Captain Ishmael brought the St. Elmo in to land at Tinkers row, wind blasting dust and debris out from under her hull, about a hundred yards away down the dock of the landing field from the Boheme, the slightly-odd-looking little zeppelin ship sinking down like a smaller whale than the Boheme, with a long, black remora stuck in the exact center of her belly, blasting air downward out of vents on her hull.
That "remora" was the actual ship, an iron-hulled paddle steamer that had originally been planned to be used as the ship component of an underslung dirigible, but which was now built-in to the underside and hold of the much-larger rigid-member dirigible framework of a zeppelin envelope and also served as living quarters, engine room, steering room, and the mounting for the ship's armament, six of which could be seen jutting out defiantly from the hull: one on each side of the bow, one on either side amidships, and two on the rear transom of the iron steamer-hull, the rest of the fourteen apparently hidden away behind their hatchplates.
The amidships portion of the ship was primarily taken up by a large form that mimicked the former, original paddle wheel hump, with the name of the ship painted on it in gold paint on black in an arch that followed the shape of the top of the hump and the top of the louvered air-intake port below it: St. Elmo The boxy extensions on either side of the hump, fashionable when the steamer was first built, contained the aft and forward vents, for forward and backward propulsion, whilst the underside of the hump held the vents from which were now issuing the blasts of air that settled the ship in at her berth. The whine of gearing and the much-softened, yet unceasing, rush of fan-accelerated air told Helena that the ship was not intending to settle in for the night, but was in fact merely dropping off a passenger, or more than one.
She was proved correct, as two people came walking around from behind the ship on the dock that ran halfway around the docking area; a man, apparently older (he had grey temples, in any case) in a blue uniform greatcoat and peaked cap, goggles resting on the dark-colored vest under the coat, while from under the coat jutted the hilt of an obviously-not-dress saber, and on the man's right hip could now and again be glimpsed under the coat a hip-rig, which looked like a chillingly-efficient Colt setup. A largish bag of the type that americans called a "possibles" bag was draped such that it hung diagonally from right shoulder to left hip on top of the greatcoat, and looked as if it had several intriguing things inside of it. His boots appeared to be the type favored by the military forces of the southern north americas, at least in their airship fleets: black leather flaps over buck or deerskin body and uppers, with hard leather soles and heels.
The woman who accompanied the man, on his arm, wore dark green, no-nonsense skirts and what looked like a shell jacket of the same color, her hair done in a loose bun with (apparently) a steel hair fork. Her goggles rested on the top of her head, as if she had just put them there, and expected to put them back down in place again soon; she wore a veil that covered most of her face, and carried two blades that she Helen could see, in scabbards, and what looked like a wickedly-efficient pistol, stuck in the sash around her waist. she wore new-looking button-down-and-buckle-over boots, rising to mid-calf, or so it appeared.
Dreyfuss introduced himself, and the enigmatic young woman who accompanied him in his accustomed Texian Drawl, "Good Evening, Miss. I am Commodore Sir Jaisen S. Dreyfuss (he hoped he got the order right, it always all sounded as if he had botched it, to his own ears) and Miss Irene Frost, My ward, both of us in Liaison to Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Members of the Aether League's Boheme Division. And you are...?" He greeted her formally then, upon being informed that she was Helen, Miss Emma's young protege', and added, "I believe we are expected?"
At that point, the St. Elmo's fans forced her into the air again, the gas valves being dialed to increase lift, and as she cleared the tops of the buildings, the thrust changed from the downward vents to the rearward ones, and off she sped into the morning twilight, in the general direction of Whitehall.
