Eight Miles by Sean McMullen

This was an interesting Steam Punk story set in the mid 1800's.  Told from the point of view of a man who owns a hot air balloon who is approached by a wealthy gentleman who pays for his services to conduct some high-altitude experiments.

The subject of the experiments is Angelica who is described as a werefox, having many of the characteristics of a fox most notably being covered in fur.  Through repeated attempts to go higher we discover that the wealthy gent has discovered that Angelica becomes more alert the thinner and colder the air gets as the balloon gains altitude.

Steam punk is always fun when it's done right and keeps to the engineering knowledge of the time.  This story was fun.

Sean McMullen

The author's website is HERE

His bibliography is HERE

The story was originally published in Analog September 2010.