by L. C. Mawson
“I never said that it did,” Chepi replied, not bothering to look back at her. “But, for now, it is required.”
Ruth nodded, deciding her keep her mouth shut as they moved towards the treeline. Ruth saw, just beyond, a large building which she assumed was a factory. It was easily three times the size of the facility she shut down in Paris.
“Why is it all the way out here?” Ruth asked. “It must have been difficult to build.”
Chepi nodded. “I think it was so that people passing through the town wouldn’t see it. They’ve gone to great lengths to keep their location quiet, if not secret.”
“But why?”
“Why indeed, unless there is something about their operation that they wish to hide.”
Ruth sighed, realising that they had probably been hiding from her. It was a relatively smart plan, she begrudgingly admitted. They worked to get a foothold in America without drawing attention from other parties across the world. By the time Ruth would have heard, if not for Hall, she would have been too late to do anything. Even arm England with her automatons.
“You know, don’t you?” Chepi asked.
“Know what?”
“Why WestTech is hiding. When I said that they were, your face... You know exactly what they fear.”
Ruth sighed, figuring that secrecy had hardly helped so far. “They fear me. I’m the original inventor of the automaton. Michel was my first and only attempt to build one. I didn’t want the world to have access to my creation. I knew too many people would be hurt if they were ever turned to military use, so I didn’t allow them to be. I kept the plans to myself, refusing to allow even Queen Victoria to see them, and I refused to build any more after Michel.”
“Then how did WestTech get your plans?”
“I don’t know. A few years ago, someone stole them and started an operation in Paris. I stopped them and destroyed their copies of the plans. If I had to guess, some fragments may have remained in their hands, or maybe someone remembered enough to build more, and they restarted their operations here, far from the prying eyes of England.”
“And now you want to stop them?”
“Of course I do. Could you imagine what would happen if they used these machines for warfare?”
Chepi’s eyes darkened. “I don’t have to imagine,” she said curtly. “WestTech most likely do have their sights on warfare, as they have been more than happy to test their machines on my people.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll stop them.”
“I don’t need your pity or assurances. I just need to know that you have reason to be committed to this.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow. “Beyond them using my plans to murder people?”
“Forgive me if I don’t want to put faith in a white woman being moved to action by my people being killed.”
Ruth nodded, having to admit that Chepi had a point. “I came here with the express purpose of shutting down WestTech before I knew exactly what they were doing with my plans. That hasn’t changed.”
“That’s good enough for me.”
Ruth turned back to the facility, seeing someone in the dark.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
Chepi was already moving through the greenery they were hiding in to get a better look at the figure.
“I recognise him,” she said as she returned. “He’s one of the regular patrons at the saloon.”
“Then we can head back into town and confront him. Ask him how to get into the factory.”
Chepi nodded. “That is probably a better plan than remaining here and risking being caught. We should find the others.”
9
“So,” Ivy said as they made their way back to the saloon, “what are we going to say to this man when we find him? We can’t just start shouting at him in front of the other patrons.”
Ruth shrugged. “I was just going to point my disrupter at him under the table and hope that he didn’t realise that it’s harmless to humans.”
Sally smirked at that. “I think I’m finally warming to you.”
Ruth smiled politely as they entered the establishment.
Ivy frowned, her eyes locking onto a man at the bar. “Wait... Is that James?”
Ruth looked over and saw that the man, indeed, had the same reddish-brown hair that James had, though she couldn’t tell if it was him. She had never been good with faces.
“It is!” Ivy exclaimed. “That’s James.”
“That is also the man I saw leaving WestTech,” Chepi commented as she moved to get a better look.
Ruth sighed. “If it truly is James, then I will talk to him. He may not like me, but I cannot believe he would betray the Queen like this.”
Ivy raised an eyebrow. “This is the same man who tried to blackmail you, and he’s working with WestTech. I think his betrayal is pretty clear.”
“Fine, then I am at least certain that he would not cause a fuss in public.”
“We’ll be over in the corner, keeping an eye out,” Sally told her before Ivy had another chance to object.
Ruth nodded, straightening her back and carefully placing her hands in front of her. She desperately wished for her dress back. Proper attire was an armour of its own. Without it, she was left with nothing but courtesy, which was something she was learned in, if not skilled.
“May I have a drink, please?” Ruth asked the bartender.
“What will you have?”
Ruth looked over the bottles, quickly coming to the conclusion that they probably wouldn’t cater to her tastes, which ran decidedly non-alcoholic.
“Something strong that won’t kill me,” she eventually replied, deciding that asking for something weak might suggest weakness in herself that she didn’t particularly want to broadcast. No, this was decidedly a rough and tumble crowd, which meant that she would have to get rough and tumble herself if she didn’t want to draw unwanted attention.
The bartender nodded before pouring her a small glass of an amber liquid. She took a sip, quickly deciding that she liked the taste, even if it took everything she had to disguise her pain as it burnt on the way down.
“So, what are you doing all the way out here, James?” she asked after taking a step closer to him.
He did a double-take as he looked her over. She supposed that she might be difficult to recognise, so far from her home and comfort.
“Ruth? What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Is that really the kind of language you should use in front of a lady?” she asked in an admonishing tone, though it came out a little sharper than intended. In truth, she remained angry at James, regardless of the years that had passed. He had tried to ruin her, and he had almost succeeded.
She realised that he wasn’t going to continue before she answered the question.
“Apparently someone has been copying my designs. Imagine my surprise when I saw you leaving their factory.”
“I... The Queen sent you, didn’t she? She sent you to stop me, but it’s too late.” He seemed a little manic at that.
Ruth took a slightly deeper breath than normal, using the time to decide that she was going to play along. “Too late?”
“I already sold your plans,” he told her. “WestTech has them now. You’ve seen what they’ve done with those poor copies. Imagine what they could do with everything the Queen had locked away.”
“I never would have taken you for a traitor, James.”
He gave her an odd look before barking in laughter. “She didn’t tell you, did she? She sent you after me to retrieve your plans and didn’t tell you why I took them. She has played you the fool.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow. “Forgive me if I won’t believe that without knowing what you’re talking about.”
“She was going to use them.”
“Use them?”
He nodded frantically. “Without being able to use your inventions for warfare, you were starting to outlive your usefulness. Better that you disappeared and she could use them withou
t problem was her reasoning.”
“So, what? You stole the plans to stop her? James, you were the one who originally wanted me to give them to her.”
He frowned. “Ruth, I wanted you to sell them to her. I didn’t want you to be killed over that. And... I felt that I owed you and Thomas for what I put you through.”
Ruth shifted from one foot to the other. She still wasn’t sure that she believed James. “So, you sold the plans to WestTech? They’re hardly better than Queen Victoria.”
“At least then everyone can buy your inventions, instead of just the Queen having them. It makes an even playing field.”
“Anyone with money can buy them. That’s hardly better.”
“But it is still better.”
Ruth sighed, having to give him that. “They’re using the automatons to kill people.”
“What did you think Queen Victoria was going to use them for?”
He pushed himself away from the bar, turning his back to her.
“We’re not done yet,” Ruth said, her hand coming to rest on her disrupter.
He turned and smirked. “Ruth, shoot me if you want, but I think we both know that you don’t have the stomach for it. I’m going to get out of town so that neither WestTech nor Queen Victoria can find me. If I was you, I would do the same.”
He left and Ruth made no attempt to remove her disruptor from her holster. It wouldn’t do anything even if she did, and there was going to be no convincing him.
She moved to the dark corner where the other three women had set down, determination in her stride.
“I’m going to need somewhere to build,” she announced.
Sally smiled. “I think I know just the place.”
10
“This is my brother’s place,” Sally explained the next morning. They had agreed to leave their activities for the night, since a tired inventor made sloppy mistakes and that was the last thing Ruth needed.
Not that she and Ivy had managed to get much sleep after having to explain the situation to the others. They had spent their night waving off concerns about how they had managed to get themselves into such a dangerous situation and how they were out of their minds to try and do it again. In all honesty, it made Ruth question why she had started to miss people so much. They truly were the most irritating thing she ever had to deal with. And that was coming from a woman whose job frequently involved the risk of extreme burns or extremity dismemberment.
“Will your brother not mind us being here?” Ivy asked as Ruth concentrated on getting to work.
Sally smirked. “He can’t protest what he doesn’t know.”
Ivy smiled back as she joined Ruth. Ruth had no idea what Ivy was going to put her mind to, but she trusted the other woman to make something useful and saw no need to interfere.
“Do you need us to do anything?” Chepi asked.
“No,” Ivy assured them. “It’s better if we’re just left to work.”
“A cup of tea would be nice,” Ruth said.
“We’re not your servants,” Sally pointed out.
“You asked.”
She sighed. “We don’t have tea.”
“Shame.”
“Come on,” Sally said to Chepi. “Let’s leave these two to their work.”
“Shouldn’t we stay in case your brother returns? He won’t be charitable if he finds them here.”
Sally sighed and Ruth saw her glaring at them through the corner of her eye in a way that very much suggested that she would be more than happy to have her brother walk in on them alone and conclude that they had broken into his workshop.
After a few moments, however, she relented. “Fine, we’ll stay. But no fetching tea,” she added, loudly enough for Ruth to be sure that the comment was aimed at her.
“I only asked,” she muttered to Ivy, who gave her a look that Ruth had learned meant that she had misjudged the situation, but Ivy didn’t have time to explain to her how or why.
Ruth made a mental note about not asking for tea when a strange girl let you covertly use her brother’s workshop.
It was several hours before they were interrupted, and Ruth was severely beginning to feel the lack of tea. Hers was hot and tiring work, which left her irritated and dehydrated.
There came a few hard thuds at the door.
“Is someone in there?”
Sally rolled her eyes. “Just me,” she shouted back.
“What are you doing in my workshop, Sally?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
Whoever was on the other side of the door - Sally’s brother, Ruth presumed - didn’t seem to take kindly to that, kicking the door so that it swung open, despite the flimsy latch.
A man, who looked similar enough to Sally to confirm Ruth’s suspicion that they were siblings, glared at that room.
“So, what? You’re starting a harem now?” he asked his sister, his voice soaked with vitriol.
She glared at him. “Don’t be rude. I’m simply allowing some friends to use your workshop. They’re far from home and need the workspace.”
Her brother folded his arms before turning to Ruth. “Who are you?”
“I’m Ruth, and this is Ivy. We’re Sally’s friends.”
“Sally doesn’t have no friends, and I ain’t never seen you before.”
Ruth cringed at the use of double negatives. “We’re not from around here.”
“Yeah, your accent tells me that much, but not how you know my sister.”
Sally sighed. “They needed a workshop, I told them you had one. They paid to use it.”
“And were you ever going to tell me that, or just pocket the money yourself?”
“I was going to tell you, of course. We only made the arrangement last night.”
He nodded. “Alright.” He nodded to Ruth. “You seem like a respectable enough lady, and I assume you can keep your servant in line.”
Ivy looked ready to curse him for his assumption, but her appreciation for the precariousness of their situation kept her quiet, though her hands were clenched into fists.
Sally’s brother turned back to his sister and her lover. “Chepi’s got to go. She ain’t welcome here.”
“She’s welcome if I say she is.”
Her brother gave an exasperated sigh. “Be reasonable, Sally. Do you know what they’re saying about you in town? Bad enough if you were involved with a white woman, but an Indian? Do you know what they’re calling you?”
“I don’t care.”
“Well I do, which means she has to go.”
Sally stepped forward into her brother’s personal space. “She stays. Unless, of course, you’re willing to fight me over it.”
Her brother seemed to seriously consider the option before backing down, which was the smartest thing Ruth had seen him do yet.
“One day you’re going to realise I was right,” he said before storming out of the workshop.
“Ignore that brute,” Sally said to her lover, her voice low and soft in a way that told Ruth that she should return to her work.
“I always do.”
Sally moved back over to where Ruth and Ivy were working. “So, ladies, what have you been building?”
“Tracking devices,” Ivy answered. “We should be able to see automatons from a mile away.”
Ruth simply indicated to one of her mechanical spiders, activating it before letting it scuttle across the workbench.
“I just need to get close enough to let my spiders loose. They should do the rest,” Ruth explained.
“The rest?”
“Dismantling and exploding, where they see the opportunity.”
Sally nodded, and, while she couldn’t be sure, Ruth thought that she even looked impressed.
“I think I know how to get close enough,” Chepi told them.
11
The plan was fairly simple. Chepi had noted that the factory had a ventilation grate on the far side from the entrance. It wasn’t large enough for a person to g
et through, but Ruth’s spiders could manage. Ruth was to go alone to avoid unwanted attention, with the others a reasonable distance behind to watch for guards. She would unleash the spiders, and they would all leave long before anyone noticed that anything was wrong.
Which was how she ended up struggling to pry open the ventilation grate in the pitch black, cursing in the most unladylike manner under her breath.
Composure was for Britain, she decided, not this far-flung, spirit-crushing land.
She sighed as she gave up on her own physical efforts, instead taking off the bag that was hanging from her shoulder. She opened it to reveal her spiders, all dormant and packed neatly on top of each other.
“Wake up,” she hissed at them, causing them to scurry to life and flee the bag.
“Open the grate.”
They did as they were told, carefully prying it away from the wall. Ruth gave a sigh of relief at their progress, just before she heard a click behind the grate.
“What was that?”
Before she had time to figure out, a flash of blue light erupted from the grate, blinding her.
She blinked the bright white out of her eyes, eventually regaining her sight only to see her spiders laying, inert, on the ground.
An aether bomb.
She blinked away the last spots of light from her eyes as she tried to figure out what to do. She had never quite figured out how to restore a disrupted aether core. Experiments on some of the automatons recovered from Paris showed that they could not be brought back if their core was disrupted. However, the spiders were much simpler than the automatons, and may respond to their cores being replaced.
She began to pick up the spiders, preparing to take them back, when she heard the clanging of metal footsteps approaching.
Automatons.
She reached for her disrupter, only to see that the bomb had disabled it too, its core black instead of the signature blue.
She spun around to see two automatons approaching and made a quick assessment of her situation.
Her disrupter might not fire, but it still had a long point of metal, which usually focused the aether along it. It wouldn’t have been sharp enough to cause damage to a person without more force than Ruth figured she could give - though she couldn’t be sure, as her knowledge of anatomy was hardly comprehensive - but there was a chance that she could use it to disrupt the flow of aether.
