Airfleets Over Ostend (a steampunk short story)

Book excerpt: The third short story in the Clockwork Imperium series. The mysterious and alluring Myra Abernathy has disappeared without a trace, and Henry Emerson is left wondering just who she really was, and who she really worked for. But dark events in Europe soon overtake him, cutting short his search for the American woman. A Flemish rebellion in Belgium threatens King Leopold II, and Henry's airship, the Bellerophon, with the rest of the British Air Navy's Second Squadron, is sent to help. With his friends James and Raheem aboard, Henry and the squadron are tasked with retaking the Belgian aerodrome by the coastal town of Ostend. But as Henry steers the Bellerophon into position, he can't help but wonder at the letter Myra left for him. A letter that warns things are not as they seem on the European continent and that someone behind the scenes is secretly maneuvering the great powers like pieces on a chessboard, for reasons unknown and sinister. Airfleets Over Ostend is a 13,000 word (50 pages) steampunk novella.