Bulletfoot One

by Marshall Rust

  "I think it should be simple," she replied. "Help me get it up again, and it should hopefully be a matter of welding everything into place. Once that’s done, we can turn the train around and take it to the good folk of Auburn."

  It wasn't quite as easy as that, of course. First, the two of them had struggled to raise it onto its wheels, even with his enhanced suit and Mini’s grappler. One that was done, they discovered that when it had overturned, some internal damage had resulted and had to be repaired. The hitch mechanism, however, proved to be far simpler than she had anticipated, so all in all, it took the two of them less than two hours to have everything in running order again.

  "We should simply take the same line it used to get here, yes?" Windchime asked as she started the engine.

  "I think that would be quicker and lighter on fuel usage, yes," Jessica13 shouted over the roar of the combustion engines.

  The cumbersome arrangement and heavy vehicles proved something of a challenge before they were able to turn them, and the sun was already past its peak when they finally began the return journey.

  "We might want to pick up the pace," Windchime told her gruffly. "Tinker's just called up. He says the Knights and the Beast have arrived.”

  “I thought it would take a few days for them to get there.”

  “We all did. They must have been closer than we realized or they pushed hard—probably both, which explains Hammerhand’s reaction.”

  “Reaction? What do you mean?” she asked, a little confused as his tone suggested their leader wasn’t happy. In her mind, he should have been delighted at what they’d accomplished, but maybe he didn’t react well to either a hard pace or surprises, even good ones.

  “He isn't happy that we took action without consulting him first."

  "Does he understand that we couldn't contact him about it for fear of being overheard and that we saw an opening and took it?" she asked. "Oh, and did he mention that small detail of how we actually succeeded?"

  "All Tinker said was that Hammerhand arrived and he was pissed," her teammate told her. "I think we'll have the full picture when we get back."

  "That sounds like all kinds of fun," she grumbled under her breath, a little resentful that something that seemed petty—at least to her—had raised its ugly little head to spoil her sense of satisfaction and achievement.

  "Hammerhand does appear to be the reasonable sort," Mini pointed out. "He might hide behind a façade of noble and honorable justice, but he will see the tactical advantages of what we did in Auburn as well as the moral implications of lifting the people out of subjugation by Athena."

  "I hope so." She shook her head gloomily.

  After this news, the slow trip to Auburn seemed almost interminable. It was well beyond mid-afternoon before the heavier cover of trees forced them to slow even further. Jessica13 noticed the tracks that had been left by the Beast on its approach and realized she no longer looked forward to seeing the Knights again.

  It wasn't so much seeing the Knights as the forthcoming conversation, however, that was the problem. Windchime’s silence seemed to echo her own reluctance, but she also realized the discussion was impossible to avoid.

  They entered Auburn and easily located the Excalibur Hammerhand piloted. He appeared to be deep in conversation with a group of Auburn folks as well as Tinker.

  The conversation stopped abruptly and everyone watched the two teammates pull Athena's supply train to a halt in front of the bunker.

  "I can't imagine why you would think that it was a good idea to come on a surveillance mission and decide to take over a whole town," their leader said as they moved toward the group. It was directed at Tinker but they could tell it was for them to hear as well.

  "Well, technically, we didn't take the town over so much as liberate it, laddie," the man said.

  "And we brought back the supplies Athena stole from them besides," Jessica13 pointed out. "She called it a tax, but I thought it was extortion since they turned those supplies over in exchange for the water she used to keep them compliant."

  "You found our supplies?" one of the town elders asked. She recalled that he had been the one who had asked her to fix their water purifiers but couldn't remember his name for the life of her. "You brought them back?"

  "They're all in the supply train over there," Windchime said and pointed to the vehicle that a handful of folks had already begun to peruse. Their supplies were found inside and like those that had been taken from Athena’s agents, they were quickly handed out in what appeared to be a fair manner.

  "Bless you," one said.

  "Bless the Knights Mechanica," said another.

  They had originally looked like they weren't sure if the Knights were there to take over the role Athena had been ousted from. Now, however, they were far more accepting of them given that all their food and supplies had been returned.

  "We saw an opening and we took it, boss," Windchime explained to Hammerhand. "It was a tactical decision. Besides, it worked, didn't it?"

  The Knights leader looked at the people who unloaded their supplies from the convoy, their expressions all of relief and gratitude.

  "It was risky, Tinker," he said but his deep and his commanding voice gave way to one that sounded more pensive as he moved to the private comm channel.

  "Will you tell me it wasn't the right choice?" Tinker asked.

  Hammerhand paused before he shook his head. "No, it was the right choice. There was a risk involved, but our life is one of risks. You should still have consulted me, however."

  The other man nodded. "There were risks involved with that too."

  A group of residents moved over to them and brought the conversation to a pause.

  "We don't know how to repay you," one of the men said to Hammerhand. "You or your Knights, but we would like to try."

  "Your payment is appreciated," the Knight said and his voice resumed the booming supremacy that Jessica13 had come to expect from the man. "Our resources need replenishing as well, but we will not take what you cannot spare. I would ask that you agree among yourselves what you can give."

  It wouldn’t be a quick decision, Jessica13 realized suddenly. Those who had returned from the fields were given the responsibility to decide, and it appeared that they tried to elect an admin to make the decision instead of simply agreeing on what to give to the Knights.

  "Tinker, we might be here for the night," Hammerhand said, once again in the private comms. "See if there's anything you can trade for from our parts and pieces from the Beast. Anything we might need and anything that might have to do with—"

  "Citta del Mar, of course," Tinker said with a nod. "I know, I've done this before."

  "Take Jessie with you," Windchime suggested. "The townsfolk know her mech and face a little better."

  "Agreed." The other man indicated for her to follow him. "Now you can play the peddler without any kind of subterfuge."

  "I don't know, I rather enjoyed infiltrating the town under false pretenses," she admitted. "It made me feel like I was on an adventure. Well, maybe it was less enjoyable when I was in the middle of it, personally, but in view of what came after and what we're looking at now… Well, I think I might want to try it again someday."

  "Hopefully not anytime soon," Tinker said and laughed. "I don't know if you realized it, but Chime and I were a puddle of nerves for the whole day you spent inside the town on your own without either of us to cover for you if you got in trouble."

  "It's good to know the two of you care, anyway," Jessica13 said as they strode to the Beast. "Oh, by the way, did I forget to tell you? I picked up a couple of new fuel pumps that should help your big baby over there move with a little…well, I'd say more speed, but the reality is less needing to stop for repairs. You really do need to find a way to get some of the nuclear cores to help power it. Even taking over a couple of the motor functions would relieve the pressure on the combustion engines."

  "I think we might be able to get bits and pieces fro
m the train you and Chime brought back," he replied.

  She looked at him and tilted her head. "I have been meaning to ask, why do you call him Chime? I don't think I've ever heard anyone else call him that."

  "Oh." Tinker grunted and looked around cautiously before he replied. "It's because he asked me not to call him that while we waited for you. Honestly, it’s hard to resist that kind of request, you know?"

  "You're incorrigible." She laughed.

  He nodded. "That is not inaccurate. But don't tell him."

  "Not a word," she agreed.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The election took most of the afternoon and they only managed to decide on an actual mayor for their town by the time the sun had begun to set again. Jessica13 almost couldn't believe that she had been awake since the day before, but she could feel the effects.

  At the same time, it was odd that while she was tired, she also felt she could go on for a few more hours at least. She worked with Tinker to collect the items he didn't want for the people of Auburn to look at in case they wanted to trade or barter anything. The town didn't have any canteen or currency system in place that would allow them to trade in that, but it didn't really matter.

  As the day went on, she resumed the job she’d done while posing as a peddler the day before. It meant she could at least get some of the bits and pieces working around town again while Tinker was busy bargaining and trading. The townsfolk had been told not to trade too much since they didn't want to commit to a reward they were suddenly unable to pay, but there was more than enough that they no longer used that the knights were able to make use of.

  There was, of course, something else Tinker was out there in search of. She wasn't sure why he thought these people would know anything about Citta del Mar. Maybe they simply thought they needed to ask as many people as possible and through sheer numbers, they were bound to find someone who had heard of or seen it in the past.

  Jessica13’s eyes began to drift shut as she continued to work on cleaning the pieces for their water purifiers. Tinker talked to a couple of the locals and a few of them offered a couple of data sticks that might contain something about Citta del Mar that they wanted to trade for some of the oiling mechanisms he was selling.

  He knew better than to take their devices at their word, of course, and while data sticks were generally worth acquiring anyway, he wouldn’t part with anything cheaply. She wondered if the man had been a peddler in his past as well or if haggling was merely a skill he had picked up during his years with the Knights.

  "I won’t simply hand over perfectly functional oil dumpers for a data stick I haven't checked," he said. "For all I know, you could have handed me a sick stick or maybe there's some kind of defect in it that'll make me a sucker. I need to check it."

  "If you plug it into anything you own, you'll copy anything on there and hand it back," the citizen replied. Jessica13 wasn't sure where this sudden mistrust of the Knights had come from but then decided they were merely haggling as well. There were no hard feelings in stating the obvious.

  "Why don't you bring me something you own to show me that the stick won’t wreck my software first and then we can talk," Tinker said. The man agreed, took a screening device from his pocket, and plugged it in.

  "See, there's mention about a city by the sea in that story there," the man said and pointed it out.

  "The story is about a fisherman and the sea and I've read it before," her teammate replied and shook his head. "It's all right but not really for me. I think it moves too slowly. To the point, though, I'd still like to take the data stick if you're willing to part with it. I’ll trade one of the oil dumps and even throw in a can of grease from a couple of beasties we managed to bring down."

  Jessica13 narrowed her eyes. How did he get a can of grease from animals? Maybe he traded someone for it? Then she recalled that Tinker always put a pan under the animals he cooked to collect the fat when they were lucky enough to kill or trap one.

  The explanation seemed logical so she turned her mind to her work, leaned in closer, and tried not to nod off. If she did fall asleep, she would lose a couple of fingers.

  That thought alone helped her to stay awake. While she did want to head to the Beast for a few hours of shuteye, there was still work to do. None of the other knights had taken any time off, even though Tinker and Windchime had been at it even longer than she had.

  Or had they? Her mind seemed unable to process things sufficiently to deliver an answer.

  Tinker moved to where she worked and noticed that she struggled to keep her head up and eyes open.

  "Why don't you stroll over to the Beast and get a few hours of shuteye, lass?" he asked.

  "Is it that obvious?" Jessica13 asked and looked at him quickly.

  "Well, you keep nodding your head forward like you're listening to loud music," he pointed out.

  "But you and Windchime don't need any rest," she said and shook her head. "No, I only need to push past it. Maybe some of that energy juice."

  "I'll be honest with you, lass, I'm knackered as well, no doubt about it," he said. "But Chime and I had a little sleep while you were infiltrating this here town, so maybe that's why we're still functional and you're barely hanging in there. I'm serious, Jessie. You'll cut a couple of fingers off or put your eye out if you keep this up. Get some sleep. We'll manage."

  Sleep had been on her mind since they had come back from recovering Athena's supply train, although she had thought she’d manage. Still, if Tinker insisted she get some rest, she wouldn’t argue.

  She nodded, scrambled into Mini. and headed to the Beast.

  "Rest well, Jessica13," he said as she climbed out and left him in one of the Beast's harnesses that Tinker had finally agreed to fit.

  "Thanks, Mini, you too," she replied without much thought about what she said. She found something to eat before she located an empty bunk and everything went black as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  There were no dreams, thankfully, and she had no idea how long it was until her eyes opened again. Whether it was the same day or not was difficult to tell, but she remained in the bunk for a while and stared listlessly at the one above her.

  She wasn't sure why she didn’t simply get up to return to work. For some reason, she felt sore, and the sensation made her feel like it would only get worse if she moved.

  Minutes ticked by before she realized something had dragged her from the black fog of sleep. Her mind finally identified it as the sound of the doors opening on the other side of the Beast where most of the parts were stored, loosely collected and organized in a pattern only Tinker's brain could decipher.

  It would help if his system didn't change every few days, although she had begun to get used to it as she worked with it herself. She still needed to ask him where he stored individual pieces she needed more often than not, though.

  Jessica13 pushed herself from the bunk, stretched, and yawned and grimaced at the few creaks in her neck, shoulders, and back as she stood. Moving around would make it better since it was no doubt the result of her having been on the bed and immobile for too long.

  More sounds from the other side of the room caught her attention. She shook her head and looked across at Tinker and Hammerhand. The former was seated and worked on some of his new acquisitions, likely trying to decide which piece would go to which Knight. Hammerhand stood a few steps away and leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.

  He didn't look happy. Not that he ever did, really. She couldn't remember having ever seen so much as a smile on the man's face.

  Still, he looked less happy than usual.

  "Well, they have a mayor so that's always a step in the right direction," Tinker said, his gaze focused on his work. "They have some leadership here and will have a spine if Athena turns up to give them trouble again."

  "Not much of one," Hammerhand said and shook his head. "They have a couple of mechs that should keep your average desperate pirate at bay, bu
t Athena is another beast altogether. Their new Cinders will amount to resistance equivalent of piss and shit."

  "Agreed," the other man said. "But it's better than no defense at all. Besides, Athena won't be able to attack them if we attack her ourselves."

  The Knights’ leader sighed heavily, his expression regretful. "I guess we'll have to put our search for Citta del Mar on hold in order to deal with her. I am truly sorry, my friend."

  Tinker looked up from his work for the first time and a small, sad smile twitched across his lips. "There is no need to apologize. We all understand that Athena poses the kind of threat we cannot ignore, not while she's here and creating a dictatorship for herself. It can't be helped."

  Hammerhand nodded.

  "Besides, there are people here we hadn't accounted for in our previous estimations," the older man continued. "Athena has consolidated her claim of the land with violence and oppression, and the people are thus reliant on her for their water and therefore food. If we are able to release them from her rule—"

  "Would they be any better off?" his companion asked. "We have encountered those before who had enjoyed the taste of freedom and abused it, so we needed to intercede on their victims' behalf. Who is to say the same would not happen here?"

  "Are you really suggesting that leaving them under her rule might be more peaceful?" Tinker asked.

  Hammerhand’s powerful shoulders raised in an eloquent shrug. "Not at all. You know how I feel about her, but there is a similar option we have to consider. Athena is harsh and cruel, yes. She wants to rule and there would have to be people for her to rule over. However, what is to say one of these isn’t cut from the same cloth?"

  "As you have said, it would not be the first time we see something like this. But they have earned the right to choose how to rule themselves. That choice is denied them if they are under her heel and forced to give her food or be killed for trying to find help. Once they are free of that, they will decide on governance. We cannot step in to govern them to protect them from themselves."