The airship

Vincent stood amongst the sweltering steam of the engine room, directing his team as they attended to the various problems and maintenance that were so commonplace in their lives that any sort of peace of mind was strange to them. Water was in constant motion, in an out of their bodies as it was in and out of the machines. Sweat poured from their pores freely, and evaporating just moments later to mix with the steam in the air.

Steam was their livelihoods. Steam kept them employed, and steam kept them alive. Flying in the air, thousands of feet above the ground, with only the power of their steam to keep them there, if the steam ever stopped pumping, they and the crew they were flying would be dead in less than an hour. And so the engine room was filled with only the quickest thinkers, hardest workers, and most resilient men.

And two out of three was never good enough.

Vincent had hand picked his men personally, and there was no safety net period. You either gave it your all from the get-go and were capable of the work, or you were off the team. No mid-way points, no partly done jobs. He didn't have time for people who couldn't get the job done, and get it done right the first time. The airship they worked on was privately owned, but in service to the government on several important cases of exploration and delivery. That meant things had to be working constantly and efficiently at all times, and any one member messing that up would ruin it for everyone else.

"We're landing in three hours!" Vincent shouted over the noise. "It's time to start preparing to let her down nice and gentle! Lower the feeding, pour the last water reserves, and make sure we stay airborne until we arrive! Tonight we get a nice break, and you get this done, the first round's on me!"

That brought about a cheerful shout in response, and his men set to work on preparations, with Vincent carefully watching their every movements to make sure he knew exactly what was happening.

He had trained for years in every aspect of the airship's engines, from how they were built, to how they worked, to how to fix them when things went wrong, even without the proper tools or replacement parts. He could probably build a new engine in his sleep with spare parts and discarded junk, and his records were surprisingly well maintained. There weren't many engineers who kept their engines running as well as he did, but there weren't many who were paid as well as he was either. And his pay was well earned. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"Vince," his right hand man called out.

"What's up?"

"We're lower on water than expected. Plenty to arrive to destination, but a smooth landing might be a little shaky."

Vincent nodded and put his hand on his partner's shoulder. "I'm sure there are some men in need of relief. Tell them we're i need of their assistance."

Vincent's right hand man made a face of disgust, but didn't question. "Yes sir," he responded, and went about his duties.

Vincent wasn't always the most normal guy around. But he got the job done. His men knew that. And his employers knew that. And he made sure that his men were comfortable, so none of them could complain.