The Girl and the Clockwork Crossfire

by Nikki Mccormack

  “It’s like a child’s toy—it’s so easy!”

  She grinned at the delight in his voice, then jumped a good foot when the door swung open and someone leapt up into the ship.

  “Crimson!”

  “You are nothing short of dangerous, Kitten,” Crimson said. She jerked the door shut and turned to stare Maeko in the eyes.

  The accusing look made her feel unconscionably guilty. She tugged Chaff’s coat tighter around her shoulders, a move that earned her a frown from Ash, and stepped away from the svelte pillar of flame that had joined them in the gondola. She braced for a verbal beating.

  Crimson smiled wryly.

  “You remind me of Em when she was younger. Come on.” She moved to the controls. “Better get this thing out of here fast if you want to avoid getting caught. Drake might shoot the ship down before he let some thief make off with it.”

  Maeko shared an incredulous look with Ash. “You don’t mean to stop us?”

  “No.” Crimson gave her a perplexed look, as if the very notion were ludicrous. “You’re going to find some way to try this. The best I figure I can do is try to keep you from getting yourselves killed in the process. Though why you brought the cat, I’ll never guess.”

  “Macak,” Maeko corrected.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” She gave Macak an apologetic look. At least she’d tried. He was too busy licking away the wet to notice.

  Crimson and Ash turned their full attention to moving the ship up and away from Drake’s property as fast as they could. Maeko sat in a chair to watch. The two hadn’t spent that much time around each other and yet they turned the process into a remarkably harmonious dance. They worked the controls together with a cooperation that looked practiced. Perhaps their mutual fascination with machinery was what made it work so well. She began to unfold the map, then flipped it over on a small flat table next to some of the chairs. When the ship was clear of the estate, Crimson joined her there to look over the instructions Wells had given. Based on the directions, she gave Ash guidance on their heading, then she had Maeko flip it to the map of the facility.

  She whistled softly to herself. “This place looks like a fortress. You know you two are mad to try this, right?”

  Maeko looked up at her. “Doesn’t that make you just as mad?”

  “I’ve never claimed otherwise.” Her tone was flippant, though her tight-lipped stare and the one finger tapping on the control panel spoke to how seriously she took the situation. “We’ll have no way to know if we’ve been spotted or not until we’re already committed to the drop. Ash should be able to keep the ship out of visual range in this weather while we go down, but you and I won’t have much hope of escape if they do spot us.”

  Maeko slapped a hand down on the middle of the map and pulled it close to her, drawing Crimson’s attention with it. “Wait a minute. Since when are you coming down there with me?”

  Ash glanced over his shoulder at them. “I think it’s a good idea.”

  You would. Maeko scowled at him, but he had already turned his attention back to the ship. “There’s no point putting both of us in danger. Wells is only expecting me.”

  “This ship is designed as a single pilot pleasure vessel. If something goes wrong, Ash can make it back to the estate without help. On the other hand, if something goes wrong on your end, it’s likely to be something you can’t handle alone. I’m armed and I’m a damn good shot. You want me with you.”

  Maeko sat back and shook her head. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea. Besides, Drake would kill both of us if something happened to you.”

  “Mae.”

  She glanced over at Ash. There was an unyielding look in his eyes when he turned around to face them.

  “What?”

  “If you expect me to be the pilot for this venture, I suggest you go along with Crimson.”

  She could only stare, her mouth slightly open, at a loss for words. Had he just given her an ultimatum? He had, and worse, it was one she couldn’t argue with if she wanted this to work. Someone had to stay behind and fly the ship.

  Crimson grinned and tipped an imaginary hat to him. “Thanks, Captain.”

  Ash gave a quick nod and turned back to the controls. Macak trotted over and hopped up on the control panel. He sat delicately to one side and watched Ash’s hands with open curiosity, one paw rising slightly as if he considered batting at them.

  Maeko looked down at the map. She pointed to a semicircle on the building Chaff was supposed to be in. “I’m supposed to meet Wells at the back door of this building. If we come down on the roof, we can climb down this exterior access ladder…”

  Crimson started to shake her head. “No. I think we’d be better off to come down on the inner edge of the next building over. It’s farther from the nearest watchtower. We’ll have to keep the ship as high as we can, so we may have to leave a bit of a drop at the end, though it can’t be enough that we make too much noise when we hit the roof. In this downpour, the sounds from this ship shouldn’t alert anyone and it should be almost impossible to see, but the farther up we can keep it until it’s time for pickup, the better.”

  “What about the pickup?”

  “Same place. Unfortunately, in this weather, we won’t be able signal our captain.”

  Maeko nodded. “We thought of that. All we came up with was to have him lower down at ten minute intervals and, if I wasn’t back within an hour, he’d assume something went wrong and leave.”

  Crimson pressed her lips together and tapped a finger on the map. Ash’s posture stiffened visibly. He didn’t like that part of the plan, but there was no other logical way to deal with it, unless…

  “What if you stayed on the roof? You could use tugs on the ladder to signal him. You’d have to stay out in this weather, but Ash wouldn’t have to operate devoid of information that way and, if things go awry, at least one of us might have a chance to get out of there.”

  Crimson held Maeko’s eyes. Ash was silent, but he didn’t need to say anything. They’d argued over the possibility of him having to leave her behind and she didn’t trust him to do so. Crimson, on the other hand, was far more likely to make a sensible decision and could ensure that Ash left if it were necessary. It would also mean only one person would be sneaking around the buildings, which halved the chances of being spotted.

  “Can you shoot a gun?”

  The hairs on Maeko’s neck stood up. She had shot a gun. When they rescued Lucian Folesworth from his traitorous partner, Joel, she had shot an officer to save Ash and had managed to shoot Joel in the leg. Both shots had hit the targets out of luck more than any skill at aiming and she hadn’t liked doing it, even if it had helped save their lives. “I’d probably shoot myself in the foot. I’ll just have to rely on Wells for protection if it comes up.”

  “And you’re sure this Officer Wells isn’t setting us up?”

  Not entirely. “Yes.”

  “All right. Sounds like we’ve got a plan.”

  The words sparked off Maeko’s nerves. For the remainder of the flight they worked out a series of ladder tugs Crimson could use to convey different information to Ash, including a way for them to signal before they started climbing up so he would have warning if someone else tried to come up. Only Macak looked calm, and even he sat observing from the side of the control panel with an uncommon stillness, his tail now wrapped around in front of his feet.

  The facility, when they drew close enough to see the watchtower lights, looked almost twice as big as Drake’s massive estate. Spotlights shone down from the towers and from the wall at intervals, mostly aimed to the ground outside the perimeter. The interior between the buildings was very dark, with only a few lamps placed at intervals to light walkways and over the main entrances. Not one of the lights aimed up. Apparently, they didn’t expect the type of folks who could afford airships to be dropping in at the new prison unexpectedly. That made it possible for them to do a cautious high pass to get the lay o
f the area, though the heavy rain made it hard to make out details or tell for certain if anyone was patrolling outside the buildings.

  As they came around, Ash shut off the main engines and began a gradual descent, drawing air slowly into the ballonets to lower them down. Maeko switched from chewing at her fingernails to chewing on the inside of her lip and back again while she peered down through one of the anchor latch doors to watch for activity below.

  Crimson stood behind Ash, offering the occasional suggestion, but mostly watching in silence. She finally placed a hand on his shoulder. “That’s probably far enough.”

  The ship steadied and Maeko turned the wheel to release the hatch. Crimson came to join her, crouching down to pull the rolled ladder out of its compartment in the floor. When the hatch was open, she tossed the bundle, letting it unroll by its own weight.

  “I’m armed. I’ll drop down first. Give me two minutes before you start down.”

  Maeko nodded, unable to speak for a moment. Her throat had tightened with fear now that the plan was in action. This was madness and felt more outrageous with every passing second, but she had to try. She watched, admiring the way Crimson started down the ladder without any hesitation. Then she took Chaff’s jacket off and laid it gently over a chair. It was a little warmer than the light jacket she wore underneath, but the too-long sleeves might get in her way and she couldn’t afford to be clumsy. Very soon, she would be able to give it back to him.

  She walked over to where Ash still manned the controls. He was fiddling, making small adjustments. The controls didn’t really need all the attention he was giving them while the ship was hovering there, but it probably calmed his nerves to be doing something.

  He spun to face her, his gaze unusually solemn. “Promise me you’ll make it back.”

  “Ash, I can’t…”

  His fingers came up to touch her cheek.

  “Please. Just promise.” His pale green eyes shone feverishly bright and moist with worry.

  If that was what he needed to hear she could say the words. It wasn’t as if she needed to worry about a confrontation should she break the promise. She swallowed her arguments.

  “I promise.”

  He exhaled shakily and leaned close with obvious intent. She let him kiss her this time, a light kiss that stirred a painful longing in her chest. For a moment, with their lips touching, she yearned to give in to the driving need to feel safe and wanted, but he moved away before she could act on the impulse.

  He lowered his gaze, avoiding her eyes, and turned back to the controls. “Be careful.”

  “You too, Captain.”

  That got a faint smirk. She scratched Macak’s chin then walked to the hatch and turned around to step down onto the ladder. The cat followed her to the hatch, but, for once, he didn’t try to come along. The pouring rain and the drop were apparently enough to discourage him, or perhaps he thought Ash might need his calming companionship.

  The rungs were slippery in the rain. It was like climbing into an abyss with the dark pressing in on all sides, at least until she looked around and spotted the faint light of a watchtower. She preferred the feel of a black abyss. The tower light reminded her once again how much they were risking acting out a sketchy rescue plan, a plan of her devising, which meant the consequences were hers to bear.

  At the bottom of the long climb, she had to hang from the last rung and even then it was a few foot drop to the roof.

  Crimson was there to steady her when she landed. “I took a quick look over the sides. I don’t see any guards out. Could be they don’t run many patrols or it could be that the patrols are hiding from this blasted weather. Regardless, be careful climbing down. You’ll be completely exposed while you’re on the ladder.”

  Maeko only nodded, afraid Crimson might veto the whole effort even now if she heard the fear in her voice. The airship ladder began to rise, quickly vanishing from sight in the downpour. Crimson walked with her to the ladder on the side of the building. They both crouched at the edge and watched for a moment. Listening was almost useless with the heavy rain pounding on the rooftop. Sight was only marginally better given the limited lighting within the grounds, but at least they were inside the wall now.

  I’m coming, Chaff.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Ready?”

  Maeko nodded again.

  “I’ll watch your progress from here. Until you get inside, I can still help you. After that, you’ll have to rely on your Lit friend.”

  Maeko hesitated.

  Friend?

  She doubted Wells would call her a friend and, if she were honest, she didn’t consider him one either. Desperation drove her to trust him, and the fact that he’d helped her once in the past, letting her go when it had been his job to arrest her. He might not be a friend, but he wasn’t an enemy either. That had to be good enough.

  She delayed a moment, scanning for signs of movement in the rain while she gathered her nerves. When she still spotted nothing, she forced herself to turn and back over the side. The metal rungs on this ladder were more slippery than the rungs on the airships ladder. Only a few steps down, her feet slipped off and she smacked her chin on a rung, slamming her teeth together. Clinging with her arms, she brought her feet up and stood there for several seconds, trembling with more than the cold. Pain sharpened her awareness and she tested her footing with care before she continued.

  Halfway down, she stopped again, and secured her grip before glancing down to check for guards. She froze when she spotted a figure striding around the corner of the building, about to pass directly under her. Rain tickled down the back of her neck, rolling under the collar of her light fitted jacket. She held her breath and kept still, a skill she’d perfected over her many years living on the streets and hiding from Lits. The man didn’t slow, undoubtedly eager to get back in out of the rain.

  After he passed around the other corner, she dared to breathe. She counted to sixty once before resuming her precarious descent. When her feet touched down on the sopping ground she almost laughed with relief, but silence was her friend here. Keeping quiet, she hurried around the side of the building, staying to the darkest shadows until she finally had to dart across to the neighboring building. Then she made her way around the backside between the wall and the building.

  Here the lights from the nearest watchtower illuminated part of the walkway, but the contrast made the shadowed side even darker, so she stayed to that side until she reached the door. She scanned the area one last time then stepped into the light to press an ear to the crack around the door. The heavy rain made it unlikely that she’d hear anything, but it was worth a listen just in case. With one hand, she gently pressed down on the lever. It shifted a fraction before she met resistance. Locked.

  What was she supposed to do, knock?

  The handle moved suddenly and she sprang back into the shadows. The door opened and Wells leaned out. His face was deathly pale. His eyes squinted ahead, trying to adjust enough to see into the shadows. Her gut trembled as she forced herself to step into the light.

  He drew in a sharp breath. “Miss Maeko. You made it past the wall. I almost hoped you wouldn’t come.”

  “So did I.”

  He held the door open and she hurried past him into the building. The stark empty hallway was dark, but light shone in from one side towards the end. She turned to find Wells staring down the hall alongside her. His nervous energy was almost palpable and it made her skin crawl.

  “There’s been a little complication.”

  The words caused a sinking in her gut. “What?”

  “Chaff is in this building, though moving him isn’t going to be easy as I hoped, but Garrett has been moved across the grounds to a building I don’t have access to. They took him over there earlier this evening to work on some special project. They’re also moving his quarters to one of the other buildings.”

  “Why?”

  “They decided to grant him more comfortable quarters since he’s
been cooperating.”

  Alarm made her heart jump. She gave him a startled look.

  “Don’t worry. He hasn’t given them any information as far as I can tell. They put him to work on some inventions and Mr. Folesworth is pleased with the results so far. Unfortunately, right now he is in the building with the research and development facilities. It’s the most heavily guarded building on the grounds. I’m sorry. There’s no way I can get in there.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Wells nodded. “At least he’s safe. They aren’t going to hurt him. He’s the best engineer they’ve got.”

  There was no way around it then. Garrett would have to stay here for now. Ash was going to be devastated, but he would have to understand.

  She was reminded of when she and Chaff failed to save Ash’s little brother from the orphanage. He hadn’t been so understanding about that. She hoped they had both learned enough since then that this wouldn’t be quite so difficult, but that hadn’t been so long ago, even if it did feel like an age had passed since.

  “Where’s Chaff?”

  Wells started walking and she followed him, keeping her steps light and quiet on the bare floors.

  He glanced back. “Don’t worry. There are only two other officers stationed in this building tonight and they’re both sleeping off the special batch of coffee I made them.”

  She couldn’t hold back a grin. Wells wasn’t so bad at this. “Brilliant thinking.”

  She relaxed a little, though it was hard not to pause and listen in each doorway as they worked their way deeper into the building. The stark hallways all looked the same, with rows of doors on either side. Many were simply numbered, some kind of short term holding cells perhaps. Others bore plaques declaring their purpose. They passed a disturbing number of surgery and exam rooms given that it was supposed to be merely a prison, as well as a few storage rooms and the like before Wells came to a sudden stop and turned to face the door of room number 27. He picked up a small satchel that sat on the floor alongside the door.