The Thieves of Nottica

by Ash Gray

“After he left you at the bridge, he swung around the back of the castle and dropped Lisa off there, like a good little lapdog. I’ve had the man in my pocket for years,” went on Governor Evrard in his silky, purring voice, very amused by their furious expressions. “Oh, his crew doesn’t know it, his wife doesn’t know it, many of my Crows don’t know it – have to keep up the façade. Having a man on the inside is terribly convenient. It’s the easiest way to weed out the pesky little resistances that pop up every now and then --”

  “He lied to us!” Rigg burst incredulously. Kito hadn’t been recruited into the Hand six months ago: he’d been a traitor for years. She dropped her eyes in disbelief and muttered in a small voice, “He lied to me.”

  “That sonova bitch,” Morganith growled.

  Hari dropped her eyes and said nothing, as on her shoulder, Rivet clicked sadly.

  “Yes, very good,” sang Governor Evrard, as if he had successfully explained that two and two made four. “Kito takes my riggits, and in return, he gives my other lapdog there information.” He nodded at the Aonji demon, who stood straight and emotionless beside Morganith. “Like . . . where a certain group of Keymasters have been hiding the last six months.”

  Morganith’s eyes narrowed. “So what’re you gonna do now?” she demanded, nodding at the army of Crows behind Evrard. “Gun us down in cold blood? We didn’t steal Lisa. We found her. She wanted to come with us.”

  Governor Evrard’s lip curled. “A robot can not want anything, you sad, deluded creature.”

  Rigg’s chest heaved. In that moment, she thought of Kito, who didn’t believe robots were people either, who hadn’t valued Lisa’s life enough to protect her, who had likely handed her over to Evrard believing he was doing Rigg a favor by freeing her of her “delusions.” His apologetic stare right before he left the pantry suddenly made sense and she wanted to scream. She wanted to hit something, she wanted to hit Evrard and felt her feet on the verge of launching her forward, the Crows be damned, but she looked at Lisa’s severed head on the cold, wet ground, and all the strength sapped out of her. She stood there in the rain and let the truth wash over her, cold as the icy droplets that slid down her skin: she could not protect Lisa from the world. Her own helplessness was all consuming, and though she wanted to rage against it, she merely stood, feeling drained.

  “I suppose it isn’t your fault,” went on Evrard, watching Rigg’s reaction with cold indifference. “You haven’t had the education your betters have been afforded.” He snorted. “You probably think toasters and teapots want things too.”

  Rigg grimaced. “If robots aren’t alive, why do you want Lisa’s memories so badly?” she demanded. “Why do you care if you can’t have her heart?” She waved a disgusted hand, and several Crows tensed, but she only shook her head bitterly. “You could just buy another robot an’ replace her!”

  Governor Evrard went very still, and he stared at Rigg so coldly, she knew she’d gotten under his skin. By pointing out the fallacy in his logic, she had uncovered his preference for one specific robot: without even realizing it, Governor Evrard viewed Lisa as an individual. She stared triumphant into the governor’s tight, bitter face.

  “In stealing my lockbox six months ago,” said the governor, choosing to ignore Rigg’s outburst, “you stole a very precious, very valuable item from me. Pirayo and his people won’t be able to open it. It will have taken them some time to figure this out, and by now, they will have sold the lockbox or hidden it away. I want you to find it and bring it back to me --”

  “Why in hell should we?” Morganith demanded.

  “Because you hate Pirayo,” said Governor Evrard simply, his lips twitching in a small smile. “He beat you, raped you, and stole from you,” his mocking eyes went from face to face, “He betrayed you. You extended your hand to a human, offered your services to one of the people who have oppressed your people unapologetically for centuries, believing said person would act honorably, and your naivety cost you dearly.” He looked calmly from glaring face to glaring face. “Or perhaps you weren’t naïve at all,” he said with a shrug. “Perhaps you were simply arrogant, so totally convinced in your own superiority that you never saw it coming when a hated human took you down a peg. Whatever the reason, I stand here, offering you a way to get even with the man who sent you running scared. Secure that lockbox for me, and I will give you everything you need to destroy Pirayo.”

  “And in return?” demanded Hari curtly.

  “In return, she says,” laughed Governor Evrard, “as if my helping you destroy your enemy weren’t enough. You simply get your freedom. I will forget our unfortunate crossing of paths. I will forget every trespass you have committed against me,” he nodded disdainfully at Lisa’s staring head, “and I will allow you to walk free. I will never pursue you again. The Crows in my realm will ignore your existence and you can live in Kettell doing exactly as you please.” He slowly smiled. “You can say you were the first people in history to walk away from the Hand unscathed. That should be good for your little stories.”

  Morganith’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “There’s no way you’d just let us walk away. The Hand’s been huntin’ us for years! Nothin’ is worth lettin’ us escape. Not even some lockbox.”

  Rigg was surprised when Governor Evrard’s eyes grew a little sad. “That’s because you don’t know what’s in the lockbox,” he said softly. “Also,” he shrugged, “I’m sure some other key member of the Hand will catch the three of you eventually. Doesn’t have to be me. You are nothing to the Hand. A thorn in the toe of a giant. One crack in an unstoppable wheel.”

  “So you’ll give us anything we need to go after Pirayo?” Rigg asked suspiciously. “Anything we ask for?”

  Governor Evrard’s somber eyes turned to Rigg. “Name it, you will have it.”

  “We wanna airship,” Rigg said at once.

  “With no Crows or cameras,” added Hari darkly, “and with a full mech crew.”

  “And when this over, we keep everything,” Rigg said, folding her arms.

  Governor Evrard looked at them seriously. “Done and done,” he said, and he seemed so sincere, Rigg and Hari exchanged uncertain glances.

  “And,” Morganith grabbed the Aonji demon by the arm, who gasped indignantly as she was yanked close, “we want her.”

  The Aonji demon looked at Morganith with wide eyes, then quickly looked at the governor, silently pleading. Her mouth fell open in horror when the governor shrugged and said, “Done.”

  Chapter 13

  The Fault in Their Stars

  Governor Evrard was as good as his word. He gave the Keymasters an airship with a crew of mindless worker drones. They were basic machines, which meant they had no sentience, spherical robots with spidery limbs extending from their rusty golden bodies. They whistled and hummed, hovering off the ground, their bottoms spitting fire as they worked. Hari immediately transformed one of the ship cabins into a workshop and set about checking every worker for spy cameras. She even improved many of them, which kept her busy for hours as the airship sped toward their destination.

  The airship itself had been marked Parasol, having been so named by Governor Evrard’s mother, who had used it for leisurely cruises on sunny days. As a result, it wasn’t the fastest dirigible, for its balloon was a pink and white orb that looked like a big scoop of ice cream, its round shape drifting against the wind instead of slicing through it. Rigg suspected they’d been given a slow airship with the purpose of hindering their any attempt to outrun the Hand’s much faster, bullet-shaped vessels.

  The gondola that hung beneath Parasol’s balloon was rusty golden like its workers and spinning with white sails like the wings of albino bats. The lack of guns or offensive weapons of any sort cut back on maintenance costs, which wasn’t surprising considering what a frugal stickler Evrard’s mother, Julia, had apparently been. The ship’s only advantage was its tiny size: it was very easy to hide the ship behind clouds or tall buildings. It had also been made of very solid
protective metals for a craft that’d originally been used for drinking and partying, which meant Julia Gold had taken threats to her life very seriously. Ironic, really, considering the fact that she’d been murdered the year before while at home on the toilet. Assassin syndicates in Nottica were brutal in that regard, always making certain their marks died in the most humiliating position possible.

  Because Parasol was a small luxury ship, all the cabins were fitted out with large canopied beds and beautifully crafted furniture. Pristine clocks ticked on flawless wallpaper, elegant chairs stood on patio decks that reached over the lower floors, lounge chairs stretched beneath large umbrellas, and the bar was still fully stocked with incredibly expensive wines. That Governor Evrard had idly handed over such wealth like an old toy he was tired of spoke to the volumes of wealth he was already sitting on, and it made Rigg silently furious as she explored the vessel: on the lowest floor, there was even a hot tub.

  According to Governor Evrard, Pirayo and his men had a hideout in Realm Copperstone, which was on the other side of Realm Fixitt and would take more than ten hours to reach. The Keymasters would have to come up with a plan to infiltrate his hideout and secure the lockbox – or else interrogate him and find out what he’d done with it. Rigg was hoping the lockbox was still in Pirayo’s possession. She wanted all of it to be over. She just wanted Governor Evrard and Pirayo and the lockbox out of her life, so she could reboot Lisa and go on living her life in peace. Hari offered to boot Lisa into one of the worker drones just for the sake of keeping Rigg company, but Rigg knew it wouldn’t be the same. Even if the transition was temporary, it would be difficult talking to Lisa when she didn’t even have a face: the worker drone models didn’t have faces, just big lidless lenses that served as eyes.

  Rigg wanted to be furious about Kito’s betrayal, and for many hours, she was. He had lied to her about when and how he’d joined the Hand, leaving her to believe he’d been recruited only recently. Brooding over the betrayal, she found herself wondering why the Hand would have cut off Kito’s arm and what he could have done to have deserved it. If he was already working for them, torturing him for information made little sense. Whatever the case, he had betrayed them by handing Lisa over to the enemy after swearing to protect her. Now Lisa’s body was in pieces, and her essence was without a shell, nestled away instead in the depths of Rigg’s second stomach. Rigg smiled, thinking at least she’d gotten some satisfaction out of the ordeal: it had been incredibly satisfying to see the bitter, frustrated look on Governor Evrard’s face, knowing she had what he wanted right in her belly.

  While Hari was busy modifying the robot crew into a highly efficient personal army, Morganith was spending time with the Aonji demon, Governor Evrard’s right hand. In their first half-hour on the ship, the Aonji demon avoided everyone. She was very bitter about having been sent away with the Keymasters and resisted Morganith’s charms with a roll of her eyes and a sneer of her thick lips. She coldly introduced herself as Natasha, then made a point of lingering alone in the crow’s nest. Eventually, however, she came down – she had to eat and pee sometime – and wound up talking with Morganith over a meal in the mess hall. The two had been spending time together ever since.

  Thus, Rigg spent the afternoon alone, looking at the smoggy sky and missing Lisa. The prow of Parasol was curled like a chameleon’s tail and reminded Rigg of her own little tail, which Lisa had loved to twist around her fingers. She rested her elbows on the rail and leaned out over the front of the ship as it glided headlong into a wall of rusty golden cloud. Her great puff of black hair beat back in the chilly breeze and she closed her eyes, and for a second, she felt woozy. But only for a second. The spots cleared and she opened her eyes again. The air this high was thin but felt cool and smelled clear and tasted so pure, it was incredible not to have the taste of smog in her mouth.

  Footsteps thumped behind Rigg, followed by the smell of oil and metal, and Rigg didn’t have to turn her head to know Hari was standing beside her. She glanced to the corners of her eyes anyway and saw Hari in her baggy overalls, face smudged with oil, wiping her hands with a filthy cloth as Rivet sat perched as ever on her shoulder. A wrench and a screwdriver were hanging out of Hari’s pockets, while a pencil had been slipped behind her ear, and a filthy white scarf had been tied back over her long umber tendrils of hair. From her chest pocket hung crumpled papers and scribbled notes, little plans she no doubt had for the worker drones. Her welding goggles were, as usual, positioned on her forehead, just beneath her great spiraling horns. She tucked the dirty cloth away and looked at Rigg, hooking her thumbs in her pockets.

  “Gonna use the drones to assault Pirayo?” Rigg wondered, not looking at Hari. “Be pretty wicked to watch him and his cy cronies gettin’ mauled by robots. Would be kinda poetic, actually.”

  “No,” Hari said with a laugh. “While I’d love to see Pirayo torn limb from limb by furious floating teapots, think about it, Riggy. We go in the city with an army of drones and he’s bound ta see us comin’ ah mile away. Besides . . .” her face darkened, “I’m gonna kill that bastard myself.”

  Rigg looked out at the clouds and didn’t doubt it would happen.

  “We, the Keymasters, are gonna take vengeance and we’re gonna do it ourselves,” Hari said firmly, “without any cheap tricks, without any schemes. Because we, the Keymasters, are better than that.”

  “Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

  “Not feelin’ sick?” Hari asked lightly. Rigg could tell she was trying to keep the mollycoddling out of her voice and smiled.

  “No, ma,” Rigg answered wearily.

  Hari smiled. She moved closer to Rigg’s side, and together, they stared out at the endless shimmering frills of golden clouds. Rigg thought it a breathtaking sight. Sunlight while up in the sky was always incredibly brighter, brighter than anything they ever saw on the ground far below. Being on an airship allowed Rigg to breathe, feel the warmth of the sun; all the things the Hand would have kept from her, she could have here. Such beauty and sunlight was typically reserved for upper class humans, who lived on the highest floors of the tallest towers and never knew darkness and smog in their everyday lives. Rigg smiled as she suddenly realized: now that they had Parasol, they could have everything the humans had and more. Assuming they survived their ordeal with Pirayo.

  “I know you always wanted an airship,” Hari said apologetically. “We thought about stealin’ one for your birthday once.”

  Rigg breathed a short laugh. She glanced over to see Hari smiling wistfully at the endless sea of clouds. The sunlight reflected in her cyan eyes like a watery mirror.

  “What about you?” Rigg asked, looking away. She pulled Arda’s yo-yo from her pocket. “I mean, ya had ta want something before ya wanted this life.” She let the yo-yo roll out against the breeze. It snapped deftly into her hand again, then she flicked her wrist and it spiraled once more against the clouds.

  Hari smiled sadly. “When I was a young girl, I wanted to build mechanical animals. Like maybe dragons. Somethin’ big and scary to send the aliens away.” She laughed flatly. “Then I grew up.”

  “And you stopped wantin’?”

  “Oh no,” Hari answered. “I simply found other ways to make dragons.” She smiled, snatching the wrench from her pocket and giving it a deft flip.

  Rigg looked away. “Except bein’ ah Keymaster hasn’t sent the humans away, has it?”

  “I’m not sure I want them to go away,” Hari said quietly, and Rigg looked at her in surprise. Hari shrugged. “I wanted to hate Kito,” she admitted. “Especially after what he did to Lisa . . . but he’s just caught up in this crap like the rest of us.”

  Rigg stared at Hari. “You can’t be serious. He gave Lisa to Evrard -- the sonova bitch! -- and if I ever see him again --!”

  “I know, Rigg,” Hari said unhappily. She dropped her eyes and muttered, “I know.”

  Rigg turned to face Hari, her black eyes dancing over her solemnly. “This is about that baby, isn’t it?�
� she said, glancing at the slightly round belly that protruded behind Hari’s baggy overalls. “You think because your kid is gonna be half-human that you owe the humans somethin’. But you don’t. You don’t owe them nothin’, Hari. Especially not Kito.”

  Hari swallowed hard, smoothing a sad hand over her belly. “I have to believe humans can learn better, that they can change.”

  “What if humans can’t change?” Rigg demanded with a disgusted wave of her hand, and the metal yo-yo, caught in her fingers, gleamed in the sun. “What if humans are doomed to stay just the way they are, bullyin’ everyone else?”

  “I have to believe they will change, Rigg,” Hari insisted.

  Rigg’s face twisted. “Why?”

  Hari lifted her eyes and looked at Rigg, and fear trembled in her gaze. “Because the alternative is too unthinkable to imagine,” she said, switching from Coglish to Vitra.

  Rigg glanced over the railing, down at the smoke-chugging buildings that sped far below them in dull gray squares like the patchwork of some morbid quilt. Below, people walked under a sky obscured by smog, drank polluted water that disfigured them, breathed black air, and could barely feel the light of the sun. Rigg was going to speak when Hari took her hands. Rigg’s lips parted, and her black eyes flew open wide as a vision flashed before them. Gray, parched earth and spidery trees stretching forever to a colorless sky. The land was barren dust, the rivers cracked and dry, the sky so black it seemed the air had eaten a hole in itself and there was no oxygen left. No animals, no creatures, no birdsong and no song. All life had vanished, leaving only the bleak face of the earth and the bone that poked from it.

  The vision faded and Rigg jolted as reality washed over her like warm water. She looked at Hari’s somber face and knew she had shown her the world her unborn child stood to inherit if things did not change. It was said that Alteri demons, when pregnant, could see the future through the eyes of their children. Though Alteri demons could see flashes into the past, before that moment, Rigg had never seriously believed they could actually see into the future. Now she knew otherwise.