderate his behaviour by now.

Ursula was finally getting her own lethal broadside in at Roderick, Regis thought. Ursula had as time went on, acquired a definite and stylish, poise and grace, it did not hurt that her neat and attractive looks had improved as she matured. Ursula's refusal to bend or kowtow to him, had had a strange effect on Roderick, who was it had to be said used to getting his own way in most things, particularly women. Roderick had conceived a strange infatuation for Ursula, which Regis though both bad form, considering his previously insulting behaviour towards Ursula, and unhealthy as it was completely obvious to everyone but Roderick, that Ursula did not return his advances and frequently rebuffed them.

Regis, forced himself to not sigh aloud. Roderick was likely going to spend the rest of the evening sulking, and with Roderick a good long sulk, usually ment drinking himself into a stupor. If Regis was lucky, Roderick would drink himself scarlet, and pass out on some sofa somewhere and put himself out of harm's way. Sir Leo was obviously thinking much the same thing, as he watched Roderick disappear into the throng filling the hall.

Flight of the X-2 (Part I)

Royal Airship Works, Cardington, Bedfordshire, Great Britain.

The sun had yet to raise up over the sleepy countryside in Bedfordshire. The Royal Airship Works at Cardington were however another matter, the grounds and associated buildings, barracks and worksites of the airship works were a teeming hive of activity, as work crews, airship handlers and mechanics were up and moving purposefully inside and outside the massive double airship hangers housing the four R.N.A.S. rigid airships of the Special Airship Reconnaissence Division.

The Special Airship Reconnaissence Division was the brainchild of both the Admiralty and Her Majesty's Secret Service. The Airship Service of the Royal Navy was divided into several commands, each with their own specialization. Technically the S.A.R. Division did not exist at least on the offical books of organization of the Royal Navy any way, and was hidden behind a wall of governmental bureaucratic and naval administrative red tape. This was hardly surprising, as the S.A.R's primary job was prying into the military affairs of other nations, particularly things those nations wanted to keep secret.

The X-class airships were themselves a top secret development within the British Airship establishments. They were larger, faster and possessed greater carrying power then any other British airships in existence. The X-class used a different lifting agent in their gas cells, then other British airships either military or civil, which used hydrogen gas. Hydrogen while highly effective at producing lift and being both easy and cheap to produce, had the highly dangerous property of being highly combustible when mixed with any amount of oxygen. Thus hydrogen filled airships had to carry out special safety procedures and rigid operational protocols to minimize the chances of accidental fires and explosions.

The X-class used Helium gas, which while a great deal more expensive to produce or obtain, and being less effective at producing lift then Hydrogen, was a great deal safer to operate with. Offically the only source of Helium was found within the state of Texas, which was part of the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy had placed strict limits on how much Helium it exported at any time to any one power. Speculation within the S.A.R. was that British authorities had discovered another source of Helium to exploit, although it was felt it was not a large source otherwise the whole of the R.N.A.S. airship fleet would have been converted to it.

Of the four X-class airships, HMS X-1 had been by far the most active. X-1 had already made several lengthy and successful research cruises over North America, Central America and South America as well as well several shorter trips over the North and South Atlantic Oceans. The X-1 had also been busy training the crews for the soon to be operational X-3 and X-4. The HMS X-2 had been moderately active compared to her sister ship, having made several full power trials and endurance test flights, and been used to test new outfits of spying equipement. X-2 had made only three operational flights, the first had been over the Mediterrean Sea, which had been quiet and uneventful enough. The second cruise had been over Austria-Hungary, which had been something in the nature of a diaster. The X-2 had been spotted early in the start of it's cruise after it had left from a secret base in the Kingdom of Greece. How, was still not known, but Austro-Hungarian air and sky ships had dogged it's flight path the momement it entered Austrian territory and persistently refused to be shaken off no matter what evasive action the X-2 had taken.

The captain of the X-2, Dame Marianne Turner, had decided on her own authority to call off the flight. A sensible decision given events, but not one welcomed by her superiors in the Admiralty, the Airship Command or the Foreign Office. After a refit at Malta, the X-2 had been sent out on another long-range reconnaissance, over the length and breath of the Ottoman Empire. This mission proved largely successful and was completed without serious mishap. Following both X-1 and X-2's return to Cardington, both airships had been taken in hand for massive refits and partial rebuilding to test new equipements, new engines and for the addition of two extra gas cells within their superstructures to increase their height climbing and weight carrying abilities.

X-1 was found to have suffered a major deterioration of several large sections of it's envelope covering, particularly just foreward of the tail fin assembly and just back of the airship's nose, wrapping around much of the hull. Both called for immediate and extensive refurbishing before the X-1 could fly again, particularly as the bow section which took the most stress when flying with dynamic lift and borne the brunt of rain or hail while in flight.

For Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Wedgewood, who paced back and forth impatiantly outside the cavernous hanger door, which slowly rolled open to allow the airship entombed within to exit. This necessary delay was not a welcome development. The replacement of the affected envelope cover would take several weeks, including trials to see if the new cover was up to standard. Wedgewood had ordered all of the other X-class ships checked to see if they had suffered the same deterioration. So far, only X-1 and X-2 showed it this problem. The X-3 and X-4 were still in their respective double hanger under construction and while they were largely finished as far as their framework and internal structures and fittings were conscerned, their Gas cells had been fitted and test filled, neither had as of yet been sheathed in fabric.

In X-1 and X-2, the outer cover was linen fabric, silver doped on a red oxide base. Square section sample taken from both airships had revealed that much of the cover had been repaired or strengthened on it's inner surface with two-inch tapes that had then been stuck on with adhesive or doping. Wedgewood had wound up putting his hand through one of the samples, it was nearly as friable as scotched brown paper and broke up easily into flakes if even light pressure was applied to it. The Airship Technical Lab had anaylized the samples and discovered that several sections of outer cover had reinforcing patches applied to them with a rubber adhesive solution. The solution was found to have reacted with the doping agent and the linen cover to cause the fabric to deteriorate.

Vice-Admiral Wedgewood, now found himself in a difficult position, the X-1, the most experienced spy ship in the S.A.R. had been requested by the government to undertake a special intelligence mission in the Central Asian territories of the Russian Empire. There was no way, that the X-1 could be made ready in time to depart for British India to undertake the operation. Actually the engineers had informed the admiral, that the airship could be made ready but it would involve cutting corners on the repairs and cutting the needed speed, power and endurance trials necessary to confirm the X-1 was air worthy to the absolute minimum. Wedgewood, his airship works engineers and Captains Turner and Varley were all agreed, that was both dangerous and stupid.

That left him with only one other option, given the circumstances. The X-2 had to be assigned the job, and prepped to undertake the mission to India and beyond. Wedgewood was assured that the X-2 was ready for the mission, her refit and rebuilding had gone smoothly, all the previous trials and tests had also gone extremely well. True, X-2's captain and crew was less experienced then X-1 and it's captain, Sir Markus Varley. However, both he and Varley felt confident in Captain Turner's competence and discretion.