The Airship Race (Clockwork Calico Book 3)

by Lana Axe

  The dog chomped on his bone before letting it fall from his mouth. “It wasn’t in a workshop,” he said.

  “His house?” she asked.

  “Nope,” Gadget replied. “He said it was downtown near the river. Everything was all set up for a test flight.”

  “How long ago was that?” she wondered.

  “It was a few days before he threw me out,” Gadget replied. His tone was more matter-of-fact than sad. Things were looking up for him, and he no longer regretted being forced from his old home.

  “There are dozens of buildings by the river,” Cali said. “We’ll never figure out which one.”

  Emmit padded outside the hole, watching for any sign that Florence had seen him. Satisfied that she was too busy to notice, he said, “We won’t have any trouble at all if Gadget comes with us.”

  “He doesn’t know which building,” Cali said. “He’s never been there.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Emmit replied.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “He knows Morcroft’s scent better than either of us,” the mouse explained. “If he comes along, his nose will lead us straight to Morcroft’s engine.” Beaming with pride, he smiled up at his companion.

  Cali nodded her approval. “What do you say, Gadget? Will you help us?”

  Gadget hopped up, knocking his bone to the floor. “Of course!” he said.

  “Don’t alert Florence,” Cali cautioned him. “Stretch a little and then walk out slowly when I do.” With any luck, Florence would think the two of them were off to explore the factory, and she wouldn’t come after them or call him back. Without his help, Cali and Emmit would have to spend hours searching rooftops to find Morcroft’s team.

  Gadget did as he was told, stretching himself low and throwing in a yawn for good measure. When Cali turned and walked from the room, he followed, his tail held high in the air.

  Emmit waited for them to leave, keeping a keen eye on Florence. She looked up and smiled as the pair exited, but made no effort to stop them. When she turned back to her papers, the mouse darted for the door.

  The streets of Ticswyk were buzzing, all manner of people heading to and from work or to the shops. None paid heed to the odd trio as they trotted along the sidewalk. Cali kept a close watch over Gadget. His tendency to wander away or dart after squirrels could get him into trouble, and she didn’t intend to waste time.

  “It’s a long way, so make sure you keep your eyes forward,” she said. “We can’t be stopping every few seconds to sniff things.”

  “I love a long walk,” the dog replied. It took a great deal of effort, but he managed to pass a lamp post without sniffing or relieving himself. When they arrived at the corner of a brick building, he couldn’t contain himself.

  Cali twitched her tail impatiently. “Better now?” she asked when he had finished his business.

  “Much,” he replied, smiling.

  “This way’s faster,” Emmit said, pointing down an alley. He had a keen sense of direction and often knew quicker routes about town.

  The mouse led his companions through the alley, passing a small pile of garbage someone had dumped from a high window. Pausing, he waited to see what Gadget would do.

  The dog didn’t get a chance to contemplate his next move. “Don’t even think about rolling in that,” Cali warned.

  “Why not?” Gadget asked. “I know we’re in a hurry, but can’t we have a little fun?”

  “Fun?” Cali replied. “Rubbing your fur in garbage isn’t fun. And Florence won’t like it one bit.”

  “She won’t?” The dog sounded surprised. Who wouldn’t love rolling in stinky things?

  “That’s right,” Cali said. “She’ll make you take a bath.”

  “I hate baths,” he said, sticking out his tongue.

  The trio carried on toward the downtown area. When Gadget found himself at the front of the group, he stopped at the intersection and looked both directions before crossing the street.

  Cali smiled inwardly. He was a fast learner. She’d have to keep that in mind and go easier on him. He really was listening and taking her advice to heart.

  “Smell anything yet?” Emmit asked.

  “Lots of things,” Gadget replied. “Mostly smoke.”

  The area near the river was home to a score of factories, each producing a different commodity. These were the largest factories in Ticswyk, some three times the size of Florence’s. Many workers lived in this area as well, making their commute far more convenient. That led to the appearance of restaurants and shops along the opposite side of the street. With the docks nearby as well, this was the site of most of the city’s imported goods. It constantly buzzed with activity, day and night. Crime was at its worst in this area as well, meaning a person needed to keep his wits about him.

  Luckily, no one was interested in robbing a cat, dog, or mouse. The trio moved along unhindered.

  “Do you have Morcroft’s scent yet?” Cali asked.

  “Maybe,” the dog replied, sniffing the air. He kept his nose upward, turning his head in each direction. “There,” he said, pointing to the left with his nose. “It’s faint, but it’s him.”

  His words sounded confident, so Cali didn’t ask him to check again. Instead she and Emmit followed without question. This might be the one time that a dog had superiority. A canine’s natural sense of smell was keener than the average cat. With her nose unenhanced, this is one area where Cali was at a disadvantage to Gadget.

  Moving at a steady pace, Gadget continued to point his nose skyward. Most of the roofs were obscured by smoky clouds, preventing Cali from seeing whether an airship was atop any of them. Finally, Gadget paused in front of one of the largest factories, a facility producing steel.

  “Up there,” he said.

  “You sure?” Emmit asked.

  “Yes,” Gadget said, sticking out his chest. “Morcroft’s scent is definitely up there.”

  “I don’t want to run into Morcroft,” Emmit said.

  “I don’t think Morcroft is present,” Gadget said. “Just his smell. He was probably up there within the last day or so.”

  Cali zoomed in with her mechanical eye, but she couldn’t see much past the edge of the roof. She huffed. Without seeing what she might come up against, she hesitated to make her ascent. Who knows what contraptions Morcroft might employ to protect his invention? Climbing the building would mean heading into the unknown.

  “Are we going up?” Emmit asked.

  “You guys can stay here,” she replied. “I’ll go alone. It’s safer.”

  “No way!” Emmit replied. “There could be anything up there. You might need help.” He wasn’t about to let her walk into danger by herself. He was small, but he’d do anything to protect his friend.

  “I’m going too,” Gadget said. “You helped me find a home, and Lionel fixed my implants. It’s only right I return the favor.”

  Cali smiled at their show of loyalty. “All right then,” she said. “We go together.”

  Circling the factory, the trio made note of not one, but three different staircases leading to the roof. The problem was, there were at least six sections of roof, some of them with wide gaps between them.

  “Can you narrow down the source of the smell at all?” Cali asked.

  Gadget sniffed at the air. “It’s strongest over there,” he said, indicating the northern side of the building.

  “But there are no stairs on that side,” Emmit pointed out.

  “We’ll go up here,” Cali said. It was the closest set of steps to the north side. If she made the wrong choice, at least she’d have a better vantage point to determine where to try next.

  Without further discussion, they ascended the steps. Cali kept a close eye on Gadget, who stayed at her side. It would seem he’d conquered his fear of stairs and heights.

  “Are you all right?” Appearances could deceive, so she wanted to be sure.

  Gadget nodded. “It’s like you said. Don’t look
down.”

  Glancing back at Emmit, Cali smiled. She now had two brave companions, both willing to overcome their fears to help a friend.

  When they reached the top, Cali motioned for her companions to halt. She scanned the adjacent rooftops with her mechanical eye. “There they are,” she said. On the northern corner of the building, she spotted a mostly deflated balloon billowing in the wind. That had to be it. Unfortunately, it was on a higher section of roof, and there was a four-foot gap that would need to be crossed.

  Waving for the others to follow, she crept low toward the edge of the roof. “I’m going over there,” she said. “Emmit, you grab onto my tail and hold on tight. Gadget, you stay here and keep a lookout. If you see anyone coming, bark.”

  Nodding vigorously, the dog planted his behind on the ground. He kept his eyes focused on the adjacent roof. Guard duty was a perfect task for his species.

  “Wait,” Emmit said. “I hear voices over there.”

  Cali took a second look. Morcroft’s workers surrounded the vessel. Grunting, she said, “We’ll have to wait until they move out of the way.” She twitched her tail impatiently and sat back on her haunches.

  For nearly an hour the trio sat motionless, observing the men as they fiddled with the engine’s workings. One plopped down, sitting cross-legged to weave the ropes attached to the balloon.

  “Maybe we can distract them,” Emmit said. His stomach was beginning to rumble, begging to be filled with lunch. Knowing Cali wouldn’t agree to leaving and returning later, he tried to think of a way to draw the men away from the roof. He came up blank.

  “Any distractions won’t give us enough time,” the cat replied. “I want a good look at the design.”

  “I know!” Emmit said. “I’ll be right back.” He darted off down the stairs, disappearing from view.

  “Where’s he going?” Cali asked, despite the fact that Gadget wouldn’t know the answer. The dog merely shrugged.

  Only a minute later, the sound of a whistle echoed throughout the factory. Gadget spun in circles, searching for the source of the noise. Emmit appeared at the top of the stairs, bounding toward his companions.

  “That did it,” he said, pointing toward the airship. The men packed up their tools and walked away, disappearing through a platform in the roof.

  “What did you do?” Cali asked.

  “I found the time clock,” Emmit explained. “I turned the arms to noon, and the whistle sounded.”

  “You sent them all to lunch,” the cat said, grinning. “You’re a clever mouse, Emmit.”

  Grabbing onto her tail, he readied himself for the leap.

  The calico shifted power to her hind legs, broke into a run, and leapt as she reached the edge of the roof. Making a soft landing on the other side, she said, “Keep your eyes peeled for traps.” Morcroft’s workers were bound to have instructions on how to protect the airship from prying eyes. Leaving it unguarded, even high on a rooftop, would land the crew in hot water.

  Scanning the perimeter, Cali made use of her enhanced eye. She knew there was a trap somewhere, it was just a matter of recognizing it. Fortunately, it turned out to be a device she’d seen before, though on a smaller scale. Rolling on four swiveling wheels, the sentry slid from behind the engine. A lens mounted on top rotated as it went, scanning for intruders. What appeared to be two arms were actually two gun barrels, and she had no doubt they were armed and ready to fire. She suspected it was attuned to human shapes, but she couldn’t be sure. If it was sensitive enough, it would attack anything that moved.

  Keeping her distance from the sentry, she watched it for any sign of a pattern. Not overly sophisticated, it repeated the same square path again and again, swiveling at the exact same points. A well-timed pounce could disable it.

  With the sentry moving away, she took the opportunity to inspect the workers’ tools. Surely one of them could serve as a weapon. “What’s this?” she asked, picking up a curious device. It was an oval crafted of steel, with three buttons on it. A single green light flashed every few seconds.

  “It looks like a controller,” Emmit said. “Be careful.” The flashing light indicated that whatever it was, it was armed.

  “You think it’s some sort of backup security?” she asked, turning it over in her paw. On the back she noticed markings. A number, possibly the patent number, was engraved on the device. “Wait,” she said. A shining black disk reflected the light. It was small, barely noticeable, but she was certain she recognized it. “This is one of Lionel’s designs,” she said.

  “For what?” the mouse asked.

  “Lionel used it to control a small flying device,” she said. “A toy, really.” This was obviously no toy. The small black disk was a port to allow the signals from the transmitter to reach the device. It was similar to her own homing transmitter, though far simpler in its design. “I think it might control the sentry.” But which button would disable it? Pressing the wrong button might cause it to attack.

  “Maybe you could smash the whole thing,” he suggested.

  Cali didn’t reply, but she didn’t think that would be wise. Destroying it might cause the sentry to react rather than shut down. Unsheathing a mechanical claw, she sliced the device open at its side seam. The wires inside followed the same pattern as Lionel’s design. It took her only a moment to figure out which button performed which function. She pressed the correct one and the sentry powered down, allowing the pair to move freely.

  Emmit hopped off her tail and slowly approached the sentry. Poking at it with his toe, he double-checked that it was indeed turned off. When it showed no signs of life, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “See if you can find the schematics,” she said. “I’m going to take a closer look at the engine.”

  Using caution, she scanned the engine for any sign it had been booby-trapped. She saw nothing. Rather than test it with her claws, she lifted a tool and tossed it against the engine. No sparks, no lights, nothing. It was safe to proceed.

  Thoroughly inspecting every inch, Cali immediately recognized its workings. This was not a new design. It was several years old, and one among dozens that Lionel had studied before beginning work on his own. Why would Morcroft bother using an old design? He certainly couldn’t win with it.

  It dawned on her that he might not be intending to win. As he had in her dream, he might be planning to steal the winning vessel. That meant he’d be stealing Lionel’s, since he was, in her mind, the most likely to win. Of course, inventors would travel from near and far to enter the race, so there was a chance Lionel’s wasn’t the fastest. She would never tell him that though. Not that he would understand her. He’d yet to invent a device to translate the speech of animals.

  In any case, the possibility remained that Lionel was safe from Morcroft’s schemes. But Cali wouldn’t stand by while he harmed any of the contestants. His despicable methods couldn’t be allowed to continue.

  After looking over the gas pipes, she noticed an extra pipe that wasn’t connected to a power source. She followed it to its end amid a jumble of pipes and levers. Surprisingly, it came out inside the basket, opposite the steering wheel. Cali studied it a moment before recognizing what it was.

  “That’s a crossbow!” she said, startling her companion. Morcroft was indeed carrying weapons aboard. “This could puncture a balloon…or a person.”

  “Well, that’s not all he’s planning,” Emmit said, handing her a set of papers. “There’s all sorts of contraptions shown in these.”

  Cali looked over the schematics. One showed the crossbow, another showed the robotic sentry mounted atop the engine, a third showed a small catapult launcher, and a fourth showed a large opening that housed a grappling hook.

  “It looks like he has a lot of ideas,” the mouse said.

  “Indeed,” the calico replied. “But which will he employ?” She’d have to be ready for anything; these might not be his only schematics. Glancing back at the crossbow, she noticed that it wasn’t permane
ntly affixed. It could easily be removed and swapped for something worse.

  “We’ll have to visit the day before the race,” Emmit said. “We can disable the weapons.”

  Cali shook her head. “He’ll just have them repaired. He’s head of the Engineers Guild and has a team of workers at his disposal.” The weapons would be up and running well before the race began, probably within minutes of them being disabled.

  “What if you slash the balloon?” Emmit suggested.

  “No good,” Cali said. “He probably has a dozen extra.” Not only that, Lionel wouldn’t approve of such methods. He’d want to beat Morcroft fair and square. Cali made up her mind not to interfere with the vessel itself, only the weapons.

  “What about the race judges?” Emmit asked. “They won’t approve it with weapons aboard. They’ll know he plans to cheat.”

  “He’s a wealthy man,” the feline reminded him. “He’ll bribe a judge, and if not, he’ll have the weapons added after his vessel is inspected.” That could be why the crossbow wasn’t affixed in a permanent way. It would need to be removed and resituated later.

  “This is bad, Cali,” Emmit said, shaking his head and looking down. “Lionel’s in real danger.” He paused a moment before adding, “You might dissuade him from entering the race.”

  “Lionel’s determined to win,” she replied. “How could I convince him not to enter?”

  “You could disable his ship,” Emmit said.

  “Never,” Cali replied. A lump rose in her throat. Could she do such a thing if it meant saving Lionel’s life? “I know you mean well, Emmit, but there has to be another way. I’ll think of something.”

  The little mouse nodded, trusting her decision.

  “Arf! Arf!”

  Cali and Emmit swiveled their heads toward the sound.

  “It’s Gadget!” Emmit said. “He’s spotted someone!”

  Cali didn’t say a word. Grabbing Emmit in her mouth, she made a mad dash for the roof’s edge and pounced to the other side. Only when she was safe at Gadget’s side did she look back toward the airship. The workers had returned to the roof and were already inspecting the disabled sentry.