Once Luc made sure Madame had made it to her room safely, he walked around the deck a couple more times. The angle of the morning sun turned half the promenade into an oven. Most of the passengers escaped inside the lounge, where air from outside was pumped in to cool it, although the thinness did make some people faint. Luc wondered if airships would ever get the hang of balancing the atmosphere inside, which would allow for higher flight and faster travel.
He ensured he was alone, and made for a doorway at the side of the deck, which, according to the ship's schematics he'd found in the newspaper article on its maiden voyage, should lead to the cargo hold. Indeed it did, and he pulled a small phosphor lantern from his jacket pocket. When he flipped the switch, the internal chamber was f
