Chapter 89: Failure Is Necessary Part 1

The original three teams expanded as Cal added a group to design the gondola, another to work on steering and stabilizing mechanisms.
Models of airships crashed in an amazing variety of ways in the Shed. Some lost pressure suddenly, while others hit the ceiling or walls and ruptured the envelope. One got too near a lamp and burst into flame. The envelope and steering teams argued through the days about how to make the craft safer.
Amidst all of this, Patrick called Cal to watch the first test of a prototype engine. It spun up as he fed steam into it until it howled painfully loud. Cal yelled at him to shut it down, but the howl became a scream as it tore itself to pieces. Patrick and Cal came out from where they'd taken shelter to find bits of steel were embedded in the wall, ceiling and floor in a ring around the engine.
"It isn't balanced right." Patrick kicked the table. "As soon as it got up to speed the wobble became destructive."
"Learn from it and improve." Cal went back to her office.
Patrick tried putting the engine under load to slow it down, but then the shaft took on the wobble and snapped or flung the props into the walls. Cal had planking installed after a piece of propeller came through the wall and embedded itself in the door across the hall.
Long story short, the engines were incredibly powerful and efficient - until they blew apart.
On the other hand, the boiler team was making progress. They'd surpassed 1500 pounds per square inch of pressure. Landers designed a heavy double valve to manage the extreme strain of the forces involved. Patrick's engines were blowing at 300 psi. Cal was tempted to say the boiler was done, but Landers wanted even higher pressures.
"We can release a tiny stream and reduce its speed to something the engine can handle by increasing the size of the pipe. I want to see how far we can push this."
"Okay, but take extra precautions. These things are creating enough force to do severe damage to the Shed. Build a steel tank big enough to run the test in with large vent tubes to the outside. It will contain the shrapnel and the steam."
O'Brien's security men were everywhere underfoot, and no more major incidents occurred. However, countless minor setbacks set everyone's patience to the test. Fabric for an envelope would be slashed, metal would have impurities which made it weak, pipes sprung leaks. As irritating as all of that was, it didn't slow work nearly as much as the guards' attempts to prevent them from happening.
"This isn't working." Cal looked across her desk at O'Brien who sat stiff and still in one of her chairs. "One of your guys almost took a severe burn because he moved in the wrong direction at the wrong time. So, what we are going to do is move all the security outside the Shed. Lock down everyone who comes in or out during the day. At night, set men inside at each station, but warn them not to touch anything for any reason."
O'Brien nodded once and left.
Cal leaned back in her chair and contemplated the order in front of her. The Lord Admiral Shaunsey was throwing a summer ball. All the members of the Admiralty were expected to attend. Cal had tried to argue she wasn't a proper member, but HRH Hubert told her she was going, and that was that. She would have worn her uniform to match the others around the table, but no one had bothered to create a dress uniform for the Engineers. Cal could take apart and repair engines with ease, but she knew nothing about uniforms.
Time to talk to the expert.
Cal wrote a letter and had Tallinan mail it off immediately, then put it out of her mind. She had a couple of weeks yet before she had to deal with this nonsense.
***
While the work at the Shed progressed, Cal kept spending a few mornings a week on the wall. Gradually her arms stopped turning into limp rope after a few minutes climbing. This morning she had set a goal of getting past a tricky spot with a long reach. Nothing she'd tried had got her past it. Her fingers missed the hold by inches. She couldn't reach it normally. Her arms weren't long enough. The spot haunted her dreams.
This morning Cal decided to try something new. Instead of staying spread out on the wall, she gripped the last handhold with white fingers and brought her feet up to holds not far below her hands. Instead of looking like a spider on the wall, she positioned herself like a frog.
Bouncing a little, then more, until she didn't think she could hold on anymore, Cal pushed hard with her legs and as her weight passed her hands she threw them up ahead of her. They caught hold of the next hold. One on the right looked close. Cal climbed up past the gap, concentrating on making the next move.
One more reach forced her to bounce her weight up, but she'd started using her legs for more push. A few more feet and her next hold was a bar at the top of the wall. Another bar further in and Cal hoisted herself to the platform at the top.
"Congratulations, Commander. Ring the bell to let everyone know you made it." A wiry sailor grinned at her.
After clanging her victory, Cal looked around at the Academy. The Shed showed just above a copse of trees which lined this side of the path. The Academy building looked different from up here. She was astonished to see cannons mounted on the roof.