Aero Knights, a fictional pulp

Back in the day, in the twilight world where MS-DOS was still the king of operating systems. I think it was in the early 1990's. A good friend of mine, Jay Watson, and I came up with a kid's show called "Aero Knights." It was sort of like Major Astro only retro. Way retro. The story was about a fictional zeppelin airline service in the Midwest c1938, when the world was gearing up for war. Only in this world, both Hitler and Japan are knocked out as superpowers and a new villain steps in. His name is--prepare yourself--The Hooded Condor. I know, awful.

The idea got batted around over a lot of beer and pretty soon died a merciful death. RIP, right?

I thought about writing a pulp style story using the Aero Knight, but never complete the story. I didn't have the staying power to write a story back then.. Years passed. The story of "Dust and Roses" slowly took shape over a period of time.

During the first draft I was writing a scene when my two boys, Jason and Michael were waiting for a midnight meeting with a cab driver. Michael was dozing. I needed Jason to be doing something. So, in a "panster" moment I had him reading a copy of Wonder Stories Magazine In 1935, the word "Air" was taken off the magazine title. The cover has an airship burning, and Jason is reading a story called, TA DAH "Aero Knights."

What follows is the "scene" in the novel. At this point I want to keep it in, but if my word count goes overboard, I will need to start cutting. Hope not. Anyway, here is the scene.

Jason picked up the pulp magazine. The title read Wonder Stories. He found himself caught up in a story about an amour-plated zeppelin fending off an air pirates. How ridiculous. Yet, the story’s action kept him hooked.

     The zeppelin’s enormous envelope burned like a bonfire in the sky. The only thing keeping the hydrogen sacks from exploding was the light-weight metallic beruvian coating of the buoyant vessel. The amour could sustain bullets but was small protection against flames. Clive Knight, Commander of the Aero Knights need a miracle. Or the zeppelin Monarch would blow across the sky.

     He could wait for that miracle. Or he could make it happen. In either case, time was running out.

     A car honked outside, twice.

     He grasped the voice tube in his calloused hand, “Up ship!” he yelled. “As high as she’ll go!” Maybe the atmosphere itself will smother the deadly flames. The mighty ship floated in the air. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to gain altitude.

     “Commander! The pirates are making another run!” The feminine voice of his first officer came over the horn. Kristan Knight was his only daughter, but she was as valiant a fighter as any of his male crew. In trying to prove herself able, she made terrible risks. Sometimes with her own life. Sometimes with the ship. Her mother would have been proud, if only she was still alive.

     “Man the rockets!” Clive Knight yelled as he scanned the skies, looking for the biplanes from the air pirate’s dirigible.

     “I’m on it. I have two in my sights! Firing!” Kristan screamed. Two long flares burst from the airship as the magnet-tipped explosives flew outward, then fixed on their targets.

     The car honked twice again.

     Jason put down the pulp. Looking out of the window he saw a car parked in front of the house. It was the taxi.

 

I may yet finish that story.