The Impossible Cube

by Steven Harper

  Alice’s lips moved, but Gavin had put the ear protectors back on and he could no longer hear her. Feng looked unfazed, but adrenaline zinged through Gavin’s arteries. The Gontas and Zalizniaks weren’t going to capture now. They intended to kill. Praying his plan would work, Gavin let the rucksack fall to the floor, revealing the paradox generator. He pointed the speaking trumpet toward the pack of screeching clockworkers and spun the crank hard.

  This time, even through the ear protectors, he heard the faint sliding sound of the tritone paradox. It simultaneously climbed and dropped, spinning and swirling. The gaps between the intervals were all tritones, an auditory square root of two that itself stretched out into infinity, but each tritone was paired with a mirror of itself, a parallel. Instead of being painful, the sound became perfection. The sound twisted the universe into new shapes, teased the ear the way a star’s gravity teased a comet. Gavin heard only a tiny part of it, and he felt a singular joy.

  The effect on the clockworkers was electric. They stopped dead in their tracks, dropped their weapons, fell to their knees with the backs of their hands dragging on the floor. Every one of them stared at the generator with an open mouth. Most of them drooled like half-dead demons.

  “Get the children,” Gavin said, though it was difficult to speak. “We’ll have to take the lift.”

  Alice mouthed something at Feng, who immediately herded the children toward the lift with Alice coming behind. Gavin stayed to keep the paradox generator going.

  And then Danilo Gonta appeared at the top of the steps in his bloodstained white coat. He was wearing ear protectors. Gavin tensed.

  “Shit,” he muttered. He hadn’t noticed Danilo wasn’t among the crowd of Gontas he held captive with the generator, or remembered that Danilo hadn’t returned after Ivana had sent him from the operating theater. Both of Gavin’s hands were occupied with the generator, and Alice and Feng were already halfway to the lift with the children.

  Danilo bounded down the stairs and stopped just a few steps away from Gavin. He didn’t have a weapon, but that didn’t mean he was unarmed. Gavin took an uncertain step backward, still cranking the generator. The faint but perfect beauty of the tritone paradox was a constant distraction.

  The clockworker reached into his pocket. Gavin tensed again, and Danilo pulled out a metal stylus with a glass bulb on the end. A wire ran from the other end of the stylus and disappeared up Danilo’s sleeve. He moved the stylus across the air, and it left a trail of light. Gavin stared in fascination, and he almost forgot to crank the generator.

  We can hear this sound a little, Danilo wrote in glowing letters. It creates unity! It is perfection! Name price.

  Gavin shook his head. Alice and the others were almost to the lift now.

  Danilo waved the stylus and the words vanished. He started over. We will let you and children go. We will send you on special train to China. We will stop Phipps.

  Where was Phipps, anyway? Gavin had a hard time believing she had been incapacitated for long.

  “No,” Gavin said, his voice muffled in his own ears. “You’ll use it to control each other and other clockworkers and God only knows what else.”

  Danilo’s face hardened in clockworker anger. Then we destroy you and your circus and take friends for test subjects.

  Feng opened the gate to the lift and Alice herded the children aboard. She gestured at Gavin to come. He thought about an army of Cossack clockworkers and their weapons tearing through the Kalakos Circus, of Dodd and Nathan and Linda and Charlie and all the others being carted down here, infected with the clockwork plague or strapped to a table and cut open like Feng. Was that worth an invention he had intended to destroy in the first place? His hand slowed on the crank.

  “You have to promise to let everyone go,” Gavin said.

  Done, Danilo wrote over the heads of his drooling family.

  “And to arrange for that special train.”

  Danilo underlined the word done. His lips also moved as he muttered to himself, and Gavin, used to reading lips on windy airships that often swept sound away, saw him add Ivana and other words he assumed were Ukrainian. The clockwork plague helped him make lightning connections in Gavin’s mind. Realizations snapped and clicked together, and Gavin’s blood went cold. Danilo was lying. He had no intention of letting anyone go. He—they—wanted to use the generator as a weapon against the Gonta clockworkers, and Danilo Zalizniak would do or say anything to get his hands on it. The Cossacks, who had already broken a compact with Phipps, would have no compunctions about breaking one with Gavin.

  He sped up the crank. “No!” he shouted. “I’ll see you in hell first.”

  Danilo leaped at him with a snarl, smearing golden letters. But Gavin’s combat training with the Third Ward took over. He jumped straight up and caught Danilo in the chest with a snap kick that barely interrupted the generator’s lovely drone. Danilo fell back and slammed into Ivana, who toppled over without caring. One side of Danilo’s ear protectors came off, exposing him to the tritone paradox, and a look of ecstasy descended on his face. He sprawled across Ivana’s plump body, already drooling.

  “Your second orgasm of the day,” Gavin said, and kicked him in the crotch. “That’s for Feng and the children, you son of a bitch.”

  The thud as his boot connected felt good. For a moment, Danilo’s face vanished, and it was replaced by Madoc Blue, the pirate who had cornered Gavin on the Juniper and tried to take his trousers down. He was the first mate who had sliced the flesh on Gavin’s back with a whip. Gavin hadn’t had a normal night’s sleep since. Nightmares made the dark restless, and every morning, Gavin jerked awake, his heart pounding. This terrible man drooling on the floor before him was the symbol of everything that was wrong in this world, everything that had gone wrong in Gavin’s life. And he was helpless.

  It occurred to Gavin with terrible certainty that he could end the entire problem here and now. It would be child’s play to kill every Gonta in the room, even with the generator occupying his hands. He could knock the Gontas over, one by one, and stand on their disgusting throats until they suffocated, or break each of their loathsome necks with well-placed kicks. And all the while they would thank him for the lovely, deadly music. He and Alice and Feng and the children could walk out of the house, free and clear. How sweet that would be.

  He planted himself, aimed the first kick that would snap a Cossack neck. And then a touch on his shoulder brought him around. Alice was there.

  Come on! she mouthed. Hurry!

  Gavin hesitated. Alice. Beautiful, practical Alice. She was standing beside him, in the same place, in the same danger, and yet it never even occurred to her to execute the Gontas.

  She plucked at his sleeve. Why the wait? she mouthed. Come!

  How would she react if he killed a group of helpless people, no matter how filthy and foul? And… how would he react later? Only a few days ago, the thought of killing a man with his energy whip had filled him with fear and disgust. Now he was calmly considering destroying a roomful of people. What was he becoming? What was this city turning him into? His skin crawled even as his hand continued to turn the generator. He wouldn’t let himself become their sort of demon.

  “Let’s go,” he said. Still playing, he turned his back on the Gontas and let Alice lead him to the lift.

  Chapter Twelve

  The lift gate clanged shut and Gavin stopped cranking the strange machine in his hands. Instantly the eerie, nail-biting noise ended, and Alice breathed a sigh of relief. Gavin popped the protectors off his ears and hung them around his neck.

  “They’ll stay in that stupor for a few minutes longer,” he said. “We need to hurry.”

  The lift was crowded with the ten children, Gavin, Alice, and Feng. Feng, with the dreadful spider sprawled across half his face like a brass scar. It made Alice sick with guilt to see it and the scars that puckered his chest and torso. She felt bad enough after seeing Feng, and the thought of leaving the children behind in those ca
ges… well, that was quite impossible, no matter what the risk to her own safety might be.

  Alice spun the crank on the lift control and moved the lever, unable to read the Cyrillic characters but hoping UP and DOWN would be in the same places as an English lift. The lift jerked upward, making the children gasp in fear. They shied away from Feng and clustered around Alice likes chicks around a hen. Two of them clutched her hands, despite the iron spider on her left. This was, strangely, her first prolonged contact with children, and she couldn’t decide whether the odd circumstances of the occasion should make her laugh at the ridiculousness of it or howl with outrage at the injustice.

  “Are you all right, Gavin?” she asked instead as the lift continued to rise.

  “I’m fine.” He held up the generator. “Danilo Zalizniak offered the earth for this.”

  “What in heaven’s name for?”

  “So the Zalizniaks could get the upper hand on the Gontas and—I’m guessing—expand their empire.”

  “Good heavens,” Alice said. “I hadn’t thought of that. The moment we get the children to safety, we must destroy that thing.” She paused, still holding the slightly sweaty hands of the two children. Gavin was grinning at her, and the wide, handsome smile was still enough to make her breath stop, especially when it was aimed at her. “What is it?”

  “Feng is in terrible trouble, we could be chopped into pieces at any moment, and the second we leave this lift, we’re going to be fighting our way through god-knows-what, but you’re thinking about the children.” He continued to smile. “You saved me back there, you know.”

  She blinked. “Did I? I thought you were saving me.”

  “Not at all,” he said seriously. “You led me into hell, Alice, and now I know you’re going to lead me back out.”

  The lift slammed to a halt, and for a horrible moment Alice thought the Cossacks had stopped them, but through the gate she could see the main floor of the great house. “Feng,” she said, “open the lift.”

  Feng leaped forward like a puppet on strings and slammed the iron gate aside with the sound of a death bell. Alice felt sick again at the way his scarred body obeyed, but made herself focus. Right now, they had to get out of the Gonta-Zalizniak house intact, and if success required her to bark orders at Feng, she would do it.

  Kemp was waiting for them in the marble foyer. The surreal sight of his familiar head on a different body gave Alice a turn, even though she’d been prepared for it. “I see Madam and Sir were successful in their attempt,” he said. “Excellent work, if I may be so bold.”

  “Thank you, Kemp,” Alice said. She herded the children out of the lift. They were gaining confidence in her now, seemed to understand that she was there to help, and they were more willing to follow her. They were fearful, innocent, and trusting, children who had lived through things no child should dream of, let alone experience. She felt a deep need to ensure their safety and was quite sure she would die to protect them. For a moment, she wondered if this was what it was like to have children of her own, though she didn’t think that she would want to start off—or even finish—with ten of them. She did a quick head count and led everyone toward the front door, her parasol at the ready. Feng and Kemp took up the rear, with Gavin among the children. He looked like a rather distracted young father on an outing, and Alice pushed the thought away to examine later.

  The house seemed to be in confusion. Human servants rushed about or stood uncertainly in corners. A smell of burned food hung in the air. Alice put on the air of a lady and strode confidently, ignoring everyone around her. No one would dare challenge her; it would never occur to her that someone might. Keep moving, keep moving. Check the children, ensure none had wandered away. Push past the handwringing housekeeper who babbled at her in Ukrainian. Thread through the maze of rooms. Nearly at the exit. Keep moving, keep moving.

  She found herself in the middle of an enormous two-storied room with red marble floors and pillars. A grand staircase swept up to a balcony that ran around the entire chamber. High arched windows provided light, and ten-foot-high double doors stood opposite her. A patch of floor in front of the doors gleamed like a diamond. Alice glanced around, halted in confusion. It was the wrong room. She had taken a bad turn somewhere.

  “This is the entry foyer,” Kemp said helpfully. “The front doors are straight ahead of Madam.”

  Alice hesitated and fingered the whistle on its chain around her neck. “I think we should find a side door. I don’t want to walk out onto the front steps and into the middle of that party.”

  “Ivana Gonta sent everyone home some time after Madam and Sir took the lift down,” Kemp sniffed. “According to the servants, she was quite rude about it, even by Cossack standards. It is why everyone is in such a panic. The circus left, except for the elephant, which won’t obey orders from anyone. Perhaps it has broken down.”

  “So the entire banquet existed only to lure us here,” Alice said.

  “Who cares?” Gavin said. “We have a clear sky. Let’s go!”

  A door up on the balcony slammed open and a stream of mechanical guards, all dressed in red uniforms, stormed down the stairs. Faster than any human, they lined up in ranks in front of the main doors. The other doors in the great room crashed shut and locks clicked. The children clustered around Gavin and Alice, whimpering in fear. Alice spread her arms to embrace and reassure as many of them as she could, though her own heart was racing.

  “Madam!” Kemp cried. “Madam!”

  His body marched over to join the automatic army, his arms and legs stiff, his head turning left and right. Alice started to go after him, but Gavin took her shoulder.

  “Wait,” he cautioned. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.”

  “Good advice,” said all the automatons at the same time, in the same voice. Even Kemp. The absolute unity of the sound made Alice’s skin crawl. “We are masters here. You will not leave.”

  “Madam!” Kemp added.

  “Who is this?” Alice demanded as she turned the handle of her parasol.

  “We are Gonta-Zalizniak,” said the automatons. All of them, including Kemp, drew swords.

  “You couldn’t get out of the basement in time to stop us, so you took over your guards. Is one of you controlling all of them,” Alice asked, not really caring but trying to stall so she could think, “or do each of you control one automaton?”

  “You will not leave.” The swords vibrated with a sound like a pack of snarling dogs.

  “Madam! I am trying to change the memory wheels, but I cannot. Help me, Madam!”

  “Where are Phipps and Glenda and Simon?” Alice asked.

  The automatons and Kemp took a step forward in unison. “You will not leave.”

  “Stop us.” Gavin shoved the ear protectors back over his ears and cranked the generator again. The eerie sound rippled through the red marble room. All the automatons and Kemp jerked their heads in unison, then laughed together. Gavin stopped playing in confusion.

  “Siren song is very beautiful,” the automatons said, “but not so enticing when we hear through metallic ears. Alice will exit and go to China. Gavin and pretty Oriental boy will come back downstairs with children. But first we will slice one or two open while you watch.”

  “What?” Alice cried. “Why?”

  “To punish you and Gavin, little baroness. To show that you are not in charge here. If you behave well after that, we promise to use nitrous oxide on Gavin and children before more experiments, though little baroness will have to take our word on that.”

  Feng was trembling and his torso was sheathed in sweat, though his spidery face stayed impassive and he remained where he was at the back of the group of children. Alice glanced at Kemp, then back at the children. Damn it. She twisted her parasol handle again, and the high-pitched whine shrilled. Her hands shook.

  “Madam, what are you doing?” Kemp asked. “Madam, please don’t!”

  “I’m sorry, Kemp,” she said. “I’m so sor
ry.” And she fired a bolt of electricity. The children cried out and scrambled backward. The crackling bolt struck the center automaton square on and spread to the others, including Kemp. Alice bit her lip, but held her grip firm. All the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and the smell of ozone tanged the air.

  The automatons stood still for a moment. Then they laughed again, even Kemp. One of the automatons extended a hand. Its forearm separated from its upper arm and shot across the room, still connected to the body by a stiff cable. The move caught Alice off guard, and the automaton’s hand was able to snatch the parasol from her hand and haul it back. It snapped the weapon in two and flung it aside. “No, no, no. We know about electric umbrella. We saw it work.”

  “They’re standing on glass flooring,” Gavin said. “They aren’t grounded.”

  “Good heavens,” Alice whispered, staring at the gleaming patch of floor. Kemp remained silent.

  “You have no weapons now,” the automatons said. “You belong to us.”

  The little clockwork army, including Kemp, spread out into a semicircle and stormed forward, their terrible growling swords at the ready. Before Alice could react, a bolt of red energy slashed through the air and punched through the chest of one of the automatons. It keeled over backward. Its sword went still. Alice spun. On the balcony behind and above them all stood Susan Phipps in her scarlet uniform with a large rifle in her hands and a battery pack on her back. Her brass monocle stared coldly down into the stone foyer. Beside her, also armed, were Simon d’Arco in black and Glenda Teasdale in yellow.

  “Sorry it took so long to get here,” Phipps said. “We had to raid the Gonta armory first.”

  “Oh God,” Gavin muttered.

  “Fire!” Phipps ordered. Glenda and Simon obeyed. The air crackled with energies Alice couldn’t name. Gavin dropped the paradox generator, and they pushed the children to the floor while terrible thunder boomed overhead. The smell of hot metal filled Alice’s nose. It went on and on. Several of the children began to cry. Heat pressed on Alice’s back.