I sit in my cabin and wonder. Will the others accept me as part of the crew? I was assigned to this ship to get her going again, to make her successful. To make sure the Captain succeeded. Sighing, I get up, straighten out my uniform and head out of my room to find my current charge.

As I approach the deck, I see crew members scattered here and there doing their appointed jobs. Looking around I spot the person I was looking for, the Captain. Captain Coen was attractive, tall, and slender, with gorgeous hair. He looked inexperienced and full of himself. Sighing once again, I walked toward him determinedly.

Coen had barely made it through airship captain school but seeing as he came from a very wealthy family, he was given his own ship to command almost immediately upon his graduation. I was given this assignment in hopes that I can prod him into being a decent, if not good Airship Captain. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me!

Captain Coen turned and noted my approach a moment before my arrival. He gave me a small, tight nod, which did nothing to hide his displeasure at my appearance. Squaring my shoulders I saluted him, as was protocol.

"We will be taking off soon, Sir" I asked.

Captain Coen narrowed his eyes at me slightly and snorted. "Yes, though I do not see why you are on this ship. You are taking up valuable space that a 'real' crewman could have used!"

And with that, he turned his back on me, looking out over the deck railing. I had to bite my tongue from speaking. I know that I would have uttered something that I would come to regret if I had not. After taking a deep breath, I tried again.

"It is customary for new pilots to have aboard a keeper to help them on their first voyage." And after a moment's pause, "Sir"

"I realize that you were only placed here to keep an eye on me by those who believe that I will make a fool of myself on this journey. I know that you are here as no friend of mine!" he snarled at me. Shrugging my shoulders, I decided that I would leave the captain be....for now. I turned on my heel and returned to my cabin where I could begin my report of events thus far.

Several days later I found myself sitting in on a meeting, Captain Coen had called with the crew, or at least, all of those who were able to leave duties to attend the meeting. Someone had to fly the ship after all. Since the beginning of the meeting, Captain Coen had done nothing but scold the crew for what he perceived as a poor job. In all truth, the crew was doing an admirable job but the Captain did not see it that way. The crew of this airship was used to going about their business with little interference from the captain because the previous captain knew them all well, and trusted them to do their jobs properly. Captain Coen, however, did not like his crew to function without his input. He expected them to come to him with every decision. Put simply, he was controlling and expected to be in control of every aspect of the ship.

The controlling attitude of the Captain only made those of the crew resent him even more. They knew that he was only there because of his wealthy family. Many of them referred to him as 'Captain Brat' behind his back because he acted like nothing more than a spoiled brat most of the time.

Coen opened his mouth to say yet another derogatory thing to the crew but before a word escaped him, a crewmember burst through the doors, his eyes wide and frightened. "Sir! Pirates have been spotted and are closing in! You are needed on deck!" The man gave a belated salute and ran from the room, on yet another errand.

As she had suspected, Captain Coen was clueless to procedures about pirate activity. He stood, staring out the door without moving a muscle while the rest of the room erupted in a frenzy of activity. Most of the present crew members ignored the captain and rushed to their assigned stations. Sighing, I went to the captain, grabbed his arm and began dragging him down the hallway and out onto the deck. Here we surveyed the surrounding sky.

There were at least two pirate airships closing in on us. Looking around quickly and then back to the captain, I frowned. "Sir! What are your orders?" I asked. Coen froze. He looked around frantically but gave no orders. He had no idea what to do, he had always failed the portions of class relating to pirates.

Squaring her shoulders in determination, Lady Zeppelin snapped her fingers in front of the Captains face to get his attention. At that moment he looked like a young boy, terrified. Lady Zeppelin told him that he must follow her commands now. That she would get him through this. And she did. She told him exactly what to say to his crew, told him exactly how to handle every emergency that popped up. As the night wore on, Captain Coen slowly began to gain confidence that he could handle the pirates. And so believed Lady Zeppelin, Keeper of Airship Captains.

In the end, Captain Coen sincerely apologized for his rude behavior and thanked Keeper Zeppelin for her help in saving himself, his ship, and his crew from the pirates for it was her quick thinking and actions that allowed him to learn how to deal with pirates attacking his ship.