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The carriage left the West Borough, turned south at a fork, and soon reached a military base.
With Colonel Galvin's handwritten letter and a junior officer guiding him, Klein entered without difficulty and arrived at a square paved with rammed earth, where an enormous deep-blue and pure-white machine stood.
The airship was dozens of meters long. Sturdy, lightweight alloy frames extended from above its cabin, crisscrossing to support the airtight, waterproof fabric enclosing the gasbags. Below were machine-gun ports, bomb bays, and cannon ports. At this moment, the high-combustion fuel steam engines had yet to begin humming, and the corresponding propellers had not started turning. Everything was very quiet.
Klein handed his documents and identification to the officer guarding the gangway. After receiving permission, he carried his suitcase up onto the airship, one step at a time.
The interior resembled a ship's cabins and was divided into three levels. The top level held complicated machinery and cargo storage, while the middle level had a hall suitable for buffet receptions and balls. Lounges lined the hall and both sides of the passages leading upstairs and downstairs. As for the lowest level, it contained machine-gun rooms, ammunition rooms, cannon emplacements, and the soldiers' quarters.
Passing between guards holding rifles, Klein followed the officer's earlier directions to his assigned lounge and set his luggage beside a sofa-like seat.
At the same time, he recalled the Aurora Order's reply:
"...The Aurora Order happens to have one of the Bizarre Sorcerers you want in storage. If you have no objections, I'll have it transported to the factory base in Backlund. You can collect it when you return."
Nice, Klein thought.
Just like that, one of his main ingredients, the Bizarre Sorcerer, was secured. The only thing Klein still needed to collect himself was the