Lion, Tiger, Bear | 337 mess. She pressed a bandage to his bleeding head. Right as rain soon. Alice flipped all ten safety switches. The cavern and its anthracite rain shower became partially visible. The airship weaved and pulsated on its anchor chains, the dull thunder outside so loud it penetrated the usually noise-absorbing hull and insulating electro-bubble. ‘ Bernie arrived with Klemperer and Schafer. Rig for red! cried Bernie. Bea found the switch for the red cockpit lights. Saves our night vision. Gerlachs voice boomed on the intercom. XPorsche’s done. Generator normal. The static dielectric field is stable, zero amps. Get going, Baumann. Baumann sat beside Bea, bleeding badly, semi-lucid. He pushed the main throttle lever one click forward. Standby mode, yellow light. Field Effect Generator safety switches off, one, two, and three. Landing buffers disengaged. Current bypass switches to flight mode, hull plating electrified to megavolt level one. Throttle detent disengaged, pushing elevation lever one notch up. The props rotate automatically once off standby mode. A green light came on. He pushed the throttle forward one click at a time, and the propshaft rpm dial moved off its peg. Go slow, then push the… no, this.. .altitude lever up while pulling back on the yoke. This lever is for the maneuvering node power level, they will activate according to the y-yoke pitch and yaw p-p- position. Full power to…electro-bubble on the g-gauge. Move…up…the t-throttle…as… He coughed and gagged, then puked on the panel and passed out on the floor, convulsing. No! cried Bea. Alice examined him. Shite! Hes out, possible concussion. A coma maybe. Wheres the med kit? She dug through it, searching for an adrenaline syringe. None. Eyes wide scanning the panel, Bea moaned: Why, why, why cant I catch a break… Porsche watched in disbelief as the huge propellers came alive, the anthracite and rock chunks bouncing off an invisible electromagnetic field surrounding them, the stern lights illuminating. Suddenly the entire ship began to shudder from the powerful earthquakes soundwaves. How did this happen? In the cockpit, Schafer said: The earthquakes high frequency patterns are affecting the hull. Were shaking apart! Bernie growled behind: Wind this tin toothpaste tube up Bea, and get us the hell out of here!