by G. T. Spoor
“I still don’t—”
“Pain, child. Learning to use memoria metal is a time-consuming endeavor unless you take a shortcut. Pain creates a strong bond, but it still takes a sharp mind to control the metal.”
Berk snorted. “I’ve seen Mercs use those all the time, and they weren’t all that smart—no offense, Em.”
“Sure. Any idiot can make memoria expand or contract a few feet, but can they change its shape or its color? Have you seen any of them do that?”
“Are you saying I can change the shape of the rod?” Emily asked.
“Well, let’s not jump the frog here. I don’t know how pure that memoria is. It was refined by Mana-Tech after all. Don’t know how much input the Bronzefeet clan had. Could be that’s all it can do.”
“How about the other one? Can you bind me to the other one as well?”
“Depends. Are you willing to endure the pain?”
That was a downside, but then the pain didn’t last too long, and as Hardbrew said, there was no lasting damage.
“Yes,” she answered nervously.
“And your trained troll here, he gonna try to suppress my airflow again?”
“No. Berk’s going to drive.”
Berk looked uncertain.
“It’ll be all right,” she assured him “It’s as he said: there was no damage done.”
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“Yes. Please. We have to get Hardbrew to Sarah’s apartment.”
Berk grudgingly faced forward. He put the hot-top back in gear while Emily slowly pulled the second rod out of her jacket. Holding onto it tightly, she presented it to the dower.
“You sure about this?” Hardbrew asked.
Maybe knowing what was going to happen made it worse, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Go ahead. Do it.”
Hardbrew grabbed her wrist again.
There was a slight delay before Emily felt the drops hitting her hand. It was followed closely by the tingling sensation as it radiated up her arm. The burning soon followed. She was right—it was worse the second time around, but she gritted her teeth and waited it out. Although she managed not to scream, she was sweating by the time it was over.
Hardbrew released her wrist. “Good girl,” he said.
She looked down at the tyng in her hand. It felt warm, like the first one. Picturing it shorter, she watched as it disappeared into her closed fist.
“Regardless of who they belonged to before, they’re yours now,” Hardbrew said. “No one else will be able to use them.”
Chapter 13
Dust to Dust
By the time they reached Sarah’s apartment, Emily was getting pretty good at controlling the lengths of the rods. She had them going from three inches to three feet and back again. She even managed to get one to curve slightly, although she couldn’t duplicate the trick. Shortening both rods to a length small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, she slipped them easily up the sleeves of her jacket.
When they finally reached the apartment, Berk pulled the hot-top up to the curb and got out. He told them to wait while he took a quick look around. Emily didn’t think they were in any danger, at least not yet. Whoever killed the two dowers had no idea where Hardbrew was. Still, this was Berk’s mission; she was only along for the ride.
As they waited for the Merc to conduct his search, Hardbrew climbed out of the hot-top. He checked the contents of his satchel and fixed his hat. Leaning against the vehicle, he looked up at Emily.
“If you don’t mind me asking. How did one of your kind wind up in the Chimney?”
“I’m sorry? My kind?”
“You are one of the Yastazie, aren’t you? I mean, I never thought I’d actually see one.”
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of the Yastazie.”
Hardbrew studied her carefully. “Oh, sorry, I must be mistaken,” he said, although he didn’t sound very apologetic.
Before Emily could ask him to explain, Berk returned from his search of the alleys. “Everything looks clear,” he said. “Do you honestly think Sarah will go along with this?”
“Of course she will,” Emily said, although she hoped she sounded more positive than she felt. She’d only met Sarah a little over two weeks ago, and although the woman was willing to share her apartment, this might be going a bit too far.
As they headed for the front door, Berk held her back.
“What was that about the Yastazie?” he asked.
Emily shrugged. “I have no idea,” she said and followed Hardbrew into the building.
They took the stairs up to room 302, where Emily paused at the door. She motioned for Berk and Hardbrew to stay back. For this to work, she would have to confront Sarah alone; otherwise, she might end up on the streets alongside the dower. Unlocking the door, she opened it carefully and stuck her head into the room. Sarah was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs, knitting what appeared to be an oversized blanket. She jumped up when she saw Emily.
“You’re back. I was getting worried.”
“Yeah. Things got a little crazy,” Emily said.
“Well, Tom wasn’t too happy that you missed work today. Then again, he didn’t seem all that annoyed either. In fact, he seemed a little more relaxed with you not being there. I think you really shook him up when you tried to kill those three mill workers.”
“I wasn’t trying to—oh, never mind. Was Beth mad?”
“No,” Sarah replied. “I told her you had some personal business to take care of. She was fine with it. She said to tell you to take your time. She’s been working that kitchen alone for so long that another day or two isn’t going to slow her down.”
“Thanks, Sarah.”
“So, what happened? How did it go? Did you get to see the crime scene? Did you figure out who did it?”
“We saw the crime scene. It was… informative. Look, Sarah. I need to ask a big favor of you.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t say anything until you hear me out.”
“Why? What is it?”
“You see, it’s like this. These three dowers were working a new mining technique and two of them were killed, so we have to keep the last one safe until we find out who killed the other two.”
“Okay. So, how can I help?”
“Now, don’t get mad,” Emily said, biting her bottom lip. “But I brought the last dower home.”
Sarah’s face dropped. “You what?”
“He’s waiting out in the hall.”
“Emily how—why did you bring him here?”
“It will only be for a night. Berk has to get permission to use one of the Red Wolf safe houses. We didn’t have anyplace else to take him.”
“Why couldn’t he stay with Berk?”
“Because Berk lives in the Red Wolf barracks. He doesn’t have a place of his own.”
Sarah took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. She seemed almost at a loss for words, but it didn’t last long. “You can’t have it stay here. I can’t have a… a dwarf in the house.”
“Please, Sarah. It’s only for one night. I promise.”
“But—”
“Please.”
“I don’t believe this,” she said with a groan. “Okay, but only for one night.”
“Thank you. I promise I will make this up to you—somehow.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Emily opened the front door and signaled Berk to bring Hardbrew in. The moment the dower entered the apartment, she could tell Sarah was on the verge of changing her mind.
“Mr. Hardbrew, I’d like you to meet Sarah Cotton. Sarah, this is Tulurum Hardbrew,” Emily said as she waved the dower into the room.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Hardbrew said, extending his hand. Sarah stared at it until he slowly withdrew it. “Thank you for allowing me to stay.”
“Well—you understand, it’s only for one night.”
&
nbsp; “Of course.”
She looked at Emily, then at Berk almost as if she was hoping one of them would take the dower away. Eventually she looked down at Hardbrew.
“If you don’t mind, I have to get up for work in the morning.”
With a quick nod, Sarah retreated back to her room. Emily was sure she heard the bedroom door lock.
“Well, that seems to be settled then,” Berk said from the doorway. “If you don’t need me, I have to get the hot-top back to the yard and report to Captain Petrova. I’ll try to secure better accommodations for tomorrow night.”
When the door closed, Hardbrew tossed his hat on the table, then rummaged through his satchel for a red metal flask. He unscrewed the cap and took a long drink.
“Well, I guess it’s just you and me, kid.”
This was going to be a long night.
Emily picked up the dower’s hat and hung it on the wall. “I’m sorry about Sarah,” she said. “She’s not a bad person, but she’s not used to being around dowers.”
“Sadly, it’s all too common,” Hardbrew replied. “Many dowers regret the day Lord Silverbelly opened the gates.”
“Silverbelly?”
“Lord Silverbelly. He ruled over Kameria in its golden days. That’s what this place used to be called, you know, before the vir renamed it New Doral.”
“So this was a dower city?”
“Of course it was. You didn’t think the vir were capable of building something as grand as this.” Hardbrew took another long drink from his flask. “So, where am I bedding down for the night?” he asked.
“You can take my room.”
~~~***~~~
Emily didn’t get much sleep that night. She felt bad lying to Berk. She felt even worse dropping a dower on Sarah’s doorstep without any advance warning. Although she promised to make it up to her, she didn’t know how. Yet Sarah’s feelings would have to wait for the time being. Right now, Emily had more pressing matters on her mind, such as, who was killing off the dower? She kept running the case through her mind, looking at it from every angle, playing around with all the pieces, trying to get them to fit together. So far, they had two leads, and neither one of them seemed promising. The first was a church—but why would a church want to stop the research of three dower engineers? Was it possible said research violated some abstract religious concept? Maybe the three dowers had angered some god or goddess and the members were seeking retribution. Unfortunately, she didn’t know enough about the local religions to determine if she was on the right track. The other lead, however, was grounded more in reality, if not more depressing: the idea that the very company the dowers worked for was responsible for the death of both Boulderjaw and Flintmace simply because they didn’t want to share the profit. It was a hard concept for her to accept, although greed was a powerful motivator. Berk did say, in order to get ahead in this city, you needed money and connections.
“You’re still up?”
Sarah was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, her pink fuzzy dressing gown pulled tightly around her and cinched at the waist with a long thin belt. She ran her fingers through a tangled mop of hair and stretched into a yawn.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” Emily asked.
“No. This is the time I usually get up.”
“Is it really?” Emily glanced out the window, but the city was in a perpetual state of twilight. It was impossible to gauge the time.
“You slept out here all night?”
“I thought it best to give Hardbrew my room.”
Sarah glanced over at Emily’s bedroom door and looked conflicted, as if she wasn’t sure how she felt sleeping under the same roof as a dower. “Look, Em. I’m sorry about last night. I wasn’t very—”
“No. No. I’m the one who should be sorry. I dropped this on you without warning. It’s only that we were in a bind and I didn’t know who else to turn to.”
Much to Emily’s surprise, Sarah smiled.
“Actually, that kind of makes me feel better,” she said.
“What does? The fact that I dropped a dower on you?”
“No.” She laughed. “The fact that you felt you could come to me when you were in trouble. I admit I wasn’t too happy at first, having a dwarf… I mean a dower in the house…”
“It’s only for one night.”
“It’s fine. He can stay as long as you need him to. I’ll have to deal with it.”
Emily looked at her sideways. “Why the change?” she asked. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”
Sarah’s smiled grew wider. “The thing is, I like having you around. You remind me of my brother. He was also very stubborn. Didn’t care what others thought about him. Always did his own thing even if he was going against the grain. He was always trying to help people, didn’t matter who they were. Always putting everyone else’s needs ahead of his own, including mine. I never got the chance to tell him how much I appreciated everything he did for me.”
“I think he knew,” Emily said.
Sarah’s smile faltered and there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “Maybe,” she replied wistfully, “but I’ll never know, and that’s why I want to help.”
“Help who?”
“Help you.”
“With what?”
“Your case.”
“Which one?”
“Whichever one you’re working on.”
This was an unexpected offer, one Emily wasn’t prepared for, but one she wasn’t going to refuse. “To tell you the truth, I can use all the help I can get,” she said. “We don’t have much information to go on.”
“Well, what do you have?”
Emily got up from the floor and followed Sarah into the kitchen. She sat down at the table as Sarah went about her morning coffee ritual. Emily tried sharing in the experience, but coffee was not to her liking, or maybe it was Sarah’s coffee she couldn’t tolerate.
“We do have an eyewitness who may have seen the person responsible.”
“That’s something.”
“Unfortunately, her description is rather vague. All we know is he was wearing robes. We think he may be a member of one of the churches.”
“What color were his robes?” Sarah asked.
“Green,” Emily answered. “But she thinks there was a blue circle on the back.”
“Church of Gaea.”
“Are you sure?”
Placing a pot of water on the stove, Sarah took the seat opposite Emily. “Of course I’m sure,” she said. “All those religious people wear robes. They used to take turns coming around the Bird and Bay, preaching their beliefs to the customers before Tom eventually ran them off. The children of Gaea wore green robes with a symbol of the earth on the back. A blue circle with a single dot in the center.”
“What do you know about their Church?” Emily asked.
“Not much, I’m afraid. All I know is, they worship the earth.”
“Then why would they want to kill three dowers?”
“Didn’t you say the dowers were working on a new mining technique?”
“Yeah.”
“There you go. The Church of Gaea has always been antimining. They believe that mining harms mother earth. They’re constantly protesting the mining companies. It’s always in the papers. The only problem is, I can’t see a member of that church being your killer.”
“Why not?”
“They also preach nonviolence.”
“I’ve seen the nonviolent resort to violence when the need arises.”
“What a load of donkey tails.” Hardbrew staggered into the kitchen. He was still clutching the metal flask he was drinking from the night before and looked as if he had crawled up from his own grave. His eyes were red, his beard was frazzled, and his clothes were disheveled. “The new technique would no more harm the earth than… whatever. It’s all penguin lips anyway.”
“What exactly is this new technique?” Sarah asked.
The dower laughed, and in doing so stumbled bac
kward. He grabbed the doorjamb before falling out of the kitchen. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he said as he struggled to straighten up. “Trying to steal it for yourself?”
Emily helped him to the table before he hurt himself. She even took away his flask. He gave it up willingly, but then it was already empty, so he no longer had a reason to hold onto it. Whatever he was drinking smelled vile.
“Wonderful,” she said after setting it down next to the window. “This will make our job a whole lot more difficult.”
Sarah got up from the table and removed the pot from the stove. “Now you know why Tom doesn’t allow dwarfs in the Bird anymore.”
“Dwarfs?” Hardbrew bellowed.
“Sorry. I meant dower.”
“That’s more like it. If it wasn’t for old Leadbelly opening the gates, your kind would be extinct by now.”
“I thought it was Silverbelly,” Emily said.
“Well… yeah, him too.”
Sarah set a mug of coffee on the table in front of Hardbrew. It was jet black, looked as thick as mud, and smelled a little like acid. “Maybe this will sober him up,” she said.
“Or kill him,” Emily mumbled.
“What was that?”
“I said it’s worth a try. Berk should be here soon… I hope.”
“Then what?” Sarah asked.
Emily shrugged. “We’ll play it by ear like we have been doing. I suppose the next stop will be the offices of the MRC. Find out how much this Mr. Jacob knows.”
“Jacob, that dirty little hamster,” Hardbrew shouted. “When I get my hands on him… I’ll… I’ll… You can bet that’s what I’ll do.”
“Yeah, okay, you do that.” Emily patted the dower on the shoulder. “Me, I’m going to get cleaned up.”
She left Hardbrew in the kitchen and returned to her now-vacant bedroom. It smelled worse than the dower. He must have been drinking all night. He was even gracious enough to leave the contents of his stomach in the corner. She was going to have to air out the room, wash the sheets, and scrub the floors before she could sleep in there again. Grabbing a set of clean clothes, she retreated to the lavatory, where she washed her face and combed her hair before getting changed. She put on a pair of black slacks and a gray shirt, then tossed her dirty laundry in the basket by the door. Pulling on her hooded jacket, Emily exited the room to find Sarah sitting in her overstuffed chair. She was reading the morning paper.
