Fredericks looked hurt. Though inside he was fuming. Someone else do it faster than him? Was the man calling him incompetent? He knew far more than this captain did - than anyone in this stupid town. He had the career and medals to prove it. How dare the man insinuate that he was inferior. But, honor aside, he had to kiss up to the man. That was how the game was played. "I'm so sorry, Captain. I know this messes up your calendar. And I am trying." A thought came to him. Maybe he could use this to get an assistant. Someone he could make do the work. It could also be seen as a 'mentorship'. Call it whatever to get some kid to do all the grunt work. He was going to suggest it when the deadline hit him. "Captain!" He protested. He looked around the room. "There's no way we will be operational that quickly." And he was right. In his attempt to change out the part he had dismembered part of the engine. He would have to change the part out, put the engine back together and then tweak everything. And that was assuming that there was nothing else wrong - something that didn't even cross his mind.

He frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe I can get us operational end of day but doubtful." He made his voice as sincere as possible. Really, he just needed to buy some time. He didn't think he'd be able to finish by the end of the day but maybe the Captain would be in a better mood. Right now the man was a bit glaring. No doubt because his daughter had fed him some lie or other. "No mechanic can get this fixed before than." Feeling a bit more confident, he lifted his chin slightly. "In fact, I doubt you'll be able to find a mechanic who you could hire and bring in here in that time." His arrogance had kicked in slightly. The man needed him. Especially if he wanted to go somewhere in the next day or two. Finding a mechanic was difficult. You had to interview, get an idea of their skills, and then you had to see if they even knew the engine. This piece of junk wasn't the newest airship out there. Not many might know how to operate it. Because of that, the Captain needed [i]him[/i]. The man could be gruff but when it came down to it, Fredericks held the power here.

[center] ~ ~ ~ [/center]

At the agreed upon time, Roger rang the bell at the boarding house. Ms. Mortimer would probably have a fit seeing him. He wondered how much pressure she had tried to put on Bea to get her to stay. It wasn't like they were running off to do anything unhonorable. In fact, they would have a bit of a chaperone with William and his daughter. Roger would in no way do anything to ruin Bea's reputation. He wouldn't do that for any woman but especially for Bea.

The door opened and the landlady glared at him. Apparently she had not succeeded in convincing Bea to stay otherwise a smirk would have been on her face. She looked distastefully at him. "I will make it very clear Mr. Radcliff. I do not like this at all and do not think it is proper. Furthermore, if I find you did anything to hurt Ms. Brown's reputation, I will hold you personally responsible."

He tipped his hat. "As you should, Ma'am. But don't worry. I have no intention of anything scrupulous."

The woman huffed. "In that case you should convince her to stay and not run on this foolhardy trip."

Roger almost laughed. Talk Bea out of this? He doubted that would ever happen. "I'm sure Ms. Brown knows what she is doing. She is very intelligent."

Ms. Mortimer narrowed her eyes at him. She still didn't invite him in. In fact her hand remained on the door knob, almost blocking his entrance. "Not enough apparently. She'll be along shortly." And with that she closed the door in his face.