Steamscape Page 6

  The airship exploded.

  The crew picked themselves up from the ground.

  “–explode,” she finished.

  They dusted themselves off.

  “Let’s go.” Jing pointed toward the distant lights, hinting at a town. “Before anyone sees it’s not just another house burning.”

  Theo nodded and pointed down the ruts in the road. “It’ll be dark by the time we get there.”

  Solindra hummed to herself as she dipped her boots into the well-worn grooves. “I wonder if any survivors of the Killing Train will come this way.”

  Jing shrugged as he limped beside her. “Doubtful.”

  “You mean those people who wanted to kill you for being a crypter?” Theo sneered. “Well, are you one?”

  “No.” But uncertainty bobbled beneath her tongue. “At least I don’t think so.” She pulled the sancta from her pocket and raised it up to her eyes. “I should probably get a pouch or one of those puzzle boxes for this.”

  Theo put a hand up between it and his line of vision. “Might be a good idea, yeah.”

  “I agree.” Jing turned his back to the fire and started to limp. “I know that I don’t want to touch that thing again.”

  “When did you?” Solindra looked up at the mechanic.

  “You were just an infant. And all I could see was steam. Could feel it scalding me, and there was nowhere to run away – it was never-ending, like a maze only without walls. Melting me alive as I walked.” He shrugged. “Mark had a similar experience, apparently.”

  “Boys.” Drina rolled her eyes. “Always touching things that need not be touched.”

  “So did I.” Theo barely avoided glaring at the cipher medallion.

  “Turns your fears on you, I once heard,” Drina continued cheerfully.

  “Why not me?” Solindra spun the sancta between her thumb and index finger.

  “You’re different,” Jing said.

  “Why?”

  The mechanic stopped walking. He forced a grin. “Because it doesn’t turn your fears on you, that’s why.”

  “I’m not a kid anymore, Jing.” She frowned, but started down the road again. “Do you think I could’ve used this to help all those people on the train?”

  “I don’t know,” the mechanic replied.

  “Can I use it to help people from now on?”

  “Maybe,” he sighed. “But I’m concerned with our safety first.”

  “Right.” Theo rolled his eyes. “A crypter helping people. What would the Priory say about that?”

  “You’re a bricoleur,” Drina said. “Many of your people are crypters.”

  “Yeah, but that’s different. That’s traditional. It has nothing to do with the Priory or cipher medallions. It’s not some upright girl with a faux Codic accent.”

  “Hey!” Solindra snapped.

  Drina groaned. “Are you sure we need him?”

  Jing swiftly stepped in between Drina and Theo, his metal leg thumping heavily against the bone-dry ground. “As of the moment, maybe.”

  “Maybe not,” Solindra said as she lifted her skirt and her nose. She and Theo glared at each other as they marched down the road.

  ***

  The sun faded as they journeyed down the road. Solindra had to squint through the expanding darkness into the clump of buildings. Hardly any fires or gas lamps glowed inside the town.

  “Welcome to Consequences,” Theo drawled.

  Deeper down the streets, a few lights began to highlight the town in an orange halo. The city itself had been shelled out. The remaining people had erected tents and other canvas structures over the foundations and half-walls of the previous buildings.

  The party walked down the road into the town. Solindra smoothed her skirt. “The world is a stranger place than I imagined.”

  In between two half-buildings, a wooden board marred with huge, block letters screamed out against the deceits of Boras Saturni, president of Steampower. Someone had smashed a handful of whitewash across his face. A smaller poster to the side denounced the soft-spoken weekly columns of Adri Saturni, Mr. Saturni’s daughter. But her face remained clear of any paint.

  “Come along.” Drina gripped Solindra’s elbow and pushed her away from the propaganda.

  Theo guided them through the streets that exploded with the reek of alcohol, sewage and the undying scent of burnt-out rubble.

  Drina kept her hands inside her pockets, presumably gripping some sort of dreadful, illegal weapon. Jing had picked up a large wrench in one hand and occasionally tapped it against the other.

  They passed people lounging around the canvas-walled streets, whose clothes had been turned black by coal and dirt. The street-dwellers shuffled away, eyeing them like smaller predators watching a pride of lions. The newcomers were too big, at least until the weakest member was driven from the pack – then there might be a meal to be had.

  The party passed by a few belly dancers, still wearing their low-cut costumes and tassels, but they sagged against the wall like everyone else. They passed a cigarette between themselves.

  Theo led them to the height of some ancient stone stairs that disappeared down into total darkness. Not even a gas lamp illuminated the base.

  Drina arched an eyebrow. “We can’t go down there. All that’s missing is a plaque reading ‘Trap Alley’.”

  “It’s over here.” Solindra pointed. She brushed away some coal dust from the sign. “Only it really says Quarry Row.”

  “Same thing,” Jing replied.

  “Did you expect to find smugglers on Main Street?” Theo asked.

  “Come on.” Solindra lifted her skirt and started down the stairs.

  “Cyl, wait,” Jing warned.

  Theo jumped down after Solindra, pausing to smirk as he passed her. Jing and Drina followed. At the base of the stairs, the group waited until their eyes adjusted and then tiptoed slowly down the dark alley.

  Jing’s metal leg dragged across the paving stones, creating a continuous metallic slide. He pointed ahead, noting a stone archway that must have been centuries old. “That it?”

  Theo nodded.

  “You sure about this place?” Drina asked.

  The young man forced a smile at her glare. “With the war booming like this, there might even be a line.”

  “I hate smugglers.” Jing sighed.

  Solindra cocked her arms against her hips. “Says the man who smuggled gold ingots in his false leg. Yeah, Dad told me everything about that incident.”

  The mechanic winced. “Probably not everything. Alright, I don’t trust smugglers other than myself.”

  “Fine by me if you want to stay in the country.” Theo shrugged.

  “Let’s just go already.”

  They ducked through the archway, where a fiery glow outlined a heavy curtain hanging across the side-alley.

  Jing reached out and shoved the curtain out of his way. He immediately ran into a dense wall of incense.

  Behind him, Solindra rubbed her forehead and groaned. With her eyes watering, she squinted through the smoky haze to see a mountain of a man standing upright in front of another curtained barrier. His thinning hair looked blue in the candlelight

  Theo pushed past Solindra and marched up to the man. “It’s me, Glinter.”

  The mountain rumbled, “They’re trouble.” He squinted through tiny, swollen eyes at Jing and Drina.

  “Just get her, please.”

  Glinter shrugged. “I will see if the lady is available to receive guests in her house.” He turned and vanished into the brighter glow beyond the second curtain.

  Drina spun around the steam and smoke, which dimmed the light of the fat, dripping candles. “Your smuggler is a bricoleur crypter?”

  “Maybe. Okay, yeah.” Theo shrugged. “So this is the end of our agreement.”

  Jing nodded. “After we’ve gotten passage.”

  Solindra held her breath. She inched toward the shelves of candles, waving away the incense and steam with her ha
nd. “Steamflowers!” Her fingers stretched out and hovered over the velvety blooms. The dark purple and blue flowers were open in their glory here. She caught a smattering of red and gold deep down in their centers.

  “Just like Dad’s.” She leaned forward and inhaled, but caught nothing but the powerful incense instead of the flower’s nectarine scent. The memory was enough though, and she thought of her father. It was said the ghosts in the steam nourished themselves on these flowers.

  Theo wrenched her back by her shoulder. “Do you want to hallucinate?”

  She glared at him and brushed off his hand.

  The curtain twitched to the side and a dark-haired woman with her layered skirts and feathers in her hair appeared out of the steam. It was hard to tell the newcomer’s age under all the colorful makeup and jewelry, but she moved like a sprite. Her bosom nearly spilled out over the top of her corset.

  Glinter followed soundlessly in her footsteps and took up his guard post.

  She smiled at Theo and opened her arms as she glided over to him. “My mysterious drifter.” Then she leaned forward and kissed Theo on the mouth.

  His eyes widened and he pulled away. Blushing, he straightened his shirt and stammered, “Uh. Merlina, these are–”

  “Never known you to travel with anyone else,” she interrupted in a voice of fairy dust and bells. “Not since your… accident.”

  His face was still burning. “Desperate times are even more desperate now.”

  Merlina raised her bright eyes to Solindra and the others. “Well then, to business.” She twirled around, skirts flaring, and beckoned toward the curtain with her finger. “Come into my mists.” She vanished ahead into the glow and steam.

  Solindra held aside the weight of the thick curtain and walked into the glow. She blinked in the sudden light of the gaslights. She had stepped into a circular room with two plush, opposite-facing couches in the center and a card table in between them. Merlina was just stretching out across one.

  Behind her was a ramose metal tree filled with jewels. The sculpture was as tall as Solindra and branched out farther than she could stretch her arms. It twinkled with multi-colored light. Steam drifted up from holes throughout its frame, and the roots were as extensive as the branches at the top. She frowned when she saw the candles and the water boiler at its base, and then noticed the gems were just overly large, shiny stones. But they glittered like diamonds and rubies if she didn’t look carefully.

  The others blinked in the brighter light as they walked into the chamber behind her.

  Solindra glanced back at Merlina. Her jewelry was just the same shiny stones over painted tin. The woman’s hair was a mess, but it was hard to notice behind all the feathers. A few wrinkles lined her eyes that Solindra hadn’t seen at first, and now she couldn’t tell if this was a younger or older woman. She’d been swallowed by her pageantry. Solindra glanced back at the tree, it was the same.

  Merlina followed Solindra’s line of sight. “This tree connects this world to the underworld below and heaven on high.”

  Behind the girl, Theo groaned deep in his throat.

  Solindra licked her lips. “But, but what about the ghosts in the steam? Aren’t they here?”

  “Yes and no,” Merlina replied evenly. “Oh, did you want to talk to someone who has passed? I can ask the other ghosts if they can find him.”

  “Knock it off.” Theo crashed down on the couch opposite of the smuggler. “We’re not here for your show.”

  The bricoleur crypter leveled her gaze at him. “I’m for real, my boy.” She rolled off the couch and swiped a candle holder off a table in one smooth motion, and then fitted a new, tall candle into it. She struck a match. The wax on the wick sizzled and spat as it caught fire and started to turn black.

  Merlina smiled and returned to the couches, setting the candle between them. She stared at them over the top of the flame. “Now, what services of mine do you need? Palm reading?” She passed her gaze onto Drina and Jing. “Love advice?” She turned to Solindra. “Talk to the ghost of a loved one perhaps? Your father?”

  Solindra gasped. “How did you know that? How did she know that?”

  Jing grunted. “She didn’t, Cylinder. She guessed and you confirmed it.”

  Drina sighed. “I wish we could’ve taken you off the mountain before now. You should have learned.”

  “I’m learning now.” Solindra leveled her gaze at Merlina. “We want passage out of Eliponesia. Quietly.”

  Merlina raised her glittery eyebrows and leaned away from the party. “It will be expensive.”

  Jing tossed down a small leather bag. Several gold nuggets spilled out of it onto the card table.

  The fortune teller held out her hand. “And I want to see it.”

  Theo shook his head. “No, you don’t.”

  She ignored him and beckoned at Solindra with her fingers.

  Jing nodded. The young woman retrieved the glowing sancta from her pocket. She said, “But you don’t want to touch, or stare too hard at it.”

  As fast as a serpent, Merlina plucked the item from her fingers. She grinned as she rolled it onto the palm of her own hand.

  Everyone else gasped, but the crypter only chuckled and stared deeply at the cipher medallion. “Do you know how much these things are worth? The Priory doesn’t bother us bricoleurs much, you know, doesn’t consider us a threat. And why should they? Not when they use these things.”

  Theo rolled his eyes. “The Priory is as scary as your so-called abilities.”

  Merlina chuckled again.

  “Okay, there might be a bunch of crusty old geezers, but their power isn’t real.”

  The fortune teller shrugged and dropped the sancta casually back into Solindra’s grasp. “You’re probably right. But the stories say that Steampower stole their most ancient, sacred texts about how to control the ghosts. Tried to use them as a weapon, even.”

  “And it’s a great fireside story, Merlina.” Theo exhaled and glared harder.

  Her gaze passed onto the older pair. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that?”

  Jing remained totally motionless. Drina locked her eyes with Merlina’s. “No, we would not.”

  “Of course not,” the crypter purred. She rolled off the couch and retrieved a pen and some paper. She started to scribble. “Be on the river. Flatboat leaves at midnight. You’ll have to work as part of the crew and pay them for passage too, but the River Eld–”

  Solindra chimed in, “–Flows straight south out of Eliponesia and into Mekani and then beyond the Steamscape. But the flatboat won’t leave Mekani, if it’s even allowed out of our country.”

  “It will be.” Merlina reached out behind her for an engorged perfume bottle and started to spray the letter.

  Solindra and the others slammed their hands across their noses, but the perfume still burned the backs of their throats.

  Merlina rolled up the letter and tucked it inside a small tube. “This is the only way the flatboat captain will know it’s real. He’s memorized my scent.”

  Drina coughed. “We’ll be smelled out by the sewer rats and thieves before we get there!”

  “Now, now. I know you’ll find a way to avoid them. Of all people, you know what it’s like to be caught in a web.”

  Drina’s eyes widened for just a fraction of a moment.

  Solindra snatched up the tube and stood. “Thank you for your time and this letter.” She turned and pushed her way through the heavy curtain. Jing and Drina followed.

  Theo was behind them when Merlina called, “A moment, please, little love.”

  He made a face, but stopped.

  She dropped into a much heavier bricoleur accent. “I fear I won’t be here for you much longer.”

  “What? Are you leaving the country too?”

  “Yes, but I waited to see you one last time. I knew you’d come.” She let her fingers play in the candle flame, passing through it but not burning. “You’re not going with them.”

&
nbsp; “No. Going to Redjakel to cause trouble for Steampower now.”

  “Don’t steal the cipher medallion.”

  “What?” He grinned innocently and squirmed in place. “It’s worth a mint.”

  “Now I know your momma taught you how to steal true and proper, but not this time, little love.” She pulled her hand back from the candle.

  “Merlina, thanks, but I will do what I need to do and–”

  “They will lead you to Flame,” she interrupted.

  Theo froze, and then immediately uncoiled with a feigned smirk. “How could you possibly know that? I know I told you what happened, but you can’t know that.”

  Her voice sounded more like a whip now. “I’m for real, my boy.”

  He remained motionless.

  “And you need to go. Now.” As he shoved aside the curtain, she turned her gaze and fingers back to the tall, slender candle.

  ***

  The candle had burnt down to nearly a stub. Merlina’s painted eyes fluttered open. She glanced up to see the curtains slapping against a strong wind. Then she cursed under her breath. She hurled her skirts to the side, jumped up from the couch and lunged for the curtained door.

  She stopped and her breath caught in her throat.

  The heavy curtain barring entry to the room twitched. A long glass length pushed it aside, smearing the fabric with the fresh, hot blood on its length.

  “Glinter,” Merlina groaned.

  Steam and smoke rolled inside as Smith strolled into her sanctuary.

  She deflated and retreated back to the couch. “You’re here sooner than I expected.”

  Smith frowned. “If you suspected my arrival, why are you here?”

  She wiped a tear from her eye, rubbing away some glitter and makeup. “Fate, I suppose. I was leaving on the morrow.”

  He shrugged, indifferent, and rubbed a piece of a tooth off from his sleeve.

  Merlina crashed back down on the couch. “Get on with it then.”

  Smith smiled and took a seat on the opposite couch. He set the glass cane upright and rested both hands on top of it. Glinter’s blood rolled down its length. “First, tell me about the man with the mechanical leg.”

  Chapter Seven