Chasm Walkers

by Raquel Byrnes

  “When I talked to them. The man, he asked some strange questions.”

  Riley paused. “Strange, how?”

  “He asked about our underpinning, our cable system, stuff like that.”

  Pausing, Riley tipped his hat up with a point of his finger, eyeing Kiril. “Why exactly do you think he did that?”

  Kiril shrugged again. “It was mighty odd. Wanted to know about metal. About conduction along the walkways and buildings. But then he didn’t do anything having to do with that when he showed up and they attacked.”

  Riley stepped back, his mind working. The thundersnow had made it near impossible to see anything that night. No telling what actually went on out there. “I’ll see what Cephas thinks,” Riley said.

  “Let me help, Seb,” Kiril pled. “Please. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was keeping you and Lilah and Jack safe.”

  “You went behind my back. You gave one of us over to an enemy.” Riley shook his head.

  “One of us?” Kiril looked at him confused. “How can you say that?”

  Riley grabbed Kiril’s shirt through the bars, yanking him close. “Who lives up here, Kiril?” Riley growled. “Thieves and outlaws. You think any one of us up here has a clean past?”

  “No, but…”

  “But nothing. If you’ve seen what she can do, don’t you think it was better when she was on our side?” Riley shoved Kiril away.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Riley shook his head, squaring his hat. “What do you think would happen if she wasn’t?”

  25

  Ashton stood with his back to me, arms crossed, body tense. “I soundly object to this.”

  “Noted,” I said as I pulled my corset off and dropped it to the cement floor. “Again.”

  “We should at the very least wait until morning,” Ashton urged.

  “We cannot waste one hour, let alone eight or more until sunrise,” I said. “The Coalition armada may very well be barreling toward Outer City as we speak. There is no time, Ash.”

  “How will you see at all out there?” Ashton asked, peering out the porthole. “It is nothing but black water.”

  “There are flood lights here,” Hunley said. She stood at the bank of levers, a file open in front of her as she peered at the equipment. A wall of dials and gauges to her right sat silent as she fiddled. Muttering under her breath, she wandered behind it with a pair of pliers. “Over there. Incandescents, with reflective hoods to focus the light. Like the lamp beams the Aero Squad uses.”

  “Lights?” Ashton shook his head. “We are working by candlelight. How—”

  “The diving room is supposed to be on its own power grid,” she called from behind the wall. “For safety reasons, according to the maintenance logs. I see the charging engine…if I can just—”

  Something flashed and she yelped. Overhead lights clanged, sparks flying down from the suspended bulbs. The filaments slowly burned to life, dull orange at first, and then glowing to a bright yellow, illuminating the vast chamber. The power wavered, casting growing and shrinking shadows on the walls and floor.

  The gauges and indicator lights on the wall panel and control bank flared to life with a sizzling buzz. Some crackled and Hunley waved away the smoke with her pale hand. The low rumble of the machinery vibrated through the room. Tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood with the static energy that filled the space. I glanced at Ashton, who now stood with his hands balled at his sides.

  “There is no proof the Chasm Walker is able to be salvaged. This is an unnecessarily deadly risk,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Are you ready?” Hunley asked, ignoring him.

  “Nearly,” I answered stripping down to my camisole, bloomers, and stocking feet. “There is no proof it is a total loss either, Ash.”

  “We have no idea what took place on that vessel. Why they crashed. Other than the fact that it went down before making it to the water-lock and the crew likely died inside?”

  “Well, we know they did.” Hunley said. She flicked a switch and it ignited, burning her. She hissed, shaking her hand, before trying another row of controls. “Unlikely they set up a small colony in there and just didn’t want to come out.”

  Ashton glared at her, his jaw working. “This is not an amusing situation, Pru. Charlie may likely be walking to her doom and you are making light of what can only be described as a horrific death.”

  “I would greatly appreciate you not using words like ‘doom’ and ‘death,’ if you please,” I said. “How many were aboard?”

  “A crew of six, but four were civilians. Mining experts and scientists. Only the captain and his first-in-command were naval trained.” Hunley consulted her notes. “The Dive Controller’s notes stated that there was a mechanical failure, and they stopped receiving communications. That is something that is possibly fixable.”

  “A captain trained in manning that ship could not get it to dock. What makes you think Charlie can?”

  “Thank you for the confidence,” I murmured.

  “You know what I meant,” Ashton said, exasperated.

  “Regardless, there is but one way to be sure,” I said. Turning to Hunley, I nodded. “I think I need help.”

  “I found the sealing wax,” Hunley called as she came over and held up the diving skin.

  I stepped into it, feet first, shrugging the heavy canvas and gum rubber suit onto my frame. Wiggling my hands into the attached gloves, I flexed my fingers, feeling the inner lining of the canvas catch on the mechanica on my arms. Flexing my elbows, the snag let loose, and I moved freely. “All right. I think that is good.” I struggled with my covered fingers to close the front.

  Hunley batted my hands away. The front seam ran from a high collar to the mid-section, and she pressed the waxed flap down. She rubbed it with a paste from the can in her hand sealing the skin, hopefully, from water seepage.

  She glanced at me. I did not see any sign of trepidation or worry, merely focused excitement. I was an experiment to her. A means to an end. If I drowned, then I drowned. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat but my mouth was too dry. Taking in a calming breath, I looked at her. “Where did the other knights come from?” I asked quietly, careful to keep out of Ashton’s earshot.

  She stilled.

  “Ashton said you picked up two from the crash site, but there are seven in the morgue.”

  She cleared her throat, busying herself with the wax. “More came, and we subdued them.”

  “Just showed up, is that it?” I moved out of her reach. “You called them, didn’t you?”

  She hesitated.

  “Come on, Hunley.” I nodded toward the porthole. “It is very likely I will not survive this. Tell me.”

  Hunly glanced at Ashton, her lips pursed.

  “It was an experiment at first. To see if the infrasonic waves had any effect on the knights we had. The helmets.” She glanced at the devices at my temples. “And when two more arrived a day or so later, I wanted to make sure it was not coincidence.”

  “That knights would show up to a secret location? You thought that might be coincidence?”

  “We did not emit the waves from this location. We flew to a place almost twenty miles away.”

  “It called them?” My hand went to the mechanica. “You’re sure?”

  She nodded. “And we thought, two birds with one stone, right? We could procure the Solenium for my research and study them in a safe environment. Under controlled conditions.”

  “You mean you put them in the box. The same one I was in.” I shook my head. We really were simply laboratory animals to her.

  Hunley pressed her lips together, not saying anything more. Instead, she sidled closer and adjusted the diving skin on my shoulders. “How does it feel?” she asked.

  I looked at her for a beat before deciding further discussion would only cause me to distrust her more. And considering what I was about to do, my questions could wait. I rolled my shoulders, adj
usting the suit. “Odd. Heavy,” I said finally.

  “If it makes you feel any more confident, this suit and the air apparatus that powers it are quite advanced. The scientists here must have improved upon Siebe’s design,” Hunley remarked as she lowered the chest piece over my head. It weighed on my shoulders, the metal encasing my torso like a knight’s armor. Only my head was uncovered. She unscrewed the bolts at the neck. “A little lighter, from what they wrote.”

  My gaze went to Ashton. “I am ready, Ash.”

  He turned, his face falling as he took in the slouching diving skin. Rubbing the back of his neck, he approached. “It is too big for you.” He adjusted the brass shoulder pieces attached to the suit, a frown marring his handsome face. “Without the ambient armor the sea will freeze you before you get to the vessel.”

  “I have been in refrigerated laboratories, outran an ice wave, and been held captive in frigid liquid prisons.” I extended my arms out to my sides. “Let the ocean do its worst.”

  He leaned in, took a lock of my hair in his fingers and let it slide through his grip gently. When he spoke, his voice was a rasp. “Please don’t do this, Charlotte.”

  My throat ached at my full name, only ever used by my intrepid spy when he was moved with fear. I tried to smile, attempting to assuage his worry. “It is not even one hundred yards, if the records are true.” I reached for his hands, held them in mine, squeezing. “If I can do this. If we can save them, Ash…”

  “Then we have to, I know,” he muttered, his eyes downcast. “But it does not always have to be you, my love.”

  “In this instance I am afraid it literally must be me.”

  “I wish you did not see it that way.”

  I looked up at him, my chin trembling as I fought my emotions. Would this be the last time I spoke with him? “Ash,” My voice broke. “I-I…” my gaze flitted to Hunley. “I mean, if something happens. I want you to know—”

  “Shh.” Ashton cupped my jaw in his palms and brushed a gentle kiss on my lips. Heat flared through me, the kiss deepening, until I trembled in his hands. He pulled away, his jaw working, gaze intense. “I will hear none of it. You’ll come back to me. You always do, Blackburn’s Daughter. Promise me.”

  I nodded, fighting to take a breath through the ache in my throat. Once composed, I glanced at Hunley, whose nose was buried in the records, and who did not hide her uneasiness with our exchange.

  “Helmet?” I asked.

  Head popping up, she nodded and moved to the wall behind the suspended ambient armor. She worked the cable attached to a pulley and lowered the large metal helmet.

  Ashton sighed, walked over and unhooked it, bringing it to me. Two hoses trailed behind it. He lifted it over my head, lowering it gently, the worry evident on his face. “Can you see?” he asked, tilting his head to peer at me through the window, tension making his voice gravely.

  I worked to attach the high collar to the waxed material within the helmet.

  Hunley bent, helping me fit my feet into the oversized weighted boots, lacing them over the diving skin.

  I tried to lift a leg and felt the spark of the mechanica at my thigh fire as I struggled to move the heavy boots.

  Ashton took the helmet in his hands, twisted it a quarter turn to line the locking teeth on the bottom rim with their counterparts on the metal shoulder pieces. A final click and the helmet sealed into place.

  I peered through the wire-lined face glass at him.

  Taking the bolts from Hunley, he twisted them back on, securing the helmet to the neck piece. His dark gaze held me, giving me strength. Then he nodded resolutely. “Well, let’s get this over with,” he said evenly. His pulse throbbed in his throat. He seemed terrified.

  “All right,” Hunley licked her thumb and turned a page in the log. “According to this, you must attach your helmet to the air pump apparatus in the water-lock.” She ran her finger down the lines, reading. “Oh, there is valve you have to check. It expels the used air and stops the helmet from filling with water should the air fail.”

  “Fail?” Ashton and I said in unison.

  “Unlikely,” Hunley said quickly. “Only happened…” she cleared her throat. “Twice before.”

  Until this moment, while they were just words, the fear I felt remained pushed down, in check. Now, with the weight of the suit, looking at Ashton through the glass, my body shook. I had to move. To do this before I completely found my senses. “Into the abyss,” I said and turned.

  The water-lock was a hatch to the right of the large porthole. The dual wheels turned easily for Ashton and Hunley, and the door creaked open. I stepped inside the metal room no bigger than a closet. Another door stood in the opposite wall. Hunley leaned in, held up a sketch, and pointed to the coil of hoses on the ground. A huge pile, there was, hopefully, at least enough to get me to the Chasm Walker.

  “Attach the blue hose from your helmet to the air apparatus via the metal coupler. We will begin feeding air into your helmet as soon as you lock this door.”

  I nodded, catching the other black hose with my gloved hand and holding it up. “What is this one?”

  “Uh…” Hunley flipped the log pages quickly. “One moment. I think that’s in here.”

  Ashton crossed his arms, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “We have no idea what we’re doing.”

  Hunley tapped the log. “Oh, yes, it is a communications tether. I am not sure how it works, but I imagine it is akin to the speaking tubes in houses.”

  I looked at it, bemused.

  Ashton stepped forward, attached the air and communications hoses to the wall of the water-lock chamber, and pulled on the brass lever next to them. He leaned down, held my helmet in his hands, and pressed his forehead to the face window. “Do not open that door until the water has completely filled this chamber and we’ve established pressure in your helmet. If anything sounds wrong or feels wrong. You signal us.” He made a fist with his own hand and knocked on the side of his head.

  I tried to nod, realized my neck was immobile in the metal chest piece, and repeated the knocking gesture back to him. “I will.” My voice sounded incredibly close in the helmet.

  Ashton backed out of the room.

  I took a step toward him. “I–I’m frightened,” I cried.

  He did not react. He did not hear me.

  The door closed with a loud clang. I stood, listening to the sound of my breath. A hiss of air on my face made me yelp. The rubbery smell of the oxygen filled the helmet. I tried to slow my breathing and control my heart that seemed to want to burst from my chest.

  “Can you hear this?” Ashton’s voice warbled to me from the hose. It sounded far away, distorted.

  “Y-yes,” I said, hating that my voice seemed so small. “I have air feed. It sounds strong. Constant.”

  “We have incandescents working now. I will face them out the porthole. That should provide some light.”

  “Do...do not let them go out,” I said, feeling a trickle of sweat glide down my neck.

  “I won’t,” Ashton said. “Hunley is opening the water-locks.”

  Metal squealing at my feet followed by a burst of rushing water sent me reeling back. I fogged up the face window with my gasping breaths.

  “Talk to me, Charlie. Are you all right?” Ashton’s voice filled the helmet.

  The water rose quickly to my knees in seconds. Deep cold assaulted my skin, and I feared a leak. I turned clumsily, sloshing through the icy pool to the door. “Ash,” I banged on it with my palms. “I do not think I can do this.”

  Garbled voices came to me. A mix of Hunley and Ashton shouting. The water-locks slammed shut, then reopened, wider, water flooding in so fast it pinned me to the door.

  I cried out, terror filling me. Sea rushed into the chamber, so cold…my jaw clamped shut. The water gurgled and foamed against the walls, splashing up as it climbed to my chest. Hand to the helmet, I panted. A loud bang on the door echoed in the chamber. They were
fighting. I remembered the electrified dagger Hunley kept in her cane, and I railed at myself for not warning Ashton. He was trained. He could subdue her unless she surprised him. The water continued to pour in, the chill of it making me shake. I clenched my eyes, the edges of my mind firing with panic. Please…I cannot do this.

  Sharp jolts of power slid down my spine, surging strength to my limbs, and I ceased to shiver. There was no leak. The diving skin was meant to be used inside the ambient armor. It retained no heat for the diver. I gathered my fractured thoughts, rallying my courage. I had to do this. No one else could survive the temperature out there. If I was to suffer this half-death, this monstrous existence, then at least let it mean something. I couldn’t accept that all I’d endured was for naught. Steeling myself, I turned and faced the door to the sea. “If…if I make my bed in the depths,” I whispered. My voice broke as I prayed, fear snaking through me, stealing my breath. “You are t-there.”

  The water rose over my shoulders, the weight of the armor lighter. Taking big gulps of air, I willed myself to keep my wits as the seawater slid up the face window, rising over my head and muffling the churning water above. A sudden click and hiss next to my cheek started, and I realized the valve was working. Air blew out of the bottom of the helmet sending bubbles floating away. Arecibo’s face appeared in front of me and I jerked, nearly losing my footing. “He’s not here,” I chanted over and over. “He’s not here.”

  The weighted boots moved easier. I walked as if in slow motion, reaching for the door handle, and turning it with aching slowness. The door moved, opening with a single push. I walked through, clinging to the edges of the threshold. Swaths of light slashed through the inky dark of the abyss catching strange fluttering creatures. They darted in and out of the beams. My breaths came in rapid gasps, the sound so cloistering, so loud in the helmet. I took a step out, planting the boot in the silt. It kicked up, clouding the way before me.

  The beams moved, panning back and forth until they stopped. I followed their path, my heart ramming. A hulking form of the submersible ship lay askew in the distance. Covered in sea growth, the brass and copper of the hull glowed dully in the light. A silent behemoth resting on the floor of the ocean. I gasped at the sight of an enormous creature atop the vessel, its sinewy arms draped carelessly across the vast window of the submersible. The creature stirred with the light. It quivered, changing color along its body until it disappeared against the metal. Another pan of the beam of light and it peeled from the ship in a torrent of silt. Larger than I’d first realized, it flared its multiple arms as it propelled away.