Clockworks and Corsets

by Regina Riley

  He pushed his lips to hers.

  Ruby smiled under his sloppy kiss. That kind of submission was what she liked to hear. “I know. I’ll see you next week.”

  The counselor nodded, then left her alone so he could return to his wife, his job, and the pathetic play he called a life. While she watched him go, she mused on how everyone was, at heart, just an actor. Some people just understood their place on the stage better than others while some changed their parts as readily as clothes . Ruby had been disappointed by more than one performance in the past. This time she had chosen her actors more wisely, giving them each such suitable roles.

  Like Bloody Rose Madigan and her crew of merry widows.

  Ruby returned to her bed, smiling at her own ingenuity. Hiring the all female crew to retrieve the weapon was a stroke of brilliance in this new scheme. Ruby needed Doctor Loquacious’s invention, Rose Madigan needed work. One hand washed the other, and the men of the world were none the wiser. So what if they were? What was more innocuous than an airship crew of women?

  Who would suspect they carried cargo that would change the very power structure of the world?

  A weapon so powerful that it could level an entire city in less than a minute.

  The very idea of it made her want to come. Ruby dropped down to her bed, spreading her legs for her own satisfaction. She ran her hand under the triangle of fabric that covered her dripping sex. Closing her eyes, she envisioned a new America with her at the head. The promise of power was the only thing that could ever satisfy her. Her fingers fluttered over her slick clit. She groaned at the thought of the weapon, and how close she was to ultimate control. When her orgasm came, she rode it slow, trying to hang onto the high for as long as she could. Then it was over. She was back in her bedchamber, just another whore ready to turn her next trick.

  Ruby clutched herself with a sigh while visions of world domination danced in her black heart.

  Chapter 6

  Open Arms, Empty Airs

  In which we find the laboratory as vacant as our coffers.

  In the low lamp light of the laboratory, Rose squinted at the massive mirror mounted on the stand. Before her was the image of The Merry Widow, tethered to the beach almost five miles away. Rose tapped the glass before she shook her head again. “I don’t understand how it works.”

  “It’s very simple,” Jayne and Atom said simultaneously.

  Atom motioned for Jayne to continue.

  Jayne seemed unmoved by his gesture, as though she expected nothing less from him.

  “Smaller mirrors are arranged all over the island, each one pointed at the other, until their images reach the end point here at the lab.” Jayne motioned to the series of lenses, ranging from a few inches to a full foot across, which hovered just over the mirror. “With the magnifying lenses, he can pinpoint the section he wishes to see and amplify it, thus eliminating the stacked image effect that multiple reflections are known to cause.”

  “You’re very correct and very clever,” Atom said.

  “I know,” Jayne said. “I feel it’s only fair to admit that I’ve seen it in action before.”

  “Where?” Atom asked.

  “The Orthinological Society in Atlanta employs a similar system to keep up with the bird’s mating habits without intrusion. I believe it was Doctor Loquacious who set that one up also.”

  “You seem to know a lot about the doctor.”

  “Yes, I...did a dissertation on him. When I was...” Jayne paused, looking to Rose before she added, “In school.”

  “Ah,” Atom said. “An educated woman. Excellent! Tell me, what university did you attend?”

  Jayne’s guarded look melted into panic. Like the rest of the crew, Jayne was on the run from a sordid past. One which, unlike the rest of the crew, she didn’t care to discuss.

  Rose came to the young tinker’s rescue. “How many of these are on the island?”

  “About fifty or so. I can adjust the main receiver to pick up five distinct reflective patterns.”

  Atom pushed the brass stand with his gloved hand. The whole frame swiveled in response while the image on the glass changed to some non-descript part of the jungle. “It was sheer luck that you just happened to stay right in my path most of the way.” He stopped to eye Gabriella, who blushed again before she looked away. Atom added with a whisper, “Luck or fate.”

  Magpie leaned in close to whisper, “Actually, Captain, I’m thinking that map is based off the course of these mirrors.”

  “Makes sense,” Rose said in a low voice. “It would explain the roundabout path to get here.”

  Rose wondered if Atom had witnessed her rendezvous with the wild side of Click. She decided there was no use worrying over it. Besides, she had to admit it was kind of exciting to think someone had watched them make love. From the grin on Click’s face, she knew he was thinking the same thing.

  “Names,” Jax said. Her voice sounded flat and commanding in the nearly empty room.

  “I’m sorry?” Atom asked.

  “How did you know our names?” Jax asked.

  “Good question,” Rose concurred, narrowing her eyes at Atom.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Atom asked. He looked to Jayne for an answer. She just shrugged.

  Rose shook her head.

  Atom smiled again. “You stood outside my home and shouted them at each other for almost an hour.”

  Rose groaned . Some captain I make.

  “Atom?” Rose asked. “What are you doing here? When we set out on this venture we were informed that this laboratory was abandoned.” She felt strange asking because in all sense of the word, it was abandoned. Whereas the living quarters were well lived in, there was nothing at all in the lab. Not a single retort. Not a single beaker. Not a single note or other scrap of paper. The enormous place was empty save for the mirrored device.

  “I’ve been his lab assistant for years,” Atom said. “One day he came to me and said he had to go, that I was to stay until he returned. He left. So here I wait.”

  “Did he say where he was going?” Jayne asked.

  “I didn’t think to ask.”

  “You haven’t heard from him since?” Rose asked.

  Atom narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t he send you?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Rose said. She bit her lip while looking at Click.

  “Bad news, my friend,” Click said. “No one has seen your papa for a long time.”

  “I don’t understand,” Atom said.

  “He’s missing,” Rose said.

  “Missing?” Atom cocked his head.

  “And...” Rose paused, not wanting to finish the thought. “And presumed dead.”

  “Oh,” Atom said. “I see.” He slumped into a chair and hung his head, falling quiet.

  Rose felt bad for the young man, whether he was the doctor’s son or not. She didn’t expect to have to deliver such awful news to anyone, let alone a possible relative. Gabriella seemed just as pained by the news, edging toward Atom to pat him on the back. Atom looked up at the young girl. Even in his sudden grief, he still had a smile for Gabriella. It was sickeningly sweet. Magpie gestured for Rose’s attention. Rose signaled for Jax and Click to join them, leaving Jayne to ponder the mirror, and Gabriella to comfort Atom.

  Magpie pulled Rose aside and whispered, “Cap, I think it might be best if we mosey on back.

  I do believe that the doctor cleaned house before he bolted. I doubt there’s anything of value left.”

  “I was afraid of that,” Rose said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Ruby will at least pay for the fuel. Eh?”

  Magpie and Jax looked doubtful.

  Rose didn’t blame them. She nodded to Atom. “So, what about our gentleman here? Do you think he’s telling the truth? I mean is he who he says he is?”

  Magpie eyed the distraught man. She shrugged. “Maybe. He seems sincere enough. He’s certainly brainy enough. I ain’t seen someone give Jayne a run for her money like that in a long time.”
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  “Yes, but cleverness doesn’t mean he’s the son of Loquacious,” Rose said.

  “True,” Click said. “Why would the man lie about such a thing?”

  “We should take him with us,” Jax suggested.

  The other three stared open mouthed at her.

  Jax shrugged. “What? He has sharp mind and a good grip. Not to mention he just lost his father. Bad time for anyone to be left alone.”

  “I see,” Rose said. “What about you two?”

  “I have to agree, Cap,” Magpie said. “He seems like a nice enough guy. I’d hate to leave him here waiting for someone who might never return.”

  Click added, “I think he seems taken with Guppy.”

  “Then maybe,” Jayne said, joining the discussion, “it’s not such a good idea to bring him aboard.”

  “Jealous?” Jax asked.

  “No,” Jayne said. “I just think he would distract our debutante from what little work she manages to get done. Besides, I think he’s a bit off his toast. What’s with the one glove? I mean, really. Who wears just one glove?”

  “Maybe,” Magpie said, “he has a grotesque scar that he doesn’t like to show.”

  Jayne fell quiet at the remark.

  “Everyone in favor of giving Atom a ride back to the mainland?” Rose asked.

  Click, Magpie, and Jax raised their hands.

  “Any against?” Rose asked, looking to Jayne.

  “Mark my words,” Jayne said, “he’ll bring nothing but trouble.” She shook her head, stalking away.

  “I was wrong,” Jax said.

  Rose raised an eyebrow in question.

  “She’s not just jealous,” Jax said. “She’s very, very jealous.”

  Rose couldn’t agree more.

  * * * *

  Atom Loquacious was the stuff of dreams.

  Erotic dreams.

  Gabriella blushed as she shuddered at the racy thought. He was handsome, charming, clever, and simply wonderful. She had never met someone who made her feel both comfortable yet flustered at the same time. She wondered what had her so upset about the man. She knew it wasn’t love because her mother had been very clear on how love worked.

  Love, her mother told her, was the careful arrangement of a prosperous union. It was the willingness to overlook one’s own needs in favor of her future husband’s, because, after all, he was to be a lifetime of security. Love meant putting aside childish things, including her abacus, while taking on the roles of mother, maid, and mistress. Love was the necessity of allowing the body to be ravaged by a husband’s animal lusts, then by the bearing of the children such acts were meant to bring. Love had nothing to do with affection, desires or any feelings whatsoever. Love, in a word, was work. A woman had to work at love to make it succeed.

  Yet the way Gabriella felt about Atom wasn’t work. It came easy. Natural. Even though she had just met the man, she got the feeling that Atom Loquacious would simply be too easy to love.

  So logic dictated that it was anything but love. She wondered what that left.

  “I’m sorry about your father,” she said while she stroked Atom’s back.

  She wanted to say more. Her tongue tripped her words before they left her lips. She also wanted to do more than just stand here and pat his back. That’s what scared her the most. Even a week before the wedding, she had been happy with just a nightly kiss from Thomas. Yet this man ignited something deep within her. Just his presence set her soul aflame. She knew a simple kiss wouldn’t be enough to quench it.

  Atom flashed her a weak smile. Gabriella’s stomach fluttered at the sight. Her yearn burned deeper.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I supposed I should have guessed as much. I’ve been waiting here for him for five years.”

  “Five years?” Gabriella repeated in surprise. “You’ve been living alone here for five years?”

  Atom nodded. “He said he would return. He said to wait...” He lowered his head, the words trailed off into mumbling.

  “You poor thing,” Gabriella said. She patted the back of his hand.

  Atom rolled his palm upward, catching her fingers in his own. Gabriella froze, unsure of what he would do next. She shot a glance to the rest of the crew, who were raising their hands as if in vote. When she looked back at Atom, he was clutching her hand to his chest, staring up at her with a profound look of sorrow.

  “Why would he just abandon me? Why would he just leave me here?” His copper eyes glistened with the threat of tears.

  “Maybe he didn’t,” Gabriella said.

  Atom narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Maybe he intended to return, but couldn’t,” she explained.

  “So you’re saying he might be out there?”

  Gabriella didn’t know what she was saying. She just knew she wanted Atom to smile again.

  If the idea that his father was somewhere out there made him happy, then so be it.

  “That he might be in need of help?” Atom asked.

  “Well, maybe not—” Gabriella started.

  “Then I have to find him,” Atom said over her.

  Gabriella worried that she may have pushed the idea too far. Atom smiled and her worried thoughts faded behind the sound of her thumping heart.

  “You’re right. I have to find him,” Atom repeated. He squeezed Gabriella’s hand before he released it. “Captain?”

  “Yes?” the captain answered.

  “I would like to hire your crew,” Atom said.

  The captain lifted a brow at the man, then shot a look at Gabriella that chilled her to the bone.

  Gabriella swallowed hard, lifting her shoulders in a sign of unsure denial.

  “Of course when you are finished with your current labor, I mean,” he said.

  The captain continued to eye him in silence.

  “I realize that you might need an advance,” Atom said. “I have a little bit of money here with me, but I promise that when we reach our goal there will be a reward greater than money could ever buy. That of saving a human life.”

  “What would you have us do? Exactly?” the captain asked.

  “I have to find my father,” he explained. “If what you say is true, then he’s in trouble. He needs our help.”

  “I don’t want to seem like a doomsayer, but people have been looking for him for years.

  What makes you think we will have any better luck?”

  “It’s meant to be. Your magnificent airship. My overwhelming need. Your crew’s sudden appearance. Don’t you see? This has the kiss of kismet all over it.”

  “Is very coincidental, Captain,” Jax said. “Perhaps is destiny?”

  Gabriella was surprised to hear that Jax believed in anything beyond her blade or fists. Or cooking pot.

  “I think you should know,” the captain said, “we didn’t just come here by chance. We were sent here. I’m almost ashamed to say why.”

  Atom would have none of it. He waved his hands in the air, dismissing her argument.

  “Nonsense. It doesn’t matter what brought you here. The fact remains that you are here. Now please, will you take my offer?”

  “Yes,” Jayne said. Everyone turned, surprised by her sudden outburst. “Captain, you have to say yes. Doctor Loquacious is a national treasure. If he is in trouble he should be rescued.”

  “Great, now it’s a rescue mission,” the captain said.

  “Captain,” Magpie said. “We ain’t got much else on the burner. We could certainly use the money.”

  The captain turned back to Atom with a sigh. “I’ll tell you what. We’ve decided to offer you transportation back to the mainland. The trip will take a few days. When you get there you should seek out someone professional to handle your problem.”

  “I don’t want anyone else—” the man started.

  The captain raised her hand. Atom fell quiet. “We are a delivery service, Mr. Loquacious.

  Not a detective agency. Not bounty hunters. Now, do you want the ride or not?”
>
  Gabriella wanted to be angry with the captain for turning the work down. She supposed she understood where the woman was coming from. How did you look for a man who didn’t want to be found? Especially one who had abandoned his own son in an effort to remain hidden. The idea of it was heartbreaking. It was also familiar because she had abandoned her entire family in pursuit of her own happiness. Gabriella pushed the idea away before her guilt could bring forth tears. Instead, she placed a hand on Atom’s shoulder.

  “The captain knows what’s best,” she whispered. “She’s never failed me.”

  “As you wish, Captain,” he said. “I’ll pay for my fare of course.”

  “That’s not necessary,” the captain said.

  “I insist,” Atom said.

  “You people are going to drive me absolutely mad one of these days.” The captain sighed again, running her hands through her thick hair. “Suit yourself, Mr. Loquacious. I’ll never have it said that I turned down a fare. You have an hour to gather your things. The rest of you fall in and prepare to return to the ship. We need to get back before Dot thinks the jungle swallowed us all.”

  Chapter 7

  Lovers, Liars and Lessons in Linguistics

  In which we are waylaid by unexpected events, and Atom shows his true nature.

  By the time they made for their return, night had fallen, hard. The jungle canopy left the route back to the ship black as pitch. The crew had sense enough to bring a number of lanterns, but the jaws of the jungle devoured the light the moment it left the lamp. They traveled in a few tight circles, painstakingly slow.

  Atom traveled light. Too light for Rose’s tastes. He packed his entire life into a single rucksack, the contents of which seemed to weigh nothing with the way he carted it with ease. He also eyed Gabriella in a worrisome way. Rose didn’t mind the idea of the young girl falling in love with the stranger, but Atom’s smoldering looks made even Rose’s blood boil with desire. She could only imagine what it did to the virgin in Gabriella.

  Rose smiled when she thought of the workout Click was going to get when they got back to the Widow.

  “You want him,” Click whispered.