Biker Chicks: An Anthology of Hot MC Romance

by AJ Downey

  Another familiar expression. Once her secret was out after the injury that had cost her her eye, the Austro-Hungarian cavalry had no use for Luca, either. Mercenary work paid better anyway, and the respect level outside her homeland was about the same either way. “Reconstruction, huh? Looks like quite the thing to maintain. But I guess you can charge all the mad scientists good coin to come show off their toys?”

  “The financial arrangements are a little more complex than when the palace does art shows, but, well, yes.”

  And he began to point out his obvious favorites, the ‘medically reconstructive’ works, while acknowledging, for Emily’s sake, the newest phonographs and other technology related to arts and entertainment. “The sound men are certainly happy to be putting their things to use for your performance.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  Luca continued to glance around, letting the others talk about sound equipment and the logistics of the show. Luca knew what she liked in a performance, but the technical details were lost on her. She was also getting that itch telling her something wasn’t quite right, while not placing precisely what as she glanced over inventors, their devices, the performance space outside, and the admirers of all the above.

  With showtime approaching, Emily was particularly interested in seeing how the sound equipment could be safely placed near the fountains.

  “The water is going to be terribly high during the show, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “Quite,” said the doctor. “We have excellent water pressure thanks to the water towers. Designed by Brunel himself, much higher and of greater capacity than anything of the kind.”

  Emily nodded pleasantly, then smiled apologetically to Luca.

  Luca couldn’t help but smile back. “Water pressure, right. Enjoy scouting the stage,” she said, giving Emily a one-armed hug before wandering to do a little scouting and take a closer look at the displays of imported metalwork. Swords from the Orient might not be as fancy as the machines, but they were still regarded as exciting and different here, and as far as she was concerned, a good blade was a lot more reliable.

  Emily got to work seeing how the phonographs were being placed—and how they would be shielded as she danced through the water.

  She at first thought the roughly-dressed men who approached were more roustabouts to move the equipment—or technicians, in the case of those carrying rolls of carbon paper. Then one tapped her companion on the shoulder. “Doctor,” he said, his accent somewhat affected to Emily’s ears. “I noticed some of your medical machines were missing from their place.”

  “Hmm?” the old man asked. “Which ones?”

  “The ones they says have diamonds in.”

  “Ah. I’m having the surgical drills recalibrated.”

  “Now that is a bit of a problem.”

  A pair of clerks came running angrily toward the men carrying the carbon paper—and abruptly stopped as two of the men calmly drew guns on them.

  Emily breathed. A bit of a problem indeed.

  “The day’s certainly not a loss yet,” said the man with the strange accent. Other previously-supposed laborers began bringing over horses. “But I’m afraid we will be wanting a bit more of your expert attention, Doctor.”

  Perhaps someone among the small but growing group of those aware of the apparent robbery looked like they might move, because one of the men with guns frowned, and then the sound of a single pane of glass shattering rang through the palace.

  Horses were readied, sacks were hefted, and two of the men grabbed the doctor from either side. Emily glanced over her shoulder into the palace, unable to spot Luca. She silently apologized, then took a breath and turned back to the men.

  “That’s not the way to do it at all,” she said calmly. “A frail old man? He could drop dead of the fight too easily, and then you’ve got nothing to shield you, and already a murder charge besides. In addition, the sort of men calling the shots—literally—might not value the old.”

  The head of the thieves looked at her. “You’re saying he’d break too easily, but his death wouldn’t look tragic enough in the papers to stop everyone.”

  “Exactly.”

  His grin turned wicked, and Emily remembered to look afraid. “Then let’s take the glamorous doll sturdied up in brass, men.”

  Luca walked the perimeter of the palace, letting Emily handle her set-up time and meeting the local VIPs. The general lack of security, with so many high-priced gadgets and top minds of the era here, was still getting to her on general principle. So far, there was no sign of trouble, but her mercenary instincts were telling her that something about the set-up didn’t feel right.

  She paused as she walked by one of the maintenance crews, four men with various tools, bags, and unforms, all pointing to various items and displays.

  “Okay, we’ll get the bikes. You two get to the electricals.”

  One of the others nodded. “Show begins soon.”

  They quieted as Luca passed, nodding back when she greeted them and moved on.

  She hadn’t gone far when the sound of glass breaking got her attention. Likely as not, an accident somewhere, but it stood out. Trusting her instincts more than she feared making a fool of herself, Luca turned and ran back. As she did so, she saw the workmen again. One of them was using a lead pipe to smash one of the pair of bikes on display. Two others were loading arrays of smaller devices from a display table into their otherwise-mostly-empty toolboxes. The last had a heavy wrench in hand, brandishing it like a weapon while shoving Mr. Roper against the wall with the other hand, right near the bike Roper had wanted Luca to test. Luca sprinted toward them, instinctively reaching for her cavalry saber, to, of course, find it missing.

  She barreled into the man with the wrench, grabbing for the back of his hair at full speed, pulling him away from Roper and slamming his face into one of the temporary display walls. The noise drew the attention of the man with the lead pipe, who called for the others, and turned on her.

  Luca back-pedaled away from a swing of the pipe, noticing the others approaching quickly, likewise with makeshift weapons. She barely ducked another swing from the pipe, and came back up in an uppercut, dropping the saboteur to the ground, setting the pipe rolling away from his hand.

  With two toughs approaching her, and the man she’d originally dropped already recovering, Luca dove after the pipe, rolling back to her feet much better armed. The first man who came at her swung his makeshift weapon clumsily, and she smashed the pipe into his knuckles, forcing him to drop his weapon. The man who’d had the wrench lunged, but she saw the motion, turning and dropping him with a smash over the head.

  After he dropped, the others thought better of fighting it out, helping the man she’d punched back to his feet before the three took off at a run. Luca made sure the unconscious man was well and truly out, then took off after them—just in time to hear shouts and the noise of horses from the direction of the stage. It was too far away to do much, and judging by the noise, there were people on horseback, likely to only get further away. Her own horse had been stabled before they took the train here. She didn’t even have her sword, much less a gun. Cursing for a moment, Luca’s eye set on the bike, then on the still-terrified inventor. “Guess you’ll get me to test this thing after all. Hope you’re right about it being a match for all those horses. How’s this thing work?”

  A few instructions later, focusing on starting, turning, and going faster, the bike roared to life as she leaned down for speed, taking off toward the performance area. By the time she reached it, she noticed someone missing she’d expected to be front and center in the midst of chaos. Over the years, calming the crowd had effectively become one of Emily’s hobbies.

  The crowd Emily was apparently not calming didn’t even try to talk over the sound of the large steam-bike as the mercenary looked at them. Various of them simply pointed. Moments after that, she was gunning the engine again and taking off after the kidnappers.

&nb
sp; She caught sight of them soon after. While she couldn’t hear what he was saying over the roar of her engine, one of them at the lead of the small knot of horsemen was shouting something back at others. She also quickly noticed their hostage—Emily was secured to the back of a saddle, hands bound. The rest had loaded saddle bags full of who-knew-what from the show, while the apparent leader had their insurance policy. Luca didn’t count on any of it slowing them down much, and she knew she wouldn’t have the advantage of surprise for long with the noise from her engine. She quickly pushed the bike up to full speed, old cavalry reflexes kicking in as she made tight turns around the fountains and sculptures.

  She was closing the ground quickly when the leader, looking back again to shout something else, either spotted her or heard the bike over his own shouts and the horses. He pointed her out, then turned, kicking his horse into a run, with the others following suit. They raced through the displays, crashing through anyone or anything fragile enough to just be knocked aside, and around everything else. Luca took the shortest route, cutting tight corners, and gaining bit by bit.

  Closing in on the pair in the rear, she stood, one hand remaining on the handlebars, the other reaching for the lead pipe. The nearest man turned in the saddle as best he could, firing back toward her, but the awkward angle and jostling of the horse threw his aim off, and the bullets ricocheted to one side. She caught up, smashing the pipe down on his hand, forcing him to drop the gun. The next swing hit under his chin, and he slumped, then tumbled back off the horse. As soon as that horse veered off, she saw the other rear-guard rider leveling his gun at her. She slowed the bike, pulling back behind him as he fired. He continued trying to aim at her as she veered side to side. After a couple more missed shots, she throttled back up, catching up, standing up in the seat again, and smashing him over the back of the head as she caught up, then passed, leaving the unconscious man tumbling back off the horse behind her.

  She counted five still ahead of her, all turning and heading for another exhibition section of the park instead of away and toward open ground, possibly having figured out their pursuer could cover the ground faster than they could. As she tore after them, shots rang out ahead of her. While one whined by her head and hit a statue of some giant lizard, another grazed her arm, almost causing her to lose control of the bike.

  Ahead of her, the riders circled around and among other statues of—the word was dinosaurs, yes—and various stands bearing informational plaques. The obstacles made for a trickier course for her and cut her visibility, but it also blocked lines of fire.

  She kept taking the shortest route, straight toward an even bigger dinosaur statue, ducking low as the bike rocketed between the giant’s legs. Another shot missed her but pelted her with plaster fragments. As she closed in, one of the men dropped his empty gun, going for a heavy wrench. She pulled alongside him to stay out of the other’s line of fire, the remaining trio getting further ahead while she engaged the pair that slowed to fight. She managed to get the pipe up in time to block a swing of the wrench, but numbness shot up her injured arm, almost causing her to drop the pipe.

  She saw motion out of her peripheral vision, shifting to see the other rider dropping back behind them and leveling the gun. Out of options, she threw the pipe, only grazing him, but causing his horse to rear up and throw the rider.

  Before she could get her guard up fully, the wrench came down again. While she blocked part of the swing, it still grazed her skull. She and the bike fell—and went skidding into a plaster reconstruction of an equally immense dinosaur’s skeleton, the casted bones collapsing on top of her.

  After rolling to a painful stop, Luca’s eye opened, first registering a metallic plaque in front of her face, from a knocked over display: Iguanodon bernissartensis. Trying to shake off the crash and fall, she staggered to her feet, to see the man who’d been thrown off his horse coming after her at a staggering run. Grabbing for the nearest weapons, she managed an arm bone in one hand, and what seemed like a giant thumb in the other, with a hooked claw still attached. She blocked his initial attack with the former, and then slashed down, cutting into his chest with the claw, finding it made a wickedly effective, if unbalanced, weapon. He went down, clutching at the wound. A swing of the armbone to his head stilled him.

  Luca checked the bike, sticking the arm bone through her belt. It took some doing, but she got it righted, and found it would still run. Throttling back up, she took off through the debris, catching up with the rear rank within minutes. The thug with the wrench saw her coming. He wasn’t able to turn fully to get a swing in before she dug the thumb-claw into his back, using the grip to pull back and jerk him out of the saddle before passing his horse.

  The next horseman had turned to take a shot, but she gunned the engine and turned on him. The horse reared up as she charged it, throwing its rider. He rolled and came up, firing wildly. While a couple shots came close as she circled, none hit her, and he’d emptied the gun by the time she bore down on him, smashing him across the head with the blunt end of the plaster thumb.

  Emily, bound as she was, could just barely manage to get a look back toward Luca. She’d known she would come after her, of course. And that was certainly an innovative means. Emily could hear a little of the bicycle’s steam engine, but that was drowned out by the wild gunfire. Suddenly, there was a painful clang on the copper surrounding her calf, and then a great deal of jarring and scream-whinnies. It took Emily a moment to realize that bullets had grazed both her bracer and the horse she was riding. The gunfire abruptly stopped as the horse slowed.

  With no one likely to shoot after her, Luca turned her attention back to the final pair of riders, including the leader. They’d gained a significant lead on her, but for whatever reason, to her surprise, they’d stopped. They were pulling Emily down off the back of the horse, and heading for the giant water tower, abandoning their horses. By the time Luca started closing in, the leader was leading the way into the tower, with the last remaining thug forcing Emily along at gunpoint.

  From the top of the tower, they couldn’t get anywhere, unless they had help coming, but with everyone else on foot, if they could stop Luca from chasing them, they might still be able to escape—and the tower provided a great view and limited ways up. She’d be a sitting duck if she tried to follow them up the stairs.

  As it was, she was almost too much of a target anyway, as shots fired from a window. She shoved her makeshift weapon into her belt to free both hands. Pushing the bike to full speed again, she got out of immediate line of fire from the window, and headed for one side of the tower. She pulled herself to standing, and then went further, carefully shifting to get her feet onto the bike seat, in a crouch as she neared the tower. She’d done the trick of leaping from a moving horse many times, but this was a different thing, and faster. She managed to keep her balance, leaping off the bike and grabbing onto a maintenance lattice at the side of the tower, managing to avoid splattering herself, and holding on as the bike rolled.

  Luca started climbing, taking advantage of stairs and ropes where she could, free-climbing the rest of the time, unsure how long she’d have before the men with guns figured out she wasn’t chasing them up the stairs. Her way was more exhausting, but also provided some cover, and, she hoped, might provide some surprise.

  The lattice almost gave way a couple times, but she always found a new handhold, either on the array, or at windows of the building itself. She had to hope that taking the direct route would give her a chance to surprise the people having to go up the spiralling stairs inside, bringing an unwilling hostage with them. She gained some validation for the thought, and confirmation they were still heading for the top, instead of doubling back, when she saw them passing one of the windows just below her. She quickly pulled herself back out of sight from the window, caught her breath for a couple moments, and continued scaling the building.

  Exhausted, she pulled herself up onto the roof, pulling herself over the fence and almost collap
sing on the other side, staggering to the wall to catch her breath. The view was spectacular, no question, including a perfect view where men with guns would be able to hold off almost anything for a good while.

  After the time on the motorcycle, her hearing wasn’t at its best, but she still managed to pick out the clatter of Emily’s braced legs on the steps, rounding the last flight. Taking a couple last, deep breaths to ready herself, Luca drew both bone weapons, and ran for the doorway that let out onto the roof.

  While she did have an ambush ready, she hadn’t expected them to have Emily leading. She pulled up short in her swing, then had to dive out of the way when she saw the men behind her doll aiming their guns. Two shots rang out behind her as she rolled to the side.

  When the trio exited the door onto the roof, the last of the thugs dragged Emily out of the way and into the open, near the fencing. His boss followed Luca. Rather than ‘predictably’ fleeing or trying to hide, she rounded the corner of the building as soon as he was close and came at him fast. By the time he’d leveled the gun, she was slashing the dinosaur thumb-claw at his arm, the hooked claw digging, the impact knocking his arm down so the shot ricocheted off of concrete.

  He lost the gun, but as his arm pulled back, she lost a grip on the bone, leaving it tangled in his jacket. He peeled the jacket off as he stepped away from her, glancing toward the fallen gun. She pulled the arm bone from her belt and lunged. To her surprise, he sidestepped neatly, and snapped a fist to the side of her face. Another lunge with the awkward weapon, and he again shifted, managing a rapid kick to the side of her leg.