"The Arrival" [original version]

A short story by Anthony Joseph Buffa

Michel gazed through the window of the lounge as the airship finally arrived at its destination: Palermo, the capital city of Sicily. He stared at the city below, the only place he called home after leaving behind his old home in America years ago.

This wasn’t the first time he rode on an airship, although he rarely and sparingly traveled on one because, as usual, the cost to travel by airship came at a pretty costly price for any man or woman’s wallet. Such a pricey mode of transportation was considered luxurious and cheap to the rich and powerful.

Thanks to the Russian Industrial Boom that increased the technological advancement of their society as well as a good economy to boot, the airships were heavily improved upon to be able to withstand harsh weather and any light aerial attacks, as well as powerful weapons to retaliate against enemy aircraft, even sky pirates. These airships were meaner, badder, and heavily equipped with strong armor plating and advanced weaponry compared to their lesser predecessors during the Great War, and they certainly proved themselves in warfare thanks to their increased bomb raiding and kill count during the Great Russian Invasion. Of course, this also meant that prices to pay for a ride on one of these airships were pretty expensive since the materials used to build these advanced aircraft weren’t cheap.

The airship Michel chose to ride on was a large first-class aircraft with a two-floor gondola below the envelope. The first floor was not only where the control, radio, and chart room were located, but it also contained the passengers’ cabins that have their own washroom and bathtub, and the second floor was dedicated to having a large lounge and dining room, more than the usual 16’ square compared to the other airships. This type of airship was more expensive to ride on than the usual smaller airships, and Michel spent every last penny he had to buy a ticket to get a first-class ride back to Palermo.

Michel was glad to be back home after his botched job back in Paris. He was disappointed to have come home empty-handed, yet if it hadn’t been for his luck and skills, he wouldn’t be alive today, riding back home to the beautiful city of Palermo. Although, he hated having to spend much of the money he had left to pay for a pretty expensive ticket to ride a first-class airship back to Italy. If the job had gone smoothly, he and his now departed accomplices, who were either in custody or in the morgue, would’ve been sitting on the airship with about as much money as any sultan or nobleman stuffed into their pockets and bags, laughing and bragging about how rich and cunning they were. That was what they planned to do after their job, to ride back home on an airship with a ton of cash lying on their lap.

It was all in the past now, and Michel would certainly like to forget all that’s happened in Paris, having already learned his lesson in taking another job as risky as this one, and looking forward to relaxing back at HQ with his feet up on the couch, listening to the traffic and small talk outside the window of the lobby.

It took about twenty minutes before the airship finally landed on the airfield. All the passengers, including Michel, waited in the lounge until one of the crew members came out and announced that the airship had landed and the passengers were allowed to depart. The crew member also added that their luggage would be brought out to them shortly, which was something that didn’t concern Michel because he carried none on his person for this four-hour flight to Palermo.

Michel was about ready to join the rest of the passengers when he looked to the staircase that led to the second floor of the gondola and spotted a well-dressed old man talking to a security officer. Michel reclined back into his seat, lowering himself further in the chair in an attempt to hide from the officer and the old man. He looked at the two men again, trying to read their lips, but they were too far away for him to understand what they were saying.

Every airship had a handful of armed and trained military officers from the air force stationed onboard to provide security to the aircraft as well as the crew and passengers. Besides acting as security guards, they were mainly hired to protect the airship from sky pirates since they became rampant and hostile before their reign of terror died down years ago. Nevertheless, it was mandatory for every airship to have security with military experience onboard.

The officer nodded and responded something to the old man. Then, unexpectedly, the old man turned and met Michel’s gaze. Michel sank back into his seat, hoping that the old man didn’t notice him staring at the two of them.

“You!” Michel heard the old man with a Germanic accent yell behind him.

Michel pretended he didn’t hear him. He hoped the old man was talking to someone else, but then he turned and saw the old man walking around the chairs as he pointed at Michel and stared at him with leering eyes. The old German kept his eyes on Michel as he quickly approached him.

“It was you who stole my precious Leopard Eyes,” said the old German. “I can tell just by the look of you.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t steal anything! I’m traveling over here on holiday.”

“Don’t try to deceive me, you damn peasant! You are a thief! I know you are! I’ve encountered your kind before. You think you can get away with my jewels?”

The German voraciously grabbed Michel by his jacket and lifted him up from his seat in the chair.

“You will get it now, you little bastard! I’ll make sure you and your thieving friends will hang for this!”

“Let go of me, you old fool! You’ve gone mad!”

“Sir!” Cried out the officer as he forced the old German away from Michel and extended his arms as he stood between them to create some distance. “There’s no need for this, Mr. Heimlich.”

“That’s Sir Heimlich to you! What the hell has the world gone to?”

“Maybe it’s because of rich and pompous maniacs like you,” said Michel, “accusing strangers of stealing your damn property is why the world’s as insane as you.”

“Why you little-!”

“Enough!” The officer cried out again. 

He now turned his complete attention to the young passenger. “Alright, young man, turn out your pockets.”

“Are you serious? You’re believing this nut job that I would steal some useless gems?”

“Useless?” The old German’s face started to fume and turn red. “How dare you!”

“That’s enough out of you!” The officer ordered the old German.

The officer turned his attention back to Michel.

“Now, if you would please empty your pockets.”

Michel was hesitant to obey such an outrageous order, but he didn’t want to make the situation any worse than it already was. The blonde-haired man reluctantly obeyed the officer and emptied his pockets from his pants and jacket, showing his wallet, punched ticket, and passport.

“Satisfied?” Michel asked.

“He’s a liar!” Accused the German. “Search the young thief yourself! He has to have the Leopard Eyes somewhere on his person!”

“Why don’t you turn out your pockets to see if you still have them? Maybe you’re much too senile to remember where you placed your own damn things.”

“I will have your head for your insolence!”

“I won’t ask again to keep your voice down, Sir,” the officer threatened the German. “Maybe the young man is right. Check your pockets to see if they are in there.”

“Fools! All of you! I know where I put my things. What makes you think-?”

Before he could finish his sentence, as he rummaged through his jacket pockets, he felt a familiar touch stored in one of them. The German lifted his wrinkled hand and opened his palm, revealing two vibrantly beautiful gemstones. The German stood there bewildered as he stared at the officer and the young man, then back at his gemstones before returning them to one of his jacket pockets.

“I…They were stolen! They had to be! H-he put them back into my pockets! I tell you, he is a thief!”

The officer turned and stared at Michel with a look of indifference.

“Alright, young man,” said the officer. “You can leave now. I apologize for this inconvenience.”

The blonde-haired man didn’t say anything in return. He took off quickly and purposely pushed past the German as he muttered, “Crazy geezer.”

“You dare speak to me that way?” The German shouted back at Michel as he retreated from the lounge.

“That’s enough, Sir,” the officer told the German. “You’d best get your things and be off then.”

“Don’t tell me what to do! I’m telling you that that man is a thief!”

“He had nothing on him. Now please leave or I will have my men escort you out.”

“I don’t need escorting from the likes of you! If he hadn’t-”

Just as soon as the German reached under his jacket pocket where he stored his priceless gemstones, he found it to be empty again. He gasped and turned around as he tried to look for the young blonde-haired man who passed him and was by now making his way off the airship.

”He stole them again!” cried the old German hysterically. “He’s run off with them! Quick, after him!”

The officer restrained him, struggling to calm the hysterical old German as the officer proceeded to put the cuffs on him.

Meanwhile, Michel descended the steps from the docked airship to the airfield, where some of the crew members, including the captain, bid farewell to the passengers.

When Michel reached the ground, he saluted the crew members and said, “Bouna giornata, fellas.”

As he and the rest of the passengers dispersed and reached the streets of Palermo outside of the airfield, Michel took a moment to reach under his pants pocket and pulled out the Leopard Eyes. He smiled as he examined the beauty of the emerald gemstones, knowing that these babies were worth a lot of money. Michel felt he at least earned it for all the trouble he went through after his last job failed miserably. He couldn’t wait to brag to his friends and colleagues at the thieves’ guild headquarters all about how he got his hands on these gemstones and how he was able to pull it off, seeing that he was still the best thief in the business.

After pocketing his steal for the day, he strolled down the street and whistled to himself happily, wondering what he was going to spend his money on.

The End