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  Drina crossed her arms. “We want our spy back first. Then we’ll talk about Redjakel and Theo’s anger troubles. But our spy first.”

  Theo inhaled to scream again, but his throat trapped his words. That vicious voice in the shadows of his mind massaged his shoulders and breathed in his ear in Merlina’s sultry voice, attack him now. He’s there and not expecting it. You owe the girl nothing.

  Theo planted his feet and looked beyond Flame into the burning town behind him. “Solindra first.” He closed his eyes and tried not to hear the raging thunder inside his own head. His survivalist voice seethed against his denial. He felt the heat flare out across his skin.

  Drina stepped between Theo and Flame. She poked the short pyromaniac in the chest. “And if you don’t stick to the plan this time, I’ll tell Theo here your real name.”

  Flame stamped his feet and marched around in a circle. “Fine! But maybe I’ll just throw you out of the balloon too! And that is never my name. I’m Flame, alright?” He stopped so suddenly that it looked as if he’d walked into a wall. He pulled back his hair and flashed a smile. “Coffee?” He leaned toward Theo and said in a stage whisper, “Whatever else she says, just remember that she can stick needles in between your vertebrae so that you’re paralyzed and you’d never even feel it.”

  “Flame!” The assassin snapped her fingers. “Cylinder first. Then Theo gets to work out his scars on you. Blood debt, you know the rules.”

  He sagged. “Aww… But those rules aren’t civilized. We do live in the Steamscape, you know.” Flame looked at Drina with puppy eyes. “I get to fight back, right?”

  “Not against a blood debt.”

  “Let him.” Theo tugged his gloves back on his hands. “It won’t matter.”

  Flame cupped his cheeks in his palms. “Such fiery eyes.”

  Jing half-smiled. “Then how many unpaid blood debts do you owe, Drina?”

  She cocked a grin. “None. No one’s alive to claim them.”

  Theo made himself look into Flame’s all-too-cheerful face. “We need to get Solindra back. And soon too, so that my ghosts can pay you back. So where the hell is she?”

  Flame’s face twisted as if he was going to sneeze. “I don’t know about where she is now. Adri’s not so cuddly like me.” He threw open his arms for a hug, causing his pistols, rapiers and homemade incendiary devices to jangle together on his bandoliers.

  “Adri?” Jing repeated. “Steam Princess Adri? What could she possibly want with Cyl?”

  Drina rolled her eyes. “What could any powerful person want with a true crypter?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The wind pushed Solindra’s hair up and over her shoulders, spreading it out like an electric halo. Solindra, Adri and her other servants stepped through the opening glass doors and onto the roof of Steam Central. Solindra gasped, first at the sting of the wind, but then at the metropolitan vista. They looked down at the skyscrapers, the markets, the rooftop gardens and the entire world below.

  Adri gestured to the machines on the roof: a wire-frame helicopter powered by a boilerbox, and two other rounder flying machines, each with repeating guns on their arms. Menacing monster teeth had been painted onto their bases. The helicopter pilot and two huge men walked across the roof to each of the machines.

  Solindra stared. She’d never seen anything like those two armored helicopters. Titangles, she recognized them from the magazines and she’d heard Jing talking about them. Flying battle machines. They were mostly spherical with a large dome in front so the pilot had excellent lines of sight. But they looked heavy. Chains of bullets had been casually draped over a side of one.

  One of the titangle pilots stowed the bullets before climbing into the cockpit. At the same time, the helicopter pilot flipped on the switchpack in order to ignite the fuel that would heat the boilerbox. It must have run on something far more efficient than wood or coal because the fire immediately flared into life and the scent of gunpowder and coal filled the air around them.

  Adri smiled. “I make certain that I am often seen flying in this fashion.”

  She nodded to the two silent servants behind them. The women curtseyed, and one of them pulled on a blond-white wig. Together, they walked out to the waiting helicopter.

  “Oh,” Solindra said. “A decoy. Especially since your father was almost killed.”

  “Yes, a pity that.” Adri turned away just as the two escort titangles and helicopter lifted off and flew between the electrum-coated skyscrapers.

  The younger woman hovered behind, watching the display as if it were a parade. Soon, the helicopter rose like a ballerina, perfectly spaced in between the two flying titangles. They sauntered into the air as gracefully as hummingbirds.

  Solindra let slip a smile and sighed.

  “Come, little bird,” Adri called.

  She dropped her gaze and stooped to pick up two large haversacks and put one on each shoulder. Then Adri handed Solindra a long, thin but heavy case. She winked. “In due time.”

  The steam princess let the roof doors blow shut behind them. She checked her belt pouch for her sancta and a small four-shot pistol. The purse was a narrow, leather pouch with a slot for a woman’s fan and pistol, now the height of fashion in the city.

  Adri stepped up to an interior gated door and waited. Solindra, wheezing a little under the weight of both haversacks and the long case, bent her knees to fit through the cage door. The steam princess then floated out onto the elevator platform.

  The cage bobbled when Solindra walked further onto it with her luggage and she stopped, holding her breath. She squeezed open one eye and stared down into the black, seemingly bottomless shaft below.

  Adri chuckled. “It’s perfectly harmless, unless you’ve been eating too many chocolates.” She let her hand glide over the control levers. “Now please close the door and let’s be on our way.”

  Solindra grunted and rammed the cage door home. Adri pulled down a lever and the elevator began to sink.

  After a while, there was light from below. Solindra squinted through the slots in the cage’s bottom, trying to see the destination of their controlled plummet.

  Adri moved more levers and the elevator slowed its descent. It finally stopped, hanging a foot above the landing.

  Solindra stared. Below was a moving chain as wide as her arm.

  “This part is a bit of a drop, or so I’ve been informed.” Adri slammed a lever with a red handle home. The overhead cable detached and the entire cage bounced down onto the moving chain. Instantly, the chain caught and began conveying them along.

  Solindra pressed her nose through the bars. “What is this place?”

  Adri raised her chin and did not look around at their surroundings. She sighed elegantly. “Maintenance and escape tunnels, I believe. A few unofficial labs.” The cage shuddered as it rattled along its new track. “This chain also powers the water pumps up into headquarters’ boilers. There are deep wells here.”

  Solindra looked down through the cage’s bottom. Beneath the moving chain she could see the water, the oil in it shining almost like aether bands.

  They rode in the semi-darkness for a timeless moment. Solindra couldn’t tell how long had passed in the gloom. She covered her eyes. Ahead, a green lantern was glowing.

  Footsteps from ahead broke the stillness. The steam princess reached back and grabbed Solindra’s shoulder. She shook her head.

  “I read something about a project down here...”

  “Something feels wrong.” Solindra grabbed the bars of the cage as it rumbled forward.

  The sound of shattering glass and snapping metal echoed ahead in the darkness and someone cursed explosively. Then even more footsteps sprinted away in the other direction.

  Adri pushed Solindra against the cage bars and gripped her cipher medallion. Shimmering like a liquid, a wall a steam out of the oily water below encased their chests and leads in a large cloud.

  “Don’t move.” Adri pressed the sancta close to her
chest.

  “I don’t see anything,” Solindra hissed.

  “That’s what I fear.”

  Unbridled screaming started from several throats. It rapidly faded to choking sounds, and then the only sound was the cage moving inevitably forward on its chain toward the origin of the unseen terror.

  The machines continued to grind and clank in the everlasting gloom.

  Solindra turned to Adri, eyes wide. “What–?”

  Adri shook her head. She pointed.

  The cage passed by several dead men. It was too dark to see their bodies clearly. Solindra leaned closer. One of them was slumped over some sort of metal canister, but she couldn’t make it out. She tried to reach out, to see better, but Adri’s steam bubble made it too foggy to make out any hints.

  Adri whispered, “Don’t move. Don’t talk.” The cage kept moving forward on the mechanical pull of the chain.

  Eventually, the steam princess brought down her hands and the steam bubble faded. “Go ahead and open the door. I don’t think either of us wish to stay here.”

  Solindra breathed in the damp air. “What was that?”

  “A waste of breath. Silence.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Solindra dug her shoulder in and wrenched the cage door sideways. She stood there, toes hanging over the edge, hands on the haversacks as she watched the lantern growing larger. It highlighted a small metal platform and a darker hole behind it, suggesting a tunnel.

  They jumped. Adri’s shoes barely whispered as they glided down onto the walkway.

  “Oof!” Solindra swore under her breath, and her knees seemed to crack like a whip as she stumbled her landing. The two haversacks bounced forward, throwing her entire body off balance, not to mention the long case on her back.

  The empty cage clattered on down its track without them, its rattles louder with less weight pressing down onto the platform.

  “Come now.” The steam princess marched into the darkness beyond.

  Solindra waddled behind, trying to balance herself and run at the same time. She tripped over another still-warm corpse. The boy could have been no older than ten. His face had contorted and he stared at something horrible that was beyond her vision.

  “He ran far.” Adri slipped up beside her as silently as a hunting cat. She stepped around the corpse as if it were an inconvenient puddle and onto the roughly hewn stairs beyond the body.

  The vessel followed and banged her toes on the second stair. It was too dark!

  She stuck out her hands until they bumped into a slick, uneven wall. She tried another stair.

  Adri moved like a ghost through the poor light, her footfalls barely making a whisper. She smoothed out her skirt. “Poison gas. Chlorine, mustard, bromine or something else. Even I don’t know much about this. Some sort of mechanical defense against people trying to break into Steam Central.” She frowned. “At least, that’s what I heard. Papa has begun to keep the information to himself since he suspects there is a spy on the board.”

  Solindra shivered. How would a machine know friend from foe?

  “Come, let us leave this place.”

  After a few minutes of cussing and stumbling, Solindra gasped at the sudden sunlight. Adri held open the door for just a moment and then strolled on ahead like she had been walking on the clouds.

  She pulled on a dark wig of her own and smiled as she saw the red carpet and silver ropes guiding the crowd to the golden-colored blimp. People here dressed in ornate clothes matching the expensive appearance of the private air-dock. Adri and Solindra breezed through the gentlemen assigned to keep the riff-raff out.

  The blimp took up most of the sky as they stared up at it.

  Adri pulled on her white gloves. “We must fly, my dear.”

  Solindra shook her head. Her feet felt heavy, as if they were growing roots. Her stomach heaved at the thought of sky-sailing. “N-No.”

  Adri smiled sadly. “Smith is a determined man, I’m afraid, so we can no longer linger here. Now I’m the only one left who wants to protect you from the beasts.”

  “Like the Priory?”

  Adri nodded. “Yes, bird.”

  She opened her hands. “I know not for certain, Solindra, but I fear that you are not safe here, either. Perhaps Papa’s would-be assassin was only so daring because of rumors that a vessel had been found. Yes, there are stories, and we are not safe in the city.”

  Solindra stuck out her chin. “Drina and Jing are still out there. I don’t believe for a moment that Smith was able to stop them.”

  “Because Smith is after you, not them.” Adri smiled sadly. “Even if they live, you are not safe. Especially here, despite an army of soldiers between you and he.”

  From the corner of her eye, she could see the wire-frame helicopter and its two titangle guards approaching the air-dock.

  Adri placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. “But I will protect you.” She didn’t even look up as their entourage sailed overhead.

  ***

  Theo whistled at the wire-frame helicopter and its surrounding titangles. “I ain’t seen that before.” He leaned over the side of Flame’s descending airboat and its rotting hull.

  “So close,” Drina murmured gazing at the distant skyscrapers, “but armored walls. Didn’t they say Adri likes that sort of thing?”

  Jing kept his gaze level with the Redjakel’s crowded streets. “It’s just as well. We can’t get near her with Smith still in the wild.”

  “Now, now.” Drina laid a hand on the mechanic’s arm. “Smith is a bastard, but he is as civilized as the next man.”

  Unfortunately, that next man was Flame. He was leaning on a line and whistling to himself. “Er, what?” He grinned and clipped Theo’s shoulder with an open hand. “Redjakel! You’ll never find dirtier whores than here!”

  Theo felt the heat across his flushing face. “In front of a lady!” Despite his hatred for the man, all he could think about was a woman’s presence.

  That woman cracked her own smile. “No, he’s right, but he’s not talking about the poor girls on the street.” She pointed to the line of skyscrapers.

  The largest building Theo had ever seen came into focus. It was golden, or at least its sleek stones and metal looked golden. It wasn’t adorned with reliefs and art like most everything else in the Steamscape. Sheer, sleek, slick…devoid of art so that it became that art itself. Other buildings had giant clockwork displays and showed off their elevators, but not this tower that overshadowed all of them.

  Drina sighed and cupped her chin in her hands, resting her elbows on the railing. “Steam Central. Outside hasn’t changed much.”

  “Do you think our Cylinder is in there?” Jing wondered aloud.

  “We’re going down,” Flame called. “Ghost, lend me your leg here. I need the weight.”

  The mechanic nodded and slowly limped over to Flame. His weight creaked over the rotting boards of the hull. “I can’t believe you paid money for this wreck.”

  Flame kept up his grin. “Old beaut, little creaky, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world – seen me through so much.”

  Theo looked down at the city below through a hole in the hull.

  Their landing was smooth. They docked down in a central hub for trains, carriages and airboats. Dozens of elegant dirigibles and hundreds of smaller airboats crowded the docks.

  Sheer busyness on a scale that Theo would have never imagined infused the world around him. He felt a laugh gurgling up from his belly. How could he have thought he could cause trouble here? This was nothing like Consequences or Valhasse.

  Their hull scraped against the dock’s ship-catch, causing some splintering sounds from below.

  Theo took one large step toward the railing and crunch! His leg slipped through the rotting wood and stuck out through the hull.

  Flame grabbed his stomach and laughed, slapping the railing. “She knows what I like! She knows what I like!” He leaned forward and kissed his control console.

  Jing collared Theo and
lifted him out of the hole with one hand.

  “I hate him! I hate him! I hate you!” the young man roared. Flame just laughed harder.

  “Hey! You can’t dock here!” a grounder yelled up at them. A man with his hair parted and plastered down the middle of his scalp ran toward their ship. He waved a clipboard. “That is not a Steampower built ship! You know the rules!”

  The prow fell off the boat into a pile of firewood. The man stared at it and then started waving his arms. “Get it out of here or we will!”

  “Oh no,” Jing muttered.

  “No problem. No problem.” Flame smiled and held his hands out wide.

  “It’s old! It’s ugly! Get it away from the others or you’ll have fines up to your neck, friend!”

  Theo had to admit the grounder had a fair point. The new, sleek and polished hulls of the Steampower vessels with their gilt and gold webbing around their balloons did make Flame’s ship out to be a dead duck floating amongst swans.

  “I can fix this.” Flame held up his hands as he approached the grounder. He reached into his bandoliers. The grounder stopped breathing, his eyes widening, suddenly realizing that he wasn’t paid enough for this.

  Flame withdrew a cigar from a bandolier and waved it at the man. “You look like you could relax. You want this one? Here.” He tossed it to the grounder. “I’ll take this other one.”

  His other hand pulled out a stick of dynamite. He struck a match with the calloused thumb of his other hand and lit the stick.

  Jing snatched Theo’s shoulder and hauled. The grounder was also running, holding his clipboard over his head. Theo turned to catch up with Drina. The mechanic followed as quickly as his metal leg would allow. Drina was muttering. “He’s gotten crazier, I swear.”

  Flame stood there, eyes closed. Meanwhile, the dynamite fuse spit fire and shortened, still held in his hand like a tulip.

  Finally, with a shrug, he launched the explosive high up over the tall deck of the nearest Steampower-built ship.

  It exploded in the air. The hydrogen in the airship’s balloon caught aflame and carried the heat and fire into an even greater explosion.