Emperor-for-Life: DeadShop Redux (Unreal Universe Book 6)

by Lee Bond

  “Master Gearman,” Sveta rubbed a hand across Chevy’s armored shoulders, “if we were to listen to that entire story, I have little doubt in my mind we’d not only be here ‘til one o’ the other three laid hands atop Book, but until the very sun itself grew arms, legs and wings, and flew off into the darkness.”

  “That were one of my favorite stories, growin’ up.” Linders mused with a wistful look on his war-torn face. “Didn’t the sun bird eat up the moon on the way off?”

  Chevy nodded, feeling so very t’home. “Aye, in most versions, aye, sun bird did wake up, see that biscuit afloat off to one side and did sup on’t ‘ere leaving for the far edges o’ darkness. In the very first o’ the iterations, though, weren’t moon as the bird ate, but earth. Plucked each lone human from the soil like as if we were worms, hey? Gulped us down one by one by one, and the reason for it’s running away into the darkness were because it’s mammy did appear, all lathered wi’ wroth at a child eating all of everyone’s dinner. Babbies started having night frights about giant birds wi’ long beaks pokin’ in through their rooftops, so the tale got changed to summat a little less frightening.”

  Linders laughed. “Mayhap if I’d heard that tale instead of the other one, I’d’ve been a better boy, hey? Not got caught out wi’ Estate manager’s daughter and all else as followed would’ve been a different story for me as well. No crudey-crude, no black blood, neither no razors for teeth and iron in me skin.”

  The unexpectedly sorrowful turn in Linders’ tale of times gone past settled heavily atop the shoulders of everyone present, all save Eli, who were still preoccupied wi’ going over the gear in the crates, ticking off them boxes and muttering to the house AI nearly all the time.

  “But then,” Linders resumed after seeing how dark he’d gotten, putting a sardonic lilt to his voice, “I wouldn’t be out here in the Outside with you lot, preparing to go up against Enforcers and who knows what else? Only a madman and a pack of lunatics would do summat like that, hey?”

  That turned the mood around right quick, and e’en old man Pointillier had himself a good chuckle over the very real fact that what they were soon going to be doing was perhaps one of the maddest things anyone anywhere had ever planned.

  Waiting a few ticks ‘ere he broke the mood once more, Chevy motioned for all the resurrected gearheads to come stand by him and Norcross. When they was all stood ‘round, Gearmaster addressed the man they’d all decided would be the leader o’ the group; Chevy, as Gearmaster and Arcadian and therefore the one man who needed to survive long enough to get to Book, were nowt more than advisor in this instance.

  “Now then, Norcross, what say you? If we cannot go in through the top, how do we gain access?” Chevy pointed at the vehicles buzzing to and fro ‘round the Stack, seeing that there were more than just local constabularies; he knew he weren’t no kind of expert on vehicles –in fact, he reckoned he could live a dozen lifetimes and never see the same one twice- but … cop cars were easy enough to tell apart from all t’others, and as he stood, waiting on Norcross’ answer, he counted no less than five different styles. Chevy pointed at the amazing pad. “’specially wi’ all these uninvited guests?”

  “Won’t be easy, hey?” Norry scratched his jawline. “Now, the local lads in blue, they like our Master Eli, as he’s quite keen on introducing new weapons and the occasional donation to their coffers, don’t you know? Hain’t that right, Eli? A little nudge here and there with the lads on the ground does make for an easier time of things, right?” Eli nodded and waved his datapad, but didn’t address. “So they’re in our pocket sure enough. They, or rather, them as are in the know and who can affect the dealings of others, they’ll let us on in wi’out taking shots at our broadside. As a side bonus, they’ll take the wind out of any who fire ‘pon us wi’out us having to stand for ourselves.”

  Chevy nodded. He understood greasing palms. Why, in his own times, he’d done it more than once, usually all so he could avoid dealing with odious Estate managers or fretful ladies o’ the house. “This is good, this is good but …”

  Thierry, on the other side of Norcross, made a loud, explosive noise with his mouth and hands, and everyone else had themselves a good chuckle. When he were done, the gearhead explained, “Side breach, milord, side breach.”

  “Ah.” ‘twere all that needed to be said on the matter.

  Norry quirked an eyebrow at Chevy’s instantaneous acceptance. “For a man as has only been in the Outside for a matter of days, you do take to things you’ve never seen of nor dreamt of very quickly. Tell me when I first hopped out The Dome about summat like ‘side breach’ and I’d be at your throat an instant, lookin’ to protect my old starfish, hey?”

  Chevy smiled. “While I am all ears for all sorts of things, milad, the last thing I should like to know about are trouser contained echinoderms, hey, leastways any as belong to them as got nowt but outies. Now if fair Sveta were to chime in wi’ stories about marine life contained within her outer garments, I think we all might listen in.” Sveta played along by grumbling and looking displeased with the attention, and everyone indulged in the second good chuckle of the day.

  When they were done, Chevy raised his hands and conducted his band of gearheads once more into silence. “In all seriousness though, ‘tis easy enough to explain, though the explanation itself is per’aps one of the more complicated things in me life. All boils down to Book, lad. That, and the nature and number o’ my years. Wi’ a head full of King Nickels’ fascination wi’ tinkering and more years ‘neath me old notched belt than I am willing to admit, when you is say ‘side breach’, I take into account all I see but say nowt about, and presume that somewhere in yon crates there’s summat as can make a very large boom.”

  Thierry, their explosives master, was all agleam wi’ excitement. “Aye, Gearmaster. An explosion the likes of which you’ve nowt ever imagined. The glory and precision of expertly laid bangers and boomers … in my time abroad, I’ve laid down stuff as rips the unholy hell out of fortifications in ways you can only dream, all wi’ nowt but the tiniest o’ bangs. That stuff is hard to come by, though …”

  “And after the last time,” Eli commented wryly as he made his way over to the gang, freshly completed datapad in hand, “when something on the nature of two solid pounds of the stuff has ‘gone missing, squire, I swears on me mam’s grave it had to be one of them other crews’, it remains astonishingly slender that you shall ever have your hands on it again. Least, from any job you do for me.”

  Thierry said nowt, but the lovely shade of red his rough face went did say all that needed to be uttered.

  Eli nodded greetings to Chevy, then stepped in to take the conversational reins. “Now, as Norry and the others have been saying, the police are on the hook, a side breach is imminent. You’ve got all manner of electromagnetic countermeasures and a few other surprises besides all that to otherwise bamboozle and confuse your Enforcer as you enter, all so that you might mount an attack before his systems recover. But …”

  “Them as aren’t occupied by police forces may very well attempt to stream in after us, hey?” Chevy weren’t no fool. The motion of those vehicles swarming and swirling around 17, they were like hungry animals waiting for a wounded animal to slow down enough for them to attack. Once they were in through the side, no amount of bribes would get their purchased men in blue to engage. “And that is the thing we don’t want more than anything else. The six o’ us shall be engaged in hearty combat wi’ our armor-clad Enforcer. After seeing … footage? Yes, after seeing footage of these men in action, I should think all our cognitive functions will be focused very narrowly. Plenty of space and time for knaves looking to steal our thunder to nip in and out.”

  Eli waggled a finger at Chevy. “Ever the quick one, you are. Yes, Master Pointer, that is indeed the case. I know we didn’t speak of it before now, but you understand, time was pressing and it was a matter of getting things on the roll straightaway. In order to effect your entrance and en
sure that you are able to focus on the primary goal, I … called back others from your old country.”

  Chevy nodded, though slowly. He saw the cool, calculating look in Norry’s eyes, sensed the man’s thoughts on the matter. ‘twere as if he were suddenly back home, neath The Dome, and he and Dom were having one of those completely silent conversations. It come from a lifetime o’ friendship and understanding, and were powerful strange to be encountering such wi’ a man he’d really only just met, but it were there all the same.

  In order to quell any rumblings on Eli’s part, Chevy nodded again a second time, more enthusiastically. The look in Norry’s eyes dissipated. “Aye, well, well, that’s very good and proper in this instance, hey? As grand and as glorious as we all no doubt are, there does remain the fact that we hain’t the sort to be in more’n a single place at any time, no matter how much we might like it. And as you’ve said ‘ere now, Master Eli, all these lads and lassies owe you a particular kind of allegiance, hey? So then, whilst me and this lot here are inside 17, your other crews shall what? Lurk about the outside, providing protection, keeping the unwanted masses from joining in the fun?”

  Eli went to answer, but just then, Turner –who’d been stood quiet as a church mouse all this time as he weren’t precisely as at ease wi’ who he’d been on the Inside and were working through many an issue- snatched the datapad from his fingers.

  “Be sure,” Eli said to the man as he wandered away towards the crates, poking his way through menus, “Be sure, Turner, not to uncheck anything or order things I shall not be paying for.”

  Turner flipped the datapad around in his hands but said nowt.

  “Anyways, as I were about to say before Turner got impatient, that is precisely what the other teams will be doing.” Eli sketched a little bow. “And once you’re done with your Enforcer and you move further in to deal with the other Arcadians, they’ll establish themselves a beachhead so that your escape will be that much easier. Do you …”

  “Is you fookin’ kiddin’ me right now?” Turner demanded as loudly as he possibly could. “Eli, you is fuckin’ wi’ me right now, in’t ya? This were put ‘ere on this pad just coz you is know I is take it from you. This is a horrible tease!”

  “Turnsy,” Norry looked over at the other man, “what in the hell are you going on about?”

  “This!” Turner tossed the ‘pad across the room to Norry, who caught it with a deft hand. “He is only got us FARS-cannons! Well, Trinity-built guns based on FARS-cannon designs direct from that shithole Latelyspace, but fookin’ FARS-cannons! This is so much better than the shit-guns we was goin’ to use! We is blow our lad apart at the fookin’ seams!”

  Everyone save Chevy were all nods and grins and smiles and back-slapping like the world were goin’ to end sometime soon, so the old Gearman cleared his throat. “Welladay, looks like we’ve got ourselves a Solstice Day pack of gifts, hey? Now. Howsabout we tell the old man in the middle what the bloody hell’s got you lot all twisted up like toddlers climbin’ down the stairs ‘ere mam and dad wake up, hey? Mind you, I should like to be doin’ this whilst we is move the fuck along towards our goal, right? You lot is not got second by second updates as to where the other Arcadians are, hey? I is not like where they’s at in relationship to myself.”

  Chevy looked at Eli, who stood there silently. “Master Eli, our bargain still stands. I shall deliver what I promised as you’ve done so already. If we could get this unruly show on the road, I would be most obliged.”

  Eli dipped his head. “By all means, Master Pointer. All right, lads and lassies, let’s gear up. Someone explain to Master Pointer just why Turner nearly shat himself over the FARS-cannon discovery?”

  And just like that, they were all abuzz with activity…

  ***

  "And how many people do live in a place like this, hey?" Chevy felt terribly small, smaller than he'd ever felt in his entire life, and he were still reeling from being face to big toe wi' the biggest Kings ever dreamt up by old Barnabas Blake himself. The Stack went up and up and up, further and farther than it seemed were e'en possible.

  And there were hundreds, if not thousands o' the long metal teeth dotting the landscape far as the eye could see, wi' shadows hinting at more than that.

  Sveta pulled the data from her personal handheld. "In this particular one, around a billion or so. Consensus reports don't include indigents and scavengers and all that, though. There're reports of people hunkering down in the stairwells and such. Not the sort of place internal security is wont to go down into unless it's an issue of overall Stack safety."

  Chevy scrubbed a hand across his face. The number was so large it were nearly nonsensical. "Bugger me. That's a ridiculous number."

  Windim leaned over the side of their troop carrier and let a long dangle of spit loose until the gob caught the wind and went whipping off to disappear. "Aye, milord. It do take getting used to, don't it? All of us save Norry over there, who's some kind of genius or summat, well, learnin' that the Outside had numbers of people bordering on the infinite did fairly do our individual melons in."

  "Speak for yourself, Windy." Thierry ran a hand lovingly down the length of the heavy personal FARS-cannon. "You is a daft loon best o' times so it hain't no surprise that numbers beyond three or four do your nut in."

  Linders laughed so hard at the look on Windy's face that he damned near fell off his perch, which in turn sent everyone on the gunboat into mild hysterics.

  Chevy felt pangs turn in his heart. These young men and women weren't truly young, hey, but coming to the Outside had stripped them o' the dark ink ravaging their insides and turning their souls into charred cinders, and it were just … so great to see. He were truly humbled to be in the presence of proper Arcadians once more. Aye, the reasons behind their rebirth into the Outside had once possessed a nefarious purpose, but no more. Now they were living the life they mayhap should’ve owned on the Inside.

  Norry nudged Chevy's elbow, then jerked a chin at the quickly arriving 'boats. "Here they do come, Master Gearman. Dispel that storm on your face 'ere they do arrive proper-like, if you please, these lads and lassies hain't as cultured as we are. No doubt they'd take offense."

  Chevy nodded solemnly, taking Norry's words to heart. There weren't as many differences 'tween Inside gearheads and Outside wardogs, not when you got right down to it. Them on t'other boats, they were like any other salty lad from anywhere 'neath The Dome; a big metal chip on their shoulders, lookin' to prove who were biggest and baddest.

  "Do you know any of these 'uns?" Chevy really didn't like the notion o' dealing wi' more gearheads turned wardogs. The five of 'em as he were with now, he'd had plenty o' time getting to know them over the last bit, had had the opportunity to plant the seed of remembrance and to nurture the gentle gears growing inside.

  The new 'uns, though … there were no telling how allied they were wi' Eli and young Chassie. As far as the lady o' the house were concerned, she held a wee bit more of Chevy's trust that did Eli, and his feelings hadn't gone unnoticed, not by any o' his wardogs and most probably not by Nanny Nonesuch neither. The delicate bird-lady were far more intuitive and insightful than most might imagine. There weren't nothing he could do about it if she’d taken it upon herself to deliver unto Eli her personal opinions.

  Norry shook his head, a grimace crossing his face. "Not greatly, no. Recognized a name here and there, but … nay. Not too greatly."

  “I worked wi’ a few o’ ‘em a few times, here and there.” Linders admitted, perhaps a little hesitantly. “All right people, if, you know, rough ‘round them edges.”

  Sveta, Turner and Linders admitted the same, with the latter adding, “Still and all, though, they’s Eli’s people through and through. We all are until we earn our freedom, and wi’ the crop run dry and the fields laying fallow, mayhap nowt more of ‘em’ll earn that golden ticket, hey? Never met a man wi’ money as didn’t want to make more, and if there’s a way for him to turn a tidier profit than the
one you led him to believe he were going to make on this here adventure, I reckon them on t’other boats’ll be primed and ready to strike it rich.”

  Chevy took the sideways warning and accepted it, eyeing the encroaching gunboats with an extra layer of caution; open-air machines capable of flying through the air in ways very sim’lar to boats as plied their trade on water, the three additional vessels did carry an extra four hands apiece, and e’en though they were still ten feet out and coming, roughness fairly emanated from the lads and lassies. Affixed to each dual-bank of chairs were large cannons capable of having serious conversations with any as might come too close, and on the bow and stern were heavy machine guns fit to punctuate those heavier conversations wi’ staccato interjections.

  No doubt the other crew –much like Chevy’s own- held aboard other surprises as well. Once they were inside dealing with the Enforcer and racing against time to reach Book, the new crews were supposed to use their tools to prevent anyone from turning their heads this way, but there were no telling. Chevy rather doubted any one from his crew’d have the time or wherewithal to ensure that there weren’t no one comin’ in to take a peek at what was what.

  The closest boat pulled up alongside their boat and cut the engines, while the remaining two took up protective positions on either side; they were all far enough away from Stack 17 to remain ‘off the radar’, but that were only a polite way of saying they’d all been seen and measured and were too far away for anyone responsible enough to want to do anything about their presence. If they lingered for too much longer, though, someone not owing favors to Eli Crane-Hawthorn of the Regilline Crane-Hawthorns may find themselves bored enough to take a look-see.