Another explosion, this one hit somewhere away from this building. Maeko looked to one side and met the eyes of Thaddeus who had also ducked down by the desk. His eyes narrowed, hatred blazing bright in them. Still clutching Macak with one hand, she jumped to her feet and lunged for the door, throwing it open on a cloud of smoke and billowing dust. She grabbed the briefcase by the door with her other hand and sprinted into the maelstrom. This time the shot did fire.
A burst of pain in her side made her stagger, almost dropping Macak, who was none-too-pleased with being slung about like a sack of meat as it was. He twisted and broke from her hold, running ahead. Maeko kept after him, not slowing down to see how bad the wound was. It was a flesh wound. At least she was determined to believe that. It hurt like the blazes. Her head felt a bit floaty as though she’d had too much laudanum, making it hard to focus. A sudden wave of nausea didn’t help the situation.
Macak stopped to wait for her on a pile of rubble at a crossing hall, barely visible through the smoke and dust. When she reached the hall, she looked down toward where the cells were, but most of the building in that direction was collapsed, dark sky visible through the haze where the ceiling should have been.
Her chest tightened. I’m sorry, Travis.
One thing was certain, they wouldn’t be rendezvousing with the stealth airship from the top of this building.
Macak hissed and she followed his gaze, glancing behind her to see a figure moving in the haze. Pain took her breath away when she started moving again, but she couldn’t stand here and wait for Thaddeus to finish the job. When they got to the door, she shoved it open, letting out a cry of pain when the motion pulled at her wound and fresh warmth ran down her side. Tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes, but she ran from the building with Macak sprinting alongside her. Death was a great motivator and Thaddeus would be her death if he caught her now.
Fires lit the night. There were screams of pain and shouts from those running to help or to fight. A sudden explosion ahead made her stop, ducking into the shadows of the next building to get her bearings. She stood panting, every breath agony in her side.
The last explosion had been the front gate of the prison, but it had blown inward, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense if the battleship, invisible in the dark night amidst billows of smoke and dust, had hit it. They most have had something else out there to blow the gate in. Another explosion tore into a building near the front and the burst of flame illuminated figures streaming in through the front gate. Pirates for certain, but some appeared to be wearing uniforms, though she couldn’t make them out in the brief flash.
The wall she was standing beside exploded outward then and she was thrown in the air, losing sight of Macak in the blast. She hit the ground hard, pain bursting through her injured side. For some time, she could only lay there, her ears ringing, unable to think a single coherent thought. When thought returned, there was only one word in her head.
“Macak!” The shout came out cracked and hysterical sounding. She struggled up to her hands and knees, discovering new pains as she moved, though none so piercing as that in her side. “Macak!”
She got to her knees then struggled to her feet, tears streaming down her cheeks as much from the pain as from fear that she had finally lost the cat.
Another figure was getting up several feet away. Thaddeus stumbled once, shook his head, got his bearings and stood. He started walking toward her then.
Pain, fear, hatred. She stared at the approaching figuring, watching as he lifted his arm, still holding his gun.
“You lose, Thaddeus,” she snarled. “No matter what you do to me now, you still lose.”
His arm faltered, started to sink as he looked around. Then he refocused on her, his face twisting in an awful sneer.
“Maybe, but you won’t live to see how it all works out.”
She stared down the gun and all she could do was hope someone found Macak. Hope he was all right.
The loud crack of a gunshot split the air.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Maeko flinched, expecting agony.
Thaddeus cried out and crumpled, falling to his knees clutching the hand that had been holding the gun. Maeko looked around and spotted Chaff walking up, the gun in his arm still extended. She sucked in a shallow breath. He was alive and had saved her life yet again.
The relief couldn’t overshadow her other fear. She peered into the dust and smoke around the rubble that had been the wall of the building.
“Mae,” Chaff called as she sprinted past him, the pain in her side flaring fresh with the movement.
She stopped in her tracks when another figure began to emerge from the haze. Lean, lanky, and tall, with fluid movement like a cat. She shook her head, watching with expanding dread as Bennett emerged from the smoke and dust. He had his arms pulled in to his chest and, for a second or two, she thought he might be clutching an injury. Then she saw the fur and her heart stuttered in her chest.
Macak!
Forgetting who held the cat, she ran over to him.
Bennett held Macak out to her. The cat seemed to hang there for a moment, listless and dazed. A bit of blood matted his fur in a few places. Then he lifted his head, looking at her, and meowed. She took him in her arms and held him tight, clutching him close despite the searing pain as cloth pulled away from the wound, causing more bleeding in her side. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks. By the time Chaff reached her side, Bennett was gone again.
She became aware of the others still approaching from the direction of the gate. When they passed through lit areas, she recognized some of them as Pirates from the stronghold, but there were others with them wearing distinctive uniforms now that she got a better look. Bobbies. Odd how a weight lifted off her chest when she recognized those uniforms. Uniforms she had feared before the Lits pushed them out of London. Those uniforms meant Amos had succeeded on the groundwork Em had laid with them. They meant the Bobbies believed that the wrong brother survived the airship explosion. They meant the Bobbies believed her, which had to be a first, and they were working with the Pirates.
A low rumble drew her attention away from their allies then. She and Chaff turned as one to see a large door lift open on the side of one of the big buildings. Men with an array of large guns, some as part of false appendages, streamed out around a massive machine. It looked almost like a large rectangular coach. The sides were fully enclosed in heavy looking metal with slits in a few places where windows might have been. Instead of wheels, it had six triangular appendages, three on each side, on which the tread, but not the center, rotated. Toward the top center of the moving metal box was a long barrel of certain purpose. As they watched, the long barrel angled upward and the box itself turned so the barrel was pointing toward the battleship that was coming around for another pass.
All of a sudden, the barrel sparked to life at its base, then crackles of bright lightening danced up along it in rapid stages until it hit the end and a projectile flew up through the air. For a few seconds, lightening continued to dance across her vision. When the image briefly burned into her vision cleared away, she saw the battleship still in the sky and thought that perhaps the gun had failed. Then the front of the battleship began to drop from the sky, swinging down toward the front corner of the wall where Ash and Garrett had gone to disable the gun. Chaff was already back, and he’d had further to go, but that didn’t mean the others hadn’t run into trouble.
She glanced at Chaff. “Where are Ash and his dad?”
Chaff shook his head. “I don’t know, but we have our own problems.” He pointed ahead.
Whoever controlled the battle coach appeared to consider that task done and the dramatic sinking of the battleship emphatically supported their assessment. The main barrel lowered and two side panels opened, putting out two slightly smaller, more traditional guns. The accompanying gunmen and the coach itself were turning their attention toward the invaders coming through the front gate, the ones be
hind her and Chaff.
Thaddeus was still bent over his damaged hand. They would have to leave him to be found by whichever side reached him first. If they didn’t move now, they were going to be caught in the crossfire.
Chaff touched her arm. She met his eyes and nodded, then followed him at a low sprint deeper into the rubble and the concealing dust that had swallowed Bennett moments ago. Macak struggled a bit now. She didn’t want to put him down just yet though. He had blood on his fur in places and she had no way of knowing how badly he might be injured.
They stopped and crouched in some rubble to get their bearings. She winced with every breath, nauseated and dizzy with the pain in her side.
“Do you know where the little airship is?” She asked, watching the battle coach approaching where Thaddeus was now standing, clutching the wounded hand out in front of him like some diseased thing.
“It saw it move outside the wall when the gate came down. There was nowhere safe for it to stay once the battleship move in.” He looked at her and his eyes narrowed. “Are you all right?”
With Macak in her arms, he wouldn’t be able to see the blood soaking the side of her clothes. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t notice the pain in her face. He’d known her too long for her to hide that.
“Just a scratch.”
His eyes narrowed further. “Let me see.”
“Blood and ashes, Chaff. Remember those bigger problems you mentioned? They’re still getting bigger.”
As she spoke, the battle coach opened fire with the two side guns. They shot at remarkable speed and range, taking down several Bobbies and Pirates before the remaining invaders sprinted for cover. Over the wall, people were diving from the falling battleship with parachutes. She could only imagine Drake’s fury in that moment, watching his prized warship going down after one short, albeit destructive, pass over the prison.
“I need to get in there.”
Maeko almost jumped from her skin when Ash spoke behind them, jerking hard enough that pain stabbed through her side, eliciting a gasp and making her lose her grip on Macak. The cat landed graceful at her feet, still quite agile despite his roughing up in the explosion. He crouched at their feet, watching, ready to partake in whatever plans they devised.
“Middle of a battle is not a good time to be sneaking up on folks, mate,” Chaff snapped, obviously as surprised as she was by his arrival.
Ash grinned. There was no cloth in his nose now, but still plenty of blood drying down his shirt. “You’re just sore I managed to sneak up on you.”
“Where’s Garrett?” Maeko asked.
“He went out to the airship. He’s going to take it up for a better vantage and to look for a place to drop in to get us. He sent me in to find you two and it’s a good thing he did. Looks like we’ve got some work to do. They can’t bring the ship in with that thing in here and it’s going to destroy our people.”
Chaff met her eyes and they both nodded. That infernal machine had to be stopped quickly if they were going to hold onto any advantage they’d gained though the surprise attack of the battleship.
“What if we go around behind?” Maeko suggested. “They’re focused forward right now. We’d only have to take out the two men in the back. Chaff and I can do that. If we get you a clear path, can you get in there and disable it?”
Ash nodded. “I think so.”
She looked at Macak, his fur a mess with dust, debris and some blood. “Don’t suppose I can ask you to stay behind?”
The cat’s bright eyes held hers for a few seconds. He shook himself then leapt up to her shoulders.
“I figured as much,” she muttered under her breath, though she couldn’t deny the way his weight on her shoulders lightened her spirits and gave her just a little hope. She glanced at the others. “Let’s go.”
Keeping low, they made their way around the intact portion of the building. As they came around the side in the dark, she glanced at the next building down. Somewhere in there was Travis, though from the looks of things, the section he was in was naught but rubble now. Perhaps, if the Pirates survived this mess, they could try to find him. He might still be alive in there. If not, his blood was on her hands too.
Mixed with my own.
She put her hand to her side, feeling how damp the cloth of her shirt and jacket were. There was a constant severe pain there with frequent sharper jabs of pain accentuating her movements. She couldn’t stop and worry about that now though. No matter how it hurt. No matter how nauseous or lightheaded she felt, they had to stop the battle coach. With the battleship out of commission, the Pirates and Bobbies didn’t have a weapon that could take it down.
Keep going.
There was shouting and shots being fired. When they got around the back of the building they could see that the gunmen with the coach had ducked into cover, exchanging occasional fire with their opponents. Mostly they were waiting. The coach turned and lowered its center cannon. Lightening arced along its length again and a slug shot out. It hit a block of debris some Pirates were hiding behind and shattered it, breaking it down and giving the gunmen a chance to fire as the Pirates bolted for new cover. One of them took a shot in the leg and went down. When another turned back to help, he was shot in the chest and dropped where he was. The one with the leg wound started dragging himself, but didn’t get far before another gunman’s shot finished him off.
The nausea in her gut spread, not from pain this time.
There were only a couple of men near the back of the battle coach. One on each side. Chaff gestured to himself then pointed to the far one then to her and the near one, who was also conveniently shorter than the other.
She nodded. “Ganbatte.”
Chaff smiled solemnly. “Ganbatte.”
Ash smirked. “What you said.”
Chaff moved out and back, Ash moving with him. No one was watching behind them with the fight raging ahead. Maeko set Macak on the ground and grabbed a chunk of stone. She waited a few seconds until Chaff was in position. Then she moved up behind her mark.
Her heart was racing faster now, which wasn’t at all helpful with her injury. Glancing over, she saw Chaff rising behind his mark, lifting his metal arm up to make the blow. She took a deep breath, regretting it for the flare of pain, but she channeled the pain into anger and swung the stone with all her might, striking the man behind the ear as hard as she could.
A wave of conflicting guilt and relief swept through her when he dropped to the ground. She glanced over to see if Chaff had succeeded, and her eyes caught on someone stepping past the far side of the coach with a gun raised. Ash sprinted into her vision as the man Chaff had gone after started to turn around. Chaff’s blow hit, but it hit the wrong spot, knocking the gunman off balance as he spun back toward him. Chaff grabbed the big gun the man was swinging around, trying to wrench it away. Several shots fired, most of them still aimed toward the battle ahead. The man stepping around the battle coach, however, had fired back. Ash staggered, but the shot hadn’t been a killing one, perhaps only because the shooter was Thaddeus, firing with his off hand. Wherever he’d been hit, Ash didn’t slow long, lunging into Thaddeus and taking him to the ground.
Maeko looked around. The coach and the rest of the gunmen were still advancing. Both boys were locked in struggles of their own. She lacked the mechanical knowledge Ash had to disable the machine, but there was another way to stop it. Because of the guns mounted in the sides, the door in was on the back of the metal box. Grabbing the gun from the man she had downed with one hand and digging for the Allkey with the other, she sprinted for the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Always willing to take a chance on good luck, she tried opening the door when she reached it. It was locked. The coach was moving slow enough that she could press close and maneuver the Allkey. The key again lived up to its name. There was a satisfying click and she opened the door.
There wasn’t much time to think. The sudden change in the air and in the noise in the inte
rior of the coach drew the driver’s attention. Joel slammed his foot down on a lever and grabbed for the gun lying near his hand. Maeko spared a second to shut the door behind her and flip the lock. She lunged forward, but wasn’t fast enough. Joel snatched up the gun and his hand was suddenly wrapped in a glove of fur and teeth and flailing claws. He let out a high-pitched shriek and slammed the hand and cat into one wall of the coach. Macak lost his grip with the sudden impact as Joel flung him into a back corner. He hit hard with a clang of metal on metal and dropped to the floor.
“No!” Maeko screamed before terror and the force of her rage took her breath away.
She was close enough now, with the time Macak’s attack had bought her, to grab Joel’s hand. His hand was slippery though with the blood the cat had drawn, so she dug her fingernails into a deep scratch for grip. Joel cried out. The pain left him reeling and vulnerable. Following his example with Macak, she slammed his wrist into a corner of metal three times in rapid succession. He dropped the gun.
Maeko started to bring up the gun she was still holding, but Joel wasn’t ready to be defeated yet. His eyes lit, and before Maeko could react, his other fist plowed into her wounded side. Her breath went out and she crumpled to her knees. Joel brought his knee up and she turned her face fast enough that he caught her in the cheek rather than the nose, but the blow still knocked her back on her tailbone.
Joel grabbed her hand now, twisting to get the gun free of her grip. Maeko sucked in an agonizing breath and spotted opportunity. Releasing the one gun, she rolled to the side near Macak and grabbed the gun Joel had dropped. She swung it around and they both fired. The shots were deafening in the enclosed metal coach. They stared at one another. Then red blossomed across Joel’s chest and Maeko waited to feel the blossoming of her own pain. It wasn’t pain that she felt though. It was warmth. The warmth of a small warm body on her chest. A small, warm, unmoving body.
The Girl and the Clockwork Crossfire Page 20
