Sky Pirates Over London (Galvanic Century)

The Chronicles of a Gentlewoman series of steampunk thrillers tells the tale of Lady Aldora Fiske. Feeling the weight of society's expectations upon her shoulders, she travels the world seeking adventure, protecting the innocent and punishing the wicked. Her first adventure takes her high above the city's streets.

London has been besieged by strange and powerful airships targeting the city's shipping.

The poor starve and the rich must ration their luxuries, while the blockaders have made no demands. Parliament and the Home Office have done nothing to rectify the situation, and though it's hardly proper, sometimes a gentlewoman must act while the men debate.

This 10,000 word novelette is the first in the Chronicles of a Gentlewoman cycle of steampunk thrillers.

Excerpt:

Chunks of burning wood and hot steel rained down upon the darkened streets of London, accompanied by showers of cinder and the smell of burning ozone. A few of the larger pieces smashed through rooftops, and the scattered pedestrians took cover under bridges and thick awnings.

Gentlewoman Aldora Fiske stood unfazed, shopping bags in hand, next to her carriage, squinting at the fog-enshrouded sky. A large plank landed with a clatter to smoulder at her feet, a quarter of the Royal Armada's heraldry visibly etched into its charred surface.

"Miss Fiske, please." Agitation was palpable in her driver's voice. "You'd best climb in. The horses won't stave off panic for long."

She watched the other pedestrians running for cover that wouldn't protect them. "Indeed."