Helen Ioannidis and the Sky Pirates

It had been a long few hours as the zeppelin made it's way south along the coast. Looking down, I saw that the entire area was blanketed by smoke, which Helen had earlier explained was the result of the fire cult investigation that they'd narrowly thwarted. As soon as we'd been settled aboard, in rather spartan but comfortable cabins, I had been immediately summoned to speak with the Captain.

I leaned against the railing, enjoying the feel of the borrowed pea coat that one of the (Do they count as sailors if the ship sails in the sky? When I asked Helen about it she simply said yes and changed the subject, so that's what I'm going with.) sailors onboard had loaned me. It was a heavy woolen thing that cut the bit of the sea air easily, as we lounged on one of the small observation decks adjacent to Helen's cabin.

"Still can't get over the view." I exclaimed, watching the sun coming up over the rolling hills.

"Well, when they designed this thing, they figured they'd need a gunner up here. So, hence, the platform." Helen sat at one of the small wooden deck chairs. It was a light brown affair, with a deep colored canvas providing the main bulk of the arrangement. "These days, all a big gun does is attract attention, so... now we have the smoking lounge."

"You're the Captain, and you have to go outside to smoke." I asked, incredulously, noting that she had done just that.

"Hindenburg rules. Even if we are using helium, we've got a whole mechanic shop and enough flammable stuff that it's just a better idea."

"Oh... I just thought it made you look cooler to be smoking out on the deck. Photo op... you know."

"I don't exactly go looking for attention, Brent." Helen remarked.

"Well, you could have fooled me with the giant blimp."

"Ok, my sidekick, please brace yourself for the worst, because I'm about to well actually you." Helen snickered before pushing her beret back a bit from her forehead. "This thing has no computers on it. Not one. No cell phones, no GPS, no NOTHING. It's completely invisible to anything that requires a tracking chip to see it."

I thought back to how I hadn't seen a single crewmember with anything but clipboards and pens. They'd even had the little old school beaded chains on them that I remembered from my childhood. The ones that made damn sure that if anybody was going to steal the pen they had to be obvious about it. Hell, I remembered that I'd seen a sextant and a gimbled compass in the navigation room when Helen had shown it to us.

"Well, I mean, won't people look up and see the giant floating blimp in the air..."

"Yes. That's exactly what they see. Everybody ignores advertisements." Helen remarked calmly. "We usually just put "Goodyear" on the side of this thing when we have to use it where somebody might see it."

"So... Helen. Captain... Helen, I take it?"

"Actually it's Captain Ioannidis, but again, you're a guest, not crew." Helen grinned again, enjoying the view along with me. "It's long and it's complicated. Short version, I didn't tell you because you didn't ask, and it didn't come up."

"So, are you going to clue me in on the plan, or what?"

"It's pretty simple actually. We're following the HSV-2 to the Hearst Castle Zepplin base..."

"Wait... back up... the WHAT now?"

"Oh right you weren't there. While you were having fun with Charlotte, your wife and I discovered the hidden Zeppelin base beneath Hearst Castle." Helen nodded happily. "Oh man that was crazy, first we had to pretend to be tourists, see..."

I listened as she described the adventure where my mild mannered professor wife had apparently risen to the occasion, facilitating the trio's escape, (I had lost track at which point my wife's sister had shown up in the story) and getting them back just in time to change, shower and to pretend that they'd been just sitting around getting high for a few hours.

"And then... right when I was expecting you to come along with us on our adventure... you noped out, and left by yourself." Helen shrugged. "So, the gals and I had to get the Terra Haute up and ready to raid the party, when who do you walk in with but Nikki Corsini, Daughter of one of the heads of the Prasinos Crime family."

"Nikki?" I laughed. "No way. She was trying to borrow twenty bucks for gas..."

"Yes, Nikki, your little lover, and I'm sorry to tell you, one of the most sought after cleaners in Chicago."

"Oh please, she's... I mean, she can be a bitch, but she's no killer."

"Cleaners solve problems for the families, Brent. One way or another. You're just lucky you somehow managed to get on her good side." Helen rose to her feet and stood next to me. Her hand gripped the railing, and she flicked the joint outwards. I watched the glow fade from sight towards the dark ocean below.

"You don't trust her." I pointed out clearly.

"I don't. But I trust you, Brent." Helen remarked after a moment, reaching out to run her hand along the woolen felt of the borrowed jacket. "Just... ok, this is really dumb, but you know, we're about to go into a really dangerous situation. I'm happy you're here... even if you are a bit clueless sometimes."